Courage by Kristen Proby
Chapter 1
~Seth~
“Got one!” I smile in triumph and show the trout off to my uncle and dad, who are just about twenty yards away.
We’re at the creek behind the house on the King ranch, enjoying a rare late summer day off with a little good-natured fishing.
Well, it’s good-natured as long as the fish are biting.
“That’s a tiny one,” Uncle Josh says with a smirk, and I scowl down at the wiggling fish in my hand.
“It’s not that tiny.” But I unhook it and drop it back in the water. “Have you heard from the fish and wildlife people about the wolf problem?”
“They’ll be here tomorrow morning,” Josh says with a grim sigh. “This happens about every five years or so, and we end up losing a lot of calves. It pisses me off.”
“I hope they can get it figured out. I’ll help if I can,” I offer.
I have a degree in wildlife biology, and I’ve been working with Glacier National Park for the last several years. I have experience. And frankly, I have a personal stake in this.
This is King land. And I’m a King.
I plan to be here for the rest of my life.
“If you have time to meet them with us,” Dad says as he casts his line, “that would be great.”
“I’ll make time.”
This ranch, and the family on it, is everything to me. They saved me from the pits of hell and showed me what it is to belong somewhere. To be loved.
To be safe.
And I’ll be here for the rest of my life, taking care of our home and proving to them that I’m worthy of it.
“How is Melinda?” Uncle Josh asks with a grin.
“Ah, well.” I shrug and pull in my line, frown when I see the worm is gone, but there’s no fish in its place, and reach for fresh bait. “She started talking about babies.”
Dad’s head whips around to mine. “You’ve dated for what, three months?”
“Two.” I cast the line. “So, I had to end that one. She said I needed to figure out what I want in the relationship.”
“Jesus, after two months?” Josh demands and then shakes his head.
“Well, to be fair, you knew within two months that you loved Aunt Cara.”
“I knew the minute I laid eyes on her.” Josh winks at me. “But it doesn’t always happen like that.”
“Yeah, Melinda was a little clingy. And it didn’t exactly break my heart when I broke it off, so it clearly wasn’t meant to be.”
“You’re young,” Dad says with a shrug.
“What do you say we drink beer and watch football tonight?” Josh asks.
“Can’t. I’m going out with Gage to shoot some pool.”
“How’s Gage?”
“I think he’s doing well. He’s been busy. Haven’t talked to him much lately, but I’ll catch up with him later. Cara’s making spaghetti for dinner, and I’m sticking around for it.”
Just then, Josh’s phone rings.
“Speak of the devil,” he mutters and answers the phone. “Hey, Carolina. What?”
He frowns, then hides a laugh behind his hand.
“I understand. Well, I’d like to keep my balls, so we’ll be right there. We’re coming. Yes, we’ll hurry.”
He hangs up and then lets the laugh go.
“What’s up?” Dad asks.
“She found a mouse.” We all reel in our lines and make our way up the small hill and through the woods toward the house. “It’s the second one in a week.”
“Wonder where they’re coming in from?” I wonder.
“I was supposed to look around, but I forgot,” Josh says. “You can bet your ass that I won’t forget now. She was losing her damn mind.”
“Jillian would burn the place to the ground,” Dad says, referring to the woman who raised me.
“Cara threatened it.”
We climb the back steps and walk into the newly renovated house, and stop short at the scene before us.
My aunt Cara, the woman who is always calm and collected, is sitting on the dining room table, holding a shotgun.
Her blue eyes are a little crazy.
“Uh, babe?” Josh steps forward and gingerly takes the firearm from her. “You can’t shoot a mouse with a shotgun.”
“Says who?” she demands. “You didn’t see the size of the son of a bitch. It was bigger than a tomcat.”
Given that we have several toms out in the barn, she would know.
Of course, there are no mice in the barn. Because we have the cats.
“Where did it go?” I ask.
