Cowboy Take Me Away (35 page)

Carolyn understood the man was in shock, but still, it was a pretty abrupt way to break the news, especially to children. Gently, she said, “How about if we say a prayer for Grandpop, since he’s at peace and in a better place.”

Keely blurted out, “Grandpop Jed is at
Disneyland
?”

Carson cracked a smile at that. “No, punkin. Grandpop is in heaven now.”

“Oh.”

It was clear by the look Cam and Carter exchanged that they thought Disneyland was a much better option than heaven.

They all bowed their heads, Carolyn said the prayer and before they hit the last consonant in amen and crossed themselves, Carson had booked it out the door.

He didn’t come home until late that night. But Carolyn hadn’t been worried because Cal and Charlie were both out with him, doing whatever.

She’d talked to Joan, who’d been even more subdued than normal. Evidently Casper hadn’t been with his brothers. In fact, Joan hadn’t seen Casper at all.

The next morning Carson bounded out of bed and out of the house before Carolyn. During the day the phone rang off the hook. Friends and neighbors wanting the details on the funeral service and if they should bring food to one place so the four McKay wives could divvy it up for the McKay sons’ families.

When her husband hadn’t shown up for supper, and Cal and Charlie were mum on his whereabouts, Carolyn figured Carson had gone looking for a fight.

She knocked on Cord’s bedroom door.

He barked, “What!”

“I need your help.”

Cord immediately opened the door and stepped into the hallway—probably so she couldn’t see the mess inside his room. “Ma? What’s goin’ on?”

“I need to find your father. You’re driving. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Next she knocked on Colby’s door.

He barked, “What!”

“I’ll be gone a while. Cord’s coming with me so you’re on babysitting duty.”

Colby immediately opened the door and stepped into the hallway—probably so she couldn’t see the mess in his room either. “Babysitting
again
?”

“I’m not a baby!” Keely yelled from her room.

“Me neither,” shouted Carter from the bathroom.

“Just watch your younger siblings, okay? I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Cord didn’t say anything until they were halfway to town. She’d directed him to Moorcroft rather than the Golden Boot in Sundance—Carson’s usual hangout. “I ain’t surprised Dad’s takin’ Grandpop’s death so hard. I haven’t seen him since yesterday and he never disappears like this.”

“Not in recent years. But before…” She shot Cord a look. “Let’s just say you boys come by your fighting nature naturally.”

“I’d heard rumors about Dad bein’ like that…but I never put much stock in ’em.”

“Why?”

Cord’s look said,
Duh. Because he’s old.

“I hope he’s just drowning his sorrows and not getting his pretty face messed up by some kid twenty years younger than him.”

“Ma. Are you okay? Because you never say sh—stuff like that about Dad.”

“Yes, I do. You boys just don’t hear it.” Where did these sons of hers think their good looks came from?

“When was the last time Dad got into a fight?”

She closed her eyes briefly, trying to remember. “Six years ago? A guy who was bitter about some cattle deal called him out on the cheating way the McKays did business. Two things your dad won’t stand for. Someone tearing down the McKays or some guy coming on to me. Anyway, this guy wouldn’t pipe down.”

“Dad took a swing at him?”

“Eyes on the road, son. Yes, your dad went after him. And that ended it.”

They drove through the Ziggy’s parking lot first. No sign of Carson’s truck.

“You don’t think he could’ve left his truck somewhere and rode to the bar with someone else?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t hide it if he’s out looking for trouble. He’s probably at the Rusty Spur.”

Cord gave her an odd look. “You’ve been there?”

If he only knew. “You do realize your father and I had a life before we had children?”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t see you and dad tearing it up, getting wild and shit.”

“Because we’re old?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t need to.”

He sighed. “I know where the Rusty Spur is.”

They found Carson’s truck. Carolyn made Cord stay in his vehicle while she went inside.

Carson had taken a seat at the end of the bar. A full shot glass sat beside a bottle of Coors.

The bartender caught her eye. “What’ll it be?”

“A whiskey Coke—hold the whiskey.”

“Coming right up.”

Carson picked up the cigarette smoldering in the ashtray and took a drag. “You worried you’d find me fightin’?”

“That’s been the case in the past. So I thought I’d see if you needed someone to have your back since your brothers aren’t out with you.”

