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Lindsey rested her hands on the saddle horn, letting Dusty take the lead. “Sometimes there isn’t a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Tess murmured, then pointed up ahead. “There’s Hank, Cade and Chance.”
Lindsey knew Hank Barrett was the one who’d taken in the three Randell brothers, Chance, Cade and Travis, to raise after their father, Jack, had been sent to prison.
As they got closer to the men on horseback, Lindsey could see the strong family resemblance between the brothers. It seemed all Randell men were tall, with that rangy, muscular build. The square jaw and cleft in the chin was like a brand, telling the world who they belonged to.
She’d met Chance and Travis earlier, but Cade looked even more like the man Lindsey had called Dad for the past fifteen years.
The difference was these men shared his blood. She didn’t.
Jack Randell was only her stepfather.
Just as soon as Jack and her mother returned home from their vacation and discovered she’d gone against his wishes, he wouldn’t be happy.
It wasn’t as though she’d planned to come to San Angelo. It had been curiosity that had her go to the job interview. She told herself she only wanted to meet Travis, one of Jack’s sons. Then she found herself accepting the position. After all, it was only temporary.
Hank Barrett sat back in the saddle and watched Tess approach with the new veterinarian. Ever since Travis returned from Dallas singing Dr. Lindsey Stafford’s praises, Hank had been anxious to meet her.
He smiled as the redhead rode closer. She was easy on the eyes, and if there was one thing he appreciated, it was a pretty female, no matter what the age.
Hank greeted Tess. “Hello, Mrs. Randell.”
“Good morning, Mr. Barrett,” she answered. “Hi, Cade, Chance.”
Chance touched the brim of his hat in greeting. “Tess.” He glanced at the redhead. “Dr. Stafford, nice seeing you again. This is our other brother, Cade. And this is Hank Barrett, the one who started the mustang project.”
Hank nodded at the petite woman who sat comfortably in the saddle. There was something about her name that was familiar. “Dr. Stafford, I’m glad you could join us.
“Please, everyone, call me Lindsey.” Her horse shifted sideways. “And thank you for inviting me along today.”
“Well, Lindsey,” Hank began, “I hope you still feel that way if the ponies don’t cooperate. They’ve been known to be stubborn.”
The doctor rewarded him with a smile. “I hear old Dusty here is pretty good at cutting out his target.”
Cade reined his roan back. “I guess we’ll know soon enough if he likes to chase wild ponies as much as cows.” He grinned and Lindsey tensed, once again seeing the resemblance to his father.
“I’d say we better get going,” Chance said, pointing to the herd off in the distance.
Lindsey looked at Hank for direction as they started down the trail.
“We’ll let Chance and Cade take the lead,” he said. “Wyatt, Dylan and Jarred are at the other end of the canyon to drive the herd toward us.”
“I’ll just follow you,” she said.
Hank nodded. “Okay, let’s go and get us some ponies.”
They rode off, and Lindsey felt she was taking a step back in time. To see the wild ponies in their natural setting. This had been another big draw for her to come here. She just didn’t realize how much she would already love it.
Two hours later Brady sat with Luke in his truck, waiting at the temporary corral at Hank’s ranch, the Circle B Ranch. He was still wondering why he’d come. Of course, it beat the alternative, sitting back at the cottage. That had been what he told Luke, anyway. Not that he wanted another chance to see Lindsey Stafford again.
“They’re coming,” Luke called as he climbed down off the railing.
His own excitement growing, Brady got out of the truck and looked to where his brother pointed. He saw the riders on horseback, chasing after the ponies. An assorted mixture of paints, bays and buckskins. Over a dozen as far as he could see. But he couldn’t find Lindsey.
“There’s Tess,” Luke called.
It was easy to catch his sister-in-law’s long blond hair. Then he spotted Lindsey’s black hat. She was riding drag, a bandana tied around the lower part of her face to help filter the dust.
“Come on, bro, help me with the gates.” Brady was glad he could finally manage to do something useful. He followed his brother, took one side and swung open the metal gate. It had been a while since he’d been around horses, but he knew they could be unpredictable at best. The first two ponies arrived and went into the pen, but the third and fourth decided to turn off.
Hanging on to the gate, Brady yanked off his hat, waved it around and yelled to turn the horse back. Then Chance and Cade showed up to take over. Finally the last of the ponies were in the large pen and the gate shut.
His cousins climbed off their horses and everyone went to the corral to check out their finds. Brady’s gaze was on Lindsey. She dismounted and walked toward the metal railing with the old guy, Hank.
Barrett looked the part of mentor, father and grandfather. He didn’t have to demand respect, but he got it. He wasn’t a Randell, but he’d earned the title of family patriarch.
He nodded at Brady. “Good to see you up and around.”
“It’s a start.”
“Well, if you get the doctor’s okay, you can go out with us the next time.”
Brady nodded. Chances were, if he was strong enough to chase wild mustangs, he’d be hightailing it for the cockpit of his F-16. “Thank you, sir,” Brady said. “I’d like that.”
Hank turned back to Lindsey. “I think we got ourselves a good-looking bunch this time.”
Lindsey avoided Brady’s gaze and went up to the gate. “I’m worried about the paint. See how he favors the right front leg?”
Brady looked, too, but he had to watch closely to see the slight limp.
“It could be a pebble. I’m going to have to examine him, but I have appointments this afternoon.”
Hank agreed as he checked his watch. “Tomorrow, then. We’ll separate them so they all can be examined and inoculated. How’s that with you, Doc?”
“I could come by tomorrow afternoon for a few hours.”
“Good, it will give us time to see which ponies are worth the time to saddle break.”
