“Everyone go ahead and get up,” Ian instructed his passengers before returning to his call with DJ. “With no idea how many there are, if they’re armed, or how well they’re armed, we’ll need some backup.”
“According to the last rancher they hit, they’ve got some serious fire power. Don’t do a damn thing until Reed or I get there.”
“What about your dad?”
“I’ll call him and let him know what’s going on. I hate to say it, but he can probably get to you faster than we can.”
“Got it.” Ian cut off the call and debated what the hell to do next with a car load of civilians. Ornery ones at that.
“Now what?” Kelly’s voice came out in a near whisper.
Didn’t he wish he knew. He had to find out what they were up against and there was only one way to do that. “Here’s the plan.” He pointed to the two old men. “I don’t want the load of cows on the road going anywhere. We’re going to check if the truck is unlocked. If it is, you two lock yourselves in the cab until DJ and backup arrive. If there’s any sign of the rustlers coming back, and only if they come back before DJ gets here, you turn on the truck and drive it away. Can you do that?”
Chests puffed like peacocks, both men nodded.
“Kelly, you stay here in the pickup. First sign of trouble, call DJ and tell him what’s going on.” Ian grabbed the rifle from behind the seat.
Kelly’s hand landed on his arm. “Promise me you’ll be careful?”
The feel of her fingertips against his skin had him stopping short. Without thinking he leaned in and kissed her hard and fast. “Back at you.” He had a job to do, but as soon as those idiots were in custody, he was going to sit down and have a long talk with Miss Morgan—and an even longer kiss.
Hurrying away to the foot of the trail, he didn’t dare look back over his shoulder. There wasn’t a blessed thing about leaving the three of them watching out that he liked. What he would much rather have had was time to drop Kelly and her family off at the ranch where they’d be safe, and DJ a hell of a lot closer to closing in on the rustlers, but as his mother often told them, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Hopping over the fence, he scanned the area once again. Keeping eyes forward, he walked low to the ground, made his way quickly up the pasture. Ducking whenever possible behind a grazing cow, he was thankful the truck hadn’t gone too far up the dirt trail before stopping to assemble the portable railings to substitute for a pen and chute to load the cattle. From where he stood he counted three men but no sign of the fire power DJ mentioned.
After only a few minutes of watching the Beaumont brothers trip over each other, struggling to move the full-grown cattle through the makeshift pen and up onto the truck, Ian wondered how the heck they’d managed to get a truckload of cattle from the last ranch they’d hit. Since he wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having left the old men in the first truck or Kelly in the pick up, he also considered making his way back to the main road, convinced there was no way they’d be done loading before DJ arrived with backup.
When one of the Beaumonts slipped in a pile of cow dung and landed on his butt, Ian’s decision made, he turned to make his way back to the main road, except the truckload of cattle he’d left the old men guarding was now bouncing up the south trail, headlights on, coming at the rustlers full speed ahead, and kicking up dust. Following a car-length behind them; Kelly and his pick up. Crap.
****
One lousy minute. Standing by the pick up for a better view of Ian’s progress, Kelly had turned her back on her grandfather and uncle to look around for any other signs of life or trouble when she heard the big truck’s engine roar to life. Those stubborn old coots. Opening the door and scrambling inside the cab of the pick up as fast as she could, she turned the ignition, said a silent prayer to anyone listening, and burned rubber pulling away from the side of the road.
She had no earthly idea what she was going to do when she caught up with her grandfather, but wring his neck was leading the options. Blast that man. And those poor cows bouncing around on a dirt road while her grandfather rode in like a modern day Senior Citizen Lone Ranger. And Tonto too.
The mere size of the truck in front of her and the dust from the tires made it almost impossible to see what was happening ahead. She heard the single crack of gunfire and for the first time since hopping in the cab, realized exactly how dangerous this whole cattle rustling mess really was.
In front of her the large truck came to a screeching halt. Another shot fired and her heart nearly stopped. The driver’s door in front of her burst open and her grandfather flew out waving a huge gun and screaming something that sounded like, “Be careful with the cows, you clods.”
“Oh, Pops,” she muttered softly, took in a deep breath and ducking low, pushed her door open. “Pops, get back in the truck!”
Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Ian’s words repeated in slow motion—first sign of trouble, call DJ. She was pretty sure gunfire counted as trouble. Hitting 9-1-1 on her phone, she didn’t wait for Esther to answer before crawling out of the truck for a better look and eased her way around the door that had been keeping her safe. Hiding behind the back end of the cow-filled truck, she heard Esther’s voice from her hand.
“What’s your emergency?”
“Esther, it’s Kelly,” she whispered just as another shot fired. “Tell DJ that Ian’s in trouble.”
“He’s almost there. Are you somewhere safe?”
She looked up at the metal truck blocking her view of the people she cared about most in the world and figured the only safer ones were the cows. “I’m fine but tell DJ to hurry.”
Slipping her phone into her back pocket, she craned her neck to get a glimpse of what was going on.
****
If Ian could strangle Herbert and Ralph with his bare hands he would. Instead of an easy take down once DJ and Reed arrived, now the doofus brothers had abandoned the cattle and taken up the fire power DJ had warned him of. The only bright side being that they appeared to be as bad a shot as they were cattlemen.
