Chiseled and Cherished (Moon Ranch Book 3) Read online

  Chapter Four

  The sound of his brothers’ laughter ringing through the old ranch house along with the trio of women’s drew Asher out of his bedroom. Never in all his days here in this house had he heard such joy. Screamin’, shit smashin’ and sometimes even weepin’, sure. But not this.

  He drifted into the hallway and to the entry of the living room. Not only had Zayden and Mimi’s hard work transformed the space from the dank and dingy decor, but they were different too.

  Looking at his oldest brother’s face, Asher saw only happiness there. He slid his gaze to that of his fiancée Esme, only to find the beautiful woman giggling over something with the others.

  Then Dane… Hell, Asher had rarely seen the man smile let alone heard him laugh. Close to him on the sofa, Brennah sat with love in her eyes for Asher’s brother. His chest grew a little tight with emotion.

  And Christ, Mimi was the biggest transformation of all. The woman who’d done her best to feed, raise and defend them from the likes of their drunk-ass father no longer carried that burden on her narrow shoulders. Instead, she lounged in her favorite armchair, more at ease than he’d ever seen her, and the joy on her lips was the sound of angels.

  His chest burned even more, and he leaned against the doorway, watching. Night had fallen, but the room didn’t bear the dark, scary shadows he recalled from youth. The fresh blue paint and a couple lamps gave the area a warm, homey glow.

  Fuck. He never thought he’d refer to anything on the ranch as homey. A lot had changed around here, and thank God for it. But the other side of the coin gleamed up at him—he didn’t belong.

  When had he last laughed with total abandon? Probably never. Long ago he’d grown convinced he’d come out of the womb bearing the scowl he’d adopt for the rest of his days.

  Suddenly, as if feeling his gaze on her, Mimi looked up. Her smile faltered a bit, but another sort of warmth came into her eyes at seeing him in the doorway. Waving a hand, she said, “Come have a seat next to me. I could use some company.”

  Everyone turned their attention to him, and one by one he watched the smiles fade from their faces.

  He twisted away. “It’s all right. I think I’ll get some air.”

  Nobody stopped him when he cut through the kitchen and left through the back door. The cooler Colorado mountain air enveloped him, and he could finally take a full breath. Under his boots, the grasses swished, and all around were the sounds of crickets and mice scurrying to their hiding spots.

  He grunted. Hiding spots. How many of those had he infiltrated and then hauled a fugitive out of? Hell, he’d done it with Kinsey’s brother. The asshole deserved to be behind bars after running over that woman on the street and fleeing the scene. While he didn’t want Kinsey to learn of his involvement with Trent, he couldn’t regret it either. Helping to uphold the law had been the one good thing in Asher’s whole life.

  Now, he had no position to return to, unless he could hold a weapon without shaking. Could he? He wasn’t quite ready to try.

  Being home stirred a hornet’s nest inside him too. Everywhere he turned, he could only hear “no good Moon.” Even if nobody had said it yet, wouldn’t be long before they’d find a reason. Last time he came home, he’d been in the thick of crap his old man had left for them to fall into. The results could have been disastrous. But luckily the worst injury to come from them going after those guys who stole Brennah’s horses and Zayden’s tractor had been Asher suffering a knife wound to the side.

  How long before more shit surfaced? Nothing remained a secret forever.

  He peered into the darkness, across the fields to where he’d stood with Kinsey hours before. Another secret would eventually make its way out, and she’d hate him for what he’d done to her brother. He’d been an enforcement agent long enough to know that kin lied, cheated, and murdered to hide their loved ones and keep them from going to prison.

  Somehow, he couldn’t connect Kinsey to those people he knew in the past. Plus, she worked as a game warden, and they were known for being levelheaded and peacekeepers. Surely, she’d understand her brother had to face consequences for his bad decisions.

  Didn’t mean she’d give Asher the same soft smile she had before finding out.

  He sighed. Everything changed, and usually faster than he wanted it to. Just when he believed he found a stable piece of ground, the earth began to shake, soon holes appeared, and he had to jump out to save himself.

