Jared (Coyote Ridge) (Volume 2) Read online

  However, he did have a reason for being there today, and it had nothing to do with engines or equipment, or them, for that matter.

  “Do you know what Travis expects for this family reunion?” Jared blurted, figuring he might as well get right down to it.

  Ethan smirked. “He task you with that?”

  Jared nodded, then mumbled a thanks when Beau passed over a cup of coffee.

  “Lucky you,” Beau said facetiously. “He tried to pin it on us, but we refused.”

  Yeah, well… Jared figured he would eventually get to the point when he regretted that he hadn’t, but for now, it gave him something to focus on. Something other than chasing a four-year-old around all hours of the day and night.

  Ah, I’ve been expectin’ one of the infamous Walkers to call me.

  Hope Lambert’s raspy twang sounded in his head, and he remembered the conversation he’d had with her a short while ago.

  Okay, and maybe now he was looking forward to this whole family reunion fiasco for an entirely different reason. Ever since he’d hung up the phone, Jared couldn’t seem to get that sexy voice out of his head. Although it was asinine, for some reason he wanted to know what the body attached to that voice looked like.

  Not that he intended to do anything about that, but he couldn’t deny it was a nice distraction.

  Truth was, the last fucking thing he needed in his life was a woman. He’d learned his lesson after the last one. His ex-wife had done a number on him. Theirs had been a quick courtship, which should’ve been his first warning that something was awry.

  Jared had met Sable in a nightclub. One of those country dance halls that played more hip-hop than country music. A little eye contact from across the room and Jared had found himself invited back to her place. Sex was the appropriate next step, which had then turned into marriage three weeks later.

  Needless to say, Jared hadn’t seen the tornado that was Sable Hillman until it was too late. The only good thing that came out of it was his son, Derrick. From the moment Sable told him she was pregnant, Jared had been over the moon. Apparently he was the only one. During the three relatively short, although extremely painful, years they’d been married, not only had Sable been stepping out on him, she’d also broken the news to him that his son was not his son. The breakdown of his marriage was no skin off his nose, but losing his boy…

  Divorcing the adulterous, manipulating woman had been easy—nothing a little money couldn’t take care of—but losing Derrick… That short period of time when Jared had to be without the little boy had damn near killed him. And after having to deal with Sable’s shit for years, Jared didn’t want anything to do with women or the shit storm they brought with them. Which was why he’d kept his relationships impersonal and brief. A few one-nighters over the years—both parties fully on board with the plan—and Jared didn’t have much to complain about.

  Shaking off the thought, he looked between the two men. “You know anything about Dead Heat Ranch?”

  Ethan glanced at Beau, then shrugged. “Just what I heard from Cheyenne.”

  “It’s a dude ranch, right?” Beau questioned.

  “That’s the rumor,” Jared confirmed. “Chey mentioned Travis wants to stay for a week.”

  “A week?” Ethan looked as though that was the most ludicrous thing he’d ever heard. That’d been Jared’s initial reaction as well.

  “Sounds reasonable,” Beau chimed in.

  Ethan and Jared turned to glare at him.

  “What?” Beau tossed his hands up. “A week on a ranch. Horses. Cows. Chickens. No engines to fuck with. Man, seriously.”

  Okay, so when Beau put it that way, it didn’t sound terrible. Hell, as it was, Derrick was obsessed with horses, and he figured it would be the right place to get his son some more experience with them. Jared took Derrick out to see Curtis and Lorrie’s horses as often as he could, and the little boy loved it.

  “I’m talkin’ to them this afternoon,” Jared confirmed. “I’ll get more details.”

  “When does Trav want this to take place?” Ethan asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  “He said next month, but I’m not sure that’s doable. I’ll see what they’ve got available.”

  Ethan nodded, but he still didn’t look happy about the whole thing.

  Jared drained what was left of his coffee. “Well, that’s all I’ve got. I need to run out and check on a job. Y’all need anything?”

  Ethan shook his head, so Jared looked at Beau.

