Chapter Two
Morgan Ranch, California
HW turned the wheels of his truck in a slow circle and came to a stop right outside his family home. The dust resettled and the quietness stole over him. Not much had changed at the ranch since the 1850s, when his enterprising great-great-grandparents had realized that keeping the miners fed and housed was a way more lucrative business than chasing the next phantom gold rush. They’d built liveries and saloons and eventually made enough money to buy land and graze cattle.
Even when the thought of coming back had seemed impossible, HW had never forgotten the struggle his Welsh family had endured to make a home for themselves in a new country. That inherited grit had helped him compete through injuries and rides that would’ve shaken another man to his soul. His grandma Ruth said that stubbornness was the marrow in a Morgan’s bones.
HW would have to agree. After the horrors of their childhood, it had taken ten years for Ruth to persuade his oldest brother, Chase, to return to the ranch, and even longer to coax Blue and Ry back home. But now here they were—all working on the newly designed and almost-ready-to-go-public historical dude ranch.
He got out of the truck, stretching his shoulders and easing the weight onto his left hip. No one came out of the ranch house to welcome him. It was unusually quiet, and there were no trucks parked outside the barn. HW made his way up the steps to the wraparound porch and went in through the screen door. Everything looked freshly painted, and someone had added a swinging seat to one side of the outdoor space. He bet it was Blue. Being a tech nerd, Chase didn’t have a clue how to use a hammer.
“Anyone home?”
Silence greeted his question, so he headed into the kitchen, where the scent of baking lingered, reminding him that he was hungry and of his grandma, who always smelled like vanilla. He pulled out his cell phone and checked his messages. He’d sent a text to his twin brother, Ry, to let him know he was arriving today. He tested the side of the coffeepot to find out if it was still hot, texting with one thumb.
Where r u?
There was no immediate reply, so he helped himself to coffee and set about taking his bags up to his old room on the top floor. He kicked open the door with the toe of his boot and dumped everything on the old braided rag rug that covered the original pine flooring. The room smelled of sunshine and lemon polish. The windows were open, allowing the drapes to flutter in the breeze. Perhaps someone was expecting him after all.
His cell buzzed.
Are you home already? I’m in town with Avery. Back in 30.
HW paused to look out over the water meadows toward the Sierras, inhaling the clean bite of the fresh air.
Home . . .
Yeah. He wasn’t sure about that yet. Wasn’t sure his family had forgiven him for dumping them all in the shit by exposing their family history to the media. He’d even managed to fall out with his twin, which was a first. Ry always had his back, but HW had let the thrill of competition and fame turn his head and almost sacrificed something way more precious. He just remembered to text back.
Yeah. I’m here.
He had fences to mend with everyone—including a sister he’d met briefly during his oldest brother’s wedding. And as stubborn ass was the unofficial middle name of everyone called Morgan, his task might not be as easy as he hoped. Ry was the peacemaker, not him. He’d always been the wild child, the favorite, the charming hellion; the one everyone shook their heads over and said would come to a bad end. He’d done his best to prove them right.
HW put his cell in his pocket and went down the stairs. One thing he did know was that by six o’clock everyone would be sitting around the kitchen table having dinner together. At least he’d face them all at the same time. Rather like a firing squad.
He snorted back a laugh and went back outside. Despite its outward appearance of being stuck in the 1850s, a lot had changed, and that was due to Chase and his new bride, January. To anyone who hadn’t grown up on the ranch, the changes were subtle. Behind the original barn was a whole new structure that mimicked the Victorian architecture of the house but was less than a year old.
HW kept walking as laughter floated out from the guest reception center.
“Oh no you don’t, Chase Morgan! You stay over there and—”
HW recoiled as a petite blonde came out of the main door and ran straight into him. He instinctively caught her by the elbows, and for a second they rocked together like survivors of a shipwreck.
“Sorry, Ry!”
HW grinned down at his new sister-in-law. “January. I never knew you cared.”
She smiled right back at him. “You know I do. Are you looking for Chase?”
“I’m not Ry.”
“Yeah right.” She patted his arm. “Chase told me what you two scamps used to get up to when you were kids. FYI, it would work much better if your twin was actually here yet.”
