Page 40 of Red Hot Rancher

“What if… Shit, Justin.” Yeah. Her brother would want to be a part of his kid’s life. Hell, they all would. But Maisy would wield that kind of power with ruthless cruelty.

“I just… There’s nothing to do until one, I know she’s pregnant. And two, if it’s mine.” His face twisted with unseen pain. “But if she was okay pummeling me, how can I leave a baby to her mercy? I’ve heard Caleb’s stories.”

Ice crystallized in her veins. She’d only just started hearing Caleb’s stories about life with Adele.

She put her hands on his shoulders. “First, we find out if she’s pregnant. Then we go from there and you’ll have half the county on your side.”

He nodded, but she’d never seen him so defeated. But he had all the support in the world. And it reminded her that Caleb had no one. She was leaving tonight to interview for a job that would take her away from him, and from Justin, and from all the family that was helping her out. Leaving for an interview didn’t feel right. Not when it was a precursor to leaving for good.

Maybe she would call Caleb and see if there was any way he could go with her.

It was weird to not drive the entire way, but Caleb was happy to be a passenger. Riding in a car instead of a truck was odd as well, but with Brigit driving, he’d hop in anything. She parked under the canopy of the hotel.

“I can go check in. Wait here.” Brigit slipped out, the sparkles on the butt of her jeans flashing under the hotel’s lights. She disappeared inside.

When it had been his turn to drive, she’d researched hotels while chattering with him, probably to keep herself awake. That part of his job was ingrained in him. If he was awake at night, he was up. Only when his head hit the pillow did he relax.

When he’d told her that he could go with her but had to be home by Sunday, she’d been delighted. He’d barely managed to switch shifts, but once the guys heard he wanted to go out of town with a woman—and not just any woman, but Brigit Walker—they’d helped arrange the schedule despite his pleas that it wasn’t serious.

He could lie to them about it, but he couldn’t fool his heart. This felt serious. Waking up to her every morning this week had felt serious. Justin knowing that Caleb was sleeping with his sister rang with all kinds of serious.

Caleb stared up at the hotel. How different would his job be in the big city? He had plenty of experience, he had the respect of his boss, but fighting house fires and grass fires and the occasional business’s false alarm was a little different than a building where the number of floors hit double digits. Even the false alarms in this place would make his head spin.

It’d be cool to talk shop with some firefighters here. Was the job market competitive, would he have an edge up because of his experience, or would they laugh him out of the city?

What was he thinking? He still had his grandparents’ ranch. His ranch. He had eighty creatures that relied on him to do his job so they didn’t suffer. Being a rancher and a fireman meant he was more a part of the big world than the kid who’d been shut in a closet for the night so his mom could party. He meant something to the food supply of the nation. He meant something to the safety of the town he lived in.

When he was a kid, people looked past him. Or they saw him and immediately looked away. Now, when he walked through town, he nodded to folks all around him, exchanging hellos. They either knew him as a fellow rancher—and a respected one—or they knew him from his work in the community. Places where he helped inspect fire alarm systems knew him by name, and parents recognized him from the awareness carnivals his crew did for kids. Local students passed him in the grocery store, saying, “Hey, I know you.”

His adult life was so different than when he’d been a kid, and yet it was the same town.

The anonymity Brigit craved in the city wouldn’t suit him. He’d worked hard to be known for who he was, and he’d surpassed that to become respected. A big leap for a kid with a mom the town thought was a good-for-nothing partier.

Brigit trotted out the door, snagging his attention, a piece of paper and a set of card keys in her hand.

She opened the car door on a swirl of cold air. “We’re on the seventh floor.”

There wasn’t a building in Moore with more than three levels. For work, he’d had to train with grain bins.

She parked, and they found their room. This place was nothing like the Moore-tel. The faint smell of chlorine floated on the air underneath the chemical-laden floral scent. His gaze strayed to the smoke alarms and the sprinkler heads. Seventh floor. He might have the ear gauges and a different hairstyle than the rest of his crew, but he was more of a country boy than he’d thought.

Brigit opened the door to their room. He didn’t miss her soft inhale.

“Look at that.” She went straight for the window. The curtains were open. The sun set early this time of year, but the lights of the city spread across the horizon. “It’s gorgeous.”

Caleb stood next to her. The view did have its own appeal. He preferred his front porch, back when he’d had a front porch. More like, he preferred the view from the end of his driveway after he’d cleared the trees around his place, before he turned onto the road, when the fields stretched out before him and the sky was like a dome over his own personal paradise.

“It’s nice” was all he said.

Brigit glanced at him, but he couldn’t decipher her expression. “We should close the curtains. I doubt anyone can see, but I’d rather err on the side of privacy.”

“I don’t think we’ll wake up to any sheep eating the flower beds here.”

She laughed. “It’d be a shock if we did.” She flopped on the bed and stretched out. “That drive is too short for long stops but long enough to be uncomfortable.”

He sat next to her. “What are we doing tomorrow?”

“Justin paid me for my work.” She sighed, but Caleb thought reimbursement was justified. When Brigit wasn’t applying for jobs, she was working around Justin’s place or hopping in with Caleb to do chores. “I need a new outfit. I brought one that could work, but if I can get one that screams professional woman a little better, I’d like that.”

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