“Why are you saddle breaking them?” Brady asked.
“So we can sell them at auction. Since we have to thin the herd, we want to find good homes for them.”
Brady had his eye on a gray stallion that didn’t like being confined in the pen. He kept moving back and forth along the fence.
Hank waved the group on. “Everyone is welcome to come up to the house for lunch. Lindsey, I hope you can join us.”
“I’d like that.” She pulled out her phone. “I just need to check my messages.” She hung back from the group.
Hank looked at Brady. “How about you, Captain? I wouldn’t mind hearing a few F-16 stories.”
“I might have one or two that are worth repeating.” Using his cane, Brady managed to fall into step beside Hank. Although his steps were awkward, he was happy to be able to get around. What he couldn’t understand was why he was feeling drawn to this family. Not to mention one vet.
They made their way into the compound where a large ranch house stood. It was painted glossy white with dark green trim. The barn and other buildings were also white and well kept.
“Nice place, Hank,” Brady said.
“Thanks. My boys run things now. In the summer months we open it as a dude ranch of sorts, but it’s a working ranch.” He grinned. “You’d be surprised what people will pay just to do chores like a ranch hand.”
Cade joined the group. “Yeah, Chance, Travis and I had to do the work for nothing growing up.”
“It built character,” Hank told him.
Cade laughed. “Well, I sure got a lot of that, then.”
Brady listened to the teasing between the brothers and Hank. Suddenly he thought back to how much his own father had been away during his life. All the baseball games he’d missed, the birthdays and holidays. As a typical kid he did a lot to get Sam’s attention. Most of it didn’t work, until he got into ROTC in high school, then into the academy.
“You boys turned out okay,” Hank said. “You’ve settled down with pretty wives and have families.”
Brady glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of Lindsey hurrying to catch up, so he hung back.
“Do you have to run off?”
“No, I can stay for lunch. But I have a two-o’clock appointment.”
“Good, that will give me time,” he said.
She frowned. “Time for what?”
“Time to convince you I’m not a total jerk.”
“Really.” She looked skeptical. “You think I should go easy on you?”
“No, but I’m hoping my Randell charm will win out.”
She smiled. “So the average guy doesn’t have a chance over a Randell?”
“That’s right.”
They took slow, easy steps toward the back porch.
“Well, I disagree on that theory,” she said. “Jarred Trager, and Dylan and Wyatt Gentry do all right in the charm department.”
Brady fought rising jealousy, recalling how his cousins had been flirting with her earlier. They had their own wives. “That just goes to show you a Randell wins out.”
She stopped and looked confused. “But they’re not Randells?”
He nodded. “Yes, they are. Seems Uncle Jack had three more sons.”
CHAPTER THREE
AS HARD AS LINDSEY TRIED, she couldn’t hide her shock. “Really” was all she could come up with.
Brady gave a sharp nod. “Evidently Uncle Jack was quite the lady’s man when he was out on the rodeo circuit.”
“Have Jarred, Wyatt and Dylan always lived here?”
Brady shook his head. “About half a dozen years ago, Jarred Trager showed up. He had found an old letter from Jack to his mother that talked about their affair. He came here and met Dana Shayne and her son, Evan. They married a short time later.” He shrugged. “That’s the condensed version that Luke gave me.”
Lindsey took easy breaths as they continued on toward the Barrett house. She walked slowly so Brady could keep up, and so she could try to absorb what he told her. Had Jack known about his other sons?
“You say Wyatt and Dylan are your cousins, too?” She should have seen the resemblance in the men.
He nodded. “After their mother finally told the twins who their father was, Wyatt came to San Angelo looking for Jack, too. Wyatt ended up buying Uncle Jack’s half of the Rocking R and found Maura Wells and her two kids, Jeff and Holly, living in the rundown house. A few months later his twin, Dylan, arrived after he’d been injured bull riding. He ended up marrying his physical therapist, Brenna. Who, by the way, is putting me through torture these days.”
They reached the porch and he turned to her. “You seem pretty curious about the Randell family.”
She shrugged. “The Randells are a big part of this valley. As an only child it’s interesting to hear about a large family.”
“Yeah, aren’t we just one, big happy family.”
“I’d take them,” Lindsey told him, trying to act lighthearted. It was difficult. From the beginning, Jack had warned her and her mother about his shady past. She also realized that her stepfather needed to know about his other sons. If only to make amends with them.
Suddenly the back door opened and Hank peered out. “There you are. I was wondering if you two had gotten lost.”
Brady used the railing to climb the steps. “No, I’m a little slow these days.”
Hank smiled. “I thought you were just hanging back to get some time with a pretty lady.”
“Well, that, too.”
Lindsey felt her heart accelerate, but she put on a smile. “Well, now that we’re here, how about some lunch?”
Hank ushered them into a huge old fashioned kitchen. Sunny yellow walls were lined with maple cupboards. The white-tiled counter gleamed, and a tall, older woman was busy setting the table.
She turned and smiled. “Hello, you must be the new vet, Dr. Stafford. I’m Hank’s wife, Ella.”
“And I’m Lindsey.”
Her friendly brown eyes searched Lindsey’s face. “It’s nice to meet you. Hank said you were pretty, and he’s right.”
Cade walked by her. “Hank says all the women are pretty.”
“That’s because all the women around here are pretty.” Hank hugged his wife to his side, kissing her cheek.
Ella acted as if she were pushing him away. “Be careful, Lindsey. Hank will be wanting to know if you’re a good cook, too.”
Hank tried to look indignant. “I hardly know this woman. But if she can cook up any special dishes, I wouldn’t mind sampling them, say at our next family get-together. Thanksgiving is coming up.”
