She punched his arm. “Of course we do. It just that our water isn’t usually this clear. It has lake weeds and fish and leaf debris that cloud it up and make it darker. I like this.”
“It’s water, Tee. I’ll get you a glass of it later.”
Her laugh rang out, and she slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized how loud she really was. “Sorry, sorry.”
“Come on. We have a bit more exploring to do.”
They walked along the nice, even trail, and Tate was thrilled that he could not only keep going but didn’t seem to have any trouble with it. He’d be tired when they got home, but for now he could walk with her through one of his favorite places.
He was doing so well that they wound up spending most of the day winding through the balconies. Tate found a great spot overlooking the river.
Just after noon, he found a little out of the way clearing where they could sit and have lunch, and look out at the deep pool that the trail took them by. He pulled out a blanket and spread it on the ground.
“You’re serious?” Fatima put a hand on her hip when she turned back from admiring the view.
“I’m seriously hungry. I packed some snacks for us. Can’t think of better place than this to sit for a while and snack.”
“Guys and food. Always.”
“Please. Like your Portuguese dinners don’t lay all of you out for hours after a meal.”
Fatima laughed. “I think that our families used to do that because the women just wanted the men to shut up for a few hours after having to listen to them all week. It was like giving them a tranquilizer.”
“So you’re willing to feed us to knock us out.”
Laughing, Fatima nodded and sat down on the blanket next to Tate.
He pulled out a cooler that had two sandwiches, two small bottles of wine, and some cheese and crackers.
Fatima grabbed the little bottles of wine and giggled. “These are great!”
“I was trying to be classy without glasswear.”
“Nailed it.”
They collapsed in a fit of laughter as they tucked into the food. Tate was thrilled that she was so willing to go along with his crazy plans. He might not ever be able to ride ATVs or horses, but if Tee was willing to follow him around on nutty little random adventures like this, he would, in turn, follow her anywhere too.
“What is this place?” Fatima asked. “I get that it’s called Balcones Canyonlands, but…”
“It’s series of limestone balconies that the Colorado River and some tributaries have carved out. It’s a pretty ecologically diverse place, and there’s lots of good birding here. A few of the birds were brought back from extinction in the park. I used to come up here with Dad and Deej all the time. Deej doesn’t advertise it, but she adores ornithology. She would come up here at dawn or dusk with a pair of binoculars and just watch. It wasn’t long after my mom died and Cald and I moved into Big Butte that I started coming with her. I think I liked the quiet—Mom’s estate settlement was noisy because of who she had borrowed money from. Some of the debtors wanted more than what they were owed. There were guns drawn at one point, and that’s when I started coming with Deej.”
“What happened to your mom?”
“Drugs. She was an addict. Heroin. Opiates. It’s why Caldwell and I are so careful with our drugs. You’ll see just about everyone else popping Tylenol and Advil for any little twinge. Cald and I wait until it makes it hard to focus. My doc knows all that, so he works with me on non-drug pain management.”
“You don’t take anything?”
“Oh, no, I have painkillers. I just use ones that aren’t opiate derivatives. Most are based off heroin, frighteningly enough, so I stay away. I’m on a low daily dose of Cymbalta, and I supplement with gabapentin on occasion. And Tylenol. I have a special prescription of that.”
“What do you have? I mean, why all the drugs?”
“I have psoriatic arthritis. It’s a really weird circle because my mother died from the very drugs that I should have been taking to control the pain. I also get infusions once a month to help control the damage and progression.”
“That’s where you went last week?”
“Yup. It takes about four hours to do the IV, and I just go to the hospital and have it done.”
“Handy having a stepmom who’s a doctor.”
“Except she’s more mom than doctor at home,” he laughed. “Poor Haskell got tossed off the horse about four months ago and broke his arm. Damn if Deej didn’t totally overreact to it. Caldwell had to drag her into the house and drive her to the hospital behind the ambulance because she couldn’t calm down.”
