Cowboy Country (24 page)

“No, she’s my friend. Grab a dictionary and look the word up some time while you’re at it?”

“C’mon, mellow out. Have a drink with me.” Sterling grabbed a highball glass and poured two fingers of their dad’s favorite Kentucky Bourbon. He tossed it back then poured another. His shoulder ached. He massaged his forehead before he downed the second. The pain in his temple was the beginning of a whopper of a headache. Migraines he’d been plagued with daily since he lost his eye in Afghanistan.

Virgil took a step back. “I don’t want to drink with a sorry SOB. I can’t believe after all these years you know nothing about her. She’s the kind of girl who cares more for everyone else than herself. Always willing to pick you up when you’re down. She’s a true friend to a fault. And she never complains. Damn it Sterling, do you have any idea how much she’s lost and had to deal with since you left her?”

“First off, I didn’t leave her. I joined the military. Since when is that considered desertion?”

“Since you left her the way you did—”

“Which was?”

“Why don’t you go ask her? It’s about time you learned a few hard truths. I just hope you can live with yourself afterwards.”

His brother turned away from him. Virgil
never
turned his back on anyone. He was the calm one, the rational one, the peacemaker in the family. What gives? Sterling reached out to stop his brother from leaving. Obviously, he was missing something.

The second he placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder, Virgil rounded on him like a bull out of the chute, and before he could blink his good eye, a fist kissed his lips. He went flying through the air and landed on his ass. Hard, rattling his still achy body and jarring his eye patch out of place.

Virgil’s eyes went wide in shock.

Sterling suspected out of a bit of fear as well. He was about to call the kid back but Virgil ran out of the house. The wooden screen door slammed an exclamation point for the posterity of the moment. One of his younger brothers had bested him.

A true Bronco first!

“D’amn, —” Sterling mumbled. He adjusted his patch. “—when did the kid learn to hit like that?”

“You’d be surprised at all the changes that have taken place since you left, big brother.”

Dane Bronco leaned casually against the door jamb, beefy arms and strong legs crossed, with a shit-eating grin on his face. He let out a low, deep, belly whopper of a laugh.  “You got knocked the fuck down by the kid.” Dane was laughing at him.

Son-of-a-bitch
.

Sterling rubbed his jaw then looked up at Dane and held his arm out. “Don’t just stand there, help me up.”

Once Dane helped him up he rotated his still healing shoulder, testing it for damage.

“What’s eating the kid?” He scissored his jaw, making sure it wasn’t broken.

“Not my story to tell, but he’s right. Why haven’t you gone to see Gigi?”

“Not you too? I’ll see
Regina
when I’m damn good and ready. What’s it to everyone anyways.”

“God—I forgot what a stubborn ass you were.”

“Geez, what’s with this family? I go into the military and when I come home, instead of treating me like the conquering hero, I get chewed up and spit out.”

Dane rolled his eyes before responding, “Conquering hero my ass. You forget I know you better than anyone, well—except Blake. You had a ball over there in the Middle East, leading your ops team of Rangers, shooting guns, and taking prisoners. You always did want to be G.I. Joe. Fess up…you didn’t give us a thought, did you?” Dane quirked a brow at him.

“Better to be G.I. Joe than pretend to be Superman.” Sterling cocked his head, proud of his quick-witted response. “Your leg still smart from when you broke it, trying to fly off the barn?”

Dane straightened up taking his fighting stance.

Sterling grinned. Dane had practiced the move in front the mirror for hours growing up. That stance scared off more than a few wise asses aching to pick a fight with one of the brothers.

“No more so than your arm when you tried to bust through the barn door to rescue me, I suspect.”

And the eye-to-eye combat began.

It was Sterling who broke contact first.

His head throbbed. He shook it to loosen the cobwebs then grabbed the side of his head and groaned at the pain. “How’d mom survive all our injuries?”

“No idea. How’s the shoulder doing?” Dane flicked his chin in direction of his left arm.

Sterling shrugged, and turned away. He plopped down in his father’s leather recliner, leaned his head back, and threw his arm over his good eye to block out the light. His injuries from his last mission still bothered him. No one in the family could look him in the eye without going pale and turning away, except his mother.

