Bourbon Harmony (Bourbon Canyon #5)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Rhys

A horse snuffled as it pulled up next to mine. Teller was astride a mare, the brim of his beige cowboy hat pulled down low. We probably looked like we were having a who wore it best competition with our jeans and flannel shirts. Tate was wearing something similar, but Tenor had on a gray long-sleeved shirt. The Foster guys wore the same, but only one of them had a vest. The guys teased Cruz for all the snacks he kept in his pockets.

I had loaded my quarter horse, Butterball, into my trailer this morning and met everyone at Mae’s place. No way was I riding with June and fueling speculation. I was a dad with no kids for a couple of weeks and I had time to help out. That was all.

“I was surprised to see you pull up with an empty truck,” Teller said.

Empty? I had the trailer with Butterball. “Oh, the girls? June told me they were invited, but it’ s their time with their grandma. And Kirstin’s staying with them too.”

He gave me a sidelong look. The horses walked next to each other, their tails swishing. We were meeting Jonah with the horse trailer by the gate. He’d already taken June and Autumn back to their mom’s. Summer had stayed behind since she was pregnant and Wynter had joined her so she could help with the kids and the meal. The cattle were all in their respective pasture, and when we returned, Mae had promised us a feast.

“You and June seem to be getting along well,” Tate said from my other side.

“We’ve made amends,” I agreed.

His dark gaze glittered. “She didn’t have anything to make amends for.”

Instead of getting upset, I laughed. Ever since I’d met her, June’s brothers had tried to intimidate me when it came to their sister. “True. I was an ass at the funeral.”

Tate grunted.

Ahead of us, Tenor was flanked by the three Foster brothers. Had Myles faced the same cold reception when he’d returned to Bourbon Canyon? His brothers had been welcomed in like family. They were family now.

I was the outsider. I wasn’t a surrogate Bailey, and I wasn’t married to a Kerrigan. June wasn’t mine.

“Nice to have you moving cattle with us again,” Teller said.

“I don’t remember it being such a strategic process.” The Baileys had a lot of land, but several stretches of fence had been added. Tate had been precise about which cattle went to which pasture, where salt blocks were set in specific locations, and he’d stopped to take pictures of the grasses and shrubbery .

“Dad tried to do right by the land,” Teller said, his hands resting on his saddle horn with his reins loose in his grip. “But Tate’s leveled it up. Put the stick in his ass to good use.”

Tate aimed a glare across me. “I use best grazing practices. We’ve separated the pastures as best we can when it comes to water and vegetation. I’m anal about salt blocks”—another hard look from Tate to Teller—“because it gets the cattle to move around, spreading the grazing over the pasture—and their manure.”

“We’ve cut back on our hay needs,” Teller added. “The pastures have time to regenerate, and in drought years we don’t have to supplement as much as before. But anyway, back to you and June.”

I bristled. “What about us?”

“I can’t ask around her or she’d kill me, but what’s going on? I’ve seen your pickup at her cabin all week.”

I gaped at him. “How?”

He smirked and traded a gotcha grin with Tate.

“There was the time I was there,” Teller answered. “You just confirmed the rest.”

Shit. “She’s needed help with . . .”

Tate barked out a laugh that sent Butterball’s ears swiveling. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“Her songs?—”

“We didn’t believe your bullshit stories then,” Teller cut in. “And we’re not buying them now.”

I glowered at the back of the riders in front of us, thankfully too far ahead to hear our conversation. “It’s just until she leaves. I’m not looking for anything serious and neither is she.”

“June’s always looking for something serious,” Tate grumbled. “It’s why she picks those shit sticks for boyfriends.”

If she hadn’t told them about her manager, then I wasn’t going to. “I’m not a shit stick.”

Teller sucked his teeth. “You will be if you break her heart.”

Again, I wasn’t intimidated. I chuckled. “Have you thought up more threats in the years since she’s been gone?”

“Definitely thought of more since the first day I busted you at the cabin with her.” Teller lifted his chin toward Tate. “They thought they looked so innocent.”

Aw, hell. “Yeah, I did.”

Tate snickered. “I thought Dad was going to give himself an aneurysm when he couldn’t catch them.”

