Cowboy Brothers of Rainbow Canyon: A Western Contemporary Cowboy Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  “We need to think of somethin’,” Adam countered. “Only a matter of time before one of us gets hit.”

  Travis fired another few rounds before a focused expression settled on his face. “Skye, you ever shot one of these before?”

  “My daddy used to let me take potshots with a twenty-two.”

  “Then you get the idea,” he said. “Point and shoot.”

  More gunshots from Bryce’s side.

  “You know what covering fire is?” he asked me.

  “I sure don’t.” I’d shot at paper targets, not humans. I’d never even been hunting.

  Adam spoke, seeming to get what Travis was hinting at. “It means you just shoot blindly so they take cover – like what we did when you ran over here.”

  “Right,” Travis said. “You shoot, and we rush over there and take them down. Don’t go stickin’ your head over the couch. Just raise the gun and fire in their general direction. Got it?”

  I nodded, but I was scared as hell. Adam reloaded his pistol and put it in my hands.

  “On three,” he said. “We run, you shoot.”

  “Okay,” I said, trying to calm myself with deep, steady breaths.

  “One,” Travis counted. “Two…three!”

  Holy hell! Keeping my body behind the couch, I raised the pistol and began firing wildly. The gun kicked back in my hand, and I didn’t need to look to know my shots were going all kinds of wild. Adam and Travis burst from cover as soon as I started shooting. They rushed to Bryce, and moments after they were gone, I heard the commotion of men fighting. The gunshots had ceased, and I dropped the pistol and peeked my head over the couch.

  The men were in a brawl. Adam socked the shorter guy in the side of the head hard enough to get him to drop like a sack of potatoes. Travis had the taller guy in some kind of neck hold, squeezing so hard the guy’s face turned a deep shade of red before he lost consciousness.

  “Don’t…don’t hurt me!” Bryce shouted as they turned to him.

  Fucking coward. I rose and walked to Travis and Adam, the air finally quiet and still, the scent of gunpowder still thick. Once I was by their sides, I saw Bryce on the ground, an expression of total fear on his face as the three of us loomed over him.

  “Come on,” he said. “No need to do anything crazy, right?”

  “How’s this for crazy?” I asked, smirking. I raised my boot and drove it hard into his face, connecting with his jaw. His head snapped back, hitting the wall, knocking his ass out.

  “Holy shit,” Travis cursed, turning to gape at me. He pulled me into a tight hug, and Adam wrapped his arms around us both.

  “Are you alright?” Adam asked, his voice heavy with concern.

  “I’m…I’m good,” I said. “I think.”

  “We’re taking you to the hospital,” Travis announced. “No argument.”

  The men let me go and looked me up and down. Seeing the two of them there, knowing they’d come to save me…my heart filled with joy.

  “We’re never letting you go again,” Adam assured me. “Never.”

  “We?” I asked.

  “We,” Travis confirmed. “This thing with us…it’s crazy. But we’re gonna make it work.”

  The fear faded as something else settled in. Was it love? I had no damn idea. Or maybe I did. Either way, I was with my men. Nothing could’ve made me happier.

  Travis

  Adam and I were in the waiting room at the hospital. I had a feeling Skye was going to be fine – Bryce hadn’t laid a hand on her, and aside from the raw skin the ropes had left on her wrists, she was free of any other physical injuries.

  We hadn’t said much of anything to one another since we’d sat down. And I knew why – the whole thing was crazy. One second we were in a gunfight, the next we were in an embrace. The three of us. What the hell was this going to look like? Now that the more pressing issue had been taken care of, we were right back to where we were before.

  “You think she’s gonna be alright?” Adam broke the silence.

  “No doubt. She was shaken up but can’t really blame her. Hell, she got kidnapped. That’d be enough to get me on edge.”

  More silence. There was an elephant in the room the size of my damn truck. Neither one of us knew how to approach it.

