When the Dust Settles Page 11

  “Really?”

  “According to Mr. Joss, and you know, even though he’s a college professor now, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t an acquisitions manager at one time. He still knows his stuff.”

  He did, yes.

  “But he gave me the name of his attorney in Chicago, the lawyer for the Red Diamond, Knox Jenner, which I thought was one guy but is actually a whole firm and—”

  “I will kill you, Kevin,” I made known.

  He cleared his throat. “So I talked to Mr. Richard Jenner this morning, and he told me that if they shut us down at our current site, then they do, in fact, have to pay to relocate us.”

  “Okay,” I sighed. At least everything would work out.

  “He said for you to get in contact with him first thing tomorrow.”

  “I can’t believe he answered the phone for you on a Sunday.”

  “Well, it’s like Mr. Joss said when I mentioned the same thing to him. I told him that no fancy Chicago lawyer would pick up his phone on the Lord’s Day for a restaurant manager from a town in Texas that he’s probably never heard of, but he pointed out that he’d sure as shit answer for the Red Diamond, no question.”

  There was that.

  “I guess that ranch is kind of a big deal, ya reckon?”

  “I suspect so.”

  “And Rand Holloway might be a good man to have on your side.”

  That was true. “Well, whatever, at least we know we’re covered.”

  “Exactly,” Kevin continued on, “and there’s more.”

  “What?”

  “Well, Mr. Joss wanted me to tell you that if we get booted, you should consider moving the restaurant out to the Red Diamond.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, he said that the restaurant could go halfway up the main drive and that they would build us a beautiful place and our parking could be tripled, and that way we could all work on the safety of the ranch.”

  It was terrifying that Stef knew Rand’s mind so well, that he could speak to Rand’s intentions at any given moment. The level of communication they must have had between them at all times was staggering. I knew, of course, that Rand wanted me on the ranch, but I’d had no idea that Stef did too.

  “And for the record, I love the idea of that,” Callie admitted. “Working on private land means that Rand Holloway could protect us and our personal property.”

  “You’re still mad because someone stole your iPod out of your car.”

  “Hell yes,” she said. “I mean, when we leave the restaurant at night, we have to walk together,” she reminded me. “If we were on the ranch, then A, we wouldn’t have to be open as late as we are now because we wouldn’t have to conform to other restaurant hours at the resort, and B, we’d be safe and so would our stuff because who would screw with the guys on the Red Diamond? Everyone knows the scariest guys in the county work for Rand Holloway.”

  “So if we’re booted off, you’re all good relocating out to the ranch?”

  “We all are,” Kevin affirmed, smiling at me. “We took a vote.”

  Of course they had. They were proactive, my group. “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” I concurred. “But if it does, I could see us out there on the Red.”

  Silence.

  “What?”

  “Really?” Kevin asked me. “You would consider that? Really, really?”

  “What’re you, ten?”

  “I’m just shocked, is all.”

  “Well, yeah, I would consider it.”

  “Ohmygod, that’s awesome,” Callie squeaked. “The only thing I was worried about in all of this was you not wanting to be on that ranch, but if you don’t care, if it’s fine, then I’m over the moon. I would never do anything to make you unhappy.”

  “I know.”

  She leaned over to hug me.

  “Why’re we doing this?”

  “Just hug.”

  It was a brief clench where she kissed my cheek as she leaned back.

  “I was so scared,” she asserted. “So please don’t ever put yourself in danger again.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I promised.

  “Back to the situation at hand,” Kevin told me, patting my leg. “Gillian’s still going to try and get one over on her people, but just as long as we have a plan, we’re good.”

  I nodded and watched Josie crook her elbow and rest her head on her fist as she regarded me. “So… boss.”

  God. “Yes?”

  “So you have plans to be on the ranch?”

  I did. “I dunno.”

  She coughed. “Mr. Joss said—”

  “Say Stef, I’m sure he told you to.”

  “He did, but I wasn’t sure it was appropriate.”

  “It is.”

  “Okay, so, Stef said that you might be seeing Mac Gentry.”

  I groaned and the whole room, at once, in sync, caught their breath.

  “We’re gonna see what’s what when he gets back from the drive,” I said diplomatically, not wanting to have my love life aired out for the room. Stef must have gotten back in touch with Rand at some point after he left me and the news was shared with him, and then he in turn told Josie. I would have to remember to smack him the next time I saw him.

  “Which should be very soon,” Josie announced. “Mr.—Stef—said that Mr. Holloway was home already. Apparently they rode through the night. And that they’d be here to see you today as soon as they all got cleaned up.”

  My stomach did a familiar roll over the possibility of laying eyes on Mac.

  “So.” Josie was back to grilling me. “Tomorrow when you get discharged, are you going home with Mac Gentry?”

  “’Cause you’ll already have a packed bag,” Callie told me. “I mean, first we had to wash all your clothes because, damn, boss—disgusting.”

  “Which is what I said,” Josie chimed in.

  “You know what—” I began, glaring at her.

  “But you’re all packed and ready to—”

  “Thank you,” I said to Callie before turning to Josie.