“I am here.”
The door opened again and his brother Chase appeared, his shirt half untucked and his hat on backward. He had dark hair and very blue eyes and looked nothing like HW and Ry, who took after their blond mother.
“HW?”
“What? You’re early! We weren’t expecting you until tonight.” January backed away and stared hard at HW. “Are you sure, Chase? How can you tell?”
Chase shrugged. “I dunno. It’s always been obvious to me which one was which.”
“Maybe it’s that big gold buckle he’s wearing that gave it away?” January teased as Chase came down the steps to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s good to see you, bro.”
Chase hauled HW into a group hug until January squealed about being squashed like the filling of a sandwich.
“Do you want a tour of the new facilities?” Chase asked. “We’ve got time before dinner.”
“That would be great.”
Beyond the welcome center, HW could see the newly erected guest cabins and some other structures.
“Looks like you’re almost ready to open.”
“Almost.” Chase led the way. “We’ve got six weeks until our official opening day, but starting tomorrow we’ve got groups of guests coming in to try out the facilities and report back.”
“Awesome.”
“Blue’s taking care of the new string of horses and Ry’s working with Roy managing the cattle operation.”
“So I hear.” HW paused to take in the dozen small cabins with brightly painted doors and windows. “It looks great.”
“We’re going to try to run through some of the events we plan to hold over the first part of the season in the next few weeks so we can work out any kinks,” January added. “I’m in charge of the scheduling, when Chase resists the urge to meddle.”
Her new husband grinned down at her. “I’m trying, but you know us nerdy types, we’re all over that shit.”
January winked at HW. “Luckily for me, he has that other billion-dollar company to run, and even he hasn’t mastered being in two places at one time yet.”
“Hey. I’m working on it.” Chase’s chuckle made January stand on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.
They walked farther down the slope to where about a dozen of the horses were grazing in a field.
“Want to give us a hand getting these guys in for the night?” Chase asked.
“Sure,” HW said.
“Halters and lead ropes are by the gate. We’ll take them up to the barn.”
“Why are you taking them in? It’s not that cold yet.” HW grabbed a halter and let himself into the field. The horses immediately spread out around the field like they had a game plan. He wished he had some treats in his pocket to make his job easier. Ry always had more patience with the horses than HW had.
“We’ve had some problems with a pack of coyotes coming in too close and Roy swears there’s a cougar prowling around out there somewhere. Until we sort those issues out, we decided to remove temptation. Come here, Nolly.” Chase clicked at the nearest horse and successfully looped the halter around its neck.
The gelding HW chose immediately backed away and tossed his head, as if daring HW to chase him. He might be a professional cowboy now, but he’d grown up a ranch kid and knew all the tricks. He pretended to go after the first horse and then caught the one watching him instead.
He breathed in deep. It was good being outside in the pure, clear air of the Sierra foothills, and good to be sharing such a mundane task with his brother and January. With three of them catching the horses, it didn’t take too long before all twelve horses were in the barn munching happily on their supper. It was also good to watch Chase relax with his new wife. He’d been a pain in the ass when HW and Ry were teenagers, and the main reason the two of them had left the moment they graduated high school.
Now he was older, HW understood that Chase had been like a parent to him and his siblings, desperately trying to support Ruth, who’d been left to deal with the fallout of her son’s marriage. At the time, he hadn’t appreciated his grandma or older brother at all.
“Ouch.” A gentle headbutt in his back from a fine-looking paint horse made him stop thinking about the past and get with the program. Horses had a way of making you focus. “Sorry, dude. Here’s your hay.”
Chase walked down the center of the barn, checking that every stall held the right horse. It was great to see the barn full of horses again and the ranch thriving.
“Looking good. Time to eat. Let’s wash up. Ry and Blue should be back by now.”
HW took off his boots in the mudroom at the bottom of the stairs and washed his hands and face in the small powder room. One thing the old house lacked was enough bathrooms. Chase hadn’t yet managed to persuade Ruth to knock down a few walls to add some more, but he’d told HW he was working on it.
By the time HW was presentable, the scent of beef and roasting potatoes filled his lungs. He was practically drooling at the thought of his grandma’s cooking. He hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen and studied the faces. January and Chase were sitting on one side of the table and Blue, his daughter Maria, and Billy, their father, sat on the other.