  “She’s tough, though,” Adam commented. “Not a doubt in my mind she’ll be able to get through it.”

  “You know I agree with that. Wish these damn doctors would let us see her.” I glanced up, as if I’d spot a doctor in the distance gesturing for me to come over.

  “Listen,” Adam said. “We gotta talk about all this.”

  And there it was. One of us had to bring the issue up, and I guess it was Adam.

  “I know. We got a mess to sort out.”

  Adam sat up, shaking his head. “What the hell are we gonna do? We both care about her, and she sure as hell cares about us.”

  I nodded. “And we tried all the other shit –giving her distance, trying not to let her get too close. Or for us to get too close.”

  “I know. But we keep getting pulled back into it.”

  “And now she’s pregnant.”

  Adam nodded. “That kid’s either mine or yours. What the hell are we gonna do about that?”

  “We could…I don’t know, wait and see. Get one of them paternity tests, figure it out from there.”

  “And then what? Whoever’s the daddy gets claim to Skye? That’s really how we’re settle this?”

  “Doesn’t sound like a, uh, workable solution,” he agreed with a little laugh. “And more than that, it doesn’t take into consideration what she wants. What if she wants you, but the baby’s mine? Or the other way around?”

  “We can’t let that decide things,” I decided.

  More silence. A voice spoke over the intercom, and I listened to see if it was about Skye. It wasn’t. It was fucking bizarre. I’d always been the kind of man to never have any doubts, to always be certain of myself. But when it came to me and Skye and Adam, I was lost as a kid in the woods.

  “I don’t wanna lose her,” I confided. “We came too damn close to just that happenin’. When Bryce had her…God, I don’t know what I would’ve done if somethin’ had happened.”

  “Right,” he agreed. “We both feel the same way. We care about her, both want to make sure nothin’ bad happens to her. Neither one of us wants to lose her.”

  I slumped in my chair, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck as I thought the whole thing over. What the hell were we going to do? Flip a damn coin? The next words out of my mouth seemed to come of their own accord.

  “We could…you know, both have her.”

  Adam turned his attention to me, his eyes wide with disbelief. “What are you talkin’ about?”

  I put my hands out as I attempted to explain. “I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I tried to stay away from her, and all I got was jealous. I’m damn sure if you did the same thing, you’d feel the same way.”

  “Right. No doubt about it.”

  “And Skye cares about us both. Imagine us standing in front of her, asking her to choose between us. How do you think that would go down?”

  “Reckon she’d be as lost as we are.”

  “Exactly. I want her, you want her, and she wants us both. So why not…both have her, you know?”

  Adam laughed, a little confused. “Travis, I’ve known you for years and haven’t heard a shortage of insane things comin’ out of your mouth. But this might just be the most insane of them all.”

  “I know it sounds crazy. Believe me, I can’t believe I’m even sayin’ the words,” I said, shaking my head at myself. “But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

  “You’re forgettin’ about the baby, right? I know it’s a tiny little detail, but it’s there.” He was being a bit of a smartass, but I couldn’t blame him. “One of us is the dad.”

  “Right. And we’ll need to take a test to find out.” He was quiet a moment. “What if we…I do
n’t know, just never took it?”

  “Are you serious? Never take the paternity test? Never find out who’s the daddy?”

  “And why not? If we’re both around, both there for the baby, does it really make a difference who’s officially the dad?”

  Adam shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “So, you’re sayin’ we do some kind of…polyamorous thing? Is that what they call it?”

  I laughed at the absurdity. “I mean, I think in those kinda things you can be with whoever you want. I’m not goin’ that far – more like we’re a couple, but with one more than normal. That’s not so crazy, is it?”

  “It’s crazy, alright. The three of us together? About the damn craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” The more I talked about it, however, the more sense it made. “We’ll both look after her. And when that baby finally comes, he or she will have not just a mom and a dad to take care of her, but two dads and a mom. That’s just more love for the kid, you know?”