“Except Casper was. Long enough to take a couple of shots at me. Then I took a couple of shots at him. More than a couple.” He faced her.

Carolyn winced, seeing the fat lip and the beginnings of a shiner around his right eye. “I’m assuming Casper looks worse than you?”

“You’re goddamned right he does. I hope the asshole is pissing blood.” His feral grin sent a shudder through her.

She’d seen Carson fight, so she knew what kind of physical damage he was capable of inflicting. But the lingering anger rolling off him was new; usually he was much calmer after a fight. She laid her hand on his cheek. “Tell me what’s going on, McKay.”

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch—another unusual reaction from him. “We ain’t even buried Dad yet and Casper is already talkin’ about selling the ranch. That was the first fuckin’ thing the asshole said to me after he told me about Dad bein’ gone. The first fuckin’ thing.”

She didn’t know what to say to that.

“Casper is a big talker. But this time he actually followed through. He contacted a lawyer about dividing up the ranch and the assets.”

“Can he force you, Cal and Charlie to sell?”

“He thinks he can. But the whole reason he’s doin’ it is because he knows we’ll do anything to stop that from happening. He thinks he can force us into borrowing against what we own to buy him out.” He picked up the shot and drained it. “We ain’t got that kind of cash. We’re land rich and cash poor. All of our profits go toward payin’ ourselves and payin’ off the yearly operating loan. With the way the Ag business is right now, family farms and ranches goin’ under, there’s no way any bank would risk it.”

“So what happens now?”

“If I had the money I’d buy him out and not give a shit if I ever see him again. But that ain’t an option. So we’re stuck with him.”

“Sweetheart. Why didn’t you talk to me about this?”

“Because I’ve been too pissed off. The kids don’t need to see me this way either.”

Her heart ached for him. Because of Casper’s machinations, Carson couldn’t even grieve his father. Rather than ask more questions, she sat next to him and sipped her soda.

Carson gestured to the bartender for another beer.

Carolyn was about to head outside to tell Cord to go home, when someone behind them said, “If it ain’t another drunken McKay.”

When Carolyn started to turn around, Carson put his hand on her forearm, stilling the movement.

“You drowning your sorrows because Daddy died?”

He ground out his cigarette.

“Bet that puts the future of the McKay Ranch in question.”

Carson slowly turned around on his barstool. “First of all, Timmons, fuck off. You don’t know nothin’. And I ain’t that drunk, so tread lightly.”

She couldn’t help but spin to see who was stupid enough to taunt Carson.

The guy was big. Easily six foot four, but skinny as a telephone pole. Over the years she’d become familiar with most of the families in the area, but she’d never seen this man.

“I’d like to tread all over your goddamned spine. I owe you payback,” he sneered.

“For what?”

Timmons shuffled closer. “Don’t play dumb. You know what for.”

“It’s been almost twenty years and you nursing a grudge ain’t my problem.”

“Nursing a grudge over what?” popped out of Carolyn’s mouth before she stopped it.

“None of your business, bitch. Turn the fuck around and shut up.”

Carson’s boots were on the floor and he was in the guy’s face. “Speak to my wife like that again and I will shut that fat mouth of yours.”

“You always did bandy around like the cock of the walk.” The guy loomed over Carson. “Too bad it don’t hold water no more. You don’t—”

Before the guy knew what hit him, Carson’s fists connected several times in a row. The last crack to the jaw rocked him back and Carson charged him, knocking him to the floor.

He pummeled the guy, but not without consequence. Timmons got in a couple of good shots. Which only served to infuriate Carson more.

As she watched fists fly and blood spurt and heard the dull thud of flesh smacking into flesh, it seemed ten minutes passed before a bouncer intervened, when in reality it’d only been a few minutes.

The bouncer shoved Carson back. “For Christsake, McKay, ain’t you old enough to know better by now?”

Carolyn tried to hand Carson a stack of bar napkins to mop up the blood and sweat dripping down his face, but he angrily smeared his face across his shirt sleeve.

“You keep letting assholes like him in here and I’ll keep wiping the floor with them.”

“What the hell did he do to you anyway?”

Carson glared at the man wheezing and bleeding on the floor. “The dumb fucker insulted my wife. That ain’t ever gonna go well for any man, no matter how old I get.”

