The day—or rather the evening—of Joseph Hernandez’s funeral was gorgeous. Cal could have almost believed that his mother ordered the weather along with the flowers. Of course, Avery Hernandez was in her element. She was dressed to the nines. Huge diamonds sparkled on her earlobes and at her throat. The enormous four-karat princess-cut solitaire on the ring finger of her left hand looked almost too heavy for her to carry around.

“Thank you so much for coming to support our family.” Avery beamed at Judge Everson. “It means so much to us for you to be here. I know that you and Joseph were always such good friends.”

Cisco leaned over to whisper in Met’s ear. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“I think she’s just trying to pretend that Dad and Everson weren’t always circling each other like old bulls looking for a weak spot,” Met responded.

Cal grunted and reached over to smack his youngest brother on the back of the head. “Can it.”

Met looked as though he might actually retaliate, but didn’t. They had all been ordered to stand together like a weird parody of a family portrait. The outdoor funeral was being held at one of the most prestigious cemeteries in the city. There was a public garden beside the actual burying ground portion of the property. Over three hundred chairs had been set up before the casket, which was open at the front of the venue. There was a podium. And right beside that was a huge photograph of Avery and Joseph on their wedding day. The black-and-white image had been blown up to size. Joseph wasn’t even smiling, but Avery looked like the most beautiful blushing bride ever.

“Is it just me or does the man look miserable in that wedding picture?” Maggie murmured to Jesse.

Cal had to smother a laugh at Jesse’s response. “Silly Maggie, this funeral isn’t about the body. It’s about the woman who was bride, mother, grandmother, and now gets to be the perfect grieving widow. She’s just reminding everyone here that she did everything in the right order.”

“That’s a pretty damn good description,” Cal murmured to Jesse.

Jesse linked her arm through his. “Did you not see her expression when you and I showed up together? I thought my shoes were going to melt.”

The Hernandez brothers cleaned up pretty well. Calvin, Laredo, Darren, Cisco, and Demetrio were all in black suits, white shirts, and navy ties. They looked as though they had been matched—mostly because they had been. The clothing had shown up at each one of their houses just a few days ago already ordered in the perfect sizes. If any of the men had considered wearing something else, she probably would have considered banning them from the service.

Maggie picked at a piece of invisible lint on her skirt. “Remind me next time that if Avery wants to take us all shopping, the only acceptable answer is no.”

“Hell to the yeah,” Aria muttered. She was looking very uncomfortable in her navy dress.

Only Jesse had gotten to pick her own clothing. Her black-and-white skirt and blouse was more comfortable than stylish. It was also fitted and didn’t make her look like a peacock. In fact, Cal thought she looked beautiful. The outfit flattered her figure and that bright blond hair and blue eyes. Unfortunately, it was easily apparent to anyone who cared to look that Jesse had been intentionally excluded from the family.

“Are you ready for your part of the ceremony?” Jesse whispered to Cal.

He gave her a nod. He and his brothers had already discussed this. They didn’t want to alienate their mother, but the script that she had given them was just not going to work for him.

“Cal, Laredo!” The chairman of the livestock board was waving to them. He walked over and shook hands. “I cannot tell you how shocked and sorry I was to hear about your father.”

“Thank you, sir.” Laredo was the one to step in and do the talking. This was his domain, and Cal was happy to let him have it. Laredo pursed his lips. “Our father was far too young for this to happen, but the man did like to work himself to the bone.”

“Now that’s for sure!” The chairman hunkered down suddenly and glanced around as though he did not want to be overheard. “It was a bit shocking to hear about Weatherby though. People will be talking about that for years to come.”

“Yes, sir.” Laredo went with cautious. Cal was impressed. If it had been Cal, he would have called Weatherby a son of a bitch and left it at that.

“I think it’s safe to say that the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company will be officially awarded that contract,” the chairman continued. “Of course, there’s never been any doubt in my mind, but other people will talk.”

“Of course,” Cal said through gritted teeth. He didn’t believe the old bastard for a second, but maybe that didn’t matter. “And as always, we appreciate your confidence in our ranch. We’re ready and willing to take on that challenge for the region.”

“I know you are, Cal.” The chairman chuckled and slapped Cal on the shoulder. Then he pointed at Laredo. “The statesmen and the cowboy. It’s all such an interesting contrast. Your father sure did manage to breed the whole spectrum in his sons.”

