A Cowboy's Claim, page 10
“Thanks to Sydney, and thanks to your level-headed response.”
“Didn’t do anything special,” Declan protested.
“You did more than you think. At the time, and after, helping Luke and Tucker.” Caleb held up a hand. “No more. Tamara’s got something lined up as a thank you for Sydney, and those steaks on the grill are my tip of the hat. You want to call it a reward for being a good neighbour and nothing more, that’s fine.”
“Always appreciate having good neighbours,” Declan returned, accepting the beer Luke offered him. He tipped the bottles together with a clink. “To fences that connect instead of separate.”
“Hear, hear,” Luke cheered.
After the stress and sexual frustration of the past days, it was good to simply relax and hang out with his brothers and friends. As he carved into tender ribeye steak and baked potatoes loaded with sour cream and bacon, Declan spoke with each of the Stone brothers, including the youngest. Dustin had to be barely older than Logan but carried himself like a much older man.
Solid people, family to the core. A connection much like the one Declan had with his brothers. After years apart from each other, it was good that they’d ended up being able to work together so well.
That had been the dream, but it was something to be thankful for.
Thinking of Sydney’s comment about telling people the things that were important, he made a note to share his thoughts with his brothers sooner rather than later.
Walker Stone raised his beer bottle in the air. “As a nod to Caleb, who is now learning the hard way that raising sons is far different than raising daughters. To sons!”
A cheer of “To sons!” went up, and Caleb lifted his beer in salute.
“It’s too true,” Zach Sorenson announced sagely. “Girls tell you when they’re about to do stupid shit, boys just do it.”
“Not sure why you’re wearing that wise old man face. Your kid is barely three months old,” Luke complained. “And a girl.”
“Five sisters,” Zach said with a sigh. He tilted his head knowingly. “Five. Sisters.” He turned his attention on Aiden. “And you married one of them. God help you and thank you at the same time. You’re either a saint or a fool.”
“Fucking lucky,” Aiden quipped. “That’s all I know.”
Laughter and witty snark flowed as fast as the beer. Declan found himself damn near grinning when they headed home hours later.
“Smile any harder and you’ll break your face,” Jake warned, but he smiled as well.
“Both of you are far too happy,” Aiden complained.
“Our pockets are full, and yours are empty. That should explain the expressions.” Jake winked at Declan. “Good to get out with you guys like that. The Stones are a great family.”
“They are, but the truth is we’ve got something special, too,” Declan affirmed, glancing into the rearview mirror to include Aiden. “Glad that High Water is working, or at least the parts we can control. Glad I get to do this with you both.”
“Me too,”
“Agreed.”
They poured out of the truck, about to head their separate ways, when a figure stepped into the porch light. Logan summoned them forward.
“Come on,” Declan quietly told his brothers. “If this is what I think…”
“Can I talk to you? All of you at once is damn intimidating, but what the hell.” Logan included them all in his wry examination. “May as well get it over with.”
“Here?” Aiden shrugged and sat on the steps. “What’s this about?”
Jake sat next to him and Declan leaned on the railing.
Logan stared upward for a moment. “When you guys found me, you didn’t ask any questions. I appreciated that for a lot of reasons. Not sure what to say, not sure how much to say.” He met Declan’s gaze. “Still not sure on a bunch of it, but I don’t want anyone hurt accidentally because of me. High Water is the best place I’ve ever lived, and I don’t want to screw this up, not for anyone.”
Declan dipped his chin but waited.
The young man kept rolling. “Just to get this out there—I’ve never done anything wrong. And there’s no reason anyone would come after me, so I didn’t think being here was dangerous to anyone. I mean it. I wouldn’t have stayed otherwise.”
“Go on,” Aiden encouraged softly. “What’s the story you need to share?”
Logan swallowed big. “I never got tangled up in trouble, but my brother did. Dean is a whiz with numbers. He did the books for our old man’s yard care company, but then he found a job that paid better. Way better. When I asked for more info, Dean kind of hemmed and hawed, but I finally got it out of him that he was working for a company that doesn’t play by the rules.”
