Three and a half weeks had passed, and the courtroom was much more crowded than Melody had anticipated. Of course, she hadn’t necessarily considered the possibility that her new family would show up in its absolute entirety. This meant that all five Hernandez brothers, their father and their mother, as well as Jesse, Maggie, and Aria, were sitting in the gallery right behind Cisco and Melody.

The other side of the gallery was also full. Of course, that was where Mr. John Watson had put his big bottom in a chair and was now perched like Humpty Dumpty about to take a fall. That was how Melody liked to think of him. She was just hoping that this would somehow end on a positive note with her not owing the government a million dollars. Because, you know, it was a million dollars.

“All rise!” The bailiff’s shout rang out through the courtroom.

The place did not look a bit like Melody had seen them look on television. It was much smaller, darker, and filled to bursting with electronic equipment pretty much everywhere. Every single desk included a computer screen, and there was a huge one at the podium in the center of the room, which was where Cisco claimed that the lawyers generally addressed the judge. It was very intimidating, and Melody could not help but be more than a little glad that Cisco was the one who had to do the talking.

The bailiff waited until the door behind the bench opened. “The Honorable Judge William P. Everson presiding.”

Beside Melody, Cisco snorted. Across the aisle, she actually heard John Watson groan. Apparently, something had just happened that she did not fully comprehend.

“What happened?” she whispered to Cisco.

“Tell you later.”

Okay. That sucked. And as soon as they were out of court, Melody was going to tell him that he had not better expect to get away with that kind of brush-off too often in their relationship.

Melody turned around to make a face at Maggie, and that was when she spotted the woman—formerly of the blue dress—sitting behind John Watson in the gallery. Vittoria was seated right beside Captain Paul Weatherby. The gall of those two made Melody want to boo and hiss at them although she was pretty sure that would have been considered wildly inappropriate under these circumstances.

“Well now.” The judge’s Western drawl was almost comical to hear. He took about five seconds to say every single word that came out of his mouth. “I must say I am just tickled to see Francisco Hernandez arguing at a hearing in my courtroom. Congratulations, son. Of course, you will still have to prove your points in the usual way.”

“Yes, sir.” Cisco was struggling to hide a smile.

That was when Melody realized that she recognized this judge from that party she had served catering trays at so many weeks before. He was an old family friend of Cisco’s. No wonder Watson was crapping his pants. He was worried that Cisco had already won!

Everson cleared his throat. “I read the complaints against you, Mr. Watson, and I must say that I am very disturbed by the nature of them. Could you please explain to me how you could manage the real estate property of a client whom you had served for twenty-five years and not pay the taxes for the last five years of that client’s life?”

“Well, Your Honor,” John Watson said, trying to draw out his words in a comfortable drawl and failing miserably. “My clients were very ill during the last five years of their life. Both were in nursing facilities that cost an extensive amount of money.”

“What was the lease value of that land per year?” Judge Everson demanded.

Watson rattled off an astronomical number that had Melody staring openmouthed at the man in very obvious shock. That was the amount of money Weatherby had been paying just to use her land? And to purchase it, Watson had been intending to just let it wash with the taxes owed? Holy crap!

“Now, Mr. Watson,” Everson said in an overly friendly tone of voice. “You and I have known each other for many, many years.”

“Yes, sir. We have.”

“And in those years, I have known you to push long-term care insurance to your elderly clients almost as fervently as an insurance salesman.” The judge paused and glared at Watson. “In fact, I also know that the reason you push this horrendously expensive long-term care insurance is that one of the local agents here in town gives you a small commission when a client buys a policy!”

“Um, we have a mutually beneficial agreement that benefits my clients,” Watson assured the judge. “You know I’ve never done anything outside the law, Your Honor!”

“True,” Everson agreed. “But you know damn well that the Farrells had a long-term care policy.”

The blood literally drained from Watson’s face. He looked ill. He actually looked as though he were about to have a heart attack. It was very disturbing. Melody could imagine the thieving man dying here in the courtroom and making it impossible for Melody to get her money back! It was a horrible thought for so many reasons too. The least of which was that Melody did not like feeling as though the money were more important than a human life.

“Well, I suppose it’s possible, Your Honor.” Watson was tugging at his collar like a storybook villain.

“It isn’t possible, you cantankerous old man!” Everson burst out. He was leaning so far over his towering bench that he looked in danger of plunging to the floor. “You know as well as I did that they had a policy and that it paid their bills. So, what happened to the tax money? That’s what I want to know, John. This girl has a right to her grandparents’ property! And no cockamamie deal you made with Paul Weatherby is going to supersede that!”

There was a low expletive from the gallery.

Judge Everson pointed his gavel at Weatherby. “Don’t you dare think I don’t know what’s going on here, Paul. We all do! You’re trying to take the Flying W to the next level, and you’re trying to stomp on the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company to get the job done. Well, I’m tired of you trying to take out all of these unrelated parties on your way to the top.” Everson sucked in a breath so large he could have hogged all the oxygen in the room. “Those Hernandez boys can handle themselves, but you stay away from the Farrell place, the Collins ranch, and Clouds End Farm! Do you hear me?”

Melody was pretty sure the whole place was about to go up in smoke. The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. She didn’t know what to say, but knew she needed to keep her mouth shut anyway. Beside her, Cisco was absolutely silent. She could see his brain working a mile a minute behind those cobalt blue eyes though, and she knew that he would be thinking of everything that he could do to make things better for her—for them. Good God, she loved this man!

*  *  *

Cisco was afraid to breathe. He did not want to take a chance that anything he could do, a facial tic, a cough, anything, could change the way this hearing was going right now. For the moment, it was a lawyer’s dream come true!

