Disarming the Rancher Page 3

  “My first manager said that’s what makes me a good song writer.” She wasn’t sure why she was sharing so much, except it felt good to be with Brax, to be home. Of course, she couldn’t afford to get too used to the feeling considering she’d be back on the road soon enough. Leaving Lone Star Pass never got any easier and she had a feeling it was about to get a whole lot worse.

  Raleigh stood up, needing some distance, some space from this old friend who evoked so much emotion in her. “I should get back to Nana…my place.” She issued a sharp sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to saying those words.”

  “It sure has been good seeing you, Raleigh,” he said, and her chest squeezed. He was being polite. Why did she wish he’d ask her to stay instead?

  She chalked it up to being homesick and walked right past him with a nod. Halfway out the door, she paused.

  “Stop by tomorrow if you want. Meet the band,” she said.

  “I have work to do. Thanks, though.”

  “No problem. The offer stands for you and any of your family.” She added the last part on a whim. And then she realized what she’d done. “On second thought. We’re trying to stay under the radar. Do you mind if you keep running into me between us?”

  He held up two fingers.

  “Just us,” he said with a masculine voice that traveled all over her. Her traitorous heart leapt again as she canceled the thought she was going to regret walking out the door. Would she though?

  3

  Hardy stood at the back door as Raleigh walked up and Jake sat on the steps. It was dark. She’d ditched him earlier and the look on his face told her exactly how upset he was about her antics. Jake’s face twisted with concern. He didn’t even bother to speak to her. He pushed to standing and circled around toward the front of the house.

  “My bad.” She put her hands in the air to show surrender to Hardy.

  “I can’t do my job if you split off like that,” he warned. He was a tank of a man who would intimidate most folks. Precisely the reason he’d been hired for the tour.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She hated the thought of being in her hometown and under twenty-four seven supervision, but she’d hired him to do a job and she needed to let him do it. “I won’t pull another stunt like that again.”

  Hardy took a step back to allow her passage, but he gave her the death stare she probably deserved as she passed by. To be fair, there was plenty of security on the Firebrand property. Of course, she knew how to get around it, but most folks didn’t, and Hardy knew nothing of it either way.

  News would get out that she was in town soon enough and it wouldn’t be safe for her to step outside. She hated the thought of being imprisoned on Nana’s property and those few precious hours stolen at the barn would have to be enough to get her through this rough patch.

  “Pizza is in the fridge,” Hardy begrudgingly said.

  “Thanks,” was all she said before she grabbed a couple of cold slices and then placed them on top of a paper towel.

  Kenny casually walked into the room wearing only his boxers. The man worked out and had nice, olive skin, but they had rules about being dressed in mixed company.

  “Hey, foul,” she said to him.

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal since you were gone,” he countered with a raised eyebrow and a shaming tone of voice. The man had nerve. She would give him that.

  “I’m here now,” she said. “You know the rules.”

  “I won’t forget next time,” he promised with a smile that made his dimple wink at her.

  Come on. Did he think that was all he had to do to smooth things over?

  “Good. You still owe a hundred dollars.” The ‘rule violation’ jar was on the tour bus. She clearly needed to bring it inside and keep it visible. She’d grab it tomorrow. All she could think about tonight was food, shower, bed.

  The pizza didn’t make it to her old bedroom. Everything was as she’d left it, like it was stuck in a time capsule from when she’d been eighteen. There was a bed, nightstand with a lamp, and a desk for homework. Everything had been cleaned off and boxed up before she took off on her first tour, except for a few framed photos of her and Nana. Then there was Raleigh’s best friend who’d gone off to college and down a career, marriage, and family track. The two had lost touch despite believing they’d be friends forever during high school.

  As she grabbed pajamas and her robe, Kenny came strolling in the room.

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked.

  “We have to double up on rooms. Three bedrooms for eight people. Buck is sleeping on the tour bus along with Jake. That leaves you and me.” His smirk was infuriating.

  “No dice, buddy,” she countered. “One of us is sleeping on the couch downstairs or on the bus with Buck and Jake, and I don’t care which one of us it is.”

  Tim walked out of Nana’s room and stopped in front of the doorway. “There a problem?”

  “As a matter of fact, there is. No sleeping with mixed company. Remember the rule?” she asked Kenny.

  “Only on tour. Technically, this doesn’t count,” Kenny immediately countered.

  “Looks like I’ll be the one sleeping on the couch then.” There was no way she planned to share a room with Kenny.

  “That doesn’t seem right,” Tim said. “Me and Willie can take our beds on the bus. You stay in your grandmother’s room.”

  “I don’t want to—”

  “It’s settled,” Tim cut in. “We don’t mind. We’re used to sleeping in there and at least it won’t be moving this time.”

  He shot a look at Kenny that could have caught ice on fire. She shouldn’t get as much satisfaction out of it as she did.

  “Thank you for being a gentleman,” she said to Tim.