“Like?” Jake asked.
“Money laundering for one. I didn’t ask for any more details,” Logan said quickly. “And then Dean left the house, and I haven’t seen him since. That was last summer.”
“Doesn’t sound like the end of the story, though,” Declan said.
“I wish it was.” Logan sighed. “Early this year, he did something that pissed them off then ran.”
“Damn. I bet that didn’t go over well,” Aiden murmured.
“Not at all. We look a lot alike, Dean and I. A couple of the gang nabbed me and thought they could beat information out of me, no matter how much I insisted they had the wrong guy.” Logan met Declan’s gaze for a second then looked away, but the glimpse was enough to show the depth of the pain the kid still carried. “They finally found someone far enough up the chain who actually knew Dean and figured out I wasn’t lying, so they dumped me in a ditch off the highway.”
“Outside Heart Falls?” Jake asked.
Logan shook his head. “Highway 2. I moved west for as long as I could—at some point I lost track of what was happening and woke up here.”
“Christ. That’s a long haul.” Aiden shook his head admiringly.
It was impressive, and the entire story explained a lot, but Declan thought back to one other issue that Sydney had shared. Getting beat to hell explained the condition Logan had been in when he arrived.
It didn’t explain it all. “The scars on your legs?”
Anger twisted Logan’s face. “My dad had issues.”
“Enough said.” Aiden rose and extended a hand. “Thanks for sharing, but for me, I just need you to keep headed the direction you’re headed.”
“Agreed,” Jake offered another handshake.
“I want you to talk to Kevin, though,” Declan said quietly. Logan bristled, but Declan stuck to his guns. “It’s a lot, dealing with what happened to you, and he’s here to help. Let him do his job.”
Logan glanced over the three of them. “So I get to stay?”
“Hell, yeah,” Aiden offered. “You do all the shit jobs. You don’t get to leave.”
Jake snorted. “I’m off to bed. Night, all.”
Declan stayed for another moment, the quiet night sounds rising up in a summer symphony. The leaves on the saplings in the nearby coulee rustled peacefully as he rested a hand on Logan’s shoulder then headed them in the right direction. “Feel good to get it off your chest?”
“Sort of.” Logan glanced around. “Still figuring stuff out.”
“Says all of us, all the time,” Declan offered wryly.
Logan paused at the door of his room. “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“You had your reasons, but it’s good to have people you can share your troubles with.” Declan offered another back pat. “Like Aiden said, keep headed the right direction.”
“I will.” Logan thrust out his hand.
Declan took it and used it to haul the kid in for a brotherly hug. “You’re doing fine.”
After all the massive highs and frustrating lows, it felt good to finish the day on a positive note. The only thing that dulled the celebration was the silent room and empty bed he crawled into.
He’d give anything to have Sydney curled beside him.
Over the next two days, Sydney spent a ton of time kicking her own butt. For a smart woman, she hadn’t thought things through very well.
She’d gotten away from the mishap at Greenlee’s far better than she deserved. Didn’t mean she’d stop her visits, but when something seemed off, she needed to slow down and use her head instead of blindly rushing forward.
Far more worrying was the growing urge to simply drive over to Declan’s and demand a change in their relationship. It was an impossible thought, and it irritated her like a bit of sand caught between two toes. It was always on her mind, but she didn’t have time to stop and shake out her boots.
Even if she did, she had the sinking feeling the scratchy echo would still linger.
“If you’ve given up on sleep, I need to warn you it’s not doing a thing for your beauty routine.” Edison leaned a hip on the counter beside her in the clinic staff room and eyed her judgmentally. He circled a finger in front of her face. “You usually have that whole barely-out-of-grade school, peaches-and-cream thing going on, but right now, you need to change something up, sweetie.”
