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She gives me a chiding look, then says, “We rescued them from the woodpile.” A calico kitten casually eats Ruby’s hair while she cuddles it. Her pretty face turns solemn. “Because of the wolf.”
“Wolf?”
Charlie says something in a low voice to Ford and that’s when I notice a pile of trash and bones on the kitchen table.
I scrub a hand down my face, turning to Charlie. “What did I miss?”
“The wolf’s still getting onto the ranch,” Charlie says, sliding a cup of coffee my way. “We took those cattle off the public grazing land up at Eden and moved them closer in, but the wolf followed. Killed a heifer last night. She’s sneaking onto the ranch somehow.”
“She’s a wolf,” Ford says with a shrug of his shoulders.
Charlie’s eyes darken. “Chuck Gibbons said his granddaughter was almost attacked. If he hadn’t had bear spray with him, it could have ended differently.”
“Jesus.” Annoyance flares beneath my skin. Not knowing what’s going on with my family chaps my ass. “Why didn’t anyone call me?”
Ford cocks an eyebrow at me and picks up his beer. “Been busy.”
I move to stand with my brothers at the island. Cross my arms. “Not too busy for my family.”
Ford just stares at me.
A white-hot frustration boils under my skin. Ford likes to piss me off. Normally, I find it amusing, and give it back as good as I get it. Today, I’m damn close to dumping the entire pot of coffee over my twin’s head.
“Speaking of family…” The edges of Charlie’s lips twitch. “I hear congratulations are in order. You and Dakota being in a family way and all.”
Ruby giggles and stands, gently cradling a marmalade kitten in her arm.
“Christ.” I groan. “Who else knows?”
“I reckon the whole damn town after what y’all did at the market.”
A grin appears on my face before I can smother it out. Fuck, but I want the whole town to know what I do. That Dakota’s devastation is everywhere. My disheveled hair from where her hands have been. Scratches down my back. My rumpled shirt carries the scent of her perfume that not even ranch work can chase away.
Ford’s sullen voice carries across the room. “Just because y’all are humping like bunnies doesn’t mean you can forget about the ranch.”
“Don’t fucking start,” I growl, swinging his way. Next to me, Charlie tenses. “And I haven’t forgotten about the ranch.”
“Bullshit.” Ford shakes his head. “We got problems here, man. And you got too many distractions. Too much girl drama.”
“Yeah, you’d know all about girl drama, wouldn’t you?” I say, my voice low and dangerous.
Ford’s eyes flash. “What’s that supposed to fucking mean?”
“Easy, we’re all in this,” Charlie reminds us.
A charged silence falls over the kitchen as both of my brothers stare at me. One confused, the other pissed off.
They don’t understand the history between Dakota and me. If I finally opened up to them, would it make things easier? I’m a rock, but it’s not doing me any favors. They’re my brothers, and by holding back, I keep them at a distance. Every day I don’t tell them the truth, I push them away.
That changes today.
“Dakota and I…” I drag a hand through my hair, unused to letting my guard down. I face my brothers. “We were…screwing around back when I first came to town to help out Charlie.”
That gets me dropped jaws from Ruby and Charlie. Only a scowl from Ford.
On an inhale, I set my mug down. I’m holding it so tight it’s a wonder it hasn’t broken into a million pieces.
“I was depressed, okay?” I grit the words out, meet Charlie’s eyes. “I was going through some shit. Nightmares. PTSD. And she helped. She was there for me in a way no one’s ever been, which is why I’m here for hernow. And I’m not walking away.”
