Trial by Fire (14 page)

Mum swayed, but it was his dad who had tears rolling down his craggy face. “Look at that. She looks like her mum.”

“Can I hold her. Just for a minute?” Mum reached for Chloe, and Lachlan let baby Chloe make the choice.

Chloe went easily, only looking back for Holden once every couple of seconds. Poor thing. The last few days had been hard. But at her age, she wasn’t scarred for life or anything. She was gonna be strong like her mum and dad, like her new father too.

“She’s perfect. She does look like Adelaide.” Mum looked over at Lachlan, a smile on her face. “Love at first sight.”

Holden chuckled, and they all glanced over. He shrugged. “That’s what Addie said about my brother. She said, ‘he smiled at me and it was all over.’”

His mum’s grin wobbled a bit. “I miss her.” Chloe began to fuss, and Mum bounced her a little.

“I do too.” Holden offered her a warm grin. “She became my best friend. She was a good lady, one hell of a mom, and one of the best racers I’ve ever seen. She wasn’t scared of nothin’.”

“Damn right,” Dad said. “Ah, look at the happy little Vegemite. Give her over. She needs granddad time.”

“Inside, huh? The food’s getting cold, and God knows, Holden’s made coffee.” Mr. Brandon limped up the stairs, looking worse for wear.

Mum leaned close. “These Yanks are obsessed with coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s a Texan thing. It’s the universal fix-all. I put the kettle on, though, just for y’all.” Holden gave Lachlan a wink, sharing the joke.

Lachlan laughed, the urge to kiss Holden sudden and shocking. “Thanks, mate. I could use a cuppa.”

“I can learn. It’s a thing.” Holden headed up the stairs, giving him a look at the finest ass in the known universe. “Tell me there’s breakfast tacos in there, Daddy.”

“Biscuits and gravy, tacos, chicken biscuits.” Brandon chortled, looking better every moment he was here at the ranch.

Lachlan held the door for his folks, chuckling at their goofy faces and the silly noises they were making. Babies made idiots of the toughest people.

He wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing. Everyone needed some downtime in their lives. He’d forgotten that the last few years, too busy with work to play.

When Brandon and his oldies stopped in the dining room to spread out the food, Lachlan followed Holden to the kitchen, cornering the man by the coffeemaker. “Alone at last.”

Holden looked up at him, and he swore those dark eyes got even blacker. “Hey, cowboy.”

“Hi.” He muscled Holden right up against the counter and kissed that perfect mouth. It felt amazing, the little jolt of shock, the gasp he got. That wasn’t counting the way Holden’s hips rolled against him once.

When he backed off, they were both panting, and Lachlan felt sixteen again, sneaking off to get a stolen kiss with Dylan Harrod in the old sheep sheds.

“You better be good, now.” Holden didn’t look particularly serious about that. In fact, he had a fuck-me-now look on his face.

“I’ve been good.” Lachlan had been a bloody choirboy, and he was tired of that.

Holden let him have one of those smiles that proved that there was a devil in there, waiting for him to tap it. Sexy bastard.

Damn. He needed food, and he was half afraid to leave the baby with his mum for fear of another kidnapping. Otherwise he’d sneak off with Holden.

“Come on and eat.” Holden leaned in, lips close to his. “You make me think of doing wicked things in the dark.”

“Oh God.” Lachlan wanted. Now. It was as if Chloe being safe opened up a whole new level of desire for him.

“Son! Come and look at this chicken thing!”

He and Holden both jumped, then laughed. “Right.”

“You go. I’ll pour coffee and bring the tea in.”

“Thanks, Lofty.” Lachlan wandered into the dining room, where his dad shoved him an American biscuit with fried chicken and honey on it.

Nice.

He ended up eating three, and then trying some of Holden’s burrito. Meals had been very catch-as-catch-can since this whole mess had started, especially once the feds had kicked out all the old ladies aid society women for security reasons.

He didn’t think his mum was going to let the baby go. Ever. That could be a problem. Bouncing, cooing, his mum had grandma face on. He had to admit, it was adorable. Hopefully she wouldn’t be on him about additional ankle biters anytime soon. That was probably a forlorn hope. She poked him weekly. His oldies liked to pretend they didn’t know he was queer.

Holden was chatting with the dads, something about cattle and late spring calves and riding out to check on things. God, he could handle that. A ride.

“I’ll go with,” Lachlan said before anyone else could call it.