  “That all sounds sweet as can be, but what if that kid grows up and realizes what kinda situation it’s in? Gonna start asking questions, and ‘who’s my real dad’ is gonna be one of them.”

  “Sure, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. And if we’re both raising the baby from day one, I bet you anything he or she won’t give a damn who the real dad is.”

  Adam let out a low whistle. “You know, part of me wants to sock you in the face for even suggesting something like this.”

  “And the other part?”

  “The other part thinks you might be right.” He shrugged. “What if me and you both bein’ with her’s the only thing that works? It’s sure as shit not conventional, but maybe we could pull it off.”

  Before the conversation could continue any further, a middle-aged woman in a doctor’s white coat approached us. “You Travis and Adam?” she asked in a voice that was all-business.

  “That’s us,” Adam answered.

  “You relations of Skye Philips?”

  Adam and I glanced at one another. “We’re…actually talkin’ about that very subject.”

  Adam spoke up. “We brought her here, if that answers your question.”

  “Well, she’s asking for both of you.”

  “Good,” I said. “How is she?”

  “She’s still out of sorts from what happened,” she commented. “Got a few bruises here and there, some abrasions on her wrists, but other than that, she’s just fine.”

  Adam’s eyes lit up. “That mean we can go see her?”

  “It does. But like I said, she’s still a little shaken up. She’ll need some rest, and she’ll need some support.”

  “Happy to provide,” I said, getting up.

  Adam got up too, and we followed the doctor to the room where Skye was being treated. The doctor opened the door and there she was, gorgeous as ever despite all that had happened. We rushed into the room, and without thinking, I planted a big, wet kiss on her lips. As soon as my lips off left hers, Adam did the same.

  “Alright, alright,” Skye said, smiling through it all. “I’m happy to see you both, too.”

  I looked her over, relieved to see that other than some gauze wrapped around her wrists and a couple of small bruises here and there, she seemed okay.

  “That…was a hell of a thing,” Adam commented.

  “No kidding,” she said with a little laugh. “You hear what happened to Bryce and the rest of ‘em?”

  “Got a call from my lawyer a little bit ago,” I told her. “Told me he’d found proof the Crawford cops had been messin’ with the dash cam footage. Charges against me and Adam are about to get dropped, and some other boys from a county over are gonna be leadin’ an investigation into what the hell happened.”

  “And Bryce?” she asked.

  “Locked up. And my lawyer said Bryce might have a shitload of money, but you can’t exactly buy your way out of a kidnapping charge.”

  “Good,” Skye said. “The bastard deserves worse than that.”

  “Enough about Bryce,” Adam announced, waving a hand. “How you feelin’?”

  “Fine, I think. Still kinda loopy. But I’m glad it’s over.” She glanced at me, then Adam. I could tell what was on her mind.

  “Skye,” I said. “Me and Adam, we’ve been doin’ some talkin’.”

  Adam nodded. “And we think we’ve come up with how to handle this little three-way thing between us.”

  “Is that right?” she asked skeptically.

  “Right,” I said, nodding. “How you feel about…all of us bein’ together?”

  “All of us?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “All three of us? What about the baby?”

  “We all raise the baby,” Adam explained. “Three parents means three hearts, three sets of eyes. And a lot of love.”

  I was relieved. I’d gotten into it not being certain how Adam felt. But he was right there with me.

  “It’s about the most insane thing I’ve ever heard,” Skye said with a laugh. “The three of us in a couple? Well, wouldn’t exactly be a ‘couple’.”

  “A triple,” I said with a grin. “And yeah, all of us. It’s not the most traditional setup in the world, but dammit, I love you like crazy, Skye. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  “And you know I feel the same way,” Adam added. “I love you, Skye. And it might be kinda nuts, but you’ve got two dudes here who are out of their minds about you.”

