Aidan: Loyal Cowboy

He’d never liked her husband and was convinced the fool didn’t deserve Flynn.

Ace didn’t deserve her, either.

He recalled her face that morning three weeks ago and grimaced. Could he have treated her more cruelly? He’d told himself it was necessary, that to lead her on would be unfair. She’d form expectations, ones he couldn’t meet.

The truth was he’d been running scared, that morning and every day since. Even before they’d gone to her house, before their first kiss outside the Number 1 Diner, something inside him had changed. He finally admitted to himself that Flynn was someone he could easily fall for, had, in all likelihood, fallen for years earlier and simply denied it.

“Some news about Flynn going to school to be a nurse.” Duke glanced at the side mirrors before changing lanes.

“Who told you?”

“Your mom. She’s worried.”

“About Flynn? Why?”

“No, about you. She said you took it pretty hard.”

“Why would I take it hard? I think it’s a great idea.” Ace shoved his fingers through his hair, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Want me to call your dad? The truck stop’s coming up soon.”

“Not for half an hour.”

Ace didn’t want to discuss Flynn. He hadn’t told anyone about the night they’d spent together and wouldn’t. Not even Duke. And they were more than cousins, they were good friends.

In some ways, Ace had a better relationship with Duke than he did with his own brothers. Colt was frequently off to some rodeo and Tuf had enlisted in the Marines. On the other hand, Ace and Dinah were close. She was the little sister he ordered around, doted on, protected, and whose secrets he safeguarded.

His gut clenched at the reminder. Flynn and Dinah talked on a regular basis. Had she confided in Dinah about her and Ace? It was possible.

“I don’t know why your mom’s worried,” Duke said thoughtfully. “For a while there we all thought you and Flynn were going to hook up.”

“That was years ago.” Duke was one of the few people who knew Ace and Flynn had dated.

“I’m talking last month.” Duke slanted Ace a bemused smile. “We saw you and her leaving the Number 1.”

Ace abruptly sat up, then slumped against the seat, afraid of giving himself away. “We?”

“Dad, Beau and I.”

Both his cousins and his uncle?

“Royce, Harlan and Gracie were there, too.”

Three of the Harts’ ranch hands? Great. Ace and Flynn might as well have taken an ad out in the Roundup Record Tribune.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Which was not the same as saying nothing happened, and Duke probably picked up on the subtle difference.

“Your business.”

Duke respected Ace’s wishes for the remainder of the drive to Thunder Ranch, avoiding the topic of Flynn and Ace even when his mother brought Flynn up over dinner at the truck stop.

Ace was never so glad to see the exit for home.

They drove the mile-long driveway into Thunder Ranch, past the main house with its rustic charm and fieldstone wall to the various outbuildings, one of them a newly constructed mare motel. Luckily they beat the snow, which started falling in earnest the minute they pulled up in front of the horse barn.

“It’s too late and too cold.” Ace reached behind the seat and retrieved his and Duke’s yellow all-weather ponchos. “Let’s just put the mares and geldings in the west paddock for tonight. We can move them tomorrow if there’s a break in the weather.”

“And Midnight?”

“The clinic.”

Ace had constructed a pair of shaded corrals behind the horse barn, which also contained a small office he used for his vet practice. The corrals were for quarantining sick or injured animals while he treated them. It wasn’t an ideal location for Midnight, but it would suffice until the construction of his stud quarters was completed.

Duke braked to a stop, letting Ace out long enough to dash through the snow and relay their plans to his uncle in the other truck.

“Meet you at the paddock with the rest of the horses once we’ve unloaded Midnight,” he told his uncle.

“You going to need some help?”

“We can handle it.”

Ace returned to the truck. Midnight, impatient to get out, had begun kicking the trailer wall. He was still creating a ruckus while Duke backed the trailer to the corral gate. If all went as intended, the horse would go right from the trailer to the corral without incident.

Turning on an overhead floodlight, Ace positioned himself at the trailer door. Duke reached through the open slats and unfastened Midnight’s lead rope from where it was tied.

The horse stood perfectly still.

Ace wasn’t fooled. When he sensed the moment was right, he opened the trailer door.

“Welcome home, boy.”

The horse flicked his ears and cranked his big head around, calmly assessing his new surroundings.

“I think he’ll be okay,” Ace told Duke confidently after several uneventful seconds. “Now that we’re away from the auction and that livestock foreman.”

“Yeah, okay. If you say so.”

Before Ace could reply, Midnight flung himself sideways out of the trailer, landing with a wet thud on the ground. Ace and Duke tripped over their feet attempting to escape danger. Midnight catapulted into the corral. Running and bucking—oh, man, could that horse buck—he circled the corral a few times before coming to a stop.

“Duke! Are you all right?” Ace slammed the corral gate shut, then ran to his cousin, who leaned awkwardly against the trailer wheel well.

“I’m fine.” He cradled his left elbow close to his body.

“Here.” Ace gripped his cousin’s forearm and gently manipulated the affected joint. “Does that hurt?”

“Hell, yes.”

“Hurt like you fractured it?”

“Naw. Nothing a little ice, aspirin and a cold beer won’t fix.”