Carolyn wanted to blow him a kiss but she refrained.

“Evidently he’s still got a beef about something that happened nearly two decades ago.”

“Damn right we do. You McKay fuckers took advantage of my grandpa and bought his land right out from under us. That parcel should’ve been passed down to his family. But no. You dangled a fat check in front of him and he sold to you without discussing it with any of us. That’s sneaky shit.”

“You’re just pissed off that your granddaddy sold his land and pocketed the money to enjoy his retirement rather than pass down a heritage none of you gave a damn about. He was happy to sell to us because he knew we’d take care of it and keep it productive. That’s what burns your ass. Your granddaddy preferred sellin’ to strangers rather than entrusting it to his own family.”

Timmons huffed and puffed as he maneuvered himself upright. “No one around here trusts any of you McKays and we’re all laughing that Jed finally kicked it. Good riddance to that manipulative bastard. We’re all hoping the rumors are true—rumors comin’ from your own brother—that you’re all about to get your comeuppance and be forced to sell everything.”

The next thing happened in slow motion.

Cord stepped forward, hitting Timmons with such force in the sternum that the man dropped back to his knees. Then he clocked him in the ear and the guy was back on the floor, writhing in pain. Cord stood over him, vibrating with rage. “Shut your fuckin’ mouth about my grandpop. You ain’t fit to speak his name. And I can guarantee you the McKays are gonna be around for a long goddamned time, so get used to it.”

“Out,” the bouncer said to Carson and Carolyn. Then he pointed to Cord. “You ain’t old enough to be in here anyway, pup, so beat it.”

None of them said a word until they were in the parking lot.

Cord spoke first. “Dad. It’s not true, is it? That we stand to lose the ranch?”

“No, son, it’s not true. Your Uncle Casper is tryin’ to pull some shit, but that’s all it is: a big pile of horseshit ’cause he’s got no other play. Makes me sick that my own brother is running his big mouth all over the place because he can. Puts all the McKays in a bad light.”

“Pissed me off what that guy said about us.”

“I noticed that,” Carson said dryly.

“This happened a lot to you, didn’t it? Havin’ to fight when some asshole started talkin’ shit about the McKays.”

Carson wiped his bloodied mouth on his other sleeve. “It’s still goin’ on. I expect it always will. The bouncer was right about one thing. I’m getting too damn old to fight.”

“Not from where I was standing.”

A beat passed and then Carson grinned at Cord. “Your old man’s still got it, eh?”

“Looks like. Lucky thing you’ve got five sons, one daughter and five nephews to set folks straight on what it means to mess with the McKays.”

Carolyn frowned. Why hadn’t Cord included Casper’s four sons in that tally?

Because he sees them as part of the problem, not the solution.

Those kids couldn’t help their parentage, and they were only little boys. But guaranteed they’d turn out bitter like their father if they didn’t have a better influence. In that moment she knew she’d try to foster a relationship between the cousins—even if she had to fight her husband to make it happen.

She tuned back in to hear Carson say to Cord, “Nah, we’re good. Your Ma is gonna take care of me, right, sugar?”

Her eyes met her husband’s. The lust glittering in those blue depths liquefied her bones. As soon as they were alone the man would have her pushed up against the side of his truck pounding into her, or he’d have her bent over the tailgate slamming into her.

And she couldn’t wait.

She rested her hand on Carson’s chest. “Let me grab my purse from Cord’s truck and then we’re good to go.”

Carson didn’t respond, but the sexual heat and urgency rolled off him.

Carolyn grabbed Cord’s sleeve. “Come on.”

After she’d shouldered her purse, her oldest son got right in her face. “Ma. Dad is scaring me with the way he’s actin’. There’s a look in his eye I’ve never seen before so I think it’d be better if he rode home with me.”

Cord was on the cusp of manhood; she suspected he already had experienced the pleasure found in a woman’s body. And even if it might embarrass them both, he needed to understand the full spectrum of the night’s events. “Your father would never hurt me. Fighting revs him up. I know how to handle him and what he needs.”

His eyes widened and then he blushed. Embarrassed by his blush, he retorted, “I don’t know why I’m standin’ here feelin’ shocked about you and Dad getting…” He shook his head as if to clear the mental image. “It ain’t like the walls upstairs are
that
thick between the bedrooms. Just drive safe.”