A little while later, Tony came running up. “Where’s mama? I want to swing.”

“Mama had to go take care of some things. Do you want me to push you in the swing?”

He nodded. So, Alyssa walked over to the swings with the little guy and got him settled in and gave him a small push.

“Bigger, Lyssa. Higher.”

She put a little more strength into it so he went higher and he seemed to be happy with that, she didn’t want to push him too high—she didn’t know his strength or agility, so she was glad when he didn’t ask for more. He was happy in the swing for about ten minutes and then wanted down to go on the flat merry go round thing. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of kids at the park, so she put him into the middle with his legs straddling a bar and pulled him slowly around. He tried to talk her into faster, but she had no intention of going faster. She’d seen a lot of kids go flying off one of those things. One kid had broken his arm, and she’d seen a few other minor injuries from them. She had no intention of letting Tony be one of them. When he got tired of that, he went back to the slide and climbing structure for a while.

He came over to her and said, “Do you have any snacks, Lyssa? I’m hungry.”

“How about we go over to the sandwich shop and I’ll get you a grilled cheese?”

He looked longingly at the slide and then nodded. “I’m hungrier than a grouchy bear.”

Alyssa laughed. “Then, let’s go get some food for that grouchy bear tummy.”

“Will mama find us?”

“Yes, I told her I would take you there to eat when you were ready.”

“Yay.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the sandwich shop.

A waitress told them to sit anywhere they wanted, so they found a table near the window. It was a typical sandwich shop with kind of a retro feel—the tables were chrome and the chairs had red plastic seats. The waitress brought them a child’s menu, some crayons, and a menu for Alyssa.

She asked what they wanted to drink and Tony immediately said, “Juice.”

Alyssa shook her head. “Your mom said no juice. You can have milk or chocolate milk if you are good for me.”

“I’m good, chocolate milk.” Tony crowed.

Alyssa nodded. “Chocolate milk for my date, and I’ll have unsweetened iced tea.”

The waitress brought their drinks back and asked if they were ready to order. Just as they finished ordering, Emma came in and sat with them. “Jen, I’ll have the club sandwich and a soda. I need both the sugar and caffeine.”

Jen went off to get the soda and put in their order. Alyssa looked at Tony who seemed to be busy with his crayons and coloring all over his menu. So, she asked Emma, “How’d it go?”

“Fine, except it was Drake I talked to, and he’ll probably let it slip to one of my brothers. Or in reality, is probably already on the phone to my dad.”

Alyssa frowned. “He’s a professional.”

“Yes, but I’m like his adopted daughter, so he was already pissed off about it. If Nate isn’t careful, he’ll end up behind bars or something worse if my brothers or dad find out.”

“Well then, he won’t be out harassing women, will he.”

“No, but my brothers have wicked imaginations, so I kind of feel bad for Nate if they decide to take it upon themselves to convince him to back off.”

Alyssa shrugged. “Might serve him right.”

* * *

Beau was not having a good day. There were small issues everywhere he looked and every time he had to do something, he wished Alyssa was by his side because she thought the way he did and he didn’t have to tell her every damn thing he needed. Nothing he was doing was life threatening, but it was all taking twice as long as it would have with Alyssa. He was coming to depend on her more than he should.

He even caught himself wondering if he could tempt her into staying on and working with them. He knew she had plans for next year, but she was already such an asset that he would pay her to stay. The fact that they were extremely compatible in bed didn’t hurt, either. He wouldn’t mind exploring their relationship into the summer months. Not that they really needed two vets at that time of year. In fact, most of the time he wasn’t a vet at all in the early summer—just a rancher, growing hay and checking fence lines. He would have an occasional stitch to put in, more often than not on a cowboy who let the barbed wire get away from him. Later in the summer he would begin the breeding program which, of course, Alyssa was very interested in. So, she might like to be around for that and they could put some of her ideas into practice.

She probably would want to go home for a while, but maybe she could come back in July and August for a while, before she went back to college. He would need to think about that, and maybe feel her out about the idea.

Finally, a dirt cloud filled the air where the driveway was and he hoped it was Emma, Alyssa, and Tony back from town. They would have had plenty of time for shopping and lunch by now, providing they hadn’t gone clothes shopping—because that could take all day, but he didn’t think Tony would be patient that long, anyway.