“I can’t see your mom overreacting to anything!”
“She does, all the time.”
Tate started packing everything back up after they had finished the wine and he’d surprised her with a cupcake from a brand-new bakery in Austin. He had to admit, he’d been skeptical when they said it was bacon and chocolate, but it turned out to be one of the best cupcakes he’d ever eaten. Checking to make sure the trash was all back in the bag so he could carry it out, he rolled over and knelt up, grabbing the cane to push himself to his feet. As he reached vertical, the leg gave out.
“Shit!”
Fatima grabbed him before he fell all the way down. “Oh! Tate! Are you okay!?”
“Fine, I’m fine!” He pushed away from her, leaning on the cane. “I’m fine.”
He must have been harsher than he thought with his words, because Fatima backed up a step or two and looked very chastised. “I’m sorry.” Her words were soft.
Taking a moment to close his eyes and regather his thoughts, he mentally kicked himself. “No, it’s okay. I just get very mad when my leg doesn’t work.”
She blinked a few times. “Just the one leg bothers you?”
There was something about her direct questions that put him at ease. He’d spent most of his life dealing with whispered and snide remarks. “Yes, just the one leg. I had a really bad attack when I was about fourteen, and the leg has never been right since then. I get mad at it a lot.”
Fatima giggled. “That’s why you keep mumbling ‘fucking leg’.”
Tate tried to hold in his own laugh, but let it out a moment later. “Yup. I do say that a lot.”
Giving him a slide glance while he tried to get the limb moving again, Tee leaned against a tree just near the path. “I thought you were asking me to dry hump your leg.”
“What?” Tate was mortified.
“You mumbled it last night, while we were…engaged.”
The laugh bubbled up and he limped over to where she was standing. “You really thought I was asking you to hump my leg?”
“Well, we were a little wild last night…”
“A little.” He leaned in and gave a her light kiss on her lips, a teasing, testing kiss. “I’m pretty sure the neighbors had their Portuguese dictionaries out last night trying to spell and define caralho after you screamed it a few times.”
She went pink instantly, and Tate gave her a lopsided grin.
“Well, I was enjoying myself.”
“I was enjoying yourself too.”
He leaned in and found her lips, this time not teasing her at all. Her body went soft and Tate leaned into her, dropping the cane and backpack next to them. His hand found her breast and he wrapped his palm around her softly.
“I like enjoying yourself,” he whispered, reverently studying the delightful globe in his hand.
Fatima hummed and let her head fall back against the tree. Tate glanced down the path to the secret little picnic spot and found it still empty. He slipped his hand from her breast to the buttons on her shirt, and popped them open one at a time. As soon as Fatima realized what he was doing, she gasped and looked behind her at the path.
“Tate…”
He had already slipped the cup down, and her glorious tit spilled into his hand. He wasted no time capturing her nipple in his mouth and feasting on the hard peak. Her hand was twisted in h
is hair and her pleas, consisting only of his name, were conflicted. She wanted him to keep going and wanted him to stop at the same time.
“No one is coming, Tee,” he said, using his breath to tease her.
“If someone—” She gasped as he slid the other cup of the bra down.
Her dusky skin was a combination of the pale royalty in her blood and the sun-darkened skin of the working ancestors that had married into—or slept their way into—her ancestry. Her nipple was dark rose, and darker now with his lips and fingers playing there. Tate was amazed by the softness of her pendulous tits, enjoying how supplicant they were.
“These are amazing, Tee. I’m so glad no one else gets to see them. I want them all to myself.”
“Shit, Tate…”
He played and teased a bit longer. It wasn’t a hard decision to move his free hand down to the button of her pants and unfasten it, allowing him to slip his hand down into her panties. Her silk had drenched her, and the sensation was sweet, soft. He pushed a finger just inside her and stroked ever-so-softly against her. Her clit throbbed against his hand.
“You want me to make you come, baby?”