Cal smiled and nodded, because what else did you do when someone made a bizarre comment like that? Beside him, he could actually feel Jesse getting ready to bust out laughing. It did not help his composure any. She always made him want to smile.

“Boys!” Avery was waving to them. “We’re going to get started.”

“Here goes nothing,” Cal muttered to his brothers.

Jesse elbowed him. “Or everything, depending on how you look at it.”

The audience began to shuffle into their seats. There was a lot of whispering and even more pointing as the entire clan of Hernandez family members sat down together. Of course, they were missing the two youngest children, who did not need this kind of drama in their young lives. But everyone else sat close and stuck together like glue. The brothers and their women had been thrust together recently in ways that had forged bonds that would never truly weaken.

The minister that Avery had chosen for this task was supposedly her minister, although Cal had never known his mother to attend church. He suspected that she gave money to the trendiest local church and just used that as her membership card in moments like these when she needed it.

The man wore a suit that probably cost every penny of whatever funds Avery donated to the church. He droned on and on about life and death and something else and how family must band together in this time of need and how they were grateful for friends. And after a moment, Cal thought he might actually feel the desire to boo, hiss, and throw rotten vegetables at this guy.

Met poked Cal. “Do you think this guy ever met Dad?”

“I’m going to go with no,” Darren muttered. “Dad would have laughed him out of the room.”

“Did he just say Dad was a generous guy?” Cisco grunted when Melody elbowed him.

“Mom is going to kill us if you don’t shut up,” Cal said through his teeth.

Then the minister gestured to the family rows. “Joseph Hernandez’s oldest son—Calvin—is going to say a few words for the family. Calvin? Would you like to come up here, son?”

Jesse squeezed Cal’s hand. The minister had just called him son right after calling him Calvin. The guy needed to be hogtied in a mud wallow and left there to sputter in the muck until he learned to think before he opened his mouth.

Cal got up from his seat and straightened his jacket. His brothers and their dates suddenly went silent. The expectancy that fell over the entire three hundred plus people assembled in that place was almost unbearable. Cal hadn’t felt this much on the spot since the last time he’d actually climbed on a bronc in the chute.

The podium was made of glass. Or rather, it was probably clear plastic or something. The ridiculousness of that gave Cal a mental boost. He could handle this. He was standing behind a hunk of clear plastic in front of a whole lot of people who probably knew his father wasn’t that great of a guy. It wasn’t like Joseph Hernandez had kept this a secret from the city of Denver.

From the corner of his eye, Cal could see his mother’s expression. She was most definitely expecting him to read her script. Cal put her notes down on the stupid clear podium, but he didn’t look at them. What he intended to say was going to come from his heart.

“My father was a great rancher,” Cal began in a loud, carrying voice that few people realized that he possessed. “Joseph Hernandez could tell you where every single water seep was on our property. He could find hay in the worst drought. And he knew how to breed the best bucking horses and bulls in the West. That was my dad—in a nutshell.”

Avery was waving her hand in a circle. She obviously wanted Cal to end his deviation and go back to her script. He wasn’t going to do it.

Cal exhaled. This was about to get real. “But when it came to family, my father was a hard man. Most of you knew the hard-drinking, hard-talking Joseph. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it. He would insult you one minute and ask you for a favor the next. He was hard as hell on my brothers and me, and he was demanding of our adopted sister. What most people didn’t know was that Joe had another son from another relationship.” Cal paused to let that sink in. There were murmurs, and if his mother could have killed with one look, Cal would currently be a black scorch mark behind that clear podium. “My father made several attempts to connect with his other son, just like he continually made attempts to connect with us. See, my father was just like those old bulls he bred. He only knew the hard life. It was all he had to pass on. So, when you think about Joe Hernandez, think about a man who probably wanted the best for you, for himself, and for his family, but was more comfortable trying to beat that choice into your skull instead of saying something supportive or kind.”

There was a round of laughter and a smattering of clapping. Avery was never going to speak to Cal again. That was absolutely certain. At least that was what her expression suggested, which brought Cal around to the last part of his eulogy.

“The other thing Joe wasn’t so good at was marriage. Our mother wasn’t a ranching wife, but our father didn’t much care. The two of them managed as best they could. It was rocky, but it was real. And I know that you’re all sitting out there wondering why I’m saying this now. But the truth is we”—Cal gestured to his brothers and himself—“know that you’re all talking about these things anyway. So, we wanted to set the record as straight as possible. Joe Hernandez was a great man. He just wasn’t a very nice one or a particularly loving one. He wasn’t a great father or a great husband. He wasn’t even that good of a friend. But he taught me and my brothers a lot of things that we’re using to keep our family business going strong. The Hernandez Land & Cattle Company existed before Joseph Hernandez was born. And it will still be up and running and dominating the front range long after my brothers and I are gone.”

