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“Sloan, you’re settled now, got kids,” he said. “What do you think about marriage?”
Sloan smiled. “I recommend it. Just maybe not with the first girl you lay eyes on. It’s all fine and good to try to win the ranch land, but maybe you don’t want to propose every day that ends in y until you finally pick off a female. Be patient. Eventually a woman will take pity on you.”
“Very funny.” Falcon grimaced. “It can’t be that hard. Marriage is just a contract between two people.”
Ash came over to sit next to him, leaned against his shoulder. “You really want that land, don’t you?”
“Look who’s talking—you’ve already named it,” he pointed out. “I’ve got a name chosen for when I win it, too.”
Galen sighed. “This is what Aunt Fiona and Running Bear want, all of us focused on the land and settling down at the drop of a hat. They did it to our Callahan cousins, and they’re going to be really happy to see all of us sink like rocks into the wedding swamp.”
“Swamp?” Dante laughed. “Even I wouldn’t have thought of Aunt Fiona’s wedding dare as a swamp. Maybe a soup.”
His twin, Tighe, shuddered. “Swamp works for me.”
Jace got up, went to look out a window. “I’m looking as hard as I can for a bride. It’s not happening.”
“They say a watched pot never boils,” Sloan said. “Maybe your fire’s not turned on.”
“My fire’s fine,” Jace snapped. “Let’s not worry about my fire, thanks.”
“I move we get on to the general business.” Falcon felt edgy, impatient. “Any news?”
“Fiona mentioned the chief dropped by.” Galen’s expression turned intense. “She said Running Bear wants to meet with us tonight in the stone circle.”
“Did our cagey aunt say what the topic is?” Falcon asked.
Ashlyn smiled, her once-short, light blond hair now grown just past her ears, making her look less soldier these days and a bit more delicate. “Apparently, Running Bear may have word about our parents.”
Falcon blinked. They hadn’t heard from their parents in years. At least twelve. He tried to remember. He was thirty-three now—he’d last seen their parents...on his twenty-first birthday.
Ash, the baby, had been thirteen, Dante and Tighe fifteen.
Falcon had been a man then—but it hadn’t felt like it. Galen had come home from his medical studies in the military to keep them in line. The siblings had tested Galen, giving him a bit of hell, but it hadn’t lasted long. Those who were of age followed him into the military. The rest Galen ramrodded into growing up good.
Good and tough.
He looked around at his siblings. “Well, that would be news. If it were true.”
They all gazed at him. He sighed.
“I’m sorry. I can’t get excited about it. It’s been too many years and too many dead ends in the maze.” He shrugged. “We all know how the story ends, anyway.”
They looked away. Falcon knew his words were perhaps harsh, but they were honest. He went to the windows and stared out at the vast horizon toward the canyons, feeling angry, hurt, somehow betrayed, even though he knew their parents had done exactly what he would have done—and would do, at this very moment if necessary, to protect his family.
He didn’t focus on the pain anymore. It didn’t do any good. He held his parents’ memories inside him, respecting them, knowing they were in his heart, where they could never be taken away from him.
Still, peace was elusive.
There was not going to be a happy reunion, and he knew it as well as the rest of his family did.
He brooded about that—until he saw shadows swirling in the evening light washing the distant mesas. “Look,” he told his brothers and sister, and they came to stand beside him. They watched as the mystical Diablos, a sure portent of things to come, thundered through the painted canyons.
Yes, he would make the very same decision his parents had made. It was all about protecting the family—and right now, his mission was guarding his parents, Callahan cousins, Rancho Diablo, and the Diablos from the danger stalking them.
* * *
J ILLIAN LOOKED AT T AYLOR as she finished tidying up the diner’s mahogany counter. “You don’t want him to know, do you?”
Taylor didn’t look at her old friend and employer. “Falcon isn’t serious about marrying me. He doesn’t need to know anything about my private life.”
