“Ah…” Ben watched in the rearview mirror as Cooper put his hand to his mouth, thinking. “It is in your moments of decision… Oh, I remember…that your destiny is shaped.”
Will started clapping in praise, and Ben joined in by drumming on the steering wheel. His son might be a handful, but he was as bright as a copper coin. All his early childhood assessment tests showed he was advanced for his age. Not only because he was raised around adults as an only child, but also because Cooper craved challenges and had more questions than Ben had answers to.
Thank goodness for online searching. There was always an answer out there to Cooper’s many questions when he looked, which made him feel like a good dad. His own father’s answers ofbecause I told you soorthat’s the way it ishad never satisfied him. He was determined to give his son better answers, which is why he let Will play Tony Robbins inthe car. He’d hoped to become a better dad because of the motivational speaker and author.
“It’s Vocabulary Bonus Round, Cooper McAllister,” Will called back. “What is destiny?”
Even though Cooper had only finished kindergarten, he’d know the answer. Ben cocked his ear. Kids did say the darnedest things.
“That’s easy, Uncle Will. It’s something so big and so powerful that you can’t run away from it.” He showed his gap-toothed grin when he hugged Tank. “Like Tank being my dog. You and Papa love his papa and mama so much that Ghost and Luna had a puppy especially for me, so I had a dog to love too.”
“Can’t fault logic like that,” Will agreed, kicking his tan cowboy boots out. “Love is the biggest spark when it comes to destiny. You remember that, Cooper.”
“I will!” Then he giggled as Tank gave another trumpet-like announcement, making everyone roll their windows down again.
When Will announced it was time to change drivers, Ben pulled to the side and let his brother take the wheel. His old habit of checking to make sure his brother wasn’t stressed hadn’t gone away since Will’s car accident. When his brother gave him a knowing, dimpled smile as they buckled back in, he tucked his black Stetson hat low over his brows and tried for some shut-eye, hoping Reba could wrangle Cooper and Tank to do the same.
He was lucky Reba was along for the ride, taking care of his boy like she had him and Will. Hell, he was lucky, period. Despite losing Hannah and then messing up his life with Cooper’s mother, he’d done the best he could by his boy. Cooper was the son any man would wish for, and he was grateful for him every single day.
Running the ranch now, his days were packed to the gills. No time for regrets or recriminations. God knows he’d vowedto never make another life-changing mistake. He tended what was his, took care of his boy, and looked to the future, telling himself it was enough. Most days, it was. That peace helped him drift off…
He jerked awake as they came to a stop. Tipping up his Stetson, he caught Will unfolding from the driver’s side and letting a bounding Tank out followed by Cooper.
“You two go on and stretch your legs,” Will called. “Reba will be along to make sure you don’t get into too much mischief.”
“Like he’s the one I’m worried about,” Reba muttered, hopping out and stalking away with her brown fringe jacket fluttering in the wind.
Ben looked out the window. Snow-capped mountains surrounded them. Agricultural sheds lay scattered around the abandoned property. His edgy feeling turned into a full stomach roil. “Where the hell are we?”
“An old friend’s place,” Will answered, slamming his door and then coming over to his side.
Ben opened his door reluctantly. “Who—” He saw Logan striding toward them with his usual determined gait. “I don’t recognize these mountains. Meaning, aren’t we a little out of your territory, Sheriff Delaney?”
“I’m off duty,” Logan replied, moving his dark jacket aside to show his sheriff badge wasn’t clipped to his belt. “You made good time, Will. We just got here.”
They man-hugged like nothing weird was going on. “You two going to tell me what you’re up to? Now Reba’s comment about mischief makes sense.”
Logan hooked his hands in his jacket. “We had something we thought you should consider.”
The two men shared a look, and suddenly, Ben was excited. Could they be out here for a horse? He’d recently lost out on a gorgeous white Arabian foal he’d wanted for breeding stock to a higher bidder. Will had done his best tocajole him out of his bad mood when he’d stormed around for a week.
His pet project of breeding Arabian and quarter horses was his passion—but breeding was a long game, and it took money from the ranch to get it up and going. He loved the Quarab mix because it combined the athleticism of the quarter with the endurance and elegant lines of the Arabian. He hoped it would become a long-term paycheck that could contribute to the ranch’s bottom line, which was narrowing every year due to increasing taxes and agricultural prices.
The McAllisters had always been land rich and cash poor—and he could live with that—but too many new factors were making him lose sleep, most involving power-hungry billionaires like James Taft. He’d been harassing them to sell him Wild Mountain and the surrounding land to use as his personal playground and develop as he saw fit.
Across Montana, billionaires like Taft were buying up ranches, putting up fences, and bringing in a whole new breed of tourism—luxury Western tourism. The Triple M had enough issues without the rumble of helicopters overhead while tending cattle and keeping the ranch going.
Will put his hand on Ben’s shoulder. “I want you to know that Dad is on board, as is Gramps.”
Both of them? His belly did another somersault. “So I’m not out here for a horse.”
“Nope, but it’s going to give you more money to bid with so you won’t lose another foal, and it’ll even help the ranch’s bottom line.” His dimples disappeared as he grew serious. “You remember how I promised you a long time ago that I would make something right?”
Tension locked down his muscles. He could only be referring to one promise, and Ben went rigid. “I told you we were never talking about that.”
Hannah—he had to be talking about Hannah. Not when he’d done the unforgivable…
Will’s hand anchored Ben in place. “Too bad. I love you too much to let the status quo continue. Especially now.”