The first sound Fatima made was an incomprehensible grunt, and then she finally found her words. “Yes, oh, shit. Please, yes.”
She was at his mercy, and it felt amazing to know that she trusted him this much. He wasn’t a novice at this—but it had been a while. Fatima made it so easy to enjoy her, his hand on her pussy and his mouth on her tits. It was a little piece of heaven.
He pressed his palm against her clit and moved another finger inside, pressing deeper this time. Fatima’s whole body shuddered and he added to the sensation with a bite of her nipple.
“Oh, shit, oh shit, oh shit…” She gasped for air, drawing it in hard and deep. “I’m going to come, oh, Tate! Tate!”
He covered her mouth with his and worked over the excited pearl he had in his hand. She screamed her orgasm straight into his mouth—and he was very glad he’d covered her mouth. It was wonderfully loud, and his incredibly hard cock agreed with him.
Slowly she came down from the sexual high and joined him in the kiss he was prolonging. He felt her smile against his lips.
“Well, that was unexpected and welcome.”
“I’d ask for a return of favor, but the ground is too rocky and I don’t know if I can not scream your name across the Balcones.”
With a devious grin, Fatima slowly started buttoning her shirt. “Well, there’s always road head.”
Tate’s cock leapt again at the thought.
* * *
Tate didn’t like it at all when they walked in for dinner and found everyone—all of his siblings and his brother, who was supposed to be in Dallas that night—sitting at the table.
“Dad?”
Reg nodded at the chair waiting for him. “I don’t know if your girl wants to hang around for this, but grab her a chair if she does.”
Fatima nodded, and Tate grabbed one of the spares from the porch and placed it next to his. She sat and leaned back. He was pretty sure that she didn’t want to stay, but she was too polite to turn tail and leave.
Reg stood from his chair and walked behind Deidre, and Tate had the sinking feeling this wasn’t about them adding another Verhoven to the clan. “Y’all, we have some bad news. Your mother went to the ob-gyn about two weeks ago because she thought she was going to have another baby. She wasn’t pregnant, but the doctor did find something. And after two more weeks of tests and doctors, we got the diagnosis we didn’t want. Next week, your mother is going in for surgery to remove her uterus and for exploration for cancer.”
The silence was so thorough that Tate could have heard a pin drop. He felt his mouth drop open, and after the quiet went on for too long, Danielle gasped and started crying. Haskell reacted to his big sister’s reaction and started crying. Germany’s lip trembled, and a moment later she keened, “Don’t die, Mama!”
“Okay, stop. Everyone stop!” Deidre slapped a hand on the table. She brought the whole group in line in a motion. “I am not dying. The doctors have said I’m stage two A. It’s aggressive, but has been caught so early that with the hysterectomy and chemo, I will be fine. They are very, very positive that this is not going to kill me. A woman can live without her uterus, and I’m happy to give it up to save my life and stay right here. We wanted to tell you in one shot so we all know what’s going on.”
“You’re going to be okay?” Danielle asked, glancing at her twin.
“It’s going to be a long road, but at the end I’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What we are going to ask you all is to step up your help in the house and with the ranch. Your mama is going to be sick, very sick for a quite a few months while she’s doing the treatments. You know how this works—you’ve all gone to work with your mother at least once. It’s a long road, and it’s bumpy, but it’s worth it. We just need to all pitch in and help each other. Understand?”
One by one the kids around the table spoke up with a respectful and honest “Yes, sir,” including Tate and his brother. It made him damn proud to be part of the family.
The crowd broke up and and he pulled Fatima to the porch where they had walked in. “Tee, I didn't know that was going to happen. I'm sorry you got dragged into it.”
“I didn't want to interrupt by leaving. That seemed even more rude.”
“I'm so glad one of us is tuned into social cues.” He gave her a quick kiss.
Tapping his nose, she smiled. “And that cue means you'd like some time alone with them, dealing with this news.”
