Chapter 2

THERE were two new cars in the driveway when I pulled up to the house, so I was wondering who was there as I grabbed my groceries and went up to the porch. As I reached for the screen door, the front door opened. There was a man in my house I had never seen in my life, and he was talking to someone over his shoulder, so he didn‘t immediately see me.

“Knock it off, Gin,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I don‘t care what anybody says. Rand Holloway being gay is a buncha shit. That man nailed more—”

“Glenn!”

He laughed at whoever Gin was as he pushed open the screen door making me back up.

“Excuse me.”

His head swiveled to me and his eyes, brilliant and blue, widened. “Oh shit, man, I‘m sorry. I didn‘t see…. Sorry.” He winced, apologizing, easing the door closed so it didn‘t hit me.

I stepped sideways and plastered on a big smile as he cracked the screen door again.

“Let‘s try this again, huh?”

As soon as I was bracing the door open, he leaned back and extended his hand to me.

“I‘m Glenn Holloway, Rand‘s cousin. I suppose he forgot to tell you that we were coming as well.”

“Who else did he forget to tell,” I asked, after clearing my throat.

“You and every other hand on this ranch.” He smiled sheepishly, raking his fingers through the same glossy black hair that Rand had. His hair was shorter than Rand‘s, but just as thick. “We‘re all leavin‘ day after tomorrow for my brother Zach‘s ranch, but ‘til then, we‘re stayin‘ here.” Uh-huh.

“Are you the cook?” The cook?

“Do you have a room here or in the bunkhouse?”

“Unfortunately, I‘m not the cook.” I forced a smile. “Excuse me, can I…?”

“Oh yeah, sorry, where are my manners?” I could venture a guess.

As I stepped into the great room, I saw another man and two women. The television was on, and it looked like they had made themselves comfortable with chips and salsa and margaritas. There was a pitcher on the coffee table as well as a bowl with salt on it and wedges of limes.

“Hi there.” One of the women smiled wide, standing up as I moved across the room to her. “I‘m Ginger Holloway, that guy‘s cousin,” she said, tipping her head back toward the door where Glenn was. “And this here is my brother Brent and his girlfriend Emily.”

“I‘m Stefan,” I told her, offering her my hand.

“Well, it‘s a pleasure,” she told me, taking my hand and squeezing tight.

I turned to Brent, who rose, wiped his palms on his jeans, and then extend his hand to me. After we shook, it was Emily‘s turn.

“So Stefan,” Ginger said, returning my attention to her. “How long have you worked on the ranch?”

I was saved from having to say anything by another woman coming in from the kitchen.

“Gin, there isn‘t anything else in there but wine and beer and coffee. Rand must—” She saw me. “Oh, hi there. Did you bring food?” “I had planned to cook for two,” I told the stranger.

Her smile was big, as were her baby-blue eyes. Her short blonde bob made her look like a pixie. She rushed across the room to offer me her hand. “Hi, I‘m the test, Lisa Whitten. Nice to meet you.”

“Stefan,” I said, taking her hand. “Test?”

Her laugh was nice, lilting. “Yeah, apparently I got invited along to what I thought would be a nice relaxing weekend on a dude ranch to check and see if their cousin, your boss, was really and truly gay.” She put her hands on her hips and struck a pose for me. “Apparently my hotliness is to be put to the test.”

The room erupted in laughter.

I nodded.

She was cute, no way around it. Her tan was golden, her legs long, all her curves were perfect, and she had sharp elfin features. She was the kind of woman who men would turn and watch and drool over, like Barbie with a short ‘do.

“I hafta tell you.” She gave me a wicked smile, leaning closer to me, her voice dropping. “After laying eyes on the man, I‘m not really that upset about being tricked into this anymore.”

“Because my cousin is hot!” Ginger whooped from where she was on the couch.

“You guys?”

One more woman stepped from the kitchen.

“Do you know if Rand has Wi-Fi out here? I have got to check my email.”

“No,” I answered her. “Just a cable modem.”