Everson was a sharp old man. Cisco had always liked him. At this point, he was going to give the man a big hug and a kiss the next time he saw him. Finally—finally—someone was trying to expose all of the illegal crap going on at the Flying W.

“I want to retire,” John Watson said heavily.

Everson snorted. “You need to retire if this is what you’re doing to your clients, John.”

“No.” Watson cleared his throat. His face was bright red, and he looked as though he were about to die of embarrassment. “I wanted to retire. That’s why I did this.”

“Did what?”

“I just held back the taxes.” Watson shrugged. “The money is there. It’s in a nice tidy account earning interest.”

Cisco stared at John Watson and hoped that everything he was thinking and feeling came across in that one look. The bastard had intentionally stolen money from the Farrells! Why?

Everson sighed. He slumped onto his arms as though he could not bear to hear what was coming next. “You didn’t figure the girl would want the land anyway.”

“Why would she?” Watson sent a scornful look across the aisle to Melody. “Foster kid raised in the system. It surprised me she lived long enough to claim it.”

The judge did not look amused by that. “I’m not even going to touch that despicable statement, John. But I’m going to assume that you intended to sell the land, act as her agent, use the sale money to cover the taxes, and then just chuck her the rest of it. You’d tell her that fees and taxes took most of the money but throw her enough that she’d be happy because she’d grown up poor and hadn’t expected much anyway.”

John Watson cleared his throat. He looked very uncomfortable, and his face was getting redder by the second. “That was indeed my plan, Your Honor. I even had a buyer all lined up.”

“A buyer who decided to harass the seller,” Everson snapped. Then he pointed at Weatherby once again. “You just wait until I get my hands on you. Do you understand me?”

“Is that a threat?” Paul Weatherby finally could not hold his tongue for one second longer. He pointed at the judge and made an ugly face. “You should really watch yourself, old man.”

“Oh, I’ll watch my boot head right up your keister!” The judge snarled. “And if you open your damn mouth one more time, I’ll hold you in contempt!”

It did not help matters that Cisco could actually hear his family trying to hold in their laughter. They were enjoying this, but every single one of them was going to pay a price for it later on. He turned to glare at Laredo but almost lost his own composure instead.

Everson cleared his throat and banged the gavel. “Order please!” He pointed the gavel at Watson. “I will expect you to have a cashier’s check for the amount owed on deposit tomorrow with the state of Colorado. The next time I look at this young woman’s account with the state and the federal government, there should be no monies owed. Do you understand me? Are we crystal clear?”

“Crystal, sir.” Watson did not look crystal clear. He looked royally pissed off. In fact, the man was glowering like a toddler denied his favorite treat.

Everson snorted. “Wouldn’t we all like to retire with a tidy one point two million dollars in the freaking bank?” Then Everson pointed his gavel at Melody. “You, lady, your grandparents were good people. I expect to see that you take care of that place with respect. I don’t care what you decide to do with it, but for heaven’s sake, don’t just let it fall to pieces.”

“No, sir,” Melody stammered out hastily. Then she glanced at Cisco and held up her hands.

He winked at her. He knew she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to talk or not, but he wanted to make sure that she knew she was doing just fine.

“One more thing,” Everson said quickly. He pointed at Cisco. “I’m going to put my two cents worth in and tell you to quit at Aguilar and Associates. Now. You’re no good there. You’re wasted. You need to be practicing on your own. You’ve got a good brain, kid. Don’t waste it.”

“Um. Thank you, sir?” Cisco wasn’t sure what to say.

He had to admit that he’d been having his doubts. Not just about his firm, but also about the direction he was going with his life. It was good to know that there were still men out there like Everson who paid attention, weren’t shy about making their thoughts known, and who could take the bull by the horns and fling it on its ass.

“That will be all!”

Judge Everson smacked that gavel down so hard that Cisco could have sworn his teeth rattled in their sockets. Everson stood up and left the courtroom through that back door, and suddenly, the whole place erupted.

Reporters darted to and fro trying to get statements from those involved. Cisco could absolutely feel the angry glares from both Paul Weatherby and John Watson. He knew there was going to be hell to pay with those two later on. There was no way either one of them would let this just go. But for the moment, there were so many well wishes from the Hernandez family in the room that none of that mattered. They had a victory. A decisive one. And Cisco wanted to celebrate that.

Laredo put his arm around Cisco. “You did good, kid. I was pretty impressed that my little brother cleans up so good.”

“I’m not dirty, you know,” Cisco said drily. “I’m probably the cleanest one of the bunch.”

“Which is ridiculous,” Jesse added. She looked around at the rest of them. “Does anyone else remember Cisco being just a bit of a mud puppy? I mean, really. Where does all of this loafers and suits and ties and trying to be a snooty rich snob come from? You’re not that guy, Cisco. You’re our guy!”

“He is my guy.” Melody wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “And I will love him whether he’s wearing loafers or those adorable scuffed-up boots he keeps by the front door.”

“Adorable?” Darren started pretending to choke. “Since when were cowboy boots ever adorable?”

Cisco had to admit that he’d been feeling his roots more than usual lately. Not just that, but he had been trying to remember why he had wanted so badly to get off the ranch. Maybe he thought he could not be the man he wanted to be and still be the cowboy who had grown up with the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company.

Finally, he cleared his throat and tugged his pant leg up just to show his family his footwear. The resounding cheers, jeers, and the giant kiss from Melody were all part of the wonder of rediscovering something so vital about himself and about life. He was home. He was home with these people. He was home with himself, in his own skin. And he was going to be home with Melody for the rest of his life no matter where that would be.