Chapter Fifteen

Meadow felt Colton’s touch on every inch of her body. He’d loved her hard, yet the moments of extreme tenderness had bonded her even more firmly to him.
Just after midnight, he slipped out of bed. Leaning over her, he kissed her long and deep. Then he left to return to the bunkhouse.
Of course, she knew he made the right call. The other guys would suspect things if he didn’t sleep in his bunk that night.
Long after she heard the door close, Meadow lay there, replaying all the things he’d said and done that night.
Finally, she crawled out of bed and took a shower. Washing away Colton, sent a small pinch of pain to her heart. Besides, she knew without a doubt that Colton would be back in her bed tonight.
After her shower, she caught a sound coming from somewhere in the house. Heart racing, she went to investigate.
Either her lover couldn’t stay away for more than an hour…or her father had returned.
Tiptoeing down the hall, she spotted a sliver of light coming from under her father’s bedroom door. She paused outside it, hand poised to knock. Then she heard the telltale clink of a bottle that told her that he was having a nightcap.
Probably not the best time to disturb him. After traveling, he most likely wanted to slip under the covers and sleep.
But he’d left the light burning in his office.
She moved toward the room, past the living room where dark shapes of heavy leather furniture sat waiting for someone to take some rest and respite after a long day of work.
The office door had been left open a crack. Meadow pushed it open. No one was inside.
She reached for the light switch and stopped. Suddenly feeling the urge to be close to one of her last living family members, she moved to his desk chair and sat down.
The cool leather enveloped her like a hug that never came from the owner. Not tonight.
His desk was a mess, as always. A stack of unopened mail was left on the corner. But a small box had been opened, too tempting to not look inside.
She expected to find some part for a tractor her father ordered that had finally arrived. But was shocked to see a sweatshirt bearing the logo of the Naval Academy that Forest had attended.
Her heart squeezed. Reaching inside, she took out the sweatshirt. Stuffed beneath it was a letter, the pages crumpled. The envelope almost torn in half.
She would recognize Forest’s handwriting anywhere.
Pulse thundering, she stared down at it.
A scuff of a boot on the floor behind her made her whirl. Her gaze landed—not on her father—but on Colton.
Whatever he saw on her face had him rushing to her side. He looked down at the contents of the box too.
“I know what this is. Before ops, we are reminded to write letters home. Just in case.”
Her chest wrenched at the thought that she was looking at the last thoughts her brother had put to paper before he died. Plus the fact that her father had read it.
She withdrew the loose pages and smoothed them before skimming the opening.
“It’s to my father.”
“There are more letters in the box.” Colton’s voice was rough.
Sucking in a breath, she saw her name scrawled in Forest’s angular hand. She slowly reached for it, and two more letters shifted in the stack, allowing her to see one with Ivy’s name as well.
And one for Colton.
With her eyes blurred by tears, she tore open her letter. As she started to read, Colton watched her. Heartache stole her voice.
Around the lump lodged in her throat, she began to read aloud for a second time.
Dear Meadow,
My dear sister, if you are getting this, then you have endured a lot. I am very sorry for it, but please know that I am at peace with what the world had to offer me.
I love you so much. I hope you know that I’ve always felt protective of you and Ivy, but I think you’ll agree that you and I shared a special bond.
Her voice cracked. She struggled. Colton reached for her, but she held up a hand to stay him. If he touched her, she could not go on.
You asked me once if I was trying to hook you up with my friend, Colton Nox.
Her head jerked up, and her eyes clung to his.
“Go on,” he grated out.
Steeling herself, she continued.
Well, I have an answer now.
Yes. Colton is your perfect match. You are fire, and he may seem like ice. But ice can melt. Which means he was designed to keep you from burning down the whole world.
A cry burst out of her. The pages fluttered from her fingers. She stepped up to Colton, throwing her arms around his stiff form. She had her brother’s blessing.
Now she just needed to convince Colton that they were right for each other.

Colton gently moved Meadow a step away from him. Then he twisted toward the door.
“I gotta get out of here.”
Even though he knew that Sean Gracey had come home, and was in the house, he didn’t bother trying to muffle his footsteps as he rushed out.
Meadow ran behind him, her bare feet softly slapping the hardwood. “Colton! Wait!”
He couldn’t. The letter in his hand burned his skin as if it were made of something other than paper.
Hell.
Forest planned for him to be here. He’d sent the letter in the same box addressed to his family.
Like Colton was his family too.
His nostrils burned with tears he refused to let fall. Anger tightened his lips.
Why, goddammit? Tell me why! he raged at his friend silently.
In long strides, he made it to the door and threw it open, heedless of any noise he made. If Gracey came out with a shotgun in hand, Colton would turn and face what was owed him. Someone else’s son in trade for losing his own.
Meadow was right behind him. “Stop!”
He continued on, walking too fast for her to keep up. But he underestimated how long her legs were too, and she planted herself in his path.
Long blonde hair streamed around her narrow shoulders. In the darkness, her eyes were a deep shade of night. “Why are you doing this? What are you running from?”