“Under the couch,” she says and shudders. “It laughed at me.”
I smirk but sober my face immediately when she narrows her eyes at me.
Pissing off the other woman who raised me is not something I ever want to do.
“We’ll find it,” I promise her. “Get a bowl from the kitchen.”
“You’re not putting that monster in one of my bowls,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s disgusting. We eat out of those bowls.”
“Don’t you have an old one that we can throw away after we relocate the mouse?”
“Relocate?” She tilts her head and stares at me like I’m crazy. “That sucker doesn’t get to relocate. I want it dead. I want its whole family dead.”
“She’s really homicidal,” I mutter to my uncle.
“Babe, why don’t you go over to the big house and hang out with Jillian while we take care of this?”
“I’m not getting off this table.”
Josh just smiles gently at his wife, and lifts her into his arms, grabs her purse, and carries her out the front door.
“They’re still really mushy, even after all this time.”
“Are you saying I’m not mushy with your mom?” Dad asks.
“No, you are. It’s gross.”
Dad laughs, and then we see the offending rodent run across the living room.
“Shit, that is a big sucker,” I say in surprise. “I need something to pick it up with.”
Josh hurries back inside and turns to my dad. “Okay, she’s headed over to your place. Holy shit, is that it?”
“Yeah. It’s a monster. She’s right. I need something to hold it in. What about Tupperware?”
“We have something,” Josh says and rummages through the kitchen, then returns with an old to-go container that clearly held spaghetti sauce at some point. It’s stained red.
“Perfect. Okay, we have to corner it.”
The three of us work as a team, laughing as the mouse darts around the room, and finally, I jump onto my belly and stretch to cover it with the container.
“Success!” I grin as I slide the lid under it and secure it in place. “I need to let it go before it suffocates.”
“Don’t tell Cara that we let it live,” Dad suggests.
“Oh, I won’t. Trust me. Now, let’s figure out how they’re making their way inside.”
I walk out to the field behind the house, close to the woods that lead to the river, and let it go.
“Now, don’t come back to the house. Be smart. Stay out here.”
When I return to the house, Josh is pulling a piece of duct tape off the roll.
“Find it?” I ask.
“Yep. Looks like there was a hole under the sink that didn’t get repaired correctly during the remodel. We’ll keep them out with this for now, and I’ll call the contractor to come back and do this correctly.”
“I’m sure Aunt Cara will be relieved that you solved the case.” I check the time. “I’m going to go get some work done before dinner.”
My little house is new and sits on two acres less than half a mile from the house I grew up in. Josh and Dad gave me the two acres as a birthday gift for my twenty-fifth birthday a couple of years ago, and I got to work building my place.
It’s a farmhousestyle ranch house, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It has plenty of room for me, especially given that I don’t plan on it being more than just me living here.
I’m not going to have kids. After the early childhood I had, I shudder to think what kind of parent I’d make.
Hell, I don’t even plan to get married.
This house is perfect for a life-long bachelor.
I kick off my fishing boots, strip out of my sweaty T-shirt and make a beeline for the shower.
* * *
“Out of practice,”Gage says with a laugh when I miss the pocket.
“I don’t exactly have time to just work on my pool game,” I remind him as I reach for my beer and watch him circle the table. “How’s it going with your client? Is Tate starting to feel better?”
Gage frowns and then nods slowly. “It’s a damn slow process. I’ve been working with her for three months now, but she’s standing.”
“By herself?”
Tate Donovan, a cousin of Aunt Cara’s, had a massive stroke last year. At just over thirty, it was a complete shock to everyone. The stroke was severe enough that it put her in a wheelchair, and she’s had to go through many months of different therapies.
Gage has been back from the Army for a few months now and took the job of helping Tate regain the use of her legs and balance.
“By herself,” he confirms. “But I found out she’s been doing too much on her own and fell the other day. Damn stubborn woman.”
I cock my head to the side, watching my friend. “Is something going on with you two besides the working relationship?”