Cal stepped down, and the applause that followed was honest and heartfelt. It was odd how you could say that about a crowd or something as abstract as applause, but there was no doubt in Cal’s mind that the crowd had appreciated Cal’s and his brothers’ candid willingness to put a lot of the rumors and ugly thoughts to rest.

Sinking back into his chair, Cal was very, very glad to feel Jesse’s fingers twining with his. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. Maybe his brothers would be able to make it up to his mother by having a five-couple wedding. There had probably never been one of those in the Denver area before. Maybe that would help her save face.

“I think Mom’s face is going to crack,” Met whispered to Cal. “Seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that mad.”

“You didn’t see her when Jesse used all of her jewelry to decorate her horse’s saddle for the rodeo parade that one year,” Laredo said with a very hard nod.

It pretty much went like that for the rest of the funeral. In fact, the brothers just remained seated while the crowd began to disperse and things broke up in slow degrees. There was no need to get up. There was no need to engage. If someone had a question or a comment, they could come over and make it.

Then Cal spotted the medical examiner. Mr. Mariano was hurrying their way with an envelope in his hand. Was the man honestly going to deliver DNA results at a funeral?

“I’m so sorry to interrupt.” The little man looked as apologetic as could be but sat down in an empty chair near Cal anyway. “I just thought that you might want these before they get sent to the other party involved. Technically, they’re supposed to be published to the spouse.”

“Right.” Jesse leaned close to Cal and gripped his hand so hard that he thought she might rip it off. “I guess we don’t really need those anymore. It’s not like there are any secrets left.”

“Wait a second.” Cal turned to stare at her. “Are you afraid of what’s in that envelope? After all of this?” He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Are you scared that we’re technically related after all?”

“No!” Jesse smacked him hard on the thigh. “There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

Laredo reached over to Mr. Mariano. “Give me those.” He snatched the envelope. Then Laredo waggled his eyebrows at Jesse and Cal. “You know, since our incestuous brother can’t handle it.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Aria cautioned Laredo. “You’ve already given karma plenty of reasons to mess with you.”

Mr. Mariano didn’t look tense or upset though. He was smiling. And so was Laredo as he ripped open the envelope and cleared his throat.

Cal rolled his eyes. “And here we have a perfect example of why Laredo was always our drama queen.”

“Hey!” Darren snatched the paper right out of Laredo’s fingers. “That’s me, not Laredo. I want to be the dramatic one.”

“Really?” Maggie pulled the paper out of Darren’s hands and sent it back to Cal. “I think you need to grow up. I want to be with a grown man, not a little boy.”

Cal glanced at the results. It did not surprise him in the least to see that Joseph Hernandez had been excluded as a possible parental DNA donor to Jesse Collins at a rate of 99.9 percent. At this point, it seemed rather obvious.

“No surprises here,” Cal assured them all.

Jesse wrinkled her nose at him. “That’s good, because I think we’ve all had our fair share of those.”

“Do not get me started!”

They all turned to stare at Avery. She plopped down beside them and folded her arms over her very expensive dress. She was glaring, but she didn’t look nearly as mad as she could have.

Cal gazed at his mother for a long time. He did not let go of Jesse’s hand. He did not withdraw his arm from around her body. He wanted his mother to see how it was. “We love you, Mom. But it was our turn to tell the story of what it was really like.”

“At least your father didn’t come out smelling like roses,” Avery finally muttered. Then she sucked in a huge breath and let it out slowly. “I suppose if I want to see my grandchildren I have to say that I forgive all of you for refusing to follow the script.”

“Yeah, Mom,” Cal agreed. “That’s pretty much how it’s going to be from now on.”

“I’m still not happy about all of this.” Avery waved her hand at Cal and Jesse’s clasped hands. “But I suppose if I can get used to Joe, I can get used to anything.”

Cal figured it was probably as good as things were going to get. Besides, soon enough he and his future bride were going to return to the ranch and their solitary existence on the front range. There was livestock to care for and plenty of nights to enjoy together. Life was most definitely looking up for the Hernandez clan, and from here, the sun just seemed to be getting brighter and brighter every single day.

 

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