And she wanted to fix it. That was his mom, alright. She wanted to fix everything and everyone. She still hadn’t accepted that with eight sons and one daughter, she didn’t stand a chance in hell.

“Do you have the pain pills handy? The ones Hannah gave you at the hospital last week? You look like you could use one.” Dane stepped closer.

“Who?” Sterling lowered his arm and looked up. “What the hell are you jawing about?”

“Hannah, the ER nurse, remember—I took you to the emergency room last week when you passed out during one of your headaches? You get’n old-timers disease on top of it all?”

“Bite me.” Regardless of his attempt at humor, Dane’s frown of concern told him he didn’t look so hot.

Dane sat on the couch and chuckled. “No thanks, I already had lunch.”

“Very funny.” Time to change the subject. “Hannah—is that the nurse you were flirting with? Is she new? I don’t recognize her.”

“Yeah, Hannah Parks. She’s only been in town a few months.”

“Staking your claim on her?” Sterling said.

“No. We went out a few times. We’re just friends.” Dane had more women friends than any guy he knew.

He pinched the bridge of his nose then bowed his head and rubbed the heel of his palm on his forehead, as his headache intensified. “Has anyone heard from Blake?”

“He’s having the time of his life in the FBI, couldn’t be happier.”

“What about Clayton and Quinton?”

“They’re doing the Bronco name proud on the rodeo circuit. Number one in team and one and two individually. They’re on the PBR Circuit right now. You know the twins, they love their rodeo.”

“And Wyatt?”

“He loves the Air Force, flying jets. We’ll be lucky if he ever lands.” Dane pointed to a picture of Wyatt in front of his jet.

Sterling blinked, his vision was going double. He shut his eye and said, “Logan seems okay, but doesn’t talk much.” He winced, his voice echoing loudly in his head.

“Hell, in this family you’re lucky to get in a word if more than two are gathered.”

“True. What’s with Darcy, she’s never home?”

“If she’s not working at the Tasty Freeze, she’s out carousing with Jenna Morgan. Those two are thick as thieves and always up to something.”

“Anyone brave enough to date her.”

“Not since Blake chased off the last one off. When the poor sap was in the middle of kissing her good-night, Blake pulled his gun and yelled ‘freeze FBI’.” The kid shit himself and never came back.”

Sterling chuckled then grabbed his head. “Don’t make me laugh.” He took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Sorry I missed that one, but I heard about it in every letter. Damn that must have been funny.”

“Mom and Dad tried to act perturbed, but dad was secretly happy. He don’t have no use for that Stoddard kid. He’s always was causin’ trouble.”

“And what’s this I hear about you running for Sheriff? The heartbreaker of the family turning cop.”

“Yup.” Dane ambled over and stood in front of the mirror by the front door, he flexed his muscles and posed, making faces. “With my handsome looks, dazzling personality, and oozing all this Bronco charm, I’m a shoo-in or so the ladies tell me.” He turned to face Sterling. “What better way for me to stay out of trouble then hiding behind the badge?” Dane let out a belly laugh.

Sterling smirked and shook his head, “God help us all if you get elected.”

Dane came to stand before him. “I know, ain’t it the truth.”

“So what’s with Virgil? He was always the peacemaker. What’s his beef with me?”

“Like I said, not my story to tell,” Dane let out a breath and looked away, “—but let me offer you a bit of advice. Don’t wait too long to see Gigi. There are some things you need to know.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve been hanging around her too. Is that it? Is someone sniff’en after her?”

“Don’t be a crude ass. Nobody in this fool town has the guts to go after Sterling Bronco’s girl.”

“Then what’s all the secrecy about. Even mom is bugging me about it.”

“Just do yourself a favor, go see her.”

“Not yet.”

“Why?’

“I have my reasons.” He refused to get into it with Dane. If only Blake were here, he was the one to go to in order to figure this mess out. He shut his eye, not just from the light but to also to shut Dane up. It didn’t work.

“What could possibly be so important to prevent you from seeing her? You love her don’t you?”

“My love life is none of your business.” Sterling glared at his annoying brother.

“You know, the last person you said that to knocked you flat on your ass.”

