Rancher On the Line Page 10

  “What was his response?” he pressed.

  “That he was happy to hear I was committed to the company and then he gave me this ‘special project’ to work on that had to stay under wraps,” she said.

  “What about everyone else in the office?” he asked. “Co-workers? Admins?”

  “I worked with a lot of men in my department. Some made it pretty clear they thought I got the job because I was a woman, and I overheard someone crack they wished they got six weeks of vacation just for having a baby,” she said.

  “They sound like real jerks,” Dane said.

  “They played basketball together at lunch and I never got the invite,” she said. Thinking back, her time at the company had been lonely. Of course, she had Lucas and he made it known he didn’t like her working around so many guys. “Lucas didn’t like it anyway.”

  Dane gripped the steering wheel a little bit tighter. He seemed to debate whether or not he was going to say what was on his mind.

  She waited until he decided.

  “You are the most loyal and devoted person I’ve met in a long time,” he finally said. “The last thing anyone in a relationship with you should question is your devotion.”

  “Lucas didn’t see it that way.” Hearing it from Dane was refreshing. She’d gotten a little too used to being questioned. “Being so far away seemed to make him insecure.”

  “He should have done a better job. You deserve to be trusted,” Dane said and it seemed like there was more on his mind that he decided to keep to himself.

  It was the same thought she’d had countless times, despite understanding Lucas wasn’t quite himself and hadn’t been for quite some time.

  “Despite recent actions, Kal has never struck me as the kind of person who would betray something like this, Dane.” She changed the subject, not wanting to talk about her relationship with Lucas in the final years. She’d rather remember the bright, vibrant kid from Oklahoma who’d made her feel at home on the first day she transferred to a new school.

  “He might not have a choice. A desperate person is a dangerous person,” he said as he turned onto a private road.

  When Dane said the ranch had security, she wasn’t sure what she’d envisioned. A guy who patrolled the house on foot. Or someone who drove around on a golf cart, checking each of the homes. She sure didn’t expect to pull up to a guard shack with two security officers inside and who knew how many more out on the property. The idea of bringing Luke here made more sense now that she saw firsthand what the coverage would be like.

  Again, she couldn’t imagine having the kind of money and resources that would require this much security. She realized being part of a wealthy cattle ranch family could potentially put a target on Dane’s back. Being here could also distort a person’s reality. Then again, he was one of the most down to earth people she’d ever met. Nothing about him screamed money from his t-shirt to jeans and boots. His low-key demeanor and outlook that was grounded in reality added to his charm.

  Security waved and raised the gate the minute he got a good look at the driver. The guard’s face morphed to shock and he tried to recover quickly.

  Massive was the best way to describe the main house. And beautiful. Being here and surrounded by so much…everything…would make Catalina feel out of place were it not for the person in the driver’s seat. There was something comforting about being with Dane, like the world was righted again, spinning on its axis just the way it was designed to do.

  Her heart skipped at the thought of bringing Luke here. The only fear at this point was the possibility of something happening before someone could get to him or while he was on his way. And yet, having him close by would ease her panic levels.

  Fixing the bugs and finishing the code so she could put this whole mess behind her and start her life anew with her son was never a bigger priority.

  She thought about her discussion with Dane on the way over. Was Kal under the gun? Was there a way to find out? She knew the name of the export company his in-laws owned. She could do a little digging around.

  Besides, it occurred to her that if Kal was going to mess with her family, there were ways she could mess with his. Now, she was starting to think.

  “I know Kal’s address,” she said. “I can walk his block via the Web and see if he has any security set up. If he has a camera or security system, I can most likely hack into it.”

  “That could give us some valuable information as to what he might be up to,” Dane said.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before,” she stated. “All I need is proof he’s up to something to get the DA interested, right?”

  “That’s one way to go about it,” Dane said.

  She realized soldiers had a different, more direct way of handling a threat. Going at it face-to-face sure would be easier. Except that she knew it didn’t quite always go down like that overseas. There were times when a soldier had to stand his ground and practically take a bullet because the government was pulling strings or had a political agenda that didn’t mesh with a direct attack.

  Could she get answers by taking a different approach?

  13

  Dane parked next to the house, readying himself to face everyone inside. Eric came out of the house, making his way toward the rental sedan. Catalina’s vehicle was there, already parked in the lot as expected. Dane had no intention of asking how it got there.

  “Thanks for coming, Dane,” Eric said after greeting Catalina. “Mom isn’t herself, except when she’s with Angel. Otherwise, she’s crying and seems miserable.”

  “Has he been here?”

  They both knew he referred to their father.

  “Yes. For what it’s worth, she’s refusing to let him in the house,” Eric said.

  “Did she say why?” Dane feared the worst.

  “She said there’ve been too many secrets and she can’t take it any longer,” Eric supplied.

  “Did she elaborate?” Dane’s gut twisted in a knot. Had she found out about his?

  “She’s mentioned the situation with Brax a few times,” Eric said. “But it feels like there has to be more to it than that.”

