Making Room for the Rancher

by Christy Jeffries

  “I know I’m not Special Forces,” Micah said, surprising Connor with his intel. Not that he blamed the man for doing his research. “But I got my start playing in some of the roughest honky-tonks and dive bars on the rodeo circuit. I can throw a mean right hook.”

  “Not with your wrist like that, you can’t.” Connor pointed to the street ahead. “Turn here.”

  “Crap. I guess I’ll have to use my left hand.”

  “Look, if one of us goes to jail for hitting him, it should probably be me since you have Amelia tonight.”

  “I can probably afford a better attorney, though,” Micah replied, then shot him a sheepish smile. “No offense.”

  “Maybe we should focus on a plan that doesn’t involve either of us getting into a fight or getting arrested?”

  “Peyton says Andy Pandy sleeps on her bed,” Amelia said, clearly listening to every word from the back seat. “Maybe we can just sneak in the window and get him.”

  “No,” both Connor and Micah said at the same time.

  “Baby doll, you can’t just sneak into someone’s house,” Micah said as he turned onto Jay’s street. “Your mom would be so mad at us if we let you do that.”

  “But I know which window is hers.”

  Connor turned around in his seat. “Amelia, I need you to stay here and keep Goatee from barking or getting out of the truck, okay? He doesn’t know this neighborhood and we wouldn’t want him running away again and getting lost.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” The little girl nodded solemnly as she stroked the dog’s back.

  “Besides, I’m sure if we just knock on the door and talk to Peyton’s dad, he’ll be happy to give us Andy Pandy,” Micah said, and Connor almost believed him.

  Of course, Jay’s flatbed truck wasn’t in the driveway and his house was dark when they parked at the curb. When nobody answered the door, Amelia rolled down her window and yelled, “Oh, no! Andy Pandy is all alone in there. We can’t just leave him here. It’s my night.”

  “Hey, baby doll, which room is Peyton’s?” Micah called back to Amelia.

  “You can’t be serious,” Connor said, looking up and down the darkened street. “That’s breaking and entering.”

  “Are you going to go back to the truck and tell her that we can’t get her doll? Because I’m not gonna break her heart like that.”

  “It’s a bear,” Connor corrected absently. But one look at Amelia’s tear-stained face was all it took to agree to something so ridiculous. “Okay, you go into the room. I’ll stay out here as the lookout.”

  After all, Connor had done way more dangerous missions than this in enemy combat zones. In fact, he was the third wheel in this situation. His role was secondary to Amelia’s actual father’s. How bad could it be?

  * * *

  “Can you say that again, Peanut?” Dahlia asked her daughter, thinking the cell phone might’ve cut out. “Where’s Daddy?”

  “The deputy put him in the back of the police car.”

  Dahlia’s stomach dropped. “What deputy?”

  “The deputy that Uncle MJ punched.”

  Oh, hell. Dahlia needed to go get Marcus. She walked out the door of her hotel room and, trying to keep her daughter talking, asked, “What are you doing right now?”

  “Eating an ice cream with Keyshawn. Did you know he lives next door to Peyton’s dad’s house?”

  Dahlia had to breathe through her nose. “Why are you at the Fredricksons’ house?”

  “I’m not. I’m in the truck. No, Goatee, dogs can’t have chocolate ice cream.”

  Dahlia stopped in the middle of the long hallway between her and Marcus’s room. “Goatee is with you?”

  “Yeah, he got in the car when we picked Connor up.”

  They picked Connor up? What in the world was going on? “Can you put Connor on the phone?”

  “I don’t think he can talk right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “’Cause he’s in the front seat of the police car.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Dahlia said, then caught herself. Stay calm. “Amelia, I need you to tell me what happened.”

  “Nothing really. We just came to get—” The call cut out for a second. When her daughter’s voice returned to the line she heard “...that’s all.”

  It sounded like a lot more was going on. “Is Keyshawn still there with you? Can I talk to him at least?”