We crested a hill. The pickup with the gooseneck was visible. Jonah leaned against the front of the pickup, his glittering gaze on us. Since he and Summer had gotten together, the guy had cleaned up. He hadn’t been dirty before, just rumpled. His beard was a lot shorter, his hair trimmed, and he no longer wore an expression that said leave me the fuck alone . And I saw him more often. From what I’d heard the Baileys say, this was one of the first times he’d helped move cattle since the accident.

I glanced at all the brothers. “I hope the girls are all up in your love lives. I know Tate already got the Kerrigan treatment.”

Tate grunted again, but a smile played along his lips. “They got in my business all right.”

Teller snorted. “Tate has two more kids to show how much in his business they got.”

“You were in on it too, Teller,” Tate said .

“Yup,” Teller replied.

I grinned to myself. It used to be like this. Back then, I would think about how lucky my kids would be. They’d grow up in a big, vibrant family. People would surround them with love and excitement. They’d never feel like a burden. No one would tell them they were the reason for their parents’ failures.

But now it was up to just me and Wren. Kirstin’s absence made the girls question their worth, but so far, we were making it work. And we would keep making it work as long as I stuck to my plans.

June

When was the last time I’d had this much fun?

Probably not since the last time I’d been with my family, which meant not since I’d been in Montana last.

Mama and my siblings, and Daddy before he’d died, had come to performances over the years, but they had their lives and I had mine. We did little more than meet for a meal.

There’d been nothing like this. Sitting around a firepit. Tate and Scarlett sat side by side, the armrests of their camp chairs nearly overlapping. Tenor sat on a square straw bale. Teller perched on a bale too, but he couldn’t leave the fire alone, adding sticks and moving logs around.

Gideon was in a camp chair by Mama. He had his legs stretched out with his boots crossed at the ankle. Autumn was in his lap. I’d barely recognized him when he’d shown up dressed like my brothers, a cowboy hat stuffed low on his head and scruff all over his jaw. No wonder Autumn glowed like she had a Roman candle inside her.

Summer and Jonah were sitting closest to Teller. She wasn’t on his lap, but her head was on his shoulder and their hands were entwined.

Kids played in the yard, intermittently running to the picnic table to get a marshmallow. One of the adults would help them roast a marshmallow until eventually my oldest nephew, Chance, took over helping them. He was very serious about his s’mores. The kid reminded me more of his dad every day.

I’d laughed more today than any time over the last year. My brothers cracked jokes. Myles and Jonah had loosened up, which sure was something. I’d been back for their weddings, and the guys had been ecstatic on those days, but they’d never shaken their underlying solemnness.

Only tonight, Myles had been out on horseback all day, he was with his wife and daughter, and he was surrounded by his brothers and in-laws—and all of us in-laws had been his foster family at one time.

As for Lane and Cruz, when they’d first started working for Mama, they’d been slightly older than me when I’d left home and they had the immaturity to show for it. But under Mama’s care and my brothers’ tutelage—and with my sisters to keep them in a straight line—they’d flourished. Both brothers had Myles’s serious nature, but tonight they were as relaxed as the rest of us.

Mama sat on my side. Wynter and Myles’s daughter, Elsa, was asleep on her chest. Rhys was sitting on the other side of me. Lane had been peppering him about his ranch and the animals he grew. The guys marveled over Rhys running a one-man operation compared to the comprehensive Bailey ranch.

Lane leaned forward, looking past Rhys to me. “You gonna join us this week?” He feathered his shaggy dark hair out of his face.

Tate planned to continue moving cattle. He usually kept the weekends free, but today had been an exception. We’d had an impromptu family reunion.

“I’ll have to start charging my brothers if I do,” I said in a snotty tone, a grin pulling at my lips. “And they can’t afford me.”

“Wanna try that again?” Tate said from across the fire. “Tell me who to make the check out to.”

I laughed.

“Equal pay for all of us,” Cruz said. “Or else I’ll sing.”

“No one wants that,” Lane said.

“You don’t sound bad,” Mama said, rocking slowly. Tate had gotten her a special camp chair just so she could rock grandbabies while we hung around outside. “I look forward to hearing your shower performances when I’m working in the kitchen.”

A genuine flush crept up Cruz’s face, and Lane snickered. Mama shot him a censuring look.

Myles barked out a laugh that earned him a hard stare from Mama and his brothers.

Rhys’s phone buzzed. He took a look at the screen and hopped out of his chair. “Excuse me.”

