24. Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-four

Remington

I showed up at the Kellys for dinner once again. This time, it was Connell Kelly who’d extended the invitation. We’d run into each other in town, he’d treated me to a cup of coffee like we were old friends, then told me what time the meal would be served. The Kellys weren’t much for ceremony, and I liked that about them. I never questioned where I stood with any of them.

When I’d met Caleb back in kindergarten, he’d told me his granddad lived right next door. With a couple acres between the two houses, his definition of next door definitely hadn’t fit with what I’d imagined. First time I’d visited, he’d taken me for a ride on his side-by-side to his granddad’s house, showing me how close it was.

For a kid who had thousands of acres to his family’s name, I guessed two or three was nothing.

I was sitting on the back patio, sipping a beer while Connell grilled, when Hannah and Phoebe arrived. Hannah marched straight up to Connell and laid a kiss on his cheek. He squeezed her shoulders and told her he’d missed her. No doubt they’d seen each other in the last few days, but I also didn’t doubt he’d genuinely missed his granddaughter.

She spun around, alighting on me, seated on a padded bench. “Well, look who’s here. Remington Town.”

I raised my bottle. “Hannah Kelly.”

It’d only been a day since I’d dropped her at home after having breakfast, but it felt longer. She hadn’t known I was going to be here tonight, and I wondered how long she would’ve gone without seeing me if it had been up to her.

Crossing one foot over the other, she considered me, and I did the same right back. She had on her brown cowboy boots, her long tan legs bare and smooth under a cream, gauzy dress that floated over her figure and stopped midthigh. That thick wave of hair I’d formed an obsession with spilled over one shoulder, a barrette holding it off her face on the opposite side.

Crickets chirped, the earth spun, her family moved about in the background, but the space between us was suspended, separate from gravity and time.

Until Jesse darted between us, his dog chasing behind him. Hannah grinned, and I had no choice but to answer with a wide smile of my own.

She sauntered over, stopping right in front of me so the tips of her boots met mine. “Fancy seeing you here, Remington.”

“I received a personal invite from your granddad.” I patted the cushion beside me. “Sit here. Tell me a thing or two.”

Her hesitation was brief before she flopped down on the bench, crossing her legs toward me. Boot hooking on the back of my calf, she trailed her fingertips down my forearm to my hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I have a confession,” she whispered.

I caught the tips of her fingers in my grip and idly ran my thumb back and forth over her short nails. “What’s that, sweetheart?”

“I’m pretty glad you’re here.”

From another woman, that might’ve sounded lukewarm. From Hannah Kelly, I took it as she’d said it. She was happy to see me, and I sure as hell was pleased to see her.

I tipped my head toward hers, close enough to get a dose of her warmth and scent without touching. “Me too.”

Caleb walked out onto the patio, hands on his hips. He turned, spotting us sitting next to each other. We were barely touching, but I had to imagine our intimacy was unmistakable.

That was why when he shook his head and walked back inside, I chuckled under my breath and Hannah rolled her eyes.

“He thinks the idea of me kissing boys is gross, like I’m twelve.”

I had to laugh. ’Cause yeah, that was true. “Probably worse that the boy is me.”

“Mmhmm. You’re Cay’s. I’m surprised he’s sharing.”

“Unfortunately, I have no interest in kissing Caleb.”

Her lips pursed, tempting me, but I wouldn’t go there. Not here, with Jesse running around in the yard and her granddad a few feet away.

“Only you, Hannah.” I moved my thumb along the edge of her hand to the pulse in her wrist. “You look gorgeous tonight, by the way. I like your dress and the thing you did with your hair.”

Dipping her head, she smoothed her dress out over her legs then touched her barrette. “Thank you. It’s not anything fancy, but—”

“Nope. You’re gonna let me tell you how gorgeous I think you are. All you have to do is say ‘Thank you, baby.’”

Rearing back, her eyebrow arched. “I have to call you baby?”