“Hey, stranger.”
A hand on his shoulder had him turning back toward his twin, which was like looking in the mirror.
“Hey.”
Ry’s slow smile warmed something deep in HW’s soul. He’d missed his twin so much over the past year or so. They reached for each other at the same time and the embrace was fierce and testing and like two halves finally gelling together again.
“Welcome home.”
HW stepped back. “We’ll see about that. Where’s Avery?”
Ry made a face. “Busy organizing some wedding thing down at the hotel. You’ll get to see her tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
Entering the kitchen with his twin’s arm firmly around his shoulders was somehow much easier than coming in alone.
Ry cleared his throat. “Hey, look who I found.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. Most of them were smiling, which had to be good, right? It was the first time he’d come back since Chase and January’s wedding.
“Chase and I found him wandering around outside earlier and made him help us bring the horses in. That was after I’d worked out he wasn’t you, Ry.” January pulled out the chair beside her. “Come and sit down, HW.”
The nice thing about January was she hadn’t been around the ranch for too long and had no bad memories of HW to cloud her opinion of him—except from when he’d reminded everyone on national TV that his father had been accused of murdering his mother and baby sister, who had disappeared, never to be seen again. Not his finest moment.
He forced himself to meet his father’s blue gaze. “Dad.”
“HW. How are you, son?”
“Good.”
“Congratulations on that second place.”
HW took a slug of iced tea. “Thanks. It wasn’t my best performance.”
“I think you would’ve won it if it hadn’t been for that new kid,” Ry chimed in. “How old is he? Ten?”
Maria giggled. “How could he be ten? That’s younger than me!”
Ry shrugged. “He looks ten. You’ll figure him out and beat him next year, right?”
“Or arrange to have him kidnapped,” Blue, his middle brother, a recently retired Marine, spoke up. “I’m sure Chase knows someone who could do that for you.”
HW considered whether to tell them he wasn’t certain he was going to return to the rodeo and decided to keep that to himself until he made up his own mind. Everyone was being really nice to him and he didn’t want to start an argument. Already, the ranch was working its magic on him, slowing him down, giving him space to breathe and think.
Maria gave Blue the kind of disapproving stare only a preteen can give a parent. “You can’t do that kind of thing in real life, Dad, can he, Ruth?”
“Of course not.” Ruth placed a huge casserole dish on the table. “He’s just kidding, aren’t you, Blue?”
Blue winked at his daughter. “Maybe. You know Jay Williams down at the Red Dragon Bar, used to be a Navy SEAL? I’m sure he could help out. You got homework to finish tonight, Maria?”
HW relaxed as the conversation moved away from him and onto more mundane matters involving school and the upkeep and management of the ranch. Everyone seemed to know their job, although Blue liked to tell everyone how they could do it better. He’d always been the bluntest member of the family. Chase relied on spreadsheets and time management quotas, whereas Blue said it how it was. Or how he thought it should be.
Ry nudged him. “You doing okay?”
“I’m just tired. It’s a lot to take in.”
“This family all talking at once?” Ry grinned. “You wait until Jenna and Avery start adding their thoughts. It gets pretty damn loud in here.” He hesitated. “But it’s better than all that silence and tension, right? Like when Mom and Dad were fighting all the time?”
HW just nodded and smiled. It was his first night home. He didn’t want to talk about his parents. It was hard enough sitting opposite his father, a man who’d walked out on his family to follow his own powerful journey to get sober and to become accountable for his own actions. The suffering etched on his father’s face choked HW up every time he looked at him.
“You sure you’re okay?” Ry murmured.
HW fixed on his famous smile. “Sure! It’s just so great to be back.”
“How long do you plan on staying this time?” Ruth asked.
Silence fell and everyone looked at him expectantly.
HW put down his fork, his appetite deserting him. “Do I have to set a time limit?”
“Well, you do tend to set the cat among the pigeons every time you turn up,” Blue pointed out. “Like when you screwed us all over with that media interview.”
“I’ve already apologized for that.” HW set his jaw. “I didn’t know the reporter was going to dig up all that old scandal.”