  “Nah. We’re good, man.”

  “Cool. Let me know if you do.”

  Jared passed over the empty cup, then offered a quick wave as he sauntered back to his truck. Maybe he should do a little research on this ranch. See what he was getting himself into. Hell, maybe a trip over was the best way to do things. He could meet with Hope Lambert face-to-face and check it out at the same time.

  Glancing at his watch, he noticed it was straight-up noon. If he grabbed a quick bite, stopped at the jobsite, he’d probably be able to make it over to the ranch right at two.

  With that plan, he fired up his Silverado and laid some gravel behind him just to piss Ethan off. A quick glance in his rearview showed he’d definitely accomplished his goal. Ethan was standing in the bay door, giving him the finger and glaring at him just as he was consumed by a cloud of dust.

  ETHAN WALKER COUGHED dust from his lungs as he turned back into the shop, finding his husband staring back at him with a smirk on his handsome face.

  “What?” Ethan asked, throwing his hands up. “I take it you’re on board with this ranch reunion shit?”

  “How could it hurt?” Beau questioned, taking the empty coffee mug back to the small sink inside the shop’s office.

  “A week on a dude ranch?”

  “Sure. Time away from here.” Beau cocked his head to the side. “In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t get away much.”

  Ethan frowned. “Is that a problem for you?”

  Beau was right, they didn’t do much more than go to work every day, then go home, have dinner, make love, pass out, and get up the next day to do it all over again.

  “I’d like to get away from time to time, sure,” Beau told him. “With you.”

  Interesting.

  Ethan had never given much thought to going on a vacation. Not that he thought a trip that included the crazies that he called family would be a vacation. Still.

  “Anywhere specific you wanted to go?” he asked, curious.

  “A cruise,” Beau said, completely serious. “Maybe the mountains. In the winter, when there’s snow on the ground. I liked Hawaii. Wouldn’t mind going back sometime.”

  Ethan watched Beau as though he’d never seen him before. He couldn’t help himself. They’d been married for almost two years now, and he was shocked that the man he loved wanted to travel. It wasn’t something Ethan had ever given much thought to. But now that he was, he kind of liked the idea.

  Him and Beau, alone. Somewhere quiet, with a lot of privacy.

  Hmm. He would definitely have to give this some more thought.

  “Come on, E. We don’t have time for you to sit around with your thumb up your butt,” Beau chided.

  Ethan grinned, knowing Beau was messing with him. As he walked toward the truck they’d been arguing over before Jared showed up, he managed to crowd Beau against the wall. “Be careful there,” Ethan grumbled softly, moving in close enough to feel Beau’s breath on his lips. “You know how I get when you talk like that.”

  Beau laughed, then grabbed Ethan. “Baby, I’m game for whatever you’ve got in mind. Anytime.”

  Well, in that case…

  Ethan kissed him.

  Just before he led him to their small office, where he could show his husband just how much he intended to get done today.

  “HOPE!�
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  Pivoting on her heel, Hope turned at the sound of her name. Even though her face was shaded by her straw hat, she still had to squint to see in the direct sunlight. That was when she noticed Grace coming her way, determination in every step of her booted feet.

  “What’s up?” she asked. “I was just headin’ to the barn to muck out the stalls.”

  “That can wait,” Grace stated matter-of-factly.

  Great. Another fire that had to be put out before she could get her daily chores tackled. Hope was beginning to think she needed to clone herself in order to get through the day. As it was, she’d promoted Lane Miller to head wrangler because Hope hadn’t been able to do the role justice with so much going on. Yet her sister was still chasing her down.

  “What’s wrong? Is it the calf?”

  Grace shook her head.

  “They didn’t get the snake?”

  Grace nodded. “Oh, they got it, all right.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “One of the cabins flooded.”

  Hope stared at her sister in disbelief. “And that’s my problem how? The cabins aren’t my responsibility, Gracie. Talk to your man about that shit.”