She didn’t have to look in the mirror to know he was right. “Working through a bunch of things,” Sydney informed him. “Nothing about the clinic, though.”
“Not worried about the clinic. I’m worried about you,” he admitted. “You’re a fantastic boss—at least when you’re not risking life and limb. And I’ve worked with you long enough to sense when something’s off.”
One thing Sydney disliked immensely were straight-up lies, so she avoided them whenever possible. “Again, it’s not the clinic, and thank God you’re here because you’re a lifesaver.” She glanced into the main foyer where Lexie was welcoming a client. “Thank God for Lexie because she’s lightened my load immensely, and I think we’re doing more for the community. That’s a good feeling.”
Edison nodded slowly. “I’m glad to help. But to casually throw it out, that gentleman I’m seeing isn’t only a great dancer with a sexy body. He’s pretty easy to talk to, if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for. Or if counseling is the kind of thing that makes you immediately say hell no, you might want to consider why and talk to him anyway.”
“Thanks for the advice. Now go get caught up on those vaccination records,” Sydney ordered, pushing Edison on the shoulder to rotate him toward the door.
“Getting my excellent advice out of range, but I’ll be back,” he promised. “Like a big ol’ boomerang of caring.”
Sydney snickered. “Boomerangs have a far higher rate of contribution to concussions and cranial impact trauma than most people expect.”
He stuck his tongue out as he left her to finish eating her lunch.
Edison was a smart cookie. Too smart, and his comments got Sydney thinking in the direction of her biggest dilemma. She wasn’t emotionally ready to make a decision about Declan, but her body had already voted, and her heart kept trying to call a referendum.
Her phone buzzed, and she answered it on autopilot, blinking to discover her grandmother on video chat. “Grandma?”
“Hello, darling.” Grandma Belinda’s bright smile lit up the screen, her dark brown hair now laced with silver. As she adjusted the camera angle, Sydney’s mother, Marie, popped into view. “You get a two-fer today. Have time to chat?”
“For a few minutes.” Sydney twisted to make sure the staff door was closed then propped up the phone so she could continue to eat. “Lunch break, so excuse me if I stuff my face.”
“No problem. Marie is visiting while Grandpa Nate is away, and we realized neither of us had talked to you in a while.” Grandma Bel smiled at her daughter. “She’s also wiping the floor with me at cards every night—but that’s nothing new.”
Her mom winked, but Marie’s gaze lingered on the dark shadows under Sydney’s eyes. “How are things in Heart Falls?”
“Busy,” Sydney admitted, “but getting better now that I have a second doctor in the clinic. It means the workload is getting lighter, and I’ll eventually have some of that mythical thing I’ve heard about called ‘free time.’ Good friends in the area, lots to keep me moving.”
“Good to know. Nice you found a new doctor. Immigrant? New resident getting rural hours?” her grandma asked.
Once again the truth was the only thing she could say. “Grandpa Nate recommended her. Someone he met…somewhere, but I can honestly say she’s fitting in really well.”
On the screen, her mom and grandma exchanged quick glances before both turning back with very fake smiles. “Oh well, it’s good to hear that he’s been helpful,” her grandma said. “Shoot. Hang on a minute. My neighbour is coming to the door, and if I don’t answer it right away, she’ll take it as a sign I’ve fallen over and need the paramedics to come and save me.”
Grandma Bel vanished from the screen, leaving Sydney looking at her mother’s face.
Marie leaned forward. “Can I help with anything?”
“I’m fine, Mom,” Sydney snapped.
Her mother raised a brow.
“I’m fine,” Sydney repeated, a little less attitude in her tone. “Some personal stuff, but I’ll be okay.”
Marie nodded slowly before meeting Sydney’s gaze straight on. “I know you and I don’t always have the same priorities, and that’s okay. But the thing you need to remember is I absolutely want what’s best for you, however you get there. Right now, it looks as if the personal stuff is weighing you down.”
