Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"I hate you," Kirsten said. Again. She hated Jay as much as she hated the fact they were heading for Montana.

Jay was numb to the constant histrionics by then. Kirsten had loathed him when he told her he was relocating, and she told him to fuck off when he explained all four of them were going. She had packed her bags to go and stay with her boyfriend of the week—Stan, or something—and Jay patiently unpacked twice before she got the hint.

"All my friends are texting me, saying they miss me, and offering me beds to stay in," she muttered from the plane seat next to him.

Jay had drawn the short straw. Ashley got to sit next to Josh, who was visibly vibrating with excitement. To him, Montana meant cowboys and adventure. But Jay got Miss Miserable, who, if she was to be believed, had just had her entire life destroyed by her uncle.

"You'll find new friends," he suggested helpfully.

The look of mixed disbelief and disdain she sent him was enough to have him wincing.

"I don't want new friends!" she shouted. That was the first sign her anger was overtaking her sulking again. "I want Stan. I love him, and he loves me."

"You've only known him a few weeks." Jay attempted patience. He was the last person to sniff at first love, and he didn't want to belittle Kirsten's emotions, but Stan was an idiot who smoked and couldn't really afford it. Not only that, he could only speak in words of one syllable.

"He's getting my name tattooed on his neck. He loves me."

Simple teenage logic. Thank God she had yet to succumb to tattooing—she appeared to be satisfied with changing the color of her hair each week.

Jay was caught between rolling his eyes at the drama and imagining poor Stan in ten years' time with Kirsten's name on his neck but hitched to another woman. In the end, the vision of Stan—who was only sixteen—at the age of twenty-six with ten different names on his skin made Jay laugh. He couldn't help the smirk that made its way to his face.

"Don't laugh at me!" Kirsten shouted. She sounded like turning hysterical was only a few steps away.

"I wasn't," Jay lied.

Shit, he hadn't meant to show that to Kirsten. He had no idea how to handle this version of his niece. Teasing each other had been replaced by bitterness and stress. He didn't recall being such an ass to his parents when he was her age. Maybe he had been, though.

"I hate you," she said in a softer voice.

If she was hoping Jay wouldn't hear, then she was wrong.

"Well, I love you, and I always will," he said just as quietly.

She shot him a quick look that he could see in his peripheral vision, then she quickly stared down at her Kindle and ignored him.

Jay shuffled in his seat. This part of the journey was the short part. They'd been stuck at Minneapolis-St. Paul International for three and a half hours on a layover, but all the waiting around made him worry about what exactly he'd gotten them into.

He'd phoned Marcus back, accepted the position, sorted out some details, then broke the news to the family. They were all coming with him because he was providing for them and he hadn't left any room for negotiation. He was doing this for Ashley and the kids as much as for himself, but one thing he did know was that no one was going to be immediately happy, except maybe Josh.

Kirsten was the most vocal of her dismay as Jay had expected, but after Josh contemplated leaving his friends, he had quickly decided that Montana sounded fun.

Oh, to be six again.

Jay spoke to Ashley separately. She had made such a thing of Lewis being around for Josh that Jay had expected her to want to stay in New York. He couldn't actually make any of them go with him, but he was willing to argue his side: new opportunities, a fresh start, being a family.

He had all the arguments ready to go, but Ashley surprised the hell out of him. What he hadn't expected was that she would be so eager to leave the little job she had and the man she said she loved. He wondered if it had anything to do with the new bruises he had seen on her face this morning. She'd covered them with makeup, but it wasn't enough to hide the marks or the sadness in her eyes.

Jay hated that he had nothing he could do to help his sister. She had been trapped in a cycle of abuse and low self-esteem, and it didn't matter what he said, she had been adamant that there was hope for Lewis and that he had needed her.

Hadn't Jay felt the same way about Mark and hoped that one day Mark would wake up less of an entitled asshole? At least Jay had punched back. Ashley had been overwhelmed.

He opened his laptop and clicked on the Dropbox folder he was collecting all his information in. He'd spent the last week putting everything he owned into storage and researching Crooked Tree and Montana. He had a couple of websites that he thought made a really good job of promoting what they offered, but he needed to know a lot more about what a dude ranch actually did before he could begin sketching ideas. The rest of the flight was quiet, and all too soon the four of them were collecting their cases and making their way out of the building to wait expectantly.

"They're not even here," Kirsten said. "Shows how much they want your ass on their ranch."

Jay bit his lip. He was the grown-up in the situation. He would not rise to the sarcasm nor start to worry when no one from Crooked Tree arrived to pick them up.

"What time did they say they would be here?" Ashley asked.

"For when we landed."

"And you gave them the right time?"

"I'm sure I did. Give them ten minutes, and I'll call them."

Privately he hoped this wasn't what prospective guests were presented with when they arrived in Helena. He knew that the ranch had a pickup service, and he hoped to hell it was normally on time for the people that mattered.

"Jay Sullivan?" a voice said behind them.

Jay spun on his heel and immediately shook the extended hand of the guy standing dressed in head-to-toe denim with a hat on his head. A Stetson—it's a Stetson. He was tall and slim and very pretty, despite the denim. Jay curbed his assessment of pretty—the last place he wanted to be seen perving over a cowboy was in cowboy country itself.

"Gabriel Todd," Stetson wearer and insult to fashion in general said with a smile. "Middle brother. Sorry I'm late. Nate got called away, and I left as soon as I could."

Jay waved away the apology. "No worry."

Josh held out his hand. "I'm Josh," he said formally.

Gabriel inclined his head in hello and shook the proffered hand. "Hello, Josh. Welcome to Montana."