  Grace’s eyes opened wide. “I did,” she said snottily. “But I thought I’d give you a heads-up since it’s your fuckin’ cabin that flooded.”

  “What?”

  Hope was fairly certain she saw a glimmer of satisfaction in Grace’s turquoise eyes. Then again, Hope had put her in her place before she had all the facts, so she probably deserved that.

  “How bad is it?” she questioned, angling her boots in the direction of her cabin.

  “Oh, it’s bad.”

  That didn’t tell her shit.

  “Elaborate, Grace,” she snapped.

  “Let’s just say your bedroom is underwater.”

  Fuck.

  Not what she needed right now. She’d had some issues with the plumbing in her cabin in the past, but she’d thought it’d been taken care of.

  “Is it the water heater?”

  “Nope.”

  “One of the pipes bust?”

  “Nope.”

  Hope glanced over at Grace, her frustration building. “What is it then?”

  “Septic tank.”

  “Fuck.” That was a nasty thought.

  “You’ll probably have to stay in the main house until they can get it repaired. Not to mention, it’s gonna take some time to air that shit out.” Grace chuckled. “Literally.”

  Lovely.

  It took a good ten minutes of the unusually warm morning for Hope to make it to her cabin, Grace in tow. When she stepped up on the porch, Hope took a deep breath and prepared herself for the damage. As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw the water. Not only was her bedroom underwater, like Grace had said, but her living room, too.

  Oh, good heavens. That was not a pleasant smell.

  “I assume someone stopped the backflow?” Hope peered around, singling out the few items she had that she would’ve been devastated to lose. Not that she had much, but some of the things her mother had given her before she died were irreplaceable.

  “Yep. Grant did as soon as he noticed.”

  “How’d he notice it?” Hope’s cabin was the one farthest from the main house. Usually no one ventured that far, which was one of the reasons she liked it. Privacy.

  “He’d been checkin’ the fence line ’cause someone said there was a downed section. Let’s just say he smelled it before he saw it.”

  Hope waded through the sewage water, which came over the toes of her boots. Everything that was on the floor was definitely down for the count, but hopefully she’d be able to salvage some of the furniture—the wooden stuff anyway. If not, she was sure she could scrounge up some extra pieces from somewhere. After all, most of what she had belonged to the ranch anyway. It’d never been her priority to fancy a place with all kinds of shit. The décor was certainly hers—most of it from her childhood bedroom, which her mother had designed herself—mostly pink and white and frilly. It wasn’t necessarily Hope’s taste, but it was all she had left of her mom, so she kept it.

  Her bigger problem was that she would have to deal with this later. Much later. As much as she wanted to make this a priority, she had too many chores to take care of before she could focus on this.

  “Grant is on his way back,” Grace said from somewhere behind her. “We’ll get the water out for you. And Trin said she’d help to pack up your personal things. You want any of the furniture?”

  “Once it’s cleaned out, I’ll figure that out.”

  “Got it. We’ll get you taken care of.”

  Hope nodded. She would appreciate that. Although she would prefer to handle it all herself, she knew that wasn’t possible. These days, it seemed as though she was running herself ragged without any extra problems arising.

  “Thanks.”

  “Really?” The disbelief in her sister’s tone made Hope turn to face her.

  “Really what?”

  “No arguments?”

  Hope peered down at the floor, pretending to look at the water.

  “It’ll be fine,” Grace said, obviously mistaking Hope’s downcast eyes for her being upset. Truth was, Hope didn’t give a shit about the cabin. It was a place to sleep, but that was about it.

  However, she wasn’t looking forward to staying in the main house. She hadn’t stayed there in… Not since she was seventeen and had insisted she have her own space. But it wasn’t the lack of privacy that she feared.

  No, Hope wasn’t looking forward to staying in the main house because it brought back too many memories of her mother. Memories that she did her best to avoid. As it was, she’d allowed those memories to shape her world, to turn her into a hard-ass who had little time for anything more than keeping the ranch going. It was easier than letting people get close to her.

