Rocky Mountain Freedom (33 page)

“We’re already planning a gathering at Traders.” Anna smiled and her face transformed, far less serious, more filled with traditional Coleman mischief. “If you don’t mind partying with the local authorities.”

“Not at all. Unless you cheat at cards.”

Anna winked. “You’ll have to wait to find out.”

Unbelievable. Travis got off the phone with Ashley and immediately called home.

His younger brother Jesse answered. “Joe’s Pizza parlour.”

“Give it a rest. It’s Travis, is Dad there?”

“Aren’t you a dick?” Jesse snapped back. “Whatever happened to talking to me? ‘Hi, Jesse, haven’t seen you in months. How are you doing?’ That sort of thing.”

Travis backed down because this time Jesse was right. “I’m sorry. How have things been?”

“Busy. Had the devil of a time getting things done around here all summer with you gone—hope you enjoyed your holiday.”

“It was a good break, but I’m looking forward to being home in a couple weeks.” It wasn’t the time to point out that Travis had been working damn hard himself, and that there had been extra bodies around the ranch to help. “Hey, I don’t mean to rush, but we’ll catch up when I’m back. I wanted to know if Dad got my message. Ashley is back already, and she’s in my trailer, so no one needs to worry about seeing smoke from the fireplace or lights or that kind of thing, okay?”

“Fuck.” There were rattling noises in the background, and the sound of something falling to the floor. “You should call him.”

“I left a message. I wanted to know if he got it.”

“Leave him a message then.”

Travis was tempted to shake the phone, if that would also shake his brother. “Jesse, are you feeling okay? That’s what I just said!”

Jesse laughed, full-out explosive laughter. “You’re not making any sense, bro. But we’ll talk when you get home.”

Then he hung up. Hung up the damn phone.

This time Travis did stare at the phone in his hand in shock.
What the hell?

“You look like you’re ready to kill someone.” Cassidy stood in the doorway, slipping his hat farther back as he frowned. “Troubles?”

“Jesse is an ass.” That was as succinct a comment as Travis could make it at the moment. “That boy gets more confusing to talk to all the time.”

He debated not telling Cassidy what had happened with Ashley, only to save him the worry, but figured that was all kinds of wrong. They ended up calling her again so Cassidy could be reassured she was okay. Travis phoned Mike until he finally got through and got the all clear for Ashley.

The next two weeks were full. With final trail rides and getting the camp taken down, there wasn’t much time to mope about missing the woman, though Travis wanted to head back to Rocky with something close to a physical ache.

Being around Cassidy made it better, though. Their friendship continued to grow, like stepping back a year in time but throwing in sex and the closeness that connection gave them. It wasn’t only the attraction between them, but something more.

Something Travis had craved his entire life without knowing it.

Still, the days dragged. The crew members were given their final cheques, the horses were loaded up to be returned to Whiskey Creek ranch. By the time he and Cassidy closed the last building and locked the gate, Travis was damn near twitching. As uncertain as their next months would be, they wouldn’t know if it would work until they tried.

And
tried
meant being back in Rocky.

Ashley came running up the hill as they pulled into the yard, one of his old shirts shaking in the wind as she flew into his arms. He swung her in a circle and savoured her kisses.

“Give her up, T. My turn,” Cassidy demanded, and Travis passed her over with a laugh.

Ashley cupped Cassidy’s cheeks as she beamed at him. “There’s plenty of me to go around. You don’t have to fight.”

They pressed close and Travis wondered again at the lack of jealousy striking him. Never had been an issue seeing Ashley live life to the fullest, this time as she slow-kissed Cassidy, wrapped around tight and clinging like a burr.

Travis slipped into the trailer to discover she’d already laid out supper plates, something wonderful scenting the air.

“Hmm, is that stew?” Cassidy asked, stepping in the door with his arm draped over her shoulders.

“One of my few meals. I did warn you I’m not much of a cook, right?”

Cassidy waved a hand. “We’ll take turns cooking. Crock-Pot and freezer meals.”

She nodded. “Hey, T? I didn’t know how you wanted to set us up in here. I don’t have much stuff, so I picked up a dresser at the thrift store the other day. It’s sitting in the living room.”

Travis frowned, trying to figure out her reasoning. “Go on.”

She shrugged. “You two don’t share the covers very well.”

Cassidy laughed. “I share very well, it’s T with the issue.”

“Yeah, well, I figured you two wouldn’t want to share a room all the time, and then when Travis has early chores, he doesn’t have to worry about waking anyone.”

“You’re sleeping in the living room?” Travis shook his head. “Bullshit on that.”

“Hell, no. Just my clothes live there. You get your room, Cassidy gets the second bedroom, and I’ll sleep with whoever is skipping the four a.m. alarm clock.”

Cassidy pointed a finger at her as he winked at Travis. “That is one smart woman.”

He had to agree.

All dinner they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, though there was another itch scratching between his shoulders. Duller than usual, but still there. He got off the phone with his mother and joined Ashley on the couch, pondering if he should say anything yet or not.

Ashley climbed on him like she was claiming her own personal playground toy. “So, tell us…”

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “Family dinner Wednesday night. Coleman gathering at Traders pub on Friday, as usual, but there’s going to be a big turnout.”

“Shit.” Cassidy leaned back in the easy chair across from them, his expression unoptimistic. “The countdown to D-Day begins.”

Travis fought to keep the same sentiment from settling into his gut. “I’d like to take you over to Mom and Dad’s a little early, if you don’t mind. Give them a chance to say hello before the clan descends.”

Ashley and Cassidy exchanged glances, then Ashley laughed. “Look at us. As if we’re headed to the noose or something.”

