Front Range Cowboys (5 Book Box Set) Read online

  “That’s one way to put it,” he murmured. He lifted his head just far enough to bury his nose in her hair and kiss her forehead. Wrapping an arm around her body, he drew her close. The amount of comfort he received from even this G-rated contact was unlike anything else in his life. “It’s like I make these decisions and, even in the moment, I know that they probably aren’t the best ones I could make. But I muddle my way through and then spend the next decade trying to fix what I screwed up. At some point, I’d really like it if I could start making the right choices the first time around. So, if you have suggestions, I’m open.”

  She laughed. “I don’t know another man on the planet foolish enough to say those words to a woman. How can I refuse?”

  Darren was trying to come up with a witty reply, but of course, that was the moment Carly decided to show up right in front of their table. Her perfume announced her arrival before her nasally voice made his stomach knot with dread.

  “Darren, Darren, Darren,” Carly drawled. “Nothing changes with you. Nothing. It’s so good of you to stay the same and make things so damn easy.”

  Darren wondered how many possible ways there were to get screwed without a moment’s pleasure.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was quite possible that the woman standing beside their table had been young and beautiful once upon a time, but Maggie could not help the mean thoughts that went through her head about the possibility of “alcohol glasses” and how Darren might have been a little shocked when he woke up to that sourpuss of a face the morning after.

  “Carly, I wish I could say that it was pleasant to see you,” Darren told her in a painfully cordial tone of voice. “But you rarely make any interaction pleasant because your attitude is just so sour.”

  The woman standing with her hands on her generous hips was about five feet tall with bleached-blond hair piled on top of her head and sprayed to a crinkly sort of stiffness that made it look almost like a bad wig. Her makeup was so thick that it had actually started to melt just a bit under the overhead lights. And her clothing was too tight to leave much to the imagination.

  “You are such a man whore.” Carly jerked her chin in Maggie’s direction. “Are you his next piece of ass? When did he meet you? Ten minutes ago? Fifteen?”

  Maggie pressed her lips together and refused to engage. People like Carly wanted desperately for others to rise to their bait. It was a power trip, plain and simple. And at some point, Carly would stop trying to poke at Maggie because it didn’t get her anywhere or make her feel any better about herself.

  Of course, that was what all of Maggie’s counselor training told her. That didn’t say a damn thing for how she actually felt about the situation in general. What she wanted to do was stand up and grab that horrible fluff ball on top of Carly’s head, spin her around, and send her away from their table. The woman was enjoying Darren’s discomfort and trying to stir up trouble. No doubt Darren felt like anything he did to put Carly in her place would only rebound negatively on his son and on any chance he had to be a part of his kid’s life. Carly knew that. All women knew that. At least the mother portion of the female population. Kids were the best bargaining chips around, and it made Maggie so mad to think about that happening.

  “Carly,” Darren said in a voice that shook with his effort to be patient and calm. “I think it’s best if we don’t speak. I think it would be better if we just let our attorneys communicate.”

  “Excuse me?” Carly demanded shrilly. “What are you talking about? What attorney?”

  Darren raised his eyebrows. “I told you on the phone that I was not going to pay for Jaeger to go to school and continue to pay all of your bills too without having some kind of contact with my son. That’s going to require an attorney and a petition to the court. I thought you understood that.”

  If Carly could have spat fire, she would have. “You bastard! How dare you try to take my son from me!”

  “I didn’t say I was trying to take him.” Darren was now looking around to see who was paying attention to Carly’s massive overreaction. It appeared that they’d gained a little bit of attention from the surrounding tables. No doubt that was Carly’s purpose in behaving like a total lunatic. “All I said is that I’d like to be a part of his life.”

  “You’ll never be part of his life!” Carly spat. “You’re a loser and a complete deadbeat!”

  “Actually, he’s not.” Maggie cut in because she could no longer stand it. “According to the state of Colorado, if he’s paying you child support regularly, he’s not a deadbeat at all. In fact, they will love him as a part-time custodial parent because he’s already shown a desire to take financial responsibility for his child. So, don’t get all snotty and get in his face. You’ve got more to lose than he does.” Maggie pointed her index finger at Carly. “Where’s the boy right now? Hmm? The waiter says you’re a regular customer. Do you come in here every single night? This is a weeknight. Not even a weekend. If you’re dumping him with a babysitter every night of the week so you can party, it shows that you’re really not all that interested in full-time parenting. And who pays for your partying? Do you have a job? Are you on welfare? Or are you actually living off of your child support? Are you spending it all on yourself? Can you prove that you’re not? You’d better get your skanky backside home and start thinking about these things because they’re going to be the reason the court slaps your hand and takes away full custody of your child.”

  Carly’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She looked petulant and childish. Her pouting demeanor was extremely unattractive, and Maggie could not help but wonder what Carly’s date was like. What kind of man wanted to be with this woman after the “alcohol glasses” came off?

  Suddenly, Darren’s phone started buzzing insistently in his pocket. Maggie could feel it between them. It went off. Then it stopped. Then it went off again. Obviously, there was something happening.