  A whole lot easier.

  Chapter Three

  AFTER LUNCH, JARED tracked down his cousin Jaxson, who handled pretty much anything Jared could throw at him. He put Jaxson in charge of the phones for a couple of hours, then hopped in his truck for the thirty-minute trip to Dead Heat Ranch.

  It took a little less time than he’d expected to get to Embers Ridge, and only a few more minutes to make his way through the one-stoplight town. The place was quite possibly smaller than Coyote Ridge. On one side of the main road, there was a row of buildings—a real estate office, barber shop, hardware store, and frozen yogurt place—and on the other, what looked to be an all-you-can-eat buffet that’d been closed down, as well as a small bank. The only other thing he saw before heading down the narrow back road that the navigation system directed him to was a decent-sized wooden building boasting Marla’s Bar from the sign high above the rutted gravel parking lot.

  Small Town, USA.

  And past the main drag, a whole lot of nothing with the exception of acres and acres of farmland. And then he saw it … the ornate iron sign for Dead Heat Ranch.

  Honestly, Jared hadn’t known what to expect when he pulled down the long, winding road that led through the main gates, but what he saw was pretty damned impressive. The enormous main house—which looked more like a log cabin on fucking steroids—was a definite draw for tourists. Aside from that, though, it was clear the place was a fully functioning ranch with endless miles of rolling hills surrounding it. One of the biggest he’d ever seen, in fact, and that was saying something considering the spread his parents owned in El Paso.

  Heading down the gravel road, Jared passed a few dogs snoozing in the shade of the big pecan trees along the way, none of them paying him any mind. He made his way to the main house, then parked in the small lot that directed visitors to the sales office. He grabbed his Stetson as he climbed out, dropping it onto his head as he headed for the door.

 
Before he could get the door open, an older man wearing a straw hat, navy blue button-down, and dark Wranglers was pulling it in, welcoming him with a huge grin.

  “Afternoon,” the man greeted as he stepped back out of the way to allow Jared to come inside. “Name’s Jerry Lambert.” Jared shook the man’s hand when he offered it. “And you are?”

  “Jared Walker. I’ve got an appointment with Hope.”

  “Sure. Sure. Lemme holler at her, see where she’s at. You lookin’ to book a vacation?”

  “Family reunion, actually.”

  “If you do it right, it’ll be a little of both,” Jerry said, chuckling.

  Jared didn’t know about that, but he smiled anyway. “Possible, I guess.” When Jerry reached for his phone, Jared nodded toward the door. “Thanks. Mind if I step outside and look around?”

  “Not at all. Go out through that door,” Jerry told him, pointing toward a door on the far side of the room. “That’ll take you around back.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Jared left Mr. Lambert inside and stepped out onto the wide wooden porch that appeared to wrap around the entire house. It was clear that the area around the house had been designed with guests in mind. There were probably ten rocking chairs along the wall, overlooking an open grassy area with a large playscape off to the right. A little farther out and to the left was a huge swimming pool, equipped with a rock ledge and slide. It was the sort of thing you’d see at a nice resort, which, technically, this was. But the rest of the scenery was the basic things you’d see at a ranch. Barns, stables, some sort of arena, fence line as far as the eye could see. Not to mention cows, goats, more cows, and several horses. There was a large garden down at the opposite end of the house, plus laughter coming from somewhere behind him.

  Jared took it all in, noticing a few people—men and women—walking around. They were dressed in regular ranch attire: boots, jeans, hats, and sunglasses. He figured most of them likely worked here. He briefly wondered if one of them was Hope. He remembered her voice from their phone call, and though he had no idea what she looked like, his imagination had conjured up a few ideas. Her voice… Lord have mercy. Sexy, raspy, and that drawl… Yeah. Admittedly, Hope Lambert’s voice alone was the reason Jared had decided to deal directly with her rather than have her pass him off to one of her sisters as she’d suggested. He didn’t understand why he’d done it, but here he was.