The woman looked up at me and smiled. “I don‘t suppose it‘s anywhere in the house I can go.”

“His office is upstairs, three doors down.”

“Would it be okay, you think, if I just hooked up my laptop?”

“Sure, just unplug his computer and hook yours up. He won‘t care as long as you put it back the way you found it.”

“Thank you,” she gushed, hand out for me. “Kim Palmer. Great to meet you.”

“Stefan Joss,” I said, taking the offered hand.

“You‘re saving my life, Stefan,” she sighed. “Ginny and I own a catering business in Austin, and apparently we had some screwups today that I have to fix.”

“I‘ll go with you,” Ginger sighed, getting up off the couch, margarita glass in hand. “But I really hope Rand gets back soon ‘cause all tequila and no food is going to make me a little loopy.” “Going to?” Brent called over to her.

“Shut up.” She giggled at him, following Kim up the stairs as I made my way to the kitchen.

Dumping the groceries on the counter, I was torn between being thrilled that I was home and wishing to God that his cousins were not.

There was a tap on the back door, and when I opened it, I was faced with Everett Hartline, one of Rand‘s men.

“Hey.” I smiled at him, moving sideways out of his way. “You wanna come in?”

“No, I was just supposed to let the dogs in the house and stay there to make sure they didn‘t scare his kin.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “You‘re making sure the pack doesn‘t frighten his cousins?”

He grinned. “You know, before I worked on this ranch, I only ever worked with border collies or heelers, Australian cattle dogs and such. Rand Holloway‘s the only man I know who keeps Rhodesian Ridgebacks on his ranch.”

They were beautiful dogs, Rand‘s hounds from hell, but they were big, all between seventy-five to eighty pounds of muscle. So it made sense actually, because while they were not vicious or aggressive, tending to leave strangers alone instead of attacking at first sight, the people were on their home turf, and so they would be protective of Rand and the house and me.

I loved them all, which had amazed me. I was not the type who liked animals as a rule, but ever since I had been on the ranch, calves and dogs and horses had taken over my heart. I was perfectly content to sit in front of the fire on a cold winter day, watching television under a warm puppy pile of fur. There was one of the hell hounds in particular, Bella, who had staked her claim on me. She was more my dog than Rand‘s, and he had said on a number of occasions that as soon as he could, he was going to visit his favorite breeder in Biloxi and get another puppy to raise on the ranch. Bella was apparently no good to him anymore as a working dog since she had decided that she wanted to be my pet. Supposedly I distracted her more than I did the others, and she would rather sit at my feet than run after cattle.

“Stef?”

“Sorry.” I grinned at him. “I think I‘m tired. Where are the dogs now?”

I heard a yell at the same time from the living room.

“I‘d say they were on the porch,” he grunted, turning away. “But you‘re here, so you can deal with them.”

“You wanna stay and eat?”

“No.” He yawned, looking back at me. “Me, Jace, Chris, and Pierce are headed out to the Rooster to get laid.”

“Have a good time,” I called after him. The Rooster was a honkytonk I had been in once. It had been more than enough. Between the sawdust on the floor and the music that resembled nothing I had ever heard, my plan was to never go again. “And good luck getting lucky.”

“Don‘t need no luck, son, when you look like this.”

I rolled my eyes and shut the door before walking back out into the living room. It sounded like a bad horror movie, the snarling and growling going on outside the front door.

“Jesus Christ,” Lisa moaned, looking terrified, as Glenn looked out the window.

Brent had a smile for me as did Emily.

“Goddamn, Rand, who keeps dogs that big just to herd cattle?” “What is that?” Ginger asked, having come halfway down the stairs.

“Just the dogs,” I told her, slipping past Glenn and opening the door.

Everyone yelled behind me at once.

The second I opened the door, the barking stopped. “Seriously,” I told them, “the noise is out of control.” Six faces were looking up at me expectantly.

“Stefan, they don‘t come in the house, do they?” Lisa asked tentatively.