“No, I—”
She put a finger on his lips. “Tate, it's okay. This is huge for your family. You need time and I'm an interloper. It's perfectly okay. Call me later. I'm here to listen.”
Tate gratefully took the kiss she offered, and watched her walk out the back door with a smile and a wave. She was so damn hot.
He heard Danielle still weeping, and set off in her direction to see if he could help her.
* * *
Caldwell watched as Fatima gave his brother a quick kiss. He sighed. He was losing this race, and it was sort of ironic. There was no way to talk to her that wouldn’t make it seem like he was trying to win her over without crushing his brother.
Moving away from the adorable couple, he found Germany picking at the grass and throwing it into a pile.
“Hey Geri, what's up?”
Germany looked up with big, trembling tears in her sweet green eyes. “Mama's going to die, isn't she?”
Plunking down on the grass next to her, pulling her close. “No, Germany, she's not. You know Mama’s a cancer doctor.”
The six-year-old nodded. “An oncolologist.”
Caldwell laughed lightly. “Close. An oncologist. And you know that she's got lots of experience with this.”
His sister nodded.
“Then you also know that Mama knows all the best doctors and medicines, and she's helped kids with cancers way worse than hers.”
“I just don't want Mama to lose her beautiful hair because of this cancer.”
Caldwell considered her. “I have an idea. You, Danielle, and Mama have hair that's very much alike. What if, when the time came, we surprise her with a wig made of yours and Dani’s hair, so she can wear it whenever she likes.”
“We can do that?”
“Sure can. Wanna go ask Dani? We'll keep it a surprise.”
Germany leaned over and gave Caldwell a huge hug. “You're an awesome brother, Cald.”
He doubted that very much as he watched Fatima’s car pull down the street. “Come on, kiddo.”
Chapter Four
RJ and Fatima pulled up in front of the house, and were shocked to see that Ellen was pulling in behind them. There were no other cars to be seen, when there should have been a dozen or so. The hands should have all been in the green barn, helping with the muck out.
Climbing out, Fatima looked around, uneasy.
Ellen walked up next to RJ. "Um, RJ, where is everyone?"
Tossing a quick glance, he shook his head. "I don't know. Fatima and I ran to the supply store to pick up the order that came in. We left about two hours ago. Addie and Lucy were going to be working the Green barn after Addie took King out for his walk."
"It's not supposed to be this quiet and empty, is it?" Fatima was standing in the passenger door, still completely uneasy.
"No, it's not."
"Check the house, Fatima. See if the girls are in there. RJ, head to the green barn and I'll head to King's stall. Keep your phones at the ready, and if there's anything wrong, get out and get the rest of us."
Fatima headed to the house. There were no lights, no noises, no laughter, nothing. She didn’t like this. Where the hell was everyone? She wound her way through the house, poking doors open and moving curtains so she could see behind them, and out into the huge yards surrounding the house.
A moment later, a scream tore from the barns—which was impressive given how far they were.
"ROBERT!"
It was Ellen's voice, and she never, ever called him Robert. Fatima skidded through the house, out the open back door, off the porch, and across the yards and drive to the barn.
The door to King's Dominion’s stall was wide open, and half cleaned.
Karen was screaming. "Where's my daughter?" The panic rose in her voice. "Where. Is. My. Daughter!"
RJ followed the freshest set of tracks going off to the left of the barn, and Fatima followed him. He only got so far before it was clear that something had happened. A set of tracks skidded and erased part of the horse's prints. And those prints turned into drag marks.
"They have them. Whoever the hell stole the horse has Addie and Lucy."
Ellen's wail pierced the odd silence of the farm.
* * *
RJ's head hung in his hands, and he tried to grasp the commotion around him.
Fatima had somehow managed to keep her head about her after Ellen had fainted in the barn. She took over, and ordered RJ to call the McCoys for help before calling the Verhovens. She made him help her with Ellen, checking that she was comfortable where she had dropped, propping her head on a few blankets and using one to cover her.
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