Holden looked over. “Yeah? I’m going to just check everything. Need to have Dad on the front porch and me on Pepper. Crazy was the glue for a lot of people, and we need to let them know we got this. We’re still the Sheffield Company.”

He got that. Losing a long-term foreman could be a disaster. This had to be similar. Crazy had apparently had fingers in many pies.

“I’d love to ride out with you.” He might muster his cattle by motorcycle, but Lachlan loved to ride.

“Y’all okay with the baby?” Holden asked.

His mum beamed. “Of course. Safe as houses.”

“Good deal. I’ll grab some water and a couple granola bars for the bottomless pit over here.” Holden looked over. “You do actually know how to ride, right?”

“Fuck you, Sheffield. I was riding horses before you were a twinkle in your daddy’s eye.”

“Listen to you, speaking ill of my daddy’s twinkles.”

“He had to have two, yeah? At the same time,” Lachlan teased, hoping Holden took it the right way.

“That’s my point. Potent damn twinkles to become two studs.”

Lachlan cracked up. “Let me get my boots out of the truck.” He felt like dancing, the offer of a long ride on a beautiful day with the man he loved almost more than he could bear. The simple joys were the best.

“Be careful.” His mum admonished, but Lachlan only waved. He wanted out there in the sun.

Having Holden with him just made it bloody perfect.

HOLDEN
tried his damnedest not to chuckle at Lachlan and his jock-itch stance. The man rode like a dream, but it was obvious that it had been a while since his ass had met saddle.

It hadn’t stopped them from riding for miles—heading to see the mustangs, to check the fences, to admire his and Landon’s houses. From the distance, they looked like they were facing each other, like there wasn’t any space between them.

For the first time in over a month, the sight had made him smile.

“You get all the bags and shit from the hotel?” he asked. He was gonna set Lachlan’s folks up at Landon’s house, let them stay until they got done with their grandparent time.

“Yeah. It’s all here. They’re going to stay for a few.”

“Yeah.” Might as well put the house to some use. They could figure out who might live there later. Maybe Chloe could have it when she grew up.

He’d like that. Maybe she’d take over the ranch, maybe the rodeo company. Maybe both. By then, life would be so different. Holden felt like the cowboy way was holding on by its toenails.

He hoped and prayed it would keep on, but he wasn’t a seer, was he?

“You’re thinking deep, I can tell,” Lachlan said.

“Just worrying about the cost of hay and whether I can get those barns rebuilt this summer.” He reckoned folks worried about their way of life fading every generation and, somehow, things worked out. The good Lord provided.

“You can. No worries.” Lachlan had the best eye lines. They crinkled when he smiled. Really smiled like he was doing now, those blue eyes shining for him.

“No worries, huh? Y’all really say that?”

“I do. Then again I say fair dinkum too, and the kids tell me only geezers say that now.” Lachlan shrugged.

“Weirdo.” He had to grin. “Course, I say shit like, ‘Cowboy up.’ I need to go up and check on my girl.”

Holden needed to take her home to his damned house, if not tonight, then tomorrow night.

“Come on, then. I swear, your dad kept them from running off.”

Lachlan was teasing, and Holden knew it, but that didn’t keep a tiny bit of worry from niggling at him.

He didn’t run to the room where she slept, but it was a close thing, and when he saw her baby body in the crib, the dogs sleeping underneath her in a pile, he had to fight to breathe, his lungs closing up on him.

He heard Lachlan behind him seconds before he felt a warm, hard hand on his back, rubbing the impending attack out of existence. “Relax and breathe. She’s good, huh?”

“Uh. Uh-huh.”
Breathe. Breathe. She’s right there. She’s right there.
Holden wondered how long it would be before the panic eased, before he stopped wanting to just carry her everywhere with him.

Maybe by the time she was thirty.

Possibly thirty-five.

“Easy,” Lachlan whispered, and that hand kept moving over his back, soothing him. Lord. He leaned into it, let Lachlan love on him. That touch made him think all manner of things, and he closed his eyes and let the thoughts run wild a moment.

He’d gotten used to having this one around, just like he had Chloe. What the hell was he going to do when Lachlan up and left to go back to Australia?

There wasn’t a single thing about that thought that didn’t suck hairy donkey balls.

“She’s so sweet looking. No one would know that temper was under there,” Lachlan murmured.

“Temper? My girl? Nonsense.” He had to laugh, though, because she was Addie’s daughter, through and through.

