Herd That ARC

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  The moment he was out of the driver’s seat, I scooted over the dusty console and plopped myself into his spot. I had to scoot to the edge of his seat so I could reach the pedals, and my chest was practically plastered to the steering wheel as I did.

  And no, I would not admit that I was more excited than ever.

  Yesterday I’d been happy to help put up his tree. Today, I’d been more than eager to see him at the gym—even though my legs hurt something fierce, and I was feeling muscles in my body that I had no clue existed.

  But the idea of seeing longhorns?

  Well that just excited the ever-loving shit out of me.

  I twisted and turned in my seat as I waited for both gates to swing all the way open before I put the truck into drive and crept forward.

  When I was sufficiently inside, I put it back into park and went back to my seat, but paused halfway over the console when I saw the first longhorn.

  “It’s so cute!” I cried out, practically pressing my forehead against the windshield in my excitement to see it better.

  Ace got into the truck and slammed the door closed. “I don’t have to go any farther than right here. They’re like little social butterflies. They really love seeing me. I bought them off a lady who treated them as pets. She fed them every day straight out of her hand. Kind of like those at Smokes. If I come out here just to check up on the fence and don’t have any treats on hand, they get downright pissy.”

  “I would, too,” I admitted, looking at him with excitement pouring out of my every pore. “Do you have treats?”

  Ace grinned, making my heart pound for an altogether different reason. Mainly his beautiful smile that he rarely bestowed upon anyone else.

  Ace started creeping forward, heading for the first cow he could see.

  “How old is that one?” I questioned.

  I’d grown up on a ranch my entire life, but my parents’ specialty had been goats and chickens.

  Despite my mother’s attempts, my father never caved on getting cows. Ultimately, we had to admire them from afar. That was until my granddad had gotten his prized bull.

  Before he could answer, I thought of another question. Speaking of bulls…

  “Hey, I saw that you moved Scooby,” I said, fidgeting on the console beside him. “How did you think he looked?”

  Ace put the truck in park and climbed out, rounding to the passenger door where he opened it for me.

  I hopped down off the console, then slid across the seat until I was perched on the edge.

  From there I hopped all the way down to the ground, grabbing Ace’s outstretched hand on the way down.

  He didn’t let it go as he tugged me lightly around the hood of his truck as he answered me.

  “I moved him, yes,” he said. “He eats a whole lot, and I noticed that he’s started leaning on a few of my fence posts in his haste to get to greener pastures. I moved him before he did any more damage.” He paused as the longhorns started making their way to us. “And he’s looking really good. Mean as hell. He chased me and my horse all the way to his new pasture. Let’s just say, if you wanted to start entering him into rodeos now, he’d probably perform for you.”

  My eyes widened slightly as the first cow stopped next to us.

  “If she swings her head, you may want to duck,” Ace rumbled as he pulled a bag of treats out of his front pocket.

  I’d thought that bulge was something else…

  “This one is pretty,” I admitted. “Where are the others?”

  “Feed that one and they’ll come running,” Ace snorted. “I promise.”

  And he was right. The moment that the sounds of crunching could be heard from the longhorn in front of us, more than ten of them came through the trees and up over the hills heading straight for us.

  My heart was full of happiness as I fed the longhorns until there was nothing left in the bag.

  “All right, time to go,” he suggested. “We can take the long road through the creek.”

  I frowned. “Through the creek?”

  He nodded once.

  “Yep. If we hurry,” he said.

  I felt the first raindrop hit me square in the forehead. It’d stopped when we’d made it not even a half mile down the road, but now it was starting right back up again.

  I understood his urgency. At least, I thought I did.

  It wasn’t until we were crossing the dry creek bed that I realized why we really had to hurry.

  It wasn’t to beat the rain, it was to beat the water.

  “Here, watch,” he said. “This used to be my favorite place to be when it rained.”

  I looked at the dry creek bed, then back at Ace.

  “Why?” I asked.

  He gestured for me to move onto the console again. “Look that way.”

  I did, then practically leaned over him to see what he was pointing at.

  It was a drop down from one elevation to another, with a lot of eroded rocks and old earth blocking the way.

  And at first, the only thing I could see was the torrential downpour of rain coming down on the windshield.

  Then Ace squeezed my hip, and I leaned into him even farther. “Look by that rock that’s shaped like a crude heart.”

  I did and found it immediately.

  Then saw the first trickle of water.

  “Wow, it’s filling up,” I said.

  “Keep watching.”

  It didn’t start as a small trickle, though. It went from barely anything to filling up well past where it would’ve been safe to travel over it in two seconds flat.

  One second there was no water, and the next there was so much that I gasped in surprise.

  “How the hell?” I asked, stunned.

  “We’re at the lowest point on the land,” he answered. “Everything from up there” —he pointed— “is funneled into that creek bed.”

  I could do nothing but shake my head.

  “That’s amazing,” I admitted. “I can see now why this was your favorite spot as a kid. Did you ever put things into the creek just to see them wash away?”