“Yeah, Rand doesn‘t like the dogs loose on the ranch at night unless he‘s with them. The dogs are hard to see in the dark, and he worries that anyone coming down the drive might accidentally hit them.”

I stepped sideways, and they all came in and clustered around me, five tails in a blur of motion, five wet noses touching my hands. The sixth dog, Bella, was dancing around me, whimpering and whining, contorting her body into a half moon as she tried to shove her head under my palm.

“C‘mon.” I yawned, turning for the kitchen.

I heard their feet on the wooden floor, the jingle of their collars as they trotted after me. I held the swinging door open for them and then let it shut behind me.

“You‘re such an attention whore,” I told my girl Bella, crouching down to pet her. I was instantly covered in dog. Her nose went into my eye as the others licked my face, my nose, my throat, and pranced in circles around me. “This is so gross,” I laughed at them.

I petted each one, scratched ears, stroked backs, rubbed and finally hugged each one. When I finally rose, I went to the pantry to get their dishes down for water and food, and talked to them as I moved around. They were all sitting there, tails thumping, watching me. Rand used to only have four, but as the ranch grew, so did his pack. He had six now and would soon have seven once he went to pick up the new puppy.

When the door swung open, the dogs moved fast, forming a phalanx around me, which was funny to see, for me, but not quite as amusing for Glenn and Ginger.

Beau was the undisputed leader. He was the biggest, and he had been with Rand the longest, five years. He looked pretty scary, hackles up, teeth bared, ears laid back, snarling. If we were outside, he would have ignored them, but he was penned in, and there was nothing between them and me except him. He went into defense mode that fast.

“Quit it,” I told him, touching his head, petting him so he had no choice but to stop and look up at me. “It‘s okay, honey.”

He talked to me, half howl, half bark, chiding me for keeping him from his duty, before he sat down with a huff of air, with what looked like disgust.

“So what is it that you do on the ranch, Stefan?” Ginger asked me, squinting.

I didn‘t get to say because Lisa yelled from the other room that Rand was back.

The dogs went nuts because Rand was home, and all of them, except Bella, rushed from the kitchen to greet him.

It was funny. Ginger screamed, Glenn abandoned his cousin to get out of the way of the stampede of dogs, and I heard Lisa and then Kim yell from the living room. I finished measuring out the ratio of wet food to dry food in each dog‘s bowl, and then filled the bowls of water before I washed my hands. I needed a shower, but I wanted to see Rand first.

“Jesus Christ, where the hell did he have to go for groceries?” Glenn groused, throwing open the screen door, shivering in the cold air. “We could have driven to Lubbock and back for how long you took.”

I heard boots on the stairs and then a bag of charcoal was shoved hard at Glenn‘s chest. “If you had given me any kind of warning about this at all, I might‘ve been a little better prepared, asshole. As it is—Beau, get off me and get inside, you stupid—I‘m missin‘ a dog. Where‘s Bella?”

“There‘s one standing with Stefan.”

“Why the hell you guys couldn‘t have just called is bullshit, Glenn,” Rand grumbled, not listening as he suddenly stepped into the room, dogs spilling in before him. “When Stef gets home, you guys are gonna hafta—”

“Hey,” I called over to him softly.

“Stef.” He said my name like he‘d been hit in the stomach, as he stood there, frozen, staring at me.

“Surprise.” I smiled at him.

Bella barked her hello, but didn‘t leave my side.

“Christ,” he growled, walking by the couch, dumping the groceries there before he jogged across the room to me.

“Where are you off to, Mr. Holloway?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Shut up,” he said before he grabbed my arm, fingers digging into my bicep, and yanked me after him into the kitchen.

I didn‘t think, couldn‘t think, and so when he swung me around and threw me up against the refrigerator, I scrambled to get close to him. My arms wrapped around his neck as I pulled him down, my lips parted the moment they sealed to his. I felt the shiver run through him as our tongues tangled, my body pressed tightly against his. I loved to kiss him, could taste him for hours, and feasted on his mouth.

