Page 32 of Before You Can Blink (Rust Canyon #4)

Jett

September

A shriek preceded my wife’s sharp reprimand. “Tripp! We don’t lick people!”

My head snapped up to find her hauling our son away from the group of children playing in the church courtyard after service had concluded.

Cheeks pink, eyes cast downward, she was absolutely mortified by Tripp’s inappropriate behavior.

When she reached where I stood with Wade and Caroline, Rose, and my ma, she positioned our son so that he stood facing the trunk of a tree and commanded, “You’re gonna stay right here until it’s time for us to go home, young man.”

He sniffled, offering a weak reply. “Yes, Mama.”

It wasn’t often Daisy was harsh on the boy. In fact, she babied him to the point where I feared he wouldn’t be tough enough to handle taking over the ranch when the time came .

Ma leaned over to address my wife. “If you punish him every time his tongue comes into play, in twenty years some poor girl is gonna be real disappointed in bed because he’s a good boy who always listens to his mama.”

I choked on my own spit, hacking loudly while beating my chest with a fist.

Though it would seem I was the only one appalled by my ma’s lack of filter.

Daisy clasped a hand over her mouth to hide her smile while Wade and Caroline snickered freely. Even the more reserved Rose had the tiniest hint of a smirk teasing onto her lips.

Now that she had a captive audience, Ma kept rolling. “And God willing, that girl is Penny.”

Roughing a hand over my face, I groaned. “Can we give it a rest on that? They’re six.”

Everyone had gotten it into their heads that Tripp and Penny were destined to end up together, as if they were watching some fairy tale where the pair of kids growing up on the ranch together fell in love and would live happily ever after.

Maybe I was jaded because life had knocked me down more times than I could count, but it seemed unlikely that my son would marry the girl next door.

Sure, she was the center of his universe right now, but that was only because they spent every waking minute together.

I was certain that when he got older and his social circle expanded to include more girls, things would change.

Ma gestured a hand toward the courtyard. “Come on, look at her. She can barely stand being without him while he’s in timeout.”

Sure enough, Penny was no less than fifteen feet away, staring daggers at Daisy for being the one to keep Tripp and her apart .

And because my wife was the ultimate softie, she caved. Heaving a sigh, she bent over to speak to our son. “All right, Tripp. You can go back to playing. But only if you agree to keep your tongue inside your mouth until you’re at least sixteen.”

Thankfully, our conversation had gone over his little head, and it bobbed enthusiastically. “Yes, ma’am.”

He took off like a shot toward the blonde little girl, whose face broke into the biggest smile when she saw him coming.

“Make it eighteen!” I called after him.

Beside me, Wade countered, “Twenty-one!”

When I shot him a side-eye, he shrugged. “What?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You sure as shit didn’t keep it in your pants until twenty-one.”

He chuffed. “Yeah, well. It’s different when we’re talking about my baby girl.”

Rolling my eyes, I blew out an exasperated breath. They were holding onto this fantasy way too tight. “Everyone’s gonna end up mighty disappointed when those two don’t ride off into the sunset together.”

Ma hummed. “I’ve been around a long time. Long enough to recognize when a couple is a good match. And those two?” She jerked her chin toward where Tripp and Penny were now playing together. “They’re not just a good match, Jett. They’re a perfect match.”

Folding my arms, I challenged, “Okay, since you know everything. Who’s Aspen going to end up with, then?”

All eyes turned to my mother as she pursed her lips in thought. Her gaze easily tracked my daughter among the ranks of screaming children, our girl’s red hair acting like a beacon.

After several minutes of silence, Ma declared, “To be determined.”

I didn’t bother to contain my snort. “I rest my case. ”

She held up a hand, indicating she had more to say and to let her finish. “The only reason I don’t know who she’s going to end up with is because he’s not here.”

My brows drew down. “What do you mean, he’s not here?”

“Our Aspen’s partner isn’t going to be from Rust Canyon. No one here suits her.”

I had my doubts about that. Sure, I’d married someone from outside the community, but that was a stroke of luck or perhaps fate; I wasn’t sure which.

Our quiet country town was off the beaten path, isolated.

It was rare to find someone residing in Rust Canyon who hadn’t grown up here.