So far, Kelly’s grandfather had shot the hat off of one brother and a cattle prod away from another. Whether that was dumb luck or clean shooting, Ian couldn’t tell. With Pops threatening to tan the Beaumonts hide if a single cow got hurt, and the three brothers tripping over each other trying to duck Herbert and Ralph’s shooting to get away with the few cows they’d managed to load, no one had noticed him circling around with his weapon drawn.
Somewhere behind him a twig snapped and he froze in place, hoping that escaping critters of the four legged variety had made the noise.
The familiar click of a revolver engaging announced the presence of a fourth brother. “I wouldn’t take another step if I were you.”
Another gunshot sounded and a second brother lost his hat. “Damn it, that was my best hat!” the scrawny man cried.
“I suggest you put your rifle on the ground and tell that crazy friend of yours to do the same, then back away from the truck.” Sirens blared in the distance, another crackle of dry brush mixed with kindling sounded behind him, and the hard steel of a gun barrel stabbed into his back. “Now.”
“Pops,” Ian called out as instructed, his Arms spread wide, he crouched low to the ground, gently setting the rifle down. “I need you to set your weapon on the ground.”
“Fat chance,” Pops yelled back without looking in his direction.
“I’d listen to him old man” The man sneered with an evil delight. “Unless you want me to put a bullet in his hea…” The words trailed off as a black flash came crashing down hard on the brother’s arm, knocking the gun away.
Before Ian could fully process what had gone down, he reached to his ankle holster, and gun in hand, spun around to face his captor only to find the brother writhing on the ground holding a limp arm.
“He made me so mad.” Standing over the prone body holding a tire iron, Kelly looked to Ian. “Does it make me a terrible person to hope it’s broke
n? Badly broken?”
Ian held back a laugh and shook his head. “No. Just human.” Keeping the gun trained on the fourth brother, with his free hand Ian waved for Kelly to move behind him. “Please come stand over here, and then remind me never to piss you off.”
Tossing the tire iron far from the action, Kelly rushed to Ian’s side.
Carefully hooking his hand around her waist, he nudged her safely behind him. Across the way muffled voices drew his attention. From the corner of his eye he saw the remaining three brothers lower their weapons.
The blaring sirens as DJ took the corner and barreled up the road overpowered all other sounds, but Ian could see the brothers raising their hands high in the sky. It took another few seconds as the sirens came to an abrupt silence and DJ and Reed bolted out of their police cars for Ian to realize Sean and Connor had crept up from the opposite side and taken the three brothers by surprise.
While Reed ran, gun drawn, to deal with the men Uncle Sean held at gunpoint, DJ came his way. “I’ll take it from here. You two go corral the senior citizens I didn’t see waving loaded guns around.”
Ian nodded and turned to face Kelly. Brushing the back of his knuckle down her cheek, he refrained from pulling her into a bone crushing hug and checking her over from top to bottom to make sure there wasn’t a scratch on her. He knew if he took the time to say even one word, DJ would be corralling the old men on his own and Ian would be whisking Kelly away someplace safe, special, and for only the two of them for a very long time. As in for all time. As in wasn’t this a crazy damn way to fall in love?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The living room had been the center of many a Farraday problem solving session. Through the years Kelly had been in awe of the few times she’d watched the family come together and bolster one another through a potential crisis. What she’d never expected was to one day find her own family at the center of such a session.
Even more surprising was sitting on the comfortably aged leather sofa at Ian Farraday’s side, their fingers entwined, his thumb gently drawing soothing circles across the back of her hand. Being with him, like this, was the sort of connection she and every girl had dreamed of, though she could have done without the nightmare of people shooting at them a short while ago.
By the time all the dust had settled, the thieves had been taken into custody, her grandfather and uncle had been driven home, most of the Farraday clan had driven out to the ranch for moral support, and Kelly no longer felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Though that most likely had more to do with the way Ian Farraday looked at her than the rest of the family sitting around the room.
“Then the only problem is our missing calf?” Aunt Eileen asked.
“You mean the sick calf at the clinic?” Becky’s words weren’t meant as a question. The family had drawn together to protect their own. For most of her life Kelly had felt more like family than friend when around the Farradays, but never more than tonight.
“That’s right.” Adam nodded. “Brooks brought him in earlier today. I don’t anticipate any problems there, it’s only a cold. He’ll be back among the herd pretty soon.”
The way everyone managed to tell the absolute truth, with a totally casual expression, and never mention her garage or her grandfather’s antics, was nothing short of amazing. The whole thing almost had Kelly in tears. Only the occasional squeeze by Ian whenever she thought she might lose it kept her from blubbering like a grateful baby.
“It’s really quite simple.” Sean Farraday leaned forward. “We caught the Beaumonts red handed stealing our cattle. DJ and Reed made the arrests. During this arrest another truck, also registered in the Beaumont’s name, was discovered carrying all of the cattle reported as stolen over the last few months. As for my nephew Ian, he’s here for a personal vacation. Only.” Mr. Farraday sat back again. “Seems pretty cut and dry to me.”