“Yeah, but we’re just starting our new historic dude ranch venture, and the last thing we need is any more bad publicity generated by a member of the family.”
“BB, can you drop it?” Ry interrupted their older brother. “Let HW have his say. He’s got to get back training at some point, so it’s not as if he’s threatening to move in and take your job or anything. He just wants to help out while he’s here.”
HW stared at his brothers. Wow, did they still see him as a guest in the only home he’d ever had? How come everyone else had been accepted back and not him? Maybe he should just blurt out that he was thinking of leaving the rodeo for good and see what they made of that. Trouble was, they obviously hadn’t gotten over the airing of his family history in the media yet, and he was loath to put the matter to the test.
“It depends,” Chase answered him. “If you’re here for a few weeks you could help out by pretending to be a visitor.”
“What if I wanted to pretend I worked here?”
“What could you do?” Blue asked, looking around the table. “We’ve pretty much got everything covered now.”
“Good to know.” HW stood up and dropped his napkin on the table in front of him. “Then I’ll take myself off to bed and let you guys talk. I’m tired from the drive. Thanks for dinner, Ruth. It was awesome.”
Ry stood as well. “Don’t go; BB didn’t mean—”
“Hey, don’t start making excuses for me, Ry,” Blue interrupted. “HW never said he was planning on—”
HW was already moving. “’Night, everyone. See you in the morning.”
He barely had a foot on the bottom step of the stairs before they all started talking at once. He didn’t bother to stop to listen as Blue tried to defend himself against Ry and Chase tried to mediate. Nothing much changed.
Sure, he’d wondered whether he really had come home, but he hadn’t expected everyone else to agree with him.
Maybe Blue was right and he didn’t have a hope in hell of being accepted back into the family he’d walked away from so easily. And maybe he didn’t deserve it anyway. HW went into his room and locked the door just in case Ry—or even worse, Blue—decided to come talk to him. He kicked one of his bags and hurt his toe. Maybe he wouldn’t bother to unpack just yet. Maybe he’d go down to Brazil and make some money instead.
A knock on the door made him go still.
“HW ?” Ruth rattled the handle. “Open this door.”
Of course Ruth had come after him, and he could never disobey his grandma. He let her in and went to sit on the bed to take off his boots. She was a tiny woman who barely reached five foot, but she’d never had any trouble keeping her large and rowdy grandsons in check. Formidable was a good word for her. She was the kind of woman who’d stick by you through anything—and she’d had plenty of practice at that already.
“You up here sulking, HW ?”
He carefully set his fancy sponsored boots side by side on the floorboards. “Nope.”
“Sure looks like it.” She folded her arms across her chest and, despite her small stature, stared him down. “If you really want to be part of the ranch organization we’ll find a job for you. If you’d stayed downstairs and listened in on the conversation, you would’ve found that out for yourself.”
“I’m tired. Ruth. I don’t want anyone finding me a job out of pity.”
“Pity? For you ?” She snorted. “You’re a successful rodeo star. Why would we think you’d want to get your hands dirty on the family ranch?”
“Because—” He stopped talking. She wouldn’t understand. How could she when he didn’t understand himself? “I want to stay here for the next month or so. I’d like to do something useful rather than hang around getting in the way.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Chase.” She nodded and turned to the door. “Next time, stick around and tell him yourself.”
“Will do.”
Her face softened. “It’s good to have you back, HW.”
He wished he believed her as he blew her a kiss. “’Night, Ruth.”
His smile faded as he stood up to unbuckle his belt. Last year, he’d inadvertently let a journalist dig into his family tree and unearth the old scandal of his mother and baby sister’s disappearance twenty years before. The local news channel had used the information in a piece about his rodeo prospects and suggested that Billy, his father, had been the one responsible for his mother’s murder.
Coming home and facing his distraught grandma and brothers had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do in his life. Luckily, with Chase’s wealth and contacts, the story had been kept relatively quiet. It was understandable that his family was wary around him. He deserved their mistrust, but it still hurt.
HW took off his shirt and jeans and flopped down on the bed. He really was tired. Tomorrow he’d talk to Chase to see whether there really was anything he could do to help out around the ranch. If he wasn’t needed, he’d move on.