“I heard her screaming her ire the other night. We always teased Ades that she could do opera.” Lachlan leaned on his back, hot as hell and twice as tempting, lips grazing his nape.

He grinned. “Well, I remember Addie singing and it… it sure wasn’t no opera, cowboy.”

“No, she sounded like a drowning emu.”

“I was going to go with a ten-foot-tall bumblebee with a sinus infection, but that works.”

They glanced at each other and laughed out loud, which made Chloe kick her little feet and frown. Such a princess. Holden reached down to stroke her hair, and his touch calmed her right down.

“She loves you, eh?”

“She does. She’s fascinated with you. I think she knew you fast.”

“Maybe. We like to think that, right? That they know we’re family.” Lachlan sighed. “Oh, missy, you gave us a scare. I never thought I’d go through that twice in a lifetime.”

She snuffled and reached out to grab Lachlan’s finger when he stroked her cheek.

Lachlan laughed, sounding so delighted. “This part is easier this time. Ades, she was shattered.”

“How old was she?” He couldn’t imagine getting snatched like that. Getting lost? Sure. Him and Landon had been goofing off in the ranch truck when they were ten, wrecked it, then got lost trying to get home.

“She was fifteen. Slipped her security detail, wanted to go shopping. It was one of the hotel employees. He decided we were too rich and needed to donate to his favorite charitable cause. Mum and Dad lost it, and I had to work with Dez’s boss to do the drop.”

“Shit. That had to be scary as fuck.” Chloe was a baby, but a fifteen-year-old girl… you had to worry about…. He couldn’t even think it, and he picked up Chloe, cradling her close for a hug before leaning into Lachlan and letting him feel her, how she was home and safe. No wonder Addie’s parents had worried, protected her so fierce. Sad that they hadn’t been able to talk things out, but Holden knew Landon probably had a lot to do with Addie running and not working with the family.

Stupid shit had always been a romantic at heart.

Lachlan nuzzled her baby cheek, making her frown again. Must be scratchy.

“Someone thinks you need to shave,” Holden teased.

“Not all of us are as….”

“Don’t say it, wolf-boy.” God Almighty, he liked how furry Lachlan felt with no clothes on.

“Smooth. Baby faced. Soft.” Lachlan poked him.

“Hairy monkey man.”

Lachlan caught him with an arm around his waist. Then that rough cheek scrubbed over his.

He turned his face, took a kiss, right there in the baby’s room. Chloe wasn’t gonna tell anyone, was she? She was least likely to judge them. Lord, he was tired of that idea.

“You two quit macking in there. Your mother sees it, she’s going to wail.”

Shit.
He didn’t jerk away at Duncan’s voice, though, just let some space come between them.

“Did you and Mr. Brandon run out of beer?” Lachlan asked his dad.

“He ran up to the hospital to pick up his missus.”

“Momma’s coming home?” Holden grinned wide, bounced his girl. “You hear that, baby? Granny’s well enough to come home early, baby girl. Thank God.”

“That’s great news. Mum go lie down?”

“She did. She wants to go to see Adelaide’s house soon.” Lachlan’s dad looked reserved about that.

That wasn’t going to be easy, Holden didn’t think. To see that their daughter had a whole different life. Still, if they were gonna stay there, the McCougheys would have to see it.

“Once Mom gets back, we’ll go on down.”

Chloe grunted, stretched long against him, wiggling happily. She was such a good girl. Well-adjusted, considering how much had happened in her short life.

“Oh, hello.” Duncan came to stare down at Chloe. “You lads should go have supper.”

Chloe looked up at Mr. McCoughey and squealed happily, obviously telling him hello.

“Gramps is here, angel.” He picked her right up, confident where Lachlan was always hesitant. Holden could tell Lachlan wasn’t around babies a lot.

She laughed happily, then reached for Lachlan, snagging his shirt.

“You’re a lover.” Lachlan laughed too, and Holden saw the family there, in all three of those faces.

He nodded. “I’m fixin’ to go make sammiches. Y’all want?”

“I could eat,” Lachlan said. “Don’t drop her, Dad.”

“Don’t make me whale on you, Son.”

Lachlan followed him to the kitchen, and Holden warmed to the idea that Lachlan wanted to be here for him as much as Chloe. Or maybe it was the food. The man was big, and hadn’t had more than a few sandwiches over the days that Chloe had been missing.