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Yet this Little girl, with her pink hair, spunk, and sass, had reached a place in his heart he’d thought was damaged beyond repair. Hard times revealed true friends, or so the saying went. Maybe that was it. Whatever the reason, as a Daddy, he’d never felt drawn to a Little so fast.

Dutch jogged out to the swim deck and helped Grif get Tildi to the companionway before returning to help Boone stow the Zodiac. By the time they had attached the crane and hoisted the tender up to the boat deck, gotten it wiped down and covered, Boone had worked up a sweat.

“So,now can we talk about this newweyou picked up from Midnight’s compound instead of taking that sonofabitch out?”

“I’m not telling this story but once,” Boone said. “You can wait long enough for me to get the ranch on the radio and Grif to get back up here.”

Dutch’s eyes narrowed, but he kept silent. That was one thing he appreciated about Dutch. He knew how to bide his time and wait for the right moment to strike. It was probably why he was so great at breaking in the new horses. He was calm and patient.

Once Grif got back, Boone put in a call to the ranch. Of course, his little sister, Kenzie, answered the phone.

“Wide Ribber… Wide Rib, Ribber Rach. Dabbit!” she rasped out, obviously unable to breathe through her nose.

“Why aren’t you in bed if you’re sick?” Boone demanded. “Have you seen a doctor? Where’s Chance? If he isn’t taking good care of you, I’m going to kill him.”

“Ugh, relax,” Kenzie sniffled. “Id’s juss a code. I’b fide. Dabbit to h?—”

“Do not think I won’t dust your britches and wash your mouth out with soap when you’re feeling better. Get Chance to the phone and go to bed. Do not get out until he tells you that you can. And drink plenty of fluids. Orange juice. Drink plenty of orange juice.”

“I’b too tired to argue with you. But I’b going to bed because I wad to, dot because you’re the boss of me,” she tried to say.

“You keep telling yourself that, Tiger,” he said. He scowled. At least she was full of energy.

“MacKenzie Jane Daniels, what are you doing out of bed?” Chance demanded. Even over the phone, Boone could tell Chance wasn’t happy with their younger sister. “I’m going to tan your backside if I catch you anywhere but under your covers again. Do you understand me?”

Boone grinned when Kenzie answered with a whine. “But is boring! I don’t like laying id bed.”

“You’ll be laying in bed on your stomach if you get out of it again. Now go.” A scuffle, a smack, and a yelp came through the speaker, and then Chance spoke. “Boone? Is that you? Damn, but it’s good to hear from you, brother. We’ve all been worried. This radio silence shit is for the birds. Are you all right?”

He ignored the pleasantries and demanded, “What the hell is wrong with Kenzie?”

“Nothing too serious. Doc says she has the crud, but I insisted he do an X-ray to make sure it wasn’t pneumonia. She’s supposed to be staying in bed and getting rest, drinking plenty of fluids, the normal stuff. I think she’s fine.”

“Stay on top of it,” he said, knowing he didn’t have to. They were all protective of their baby sister.

“I’m on top of it,” Chance said. “How’d the mission go? Did you acquire your target?”

Boone didn’t keep anything from his brothers. They were family. They had each other’s backs. They knew how much it meant to him and the men who had been on his team and now worked with them on the Wild River Ranch.

“Not yet,” Boone answered. “There were complications. That’s why I’m calling. Once I got inside Midnight’s compound, I discovered they were holding a woman captive. She was on the verge of being assaulted when I got to her. I kept that from happening, but I lost the opportunity to attain the objective of the mission.”

“Fuck, man,” Chance said. “Sounds like you didn’t have a choice, but I’m sorry your mission wasn’t a success.”

Boone wouldn’t go that far. True, he hadn’t killed Midnight, but Tildi was far from a burden. He’d get Midnight soon enough, and the feelings he already had for Tildi were strong.

“Right, about that. The woman I rescued might be coming back to the ranch with me. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and we have the room. It will give her time to get her head together after everything she’s been through.”

And give you time to convince her she never wants to leave.

Ignoring the voice in his head, he asked about the ranch. He wanted to know the number of foals they ended up with and how the fields were doing.

Trace and Tanner hopped on to say hello and report on the progress of repairing the fencing and all the other tasks they put off until winter.

As good as it was to talk with his brothers, he cut their conversation short. He wanted to get below to his babygirl. And he still had another call to make.

“So, how long before you’re home?” Trace asked.

“It will take a solid three weeks to make it to Seattle, so probably three and a half.”