  He grinned. “Yeah.” He paused for effect. “My brother.”

  At that, I burst out laughing.

  Then I had a grand time watching the creek run and wondering if letting Ace Valentine have a chance at a date was a good idea.

  ***

  Later that night, as Ace was walking down the pathway back to his truck, I turned to my grandfather.

  “Granddad,” I said softly. “Why didn’t we know the Valentine family really well?”

  My granddad looked at me with a sad smile.

  “Nobody knew us that well,” he said as he put his feet up onto the coffee table and took a swig of his water. “But I have a feeling that had a lot to do with your mom and dad, and less to do with the people of this town. Even though they were a contributing factor in how it all ended up with our family.”

  I frowned.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, settling farther into the couch.

  Granddad placed his water bottle on the coffee table, then laced his fingers behind his head as he regarded me thoughtfully.

  “How much do you know about your grandma and me?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I know that you and she met fairly young. I know that y’all got married before you went off to war. And I also know that you moved away.”

  He stared into my eyes and grinned.

  “You heard what your mama wanted you to hear.” He grinned. “But you probably didn’t hear anything about how your grandma was supposed to marry someone else, and I got her pregnant.”

  My mouth fell open in shock. “You what?”

  He nodded. “Got her pregnant with your mama. But she was engaged to another man. That man wasn’t your grandmama’s choice, and when I got her pregnant, we took it as a sign and got married. I got stationed in Maine, and we moved there. Then to Louisiana. Followed shortly after by
California. It was only when your mama was about twelve and a half that we finally got done with all that military business and moved back home. However, we weren’t very welcome since we had left things unsettled.”

  I leaned forward in my chair, curious now. “Who was it?”

  He snorted. “You don’t know him.”

  “I might,” I said.

  He rattled off a name, and though the last name sounded familiar, the first name didn’t.

  “But what does this have to do with my mom, or Ace Valentine’s family?” I pushed.

  “Getting’ there, girl.” He rolled his eyes. “So impatient, just like your grandmother.”

  I tapped my fingers on my knee as I waited for him to collect his thoughts.

  “When your mom was about fifteen, she met a boy,” he continued.

  “My dad?”

  Granddad shook his head. “No. Another boy. They were best friends at first, and that transformed into something else. I’m not sure it was love, but it was infatuation, maybe. But then she met your dad… and things changed. She understood the difference between liking someone, and loving someone.”

  My eyes widened. “Mom was with someone when she met my dad?”

  That was news to me.

  I’d known that they’d met when they were just graduating, but I hadn’t realized that my mother had been seeing someone at the time.

  “Anyway, that guy just so happened to be the son of the man that your grandmother left for me.” He paused. “Needless to say, after the father and the son were jilted, so to speak, things got a little hairy with the townsfolk. Those men were well-liked by the community.”

  “Who was it?” I practically begged.

  “The old assistant police chief.”

  I gasped and leaned forward. “You’re freakin’ joking!”

  No wonder every time I used to beg him not to call my parents, he took absolute glee in it!

  Holy shit!

  “Is that why mom and dad moved away?” I asked curiously.

  Granddad shrugged. “Possibly. I don’t know. When your grandmother died, I considered moving myself. It’s uncomfortable being here with all those meddling people thinking that I’m an adulterer. Not to mention Robert Glasgow is still quite a prominent member of society. Even if he is pushing eighty. He’s on the school board, as well as the city’s board. He attends all the kids sporting events, and he and his wife are well-liked around town. His son is doing well in his ranching business. His wife and kids are well-liked in the community. They have a son about your age, remember?”

  I did.

  He was also one of the reasons I’d gotten into so much trouble when I was younger.

  He was excellent—or at least used to be—at convincing me to do bad things.

  Jace Glasgow, who was now a police officer himself, had once upon a time been a big ol’ pain in the ass and the man that had taken my virginity.

  I hadn’t seen him since I’d gotten back to town and was honestly worried about meeting back up with him.

  However, Ace had taken over my every thought since I’d met him at the sale barn a couple of weeks ago. Jace Glasgow hadn’t even registered on my radar.

  “What does all this have to do with the Valentines?” I wondered.

  “Nothing.” He shrugged. “Really it just has to do with the fact that nobody really liked our family. You didn’t help matters running around with their kid getting him in trouble, either.”

  I snickered. “It was more Jace getting me in trouble and me tagging along, but I’ll accept partial responsibility for it all.”

  Granddad rolled his eyes. “Sure, you were completely innocent in everything you did… didn’t you try to steal a car?”

  “It was Jace’s father’s car, and honestly? How was I supposed to know that he didn’t have permission to use it?” I shook my head. “I really, really liked Jace.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Well, do yourself a favor and stay away from him. I hear Jace’s wife is a right bitch.”

  I’d heard that as well. And I sure the hell wouldn’t be testing out the waters with Jace ever again.

  He’d been a good guy, and I knew that he probably was likely still a good guy.

  However, my eyes were set on a certain cowboy with brooding good looks, a killer jaw, and a scratchy beard that I was dying to get my hands on.

