Page 46 of Huckleberry Hill (Saddles & Spurs #1)
Chapter Forty-Five
The Ranch
“Your father is going to kill me,” Declan said, glancing behind him at the puppies in the back seat of the truck.
I reached behind me and pet one of the dogs and it began to nibble my finger. Tempest was back there and it was becoming clear that she thought she was one of the puppies.
“He’ll be happy once he gets used to the crazy,” I said. “The thing you have to understand about my father is that he says no first, but then he always comes around. It’s his way. He’s stubborn.”
“Huh, like someone else I know.”
“Oh stop.” I laughed.
We’d made sure the puppies were empty before we put them in the backseat on a towel. By the time we got home, they were all asleep, nestled together in a ball of fur.
“You get to be the one to tell your dad,” Declan said as he pulled into the driveway of the main house next to dad’s vehicle.
“I’ll take care of it,” I assured him. I unlatched my seat belt.
“We need to talk about getting you a new car,” Declan announced. “I don’t like the idea of you driving a farm truck without all the bells and whistles of modern safety.”
I sniggered. “ Now you’re being captain safety? Where were you with the condoms?”
“You told me I didn’t need them,” he said with a gaping mouth.
“I don’t think I ever said that explicitly . It’s hard to remember that night.”
“Hard to remember? Seriously?”
“What led up to the conception,” I drawled. “We’d had bourbon and I was so down bad for you it was all fuzzy static up there.”
“Down bad.” He shook his head. “Yeah. You so were.”
“So were you,” I pointed out.
“Never said otherwise.” He leaned over and kissed me. “But also, we never had the conversation after that night either.”
“Hmm. As Salem called it, we were raw-doggin’ it from the beginning.”
“No complaints on my end.”
My gaze dropped to his mouth. “Me either.”
“Stop stalling. Go tell your dad about the puppies.”
“I’m not stalling. You’re the one who brought up the new car idea.”
“It was on my mind.” He shrugged.
I opened the passenger side door and got out.
“Signal when it’s safe.”
I went up to the front porch and opened the door. Muddy was resting in her chair, crocheting the same project she’d been working on since I’d gotten home.
Dad was on the couch with Jane cuddled up next to him.
“Hey,” Dad greeted. “Where’s Declan?”
“Out in the truck,” I said. “Can you come outside for a second?”
Dad frowned and nodded. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s perfect,” I said with a smile. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Uh-oh,” Muddy said, setting her crocheting aside. “I better come see what it is too.”
“Wait for me,” Jane added.
The three of them followed me out of the house and to the truck. Declan was still in the driver’s seat.
I opened the back door of the truck.
“Puppies?” Dad asked. “You brought home four puppies?”
“Yep,” I said. “Declan paid for them.”
Dad looked at Declan. “You didn’t tell her no?”
“Have you tried telling Hadley no?” Declan defended. “It’s impossible.”
“How can you say no to puppies?” Jane asked, reaching her hand out and stroking the back of one of them.
“Like this: no .” Dad attempted to back away.
“Stop being a grump,” Muddy said, elbowing him and Jane out of the way. She picked up a puppy and thrust it into her son’s arms. “You miss having a dog. Admit it.”
“Now you have four,” I said with a smile.
“Oh no.” Dad shook his head. “They’ll stay outside. They’re outdoor dogs. Barn dogs. Ranch dogs. Not sleeping-on-the-bed dogs.”
One of the puppies let out a whine and Jane picked it up and started crooning at it.
“What kind are they?” Muddy asked as she picked up another one of the puppies.
“Border Collie Aussie mixes,” I said. “The volunteer didn’t want to let them all go to one home until I explained I lived on a ranch.”
Declan climbed out of the truck, gathering Tempest in his arms, leaving me to pick up the last puppy.
“No,” Dad said, though his tone lacked conviction. “Absolutely not. We’ll keep one of them. Maybe two. The other two can go to the Argentum Ranch. Max has been needing some good herding dogs.”
The puppy in my father’s arms lifted its head and licked Dad’s chin. Dad looked down at it and I watched in real time as my father fell hard and fast for the little beast.
Without a word, he started toward the house.
“Where are you going?” Jane asked.
