Chapter 20

20

Melissa

A n hour later, I’m sitting in the living room, having a cup of chamomile tea when Darla walks in. She was uncharacteristically quiet on the ride home, and the way she’s looking at me now makes me nervous.

She sighs heavily as she collapses into the armchair by the fire. “Don’t think for a second that I don’t know what’s going on here.”

“What?” I feel the blood drain from my face.

Darla gives me a flat kind of look, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Seriously? I’ve lost my sense of taste, not my sight. I know Colton, Ethan, and Mitch. I’ve known them their whole lives, Melissa. I’m well aware of their lifestyle choice and their… let’s call it their complicated way of loving a woman.”

“Oh, dear,” I mumble, positively mortified.

“It’s the ranch’s best-kept secret, so just relax,” she groans and rolls her eyes at me. “We protect our own, remember? And you’re one of us, for heaven’s sake. Stop acting like you’re on your own all the time, ’cause you’re not.”

“I’m not trying to shut anyone out. It’s just that, in prison, you learn not to trust anyone. Even someone who seems like a friend won’t hesitate to stab you in the back if it helps them in some way. I’m just not used to people caring.”

“You are rare, I’ll give you that,” Darla says after a long and heavy silence.

“Rare?”

“My boys don’t easily fall for a woman,” she replies. “It speaks to your character more than you think. They’re good men, Melissa. Really good men. And they went to hell and back to get the peace they’ve built here on the ranch. Did they ever tell you about their service with the Rangers?”

I nod slowly. “Bits and pieces, here and there.”

“They’ve taken bullets for one another. They’ve pulled each other out of harm’s way,” Darla says. “Their bond is tighter than most.”

“I can imagine.”

“You live this life thinking you’re fine, you know? You wake up early, you have breakfast, then you get out to the stables… it’s pretty cut and dry out here. Sure, there are risks aplenty on a ranch, too. Mind you, this was basically the Wild West before the sheriff really started enforcing the new laws on land ownership,” Darla adds. “But what my boys went through… it’s part of the reason I never married or had children of my own. I couldn’t bear the constant fear their mother and father had to live with every damn day.”

“That must have been terrifying for all of you,” I say sympathetically.

“Oh, it was. But my point is that those boys don’t love easily, but when they do, they love hard and with everything they’ve got.”

I bow my head, thinking of how I almost ran and how I’m still keeping secrets.

“It’s not easy for me either,” I admit.

Darla nods her head. “I bet not. Your parents abandoned you; the system abandoned you, and the man you thought loved you fed you to the wolves. But if you want love, Melissa, you can have it. You can have it here. You just have to open up and trust the boys. I know you’re trying to protect them, but trouble is coming, and it might as well find you in the company of people who can actually do something about it, who can protect you. One Colombian cartel isn’t going to make them quiver in their boots.”

“The Colombians are extremely violent,” I remind her.

Darla shakes her head. “This ain’t Colombia. This is Nebraska. We still have law enforcement here. The ranch is well secured. And the boys… well, like I said, they’re fearless. They’ve been up against the worst humanity has to offer. You’re safer here with them than anywhere else, you understand?”

“Alright,” I mumble, nodding slowly. “I understand. Thank you, Darla.”

As I gaze out the living room window, I’m met with a sea of white. So much snow and cold beauty, it’s almost breathtaking. The house still smells of cinnamon and other seasonal spices. I’d missed it. I didn’t even realize it until I came here—how much I had missed the comfort of a home, of safety, of Christmas and time spent around good people.

Darla has made plenty of sensible points here. I need to do better by my men. They deserve more.

“You keep surprising me,” I tell Darla.

She gives me a curious look. “With what, exactly?”

“The care you show me. I’m not used to it. I’m also not used to getting my ass handed to me the way you keep handing it to me. But I do appreciate it. It keeps me honest.”

She laughs lightly. “Just get it through your thick head, kid. You’re not alone anymore. We’ve all grown fond of you here, and you have proven yourself more than once as a valuable member of this team, of this family. Don’t make me regret putting my faith in you after all of this. Alright? It’s all I ask.”

“Okay. I promise.”