Texas Hope: Sweetgrass Springs Stories (Texas Heroes Book 16) (12 page)

He started toward them.

“Well, hell,” Ian grumbled.

“Ian…” Mackey spoke low. “I’ll take him out of here if you want.”

Ian cast his friend a rueful smile. “Nope. But thanks.”

Michael stopped before them and got straight to the point. “It’s your town. Do you want me to go?” The brown eyes so like his own were somber but not cowed.

“It’s a free country.” He looked over. “Dad, this is Michael…”

“Cavanaugh, Mr. McLaren.” Michael stuck out a hand.

“Gordon McLaren. Got you a bit of a hornet’s nest here,” he observed with his usual frankness. “Welcome to Sweetgrass, in case no one said that yet.” He took Michael’s hand and shook it firmly.

“I’m real sorry, Mr. McLaren. I don’t mean to make things harder on you or Ian, either. I thought I’d slip into town, just find out about him and leave again, no one the wiser. Then I could plan my approach.”

Gordon chuckled and slapped Ian’s back. “More than just brown eyes and a dimple in common with your brother, son.”

He seemed so damn calm about it all. Ian figured he should follow his dad’s example. “Welcome to Sweetgrass,” he muttered. “I need to say hi to Scarlett.” He strode past them. Not calm, not by a damn sight.

But he hadn’t clocked the guy, and that had to count for something.

Michael stared after the man who so obviously didn’t want Michael in his life.

“How’s your mother?” asked Gordon.

Michael whipped his gaze to the man his mother had abandoned. His work with animals had taught him to trust his instincts on a level beneath words. This man was a good man, as everyone had said. Solid and steady. Calm.

And unafraid to get to the heart of the matter.

“She’s—” He huffed out a breath. “That’s not easy to answer. She’s distraught that I won’t leave the past alone. She’s hurt that I’m furious with her—but how can I be anything else? I wanted a brother my whole life. I thought she and I were close, yet she does this? She lies not only to me but my dad?” He glanced unseeing into the distance. “I don’t understand any of it.”

“I’d wondered if she was alive,” Gordon mused. His own features held no rancor.

Michael didn’t get that. But he didn’t know this man, no matter how instinct said he could trust Gordon McLaren. The least he could do, though, was answer his questions. “She’s very much alive. She lives in Chicago. My dad is—was—a neurosurgeon. He’s—was—nearly twenty years older than her.”

“She loved him?” Gordon shook his head. “Forget it—none of my business.”

Had his mother loved his father? Not with the wild, tumbling insanity that Laken incited in him. No one could make him angrier or more riveted.

“I…they were…close, I guess. He gave her a good life, they traveled and had an active social calendar. My mother is an accomplished hostess.”

“She was the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on,” Gordon said.

“She said you met in San Francisco when you were in the military, but—”

Gordon’s mouth quirked. “How on earth did an old cowboy and a beautiful socialite cross paths, you mean? A pure miracle, for sure. I was in the Navy, and I had shore leave in San Francisco. A kid stole her purse, and I helped her out.”

Michael could picture it, he thought.

“She stole my breath. That never changed.”

So what went wrong?
Michael wondered. “Did she live here with you?”

“Sure did. For six years.” A rueful grin. “She never liked it. But she tried. You need to know that, son. She did try her heart out to like it. She knew I’d never live anywhere else.”

Michael tried to picture his mother in Sweetgrass, on a ranch like the one where he’d spent the day. Or anywhere in this town, for that matter.

He couldn’t. “The woman I know would never have set foot in this town—sorry, sir. No offense.”

“None taken. Don’t be too hard on her. I bear the lion’s share of the blame. I pretty much forced her into leaving, if only by refusing to listen. I could not see how she was dying here, not until it was too late. The miscarriage was the last straw. It…broke her.”

Miscarriage?
He and Ian had had another sibling who didn’t survive? He forced himself not to ask. “I don’t know what to say. She was the best mother a boy could want—how could she leave Ian?”

