Page 42 of Take a Chance (Blue Creek Ranch #1)

Crew

T here was a part of my brain subconsciously fixated on Mal and Payton returning home.

It always latched on when either one or both of them were off the property.

I did the same thing with my family, always a pulse in the back of my mind, so it wasn’t weird to me that I’d slotted Mal and Payton in there too.

We were still new but I was hoping for long term—if not forever, but I didn’t want to think too hard about that yet—and Payton certainly considered us solid.

Man, I adored that kid.

I wondered if Mal would be open to any more?

There were plenty of kids out there who needed stable, loving homes.

And Gemma and I had more than one discussion about surrogacy.

She didn’t want any crotch goblins—her words, not mine—of her own, but she’d be willing to go through the process to help any one of her brothers out.

But that was a thought for the future. Right now, I was focused on updating the breeding data and waiting for my baby and his kid to make it back.

Okay, I was only mostly focused. As soon as I heard the alarm donkey, I was up out of my chair.

Juanpablo only used that call for his favorite people, and Payton had joined the ranks of my mom and Hawk.

For a kid who wasn’t too fond of the outside, he sure loved that cantankerous donkey, and the feeling was mutual.

All Payton had to do was call his name, and Juanpablo came running from wherever he was.

Then he would stand still, ears forward, as Payton rambled about his day or read the donkey a book.

I jogged out of my office and through the aisle of empty stalls, debating for just a second if I should grab one of the UTVs.

I could make the trip to the house in two minutes instead of seven if I did.

But we tried to limit the use of gas on our ranch, as much as possible, so foot-power it would be.

Since Mal and Payton would be joining us for dinner, I was hoping they would still be at the house by the time I made it there.

I couldn’t help the grin as soon as I spotted them. Mal leaned against the rails, head turned out into the pasture somewhere. But Payton was sitting on the ground, book propped up against the lowest rail, and Juanpablo stood nearby. His head was lowered as if he was looking at the book too.

Stopping a few feet back, I took out my phone, framed the shot, then snapped a pic. I wasn’t so good with filters and such, but I messed with the exposure a bit, since the sun was setting, and then saved it as my background wallpaper. Once that was done. I jogged over.

“Hey, baby,” I murmured, crowding right into Mal’s space.

He startled as though he hadn’t heard me coming, and then immediately straightened up, taking a few steps back. I tried not to frown, since he usually did the opposite, leaning into me.

“Oh, hey.”

What the fuck? Mal’s gaze was shuttered, closed off, and that wasn’t like him at all. Before I could ask what was going on, Payton realized I’d arrived.

“Hi, Crew!” His little face lit up, those eyes he’d gotten from his daddy sparkling. He turned the page toward me, even though I couldn’t quite see what it was. “Look! D is for donkey, he goes ‘bray bray bray.’ Should be W for Juanpablo.”

“Juanpablo is spelled with a J.” Mal said, and there was something off in his tone. It was flat and without its usual affection. “Juanpablo is a Latino name, and the Spanish languages use different sounds for the letters.”

Payton nodded like that made sense. “Oh, right. Like Alejandro in my class. But he likes to go by Alé.”

That was freaking adorable and all, but I was more worried about Mal’s demeanor. Had something happened? I needed to find out because he was…I didn’t even know. Worried or angry. Something. Upset at the very least and I needed to fix it.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly, glancing at Payton to make sure he’d gone back to his book. Apparently E was for elephant and they made trumpet sounds.

“Yep.”

Liar. He definitely wasn’t okay. I stepped closer and though he didn’t move away again, when I took hold of his elbow, he gently pulled out of my hold.

Now I was worried I had done something wrong.

He was usually all about the casual touches.

My man was touched-starved and he loved it when I showed affection that way.

“Liar,” I accuse softly, trying to make it playful. Mal didn’t look at me, and even though he was turned toward Payton, I wasn’t sure he was actually focused on his kid. I tried again, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s not important.”

“It clearly is, if it’s got you upset. Talk to me, baby.”

Mal whipped around and I was taken aback by the anger in his eyes. “Mind your own business.”

I did reel back then, because what in the holy hell?

“Fine,” I ground out, then turned and stalked away. If he didn’t want to talk to me, then I wasn’t going to make him.

