Sophie Oak - Three to Ride

“Then I would check out the local women’s shelters or maybe someone at the hospital. Someone helped Rachel. If he got to that person, he would know her fake identities. All he has to do is have a cop buddy call someone in one of those towns and make up a reason to be on the lookout for her. I tripped his little fail-safe when I put the trace on her. Damn, Max, if I had any idea this could happen, I never would have checked her out.”

“It isn’t your fault. We don’t know that he’s found her again. How are we going to protect her? I’m worried that she’ll run if she thinks he’s on her trail.”

Rye was quiet for a moment as he thought. “Maybe you should run with her.”

“No.” Max had already thought of and discarded that possibility. “That isn’t a life, Rye. Look what it did to her. She ran because she was all alone in the world. She isn’t anymore. This is her home. Every person in this town will defend her. I won’t let this asshole run our wife off, and I won’t let him hurt her again.”

A slow smile crossed Rye’s face. His brother hadn’t missed his intentional use of words. She wasn’t their wife yet, but in Max’s mind, it was only a matter of time.

“You said ‘our,’ Max.”

For the first time in weeks, Max felt the gulf between them begin to shrink. He realized now that Rye needed him to say the words. Rye needed to know that he was willing to share Rachel. “I meant it. She’s the one, and you know it.”

Rye’s smile turned slightly sad, but Max could feel something inside his brother relax. A tension that had been there since Rachel had come to town now loosened. Max was glad to see it go.

“I know,” Rye said. “We’ve been waiting for her all of our lives, but we have to get her to recognize it.”

Max nodded. “We will. First, we deal with this asshole.”

“It won’t be easy. We’ll have to keep an eye on her.”

“I think the whole town should keep an eye on her.”

Rye looked thoughtful for a moment. “That is a fantastic idea. I have another one. We can get a PI working back in Dallas to come up with the dirt on this asshole. He needs to be in jail. I won’t feel safe until he’s behind bars. On Monday, we’ll talk to the prosecutors. If we go back to Dallas with Rachel, it will make their job a lot easier. If Rachel testifies, maybe we can get him in jail without bond. He’s made it plain he means to kill her.”

“Let’s get through the weekend first. Rach is so excited about the Founder’s Day thing tomorrow. I can’t bring myself to shake up her whole world. She’s safe for now. We have no evidence that he knows where she is. We won’t let her out of our sight. Sunday night, we’ll explain everything to her. Hopefully, we’ll both still be standing at the end.” Max had no doubt that Rachel would be furious they had checked up on her. She would fight them, but this was one fight he meant to win.

“It’s too important to ignore,” Rye said solemnly. “We can’t just hope she’s going to tell us someday. We have to do what we can to get this guy in prison so he can’t come after our woman again.”

Max sighed as Rye started to make some calls. He didn’t mention to his law-abiding brother that he had no intention of Lane seeing the inside of a jail cell. They were too easy to break out of. There was parole and prison overcrowding to consider. No, there wouldn’t be any cushy prison cells for Tommy Lane. There was only one way Max would be able to sleep at night.

He was going to kill him.

Rachel stood behind the counter of the diner and looked at her boss. “You’re sure you don’t need me to stay the whole shift?”

She was hoping beyond hope that the answer was no. She was anxious to get back home and check up on Max and Rye. Her heart did a little flip-flop at the word “home.” She was starting to think of Harper Stables as her home. She loved the big house and the easy way the three of them shared it. After tomorrow night, they would share everything, she promised herself. She intended to make it impossible for them to deny her or themselves any longer.

Stella looked distracted. She was in full preparation mode for the big picnic and auction tomorrow. Rachel heard the doors to the diner open. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve been slow all day.”

Rachel took off her apron and walked around the counter to get her purse. She was stopped in her tracks by two cowboys. She took in the sight of the two men walking into the place like they owned it. Jen stopped beside her. Her hands were still holding the order she was taking out.

“Damn,” Jen said under her breath. Her eyes widened as she watched the cowboys striding in.

Damn was right, Rachel thought, hiding her smile. Stefan had been correct about the Kent brothers. They were just about perfect for her purposes. They each had dark hair peeking out from their Stetsons. Their long legs looked strong in tight jeans and worn boots. They weren’t twins, but there was no question they were brothers. Rachel was taken by their startlingly deep green eyes. They were young men, but there was no doubt that they were men.

“Ma’am,” the taller one said, tipping his hat as he took a seat at the counter. His brother followed. Neither of them hid the fact that they were assessing the women in the room. Rachel rolled her eyes as the one on the right boldly stared at her chest.

“Who are they?” Jen leaned toward Rachel and kept her voice low.

“Friends of Stefan’s.” Rachel offered no other explanation. They really were friends of Stefan’s. They were also about to be the bane of Max’s and Rye’s existence. She had to carefully school her face because she wanted to laugh. The Kent brothers probably acted a whole lot like the Harper twins had when they were arrogant twenty-somethings. In her mind’s eye, she could see Rye and Max at that age, before the world had tempered them. They would have swaggered through the diner, too, checking out every available female as though it was just a question of which one to choose for the night. If Max’s head didn’t explode when he caught sight of them, it would be a miracle.

“Hello, darlin’,” the shorter one said with a confident smile. Though he was shorter than his brother, he was by no means small. He still had a foot on Rachel. He was definitely the charmer. The taller one was watching her with hooded eyes. He was the broody one.