Then Gabe turned to the girls. Ashley was perched on her case and Kirsten sat on the floor cross-legged and still looking mutinous. "And these pretty girls must be Kirsten and Ashley?" Gabe asked with a cheeky wink.

Jay held back an audible sigh. Kirsten was going to eat him for breakfast.

Kirsten scrambled to stand. "Pretending we look the same age isn't gonna get you face time with my mom," she said firmly. She stood between Gabe and Ashley, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Gabe smiled. He had dimples—pits of cute—but Jay could see he was looking past Kirsten and focusing on Ashley. Seemed like tall, dark, and pretty wasn't playing for Jay's team. Good job too. Jay wasn't here to mix business with pleasure.

Gabe held out his hand to shake Kirsten's. Finally she relented and they shook. Gabe then reached around Kirsten and offered a hand to Ashley. Instead of shaking hands, he used the grip to pull her to her feet. She thanked him and looked around herself—anywhere except at him. Jay saw the exact moment Gabe noticed the bruising on her face.

Gabe tightened his jaw and thinned his lips. "You okay, ma'am?" he asked softly.

"Tired," she said, then shrugged free of his light clasp and took hold of her case. "Let's get to our new home." She walked in the direction Gabe had come from and sidestepped as he attempted to take her bags. Jay felt a swell of pride in his sister, then focused on himself and the kids. Finally all the bags were in the navy van emblazoned with the words Crooked Tree Dude Ranch in pale blue and comic sans with a picture of a cartoon horse next to the name. Did the place not have a real logo? Jay had imagined the cartoon horse on the twelve-page, rambling, nonsense-filled website was some kind of placeholder, but hell, it was their logo? And comic sans was their font? That would be the first to go.

Jay sat up front with Gabe and was relieved when the guy turned out to be the talkative sort, which meant Jay didn't have to think of things to say. As they moved north toward the ranch, Gabe gave a running commentary on the things they saw. One hundred miles of driving on good roads and bad, and two hours after their flight landed, the Sullivan family arrived at the turnoff to the ranch.

"Can you stop the car?" Jay asked.

Gabe glanced at him. "You okay?"

"I want to remember this," he murmured. He climbed out of the van, and when he jumped to the ground, a puff of soil left the road. Cold. Montana in February was cold. Turning three-sixty he saw mountains and snow, with green poking through the snow at this elevation. An icy wind made him turn up the collar of his coat. He cataloged what he assumed was pastureland and a long dirt road. Sometimes, when companies had him assess their marketing, they cleared up, changed things, altered the starting point. This seemed raw and real, and Jay wanted to be able to recall every image for when he began planning.

He climbed back in, shut the door, and placed his hands on the heater, which to be fair wasn't throwing out that much heat.

"Ready?" Gabe looked curious and probably had a million questions, but Jay wanted to be selfish and hold tight to his first opinions.

"Uh-huh," he answered. "Let's go."

The road widened and ran under a large sign, the kind of thing he recognized from ranches on the TV and in films: a large wood-and-iron structure with the words "Crooked Tree" formed in metal and suspended over the entrance. The road then narrowed, and they drove over a bridge onto the commercial ranch area proper. A collection of buildings lay off to the left, and along to the right, a sign proclaiming "Store" along with a large restaurant called "Branches."

"Was told to take you straight to your place, let you get settled in," Gabe said as he turned left to the buildings Jay had first seen. "This is the staff area, but it's kind of empty, so it'll be private down here." He pulled up outside a cabin that looked like it had seen better days. "It's on the plan to make good on the exterior," Gabe explained, "but the interior's comfortable. Sophie came down and changed all the bedding for you."

Gabe helped the four of them with their cases and opened the door with a flourish.

Jay was shocked. He wasn't easily shocked, but this place was huge compared to the size of his apartment. An open-plan kitchen-dining area, living room, another room for an office, he guessed, and then four doors led off from the main corridor at the rear to what he assumed were bedrooms and bathrooms.

"Each bedroom has its own half bath, from when staff shared the place. Marcus said about inviting you up to dinner, but I thought maybe tonight you'd want your space. I'll come down to collect you for breakfast at seven."

"Seven. Okay." Jay didn't expect to sleep much tonight—he was wired.

"There's food in the cupboards, and Sophie put dinners in your fridge—just heat 'em in the microwave. See you tomorrow morning."

Gabe left after replacing his hat and tilting it at Ashley. For her part, she blushed and looked away again. Jeez.

After their taxi service had left, it was suddenly just the four of them in a loose huddle in the living room. "Josh, Kirsten, you two take first pick of the rooms."

Josh sprinted for the nearest door and opened it before running out and into the next one. He'd looked in all four before Kirsten moved an inch. Jay thought he could see a spark of enthusiasm in her expression, but she was hiding it damn well beneath an air of indifference.

"This one!" Josh announced. "It has two beds and it's so cool!" He dragged his case on its wheels into the room and began to unpack without prompting.

"I'll have this one," Kirsten said. She'd chosen the one next to her brother.

"Your turn," Jay said to Ashley.

"Let's both look." Ashley gently entwined her fingers with his.

Together they looked in all four. Josh's and Kirsten's were at the back of the property, and when they went into the third room on one side, Jay knew it would be perfect for Ashley. Light streamed in through the window and the room had all those feminine touches, like a fringed lampshade over the bulb, and curtains with those tieback things. When the fourth room revealed itself to be decorated in a neutral sage green with an enormous and solid king-size bed, the decision was made.

He hauled in his two cases, then shut the door on everyone else and sat on the edge of his bed. They'd made it here. He'd be lucky if Kirsten lasted a week, but everyone was safe, and he could do what he did best without barriers in the way.

He could take care of his family.