“He sounded pretty serious to me.” Jillian cocked her red mop of hair, thinking. “Callahan men usually stick to that ‘strong, silent type’ way of thinking, but say what’s really on their mind.” She nodded. “Maybe you should tell him the truth.”
“Falcon doesn’t need to know that I received another marriage proposal. It’s none of his business.” At the moment, Taylor didn’t want anyone in Diablo to know more about her than necessary. She’d grown up here. People talked, and talked a lot. And she hadn’t quite accepted the astonishing proposal of Storm Cash. She’d said she’d think about it.
Falcon’s proposal was the second she’d received in a month. “I’m in shock, to be honest.”
“I am, too.” Jillian walked over, took the dishrag from her. “Go home. Think about all this. Talk to your mom about everything. It’s not often a woman gets proposals from two men almost at the same time.”
“They’re enemies,” Taylor murmured.
“True enough.” Jillian nodded. “Falcon’s going to hear about it eventually.”
A chill teased at Taylor. “Do you think he knew that Storm proposed?”
“I feel certain that Falcon isn’t the kind of man to do things out of a sense of competition for a female. There’s too many pretty ladies around who would give anything to go out with him, or any of the Callahan boys.” She shrugged. “Tell me again why Mr. Cash offered to marry you?”
“He said he needed a wife,” Taylor said. “He said he’d heard that Mama was ill, and he didn’t want to take me away from her when he knew she needed help, so he would wait for me. But he also wanted to help Mama out. I told him we were fine, that we didn’t need his assistance. To be honest, I thought his proposal was more sincere than Falcon’s.”
“Never underestimate a Callahan. They don’t do anything half-baked. It just seems like they’re half-baked, all of them.” Jillian laughed. “They are wild men, for sure—both sides of the Callahan family tree. And Ash follows in her brothers’ and cousins’ footsteps. In fact, I do believe Ash taught those boys a thing or two about staying crazy and free, at least according to what Fiona has shared.” She smiled, enjoying telling the yarn. “No, Callahans are fully baked, like clay fired in a kiln. Falcon was serious.”
Taylor realized she’d completely dismissed Storm’s proposal, kind as it might have been. Yet her heart had leaped at Falcon’s words—first in surprise, then with what she could only identify as happiness, even as she knew he couldn’t truly love her. He was too wild.
How long had she carried a secret torch for the handsome, long-haired cowboy? Months. Maybe ever since he’d ridden into Diablo. She heard the tales of wildness surrounding him and his family, and every time he’d come into the diner and ordered a meal, his dark navy eyes staring into hers, her heart had sung.
“You better straighten it out, honey, if you’ve got a yen for that man.” Jillian turned the lights low and switched on the small neon closed sign in the window. “I can only warn you that if you have any feelings at all for Falcon, any idea at all that you might want to consider dating him, you want to turn down Storm Cash as quickly and quietly as possible. If Storm should tell anyone in Diablo that he offered to marry you, Falcon will run in the opposite direction. Those two are natural enemies, like an alpha wolf crossing into another alpha’s territory. You have to decide if you want either of those gentlemen, or neither, before they catch wind of each other. Some men compete over a girl, but I think Falcon’s got too much baggage and too many girls after him to expend the effort. He did say he was looking for an easy thing.” Jillian gently smiled. “I wish I was still young enough to have two sexy hunks vying for my hand in marriage.”
Taylor picked up her purse and followed Jillian from the diner. It was hot now in New Mexico. There were fires burning in different parts of the state, feeding on the parched land. Soon, hopefully, the heat would break, and more temperate conditions would settle over Diablo.
Christmas wasn’t that far away.
“You could get him if you play your cards right,” Jillian said cheerfully. “And if you want to know about playing man cards, you might consider asking his aunt for information. Goodness knows no one loves a wedding like Fiona Callahan.”
Once again, Taylor felt that leap in her heart.
And guarded herself against it.
Chapter Two
“Don’t know if you’ve heard,” Ash whispered in Falcon’s ear as they crouched around the white stone circle near the canyons that night, “your sweetie’s in town agitating.”