“Where do you think I’m going?” Dad growled. “I’m finding them a box to sleep in.”
Declan pulled his buzzing cell phone out of his shirt pocket and looked at it. He stood and pushed away from the dinner table. “Will you excuse me for a moment? I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Muddy asked.
“My rodeo buddy is returning my phone call,” Declan explained. To me he said, “The coffee thing again.”
I nodded.
He pressed a button and put the cell to his ear and stalked from the house, the front door closing behind him.
“Coffee thing?” Muddy asked. “What does that mean?”
“His best friend is still on the rodeo circuit and he got a brand deal. It’s a coffee company and they wanted Declan too, but Declan said no. Now he’s telling his friend, Bowman, that he’s officially saying no.”
“A brand deal,” Dad repeated. “He hasn’t said anything about that.”
“It’s a recent development. And he was going to say no all along, so that’s probably why he didn’t tell you.” I stood up and began to gather the dinner plates. “Jane? Are you finished?”
“I am,” she said. “Let me help you with these.”
“Thanks,” I said.
We picked up the dishes and brought them to the sink.
“Why wasn’t he going to take the brand deal?” Muddy asked. “It’s good money I bet. Probably better than what your father pays him.”
“Mom,” Dad warned.
“Just stating a fact.” Muddy shrugged. “There’s no money in being a ranch hand and everybody knows it.”
“He has no desire to go back to the rodeo circuit. Aside from potential injuries, he’s very happy with his life. And if you must know, Declan’s got a nest egg and investments from the rodeo circuit.”
“That’s good to hear,” Dad grumbled. “Because if he thinks he can leave my pregnant daughter?—”
“You really think Declan would do that?” I asked, turning and raising an eyebrow.
“Never doubted him for a second,” Muddy said with a grin.
“Neither did I,” Dad admitted. He stood up. “I’m going to go check on the puppies. Jane, you want to come with me?”
“Sure. Right after I help clean up.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Muddy said. “You go snuggle some puppies.”
“They’re so sweet,” Jane said.
“We still need names for them,” Dad said.
“How about Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor?” Jane suggested with a smile.
“Those names sound familiar,” Dad said. “But I’m drawing a blank.”
“They’re the Hogwarts houses,” I said with a laugh.
“They don’t roll off the tongue easily, though,” Muddy said. “Can you imagine yelling, Hey Ravenclaw stop eating cow shit! ”
“Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy?” Jane pivoted. “The Pevensie siblings from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.”
Dad’s face paled and he made a hasty retreat.
Jane frowned. “What did I say?”
“My mother used to read that book to my sister and me when we were kids. The whole series, actually.”
“Oh.” Jane chewed on her lip. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Muddy assured her. “You’re just bringing a lot of stuff to the surface. Stuff that Connor has never really dealt with.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “Just when I think we’re about to make a real stride forward . . .”
“Keep going,” Muddy told her. “He needs you. He needs to open up again.”
Jane looked at me, and I nodded in agreement. “I think you’re wonderful, and you make him smile in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. You’ll get no argument from me. And you’re welcome at all our family dinners.”
“Thanks, Hadley.” She squeezed my hand. “I better go talk to him.”
She went in the direction of my father and disappeared.
Muddy stood up. “She’s good for him.”
“I think so.”
“Have you told Salem about her?” She began loading the plates into the dishwasher.
“No, I haven’t. I don’t really know what to say.”
“How about the truth?”
“Yeah, but this isn’t my thing to share, you know?”
Muddy was quiet for a moment and then she said, “She’s going to lose her shit when she finds out.”
“Yeah, she will,” I agreed.
“And you don’t want her to kill the messenger, right?”
“She’ll kill me anyway. When she finds out I’ve known for a while. And when she finds out that Jane had dinner here and sat at Mom’s place setting? Yeah, I do not want to be around Mount Saint Salem when that happens.”
“You and me both, sugar.” She sighed.
A phone chimed.
“Mine,” she said. She picked it up from the counter and glanced at it. “Why don’t you go find Declan? I can finish this up.”
My gaze narrowed. “Who texted you?”
She gently pushed against my hip to get me moving in the direction of the door. “Go.”