His hands were on my face, holding me still, making sure I couldn‘t move, couldn‘t get away. He took full inventory of my teeth and my tonsils and everything else. I finally had to shove him off me to breathe, my head ready to explode. He rested his forehead against mine, both of us panting, heaving for oxygen.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” I gave him the same answer I always did.

“You were gonna be late.”

“But I had to get here and stop you from falling in love with Lisa,” I teased him.

“Stef—”

“Looks like I got here just in time.”

“I‘m gonna strangle you.”

“Wait until I catch my breath,” I chuckled.

He lifted his forehead, tipped my head back, and slammed his mouth back down over mine. The kiss was, for the second time, grinding, voracious, and rough. When I was whimpering, rubbing the hardening bulge in my dress pants against his thigh, he broke the kiss, lifting his lips from mine only to dip his head and press the first of many hot, wet kisses to the long column of my throat.

“Glad”—he said hoarsely as he sucked under my jaw—”you‘re home.”

“Where are you going?” I asked him, even though my power to focus was deserting me quickly. My body was beginning to heat. His kisses had a drugging effect on me as well.

“My cousin Zach,” he grumbled, and his voice dropped low as he nibbled my chin, “has an emergency. His ranch, once every three months, he turns it into a guest ranch for a week and—”

“What‘s a guest ranch?” I asked, opening my legs as he pressed his thigh to my groin.

He kissed me instead of answering, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth, biting it gently before easing back to look down at my face.

“Rand?”

“You know what‘s hot?” I smiled up at him.

“This,” he said, sliding a finger down the divot under my nose. “I don‘t know why, but it makes me wanna kiss you.” I laughed at him because he was adorable.

“And when your hair sticks up after we‘ve been in bed—also, very hot.”

What was hot was the man looking at me like I was the most alluring thing on the planet. He was making my stomach flutter. “What‘s a guest ranch?”

“Like a dude ranch,” he answered, kissing me again, down the side of my throat, licking my skin, nuzzling, tasting.

“Really?”

There was a deep rumble from his chest before his lips sealed back over mine. My hands moved over his chest, feeling the hard pecs and rippling muscles as he tightened his hold on me.

It lasted too long; I couldn‘t breathe and had to pull back to drag in air. Instantly he bit gently down on my now-swollen lower lip, nibbling, sucking it back inside his hot mouth.

My moan was deep and full of aching, throbbing need.

His answering groan lifted my eyes to his.

“You make those noises, Stef, and I will put you over the table, company or not.”

I coughed to try and get my over-stimulated body under control. “So you‘ll go there, to Zach‘s ranch, and do what?”

His hands slid off my face, but he didn‘t move away. Instead he wrapped his strong arms around me, one hand on the small of my back, pressing me forward. “I‘ll put people on horses and take ‘em off, I‘ll teach them to rope, and ride, and lead trail rides, all that sort of crap.”

“But why? I mean, why do you have to go?”

“‘Cause Zach, he always asks his family to help him out because if he pays his own men to be there, then there goes his profit.”

“Your guys would do it for free.”

He nodded. “They would, but I would never ask them.”

“How come you didn‘t know about this before?”

“He doesn‘t normally ask me, but I guess he‘s got himself a bigger group this time than usual, and since he needs the money, he didn‘t wanna turn down the extra people.”

“So you got drafted.”

“I got drafted,” he agreed.

“He‘s never called you before.”

“Nope, normally he wouldn‘t, but he‘s backed into a corner right now, and he didn‘t have no other option.”

“So you‘re leaving me,” I teased him.

“Yessir.” He grinned evilly. “For five whole days.”

“I could die from that.”

“Me too.” The raw, needy sound of his voice made everything tighten down deep in my stomach as he leaned his head forward to kiss me again.

I lifted to meet him and the kiss became a needy whimpering, grinding, clothing-in-the-way, hands-everywhere connection in seconds. One day our chemistry would stop being raw and incendiary and would find a less passionate level. It just hadn‘t happened yet.

“Hey, Rand,” Glenn called as he exploded into the room, “what the fuck is—oh.”