“Or something,” Cassidy mock-moaned. He turned his frown into a smile instead. “I’m too happy to be here to worry much, so I’ll stop being an ass and hope for the best. Tomorrow I go job hunting. There were a few leads in the paper, but it’s better if I hit the pavement.”

Travis held Ashley close and breathed in her scent, willing her warmth and softness to ease his frustrations, but it was no use. Casual-like, he announced, “I’m going to chop some firewood. Maybe you can come with me, Cass.”

Cassidy’s brows went up. He opened his mouth—probably to protest that the last thing he wanted after a seven-hour drive was to swing an axe. He snapped his lips shut again, pausing for far too long as he figured out what Travis
hadn’t
said.

Then, damn if he didn’t spill the beans. “Looking for stress relief?”

Travis glared at his friend. “Maybe.”

A solid blow hit his shoulder. Ashley had risen to her knees and socked him.

“Ouch.”

“Bullshit,
ouch
.” She gave him another one. “Don’t you try to hide that part of yourself from me ever again, Travis Coleman.”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” he protested. “First thing you hear after moving in with me is I’m needy?”

“Get a clue, you’re always needy, one way or another. I’m more upset when you’re an idiot,” she complained. “Besides, you should consider a few other things. I did some reading, and I now have all sorts of ideas to give you stress relief and kinky sex at the same time.”

Travis released the fist he’d trapped to stop her from beating his shoulder. “Kinky?”

She waggled her brows. “You said you couldn’t imagine me using a crop on you? Fine. Cassidy can do that, and I’ll tease you other ways. Between the two of us, we’ll keep you nice and stress free.”

Good grief. “I’ve created a monster,” he grumbled.

Cassidy dragged him to his feet. “It was mixing in the sex. She doesn’t want to be left out.”

“Damn right,” Ashley muttered. “I’m no fool.”

Travis didn’t know what to expect with either of them anymore, but he knew this. He’d never felt so accepted and cared for in his life. He lifted Ashley’s chin and nodded. “I won’t keep it secret, but you try using feathers or some shit like that on me? I’ll get you back, woman. You won’t even know it’s coming.”

Ashley leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him, her smile dazzling as she eased back and gestured to Cassidy. “Come on, let’s take care of our guy.”

Take care of our guy.

Whatever else was handed their way over the coming weeks, hearing that phrase made all the uncertainty worthwhile.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cassidy stood outside Thompson and Sons garage and eyed the
Help Wanted
sign. He’d spent the morning wandering through town to find out what was available for work, and this was the one place he figured he could use his skills and be happy.

It wasn’t working the land, but the fall wasn’t a great time to find long-term work, not with winter snows fast approaching. He could help with harvest, he hoped to give the Colemans a hand when he could, but he needed a full-time job to be able to stand on his own feet and contribute to Travis and Ashley.

Once again he was lost in a strange new world. No house of his own, no real job.

Only…

Last night he and Ashley had cared for Travis. The whole
dealing with stress relief
had moved past the uncomfortable point for him to a stage where having power over Travis was a head rush and physical turn-on. After the sparks and sex and showers were done, they’d all sat by the fire and watched the stars appear one by one. Ashley had played the guitar, but Cassidy had sat with Travis leaning against him, their fingers entwined, holding hands like romantic fools.

He’d slept with Ashley curled up in his arms, her soft body draped intimately close. Travis’s early-morning farewell as he leaned over the bed and kissed both of them goodbye had been incredible. And hours later after they’d finished breakfast, Ashley had given him a slightly distracted kiss before she’d headed down to her workspace—

All those things were reasons to deal with the strangeness.

Behind the counter, an older man with his right arm in a sling across his chest struggled to his feet as Cassidy entered the door. “Morning. Can I help you?”

“Wondering about your help-wanted sign.”

The man nodded, lifting his hand in the air slightly to show off his injury. “Damn car hood fell on me. Never knew cars could bite, did you?”

Cassidy joined the man in laughing. “Sorry about your arm, sir.”

“My own damn fault, but we needed more help soon anyway. Here, I’ll let you speak with my son.” He slipped over to the entrance to the garage space and shouted through the door. “Clay, someone to talk to you.”

Mr. Thompson waved absently then wandered off into the back as Cassidy waited.

One of the biggest men he’d ever seen walked in, wiping the oil from his hands on a rag. A rush of remembrance hit—while they hadn’t spent tons of time together, Cassidy had met this man a couple times during the summer he’d spent in Rocky.

“How can I help you?” Clay paused, a crease folding between his brows. “Hang on,
Cassidy
, right?”

Cassidy nodded. “That’s impressive. It’s been about a year since I’ve been around.”

Clay held out his hand and shook Cassidy’s firmly. “Welcome back, or are you passing through town and need repairs?”

“Back for a while,” Cassidy admitted. “No repairs for you, though. Actually, I’m looking for work.”

“Ahh.” Clay looked him up and down. “You got experience?”

“Some. No formal training, but I can do all the grunt labour on an engine overhaul, and I know all the typical oil, air filter and sparkplug replacements.”

Clay nodded. “Come in the back.”

Cassidy followed him, for once feeling slightly on the small size. The Thompson boys were bigger than the Coleman family.

Clay rattled a wrench on the edge of the metal railing, a loud clanging echoing through the main garage. “Hey, guys, someone for you to meet. Anyone know Cassidy…?”

“Jones,” Cassidy offered.

He found four additional sets of eyes turned on him as men rolled out from under cars and stepped back from leaning over hoods.

Make that five—adding in the dark-haired girl wearing a coverall who was unpacking items from boxes onto storage shelves.

She tossed him a shy smile. “I haven’t met him before.”

“Shut up, Katy,” Clay growled. He turned to Cassidy. “My little sister.”