Page 11 of Rancher’s Strength (Flying Diamond 5, #4)

Chapter Nine

RYDER

I didn’t let her go, but she didn’t try to move away either.

Lexie fumbled behind her to get the lap belt, buckled herself in, and rested her head back on my shoulder.

I knew seeing her father was going to hurt, there wasn’t any way to shield her from it.

She’d stayed away because she couldn’t bear to see him like that but avoiding it had only made things worse.

Silently, I thanked the heavens that he’d been having a good day.

All I hoped was that when she went back, he would recognize her again, no matter how brief the acknowledgment was.

“We’re going to have to go to the main ranch. I can’t hide out at the farm for the entire time I’m here,” she said softly as she looked down at our hands.

“There’s no reason we have to do that today.

” If she agreed to wait, I could hide out at the farm and avoid the four men I knew would be less than thrilled about this situation.

That might be the understatement of the year—pissed, angry, furious, and probably feeling a million other emotions I hadn’t even considered.

“Might as well get it over with.” She raised her head and looked out her window.

“And we need to head back to Julie’s to get the kids.

” She hadn’t wanted to go see her dad alone, but she wasn’t sure where to take the kids.

Julie’s was the only logical place. It wouldn't be overwhelming for them with a bunch of new people. She and Phil wrapped the kids in their love, and by the time I headed back out to the truck they were already making plans for a busy time together. Julie promised Ruby they’d bake cookies, and Phil was going to take Sawyer to the horses.

“Let’s go then,” I said as I pulled back onto the straight stretch of road that would lead us back to the ranch.

The rest of the drive was painfully silent, and all I wanted to do was ensure she was okay. She wasn’t okay. I didn’t need to ask. Everything was so messed up right now, and to make matters worse, the envelope containing our marriage license sat on the dash.

“We’re going to have to make them believe we’re together,” Lexie said as she broke the silence when we crossed onto ranch property heading for Julie’s home.

“I know,” I mumbled. Making people believe I was still head over heels for her shouldn’t be an issue. Clearly, I was still crazy about her.

Pulling up to the house, I looked over at Lexie, who hadn’t made a move to get out of the truck. “I’ll be right back.” She nodded, at least, before I opened the door.

After quickly knocking before I opened the door, I wandered into the kitchen and found two giggling kids. It was a sound I hadn’t heard much of over the past week, but it was enough to give me the boost I needed today. “Uncle Ryder, why are you back already?” Sawyer asked as he saw me walk in.

“Well, we need to head to the ranch so you can meet some of the kids,” I said as Ruby moved to my side, holding a bag of cookies.

“You make those, kid?” She nodded and beamed up at me.

“Pretty sure they won’t make it home. I think I’ll eat them all.”

“Uncle Ryder.” She laughed and held the bag up. “There’s three dozen in there. You’ll get a tummy ache.”

“Nah, gut of steel,” I said as I patted my stomach.

“So, you’re heading to the main house?” Julie asked as she walked over and held her arms out for a hug. It hadn’t mattered that I’d hugged her when I dropped the kids off. She needed another one, and I think she knew I needed the embrace of a mother today, of all days.

“We are. Need anything taken over?”

“Nope, but I think I might pop over in about twenty minutes.” Her smile said everything she wasn’t saying. She was coming along and going to make sure the guys were on their best behavior and save Lexie and me if we needed it.

“Jules, you don’t need to be inserting yourself in things,” Phil said, shaking his head.

“Mind your business, old man. I’ll take care of my boy even if he doesn’t want me to.” Julie patted my arm.

“Oh no, I want you to,” I said with a smirk. Julie was the only woman who could settle us down. Julie was the matriarch of the ranch, and there was nothing we wouldn’t do for her.

“I thought you said Kipp was your only son?” Ruby asked as a frown crept over her face.

“He is, but I decided a long time ago that Ryder was too. I might not have given him life, but he’s my boy all the same.

” My heart clenched, and I blinked a little faster.

The little boy who’d never had anyone love him ended up having more parents than he knew what to do with.

If I’d met them all sooner, maybe the trauma of being abandoned wouldn’t have hurt so badly.