Dane rubbed at his knuckles, his insinuation was clear. “Now me, I’m not as high strung as Virgil, but it’s been much too long since you and I had a tussle. I have no intention of whoop’in the tar out of you while you’re still healing. But don’t push it, big brother.”

Damn it.

Sterling stiffened, leave it to Dane to go right for his jugular.

“Look Sterling, I know you think having to retire from the Rangers is the end of your world, but it’s not. They did you a favor. You need to be here. You have a family here. A family the loves you and needs you.”

“Bull shit.”

“With Blake, the twins, and Wyatt gone, we’ve been shorthanded. I, for one, am looking forward to a little help around here, especially if I get elected. Dad will be down another hand. Pop and Gramps still help out all they can, but they’re slowing down.”

Sterling’s shoulder felt as if King Kong just shook him like a rag doll. He’d missed the family, which surprised him no end. He figured when he joined the Army with so many kids still at home, no one would see fit to miss him. What he didn’t count on was how much he’d miss them. Growing up in a family with nine kids wasn’t for everyone. Dad liked to say it was an acquired taste and always chuckled when he said it. After Sterling left the ranch he missed the constant chaos, so he turned his attention on his men and their training to compensate.

“Look Rooster. You were the shit in your day. You’re still the shit to me. Nothing is ever going to change that. Not a piddley little shoulder injury and not a patch over your eye. If nothing else, Gigi will have to beat off all the women who aren’t already chasing me. You’re no less of a man now than before you left.”

He snorted about his long forgotten nickname? “Since when did you become the official authority on me?”

“You forget—you, me, and Blake were the three Musketeers’ growing up. There isn’t much the three of us don’t know about the other. So suck up whatever is stickin’ in you craw and get back to the land of the living. You have a lot to make-up for.”

“Everyone keeps saying shit like that. I feel like I’m missing something.” He was irritated no end. What did everyone know that he didn’t?

****

Regina Whitaker sat at the kitchen table shelling peas. Her heart went out to Virgil.

“I’m sorry Gigi. I almost blew it and told him about Silver. But worse than that, I hit Sterling, knocked him clean on his ass.”

Regina Whitaker chuckled. She knew what hitting his eldest brother had cost Virgil. Hero worship of his brother was a lifelong thing. He was punishing himself now by telling her what he’d done as if admitting his infraction would take away any pain he might have caused his already injured brother.

“Look Virgil, I appreciate you want to help, but this is our fight. If I know Sterling, and I do, he’s more embarrassed that his kid brother got the better of him and there was no real harm done. He’d never admit it but you know I’m right.”

She patted him on the shoulder, almost relishing the thought of smacking Sterling upside the head herself. Something she’d been thinking of for the last three weeks, ever since Sterling came home and hadn’t bothered to call her.

“I knew what I was getting into when I was nine years old and followed Sterling to the pond to go skinny dipping the first time. I’m no doe-eyed little school girl. I know what he’s like. He’s a Bronco through and through. He’s stubborn as old man Rasmussen’s flea bitten mule. You have to admit, you Bronco’s wrote the book of stubborn. And my Sterling—well he alone perfected it. I love him dearly that’s all there is to it.” She shrugged and popped a fresh pea into her mouth. “I’ve waited for him for four and a half years, and I expect I’ll wait another sixty if I have to.”

“Well if he’s the king of stubborn, I’m the king of stupid.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Forever looking up to someone as selfish and self-centered as he is?”

“That’s where you’re wrong—on both accounts. You’re one of the smartest men I know—a truly good man. I mean look at you, you’re about to finish your last year of veterinary medicine, number one in the class. You are so good with animals of every kind, people too. Hell, I bet you could charm the venom from a rattlesnake and it would give you a kiss and say thanks for doing so. By that same token, you see the best in people and ignore the worst. You give everyone a fair chance and in some cases, I’ve even known you to give a few people second chances. Let this be one of those times. Give Sterling a second chance.”

“Just give me one good reason why?” Virgil reached for a handful of peas to help her.

Regina put her hand on Virgil’s forearm. “Because he’s your brother, that’s why.”

“That’s not good enough, not in this time.” He snapped the pod and a pea shot him right between the eyes.