I grinned at her. “Why not? It’s better than asshole.”

Giggling, she tilted toward me, her head falling on my shoulder. Then, so quiet I almost missed it, she whispered, “Thank you, baby.”

And yeah. I liked that. I liked it a whole lot.

During dinner, conversation landed on the topic of the rodeo. The cowboys descended on Cheyenne through the month of July. Along with the rodeo, there was a fair with rides and games and a concert series, some big stars, some smaller musicians.

“Remi’s coming with Dad and me next weekend,” Jesse announced.

Hannah shook her head. “Nope. How can he go with you when he’s going with me?”

Lock let out a deep chuckle. “Hard to believe, considering the two of you don’t get along.”

Caleb groaned, and Elena patted her husband’s hand. “I think they’re getting along just fine now,” she murmured to her husband.

Lock’s brow pinched as his attention shifted from his wife to his daughter before finally landing on me. Hannah and I were beside each other, our shoulders brushing, her foot hooked behind mine beneath the table.

“Oh,” Lock intoned. “I see.”

“What?” Jesse leaned forward to examine us. “What do you see?”

Caleb tousled his son’s hair. “Grown-up things, kid.”

Jesse groaned. “You always say that. It’s so freaking annoying.”

“It’s a rite of passage,” Connell stated. “One day, you’ll get to say it to your children.”

“Pfft. I’m not having kids,” Jesse declared.

“That’s what I said and look at me now.” Caleb pointed his fork at his chest.

Jesse crossed his arms. “Yeah…well, if I do have kids, I’m not gonna have them with just anyone. I’ll make sure I’m married first.” He shot his dad the side-eye.

Before Caleb could argue, Lily interjected. “Remi, darling, since you’re going with our Hannah to the rodeo next weekend, I should let you know there’s a band playing after, and she always enjoys dancing to their music.”

“I didn’t know that,” I replied. “That’s good information to have.”

Cormac put his fork down. “So, we’re all just accepting the two of them?”

Everyone looked around at each other before giving a chorus of yeses. Then Elena spoke for the family.

“We adore our Hannah, and we love Remi. That’s really all we need to know in these early stages.” She flicked her manicured nails. “When it’s time to know more, I trust you two will tell us. Especially if you intend to have more breakfasts at the diner where I have to hear about it from Mae Whitaker and not my own daughter.”

Jesse pushed up on his knees and threw his arms out. “Will someone just tell me what we’re talking about?”

Caleb nudged his shoulder. “Butt in the seat, kid.”

Lily was a little more forthcoming, leaning into Caleb as she put a roll on his plate. “It’s romance and kissing. Do you want to talk about that?”

“Oh no.” He covered his mouth like he was gagging. “That can stay grown-up stuff. No thank you.”

Grinning, I turned to Hannah once the topic moved on again. “You know, you never did ask me to go with you.”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “I was hoping it had been implied.”

“And you were hoping I’d say yes?”

“If you want to go…”

“Hannah”—I took her hand under the table—“you don’t need to worry about me turning you down. That isn’t going to happen.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and shot me a narrow-eyed look. “I wasn’t worried, I—”

“Think you were, sweetheart. So, even though you didn’t ask, I’ll give you an answer. I’d love to go with you. Even more, I’d love to take you dancing after. I have to warn you, though, my moves are pretty rusty. You might want to make sure your toes are covered up for your protection.”

Her scoff was soft and amused. “I think I can manage that.”

Cormac’s laughter drew us apart. We both turned in his direction at the other end of the table.

“How in the world did you convince Hannah to let you drive tonight?” he asked Phoebe.

Phoebe shrugged. “It wasn’t hard considering her truck’s in the shop and I’m not going to let her get behind the wheel of Greta.”

Lily clucked her tongue. “I still disagree with you naming your vehicle Greta. If anything, she’s a Maryanne.”

Phoebe’s nose scrunched at her grandmother. “Greta is definitely not a Maryanne.”

