Page 25 of Tango (Hunt Brothers Search & Rescue #4)

Alice

“ T hanks for this, guys. I really needed it.” I climb off of Ellie, the horse I’ve been riding for the past couple of hours, then gently pet her face.

“You’re welcome. Horse therapy is the best,” Kennedy replies with a smile.

“Only second to girls’ night with pizza,” Nova adds.

Kennedy points at her. “True.” I watch as she undoes the cinch of her saddle, then mimic it on the one I borrowed. After sliding the saddle from Ellie’s back, I set it on the tack rack then take the comb Nova offers me.

“How are you doing?” the former detective asks.

“I’m alive,” I reply. “Which is more than I can say for my friends. I feel so guilty being out doing this when I should be trying to get them justice.”

“I lost a close friend of mine back when Elliot and I were trying to find out who was after me.” Her smile is haunted when she turns toward me. “His name was Miles. He took a bullet that was meant for me.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry about your friends. But, Alice, you have to keep living. Even on the days when it gets hard—and there will be plenty of those to come—you can’t stop.”

I draw in a deep breath. “Everything is so messy right now. We have all these different pieces, and no way to put them together.”

“When I was working a typically difficult case, and nothing seemed to fit together, I’d force myself to take a step away. Sometimes, when you make your brain think about anything else, the glue comes to you.”

“It worked?” I ask her as I brush Ellie.

“Every time,” Nova replies. “Don’t you feel better after our ride? Even though we had to drag you out of the house?”

I laugh. “Yeah. I really do.”

“See?” Kennedy beams at me.

Both women are so incredibly kind. There’s not a shred of darkness in either of them. Even after everything they both dealt with. The stories that led them here to Hunt Ranch were heartbreaking, but look at all they’ve found since then.

Love.

Joy.

Happiness.

Faith.

It gives me hope that my tragedy might bloom similarly, even though it makes me feel incredibly guilty to think about that right now.

“Can I ask you both a more personal question?”

“Sure thing,” Nova replies.

“Open book over here,” Kennedy adds.

This could be a mistake. But, here goes. “How soon after you met them did you realize you had feelings for Bradyn and Elliot?”

Kennedy and Nova exchange glances then turn to me.

“I knew I loved Elliot before I even knew my own name,” Nova tells me then leads her horse back into his stall. “Honestly, probably the moment I opened my eyes and saw him.” Her expression takes on a lovestruck smile.

“Really?” I take Ellie’s lead rope and undo the quick knot Kennedy taught me to tie this morning, then guide her into her stall.

“Oh yeah. For Elliot, it took a bit longer. But I just knew.” She closes the stall door and turns to face me. “He was so kind, brave—and when I was barely clinging to life, unsure who I was or who to trust, I just knew he was there to protect me. That God sent him to me.”

“That’s so romantic.”

She grins at me. “It was. How about you, Kennedy?”

“Mine was a bit later.” Bradyn’s wife laughs. “Though that had a lot more to do with me terrified I would end up getting him killed if I let him too close. Bradyn is the one who convinced me that love is worth every risk.”

Lucky women. I hate that I’m a bit jealous of what they have. Not because of Elliot and Bradyn but because of the love they’ve found. And of them not being afraid to take that next step despite the world falling apart around them.

“Are you feeling anything for a certain computer genius?” Kennedy asks, wiggling her brows.

“What? Me? Oh no, I was just curious. You know. I’m a talker.”

Kennedy leads her mare, Midnight, into her stall and closes it.

“That’s not true.” I take a deep breath.

“Not the talker part, I’m definitely a talker once I’m comfortable with someone.

” I laugh nervously. “Tucker is a great man, and there is a part of me that is drawn to him. More than a part, really. But I know it’s likely just infatuation.

A result of being in the middle of a crisis. ”

Both women exchange another look.

“It’s not like it was with you guys. We’re not fighting our feelings. You can’t fight something that’s not really there.”

“You just said you felt something,” Nova says.

“Sure, but Tucker doesn’t. He was ready to put me in jail before figuring out that the woman in that video wasn’t me.

This is a job for him, and if I let myself think—even for a second—that he has feelings for me, it’ll make things even more uncomfortable than they already are.

” Just last night, he’d shut down when I’d tried to get closer.

“But he didn’t turn you in.” Nova steps forward. “And he didn’t tell anyone that he wasn’t able to prove the video a fake.”

“He was waiting until the morning, I’m sure.”

“No,” Nova replies. “Those men have a code between them. They don’t keep secrets from each other.

No matter what time of night it is, they reach out.

Nothing comes before that code. It’s what’s kept them alive all these years, and what helps them perform at the level they have to perform at.