  “Hold on a second,” Amelia told her, then forgot to move the phone away from her mouth before yelling, “Hey, Keyshawn! My mommy wants to know if you can come talk to her.” There was a pause and then Amelia said, “He said he’ll be right over when he finishes giving his witness statement.”

  Dahlia slid down the wall of the hotel hallway until she was sitting on the plush carpeting. Thankfully, Marcus came out of his room at that exact second and saw her. “Dia! I was just coming to find you.”

  “Keep eating your ice cream, Peanut. I’m going to stay here on the phone with you and wait,” she told her daughter in the calmest voice she could muster. Then she covered the mouthpiece on her phone and asked her oldest brother, “What in the hell is going on back in Teton Ridge?”

  “Apparently, Micah was breaking into Jay Grover’s house with the intent to remove an item from the premises. Connor was in the front yard, acting as the lookout.”

  “Wait, back up. They took Amelia with them? My daughter was an accomplice to a burglary and my truck was the escape vehicle? I knew I shouldn’t have left. Please tell me Jay wasn’t there. The last thing I need is for that guy to try to sue me.”

  “They’re still getting witness statements, but it sounds like Amelia wanted to let Goatee out of the car to pee. Then Amelia had to pee, so Connor walked her over to the Fredricksons’ and asked if she could use their restroom.” Marcus put his hand over his mouth and his shoulders shook several times before he could continue.

  Dahlia wanted to shake her brother by the front of his shirt. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”

  “No, no. It gets better.” His mouth twitched several times and he had to look away briefly. “So Amelia had just gone inside the Fredricksons’ to use the bathroom when Connor heard Jay’s truck coming down the street. He tried to run back to the house to give Micah the signal, but Micah had gone in the wrong room and was wandering around the house in search of a—” Marcus paused to wipe the back of his hand across his eyes, but the tears of laughter were already escaping “—a panda bear. Apparently, they’d broken into Jay’s house to steal a stuffed animal.”

  Dahlia gasped. “Not Andy Pandy?”

  “That’d be the one. When Jay pulled up, Connor tried to waylay him in the yard so Micah could make his escape. Except Micah, not knowing Jay had returned, throws the panda out the window and it lands in the boxwood shrubs below. According to witnesses—”

  “Oh, great. There’s witnesses?”

  “Whole damn block. At this point, Jay starts yelling, ‘Thieves, thieves,’ at the top of his lungs and races to the bushes. Connor is faster, though, and beats him there, getting the bear first. Jay attempts to sucker punch Connor, but his fist glances off his cheek. So Connor returns the hit and lays Jay flat. Now Jay is out for the count and Micah is trying to shimmy himself down the trellis, but he only has one good hand so he slips right before he lands in the bushes by Jay. His elbow lands in Jay’s solar plexus, which wakes the man up and he starts yelling again and raising holy hell. Broman and a junior deputy are now on scene and an ambulance is there on standby.”

  “So did Amelia see any of it?” Dahlia asked and didn’t realize she’d dropped her hand from the mouthpiece of the phone until she heard her daughter’s response.

  “No, me and Goatee missed the whole thing ’cause the Fredricksons have a cat and Goatee wanted to chase it. Mr. Freddie said that maybe Goatee should sit in the truck and give his cat a brea
k, so he gave me an ice cream and asked Keyshawn to watch me until the policemen decide what to do with Daddy and Connor. Oh, here they come now. And they have Andy Pandy with them!”

  “Here, you better talk to them.” Dahlia passed the phone to Marcus. “I don’t trust myself not to completely lose my cool, and my daughter doesn’t need to hear that.”

  She rubbed her temples as her brother spoke to her ex-husband, wincing every time he’d have to pause to recover from his sudden bouts of laughter. When he hung up, he told Dahlia, “Everyone is fine. Micah’s taking Connor home and then he and Amelia will head straight to Twin Kings.”

  “Thank God.” Dahlia sagged against the wall. “I can’t believe Broman didn’t arrest them.”