  “Are more of us half brothers?” The question came out before he could reel it back in. He shot a look of apology. “Just to be clear, Brax isn’t half anything to me. He’s one hundred percent my brother.”

  Guilt slammed into him at being away from the family for so long, and for keeping his father’s secret. It had been a little too easy to cut himself off from home and all the drama when he was overseas.

  “We all feel the exact same,” Eric said. “And we all looked at each other with the same question.”

  “Catalina needs a quiet corner to work in, and I’d like to talk to you about a mission involving bringing a baby to the ranch,” Dane said, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

  Eric shot a quizzical look, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he nodded, seeming to realize information was better off on a need-to-know basis.

  “You know you can count on me and any one of the others. Let us know what you need and when you need it, brother,” Eric said.

  “What about our cousins? Do you have a relationship with them anymore?” Dane couldn’t help but ask. So far, Eric had only spoken about this branch of the family tree.

  “Like I said, the family has been messed up for a while,” Eric said. “Folks picked sides.”

  “Shame,” Dane said.

  “I know,” Eric agreed. His gaze bounced from Dane to Catalina and back. “Are you ready to go inside?”

  The comradery between brothers was something Dane had missed dearly. He was just beginning to realize how much he missed his brothers. Closing off to them, to his family, hadn’t made the pain go away. Instead, he’d withdrawn from everyone he loved. The realization struck like a physical blow. Holding in his father’s secret had eaten Dane alive from the inside out. He could see the toll it had taken. Dane didn’t want to keep secrets any longer. Could he deliver the blow to his mother while she was already down if she didn’t already know?

  The dilemma was real. Dane didn’t care what happened to his father at this point. The man deserved whatever he got as far as Dane was concerned. Dane had kept the secret for his mother’s sake, not his father’s. And the only question now in his mind was when would be the right time to tell her. Because this thing had destroyed Dane’s relationships with his family, and he couldn’t allow that to happen any longer.

  Gravel spewed underneath tires as a vehicle sped around from the back of the house. The noise stopped Dane midway between the sedan and the front door. The truck that came roaring from around the side of the building belonged to Dane’s father.

  “Do you mind taking Catalina inside and setting her up in one of the bedrooms?” Dane asked his brother.

  “Will you be all right out here with him?” Eric seemed to pick up on the tension.

  “I will,” Dane countered. “Not so sure about him.”

  Catalina’s hand on Dane’s arm grounded him. Her lightest touch reminded him to keep the past in the rearview.

  “I can stay if you’d like,” Catalina said, and her voice was filled with compassion.

  “No need,” he reassured, turning to her. Dane dipped his head down and pressed a kiss to her pink lips. He needed that more than air. “Go on inside and get set up. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Okay?”

  Catalina’s smile would convince a death row inmate everything would work out fine.

  “I’ll wait for you,” she said, pushing up to her tiptoes to kiss him one more time.

  “This won’t take long,” he reassured.

  Eric led her toward the front door as Brodie Firebrand brought his truck into a screeching halt. By the time Catalina
disappeared inside, Dane’s father was exiting his vehicle.

  Dane charged his father like a bull in front of a waving red flag. He threw his elbow into his father’s chest and backed him up against the truck, staring the man in the eyes the whole time.

  “I’m not nine years old any longer, and I won’t keep your secrets anymore,” Dane managed to grind out despite clenching his back teeth.

  Eyes wide, mouth agape, his father didn’t seem able to hide his shock.

  “Is that what this is about? Is that why you took off and barely looked back?” His father asked.

  “That’s none of your business,” Dane stated.

  “It is, though,” his father said. “Because your mother has been worried sick all these years, wondering what she did wrong, and I’m just now finding out it was my fault.”

  “She wouldn’t hurt a soul,” he countered. “Exactly the reason I couldn’t break her heart.”

  “You plan to tell her everything?” His father asked, a mix of shame and regret passed behind his blue eyes. Those weren’t emotions Dane wanted to see or acknowledge in his father. What he had to do would be much easier if the man was a heartless monster—a monster Dane had convinced himself existed far too many years to go back now.

  “No.”

  His father’s eyebrow shot up in confusion.

  “I won’t have to,” Dane said.

  The man really looked confused now.

  “You will.” Dane couldn’t be any clearer than that. “If I have to force you myself.”

  “She’ll leave me permanently this time,” his father said.

  “Then you deserve to be alone because the woman inside this house,” he pointed, “deserves a man who will love her and be faithful.”

  “I have been,” his father said. “I admit to being a jerk in the early years of our marriage but ever since you…ever since the day out camping that you…it changed me.”

  His father broke eye contact as emotion seemed to be getting the best of him.

  “What changed you?” Dane asked, not ready to let it go. “Getting caught?”

  “Seeing the look in your eyes. It made me wake up and realize what I’d become, and I didn’t like it,” he said.