“We should get going,” I said, my voice a little thick with emotion.

“Tell Lexie she’s always welcome here, she doesn’t need to sit in the truck,” Julie whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, and I nodded.

“Thanks for a fun day, Ms. Julie,” Ruby said as she hugged the woman.

“Yeah, can I come back, Mr. Phil? I had a great time,” Sawyer asked as he looked up at Phil.

“You can come back anytime you want, Sawyer,” Phil said as he swung the little boy up for a hug.

“And how about you call us Grandma Julie and Grandpa Phil? All the other kids on the ranch do, so you need to as well.” Julie looked over at Phil, who nodded and smiled as the kids looked at one another and then hugged their new grandparents tightly.

The kids climbed into the back seat, buckled themselves in, and I pulled away from Julie and Phil’s.

We all waved at them and headed for the next stop.

It wasn’t a long drive, but the kids chattered nonstop about their morning.

Ruby’s smile was genuine, and I think Sawyer was worn out, yet he grinned too.

“Wow!” Ruby said, looking out her window at Kipp’s house.

“This is massive.” I pulled open her door and helped her out.

She wasn’t wrong; the very large log home had been added onto multiple times over the years.

It was built to house a massive family, and there’d been times over the years when it had. Not always blood, but always family.

“I used to live here. Auntie Lexie did for a bit, too.” I looked across to where she was helping Sawyer out of the truck, and she just shook her head.

We’d been dating, and she didn’t feel comfortable staying at the farm—something about sleeping with a boy in her parents’ house—so we stayed here when we came home from college.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Kipp called from the porch, “We didn’t expect you so soon.” He smiled at the kids, but when he saw Lexie, his face fell.

“Figured we might as well get these two comfortable with everyone straight away. Ruby, Sawyer, this is one of my best friends, Kipp Miller.” They both looked up at him.

“You’re Grandma Julie’s boy… you don’t look like a kid.” Sawyer’s eyes were about to pop out of his head as he looked up at Kipp, wide-eyed but not afraid. Kipp’s size usually made kids scared of him, but not this one.

“Well, Sawyer, to Grandma Julie, I’ll always be a kid. Why don’t you and Ruby come in and meet my son Cooper and daughter Halley? The other kids will be here in a few minutes.” Just as he said it, a squeal came from the house across the yard.

Nash, Fallon, Josie, and Lottie had come out of the house, and Josie ran straight to Ruby. “Hi, you’s Ruby, I’n Josie, we be best friends.” Josie’s grin made Ruby smile at her.

“I’d like to be your best friend,” Ruby said cheerfully as Josie took her hand, and the three kids ran inside the house.

“Lexie,” Nash said as he and Fallon joined Kipp on the porch.

“Nash, Fallon, nice to see you both.” Lexie clasped her hands together so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

“What are you all doing out here? Get in this house,” Nora said from the door. She pushed the screen door open, and Nash and Fallon walked in ahead of Kipp and me. “I’m Nora, Kipp’s wife. It’s so nice to meet you.” Nora’s voice floated easily through the entryway as she welcomed Lexie.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Lexie’s words were timid, nothing like the cutthroat lawyer I knew she could be, but this wasn’t her courtroom, and she had baggage with almost every adult who would be in this home, except for Nora and Elle.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Nora,” Kipp said tersely.

“Got something to say?” She crossed her arms and stared her husband down.

“Not everyone in this house is rude, so either say your peace or keep your mouth shut.” Her pointed stare made him clench his jaw, and he took a seat at the table without saying another word.

She’d been in control of him since the day she came home from town with him.

Nora was a force, and if I was being honest, she’d been keeping all of us in line since she showed up.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m fine.” Lexie wasn’t fine, and everyone could see it.

Another truck roared into the yard, and I heard three doors slam. It was Griff. I looked up at Lexie, whose eyes were glued to me, wide and full of fear. Smiling at her, I nodded, and she walked over to my side, and I reached for her hand.

The kids ran down the hallway, and Cooper pulled Parker along behind him; they were all gone again.

Griff walked into the kitchen, holding Elle’s hand, and the tension was palpable.

