Page 26 of Disarming The Rancher

She purposely led to avoid being stuck in the back with Hardy. She’d met his eyes once already and there was a big conversation coming based on the intensity in his. Yes, they needed to sit down and have a one-on-one. Right now, she wanted everyone to be safe and to figure out where Brax had gone.

Slipping outside while everyone was distracted and eating wouldn’t cut it. She’d learned her lesson after the ATV incident earlier.

The minute she set foot in the kitchen, she searched for Adam. Now, he was gone too.

Panic squeezed her chest but she forced a smile. She thought about sending Brax or Adam a text, and realized she had neither number. Asking Mom Firebrand for it seemed out of place.

She took in a slow, deep breath and then had everyone introduce themselves. Kenny took the seat next to hers.

“How’d you get out of the house so fast this morning?” he whispered.

“Got up early,” she said.

“That’s strange. You’ve never been an early riser,” he pointed out. Being on tour together meant everyone knew each other’s habits.

“Nope. Things are changing,” she said as she accepted the big bowl being passed around. She plunked a couple of meatballs on her plate and then kept the bowl moving. Next, came spaghetti noodles and sauce. She turned to Mom Firebrand, who sat on Raleigh’s left, and said, “You must keep a batch of these made up at all times. There’s no way you just fixed these.”

Mom Firebrand winked and threw her hands in the air.

“With this many mouths to feed, you learn a few tricks,” she said. Raleigh had seen Mom Firebrand work her magic in the kitchen. Whenever she made sauce, she made tons in a huge pot, spending hours cooking it before leaving it overnight to settle. Then, she added grappa before portioning up and freezing, so that she always had some available in case of emergencies.

Raleigh could believe it. She’d never really seen herself as having a large family. In fact, had she ever really seen herself with a family at all?

It sounded crazy, even to her, but she hadn’t given it much thought. Being too busy was a copout. It was true but everyone had five minutes here and there to contemplate life. She usually took a nap or wrote a song. The desire for kids had never really struck until the moment she saw Angel. Having Brax in the same room with a newborn caused a maternal reaction internally that she hadn’t known she was capable of.

Could ovaries actually ache?

Because suddenly, she was envisioning him holding their newborn and that was exactly the moment she realized she’d lost her mind. The pressure of constantly being on the road or in the studio, plus now with the bomb threat, must mean she was hitting a hard wall. Having a husband or a family hadn’t occurred to her. Besides, she had the band and the road crew. They were like family.

At times, she already felt like a mother with seven boys. In that way, she could relate to Mom Firebrand. In fact, while Raleigh was here, she might as well get some tips from an expert.

“Is there something wrong with the food, honey?” Mom Firebrand’s forehead creased with concern.

“No. It’s even better than I remembered.” The comment shocked her out of her deep thoughts.

“Then why are you pushing the meatball around with your fork instead of eating it?” Mom Firebrand could be counted on for stating facts. It was one of many things Raleigh loved about the older woman.

“Oh. I didn’t realize I was,” she said by way of defense. She lowered her voice when she added, “I’m just a little worried about Brax. It’s not like him to miss a meal.”

9

Brax hopped off Bullet. His cell was going crazy, buzzing in his pocket every two seconds and he needed to find out what was on fire. His mind snapped to the ATV driver or the bomber getting to Raleigh. Fire licked through his veins.

The screen said there were four missed calls from Adam and multiple text messages. Brax skimmed the texts. Realization dawned that he hadn’t told anyone where he was going. He wasn’t used to telling anyone his whereabouts but that needed to change.

There was a serious threat on the loose. Brax bit back a curse at worrying his brother. Besides, whoever was in the trees must’ve fled. That, or he was seeing things.

He called Adam.

“Hey, sorry. I’m good. Thought I saw something in the tree line so I came out to investigate. Now I’m not so sure anyone was out here in the first place,” he explained.

“Good to know. I can back you up next time.” Adam’s offer was a polite way of saying Brax shouldn’t be chasing anyone without backup.

“You’re right. I should’ve clued you in. My bad. Won’t happen again.” Brax wouldn’t run off chasing any more ghosts without a heads-up. It was the reason they had a group text.

“Cool.” Adam lowered his voice and said, “Someone else hasn’t stopped looking for you.”

“Really?” He was caught off guard.