I only got a dozen feet before my logical brain kicked in. Mal was not an angry person. Unsure at times, yes. A worrier for sure. But angry? I’d never seen him like that, except when we found Ezio at the auction, and that was for the treatment the colt had suffered. Never at another human.

I spun back to see him staring after me, hurt mixing in with the anger. All right then. We needed to work this out.

I pulled the two-way off my belt, staring Mal right in the eye. “CH to Dad.”

A second later, Dad responded. “What’s up, my son?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to take Payton to see the magpies again? Over.” I made sure to stress my words, hoping Dad would pick up on it. I needed him to occupy Payton so that I could have a conversation with his father.

Payton hopped up immediately and started doing an excited dance. Either he’d heard me or he needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe both.

“I did, in fact. We’re in the process of making friends and it’s been a few days. Be right there. Over and out.”

I clipped the radio back onto my belt. Mal’s face was doing complicated things and I couldn’t quite sort it out.

The anger was still there, maybe now more focused on me and my presumption.

But also I definitely detected relief and affection hidden in there too. That was the right direction at least.

“Crew, I don’t know if—”

Mal was interrupted by Dad thundering up on Talia.

The stocky bay mare loved to run, but she was also one of the gentlest horses we had.

She was the one Demi rode when she took Aria out on the property.

Talia seemed to instinctively know when it was okay to be wild—like when Dad rode her by himself—and when she needed to be a good girl.

Five years back, I’d been looking at her to expand our breeding operation but she had a mild form of Cushing’s.

I bought her anyway and with medication, she was fine.

“Howdy,” Dad tipped the brim of his ball cap. “Payton, you wanna ride doubles with me or want me to get Bluey?”

I hid a snort. Our tricked-out six-seat golf cart that was bright blue, and Payton had called it Bluey the first time he saw it.

We’d all sort of adopted the name for it.

It wasn’t powerful enough to use for work, so we mostly used it when we were traveling the property for pleasure or if we were moving in a large group.

Payton pursed his lips, looking Talia over. She stood perfectly still, ears forward and alert. Then she shook her head and Payton jumped. I thought that was it and he’d ask for Bluey, but he surprised me by taking a few steps closer.

“I don’t know this horse, Mr. Mike.”

Dad walked her a little bit closer, and Talia lowered her head, lifting her top lip in what we called her smile.

Out of all our horses, Talia’s Flehmen response was the most reactive.

She really liked to take in the scents around her.

I always thought it was because she was a treat-hound and wanted snacks.

“This is Talia. She’s a super good girl and I love to ride her,” Dad explained.

Payton’s brow crunched. “Good like Jaina?”

Dad nodded. “Just like Jaina. Hawk trained her so you know she’s solid.”

The boy’s face lit up. “Daddy says Hawk is the best. Okay, I’ll ride with you but only because it means we get to the magpies faster. They miss me.” Payton seemed to realize he’d forgotten something and he peered up at Mal. “Is that okay, Daddy?”

Mal looked a little shell-shocked, and I could practically see him fighting with himself.

As far as I knew, Payton had never been on a horse with anyone else.

Only him. And I was sure, as protective as a father as he was, he was wary about that.

But I also knew Mal trusted my dad and his horsemanship skills.

Plus, I knew from our conversations that he wanted to encourage anything Payton wanted to do that was outside.

Payton had gotten better, but he would still choose a book inside over the outdoors any day. Kids needed fresh air and sunshine.

Finally, Mal released a long breath, and his voice was tight when he agreed. “Yeah, that’s okay. If you promise to listen to everything Mr. Mike says and remember your horse manners.”

“I promise,” Payton said solemnly and even crossed his heart.

“Awesome,” Dad said, lighting up. He loved taking kids out on horseback, and after we’d grown up and gotten too big to ride doubles, he’d had to wait a long time for Aria to come around. “You run inside and ask Mrs. Jenn for the magpie bag. I’ll go get your helmet. Deal?”

“Deal! Safety first,” he crowed, which is something Mal always said when he fitted the riding helmet on Payton.

Payton turned and shoved his book back into the tote bag, called goodbye to Juanpablo, and took off toward the house. He was calling for my mom as he pulled open the screen door. Mal walked over and picked up the tote, slinging it over one shoulder.