Catherine nodded. “As an attorney, I’d agree that pretty much sums it up.”
“Now the only challenge seems to be how to keep Herbert and Ralph out of any…” Mr. Farraday paused searching for the right word, “mischief.”
Aunt Eileen leaned across the side table and patted Kelly’s knee. “Don’t you worry yourself. We’ll figure this one out too. I have a feeling it may be as simple as letting Ruth Ann keep Ralph busy, then maybe on his own Herbert won’t be such a handful.”
Brother, did Kelly hope Ian’s aunt was right.
“All right.” Aunt Eileen stood up. “Time for a late night dessert.”
“Not for me,” Sean said. “Monday morning will be here bright and very early. I need my beauty sleep.”
A few voices chorused agreement with Aunt Eileen, a few others echoed the family patriarch’s. As the remaining family members mulled about the kitchen, Ian gave her hand a gentle tug and tipped his head toward the back door.
The moon lit the back porch. She loved the peace and quiet that came with a late night breeze on the porch.
“Walk with me?” he asked.
Rather than answer to the moon and back, she settled for a slow nod and a smile.
Hand in hand they followed the narrow path from the house to the barn. Instead of going inside as she would have expected after coming this far, Ian nudged her toward an even narrower path. Only a few feet more, they sat at an old park bench nestled under one of the few mature trees on the ranch.
“This is one of my favorite spots here at the ranch. When I’d visit in the summertime, I’d sit out here with Aunt Helen and she’d tell me stories about the sun, the stars, and the little man on the moon.”
Kelly chuckled. She’d never met Mrs. Farraday, but from all the stories the family told, she’d grown to love and miss her a long time ago. “I’m not sure I’d heard the man on the moon story. The immortality of the crab, yes, man on the moon, no.”
“Maybe some day I’ll share it with you, but right now I’d like to talk about something else.”
She was glad he hadn’t said anything that required more than a nod, because her mouth had just gone completely dry.
“First, before I say anything more, or worse, something stupid, may I kiss you?”
Surprised by the question, she nodded.
“Really kiss you? I mean, not a nice-to-see-an-old-friend-on-the-cheek kiss, but a man who has been dying to hold you close kind of kiss.”
She bobbed her head again and wished he’d just hurry up and kiss her before she did something stupid like throw up on his shoes.
One hand gently cupped the side of her face and the other wound around her shoulder, inching up until his fingers laced through her hair, pulling her closer. So close she could almost feel his heartbeat.
“You’re so beautiful,” he uttered seconds before his lips came gently down on hers and worshipped her mouth as no man had ever done before.
****
Ian felt like a teenager on a first date with the prom queen. His heart galloped so fast he was sure she could hear every beat. The first touch of her lips on his nearly had him tumbling off balance. The impact, the pressure, the sweetness were almost more than he could take, and yet, would never be enough. Letting his hand slide from the back of her head to rest on her shoulder, he eased away, letting his head fall against her forehead, searching for what to say, wishing they could stay like this forever. “I want more than one kiss.”
A sweet smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “I won’t object.”
“But I’m going back to work a week from now.” He spotted the dejection right away. “If you’re willing, I’d like to work around that, at least for a little while.”
“Work around?” Her eyes brightened again.
“Days off, that sort of thing, and I don’t usually have regular Saturday and Sundays off either, but if I do we can work around that as well.”
A hesitant smile appeared. “I can do that.”
His finger hooked under her chin, lifting her face level with his. “Will you dance with me?”
�
��You mean this Friday?”
He shook his head, slipped his phone out from his pocket, swiped at a few apps and set it on the arm of the bench. “I mean now, under the moon and the stars.”
Strands of the country version of “Thinking Out Loud” began to play and Kelly melted easily into his arms. He placed a sweet, barely there kiss on her temple, and holding her tight, swayed to the soft notes. He didn’t know exactly how they were going to make this work for always and forever, but he knew they would as surely as he knew his name was Ian Brian Farraday.
The song came to an end. Rhythms of the next song blended in with the last and Ian almost felt as well as heard a rustle in the nearby shrubs. He would have gladly ignored it if Kelly hadn’t tensed slightly in his arms. “You heard it too?” he asked.
Her head against his shoulder, she nodded. Together they pulled apart and turned in the direction of the movement. He should have known. Sitting quietly like the audience at a famous film festival, the town’s two stray dogs sat side by side watching them. When the animals had both his and Kelly’s full attention, the one dog lifted her paw up and down and dipped her head as though waving a blessing and giving a nod of approval. Her partner tipped his muzzle upward and gave off one clipped bark.
A smile on her face, Kelly curled back into his arms and without saying a word, continued swaying to the next tune. For a split second his lips tipped up in a smile. Wouldn’t his mother be surprised to learn he’d found the right woman behind bars?
EPILOGUE
Not in his entire life had Ian Farraday smiled so much. If Jamie wasn’t watching his tough as nails brother with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe it. The man practically glowed. Seeing his brother so darn happy was better than a cold Irish ale on a hot Texas night. Better than Christmas morning for a six year old boy excited to get his first two wheeler. Better than…better than anything—ever.
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