  Darren glanced down at Maggie with an apologetic look before pulling his phone out of his pocket. Because Carly was obviously ill-bred and rude, she didn’t take the hint to leave. She just stood there and gaped at them as though there was something else to be said between them.

  Darren put the phone to his ear. “Bella?”

  Maggie was immediately on alert. Why was Bella calling Darren when she was supposed to be home with her dad? Carly seemed interested as well. Then Carly pointed to Maggie. “You’d do better to go after Laredo. That’s what I should have done. He’s the one with the real money.”

  “And yet you would have been in box with no credit cards and no spare cash had you tried to take that bull by the horns,” Maggie retorted. She gave Carly a look of pure scorn. “You’ve been lucky with Darren. He’s put up with your crap way beyond what anyone else would have done. But that’s going to end now.”

  “Because of you?” Carly snorted. “I doubt that. He’ll lose interest in a week and dump ten grand on me just to shut me up.”

  Maggie licked her lips. Oh, how this woman deserved a kick in the pants! “Not this time,” she told Carly. “This time he’s home for good. He’s done with football. He has a steady job. And he would make a wonderful father. And that is what the judge is going to see.”

  “You’d better stay out of this.” Carly curled her lip at Maggie. “You won’t like what happens if you try to get involved.”

  Maggie gestured between her and Carly. “Sweetie, you’re the one who got me involved. Until you came over here spouting off and proving to me that you’re a horrible mother, I would have let things unfold however they were going to. Now?” Maggie paused for emphasis. “Now you’ve made it clear that this is a situation of the welfare of the child involved. Since I happen to be a school guidance counselor, I have a mandatory responsibility to report any parental negligence or danger to a child that I witness.”

  Now Carly reared back in true surprise and even greater horror. She opened her mouth, but then she changed her mind and flounced away. Darren s
eemed oblivious to what was happening with Carly however. He was already sliding out of the booth.

  “What’s going on?” Maggie felt a wave of tension and worried that there had been an accident with Bella.

  “Bella can’t get her dad to move. I think he’s passed out drunk in his study, but the kid is terrified.” Darren already had his keys out. He threw a big bill on the table to cover their tab, and then the two of them ran out the front door hand and hand.

  It meant a lot to Maggie that Darren didn’t just drop her hand and seem to forget all about her while the two of them were leaving the bar and grill. He kept her close as though she were a lifeline in a storm and he needed her with him in order to confront this next issue head-on.

  Darren quickly and courteously opened the passenger door of his truck and helped Maggie inside. Then he ran around and climbed inside the driver’s door. Within minutes, they were pulling into traffic and heading toward wherever Maggie assumed that Laredo lived.

  Maggie rarely paid any attention to the addresses of her students unless there was some therapeutic reason to look at the information. She usually felt like the address reflected certain information about their socioeconomic status that affected her ability to deal with the kids and their parents in a non-biased manner. Or, rather, it was difficult to be truly compassionate with kids who came from homes where their biggest problem was that they had to wait a whole week longer than they wanted just to get the newest video game system. After all, it wasn’t the kids’ fault that they had been born to privilege. They still deserved compassion and understanding.

  “Does this happen often?” Maggie wondered out loud. “I’ll be honest, your brother doesn’t really seem like the type to lose control like this.”

  “He’s not.” Darren’s voice was tight. “My brother is under an incredible amount of pressure at work to get our adopted sister to sign some papers. Our father is pressuring the crap out of Laredo, and Laredo is used to being able to deliver what Dad wants.”

  “Your father sounds like a really great guy.” Maggie didn’t mean to sound quite as sarcastic as that came out. Unfortunately, her words were flavored by her previous interactions with their family.

  Darren actually laughed. “My father is getting older but doesn’t realize it. I don’t really know if that makes a difference in the end, but he’s gotten to the point where he has unrealistic expectations for things, and sometimes he just doesn’t get it. My adoptive sister is twenty-one. She’s come of age and is now legally able to take possession of her family’s ranch. It’s hers. To me and to my brothers, that’s pretty simple. To our father, he’s held that land since Jesse was eleven years old, and that makes it his.”

  Maggie tried to put aside her personal biases and look at this from Mr. Hernandez’s position. It wasn’t easy, but she had to remember that the old ranchers didn’t necessarily think the way that everyone else did.

  “My dad is just old-school,” Darren muttered. “He assumed that we would all be part of the family business. And that’s how we get paid. Like this truck,” he said as he smacked the steering wheel. “It belongs to the business. All of our vehicles belong to the business. We were never allowed to own anything outright. It was all about business expenses and benefits. We get paid every month depending on the amount our shares in the business are worth and how much we put into it. I suppose it’s fair if you look at how much Laredo makes as opposed to the rest of us. But it still leaves our parents at the helm instead of making them retire and move to Florida or something equally productive.”

  “Meaning that your parents would get out of the way and let the younger generation run things the way they saw fit,” Maggie guessed. “Which would include letting your adoptive sister have her ranch back with no strings attached.”

  “Exactly.” Darren nodded as he swung his truck into the driveway of a palatial home in one of Denver’s nicest neighborhoods.

