Forbidden Cowboy (Rocky Ridge Creek #1)

Chapter Ten

LEVI

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“THIS ISN’T WHAT I meant by spending the night in a cell with you.” I lean against the bars connecting the two cells in Rocky Ridge Creek’s small jail. All my brothers join me in one cell, while Hope occupies the second alongside her sisters.

Sheriff Nash stretches out on his chair with his ankles crossed on the corner of the single desk.

Hope chews on the inside of her mouth. “None of the day went the way we’d hoped.”

“We will figure something out.”

“You know we can all hear you.” The consistent tap of Jade’s boot on the cement floor sounds like a clock’s ticking second hand.

Hope spins around and points at her sister. “Hear this. I won’t forgive you for your part in causing today’s riot.”

Jade pushes off the wall and folds her arms over her chest. “I don’t forgive you for sneaking around behind my back.”

“Can you blame me? Look at what happened when you showed up.”

“If you hadn’t been all, look at me and a Wilde —” Jade flails her hands in the air. “—all over social media, I wouldn’t have even known.”

“You shouldn’t have come! You weren’t invited!” Hope’s scream silences the few scuffles in the cells. The shout doesn’t stop old man Earl’s crackling snores. The drunken fool is passed out and curled in a ball in the corner of the Wilde cell.

“Papa wasn’t invited either. How do you think he’s going to take it?”

Hart snickers behind me, and the anger I’ve been holding surfaces.

I spin around. A couple of giant steps, and I slam my brother against the wall.

I press my arm against his throat, stopping his cocky chuckle. “I’ve always had your back.”

“Was that while you were sneaking around with a Fox?”

I lean close to his ear. “You’re one to fucking talk. Don’t pretend you haven’t screwed the enemy. And I didn’t say a damn word. Ever.”

His jaw tightens. Anger pools in his glare. “I didn’t prance my easy fuck around for the town to see.”

My arm is in the air and swinging before my judgment catches up—his jaw cracks. My knuckles throb. The punch motivates my brothers to jump in and separate us.

“Is this how I raised my boys? To fight over a Fox?” My pa’s low and deep rumble sounds like thunder. “Guess I failed in raising men.”

“How can a boy raise men?” Mr. Fox maintains a similar stern tone. The space shrinks around the two overbearing men.

Sheriff Nash slams his boots on the floor. “How the hell y’all get in here?” The man lacks common courtesy, manners, and all things kind.

The cold metal kisses my palms as I wrap my fingers around the bars. I catch sight of the Foxes, and Wildes join me at the front of the cells. All appear equally unsettled with the confrontation of our fathers. The last time our dads were together was a town meeting five years ago. Thomas’s broken gavel and a row of smashed chairs later, they’d both been banned from attending town meetings.

The sheriff plows between the two burley men. He’s equally muscular and not afraid to get physical.

“Molly!” He shouts down the thin hallway leading to the front receptionist's desk and exit.

“Yes, sweetie.” Molly Nash happens to be the sheriff’s mother—a sweet little old lady who knits baby hats between phone calls and visitors.

The sheriff growls. “It’s Sheriff Nash in the workplace. What did I tell you about letting visitors back here?”

“No visitors, but their kids are in jail. I would’ve liked to have visited you in jail when you were young.”

Nash holds his hands up, halting her from further speaking. He steps back. “You two, out.”

“I’ll be taking my girls with me.”

The sheriff presses a flat palm against Mr. Fox’s chest, halting his stride. “Not yet.”

“What the hell do you mean not yet?”

“The law punishes criminals,” my pa snickers. I see Hart replicated a hundred times in this man. Everything from his anger to the way he presents himself. Boss of the family. Boss of the room.

“Your boys aren’t free to go either. A meeting at town hall is being organized as we speak.”

“What the hell do my boys in jail have to do with a town meeting?” My pa’s question is reasonable—my curiosity spikes.

“The damage to the town hall is severe. I can charge every Fox and Wilde with mischief concerning property, and mischief causing danger to life, which is an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment. Or they can listen to what Thomas and the town council say.”

My pa shoves a finger in the sheriff’s chest. “Council can kiss my ass.”

“Pa,” I growl.

Calvin Wilde stares me down with his deadly glare. The one he enforced growing up. That single look sure had me obeying the rules without question. “I’d want to stay behind bars if I were you, too.”

“Is that how you raised your boys? On threats and violence?”

“Better than raising them to manipulate men to get what they want.”

The Fox women ruffle in the cell beside me. I don’t blame them.

“You two are the root of our problem.” Hope’s bravery stirs a feeling inside me. “You’ve been fighting for so long, you don’t even know why anymore. Ask yourselves whether a fight between our ancestors is worth tearing families and a town apart. Over a disagreement that never belonged to either of you.”

She’s standing up for me.

For us.

“Hope’s right.” I push off the bars. “This feud has gone on long enough, and I will no longer be a part of it. I refuse to drag my children into this fight. They won’t be raised to hate a Fox.”

“Get my boys the hell out of their cell. These tarts are brainwashing them. And we all know what happens once a Wilde falls for a Fox.”

Mr. Fox takes the first swing. His fist connects with my pa’s chin. He deserves it. Had I been on the other side of the bars, I would’ve swung too.

Sheriff Nash steps between them. My pa’s swing knocks the sheriff in the eye.

“Council is ready to see them.” Molly maneuvers around the brawl in a carefree way, as if outbreaks of violence at the station are a daily occurrence. I know for a fact they aren’t. The biggest crime in town is wherever drunken Earl lands.

A ring of keys jangles in Molly’s hand. She singles out one key and opens each cell.

“I smell alcohol on your breath.” The sheriff has my pa pinned against the wall.

“Of course you do. I get a call when I’ve sat down to enjoy a beer with my supper. I suggest you take these off.”

Outside the cell, I want to pull Hope in my arms. Her reluctance and fear keep me at my brother’s side.

Mr. Fox marches to meet his daughters.

Nash releases my father. “All of you, get the hell out of my building before you end up back in cells. Now!” The sheriff points out the door.

I grab Hope’s hand to hold her back. “You okay?”

“I don’t know.”

Mr. Fox storms back in and shoves my chest. I stumble a couple of steps back. The man has strength. “You stay the hell away from my daughter, or so help me, Lord you will regret it. You hear me?”