And it was just as uncommon for one of our locals to leave the comfort our hometown provided to explore what lay beyond it.

“She’s too strait-laced, always follows the rules,” Ma continued.

“She needs someone who’s gonna shake up everything she knows, someone who’s going to make her laugh when the weight of the world gets too heavy, someone who will challenge her to test the boundaries of what she thinks she’s capable of. ”

“Pretty deep assessment of an eight-year-old,” I remarked. “But I guess only time will tell.”

Ma wagged a finger in my direction. “Just you wait and see. I’m never wrong about these things.”

Daisy leaned into my side, her head dropping onto my shoulder as she sighed dreamily. “Aspen would be lucky to find a guy like that, Betsy.”

This time, I kept my mouth shut. There was no use in arguing with a bunch of romantics who were more than happy to marry off our kids in their minds.

Guess I was the bad guy for wanting to grant them the freedom to enjoy their childhood. It would be over before they knew it.

March

Draining the last of my coffee before heading out for the day, I stood to place my mug in the sink.

I was halfway out the door when the rush of footfalls racing down the steps gave me pause.

They were too heavy to belong to one of the kids, and I couldn’t help but be concerned as to why Daisy might be in such a hurry.

As I walked back into the kitchen, my wife came into view. She was panting heavily, her wide eyes searching, and when they landed on me, she became nearly frantic, asking, “Is Tripp down here with you?”

“No.” I drew the word out slowly while shaking my head. “Is he supposed to be?”

Both hands flying to her head, Daisy choked out, “I don’t know, Jett. He’s not in his bed, and if he’s not down here with you, I-I-I—” That’s when she broke down, tears breaking free and rolling down her face as giant heaving sobs rattled her chest.

Closing the distance between us, I hauled her into my arms. “We’re gonna find him. He couldn’t have gone far.”

My brain began listing all the places on the ranch where our son might have gone, but I prayed there was no need for our search to extend beyond the house. Most likely, he’d gotten up in the middle of the night for a glass of water and had fallen asleep on his way back to bed.

“I’m gonna go double-check upstairs. Why don’t you look around down here?” I instructed Daisy.

Hiccupping, she managed a nod, and we split up in our quest to locate our missing son.

I bounded up the steps, my deep voice booming, “Tripp! Son, if you can hear me, you need to come out! You’ve given your mama quite a fright, and she’s worried about you.” Mentioning Daisy was no mistake; that boy would do just about anything to avoid upsetting his mother.

Moving methodically from room to room, I came up empty. By the time I made it back downstairs, Daisy was outside, cupping her hands near her mouth to project her voice as she cried our son’s name on repeat.

Before I could join her, the phone rang. I frowned, my gaze volleying between the wall-mounted handset and my frantic wife in the yard. She needed me, but no one would be calling at this hour if it wasn’t important.

Grabbing the receiver, I barked, “Yeah?”

“Hey, Jett,” the feminine voice on the other end of the line said in greeting.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Caroline, we’re a little busy over here right now. Can I call you—”

Before I could finish, she cut me off. “You wouldn’t happen to be lookin’ for Tripp, now would you?”

She had my attention now. “Uh, yeah.” How could she have possibly known?

“Then I suppose you’re not too busy for me to tell you I found him curled up in bed with Penny this morning when I went to wake her for school.”

All the air in my lungs rushed out as relief crashed over me. “You’re kidding.”

“He’s safe and sound and eating his weight in pancakes. Tell Daisy I’ll bring him over in a bit and not to worry.”

“Too little, too late for that,” I grumbled. “Thanks for calling and letting us know, Caroline.”

“Sure thing,” she chirped before hanging up.

Immediately, I marched out the back door, hollering, “Daze!”

Daisy whipped around. “Did you find him? ”

I shook my head. “No, but Caroline did.”

“Caroline?”

It took all my effort not to roll my eyes. “He must’ve snuck over to their house in the middle of the night.”

“But he’s okay?” she pressed.

“He’s fine.” Though I couldn’t promise that would hold true once I got my hands on him. The kid had scared his mama half to death—me too, for that matter—and there needed to be repercussions. I couldn’t allow him to think that wandering off without telling anyone was acceptable behavior.

Daisy sagged in my arms. “Oh, thank God.”