Tucker broke that code to keep your secret, and that means something, Alice.

Whether you’re ready to see it or not is something else entirely. ”

“Tucker broke the code to keep your secret, and that means something.”

Nova’s words rattle around through my mind like a song on repeat as I sit on a bench outside the cabin my parents are staying in.

I should have gone back to Tucker’s over an hour ago, once I was done visiting with my parents, but I just can’t bring myself to face him yet.

Not when everything in me wants to lose myself in what I’m feeling for him.

I can’t, of course. For so many reasons, regardless of what Kennedy and Nova said. But I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to find the kind of attachment my parents share, and now—is it right in front of me? Or am I imagining it?

The door opens behind me, and my dad steps out. He doesn’t notice me at first. Just takes a deep breath and runs both hands over his face. He’s exhausted. I can see it clear as day, and I feel horrible knowing it’s because of me.

He turns to head my way, then stops and nearly jumps when he sees me. “Alice! How long have you been out here?”

“Since I left you guys.”

“That was over an hour ago.”

“I wasn’t ready to leave yet,” I reply then tap the seat next to me. “Care to have a sit?”

“A sunset-watching party with my one and only daughter? Sign me up.” He takes a seat on the bench beside me and wraps one arm around my shoulders. I lean into him, enjoying the warmth of his familiar embrace.

It doesn’t matter that Fred Sterling isn’t my biological father because he’s my dad in every single way that counts. God blessed me greatly with two sets of parents who loved me. Even if I lost the ones who brought me into this world, I have Fred and Jemma.

I nearly lost them too . It hits me out of nowhere, and tears burn in my vision.

“You doing okay, Ali?”

“I’m just stressed.” Sitting up, I wipe my face.

“I don’t see why.”

I glance over to find him grinning at me. It’s his trick at disarming me. And it works every single time.

“In all seriousness, my darling, you’re handling this with more strength than I ever thought one person could have.”

“It’s all by the grace of God,” I tell him. “That and Tucker told me he won’t let me quit.”

My dad wraps his arm around me again. “That Tucker seems like a good egg. I like him. His whole family has been incredibly welcoming to us.”

“They’re good people,” I agree.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, and in the distance, I watch as two of the ranch hands I’ve yet to meet help Elliot carry hay into the barn for the horses.

Every moment I spend in this place has me even more in awe than the last. The way this family works together to care for their animals and this property.

The way they care for each other.

“I know we’ve already told you, but I am sorry about Logan. While I didn’t particularly care for him while the two of you were together, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Him or Ramiro.”

“Thanks, Dad. And you didn’t have to remind me that you didn’t like him. I remember the Easter debacle.”

“What? I beg your pardon?” He feigns innocence as he withdraws his arm and holds up both hands.

“Dad. Come on. You tripped him when he walked by the grill. I saw it. Mom saw it. You’re not very good at being sneaky, you know.”

His expression falls; then he smiles. “Fine. But you two were fighting, and I let an impulse win.”

I laugh. “He was mad that Ramiro was there.”

“I know. Hence the tripping.”

Shaking my head, I lean against his shoulder again and take a deep breath. “Everything is spiraling out of control.”

“It’ll settle down.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head.

“I hope so.”

“How is Tucker being toward you? With you two staying in that house?—”

Pulling away, I arch a brow. “Dad.”

“What? I just want to make sure you’re safe. I wouldn’t be a good father if I didn’t.”

“I’m fine,” I reply with a laugh. “Truly. Tucker is a gentleman, and when we’re not sleeping—in separate bedrooms—we’re working on the case.”

“Just making sure. I saw how you kept glancing over at him at dinner. And that was after only knowing him a day. You’ve spent nearly a week in close quarters, so I just want to check.”

“Tucker’s great, but we’re just friends—not even that, really. I’m a client, and he’s working to keep me alive.”

“So are you. Great, that is. Better than, even.”

“You have to say that because you love me.”

“I do, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” He takes my hand in his. “Alice, you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to your mother and me. You are the sun in our sky, the moon amongst stars—you’re our everything.”

Tears burn in my vision. “Dad.”

“It’s true. And I want you safe and happy. That’s all I want.”

“Right now, I can give you safe. Happy? That one I’m not so sure about.”

He squeezes my hand gently. “It’ll come.”

“Once all of this is over and we can go back to normal, I think I’d like to come stay with you and Mom for a while. If that’s okay. Get my feet back under me.”

“My darling Alice, you can stay with us for as long as you want. Forever work for you?”

Laughing, I lean my head against his shoulder, and he wraps an arm around me. We sit there together, like we have so many times before, but this time, my thoughts are not on the sunset but rather the man waiting for me on the other side of the ranch.