  “There’s only a twin bed in here. It makes more sense for me to sleep on the bus than uproot the two of you,” Kenny relented.

  She wasn’t sure what he thought he was going to win by forcing the issue of being a couple with her. Or, maybe he thought she wouldn’t be able to resist him shirtless. She almost laughed out loud.

  The man had a great bod. She would give him that. But there was so much more to a relationship than a pretty outer shell. A little voice in the back of her mind picked that moment to point out Brax Firebrand had it all.

  “It’s settled then,” she said, looking first to Tim and then to Kenny.

  Both nodded.

  “Next time, we should probably make arrangements together as a group,” she said.

  “We would have if you’d been here,” Kenny said low and under his breath.

  Rather than turn around and tell him off, she bit down on her temper and headed to the bathroom instead. A nice shower was all she needed to wash the day away. Of course, that annoying voice said she should have stayed in the barn with Brax longer.

  The shower was just what the doctor ordered. She closed the door to her bedroom when she’d finished, thankful for a little privacy. It was a rare thing being on the road with seven guys at all times, sometimes eight when Wade showed up. She retrieved her laptop from her bag. She imagined it had been Kenny who’d been ‘kind’ enough to bring her suitcase upstairs and into the room he thought they would be sharing. She shook off her frustration, figuring she had enough on her mind without dealing with him.

  She opened her laptop, powered up, and climbed onto her bed. Someone had washed the blanket. She owed them a thank-you come morning. Either the generator was doing its job or they’d tripped a breaker instead of losing all power. The latter was most likely considering it used to happen all the time with the old house.

  Wade would have phoned if a suspect was in custody, but she googled the incident anyway. Seeing the images of the venue roped off behind ‘crime scene’ tape and people held behind barricades sent a shiver racing down her spine. The thought of being some obsessed person’s target sent another.

  Looking at these images much longer and sleep would be impossible. Raleigh opened her e-mail instead. Wade was supposed to e-mail her financial statements for the past six months. Did he? No.

  She glanced at the clock. Was it too late to call him? Probably. She sent a text instead, asking when he planned to join them.

  No response came.

  She would try again at first light. It was getting late and she should probably shut down for the night. A couple of minutes later, she was tucked under her covers, looking out the same window she had when she’d dreamed of being a country singer.

  Dreams really did come true. She loved her job. She loved meeting fans. Most of all, she loved making music and sharing it with her small corner of the world. She might not be ‘world tour’ big, but she had a nice following and got to do the music she wanted to with people who were like family at this point. Kenny had always marched to his own drummer. He’d get the hint at some point and their friendship could get back on track. For now, she planned to keep him at arm’s length until he moved on to someone else. And he would. Kenny wasn’t the type to stay single for long.

  Her thoughts drifted to Brax. If she was going to be in a relationship with someone, she’d want it to be with someone like him. Well someone like him who was a little less annoying.

  Brax punched his pillow. He rolled onto his left side. Then, his right. For reasons he didn’t want to examine, he was concerned about Raleigh’s life. He tried to chalk his restlessness up to the fact he knew her on a personal level, but it ran deeper. He tried to convince himself she was like a sister but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Not even when his mother used to babysit her when they were younger did he ever look at her in that light.

  Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?

  Four a.m. couldn’t get there fast enough. At three-thirty, he gave
up trying to sleep in favor of a morning workout and shower. He decided to head to the barn early to see if anyone was there.

  He struck out there too. There were lights on in the main house so he figured he’d check on his brother Adam and his new family. Adam was recovering from being stabbed during an altercation with an attorney who’d been fixated on Adam’s daughter Angel. His brother was recovering and probably needed a hand while healing despite having found the love of his life, a woman by the name of Prudence. Plus, the coffee was better there.

  Brax slipped in through the backdoor and immediately heard voices in the kitchen. He recognized Adam’s and their mother’s immediately. It made sense for their mother to be at Adam’s new place considering she had a long history of jumping at the chance to babysit girls and now officially had a granddaughter.

  “That’s not important,” his mother said in her defensive tone.

  “What’s not?” Brax asked from behind her, figuring Adam needed an assist. Their mother was one of the most caring and loving people on the planet. She had a heart of gold but was born stubborn as an ox.

  Their mother gasped and brought her hand up to cover her mouth the minute she turned and saw him. Her cheeks turned several shades of red, like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

  “Nothing,” she said a little too quickly.

  “I’m trying to get our mother to explain to me why she knows someone who can doctor a birth certificate,” Adam said plain as day.

  “What on earth?” Brax asked, completely thrown off guard.

  “I was merely suggesting that I might be able to help.” She threw her hands up in the air and sucked in a breath. More moves he’d seen her pull when she was guilty of something. But what?

  The woman was practically a saint. Anyone in town would agree except maybe their aunt but she was a piece of work. Their mother brought up her own sons with very little outside help while caring for her friends’ children when needed. She was the first to volunteer if there was a committee for park cleanup or a toy drive for underprivileged kids. She managed this side of the family’s charitable contributions and their father had groaned more than once about her generosity.