When Rand‘s cousin opened the kitchen door, he found my boyfriend‘s mouth hovering over mine, his hand cupping my ass, the other in my hair, and my arms wrapped around his neck. Really, even if I‘d drawn him a picture, or taken one, it couldn‘t be any clearer. So his next question seemed ridiculous.

“What are you doing in here?”

I tried to pull free, but Rand drew me closer.

“I‘m mauling Stef. What‘s it look like?”

Even with the visual, it took Rand looking at him like he was dumb as dirt and me squinting at him for the scene in front of him to sink in.

“And you wasted your time invitin‘ that gal along, Glenn,” Rand told his cousin. “I got all I need right here.”

At which point Glenn Holloway finally got it.

I TOOK my time in the shower, and afterward I simply pulled all the water out of my hair, ran product through it, and messed it back up. I was home; I didn‘t need to be pretty. It felt good to be in a worn pair of jeans and big thick socks and a long-sleeved T-shirt. I wanted to eat and lie around and watch TV sprawled out in Rand‘s lap. I was hoping it wasn‘t going to be weird downstairs, but if it was, I would come lay in bed. And going to bed with Rand… just the idea sent a flash of heat over my skin. I wondered if I just stayed upstairs how long it would take for him to join me.

It was cute that the second I got out of the bathroom, Bella was there on the other side of the door waiting for me. Her huff of breath made me smile. She sounded like she was irritated.

“I take long showers,” I said defensively. The head tip let me know that she had no earthly idea what I was talking about.

Minutes later I was at the top of the stairs ready to go down when Rand appeared at the bottom.

“I wanna talk to you,” he said, smiling up at me.

“Talk,” I told him, descending toward him, staring into his eyes. The heat that was returned made my stomach flutter.

“I‘m leavin‘ in the morning.”

“So you said.”

“C‘mere.”

When I was a step above him so that we were eye to eye, I stopped. “Will you really be gone a week?”

“No, four days actually. I‘ll get to Zach‘s place tomorrow afternoon, and then bright and early Thursday morning the guests will arrive. It‘s four days there at his ranch, it‘s done Sunday morning, and then I‘ll be home the same night.”

I nodded. “So it‘s not like you‘ll actually be working his ranch like you do yours.”

“Ours.”

“Ours,” I repeated, putting my hand on his cheek, liking the feel of the firm skin and stubble under my palm.

“I‘m so glad you came home early.”

“I would‘ve been here in another hour anyway.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said as he leaned forward, kissing my cheek, the motion tender and sexy all at once. “But sooner is always better.”

I sighed heavily as his nose brushed over the side of my neck.

“You smell good.”

It was amazing how smoky and low Rand‘s voice got whenever he talked and kissed me at the same time. The gruff, low growl never failed to make me hard.

“I wish I didn‘t have to go.”

I looked up into his face. “I could come.”

He shook his head. “All the spots on the guest list are filled.”

“No, Rand, I could help you.”

His snort of laughter made me scowl.

“Rand.” I lowered my voice, the warning there.

He cleared his throat, tightening his arms around me when I tried to shove free.

I growled at him.

“Love,” he tried hard to stifle the chuckle. “Just because you live on a ranch doesn‘t mean you can ride a horse.” “Rand—”

“Stef.” His smile was big and wicked and made his eyes glitter. “Baby—”

“Don‘t call me baby, and I can ride a horse, Rand.”

“Correction, you can ride your horse because you basically raised her after her mama passed, but any other horse would not allow you to just sit there and do nothing.”

“What‘re you—”

“That horse does everything, Stef. You just hold the reins. She runs when she wants, she walks when she wants, rides into streams when she wants,” he chuckled, his hand sliding down my back, slipping up under the T-shirt to my skin. “She loves you, same as that damn fool dog, but any other horse and you‘re gonna break your neck.”

“Rand—”

“I like your neck in one piece.”

“I‘m going,” I told him matter-of-factly. “Case closed.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely not,” he said indulgently.