She smiled back, knowing they were putting on a show that Max and Rye would definitely hear about. “Good evening, gentlemen.”

“My name is Shane Kent,” the charming one said with a devilish wink. He looked down at her name tag. “And you’re Rachel. I like that name, Rachel.”

Stella’s head came up from her work. She watched the exchange with avid eyes. Rachel knew she would be on the phone talking up the incident the minute she could do so without missing something.

“I’m sure it would suit you. You look like a Rachel,” Rachel said saucily. These young men might be good-looking, but they had nothing on Max and Rye. They were puppies compared to her men.

Shane Kent’s eyes flared. He looked like a man who liked a challenge. His brother cracked a smile and looked her over with renewed interest. “She’s beautiful and funny. I like her. How about you, Bay?”

A long, slow smile crossed Bay Kent’s face. “I think she’d suit us just fine, brother.”

“How about we take you out tonight, sweetheart?” Shane asked.

“Seriously?” Jen’s eyes drifted between Rachel and the brothers. “What kind of perfume are you wearing? Eau de Ménage? Where do I get it?” She shook her head and flounced off.

Rachel wanted to tell Jen that this was all a setup, but she needed the story to get around, and Jen would be very good at doing just that. Stella was already on her cell phone. Rachel bet Teeny and Marie were getting the lowdown.

“Sorry, I already have a boyfriend,” Rachel said with a little shrug.

“Only one, darlin’?” Shane asked, his voice smooth as glass. “Why settle for one when you can have two? Trust me, you haven’t lived until you’ve been between us.”

Rachel heard every person in the diner draw in a breath. There were a whole bunch of cell phones working overtime now. She had to say that when you wanted word to get out, there was no place better to be than a small town. The gossip grapevine was in full bloom in Bliss. Someone would call Callie Sheppard with the story that Rachel Swift was getting hit on by another set of boys who shared their toys. Rachel was sure Callie would be telling the entire story to Rye within ten minutes.

“I guess I’ll just have to take your word for that.” Rachel winked at the men and drew her purse over her shoulder. “Good night, boys.”

“We’ll see you around, Miss Rachel,” Bay said slowly.

She felt both of their eyes on her as she walked out of the diner.

The evening air was clean and crisp. Rachel stretched as she walked around the back of the diner to the place where she parked the old Jeep. Max was already making noise about buying her something new. Rachel didn’t see the need. Max’s car was even older than hers. He’d explained that there was a difference between their vehicles. Max drove a 1976 Ford Ranger, a classic vehicle. Her Jeep was just a piece of junk.

She shook her head as she slipped inside the Jeep. It was true. She’d bought it for $650 off some guy in New Mexico after the unfortunate San Diego incident. It was a jalopy. Sometimes the driver’s side back tire got a little low, and it felt that way now. But the ranch was only fifteen minutes outside of town. She could get Max or Rye to air it up for her when she got home. The car started, and the lights worked. That was what mattered. Without another thought about it, she pulled out onto the road and started toward home.

It had only been a week, but those nights she’d spent driving around looking for a safe place to spend the night seemed so far away. She had quickly gotten used to having a place to live and someone to cuddle up with at night while they watched TV. She loved being between the two big men. There wasn’t a better way to spend the evening than smooshed between their big bodies. Neither one of them understood the meaning of personal space when it came to her. Even Rye, who, when he thought about it, tried to put some distance between them, ended up touching her when they sat together. The night before, the three of them had sat on the couch and watched a movie. Rachel had been terribly tired. Max offered his shoulder to lean on. Rachel had fallen asleep, and when she’d awakened, her feet were in Rye’s lap, being rubbed softly, as though he couldn’t help himself. It had been a nice night.

Rachel turned off the main road and onto the little street that led to Harper Stables and some of the other houses both up the mountain and down in the little valley. The stables were down in the valley, but she had to go up to get back down. Max and Rye liked the isolation. Rachel could do without the dirt road. She preferred a nicely paved highway with guardrails. It was a winding road, so she slowed down. She still wasn’t used to driving in the mountains. It always felt like she was too close to the edge. Max drove through this stretch with the casual ease of a local, but it was going to take Rachel time to get used to it. She especially hated driving at night. Though the sun had just gone down, Rachel was already struggling to see.

Suddenly it felt like the entire back end of the car was about to go over the edge. There was a popping sound, and Rachel felt the car swerve. Her hands gripped the steering wheel. She could feel the car start to dangle over the side of the road. It was a long way down. Rachel turned the steering wheel and pressed down on the gas. The wheels spun. The car didn’t go anywhere, though. It just made a horrible grinding sound. Rachel’s hands were shaking as she cut the engine and engaged the parking brake. Though the car seemed stable, she moved cautiously toward the passenger side. She stepped gingerly out of the vehicle before breathing a sigh of relief. Despite the darkness, she could see the odd way her car was sitting. She was lucky she hadn’t gone over the edge.

Rachel pulled out the little cell phone Max insisted she carry. She’d been annoyed at the time, but now she was grateful, or she would be if she could get a signal. There were no bars to be had this high on the mountain. Once she got to the valley, she would be able to make a call. Of course, once she got to the valley, she would be home and wouldn’t need to make a call, she grumbled mentally. She pocketed the phone, grabbed her purse, and found a flashlight in the back of the Jeep.