  “With her network of friends, I guess I’m not as surprised as I probably should be,” Brax quipped. He pointed toward the coffee maker and got a nod of approval from Adam. “You want a cup?”

  “I’ll take a refill,” Adam picked up his mug and stood. He winced, froze, and then looked like he was trying to shake off the pain. “I don’t care how much it hurts, I’m not taking any more of those pain meds. They make me dizzy and nauseous, not a great combination. I knew I should have stuck with two ibuprofen and called it a day.”

  “Eat something and drink some milk to coat your stomach,” their mom said. She was already on her way to the fridge.

  “It won’t do any good to argue,” Brax said to his brother as Adam started to protest.

  Adam laughed instead.

  “There isn’t an animal alive more stubborn than our mother,” Adam said. He sat back down, accepting his fate.

  Brax grabbed his brother’s mug, refilled it and had it back in two shakes. He took a sip of coffee and waited for the burn to kick in.

  Their mother was suddenly so interested in whatever was in the fridge she started humming. Was it an act? What was she covering up? “This looks good in here. It’s well stocked. I asked your grandfather’s housekeeper to continue to bring food for you and Prudence. You are injured and both of you are caring for my beautiful granddaughter.”

  “Did you notice how quickly she just changed the subject?” Brax whispered to Adam.

  “I sure did. She acts suspicious every time I bring it up now,” Adam admitted.

  “But what? How?” Brax couldn’t fathom her being dishonest. “She’s like the original Girl Scout. She couldn’t possibly be involved in anything illegal, let alone immoral. Maybe you misunderstood.”

  “You know what she said to me when she mentioned she had a guy who could alter Angel’s birth certificate?” Adam asked but his question was rhetorical.

  Brax shook his head.

  “Something along the lines of, ‘parents do what they have to in order to protect their children.’” Adam shot a look before taking a sip of coffee.

  “That sort of sounds exactly like her in a strange way.” Brax tried to justify her statement. She was the type of mother who would do literally anything for her children. And yet, she was also one of the most honest people he knew. So, yeah, that statement was a little confusing.

  “You’re missing the point, though,” Adam said.

  “And that is?”

  “Why would she have to make a choice like that?” Adam was spot on.

  “Only our mother can answer that question,” Brax stated. There was a niggling feeling at the back of his mind. He wanted to tell Adam that Raleigh was in town, especially as Adam had dragged Brax to Austin to hear her sing more than once over the years.

  “How about huevos rancheros?” Mother announced.

  “Anything sounds good to me. I don’t usually eat more than toast,” Brax said.

  “So, Mom, you never did answer the question,” Adam continued. He was on the trail like a bloodhound following a scent.

  Mother almost dropped the skillet. Panic darkened her brown eyes as she fumbled to place it on the countertop. “I hear the baby. I’m just going to run up and see if Prudence needs my help.”

  She scattered out of the room faster than a flock of birds following a gunshot.

  “See what I mean?” Adam asked. He set his coffee cup down on the oversized wooden table. “There’s no way she could hear the baby from all the way down here.”

  Adam, Prudence, and the baby had taken up residence in the east wing of the main house. He was right. There was no baby monitor in the kitchen. Sound wouldn’t travel from the upstairs bedroom to here.

  “What does she have to act suspicious about?” Now, Brax was intrigued.

  4

  Raleigh woke with the sun. She stretched her arms out and sat up. Being in her childhood home, in her old bed, gave her the best night of sleep she’d had in a long time.

  A racket outside drew her to the window. She pulled back the curtain to find a gaggle of young people being forced to stay off the property by Hardy.

  They’d found her. Was it the tour bus? She’d purposely kept hers low-key. The one with all the lights had her face and name running down both sides, and that was the one fans followed after a concert, thinking she was inside, instead of the nondescript bus parked next to it. The decoy worked.

  Of course, she thought, people knew her here. Folks were proud of her and had supported her career. She should have realized they’d know it was her once the tour bus pulled into Nana’s place. These folks knew who she really was.

  That meant reporters might soon follow.

  Raleigh heaved a sigh. Her stomach growled. A good night of sleep did wonders for her stress levels. But her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since last night’s cold pizza.

  It didn’t take but ten minutes to throw on clothes and freshen up. She ran a brush through her hair. It was still ironed out, and had held its shape. She grabbed a jar of tinted lip gloss, figuring a natural pink would brighten her face, in case someone snapped a shot of her.

  The middle of June called for jeans and a summer shirt.

  Someone had brought in muffins last night. She grabbed a blueberry one and popped it inside the clean microwave that she’d scrubbed herself. There was a sense of pride that came with the small accomplishment. She rarely had time for anything but concerts, band meetings, and making new music. Other basics had to take a backseat. Basics like cooking and cleaning up her own kitchen. The most she did on tour was heat something in the microwave in a plastic dish, then throw away the disposable container when she was done.

  It was crazy how satisfying attending to the little things could be.