I arched an eyebrow for him.

“Baby, it‘s not how you think.”

“I‘m not thinking anything, and quit with the baby.”

“Stef—”

“Excuse me.”

We turned to find Rand‘s cousin Ginger descending the stairs behind us. He let me go as she took the final step to the floor, but one of his hands moved to the small of my back and stayed there. Her own was instantly offered.

“It‘s nice to meet you,” I told her as we shook.

“I feel like such an ass,” she said, biting her bottom lip, her hand squeezing mine. “What you must think of me.” I smiled at her.

“I just… I didn‘t know that you were living here, and when Glenn said that I should invite Lisa, I thought it would be funny.” She breathed out.

I eased my hand from hers as Rand slid his up to the back of my neck, his fingers massaging gently, tenderly.

“I had no idea that you and Rand had been together for two years already. No one tells us anything.”

“That‘s because when my mother got remarried, your father, along with Glenn‘s, stopped speaking to her,” Rand reminded Ginger. “Maybe if your dad, good old Uncle Cyrus, wasn‘t such a prick, you would know more about my life.”

“Rand,” I scolded him.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “I‘m going for Zach, not for you or Glenn or anybody else. And you better tell your girlfriend that she‘s shit outta luck about marrying this rancher, all right?”

She gasped as he leaned in, kissed my temple, and turned around, walking toward the kitchen, yelling.

“Oh my God, he‘s so mad,” she said, her voice tiny.

“He‘s just upset because he doesn‘t like to leave his ranch or me,” I said gently. “And tomorrow he has to do both.” She nodded as I saw tears fill her eyes.

“He‘s just loud.”

“He‘s been scary as long as I‘ve known him.”

“Really?” I chuckled. “You think Rand‘s scary?”

“You don‘t?”

“No,” I assured her. “Never.” She nodded.

“Tell me how you guys are related.”

She wiped under her eyes. “Well, Well, my father, and Brent‘s and Brandon‘s, is Cyrus Holloway, and he and Rand and Charlotte‘s daddy,

James, are brothers along with Rayland, Glenn and Zach‘s father, and Tyler, who lives here with you all.”

Rand‘s Uncle Tyler and I were very good friends, had been for longer than Rand and I had been together. I used to see him when his niece Charlotte, my best friend and Rand‘s sister, and I came to visit.

“Hey.”

I looked over my shoulder, and Glenn was there with Brent.

“Stefan?”

“Yes?”

He shoved his hands down deep into the pockets of his jeans. “I‘m real sorry I didn‘t put it together who you were. I should‘ve asked.”

“And I should have just told you,” I said. “I‘m sorry.”

“Rand and his family and my dad and ours, we‘re having us a little problem with Rand‘s mama gettin‘ remarried as she still owns a portion of the grazing land in King, and my daddy thinks she should just sign it over to him since she ain‘t a Holloway no more.”

“But Rand is.”

“Yeah, but Rand has his ranch, and even though it don‘t do as well as mine or Zach‘s, it‘s still enough to take care of him and provide for his family.”

I scowled at him. “How is the Red Diamond not doing well?”

He gave me a patronizing smile. “I know you don‘t know much about ranching, but there should be a lot of traffic around here if you‘re doing well.”

“Rand sells his beef over the Internet mostly,” I told him, trying not to look at him like he was stupid. “He has a company in Lubbock that deals with distribution and a PR company in Amarillo that does his marketing. Did he tell you about his contract with Grillmaster or did he fail to mention that?”

He looked like I‘d hit him.

I waited.

“He—”

“Rand just bought and sold four non-working ranches here in Winston to the developer Mitchell Powell who plans to create a huge resort that will bring in millions of dollars in revenue to this county and the next. He‘s building a school in Hillman in the fall. How does any of that say that his ranch is not doing well?”

“I… my father said his ranch was failing.”

“Twelve years ago.” I was indignant. “But I assure you that the Red Diamond is much better off than yours or your brother Zach‘s.”