  Apparently, Laredo was getting the lion’s share, which made Carly’s rude comment even ruder. Not that the woman needed any help with her bad image. Maggie sucked in a deep breath and reminded herself that right now it was all about Bella. That girl didn’t need any more trauma in her life.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Bella?” Darren pushed open Laredo’s front door and pulled his key from the lock. He glanced to the wall on the right of the entryway and noticed that the alarm was not set. “Bella, it’s Uncle Darren and Ms. Brown. Are you all right?”

  “Uncle Darren?”

  Bella’s shaky little voice came from the hallway to the right of the entryway. She was dressed in silky bright-blue PJ’s with white puppies printed on the fabric. Her slippers were fuzzy, and she was hugging a giant white rabbit to her chest.

  “Bella, where is your dad?” Darren asked gently. “I need to go help him. All right?”

  Bella pointed toward Laredo’s office. Darren didn’t even wait. He absolutely trusted Maggie to help Bella. In fact, there was no better person to help Bella right now. Maggie was most definitely qualified to be in that position. And at this point, she knew more about their screwed up dysfunctional family than anyone else not intimately involved.

  As Darren had suspected, Laredo had fallen out of his desk chair. He was facedown on the floor of his study in a puddle of vomit. It was good that Bella had called Darren. If Laredo had aspirated any of that, he could have killed himself. As it was, Darren had to pull his brother out of the puddle of puke and onto a clean section of carpet. He put him on his side.

  Laredo immediately began to cough. That was good. Darren remained kneeling by Laredo’s side for several moments before he was sure his brother wasn’t going to puke again. Lord knew they’d all been there a time or two. It wasn’t like Darren was above the occasional binge and pass out. He’d just never done it with a nine-year-old kid in the house.

  There was a carafe of something on the opposite corner of the desk. Darren reached for it, thinking it was water. Unfortunately, it was vodka. Making a last-minute decision, Darren heaved Laredo’s body up onto his shoulder. The man smelled like vomit and alcohol, and the movement nearly caused Darren to collapse in pain as his knee was forced to support Laredo’s weight as well as his own.

  Darren hadn’t been having as much trouble with his back and his knee lately, but that was no doubt because he’d stopped torturing his body with football. Carrying Laredo around was bound to be something he was going to feel in the morning, and Darren put that on the list of stuff he was going to use to poke at Laredo later.

  For now, Darren carried his brother into the master suite. He went directly to the bathroom and carefully balanced Laredo’s body on his shoulder before reaching in to turn on the shower. The water was cold. Good. Darren all but tossed his older brother inside and adjusted the spray to hit him right in the face. Groping along the wall, Darren turned on the light inside the shower just to make things even more uncomfortable for big brother dearest.

  Laredo sputtered and coughed. He tried to move away from the spray. That just made Darren readjust his aim until once again the water was hitting Laredo right in the face. The man was going to get a mouthful of water until he opened his eyes and acknowledged his stupidity. At least that was pretty much Darren’s plan for the moment.

  “Hey!” Laredo swiped at his face as though he were trying to brush the water away.

  Darren wiggled the sprayer to get the water around Laredo’s fingers. “Hey nothing, you ass. Do you have any idea how badly you scared the crap out of Bella?”

  “Bella?” Laredo managed to open his bloodshot eyes.

  “Yeah. Your kid?” Darren struggled to understand what was really going on here. Obviously, it had very little to do with—well, with anything. This wasn’t Laredo’s style. “What is going on with you?”

  “I can’t do it anymore,” Laredo mumbled. “I can’t keep Dad’s secrets.”

  “Dad’s secrets?” Darren was starting to get a pretty sick feeling in his stomach. “What in the hell are you
talking about? Dad doesn’t have secrets. He freaking shouts his business from the rooftops so everyone knows how amazing and successful he is.”

  “That’s only what you think,” Laredo slurred. “That’s why he wants the Collins ranch so bad. That’s why he thinks he can’t let Jesse take control of her inheritance.”

  “Because there are secrets buried out there?” Darren snorted. “Man, I’ve been out there dozens of times. Cal and I used to swap off riding with Jesse out to her parents’ place because she was so damn homesick those first few years. After that, I bet she went out there plenty of times. What is it that Dad thinks she’s going to find after all of these years?”

  Laredo looked mystified. His head was sort of bobbing up and down. His eyes were wide and he looked positively ill. Although it was entirely possible that the ill part had more to do with the alcohol than the conversation topic. Still, Darren didn’t know what to think about this crap with Jesse Collins.

  Finally, Darren shut off the shower sprayer and squatted down so that he was eye level with Laredo. It seemed odd to be doing this bizarre ritual in a bathroom filled with imported Italian marble that looked like it was straight out of a decorating magazine. It always seemed so odd to Darren that Laredo’s wife had run off with a ranch hand. If you looked around the home that she and Laredo had built together, it reeked of money. Now she had none. The woman was nothing more than a poor rancher’s wife. And yet she seemed happy enough with that. What was it that made some women like Carly do everything that they could to wring the last penny out of a guy, and other women like Bella’s mother not give a damn about net worth? Or was Darren just fooling himself and they all cared about money?