“No.” He sips his beer. “She drives me nuts. Hard-headed, that’s what she is.”
“And you’re the picture of grace and patience. Not to mention flexibility.”
“Fuck you.”
I laugh, and then I’m pushed forward when someone stumbles into me from behind.
“Oh, God, I’m sorry.”
I turn, glance down, and feel my heart lurch.
Big blue eyes.
No, not blue.
Lavender.
“I think I spilled beer on your shoes.” The petite woman with the lavender eyes cringes and reaches for a pile of napkins. “I’m never this clumsy. I tripped on that barstool. I’m really sorry. I’ll pay for your shoes if you want.”
“It’s fine.” I touch her shoulder before she leans over to dab at my feet. “Really, it’s fine.”
She blows out a breath, and my dick twitches at the sight of those plump lips.
Jesus, this woman is beautiful.
“You’re not from here,” I say and gesture for her to sit on the stool.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’d remember that gorgeous face.”
A smile flirts over her lips and a single dimple creases in her right cheek. “No. I’m just in town for a couple of weeks.”
Before she can turn and walk away, I think fast. I don’t know what it is about this girl, but I want to hang out with her. Get to know her a bit.
Kiss those delectable lips.
“Want to dance?” I ask her and point to the live band up on stage.
“Oh. Uh, sure. I guess.”
I take her hand in mine and wink at Gage before I lead her out onto the dance floor. Her hand is dainty, but her grip is strong.
And when we start to dance, her body moves effortlessly. Her brown hair is up off her neck, and she’s in a tank top that shows off the definition of muscle in her arms and shoulders.
She’s in excellent shape.
And her jeans mold around her ass perfectly.
When one song ends and bleeds into a slow song, I pull her to me and we move lazily around the floor.
Her nose is pressed to my shoulder.
Her breasts push against my chest.
I’ve never been so turned on by a woman after only five minutes with her.
I glance up and see Gage wave at me. He’s headed out.
I nod in reply.
I’ll call him later.
When the song is over, and with my entire body humming, I escort her back to where I was sitting with Gage.
“You’re a good dancer,” she says.
“All the better for holding gorgeous women.” I wink and then laugh when she just raises a brow. “Okay, that was cheesy. But it was nice to touch you.”
“Are you always this forward?” she asks.
“No, actually. What’s your name?”
“Remi. And you?”
“Seth.” I shake her hand, and rather than let go, I link my fingers with hers and bring them up to my mouth so I can kiss her knuckles.
She grins and doesn’t pull away.
“Remi is a beautiful name.”
“Thanks. So, are you from here?”
“Yes.” I don’t count the years that I spent with Kensie. “Where are you from?”
“Southern California, originally. I’ve been doing some traveling, and I heard this part of the country is beautiful. So far, they’re right.”
“It’s a little late in the season.”
It’s mid-September. Most of the summer activities are closed for the upcoming winter.
“I like to travel when there are fewer people around. And I lucked out because the weather has been great.”
“We could get snow by the weekend.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Yeah, right. It’s September.”
“In Montana,” I remind her. “Could happen.”
“But probably won’t.” She shrugs and frowns at her drink. “I’m not drinking this. I left it alone for too long.”
“Good call. I’ll go get us fresh drinks. Do you want another beer?”
“That would be great.”
“You stay here. I’m not done with you yet.” I grin and make my way to the bar. The line is long, and by the time I get the two bottles, it’s been at least ten minutes since I walked away from Remi.
When I return to our seats, they’re empty.
But on the small table is a note.
Seth-
Sorry. I just can’t.
R
I take a swig of the beer and swear under my breath.
That would be my luck. She’s the first woman I’ve been truly interested in in a long time, and she ghosted me.
I set down the bottles and rack the balls on the table.
If I can’t flirt with a beautiful woman, I might as well work on my pool game so I can kick Gage’s ass the next time I see him.