We were all standing there silently as Rand yelled for everyone to come eat. As silent minutes ticked by, he suddenly appeared beside me.

“What are we doing?”

Glenn turned to look at him. “Stef tells us that you‘re the one who got the Grillmaster account, Rand. Is that true?”

He glared at his cousin. “So you‘re the guy who didn‘t have distribution rights before you bid on the contract?”

“Yes.”

Rand nodded and then shrugged. “I ship my beef all over the US, Glenn. You should think about that side of the business. Only selling to local businesses will not keep you in the black and allows no room for growth. I diversified before I met Stef, but went further with it afterward so that no amount of stupid-ass redneck prejudice would keep me from providing for my family and the families of my men. Unlike your ranch, you won‘t see any people driving down the road to the house, but my server is clogged with orders.”

Glenn was ashen, and I wondered why.

“I could buy you and your father‘s ranch and Zach‘s if I wanted. Tell that to your ignorant cracker father.”

There was some really bad blood between the two families that I was only right that second hearing about.

Glenn was suddenly in Rand‘s face, finger poking into his collarbone. His face was red and he was close to snarling. “My father wants that land up in King, Rand, and so do I. Your mother has no right to—”

“You want the land?” Rand asked icily, stepping back, sideways, so that I was suddenly behind him, shielded. “Buy me out.”

“I knew it!” he crowed. “Your mother signed it over to you!”

“The minute she remarried, the rights reverted to me, asshole. The land is mine now, Glenn, so you can tell your father that a Holloway owns it.”

“You—”

“If he wants it, like I said, he can buy me out. I can graze my cattle other places.”

“Got lots of other land, do you.?”

“Yessir, I do.”

“You know we don‘t have that kind of—”

“Then fuck you, Glenn,” he snarled at him, trembling when I put my hands on his hips, willing him to calm down. “That land was my father‘s, and I have as much right to it as any of you.”

“It‘s family land, and you‘ve got no right to it!”

“I‘ve got the same rights as you!”

“You‘re not welcome there,” he voice was cold, leveling his gaze on Rand, “and neither is your boyfriend.”

“The land is just as much mine as yours, Glenn, and there ain‘t shit you can do about it.”

He balled up his fists, and Rand did the same, twisting into a defensive stance, prepared to fight.

“No!” I yelled, and both men turned to me. “Not in my house.” “Fuck you,” Glenn barked at me.

“Don‘t speak to him,” Rand warned his cousin. “Don‘t even look at him.”

The world swirled around us. Profanity flew between the two men, Ginger was crying, her friends were clueless about what was going on, and in the middle of everything, Brent told Glenn to calm down because he was frightening Emily.

“Fuck you,” Glenn yelled at him. “You‘re such a pussy-whipped piece of—”

At which point, Brent, who I‘d thought was quiet and subdued and sort of dorky, ended up hurling himself at Glenn. It was chaos then until I heard Rand‘s Uncle Tyler, Glenn and Ginger‘s Uncle Tyler too, come in and yell.

“What in the blue blazes is goin‘ on in here?”

No one said blue blazes in real life, and that was funny. What was not, was the rifle he was holding in his hand.

Everyone froze because of it.

“I thought it was some kind of home invasion thing,” he announced to us.

“You‘re watching too much TV,” I told him.

He shrugged in agreement. “Now what in Sam Hill is goin‘ on?” Really, the man‘s expressions were hysterical.

As Rand threw up his hands; I realized that no one was going anywhere now that Tyler was there to mediate.

“Here, honey.” He gestured over to Lisa. “Come stand by me.” I rolled my eyes at the twinkle in his eye as she walked over to him.

“Oh for fuck‘s sake,” Rand groaned.

I rounded on him and leaped, and he had to scramble to grab me. As I wrapped arms and legs around him, I heard the deep contented sigh that came up out of the man. He brushed the hair back from my face and looked into my eyes.

“Now you see there,” Tyler mumbled. “If Stefan weren‘t home, you‘d all be dead now.”

And I smiled as Rand nodded.