Lock stared down the table at Hannah. “What’s going on with the truck?”

Hannah stiffened next to me before blurting out a half-truth. “It needed new tires. I was overdue.”

If she felt me boring a hole in the side of her head, she didn’t react. I didn’t agree with keeping what happened a secret from her family. If Cleve or someone else was out to get her, they needed to know. The more people who were aware of the situation, the safer she would be.

Lock scratched his jaw. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you replace your tires less than six months ago?”

Hannah’s shoulders bunched. “It must’ve been longer than that. I—”

If she wasn’t going to tell them, it had to be me. She could be pissed at me for doing it, but I’d rather her be safe and angry than…yeah, I wasn’t going to think about the alternative.

“Her tires were slashed on Friday when she was out at Jacob’s ranch. We think Cleve Jones did it.”

Color rose on Lock’s face as a flurry of exclamations went around the table. His eyes darkened, locking onto me.

“Why do you think it was Cleve?” he asked tightly.

Hannah shook her head. “I’m handling this. You don’t need to worry.”

“Why would you not tell us?” Elena breathed out. “Why—?”

Lock put his hand on her arm, taking over the questioning. “You think it was Cleve, which leads me to believe this wasn’t the first incident. I am going to need you to be honest with me, Hannah. We don’t hide things in this family—not when it comes to personal safety.”

Hannah shifted uncomfortably, moving her fork around on the table. “For a while now, he’s been trying to poach my clients. That’s not a big deal. I can handle it—and his comments.”

“What kind of comments?” Caleb barked.

She held up her hand. “I said I can handle it.”

I squeezed her thigh. “Tell them what he did on the road.”

“What did he do?” Lock asked lowly.

Hannah flicked her hand like what she was about to tell them was no big deal, but the quiver in her chin gave her away. “I was driving down Happy Jack Road, and he came up behind me. Got right on my bumper and wouldn’t let up. This went on for miles, him on my ass, no one around. I admit, it scared me, especially because I didn’t know it was him. I thought he was going to push me off the road. He finally moved past me, laughing his head off like it was all a big joke.”

After a beat of silence, Caleb asked gruffly, “You go to the cops?”

She nodded. “I did. I went about my tires too. They have no proof. All they could do was talk to him.”

Lock shoved back from the table, murder burning in his gaze. “This won’t stand. It’s obvious he wasn’t spoken to in the right way.”

Caleb rose with his father. “I’m going too.”

Cormac was next. “I need to see his face when he hears what’ll happen to him if he doesn’t back off.”

Hannah hopped to her feet, her napkin balled in her fist. “Absolutely not. You’re not going after Cleve Jones.”

It was obvious to me they’d made their minds up and nothing Hannah could say would stop them. The three men were already heading toward the door.

There was also no way I wasn’t going with them.

I got up, following Elena out to the foyer. Throwing open the coat closet, she produced a baseball bat and handed it to her husband. They exchanged a long look that needed no words. The intensity between them was enough.

“I’m in,” I said firmly. “I need to be there.”

Hannah whirled on me, her jaw tight. “Don’t you dare. This is ridiculous.”

I pushed her hair away from her face. “It needs to happen. Cleve has to see how many people are in your corner. He can’t keep coming after you. We’ll put an end to it.”

She jerked away from me, her mouth set in a scowl. “I’m going to be so pissed if I have to bail any of you out. And don’t even think about getting yourselves hurt.”

Cormac patted her shoulder as he headed out the door. “No one’s getting hurt. Eat your dinner. We’ll be back by dessert.”

“Shut up, Maccie,” Hannah gritted out.

Elena went to her daughter and wrapped her arm around her waist. “Shhh, darling. Let them do what they have to do. Sometimes, all it takes is a little threatening with a bat to set someone straight. Let’s hope Cleve is smart enough to heed this warning and leave my girl alone.”

I was the final one out of the house. The last thing I saw before I shut the door was Hannah’s flushed, pissed-off face.