  “Oh, come on, I was kidding.”

  “Are you all right?” I asked Josie, ignoring Callie.

  “Because I was orphaned the other day, you mean?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her eyes warmed. “Yes, boss, because of you I’m okay.”

  “I was worried,” I murmured.

  “I know you were, and that’s why I love you.”

  I looked at her.

  “You know how I mean.”

  And I did. “Josie?”

  Her gaze met mine.

  “If I move, where will you live?”

  “Mr. Joss said that there are many small one-room cabins on the ranch, and he would be willing to let me stay in one, under your supervision, in exchange for me watching his adorable little boy certain days of the week.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. He said that he’s teaching different classes next semester and Wyatt can’t go with him every day anymore.”

  “And that’s where you come in.”

  “Yes, but only as long as you’re on the ranch too.”

  I was going to say something else, but the door opened and Rand was the first one through.

  “You all should go,” he announced, and even though they all worked for me and not him, the exodus was fast.

  It could never be said that Holloway men couldn’t clear a room.

  Chapter 8

  I WASN’T expecting Rand to stride over to the bed, lean over, and hug me even before the last person was out of the room.

  “Is this us?” I teased, seeing Stef holding Wyatt right behind him.

  “You saved my family, Glenn,” he answered gruffly, and I could hear the shudder in his tone. “This is us from now on.”

  I chuckled into his shoulder as he held me close, hand on the back of my head for only a moment before he let go and straightened.

  He was passed his son, who went from Stef to Rand eagerly, and then
I had my arms full of the guy who might have given me my happily ever after because he made me start—though I didn’t even finish—a cattle drive.

  “It’s okay,” I told Stef as I patted his back and held him tight.

  “I was so scared.”

  “I know.”

  “And if Wyatt hadn’t been there—”

  “I know that too,” I assured him because people didn’t know, but Stef was a brawler. He looked all sweet and pretty, but he knew how to defend himself. Just because he was small in comparison to Rand didn’t mean Stef didn’t know how to throw a punch that could put someone on the ground. But Wyatt had been there; dependent on Stef for his life, for his safety, and that had not allowed Stef the freedom of either fight or flight.

  “If you hadn’t been there… I don’t even want to think what could have happened.”

  “Or what’s going to happen on the Red.” I snorted.

  He tugged free and would have smacked me, but Rand warned him off.

  “Just please don’t lose your mind,” Stef begged. “It’s an isolated incident, Rand.”

  “People can tell you’re a rich man,” Zach—I hadn’t heard him enter the room—pointed out as he slipped around Stef, bent over the bed, and hugged me.

  “I’m fine,” I told my brother. “I swear.”

  “I don’t want us to fight no more.”

  “Agreed,” I sighed, happy with the new place we were in, a place that could be better than any ever had been. We’d been raised together by Rayland Holloway, and because of that, because it had always been us against our father, having to bond together, especially after our mother died, we’d been close at one time. I wanted that back, and now, finally, we had a chance for a do-over and it seemed like we were both ready to try. I, for one, was willing and able to have my family back, starting with Zach.

  “And I don’t wanna be a dick to you, and I just want it to be like it was before I left home because I thought I needed to have a ranch just like Dad.”

  “Okay.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, pulling back to look at my face.

  “Fuck yeah,” I replied, grinning at him. “Life’s too short, right?”

  “It is,” he agreed hoarsely before smiling at me. “You know, I went into the stable this morning and your horse bit me.”

  I grinned up at him. “She’s got a thing for Holloway men.”

  He chuckled.

  I turned back to Stef then. “Thank you again for making sure she was all right. That horse means the world to me.”

  He nodded. “Well, as I said before, I think she’s where she should stay.”

  “I agree,” Rand concurred. “We’ll take care of both of you, or the Red Diamond will.”

  “Rand.” I began. “You don’t need to feel like—”

  “I want her on my ranch and I want you on my ranch,” Rand said flatly, so there could be no question.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “I don’t expect you to cowboy anymore, be a rancher anymore,” he said solemnly. “I know that ain’t your dream. And if something happens with the resort, it would be Stef’s and my honor and privilege to relocate The Bronc onto the ranch, but Glenn… more than all of that… I want you on the ranch just like I want Zach there.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause y’all are my family,” he said like I was stupid, which was par for the course with Rand. “I want you with us.”

  I would never make him say it again. “I won’t live in the house with you and Stef, Rand.”

  “That’s right you won’t,” he agreed. “And I expect someone else might have something to say about where you’ll be hanging your hat.”

  “I hope so,” I said softly.

  “Well, he was right behind us when we left the Red, but he stopped for something, though I expect he’s parking his truck by now and then he’ll be on up.”

  I nodded.

  “I know he was eager to come check on you, and he already told me that tomorrow he plans to take you back to the ranch—back home with him so he can watch over you a bit.”

  My throat went dry just thinking about seeing Mac. “That sounds good.”

  “And so you know,” Zach said brightly. “So you can tell the folks that work for you as well, the ranch is gonna be real secure from now on.”

  Stef flipped him off and I chuckled.