  But he wouldn’t be doing it in Stokes. The place had too many bad memories, and the best idea he’d had yet was leaving before he created more of them.

  * * * * *

  Mimi placed a steaming mug of coffee on the table before Asher. He looked up with a smile, still half asleep. “Thanks, honey. You don’t need to wait on me.”

  “Kindness always goes far in this house.” She plunked her small frame into a kitchen chair across from him and pulled her robe closer around herself. “Why don’t you tell me what’s troubling you?”

  He wrapped his fingers around the handle of the mug and drew it to his lips. The aroma woke him a bit more, which he was grateful for. He’d tossed and turned in that single bed he slept in as a kid, and the room he’d once shared with Dane looked and smelled different after a good purge and paint job. The bad dreams about Sterling’s daughter settled him even less.

  “You didn’t sleep well?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Ain’t the same without Dane snoring in the bed across the room.”

  She smiled. “Can’t blame him for wanting to sleep next to his fiancée.”

  Asher shook his head. “Don’t know how my brothers got engaged to decent women. I figured they’d end up with someone like Ma.”

  She compressed her lips, as she always did at the mention of their mother who’d left them.

  Before she could say anything, he took a sip of coffee and moaned at the delicious flavors bouncing around his head. “Nobody makes a cup of coffee quite like you, Mimi.”

  A smile spread over her face, but she still wore a pinch of concern. “Don’t you forget it, young man.”

  He grinned. “Never.” He started to ask about her plans for the day, when the old kitchen phone still clinging to the wall rang. He stood to answer it so Mimi could rest her older bones.

  “Moon Ranch.”

  “Which boy is this?”

  “None of us are boys anymore. Who’s this?”

  “Radosh. I’m the place up—”

  “I know where you’re at. You got trouble?”

  “Little bit, yeah. Got a dead calf here and wondering if it looks the same as the calf you lost the other day.”

  “I’ll round up my brothers and head over. That okay?”

  “Hoped you’d say that. We’ll see ya when you get here.”

  Asher replaced the phone on the cradle and turned to Mimi.

  “Oh dear,” she said. “What is it?”

  “Radosh’s got a dead calf. Dane’s at Brennah’s, but is Z home?”

  “Yeah, he and Esme slept here last night. They’re probably stirring now.”

  “I’ll go knock on his door and tell him what happened. Then I’ll shoot Dane a text.”

  She nodded and pointed to a pan of fresh biscuits in the middle of the table. “Get something in your stomach. I’ll fix you some eggs.”

  A half hour later, with Mimi’s scrambled eggs and biscuits filling his stomach, he and Zayden climbed into the truck and drove over to Brennah’s place to collect their other brother.

  Zayden grunted.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Three Moons in the same truck’s gotta mean disaster. Remember how every time we’d go out together, we’d blow a tire or a gasket?”

  Asher chuckled. “Weirdly, I don’t remember it as anything but fun for us.”

  Zayden smiled. “Yeah, a challenge to see how resourceful we could be. Remember that time we tried to use a condom to repair a hose?”

  “Hell, it almost worked.”
They’d removed the hose from the engine, slipped a condom with the tip cut off in place, and then reattached the hose. “For a good mile, anyway.”

  They shared a laugh. After they had Dane on board, they headed over to Radosh’s. As soon as they bounced down the long drive, their moods sobered. A dead animal to a rancher was no joking matter.

  When they spotted several other trucks parked in front of the house, Asher found himself searching for the vehicle Kinsey had arrived in on the Moon Ranch the previous day. Not seeing it gave his stomach a hollow feeling, and he couldn’t quite make out if he felt relief or irritation.

  In Radosh’s field, men clustered around the animal crumpled on the ground. These men were the ilk of Stokes. In worn hats and boots and various flannels and Carhartt jackets, they faced a somber realization this morning—that they had a big problem.

  As Asher and his brothers approached, they fanned out to allow them close to the calf.

  “Damn,” Asher said softly. He’d seen some gruesome shit in his time, but for a moment, he wondered if Mimi’s eggs might make a reappearance.