  “Oh, he still plans on it. But I told him to hold off on filing the official charges until we get back. Mom will kill you if you leave early and ruin her surprise for Tessa tomorrow.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dahlia stood outside the county courthouse steps on Monday morning when Connor and Micah came out of the adjacent sheriff’s building.

  Connor’s lips were pressed in a firm line, looking suitably embarrassed by the whole affair. As he should. However, Micah had the audacity to smile and wave at her. “Thanks for posting bail for us, Dia.”

  “I didn’t do it for you. I did it so my daughter doesn’t have to come visit you guys behind bars. Can you even imagine how awful a jailhouse visit is for a kid?” As soon as she saw Connor flinch, she knew she’d said the wrong thing. “Oh, my gosh, Connor. I’m so sorry. Of course you know exactly what that would be like.”

  “You’re only speaking the truth.” Connor rubbed the back of his neck. “Funny thing is I spent my whole life trying not to be like my dad and the one time I actually do something I think is fatherly, this happens. I promise, Dahlia, I’m not the kind of guy who normally gets into brawls and gets arrested.”

  “Technically, you weren’t arrested. You just had to appear for an arraignment and then post bond,” Violet Cortez-Hill said as she broke away from where she’d been huddled in discussion with the district attorney. “And you didn’t get charged with the battery since all the witness statements reflected that you acted in self-defense.”

  “Thank God for that,” Dahlia said, not only relieved but also touched by his admission that he felt “fatherly” toward her daughter. “I appreciate you always wanting to do what’s best for Amelia, but what were you guys thinking? Now you have a burglary charge on your record.”

  Micah raised his bandaged hand. “I’m the one with the burglary charge. Connor just got accessory to burglary. For a former military scout, you’re a real crappy lookout, man.”

  “I was taking your daughter to the bathroom. Besides, I told you which window to go in and you picked the wrong—”

  “Hey,” Violet quickly cut off Connor. “The DA is going to be walking by any second. Let’s not admit to the crime in front of him, shall we?”

  Marcus came out the door marked Sheriff, took one look at Violet, then almost turned around and went back inside. Then he saw Dahlia and asked, “Seriously, Dia? You hired my ex-girlfriend as their defense attorney, too? Is my entire family suddenly getting a group rate?”

  “Good morning, Sheriff.” Violet’s smile was so bright and taunting that Dahlia nearly laughed. “I was on my way to your office next to ask you about the alleged victim in my clients’ case. Jay Grover?”

  “What about him?”

  “A little birdie told me that Mr. Grover was doing a little breaking and entering of his own right before he confronted my clients and accosted one of them.”

  “Is it considered an accost if he couldn’t even land the punch?” Micah asked Connor, who lifted one shoulder.

  Marcus didn’t bother looking in their direction he was so focused on his ex-girlfriend. “Does this little birdie happen to work in my office?”

  “You know I won’t reveal my sources. But I’ve already gotten the DA to agree to reduce the charges from burglary to trespassing. As soon as he watches the video footage I obtained of his star witness, I have a feeling Mr. Grover is going to be so embarrassed, he’ll want to drop the charges altogether.”

  “She’s good,” Micah said to Marcus, who only clenched his jaw tighter. “Violet, any chance you do contract negotiations?”

  “As mind-numbingly boring as that sounds,” Violet replied to Micah despite the fact that her eyes were locked onto Marcus’s stern face. “I’ve got a big case coming up this week and need to get through that before I can focus on my next career path.”

  “That’s right. MJ’s trial starts in a few days. Are you going to be at the family dinner tomorrow, then?” Micah asked, and Connor’s eyes immediately shot to Dahlia’s.

  “Probably not,” Marcus said at the same time Violet nodded and said, “Yes, I’m bringing a pie from Burnworth’s.”

  After a couple more seconds of intense glaring, her brother stomped back to his office and Violet headed down the steps.

  “Okay, then I’ll catch everyone there,” Micah said more to himself before addressing Dahlia and Connor. “I’ve got to run to my physical therapy appointment, but I should be done in time to grab Amelia after school. I’ll call you.”