  “We’re getting us a closed-circuit television system put in; it’ll be all state of the art.”

  “It’s better than I thought,” I teased Stef.

  He groaned.

  “Aww, c’mon,” I told him. “It’s not a small ranch, Stef, and you and Rand are not just everyday people living your lives. You have money, and as such, you have to take care. You can’t fuss at Rand for wanting you and your son safe.”

  “No,” he agreed, flicking his gaze to the man in question. “I can’t.”

  When Rand lifted his arm for Stef to join him and their son, the door opened and in walked Mac, looking as beautiful and like home as the last time I saw him.

  “We’ll see you later,” Rand said quickly, giving me a smile full of approval and happiness and everything else before he led the others out of the room, just as he’d led them in.

  “Hey,” I breathed out.

  Mac’s mouth was set in a hard line as he stood there fiddling with his hat. He was nervous, it was all over him, and I would have been worried, but I suspected that since I was the cause, I could be the fix as well. “I came to ask you if tomorrow, when you’re discharged, if you would let me fetch you on home.”

  I sat up in the bed. “To your home, you mean.”

  “To our home,” he corrected me. “Our. Ain’t you gonna be livin’ on the ranch too?”

  “I have to be honest: you’re the big draw for me on that ranch.”

  He crossed the room when I held out my arms. “I know it’s fast as hell, but will you come see my house that I never brought anyone else home to ever?”

  “I will,” I said, drawing him close for a kiss, the kiss, the good kind, the claiming kind, and even better than the first.

  “Thank God,” he rasped when I let him breathe. “I had all kinds of things runnin’ through my head on the way over here from the hardware store.”

  So that was where he’d stopped. “And what did you need from there first thing on Sunday morning, Maclain Gentry?”

  After digging into the right pocket of his soft, faded jeans, he withdrew a key on a ring and passed it to me. “I needed to make sure I had this when I talked to ya so you’d know I was serious about you bein’ with me.”

  “I already knew you were serious.” I sighed, smiling up at him as he sat down beside me on the bed. “But I appreciate the key and the ring.”

  “That won’t be the last ring you get from me,” he rasped, his breath catching as he put his hat down on the tray table and pressed his hand down onto the pillow beside my head.

  “Oh no?” I asked, barely able to speak, so overcome with Mac and his declarations.

  “Not at all.”

  “Then I suspect I’ll need to get you one as well.”

  “You do that,” he said as he bent to kiss me again.

  And I most certainly would.

  More from Mary Calmes

  Timing: Book One

  Stefan Joss just can’t win. Not only does he have to go to Texas in the middle of summer to be the man of honor in his best friend Charlotte’s wedding, but he’s expected to negotiate a million-dollar business deal at the same time. Worst of all, he’s thrown for a loop when he arrives to see the one man Charlotte promised wouldn’t be there: her brother, Rand Holloway.

  Stefan and Rand have been mortal enemies since the day they met, so Stefan is shocked when a temporary cease-fire sees the usual hostility replaced by instant chemistry. Though leery of the unexpected feelings, Stefan is swayed by a sincere revelation from Rand, and he decides to give Rand a chance.

  But their budding romance is threatened when Stefan’s b
usiness deal goes wrong: the owner of the last ranch he needs to secure for the company is murdered. Stefan’s in for the surprise of his life as he finds himself in danger as well.

  Sequel to Timing

  Timing: Book Two

  Two years after riding off into the sunset with ranch owner Rand Holloway, Stefan Joss has made a tentative peace with his new life, teaching at a community college. But the course of true love never does run smooth. Rand wants him home on the ranch; Stef wants an exit strategy in case Rand ever decides to throw him out. Finally, after recognizing how unfair he’s being, Stef makes a commitment, and Rand is over the moon.

  When Stef gets the chance to prove his devotion, he doesn’t hesitate—despite the risk to his health—and Rand takes the opportunity to show everyone that sometimes life’s best surprises come after the sunset.

  The Marshals: Book One

  Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones has a reputation for being calm and collected under fire. These traits serve him well with his hotshot partner, Ian Doyle, the kind of guy who can start a fight in an empty room. In the past three years of their life-and-death job, they’ve gone from strangers to professional coworkers to devoted teammates and best friends. Miro’s cultivated blind faith in the man who has his back… faith and something more.

  As a marshal and a soldier, Ian’s expected to lead. But the power and control that brings Ian success and fulfillment in the field isn’t working anywhere else. Ian’s always resisted all kinds of tied down, but having no home—and no one to come home to—is slowly eating him up inside. Over time, Ian has grudgingly accepted that going anywhere without his partner simply doesn’t work. Now Miro just has to convince him that getting tangled up in heartstrings isn’t being tied down at all.

  Paradise can be hell.

  Most people would say being stranded in the villa of Spanish shipping magnate Miguel García Arquero on the beautiful isle of Ibiza wasn’t such a bad deal. But Hudson Barber isn’t one of them. To him, being stuck without a passport in a foreign country far from home is a nightmare, made worse by the fact that the person who did the stranding was his flighty twin brother.