  Dane tugged the brim of his Stetson. “You just found it this mornin’?”

  Radosh nodded. “Look the same as the attack on your calf?”

  “Worse. But same marks on its hide.”

  “Did you call the game wardens?” Zayden asked the group.

  Radosh nodded. “They’ll be up as soon as they can.”

  Asher’s stomach turned for another reason—the mention of a game warden. How many could there be patrolling Stokes? If they stuck around, he’d see Kinsey again.

  The guys started discussing options, including organizing a mass hunt for the coyotes themselves.

  “But you guys have work to do—you don’t have time to put into nightly hunts,” Asher put in.

  Radosh cocked a brow. “Now there’s an idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Think smart. We need a good tracker, and all this time we got one among us.”

  Asher waited for more.

  Zayden grunted. “He doesn’t realize you’re referring to him.”

  Suddenly, things clicked into the blank spots in Asher’s mind. He met Zayden’s gaze and then flicked it toward Dane.

  “What do ya say, Moon? You’re a trained hunter of men. Surely you can track down some coyotes and put a stop to them feedin’ on our cattle. We’re all losing.”

  Asher considered the request. Tracking men was a sight different from animals, but they had one thing in common—both required the use of a weapon. And after the nightmares that plagued him the night before, he didn’t know if he could even stomach the sight of a rifle let alone carry one.

  Damn, he had to get himself on track—and soon. A man couldn’t live his whole life in these parts without some kind of blood on his hands. Ranchers put chickens into the stockpots and eased the suffering of horses with broken legs. If he didn’t plan on sticking around the Moon Ranch, he had to return to bail enforcement—he didn’t know anything else.

  “We need ya, Moon. You up to the task?” Radosh asked.

  Some of the other ranchers bobbed their heads in agreement, and awareness slammed into Asher. They were actually asking a Moon for help.

  Now he couldn’t just say thanks anyhow and walk away.

  “We know you tracked those men who stole the veterinarian’s horses last time you were home,” one guy said.

  “Without your skills, you and your brothers wouldn’t have recovered that stallion that’s sure to make y’all a lot of money.” Radosh stared at him. “What do you say, Game Warden Reynolds?”

  At the name, Asher jerked around. Somehow while they all talked, he didn’t notice Kinsey approach. A glance showed him she hadn’t brought her partner this time.

  Without meeting his gaze, she sidled up to the group. “What’s the topic of discussion?”

  “We just said Moon here’s the best tracker in Stokes and probably other parts too. He should go after the coyotes—see where they’re travelin’ and take care of ’em before they kill any more of our cattle.”

  Her brows shot up. “I don’t think that’s the best course. Leave this to the game commission.”

  Radosh shook his head, and the others followed suit. “You know our rancher’s coalition has the power to run things as we see fit.”

  “But not above the law,” Kinsey said tightly.

  “We need a hunter,” Dane said.

  “A bounty hunter.” Zayden looked at him.

  Kinsey blanched, leaving her freckles standing out on her cheeks in stark contrast to her pale skin.

  Fuck—she knows.

  “The game wardens ain’t doin’ shit here. Drover called y’all to check out his steer, and all you did was look around the woods and find some tracks. Then the Moons lost a calf. What did you do for them? Hell, the others who have experienced attacks on their cattle haven’t bothered to call ya, because they won’t waste their time. You don’t do a thing to help us.”

  Kinsey squared her shoulders and looked Radosh in the eyes, which took some guts, in Asher’s opinion.

  Asher stepped in. “Look, I appreciate your faith in me, but I hung all that up.”

  His brothers jerked their heads around to stare at him.

  “News to us, bro,” Dane said.

  “Well, I did.” He slid his glance to Kinsey, but the hard set of her jaw told him he might never get back on her good side—or be able to flip her over and find that sweet spot on her good side either.

  He eyed Radosh. “I think your best chance is with the game warden here.”

  Kinsey’s gaze shot up. For a heartbeat, their eyes connected, and a bolt of electricity fed from her to him, before worming low through his groin.