He swept her aside with a swipe of his arm. She made a choked sound in her throat, but he didn’t turn to see the look on her face as he hurried away.
When he reached the bunkhouse, he stopped at the door, hand braced on the wood, chest heaving. The things Forest said in that letter echoed through his mind. Friendship. Kin.
Jesus Christ. The man thought of him as a brother in all ways. But he was wrong—Colton was not the right man for Forest’s sister. He was no good. Despicable. He couldn’t be there for her. Wasn’t he running from that pain on her face right now?
Nor could he deal with the ranch life. What did an unwanted problem child who’d been tossed into military school before doing a stint in the armed forces know about ranching? Nothing.
He shoved open the door and slammed it behind him loud enough that Dude, who’d fallen asleep on the couch again, jerked awake.
“Oh. Nox. Everything all right, man?”
“Everything’s fine,” he bit off in clipped tones. “Go to your bunk, Dude.”
The door burst open and a ball of blonde fire blasted into the bunkhouse. Meadow stood in the doorway, her eyes shooting bullets. “You’re not getting out of this that easy, Nox.”
Dude scrambled to his feet, looking between them.
“What’s going on here?” Webb’s low voice came from behind Colton.
Fuck. The last thing he needed was that man getting involved.
He tossed a look over his shoulder. “Keep your damn nose out of this, Webb.”
Meadow ignored him too and stepped into the bunkhouse. She walked right up to Colton and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You’re the one who came into my house. You’re the one that—”
Before she could hurl the full accusation at him, Webb barreled between them. He was half-dressed in jeans and no shirt, and his balled fists were a challenge Colton wasn’t going to back down from easy.
He reached around the guy, gripping Meadow by the arm. He dragged her all of two steps outside before one of those curled fists struck him in the middle of the back.
Releasing Meadow, Colton whirled on the guy. The knotted muscles between his shoulder blades tried to keep him from taking a full breath.
“You wanna do this, Webb?”
“Oh yeah.” His drawl was sand and grit. The determination on his face fueled Colton’s anger even more.
“Fine. Let’s see what you got, asshole.” Colton waved his fingers in a come-get-me motion.
“What the hell?” Meadow’s question rang out just as Webb rushed him.
He took the hit the way he’d been taught in hand-to-hand combat training, glancing the impact away from his vitals and tossing Webb off. The man hit the ground and rolled but by the time Colton spun on him for more, Webb was already scrambling up.
“Stop this! Dude, do something!”
“Stay out of this, Dude,” he warned. The guy was young and strong but getting between him and Webb, who was as strong as a bull, would only result in a trip to the emergency room.
Webb shot forward again, fist swinging in an arc toward Colton’s jaw. He ducked the blow and punched the ranch manager in the stomach. The air rushed out of Webb, but even that didn’t slow him down.
He threw himself at Colton, and they hit the ground with a hard thump. Meadow’s screams pierced the air. At the commotion, everyone in the bunkhouse rushed outside to see what was going on.
Webb had some moves, Colton would give him that. Using his forearm, he pinned Colton to the ground by the neck.
“Stop! Zach, stop it! Don’t hurt him!” Meadow danced around them, fingers splayed over her skull.
At the idea that she even thought this man could hurt Colton, he saw red. Blinding fury shattered his control, and through a haze he saw Webb’s look of surprise when he threw him off and wrestled him to the ground.
A shotgun blast rang out. Meadow screamed again, and then she let out a whimper. “Daddy! Don’t do anything stupid.”
Colton released his grip on Webb’s neck and stopped short of slamming his head off the ground. The man seemed more reluctant to unwrap his fingers from Colton’s throat but the boss of the Gracey Ranch had enough sway to make him see reason.
“Get the hell up! Both of you!” Gracey barked.
The odor of bourbon clung to Meadow’s father. His eyes were glazed from it. His mouth somewhat slack.
Meadow stepped forward and put her hand on the steel barrel of the shotgun. “Give me the gun, Daddy.”
Colton glared at her father, daring him to be careless with his daughter when in his cups. He would disarm the man and break his neck so fast, no one would be able to stop him.
No one would hurt Meadow. No one.
Her father swung his head to look at her. The fear on her face rippled into steel, the core strength within her.
“Give me the gun,” she demanded again.
He relinquished it to her, and she quickly broke it open to eject the shells.
Gracey looked between Colton and Webb. “I should send both of you packin’ right now. Fact is, I need both of you to keep the ranch working.” He nodded as if to himself. “More than ever, I need to keep it running.”
That statement didn’t go unheard by Colton. Meadow’s head whipped around, and she studied her father’s face too.
The man said nothing, just walked off back to the house, leaving two ranch hands with a lot more reason to hate each other standing in the yard…and his own daughter, shotgun still in her hands, gaping after him.
Suddenly, Forest’s words to Colton, his entreaty to come to the ranch and keep it afloat, to watch over Meadow meant something completely different. Whatever the hell was going on with the Gracey Ranch, Colton felt the undercurrent like a strong tide sucking at his feet.
Why did he get the feeling it would drag all of them under if he didn’t act soon? If only he knew what he needed to do.