AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Davis and I catch each other’s eye and slip away from the group. Stede takes a seat in one of the campfire chairs we brought, while my brother and I sit across from him on a log bench Ford whittled over five years ago.
“What’s goin’ on, Stede?” Davis asks.
“Listen, son, I’m an old man and I do things like stick my nose in spots where it might not be wanted.” He lifts a hand when I open my mouth. “I’m your elder and you respect your goddamn elders, you hear me?”
I chuckle. “We hear you.”
Stede leans forward. “Charlie, son, I’m afraid to tell you, but you got yellow-bellied grunkles on your property.”
I rub my jaw, my gaze flicking to Davis. “What the fuck’s a grunkle?”
A raspy chuckle comes from Stede. “Hell, if I know.” A mischievous grin appears on his weathered face. “I’ve been trying to find a way out of your problem, and I think I’ve done it. You know I have that friend at the Fish and Wildlife Service. Well, I went down there a couple of weeks ago. It took some time, and I cashed in some favors, but Runaway Ranch is officially designated as a wildlife preserve.”
Davis and I stare at each other in stunned silence, then look at Stede.
Emotion has me in a stranglehold, and I have to clear my throat to get the next words out. “Jesus,” I say hoarsely.
No one can take Runaway Ranch from us now.
Davis still looks stunned. “Must have been a lot of fucking favors.”
Stede grunts. “Don’t ask.”
Blowing out a slow breath, I shake my head. “Why’d you do this? We have it covered. We have dirt on DVL.”
“And what about next time? When someone else comes calling? This way, even if you sell the land, it’s protected.” He lifts his Stetson and smooths a hand over his bald head. “I got money, son, a little power, some respect. Let me put it to good use. I’m the damn fool who didn’t think of the solution earlier.”
Davis covers his face and barks a laugh of disbelief into his palms.
“Charlie, you being on the deed, you’re due down at the courthouse to sign paperwork tomorrow,” Stede says. “It’s all set up. No one can touch your ranch now.”
I smear a hand down my beard, overwhelmed. “Stede. It’s too much.”
“It’s not.” He straightens up, his gray eyes flicking to Fallon. “I admit, it wasn’t from the goodness of my small-town heart. I want you to do something for me.”
“Name it.”
“I want you to protect my daughters.”
More silence. Davis sits straighter.
“Call me old-fashioned, but my daughters are my everything. I won’t be around forever. When I’m gone, I want you to look out for them.”
Davis lets out a sharp breath. “You didn’t have to do this. We’d protect Dakota and Fallon, no matter what. All you have to do is ask. And no disrespect to you, sir, but I’m not so sure your daughters need our help.” He glances over his shoulder at Fallon, who’s currently howling at the sky.
“Fallon can’t be tamed,” Stede says, pride in his eyes. “My fault I suppose. Wild as the wind, that girl. Ever since her mother ...” Stede trails off, his hand turning to a fist. He takes a beat, clears his throat, and says, “And Dakota, well ...she’s a mystery to all of us.”
Davis flinches.
Somewhere across the ridge, a coyote joins in with Fallon.
Stede raises his hand, cutting off any further discussion. “You all are like sons to me. I trust you. With the land. With my daughters.”
“We’d be glad to help, sir. Anything you ever need.” Davis glances down, knuckles going white around his beer can. Something in his expression, in his tone, is soft. Unreadable.
Stede stretches out, searching his pockets. He comes up with a hard candy and pops it in his mouth. “I love being alive, man. I know I did something good with the time I got left.”
My throat clogs. “You got lots of time.”
