Page 37 of Rancher to the Rescue

“Anytime the subject of her folks came up, she got quiet. I assumed she had her reasons and would tell me once we got engaged. Normally, that’s the time when families get involved, if not during the dating process,” he said.

“I always assumed Firebrands were close-knit,” she admitted.

“Some of us are. Between eight brothers and nine cousins there’s always a fight going on and plenty of others to connect with. I’m probably closest to my brother Brax, who you already met.”

“Which one of you is the oldest?” she asked.

“Me, on my side of the family. My cousin Kellan on the other side. He’s older than me by six months, but you’d think he had ten years on me by the way he thinks he’s in charge,” Adam admitted with a little more ire than intended. His anger management was a work in progress and thinking about his cousin fired him up. “I’ve been cutting him slack since his divorce, but our grandfather’s property division might stir the pot.”

Prudence sat there, looking out the window for the rest of the hour and fifteen-minute drive home. She stayed in the truck with Angel during the stop off.

Being in a vehicle knocked the kiddo out. Good to know, he thought, figuring he would need to keep tabs on all the tricks should she turn out to be his child. He needed as much in his arsenal as he could find because there’d come a time when Prudence would walk out and go back to her normal life and he’d be left to care for his child on his own.

Whoa there, Firebrand. Way to get ahead of the situation.

One hour at a time was how he would take things from now on. Trying to look ahead would make his head explode. He didn’t need to get used to the idea that Angel might be his. There was no reason to get attached and then set himself up for disappointment if paternity proved otherwise.

He pulled up to the main house and saw Brax’s truck parked out front.

Adam parked next to his brother. He moved around the front of the truck too slow to open the door for Prudence, which he considered common courtesy.

“I have an idea,” she said, snapping the car seat from its base, effectively turning it into a carrier. “We won’t have to constantly hold her and she might be more comfortable napping in here.”

Prudence had a point. The child’s whole world had been turned upside-down. He had no idea if she had an inkling of what was going on around her, but his heart broke at the only thing they knew for certain; her mother was dead.

“Hey.” Brax met the trio at the door. He immediately offered to take Prudence’s bag.

“Thank you,” she said.

Adam liked the fact his favorite brother got along with Prudence. There seemed to be a mutual kinship between them that tugged at his heartstrings. Not that he needed to go down that road with Prudence, where she got along with his family.

After bags were set down and the baby was secured on a chair wedging it against the table for security purposes, Brax motioned for Adam and Prudence to move to the island. Each took a seat as Brax paced on the opposite side.

“What’s going on?” Adam asked, figuring this had to have something to do with the Marshall.

“He did it.” Brax raked a hand through his hair. “He split the ranch from the mineral rights.”

The news was the equivalent of a hot poker against Adam’s chest. The worst was most definitely yet to come and the family might never recover.

“All hell is about to break loose,” Adam agreed.

13

“Why is that such a bad thing?” Prudence’s question caught Adam off guard. He assumed it was common knowledge to everyone who lived around cattle ranches. But why would everyone know?

“Our father and uncle were given the wrong names,” Brax said under his breath. “They should have been called Cain and Abel.”

Adam would laugh if it wasn’t true. Prudence nodded.

“Do you know who got what?” Adam’s worst fear would be losing the cattle ranch to his uncle and cousins. They’d boot him off the land just to spite him even though his uncle didn’t care two cents about cattle or ranching. He was only in the family business for the money.

“Dad got the cattle and the land,” Brax stated.

“Which means they got the mineral rights,” Adam deduced. He turned to Prudence, very aware of the chemistry pinging between them while sitting so close, and explained, “The reason this is gas on a fire is that our uncle can’t drill without the land owner’s permission. And the real money in a ranch is with mineral rights.”

“Sounds like your grandfather had a wicked sense of humor,” she mused.

“You’re not wrong,” Adam said. “It would just like the Marshall to try to force those two to stand on common ground.”