  Oh, and let’s not forget his sweatpants.

  Those things are goddamn deadly.

  Chapter 11

  Women. The one thing duct tape can’t fix.

  -Coffee cup

  Ace

  “Where are we going?” she asked inquisitively.

  I grinned over at her. “You told me to take you to Breakfast with Santa.” I paused, gauging her reaction. “So that’s what I’m doing.”

  Her mouth fell open in stunned surprise.

  “That okay?” I asked.

  She nodded her head so fast that she looked like one of those bobblehead dolls that sat on the dash of your car.

  “Yes.” She clapped her hands with excitement. “The one with the longhorns and turkeys, right?”

  I nodded. “The one. I had to scalp some tickets, too.”

  She frowned. “What? How?”

  I recalled the discussion with my sister from last night.

  “I had to trade my sister babysitting time to get them since they were sold out,” I answered. “Therefore, you better realize how big of a deal this is.”

  She blinked owlishly at me.

  “You did what?” she breathed.

  “I traded babysitting duties for my sister’s tickets to this,” I repeated.

  She blinked. Then burst out with, “Are you freakin’ crazy?”

  I snorted out a laugh. “They’re really not that bad.”

  Her brows rose. “When I came back after trying to leave they looked like they took that as a challenge. They went out of their way to make the rest of the night a living nightmare for me.”

  That was true. They sure the hell had.

  But, she’s survived, and they admired her for it.

  Our family came to be out of tough love. What we’d all experienced had made us different than other families. And though Georgia and Nico loved their kids, they knew that one day it’d be possible that they’d leave them before they were ready. So they prepared them for life by not sugar-coating things or pussyfooting around the big stuff. They made sure to always give it to them straight. And in the end it caused them to be a little harder around the edges, but also able to take a hit if needed.

  That, and they gave as good as they got.

  “They like you,” I told her. “I think they liked you even more because you didn’t run out screaming or crying like Banks’ date did last month when he brought her to a family dinner.”

  She raised her brows at me.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  I grinned and resituated myself in the seat before switching hands and resting my right one on the console in between us. She leaned over closer as if she was about to hear something juicy.

  Which, she was.

  “Banks has been crushing on this girl at the coffee shop,” I started. “So, after about a hundred requests to join him on a date, she finally agrees. Only, Georgia and the kids crash his date. Georgia offers to leave but the date insists they stay and eat dinner with them. Banks can see it’s going to be a disaster, but seeing no way out he agrees. While he was using the restroom, Georgia got a call from Nico and left the room. In between that three minutes they were gone the kids did or said something to the girl. The girl passes Georgia crying and rushes out, never to be seen again. The kids are all innocent and shit, and Banks is pissed as hell because the kids won’t tell them what they said or what happened. They’re like little vaults.”

  She shook her head. “They didn’t tell any of you what happened?”

  I shrugged. “Those kids are weird just like we wer
e. Something happened and we didn’t tell on each other. Not for nothin’. My dad could’ve beaten the shit out of me and I would’ve kept my trap shut.”

  Her frown was ferocious.

  “Did that happen often?” she whispered.

  I flicked my blinker on and opened my mouth to answer, but chose to change the subject instead. She didn’t need to know about that dark, dirty stain on my soul. My father, the piece of shit, had really done a number on all of us. I seriously did not want the woman sitting next to me to have to deal with knowing what my father did to me. Then she’d feel bad and I’d have a guilty conscience and I’d be second guessing whether she was with me because she liked me or because she felt sorry for me.

  Because I’d had that happen before.

  The one and only time I’d tried to make a relationship work in the last five years, it backfired big time because the woman thought I needed fixed.

  I didn’t need fixed. You couldn’t fix something that was as broken as I was. And honestly, I didn’t want to be fixed. I wanted to forget that part of my life had ever happened. I didn’t want to be cross-examined every time I scowled or had a bad day. I didn’t want to talk about it. And I certainly didn’t want anybody feeling pity for me.

  “We’re here,” I said as I took the turn into the parking lot. “I love this building.”

  When I built one, it’d have a similar style as this one.

  The Smoke Cattle House was a small meat distribution center. They sold smoked meats such as turkeys, bacon, and sausage. They’d branched out and started selling fudge, preserves, and baked goods when they’d built the new store.

  And since it was so close to my house, I found myself getting food there a lot.

  “It’s massive,” she said softly. “When I envision my house, this is it.”

  The building itself was a large old-style barn. The wood was made out of old barn wood the Cattle Company had actually torn down and bought off an old man just down the road from our house. But despite having old barn wood on the exterior and interior, it had a modern feel to it.

  “Let’s go inside,” I suggested, seeing her start to shiver in the no longer running vehicle.

  Her eyes took everything in as we walked up the path that led to the front door. The drainage pipe that led down the front lawn. The grate that they were using to cover a large gap in the grass that I assumed they were about to start funneling water into. And even the bird shit that was splattering a few places on the stairs.