When Emma drove up with Alyssa and Tony, Beau felt like cheering. He knew he was being ridiculous—it had only been a few hours they had been apart, but it had seemed like forever. What in the heck was he going to do when she left? He figured he could handle it, because she wasn’t supposed to stay then, and wouldn’t be a few miles away in town. He tried to be casual as he went toward the car to help carry in their purchases.

Emma got out and collected a sleeping Tony, but Beau thought she looked kind of tense and he wondered why. Had the girls not gotten along? That didn’t make sense—they were both easy going and fun to be around. He noticed Emma look at Alyssa and his fears on that score were relieved as she mouthed the word thanks.

Alyssa went to the trunk and he joined her, so he could help carry in the mounds of candy Emma had bought for everyone. Alyssa smiled when he picked up all but one small bag. “Are you showing off your manly muscles, Beau?”

“Of course, and helping you carry in all this loot, little lady,” he drawled in his best Texas accent.

She laughed as he hoped she would, but she looked a little tense herself. “What happened in town that stressed you girls out?”

Alyssa startled. “Is it that obvious?”

“It is to me. What happened?”

She looked around and whispered, “I don’t think Emma wants me to say anything.”

Beau frowned at that. “She’s my baby sister, Alyssa.”

“I know but she handled it and then took some precautions.”

“Why does she need precautions? I’ll just go ask her, unless you tell me. And then, we can decide what the best course of action is.”

Alyssa sighed. “I’ll tell you, but only because I think someone on the ranch should know in case it escalates.”

“Okay, now you’re scaring me. Just what the hell happened?” He put the candy back in the trunk and folded his arms.

“Nothing dreadful happened, but there’s this guy Emma dated that harasses her about cheating on him with Tony’s father. Emma said they’d broken up long before Tony was conceived, and the guy wasn’t even in the picture. She said she only went out with him a couple of times, because he wasn’t a very pleasant guy even then.” She crossed her arms and continued. “Anyway, he was harassing her in the drug store. Fortunately, Tony was with me and didn’t hear or see anything, and Emma got the jerk to leave. I suggested if he’d been harassing her for four years then he wasn’t going to quit, and she should get a restraining order.”

Beau’s gut was churning and he was furious. No one was going to harass his sister and get away with it. Why didn’t anyone know about this? Why hadn’t she come to them for help? But rather than flip out he simply said, “Good.”

“I watched Tony at the park while she went and talked to the sheriff.”

“She told Drake?”

“Yes.”

That helped him to calm down some. Drake knowing about it and watching out for Emma was a good first step. “Even better, do you know what the guy’s name is?”

“Ned, or maybe it was Nate. Yeah, Nate.”

“That sounds just like the weasel, but I don’t trust him not to try something in retaliation. I think I better talk to my brothers and dad about this, so we can be on the lookout. Thanks for telling me, Alyssa. We don’t want anything to happen to Emma or Tony.”

“Yeah, that was my thinking, too. He didn’t do much more than just mouth off, but they were in a public place. Do you think Emma will be mad at me for telling?”

Emma walked around to the back of the car and hugged Alyssa. “No, she won’t, because she knows it’s time to let everyone know. Besides, if Drake hasn’t already called Dad, I’ll eat my hat.”

Beau said, “Police don’t go around spilling stories.”

“Except to his best friend since third grade, and the father of his god-daughter,” Travis said as he joined the party and pulled Emma tight into his arms. “Nate better stand down or he’s going to have the Kipling wrath poured out on his head.”

Emma laughed through her tears then looked at Beau. “Told ya.”

“We’ll have a war council at dinner tonight to decide what measures to take to keep our girl and the little guy safe from assholes. Beau, spread the word. Emma, let’s go have a talk. You can fill me in on the jerk’s behavior.”

Emma took Travis’s outstretched hand. “Yes, Daddy.”

Beau looked back at Alyssa. “Thanks for encouraging her to finally say something.”

“You’re welcome. Sometimes us girls need to stand on our own two feet, but it’s nice to have family at your back.” She rubbed her arms like they were cold. “Four years is too long to ignore the problem and think it will go away.”

Beau pulled her into his arms to warm her or give her comfort or something. When she relaxed into him he kissed the top of her head. “Exactly. Now, let’s get this loot into the house. It looks like you guys cleaned out the shelves,” he teased her and tried not to think about how perfectly she fit in his arms.