  “You don’t seem to have done a great job of convincing Mom to stay with you.” Dane’s words came out angry. One admission, despite the honesty in his father’s eyes, did not make up for all the years of suffering. Dane wasn’t ready to forgive his father yet. There was no ‘on’ or ‘off’ button when it came to emotions. And, honestly, he might never be able to forgive the man.

  His father hung his head. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Then, why should I care about you?” he asked.

  “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t deserve to be the father of any one of you. It’s not my place to say, but you’ve all turned out to be men I’m proud to call my sons,” he said.

  “Despite the fact you don’t deserve the credit?” Dane couldn’t stop himself.

  “Never said I did. Your mom does, though,” he said.

  Dane bit back a few swear words—words he would freely use if not for the upbringing his mother had provided that taught him to respect his elders. It was for her and her alone that Dane didn’t really give his father a piece of his mind.

  As it was, he’d said all he was going to.

  “If you’ll convince your mother to give me a chance to speak to her, I’ll tell her everything, Dane. I swear.”

  Dane released his hold on his father. The man who’d once been Dane’s idol and a tower of strength, didn’t look so big now.

  “I’m nothing without her,” he pleaded. “And I spent the past twenty-plus years trying to deserve her. I don’t. That’s no secret.”

  “Yeah? Maybe you shouldn’t have had secrets from her in the first place. You should have treated her the way she deserved to be treated. Then, you wouldn’t be in this mess,” Dane ground out. “I kept your secret. You have to figure out a way to get her to speak to you on your own. I’m done with you.”

  With that, Dane turned and walked inside the house. He half expected his father to follow him. When he didn’t, Dane turned around. From the window, he saw his father’s shoulders slump forward as he climbed inside his truck. Head down, he looked defeated.

  Dane cursed the fact he’d looked back. He couldn’t afford to feel sorry for his father.

  On a sharp sigh, he followed the sound of voices toward the kitchen. The main living room to his right had been transformed into a magical-looking playroom. The floors were covered with bright squares that connected like puzzle pieces. There was a tee-pee in one corner and more toys than a kid could ever play with scattered around the room. The flooring looked soft and spongy. He thought Catalina’s son might like to play in a room like this one.

  Why was his first thought about Catalina’s kid?

  Rather than examine the question, he faced the kitchen and didn’t stop walking until he reached it. The place was much like he remembered, a chef’s dream. The large island centered the room and a long wooden table sat to his left with enough chairs to seat an army of men.

  The minute he set foot inside the room he heard a gasp. His attention shifted toward the sound. His mother bounded up from her seat, handed over a baby who must be Angel, and barreled toward him. She was five feet two on a good day, but like a bullet when she ran into him with her arms out. She threw her arms around his midsection and cried.

  He stood there, hugging the woman who’d been his rock, realizing how hard his absence must have been on her. Wow, a realization struck. He’d been a huge jerk when it came to his mother’s feelings. Why was it so easy to take loved ones for granted?

  Was he any better than his father? His mind mounted an immediate response to the question because he hadn’t broken wedding vows, but he was beginning to see how much he’d neglected her feelings.

  Not wanting to be in the same room as her for all these years through no fault of her own was a gut punch and a reality check. Dane needed to do better. His mother deserved better. And, no, he wouldn’t tell her the secret he’d been keeping. He had every intention of standing by while his father explained everything. But right now, he just wanted to reassure his mom.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” she finally said before looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes. She made a show of touching his arm, reaching up to cup his cheeks before tweaking one. She blinked a couple of times before a wide smile broke out. His mother was still beautiful, despite her age-worn skin. The vibrancy in her eyes was dimmer, and he suspected it had to do with leaving her husband. That wasn’t a decision she’d take lightly by any means. And then it seemed to dawn on her. She shook her head. “If you’re going to try to talk me into going back home. Forget it.”

  She turned her back toward him.

  “I will do no such thing,” He reached up and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I came home strictly for your meatballs.”

  She spun around. The smile had returned.

  “Now, you’re talking.” She clapped her hands together. “I have a fresh batch in the fridge.”

  He would try to talk her out of heating up a plate but had no plans to insult her like that. While she gaited toward the fridge, he moved to the table where Eric sat talking with Adam. There was another new face at the table, and he assumed it belonged to Prudence. His sister-in-law? Now, there was a weird thought.

  Adam stood up the minute Dane got close. He introduced Dane to his wife before bringing him into a bear hug. Dane had to admit, seeing his brother face to face was nicer than he’d imagined it would be. Being home was nice. He’d said his piece with his father and a weight he didn’t realize he’d been carrying around with him all these years lifted. He stepped lighter and felt a sense of freedom he hadn’t experienced at this ranch since he was a kid. There was a lot to be said for confronting his demons.

  “I hear you have a daughter,” he said to Adam. “This must be her.”

  Adam practically beamed. There was something different about him and Dane figured it had to do with the two ladies at the table, Prudence and Angel.

  “She’s beautiful,” Dane said. It was true. He’d never been much of a baby person but this was different. There was something special about Angel, and he had no idea what the change was about. Family?