“Pray God you never face such a choice. It about broke all of us.” A muscle worked in Gordon’s jaw. “But I can see now that she truly would not have survived if she’d stayed. I wouldn’t compromise. She wanted to share Ian, but she was going back to San Francisco, and he was too young to be traveling back and forth so far. And I believed a clean break would heal quicker.” He shook his head and glanced toward his son. “Ian has been hurt in ways you can’t know, Michael. He wouldn’t thank me for saying that, but it’s true. He has her same wanderlust, every bit as much as he has deep roots here, but he never gave into them because of me. I wronged that boy as much as his mama, and none of it out of spite.”

Would he ever understand this complicated situation fully? Michael didn’t know—but he wanted to try. “What will happen to him if I hang around some? In the area, at least? I don’t want to be making things worse for him.”

“Ian has his brothers here already—Jackson and Mackey and one who’s passed now named David.” Gordon met his gaze straight on. “Don’t know as he feels the need for another brother.”

Michael’s heart sank. “I understand.”

“But any man can use a good friend. Might be you’d do better to give that a try first.” Gordon’s eyes were solemn but kind.

“What do I do about my mother?” This man seemed so much wiser than Michael thought he might ever be.

Gordon glanced across at his son, who had bent to give Scarlett a kiss. “Ian’s a deep thinker and not a man of impulse. Even when he and the rest of the Four Horseman were wreaking the worst of their mischief around here, he was the voice of reason, more often than not. Right now he’s got a lot on his plate, and it should be a time of peace and joy, with a new baby coming. He’s got so much on his shoulders, does my Ian, and he’s strong enough to carry it all.” Gordon pinned him again. “But opening old wounds might be a bit more than he needs right now. He’s a horseman to the bone—we raise cattle, but that was my interest, not his. You know animals—Mackey says you did a hell of a job with one of their horses. You know how some horses just take a lot of patience, and you do better to focus on something else and let them come to you?”

“Yes, sir. Same with all kinds of animals.” He found a quick grin. “So you’re saying I need to whisper my brother?”

Humor flared in the older man’s eyes. “He wouldn’t like the comparison, but he’d understand it.”

Michael thought a minute. “Rissa and Mackey told me about a clinic in Fredericksburg that’s closed down. I’ve been a traveling vet, but I have reason to want to stay in this part of Texas now—had one even before I came to Sweetgrass,” he hastily amended.

“Involve a woman, by any chance?”

Michael’s mouth twisted. “She doesn’t see how it can work. Shoves me away at every opportunity—when she’s not kissing my socks off.”

Gordon chuckled. “Just take a page from my experience, son. Be honest with her but be honest with yourself, too. The truth might not be what you want to hear, but that doesn’t change its power.”

“Laken is stronger than my mother.”

“Don’t be too sure of that. Your mother endured this place for six years, and she made them good ones as long as she could. The woman’s got grit.”

Michael’s phone rang. He started to ignore it.

“Go ahead, son. I got a chicken-fried calling my name. I’m gonna grab a seat. You’re welcome to join us.”

Michael frowned at his phone. Wyatt Preston? His wife was one of Laken’s closest friends, but—

Laken
. Something had happened to Laken. “Excuse me, sir.” He punched the phone and headed outside where he could hear. “Wyatt? Is Laken okay?”

“She’s not hurt,” Wyatt answered. “But everybody’s pretty shaken. Tom Sinclair has been shot, and they’re not sure he’s going to make it.”

“Shot?” Michael echoed. “Who? How?”

“You know his wife’s friend Luisa? Her ex shot him, trying to take away their boy. Anyway, since Tom’s wife Ava and Laken are so close, Laken’s with her. I just thought you might want to know.”

“Which hospital? I’ll be there as soon as I can. Will you let me know if—”
The worst happens
, he didn’t want to say. He didn’t know Ava, but Laken thought the world of her, as did Wyatt’s wife Ellie, another of Laken’s book club buddies.

“I will.” Wyatt gave him the hospital location.