With her mom’s comment on top of Edison ragging on her, Sydney clearly needed to do something about her appearance or she’d be scaring the patients. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Of course you will,” Marie returned instantly. “That’s never the difficulty. The question is if you’ll ever willingly let other people help you carry the burden while you figure it out. I’m always there for you.”
Which was something Sydney knew in theory. Actually opening up and saying something, even to the woman who gave birth to her—that wasn’t a skill Sydney had ever cultivated. “I know that. Thanks, Mom.”
Thankfully, Grandma Bel was back, and then the two of them told Sydney all about the garden show they were helping to organize in two weeks’ time. Sydney ate her sandwich and finished her lunch, enjoying the conversation on one level while feeling totally detached on another.
The connection between the two of them. That mother/daughter link where they finished sentences for each other and interrupted with new stories and happy thoughts—
She didn’t have that with Marie.
She didn’t know if she wanted that or if it just made her ache in ways she couldn’t explain.
“Thanks for the call, Gram. Good to see you, Mom.” That Sydney could honestly say as she accepted their air kisses and finished the call.
She tucked the phone into her pocket, cleared her throat, and switched gears. There was always something that needed doing.
Out at reception, Jenny pulled Sydney to the side. “I have a note on the calendar that Tessa Turm is due this week. I keep track of all our patients so I can send them baby cards, but I think something’s wrong.”
“What kind of wrong?” Sydney demanded as she leaned over the computer screen.
“She transferred her prenatal care from this clinic to the one in Diamond Valley. There’s a note on her chart that you suggested she should get to know the doctor there. The Turm farm is halfway between Heart Falls and Diamond Valley, so it made more sense to drive north all the time instead of south to see you. She should’ve been having her prenatal visits there, but when I called the clinic to find out if she’s had the baby, they said they haven’t heard from her. Ever. She hasn’t been in for any prenatal care, not even these final two weeks.”
Shit. Sydney took a deep, steadying breath. Out of all the medical situations she had to deal with, pregnancy and labour were at the absolute top of her I hate it list. “Can you phone to find out how she is?”
“I tried,” Jenny said. “Her voice mail is full, so I can’t even leave a message to tell her to give us a shout.”
“Guess I’m making a house call, then,” Sydney offered with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
The trip to the farm would take a good twenty-five minutes. She debated for less than a second before punching through a call to Declan. It would be easier to warn him where she was going rather than him dropping everything the instant she crossed whatever radius he had the GPS warning set for.
She was positive he was still tracking her, because of course he was.
You’ve reached Declan Skye. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I can.
Thank goodness. “Hey, Deck. Since we never did really talk out the whole you’re tracking me thing, I assume you’re about to discover I’m leaving town. I’m headed to the Turm farm. Mrs. Turm is pregnant and I haven’t seen her for a while. I don’t expect any problems, but I’ll be cautious. Please stay home.”
She hung up, surprised at the sense of comfort humming in her chest. It felt strange to make that kind of call, and yet—
It felt good to know someone cared.
Which dropped on top of the contact from her grandma and mom, and her mom’s insistence that Sydney needed to learn to ask for help. And wasn’t that a fucked-up mess.
Yeah, it was just a big ol’ slew of emotional bullshit Sydney wasn’t keen on having to deal with. Shut it down, tuck it away. Focus on the next thing to do and do it brilliantly.
The work drill was something she needed to do this trip especially, considering this was a pregnancy visit. The whole shut-down part.
The longest gravel driveway in the world led to a tidy bungalow sitting beside a massive barn. A single, small blue car was parked outside the house with no sign of anything else. Tessa’s husband was obviously not home.
Still, Sydney took her time. She looked around carefully even as she greeted the dogs that eagerly met the truck, tails wagging, barking happily. “Hello, guys. Yes, hello. Where is Tessa?”
Everything around the barn and arena remained quiet as Sydney made her way to the house. Before she reached the front door, the sound of weeping and crying made her quicken her step.