He couldn’t help a smile at the thought of Taylor “agitating.” She was a firecracker, and he was dying to light her on sexy fire. “What’s up?”
Ash seated herself cross-legged on the ground and grinned. “First, it seems she has a problem with the way one of her neighbors is treating his horses. Taylor’s been making noise about someone needing to take the animals from their owner. Then,” Ash continued, as if that wasn’t enough for one woman to tackle, “Taylor’s decided the town elders need to do something about the panty raid the high school kids had on Friday night. Some people thought it was harmless fun, but some people thought the kids ought to get suspended, since all the panties ended up on the lawn of Miss Lyda’s old folks home south of town.” His sister laughed, delighted.
Truthfully, he didn’t care much about the shenanigans of the high schoolers, and preferred to spend some time thinking about the type of panties Taylor might wear. “What’s Taylor agitating for?”
Ash grinned. “She thinks the high schoolers involved need to be commissioned for a sing-in on the porch of Miss Lyda’s, to entertain the live-in residents. And she wants them to spend an afternoon painting Miss Lyda’s fence and porch to freshen it up a bit. Miss Lydia does her best, but everybody’s wallets are a little thinner these days. She could use the help. Taylor believes the kids need to spend a little time around their elders, who could teach them a thing or two about life. Panty raids are fun, she told the town council, but life lessons are important, too.”
And that’s why Diablo loved her. Falcon grunted. “If she gets it arranged, I’ll put up the paint.”
“You will?” Ash stared at him.
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “The town’s wallet isn’t so full these days, either. And I’ll go check out the farmer whose horses Taylor thinks aren’t in great shape.”
“Why are you doing this?” Ash demanded. “I mean, I guess it’s obvious, but it’s not necessary, just because you lost your mind for a moment and proposed. You don’t have to convince her you’re a saint.”
“I’m no saint.” That was absolutely true. Falcon couldn’t care less if people thought he was saint or devil. “I need to get off my butt, anyway.”
“Yeah. Right.” Ash gave him a sidelong look. “We prefer to keep your goodness under wraps, you know. Your Boy Scout side is for family consumption only. You’re going to make Taylor fall in love with you.”
“That’s the plan.”
Ash shook her head. “I’m beginning to think you honestly mean that.”
Taylor was strong, strong enough to match him and stand up to him. She wouldn’t wither away under the stress of his lifestyle.
Their grandfather came to the circle and lit the small fire.
“You remember that you were brought here to protect Rancho Diablo, the Diablo spirit mustangs and your cousins,” Running Bear said. “The Callahan bond to earth and sky is strong.”
His brothers and Ash nodded. Falcon stayed still, his gaze on his grandfather’s weathered face.
“More importantly, you know that you protect your parents, Julia and Carlos, and the parents of your Callahan cousins, Jeremiah and Molly, from discovery. From attack. Dark forces have gathered on the land in the canyons and gorges. In the last year, three mercenaries have followed your every move, even kidnapping one of your women.”
Falcon glanced at his brother Sloan. Sloan’s wife, Kendall, had been briefly kidnapped by one of the mercenaries, who’d turned out to be a family relative—Uncle Wolf, brother to Jeremiah and Carlos, and determined to harm his own brothers. Wolf was the dark, fallen angel of the family.
“Now that the Diablo Callahans remain in Hell’s Colony, Texas, it should have become quiet here at Rancho Diablo.” Running Bear looked at the sky for a moment, thoughtful. “You will be stretched a little thin when Dante and Tighe leave.”
Falcon stared at his brothers. The twins looked a bit sheepish in the face of their family’s shock.
“What do you mean?” Ash demanded. “Where are you going?”
“We might try our hand at rodeo,” Dante said. “We’re not cut out for this detail. The constant waiting is making us crazy.”
“Yeah,” Tighe said. “It’s like we’re waiting for a war that never starts.”