  And just like that, Dahlia and Connor were left standing alone on the courthouse steps. If he was going to tell her that he needed a break from her and all the trouble she and her family had caused him, now would be an opportune time. She swayed slightly before bracing herself for the inevitable.

  “So you’ve got a big family dinner going on?” he asked, catching her off guard.

  “Oh. Um. Yeah. My mom has this annoying PR person who wants us all to meet before MJ’s hearing so we can best plan our strategy for a public show of support. Duke flew back with us from DC and invited Micah to stay on at the ranch. They were friends all through school and the best men at each other’s weddings.”

  “You mean the wedding to you?”

  Maybe Dahlia shouldn’t have reminded him of that fact. But the past was there. It happened. She couldn’t erase it. “Yes, Micah’s wedding to me. The one we had before we got a divorce. Is that a problem for you?”

  “I want to say it is. I even want to be jealous of the guy or find something to dislike about him. But I can’t. It just might take me some time to get used to it, I guess.”

  An unexpected and very tiny drop of hope blossomed inside her. “I don’t know if any of us will get used to it. I know you’ve been pulling away lately and I’m not sure if it’s because of your own stuff you have going on. Or if it’s because the attraction isn’t there anymore...” She paused, letting her words hang in the air in the hopes that he’d fill in the rest for her.

  Connor’s head shook firmly. “It’s definitely not because of you.”

  That blossom of hope got a little bigger before she realized that he hadn’t denied the fact that he’d been pulling away. Dahlia was too invested at this point, though, to keep fishing for answers. Seeing Tessa and Grayson find their own happiness this weekend was all the encouragement Dahlia needed to be like her strong female ancestors and take matters into her own hands.

  “Then it must be because of the situation,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “If it’s weird for you to be around my ex, I get it. I probably wouldn’t enjoy being around your ex, either. But if you truly do want to give things a shot between us, then it’s something you’re going to have to get used to. And there’s nothing like a King family dinner to get your feet wet.”

  For the first time in several days, she finally got a genuine smile out of the man. “Is that an invite?”

  She leaned up on her toes and dropped a light kiss on his lips. “No, it’s a warning. If you still want to run after that, then I won’t stop you.”

  * * *

  Connor sat in the living room at the main house on the Twin Kings Ranch, tr
ying not to feel like the wannabe cowboy that Amelia had adopted like one of her strays. But everyone in this room had known each other for decades and he was clearly the newcomer. He would’ve been way more comfortable eating in the bunkhouse with the rest of the ranch hands, or even in the kitchen with Freckles as she finished cooking the dinner that Sherilee King was already complaining about.

  The condensation on his glass of iced tea dripped down his hand before splattering on his jeans. He would’ve set it down on the end table beside his silk upholstered chair, but the wood finish probably cost more than his last pay stub.

  Dahlia threw him the occasional smile, but she was sitting with Violet, Finn and Tessa, all looking overwhelmed at the stack of glossy bridal magazines Mrs. King had just dropped in front of them. Marcus and Grayson, the Secret Service agent who was now engaged to Tessa, were discussing law-enforcement training tactics. That conversation might’ve been more appealing to join if Connor wasn’t awaiting a possible trial for trespassing and hoping not to draw any more attention to his potential criminal record. Duke and Micah were discussing their glory days playing high school football, and though Connor had played kick returner on his own varsity team, he didn’t know most of the names they were referencing.

  Normally, Amelia was the one who put him at ease in big situations like this, keeping him talking by asking him a million questions a minute. But she’d gone out for a ride on her pony with Rider and Marcus’s twin boys. Connor had been tempted to join them, but then it might seem as though he were steering clear of Micah or running away from interacting with Dahlia’s overwhelming family.

  And Dahlia was right. If he wanted to be in a relationship with her, he’d have to eventually learn to deal with all of this. For years, this was the exact type of emotional attachment he’d been trying to avoid. Yet, now, he found himself wanting the one thing he’d always wanted as a child. A family.

  He was also on the edge of losing it, though.