  “Thank you, Moon.” The cold way she said his name felt all wrong, but he didn’t stop her by yanking her against him and thrusting his tongue into her mouth as he wanted to.

  She continued, “Game Warden Cody and I have worked out a plan of action along with some other wardens, and we have an idea to trap and relocate the coyotes.”

  “Trap ’em! Jesus Christ, woman, why don’t you just walk up to them and ask them nicely to stop eatin’ our cattle?” Radosh swept his hat off his head, leaving thin white hairs standing on end.

  A blush flooded Kinsey’s face as her anger surfaced. “Look, this is what we’re paid to do. We don’t need to unnecessarily destroy the coyotes for doing what God put them here on Earth to do. We encroach on their lands and drive them to extremes in order to survive.”

  Radosh pinned Asher in his stare. “You think on it, and the coalition will front a salary for you with a bonus for every coyote you haul in.”

  He almost laughed at the thought of collecting a bounty on animals, but the glare and angry heat coming off Kinsey in waves was turning him on too much.

  He had to get away from her before he said or did something that earned him a knee to the balls.

  “I’ll think on it.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Let’s go,” he said to his brothers and strode back to the truck without waiting to see if they caught up.

  Zayden jumped behind the wheel, and Asher slid into the passenger’s seat. When Dane closed the back door, both brothers gaped at him.

  “What the fuck happened?” Zayden asked.

  “I didn’t exactly turn them down, did I?” Asher chewed the inside of his lip.

  “That ain’t what Z means,” Dane put in. “You gave up bounty hunting? When you’re the only one of us who made something of yourself? Fuck, Ash.”

  “That isn’t true. Look at you two. The ranch is thriving. Plus, you’ve got action. You jack off that stallion what—twice a day?—in order to fill all the requests for his bloodline?”

  “Sick bastard.” Dane’s tone held a little less anger and more of the amusement Asher used his entire life to lighten the mood.

  Zayden didn’t drop his tough guy expression. “Why?” he demanded.


  Asher glanced away. “I can’t say why.”

  Zayden heaved a sigh and then started the truck. They bumped back down the drive to the road and headed home to the ranch. This wouldn’t be the last he heard about the matter, and that meant he needed to somehow put into words that he couldn’t ever again witness an innocent being killed on his watch.

  * * * * *

  Kinsey didn’t plan on driving to the Moon Ranch and hammering on the front door to see Asher, but she did exactly that. After leaving Radosh’s place angrier than she’d ever been on the job, she planned to head back to town and talk to Branson about the issue at hand. Instead, she’d found herself crossing beneath the Moon Ranch sign.

  The door opened on her second round of knocking, and she faced a small woman with white hair and eyes as bright blue as a jay and equally as attentive.

  “Hello. What can I help you with today?” she asked.

  Some of Kinsey’s wind left her sails. “I’m looking for Asher. Is he home?”

  Just then, a huge figure appeared behind the older woman, nearly double her size.

  “I’m home.” The rough grit of his voice sent Kinsey’s senses firing—just what she didn’t need. He looked down at the woman. “Excuse me, Mimi.”

  Dammit, Kinsey should not get turned on by the guy’s use of manners. Asher had done her family harm, and she hated him for it.

  When the woman stepped aside, Asher pushed his way out the door onto the welcoming porch with pots of flowers flanking the door and some inviting chairs to one side.

  As soon as he faced Kinsey, her anger rose all over again. Quietly, he closed the door, and they were alone.

  She glared up at Asher. “You didn’t tell me you’re a bail enforcement officer.”

  “Was.”

  “Dammit, don’t try to worm your way out of this. You let me sleep with you, knowing you put away my brother!”

  He looked her in the eyes. “I didn’t know who you were until after.”

  “Well, Trent is not a criminal. He’s in a bad place, in with the wrong crowd.”

  “They all say that, darlin’.”

  “Don’t you darlin’ me!” She took a big step toward him, and too late she realized her error. She now stood within grabbing distance.