“Finks,” Ash told her brothers. “How can you turn your backs on family? Jonas and Aunt Fiona and Uncle Burke wouldn’t turn their backs on you!”
Dante and Tighe looked crestfallen at their sister’s criticism.
“Let them go,” Running Bear said. “Dreams cannot be ignored. They must be lived.”
“Oh, bother.” Ash glared at her brothers. “Well, maybe I’ll go off on a toot myself. Maybe we’ll all just pack up and go off chasing rainbows and unicorns.”
“You can’t,” Dante said. “Who would watch over Fiona?”
“It’s all right,” Falcon said, opting to play the role of peacemaker. “The ranch will survive.”
Ash turned her head away from Dante and Tighe. Falcon thought his brothers seemed to shrink at her obvious censure of them.
“I agree with Falcon,” Galen said. “We’re all following our own dreams. We have to live our lives to some extent. This commission is going to take years. Besides, Falcon’s proposed to a woman in town. Sloan’s married. Life goes on.”
“We just don’t feel like we’re doing anything,” Tighe said. “The mercenaries haven’t been around in months. For all we know, they’re gone.”
They all looked at Running Bear. He shrugged. “Tonight, you must focus on deciding to stay here or to go. This ring of stone and fire is your home, for as long as you want it to be.”
“We’re never going back to the tribe, are we?” Jace asked.
Running Bear shook his head. “That path would lead the enemy to your parents’ door. I remind you that one of you is the hunted one. You must guard against any division that may reside inside you. There will come a time when you have a split second to make a decision, a moment when you stand at a fork in the road. You will not recognize the danger, but the choice you make will live with you, and all of us, forever. Until then, here you stay, until you walk away.”
His grandfather’s ominous words were chosen carefully, a warning. Falcon had only one choice, and that was to stand and fight. “I’m staying. Rancho Diablo’s good as anyplace else to live, and besides, I really like Aunt Fiona and Burke.” For that matter, he liked the town of Diablo. He felt his soul take flight on the rare occasion when the Diablos were spotted in the dusty canyons that were the ancient, stunning backdrop to the ranch. “Family’s first with me. I’m a soldier, and then I’m a family man. Can’t walk away from a good fight, especially since it involves family.” He tossed a handful of dirt into the fire, where it briefly dimmed the flames.
“I’m staying,” Ash said. “I’m hard core.” She flung dirt into the fire and walked to kiss her grandfather on the cheek, then mounted her horse. “I’ve got land to win,” she told her brothers. “The only way to win is to hang tough.”
“And lure Xav Phillips to fall for you,” Dante said.
“Good luck with that,” Tighe said.
“Just because you two got dumped on your heads by the nanny bodyguards is no reason to doubt Ash,” Falcon said. “She’s smarter than all of us. Good luck with the rodeo. Let us know where you’re riding sometime. We might come around.”
He left the stone circle, following his sister off on horseback. He knew who would stay and who would go; there was no need to linger.
Every man had to do what he had to do.
Falcon was called to serve.
* * *
F ALCON KEPT FOLLOWING Ash the second he realized his sister wasn’t heading toward the Tudor-style Rancho Diablo mansion with the seven chimneys, but toward the canyons. He knew Xav practically lived in the canyons, rarely returning to the ranch for supplies, but Ash wasn’t heading in the right direction. It looked as if she was skirting the deep crevasses of the mesas, heading to the opposite side of where Xav kept his camp.
Falcon tried to envision what life would be like if he didn’t have a headstrong sister, and realized it would be dull as dirt. Probably one reason he was attracted to Taylor was that she was a spitfire, cut from a mold similar to Ash and Aunt Fiona, and his own mother, Julia. No wallflowers among the women he knew.
Taylor was more right for him than she knew.
Suddenly, Ash halted her big horse, wheeling around to glare at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Falcon asked. “Have you heard that there are mercs in the canyons who are known to kidnap Callahan women for sport?”
