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“No one outside of the employees I’ve hired to do this task and my wife knows about anything I’ve shared with you, Theo.” The tension in his shoulders lessens. “Not even Callan.” His eyes bug. “Exactly. I’ve kept this close to my chest because…” I rub a hand over Fen’s head. “…I have a feeling I’ve barely scratched the surface of Clyde’s sins and only God knows when we’ll strike the mother lode.”
“I hope it’s not a streak, huh? But a full-on gold rush.”
“You and me both, man. The fact that he’s gone missing, that he was the father of Marcy’s baby before she disappeared, that he mowed Lydia down… The gold rush seems to be underway already. Now, can we do something manly after all this talk?”
Theo scratches his cheek. “Helping heifers give birth manly enough?”
I snicker. “It’s good enough for me.”
Zee
After driving me over to the Bar 9 on his ATV, Callan hovers only as long as it takes for me to clamber off the back before departing for the Seven Cs.
We have a code—I text him and he’ll pick me up. Later, I’ll show him how I keep beating him atDriveclub.
Mostly, I went with the ‘code’ option because I knew if I drove myself over here, I’d end up leaving early and the day after tomorrow’s the family BBQ that Colt insisted on hosting despite the situation with Lydia.
I want to make sure they’re all coming. Even if I have to drag them there.
If Colton’s kid brother will suffer through a family get-together on his birthday, then mygrand-mèrecan attend too.
When I step into the house, I can hear arguing in the kitchen—my family does a lot of that. And Tee wasn’t exactlyquiet. It’s why it’s pleasant at the Korhonens. Silence isn’t a rare commodity.
I head that way, past a mountain of crap in the hall, taking note of the state of the den which makes me think my brothers took over whenGrand-mèrefired our housekeeper to cut costs. Grimacing at the state of the place, I find the triplets all in different levels of undress in the kitchen.
Calder’s wearing boxer briefs, Colby’s in jeans, and Carson’s?—
“Carson, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
My answer is probably on the floor—the pile of laundry makes the Rockies look small.
His head whips around. “Zee? What the hell are you doing here?”
Thankfully, he keeps his ass facing me.
“I’m going to wrestleGrand-mèreinto attending the BBQ.”
Colby snickers. “Like she’s a steer? I’m coming to watch the show. It’ll be fun.”
I stride over to him. “Walker and I weren’t allowed to walk around in pj’s after ten but you three get to be butt naked in the kitchen? What’s that about?”
“We wore her down,” Colby jokes.
“Exhausted her,” Carson agrees.
Calder shrugs. “She doesn’t leave her quarters that much anymore. We have free run of the house.”
My brow puckers at that news. “Doesn’t she go on the range?”
“She’s ninety-two, Zee,” Calder tells me like I’m an idiot.
“I mean, I know. But I thought she’d die on a horse is all.”
“Oh, she rides. Just doesn’t do any work on the property. She goes over to the hot springs sometimes on horseback. Says it helps the arthritis in her hips,” Colby explains as he hauls me in for a hug. “About time you came home.” He’s already over six feet so I’m pretty much in his shadow. Annoying. Especially when he rubs his knuckles over my hair. “I thought you’d forgotten all about us.” His bottom lip mock-quivers. “Our big sis doesn’t care about us.”
“I care enough to keep a roof over your heads,” is my flat reply, despite the fact I know he’s teasing.
They all wince at my words.