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Gage and Beau are sitting on stools at the island, heads bent together and engaged in a private chat. They’ve always been thicker than thieves, but since Beau’s discharge from the Army six months ago, they’ve been joined at the hip. With him having no other plans, we welcomed him on the ranch, and it’s like he’s always been here working beside us.
Kain grabs a beer from the fridge, and Brooks wrinkles his nose at him as he opens it and drinks half in one long swig before finishing the cookie held in his other hand. “What?” Kain scowls, looking over at us.
“You find the owner of those tracks today?” He sneers and rolls his eyes, pushing off the counter and moving toward me.
“No,” he growls, pinning me with an angry scowl. “I was on a fucking wild goose chase while you did God knows what.”
Kain has never been easy, but this angry outburst is unexpected. “Kain—” He scoffs, interrupting me and storming out the back door toward his cabin behind the stables.
“He just needs to cool off, Dad,” Gage says, looking my way briefly before ducking his head and continuing his quiet conversation with Beau.
“From what?” I ask incredulously, hoping one of them has an answer.
“Darby,” Brooks explains as if I should just know what Kain’s booty call has to do with the current situation.
“What about her?” Clearly, I’m missing something. Simona clears her throat and busies herself on the other side of the kitchen, disapproval clear on her face.
“She ended their…arrangement…and Kain’s got his panties in a bunch. Then, you called and sent him out to look for a needle in a haystack, and he’s decided to take it out on you.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I sigh, grabbing my own beer to get through this. “I don’t need to tell you guys how fragile this operation is. Every cow counts. If there’s a threat, we need to find it. I’m sorry. Something came up. He could’ve told me when I called.”
All their heads nod in unison. After all these years, they’ve got the speech memorized. Even so, they know the score, and I expect them to help out.
“Don’t worry about it, Dad,” Gage shrugs, stealing another cookie while Simona’s back is turned, smirking at me in triumph. “He’ll get over it. Eventually.”
“Why were you playin’ hooky today, West?” Beau asks, leaning back on his stool, his arms casually crossed over his chest as he watches me.
I’ve been waiting for someone to ask, but I’m still not prepared to answer. My fingers tighten around the cold bottle so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter in my hand. My chest tightens as I try to find a way to explain Quinn.
“West?”
Beau’s concern is obvious. Looking up, I see both he and Gage are now leaning forward on the island, watching me intently.
“Yeah. Sorry. There was a bit of an emergency this morning,” I start. “I went out looking for whatever made those tracks, but pretty quickly, Twitch found…”
“Found what?” Gage interrupts, wide-eyed, his anxiety obvious. I can just imagine his leg bouncing up and down nervously on the other side of the island. My suspicions are confirmed when Beau moves his hand below the counter, and they share a quick glance.
My head drops, and I study the bottle in my hand. “A girl,” I continue, barely above a whisper, clearing my throat as I recall the first moment I saw her lying there, crumpled at the base of that boulder.
“What?” Brooks shouts, his loud voice piercing my ears and making me wince. “Was she-”
“Alive? Yes,” I confirm, looking over at him and seeing the concern in his eyes. “She was unconscious, but I got her up on Quiver with me and brought her back here. That’s why Doc was here when you got to the house.”
Four sets of eyes are focused on me, Simona and all three remaining boys, and I see the questions dancing behind them.
“Who is she?” Gage asks.
Who indeed? I think.
“Her name is Quinn. We haven’t talked much yet, but she’s gonna be staying for a while. She hurt her ankle before I found her, so until she’s back to rights and on her way, I expect each of you to be on your best behavior.”
My tone is serious, and I pin each of them with a stare.Meet your competition, old man. My heart stutters in my chest.Fuck.
“Dinner,” Simona announces, interrupting my wayward thoughts as she shoos the boys into the dining room. Coming back to the kitchen, she picks up a tray and hands it to me, the two large bowls of mouth watering pot roast and veggies making my stomach growl.
“Go take care of your girl,” she whispers, nodding toward the stairs.
“Yes, ma’am.”