I peeked over my shoulder, shamelessly stealing a glimpse of his firm ass as he stalked away. When I turned back to the fire, everyone was smirking at me.

“What?” I hissed.

“Missing your boyfriend already?” Teller asked .

I sat on my hands or I’d flip him off in front of our mother and there wasn’t an age I felt safe doing that. “You’re not very subtle.”

“I don’t need to be.” His grin sent a whisper of warning over my skin.

Did he know?

The question must’ve been in my eyes because he nodded.

Brothers sucked.

“What am I missing?” Cruz poked a thumb over his shoulder. “You and him a thing?”

“No.”

Summer sat forward. “Haven’t you heard the stories?”

Cruz and Lane exchanged a look and shook their head.

“Even I’ve heard the stories,” Myles said. He glanced at Gideon. “You’re from here, so you probably saw them in real time.”

Gideon’s eyes sparkled. Autumn’s back was to him, but he must sense how her eyes were twinkling. “I moved away probably about when Rhys came to live in Bourbon Canyon.”

“Right.” Tenor nodded. “I forget he didn’t live here until he was like, what?”

“Twelve,” I answered for Rhys.

Tenor narrowed his eyes at my tone but nodded. “Twelve, yeah. Because one day, you came home telling me about this new kid in school.”

Wynter straightened on Myles’s lap. “Little did we know that she’d never quit talking about him.”

This time, I scratched the side of my face opposite Mama with my middle finger .

Wynter sweetened her smile. Her gaze lifted over my shoulder. “We’re talking about you. More like we’re talking about how much she used to talk about you.”

Rhys stopped behind me. “Wren would probably make the same claim.” He slid into his seat.

“We were reminiscing with Rhys today,” Teller said.

Cold irritation washed through my veins. I loved my brother, but he could be a dick. “I certainly hope you showed Rhys the proper Bailey hospitality and didn’t pester him.”

“Pester him?” Teller had the audacity to look scandalized. “I just happened to mention that I’ve been seeing his truck at the cabin a lot.”

All eyes were on me. Lane pressed his fist against his mouth, trying not to laugh.

Rhys scratched at his jaw. “I forgot how ruthless you guys are.”

All my brothers grinned.

Gideon glanced at Myles. “What’s it like not getting run right off?”

Autumn patted his arm. “They couldn’t run you off, hon.”

“Myles either.” Wynter’s expression was smug.

“Jonah ran himself off,” Summer said and Jonah nodded.

Tate tipped his head, his eyes full of mirth. “I’m still debating about Rhys.”

Rhys pointed a finger at him. “You did once. Remember?”

Confusion entered Tate’s expression. “No, I don’t.”

Rhys’s eyes got a faraway look. “It was when I was thirteen and I’d just snuck my first kiss with June in the barn, and you walked in. You said I’d better not be up to no good, or you’d bury me under the manure pile.”

Tate’s laughter rang across the yard. “I was kidding, and I didn’t know you two were making out in there.”

I peeked at Mama, my face hot. “It was a kiss.”

“You were practically an adult, Tate.” Humor filled Rhys’s voice. “Scared the crap outta me.”

“Mama,” I said in a mock angry tone. “Aren’t you ashamed of your oldest? Not that the others are innocent.”

Mama rocked away, a faint smile on her lips. “It was a good way of weeding out the fakes. The ones who stuck around knew my girls were worth it.”

The dopey, lovey-dovey looks my sisters gave their spouses made me nauseous. I rolled my eyes toward Rhys in a can you believe this? way.

His gaze softened. “You were worth it,” he said only loud enough for me to hear. “Always have been.”

I melted inside. Absolutely liquid. I could pull him into the barn and finish what we’d started all those years ago.

Conversation continued around us, but Rhys and I were in our own little bubble.

“The girls called,” he said.

“They okay?”

“They’re worried about missing two weeks of lessons, but I said you’re working on the album and preparing for the fundraiser.”

The fundraiser was nothing. I would show up and sing what I wanted. A novel occurrence. There was no set list, no warm-up, no interviews or autograph signing. I planned to arrive and sing and enjoy myself. No pressure. I couldn’t wait .

“I can give them lessons next Sunday.” A week before I left.

He scanned the people around us. “Is it bad that I want to keep you to myself this week?”

“No.” I wanted to be selfish too.

“Tonight, June Bug.” He glanced around at everyone once more. “Your brothers haven’t scared me off yet.”