  Skye bit her lower lip, considering the idea. “I…I love you both, too. And I don’t love either one more than the other. The idea of having you both…I love that, too. But what about who the real father is?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Don’t give a damn whose genes he got. As far as I see it, that baby was a product of the love of all three of us. Screw the paternity test – that kid’s got two dads who already love it to pieces.”

  “Couldn’t have said it better,” Adam added.

  “Then that’s it,” Skye said happily. “We’re all together. I think we might be able to pull it off.”

  I leaned in and kissed Skye gently on the lips. Adam did the same when I was done.

  “Now, there’s only one thing left to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  Adam laughed, seeming to know what I was saying.

  “We gotta tell the family.” But I wasn’t scared in the least. I had the love of a good woman.

  That made you stronger than anything.

  Adam

  Me and Travis and Skye were all in the lounge of the Walker ranch. A fire crackled, and a mug of steaming, fresh coffee was in everyone’s hands. A nice night of relaxing, really.

  But we’d just broken the news. The whole clan was with us, and not a single one knew what to say.

  Finally, Mama G spoke. “Okay, so let me get this straight. I might be a little out of the loop with how you kids do things, but you’re gonna…all date?”

  “Not exactly,” Travis replied. “I’m gonna date Skye, and so is Adam.”

  “A love triangle kinda thing?” Wyatt asked, sitting back in his easy chair.

  “No,” Emily refuted. “A love triangle’s when, um, it’s a secret, right? Like, one person’s dating two people and two of them don’t know about it.”

  “Right,” Chance answered. “This stuff’s all out in the open.”

  “We’ve talked about it a hell of a lot,” Travis explained. “And I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “Where you all gonna live?” Silas asked. His expression was hard, and I wondered if the oldest Walker was going to take issue with our plans.

  I spoke up. “We’re thinkin’ about me movin’ onto the property. Might get my boys to build a cabin right next to Travis’s. Assuming you all are okay with that. I can pay you for the land.”

  Mama G waved her hand through the air, dismissing the idea. “Don’t you worry about payin’ us – we’ve got land to spare.”

  “This is…
somethin’ else,” Chance commented. “I mean, I knew somethin’ was goin’ on with Skye and Travis, but I didn’t think it was anything like this.”

  “This is what it is,” Travis affirmed.

  “When all that nonsense went down with Bryce, we came close to losing Skye,” I said. “And the thought of that was too damn much to bear.”

  “I can understand that,” Wyatt commented knowledgably. “Losing the one you love…it’d be enough to get anyone thinkin’.”

  “But,” Silas countered, “there’s the issue of the baby. No small thing.”

  Mama G beamed. “That’s right – I got a grandkid on the way! How far along are you, Skye?”

  “Not long – maybe a little over a month. And so far happy and healthy.”

  “That’s all well and good,” Silas continued. “But that kid’s gonna be all kinds of confused with two daddies around.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Emily inserted. “I mean, if the baby’s gonna be raised here, we’re all gonna pitch in. Two daddies won’t be any more confusing than a whole mess of uncles and aunts and grandmas looking after him. Or her.”

  “Kid’s gonna ask questions,” Silas insisted. “That’s what kids do. As soon as he’s old enough to talk, he’ll wanna know what’s goin’ on.”

  “And we’ll tell him,” Skye announced. “We’ll tell him – or her – that I’m his mommy and Travis and Adam are his dads. Doesn’t matter who the real dad is.”

  Mama G nodded. “All kids care about is a roof over their head, havin’ a belly full of food, and lots of love to go around. Two daddies means more of all that.”

  I sipped my coffee, still trying to get a handle on what the family was going to decide.

  “Listen,” Travis said. “The fact of the matter is that we both love Skye. And we’re more than fine with sharin’ her.”

  “I don’t even consider it ‘sharin’,” I said. “We both love her and that’s that.”

  Wyatt frowned. “So…you’re gonna, what, stay at one place one night, then the other the next?”

  Skye smiled. “We’re gonna take some time to work out exactly how it’s gonna look. But I’m sure that’ll come with time.”