“You know I’m gonna have to punish him, right?”

With our chests pressed flush, I felt the weight of her heavy exhale. “Yeah, I know.”

“He needs clear boundaries, Daze, and if you’re not going to set them, I guess it’s up to me to become the bad guy.”

Blue eyes lifted to meet mine. “It’s just—”

“He’s your baby.” I’d heard that sentiment fall from her lips one too many times. “But I need him to be more than that. He can’t take over running this ranch if you never stop holding his hand, if he never learns the value of hard work.”

“You’re right,” she agreed.

I bent down to brush my lips over hers. “Have a good day at school, and make sure Tripp knows when he gets home, I’ll come retrieve him for chores.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “All right.”

I gave her a squeeze. “Don’t fret too hard about it, honey. I’ll teach him to ride when he’s not busy earning his keep.”

“Cowboy in training?” she teased, arching an eyebrow.

“Something like that.” Husky laughter rolled up from my chest .

Tripp wasn’t gonna be pleased about being ripped away from his mama and put to work, but who knew, maybe there would come a day when he thanked me for it.

Dragging a hand over tired eyes, I slipped out of my bedroom. All these years later, I still struggled with the pre-dawn wakeup that was a requirement on a ranch.

As I shuffled down the hall, I noticed the door to Tripp’s room was cracked open. It had been a week since he’d snuck out, and after my stern lecture, he’d vowed to never leave without asking again.

I was about to find out if my son’s word carried any weight.

Pushing the door open further, I was relieved to find Tripp beneath the covers. But the blonde hair fanned across the pillow had me stifling a groan.

Silently latching the door, I made my way downstairs and went straight for the phone.

There was no concern over waking either of the elder Atkinses, seeing as Wade would be preparing to head out on the range with me, and Caroline was always up early to feed the ranch hands their breakfast.

It rang twice before Wade answered. “Hello?”

“Got something over here that belongs to you.”

I could hear the humor in my best friend’s voice. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Your daughter. ”

Booming laughter filled the line. “Wish I could say I was surprised. But when you put the fear of God into Tripp, should he ever sneak out again, it only stands to reason that Penny would figure your rules don’t apply to her.

I swear, if I hadn’t seen that girl come out of her mama, I would almost believe she belonged to Layla instead of Caroline. ”

My heavy sigh couldn’t be contained. “What are we going to do with those two?”

“You want my honest opinion?”

“Might as well hit me with it.”

Wade hummed. “Stop trying to keep them apart.”

“Really? That’s your solution?” Annoyance colored my words.

“They’re like magnets. They’re going to keep finding their way back to one another. Best we get out of their way.”

He made it sound so simple, and for the next few years, it might be. But before long, it would border on inappropriate.

“It’s innocent now, a couple of kids sleepin’ in the same bed, but what happens when they get older?”

He chuckled. “Brother, I’m more worried about what’s for breakfast this morning than I am about what we’re gonna do about Tripp and Penny six or seven years down the road. We’ll cross the bridge when we get to it. Who knows, by then, it might not even be an issue.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “But you better keep the barrel of your shotgun pointed away from my son if this goes sideways.”

“You can’t see me right now, but I’m crossing my heart. I can think of a hell of a lot worse things than my family being officially tied to yours.”

“I can’t,” I shot back, a corner of my lips twitching.

“Yeah, yeah. Now, can you let me off the phone before I’m late for work? My boss is a real hardass. ”

“Maybe he wouldn’t have to be if his foreman pulled his weight instead of waxing poetic about a couple of kids who may or may not ever fall in love.” I snorted. “Did you hear that shit you spewed about magnets?”

“Hey!” Mock outrage filled his tone. “That’s the kinda stuff you see inside a greeting card.”

“Save the romance for your wife. We’ve got a ranch to run.”

“Yes, sir. See you out there, Mr. Bossman.” Then the line went dead.

Ranching might not be the easiest way to make a living, but at least I was out here doing it with my best friend, who had a way of keeping the mood light.

But even though he’d made a promise not to come after my boy if, someday, Tripp got Penny in trouble, I had my doubts about what that might do to our friendship.

Then I remembered they hadn’t even celebrated their seventh birthdays yet and decided that was a problem best saved for another day.