Michael noted that Wyatt didn’t sound quite as messed up as the last time Michael had seen him. “Are you and Ellie—never mind.” Wyatt and his wife Ellie had five kids and the marriage Laken had thought perfect…until Ellie’s art instructor had seduced her, and Wyatt had walked in on them. The whole family was devastated. “Sorry.” He’d lived on the neighboring property to the Prestons for several months and, like the rest of their friends, had grieved over the split when Wyatt moved out.

“It’s okay. I was an ass. It was only one kiss—it just shook me bad. I felt as though I’d been kicked in the stomach.” He heaved a sigh. “But I love her. I’ve loved her most of my life. I don’t know what to do, but right now, I’m going to see if she needs me.”

The two of them had the best marriage Michael had ever seen, except maybe for Tom and Ava’s. The shattering of their bond was why Laken had sent him away.

Who can possibly think they have a prayer, if Ellie and Wyatt can’t make it?

She’d been scared then. Reeling from his own shock over his mother’s big lie, he hadn’t managed to find a convincing argument that love lasted forever.

But he also was nowhere near ready to give up on Laken Foster. She could be nervy for bit. He would give her some time—but he wasn’t waiting forever. She was a lot of work—a lot. He knew that she fought loving him because she was scared, though he didn’t fully understand why. Behind her cynical, wild child mask, however, Laken’s heart was soft as mush. Ajax had crept under her guard, though, and Michael was going to follow him.

The dogs. Hell. He’d have to go back and get them. He’d better go tell Mackey. He closed out the conversation with Wyatt, then approached their table. “Can I get a minute?”

“Sure thing.” Mackey slid from the booth. “What’s up?”

“I have to go back to Austin. My—” What the hell did he call her, his unwilling love? “This woman I’ve been seeing, her best friend’s husband got shot. I need to check on her.”

“You’ll come back?” Mackey glanced over at Ian in the kitchen. “You should come back. Don’t give up on him.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe I should just let him make the next move.”

“QB is stubborn as hell in his own quiet way. You might have gray hair first.” Mackey’s eyebrows rose. “You’re going to be an uncle soon. You should be here. Don’t give Ian room to climb in his shell. The dude can be like a turtle.”

“His dad said he already has all the brothers he needs.”

Mackey smiled and clapped his shoulder. “We’ve got his back for sure, the whole town does. But you’re blood, and that counts.”

Yet again, Michael’s temper at his mother stirred.
Don’t know as he feels the need for another brother
. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Everybody needs time,” he muttered. “Laken needs time, Ian needs time…”

“We don’t need time, Ris and me. And this town needs a good vet. Ian would be the first to agree.” He nodded in sympathy. “Go take care of your woman, but think about that clinic. Or we could put together something here. I’d like to have you closer at hand, honestly, but you might like a little distance better.”

Michael had a nice inheritance from his father, and he’d always been frugal himself. He had money to buy that practice, he suspected, and Fredericksburg was a bigger market.

But Sweetgrass was already calling to him. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“Good. Meanwhile, I’ll talk to our resident bazillionaire and put a bug in his ear. Hell, I’ve got some money to invest. Would you want a new building?”

“I’ve practiced out of my truck at times. I’m low maintenance.”

“We’ve got buildings here in town that are still empty. I have one in mind. Give me your phone, and I’ll put in my number. I’ll do some digging while you’re occupied with your girl.”

“Not a girl. She’s a lawyer, smart as hell and edgy. A fierce warrior kind of woman.”

“I got a soft spot for a tough woman,” Mackey grinned. “Bring her back with you if you can.”

“That might be a tall order. She’s all about the shoes and the city lifestyle.”

“We’ll sic Jackson’s sister Penny on her. She was a shark lawyer in Philly and DC and still wears stilettos more often than not. Her bluetooth is permanently implanted, I swear.”

“And she does okay here?”

“With a guy who’s our fire chief and one of my SEAL buddies. You need to meet him. He was a medic and is the closest thing we have to a doc around here. You’d like Bridger.”

“This place keeps surprising me.”

“Wait ’til Harley and Arnie go live on the air.”

“Was that what Ruby was talking about when I arrived?”

“Yep. Two old coots who’ve decided to set up a radio station that will broadcast maybe ten miles.”