“Lexie. I’m sorry to hear about Anita and Hank.

” There was little emotion in his words, and the hair on the back of my neck rose as the anger bubbled inside me.

“Thank you,” Lexie said, but it was barely audible.

“Wow, hard to believe this is a homecoming,” Linc said from behind Griff.

Pushing his way past Griff and Elle, he opened his arms to Lexie, and she walked into them for a hug.

“Welcome back Lexie-Lou, it’s good to see you.

” Lexie said something to Linc, but I wasn’t sitting close enough to hear it.

Linc wasn’t one to hold grudges or dwell on the past, so the fact that he’d been so open to seeing Lexie again gave me hope that the others could get there too.

“There are a few things we need to discuss, so if everyone could take a seat.” The nice thing about this table was that it was large enough for all of us to gather around.

“We need to make space in the cemetery if that’s okay. I was going to call while we were still in Wyoming, but there was so much to get done and I forgot. Hank and Anita would like to be laid to rest somewhere the kids can go to.” I glanced at my friends, and at least they all nodded in agreement.

“I can go out and do it tomorrow,” Kipp said without looking up from the table.

“Hank and Anita asked that Lexie and I live together for the first year and then remain in the same town to raise the kids. So, as of right now, we’ll be at the farm raising the kids where Lexie grew up.

” There wasn’t any pushback from them because they knew they had no right to have an opinion about us living there.

“There’s also the small fact that we’ll be getting remarried.” All eyes shot to me and then moved to Lexie. “This week… so… I’d like you all to be there if you would.” The silence was deafening, and I was pretty sure I could hear the cattle chewing all the way over in the far pasture.

“Married?” Griff asked shock in his voice. I should have known he’d be the first one to say something.

“Yes, married.” I reached for Lexie’s hand. She didn’t pull away; instead, she turned and smiled at me.

“Congratulations, you two. Our anniversaries will be so close. We can celebrate it together every year,” Elle said, smiling at us and seemingly oblivious to the rising anger at the table.

“Whatever you need help with, please just ask,” Nora said as she reached over to put her hand on Lexie’s shoulder.

“Thank you both so much.” I hated how quiet she was.

There’d been a time when Lexie would have put every one of these people in their place.

How many times had she bailed Fallon out of trouble after Miller died?

And she’d been Griff’s sounding board when he needed to talk about the things we’d done.

Now, they were all treating her like she was dirt on their shoes.

“I think it’s time to go.” I stood up from the chair, and the kids just happened to run past. “Ruby, Sawyer, we need to get going. We’ve got a few more places to go today.

” That was a flat- out lie, so I was going to need to figure something out.

Maybe we’d go to town and get something from Fred’s, or maybe we’d just go to the grocery store and grab something for supper.

Whatever it was, I just needed to get out of here.

The kids said goodbye to one another and walked out of the house with Lexie.

Everyone followed me to the porch, but my business partners stood in a line together on the top stair.

“This is the first time I’ve been ashamed to be one of you.

” I glared at Kipp, Griff, and then at Fallon before walking down the porch steps and getting into the truck.

I couldn’t lump Linc into that group. He’d been a little warmer to Lexie, and Nora and Elle were as sweet as I’d figured they would be.

But the others could go to hell at this moment as far as I was concerned.

If today could’ve gone any worse, I wouldn’t have believed it. As I pulled out of the yard, Julie and Phil drove in, and I didn’t miss her frown as we drove past them. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on that wall when she got into that house.

“Where are we going, Uncle Ryder? I was having fun.” Ruby’s voice was sad, and it took everything in me not to turn around and knock-out some teeth.

The pastures whizzed by as I sped up on the highway, and I passed the entrance to the farm.

Maybe we were too close? We could move into another house further from the ranch.

“I’ve got someplace to show you, and we need to get there before it closes.” She nodded, and I was glad that was all the explanation she needed because I wasn’t sure I could come up with anything more.

Fred seemed to be the safest place to go. Lexie had seen him often since our divorce, and they’d seemed pleasant the last time I’d seen her there. Fred would also spoil the kids, which might take their minds off me ending their fun.