“I can get you in touch with a few more sellers out in Red Deer—people who work the farmer’s markets and that kind of thing. That organic meat is going to be like gold, you know.”

His grin lit the room.

It was comfortable and peaceful, sitting and talking through the plans for the Coleman land. By necessity things were slow to change, but Gabe seemed content not to rush, and some of her burdens fell aside.

The sexual frustrations and longings? They stayed right up at high.

There was also the part of her that wondered why she wasn’t more focused on getting back to her life in Red Deer. This was supposed to be a temporary gig, living in Rocky, being there for her mom. Thoughts of wanting to see what Gabe could make of the land in the next five years had no place in her long-term plans, and the thought itched her the wrong way.

She really didn’t want to think about why.

Gabe was stacking their plates when loud knocking hit the door.

He sighed. “Bet it’s Rafe pretending to need something, but really here to visit the cat.”

Allison smiled. His kid brother had been coming over often, but he wasn’t bad company. “I don’t mind, and neither does Puss. And hey, at least Rafe’s knocking now.”

“Afraid to catch us fooling around on the kitchen table, or something.”

Her gaze darted to the solid wood planks still covered with the dirty dishes from breakfast, and the thought of having Gabe bend her over the surface made the most delicious shiver go through her.

She turned to the door instead of being brave enough to meet his eyes, just in case he could read the insta-lust that notion created.

It wasn’t Rafe on the other side. It was Travis, face bloody, clothing torn up. He was supporting another young man who hung limply at his side.

Allison gasped, “Oh, shit. Gabe, help.”

She swung the door open wide, and Gabe rushed out, catching hold on the opposite side and assisting Travis in bringing the staggering blond into the cabin. Puss in Boots vanished into the back bedroom, tail down.

“I couldn’t think of where else to go.” Travis’s voice rattled out, faint and rough like he’d been shouting for hours and had barely anything left. “Too many people around my place with the twins moved home.”

“Just get him inside.”

While they manhandled the stranger into the living area, Allison raced for some water and a washcloth. She didn’t recognize the stranger, which didn’t mean much since she’d been gone for years.

Gabe and Travis were speaking in low voices when she returned.

“I didn’t break my promise. I wasn’t fighting. That’s why I didn’t call.” Travis accepted the washcloth and applied it to the man’s forehead where a large cut had bled profusely, dripping across his face and into his hair.

Gabe glanced at Allison. “You want to make Travis something to drink?”

He was trying to get rid of her, which made sense. She didn’t need to know the details. “You want anything, Travis?” she asked.

Travis closed his eyes for a moment, frustration screaming out in his every move. “I’m not thirsty, dammit. Gabe’s trying to keep a secret for me, but since you two are getting hitched, I guess I’m just going to have to trust you as well, aren’t I?”

Oh God. Allison wasn’t sure how to stop this. “I don’t need to know anything you don’t want to tell.”

The man on the couch groaned loudly, and Gabe swore. “Travis, if he needs more than a place to sleep it off, this isn’t it.”

“Cassidy is fine.”

Gabe grabbed Travis’s hand and stopped it in midair. “He’s covered in blood and barely conscious. Not to call bullshit on you, but I don’t want a man dying on my couch just because you’ve got some screwy idea of keeping secrets and not going to the hospital.”

“Fuck it. I’m not dying.” Cassidy opened one eye a crack. “My head is killing me, but don’t start digging a hole to hide my carcass or some crap.”

“See? He’s alive. He’s also an asshole and an idiot, but chances are he’ll continue to be an asshole and an idiot for a long time.” Travis pressed the cloth against the man’s head, the blood slowly cleaning up.

“Takes one to know one.”

She should leave, but that was impossible. Allison waited, hovering on the perimeter like a forgotten puppy.

Gabe leaned in to examine Cassidy’s face. “Great. Not dying, but you still look like shit.”

“Nice place you got,” Cassidy forced out, blinking hard as he looked around. “Not that I can see much though the blurred vision.”

“Be quiet,” Travis ordered. “Gabe, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be traipsing around town looking like we’d done murder. We’ll clean him up and get out of your hair.”

Gabe’s response was a low growl. “You’ve already involved me. Stupid to stop now. Just tell me—either of you got the RCMP or anyone like that looking for you?”

The laughter that escaped Cassidy’s lips died off in a groan of pain. “Nice cousin you got there, T. Thinks the best of you and your friends, doesn’t he?”

“Shut up. He’s got every right to wonder, with you looking like you escaped from the pen or something.” Travis lifted his gaze to Gabe’s. “Nothing illegal. No one died.”

“That we know of—”

“Goddammit, can you shut the fuck up for five minutes so I can explain this?” Travis dragged a hand through his hair, gaze snapping between Allison and Gabe.

The black circles under his eyes made her suspect whatever had happened had been going on all night long. She met Gabe’s gaze, looking to him for a sign of what to do.

Cassidy passing out and nearly sliding off the couch gave them all something else to think about for a few minutes.

“Allison, go take the quilt off your—the guest bed,” Gabe ordered. “Travis, pull off his boots. We can at least lay him flat while we argue about if we need to call an ambulance.”

She hurried away to do as he asked. While she might have been sleeping in Gabe’s bed for the past week, her stuff was still all over the place in the extra room. She barely had time to strip away the covers before the guys were there, gently depositing an unconscious Cassidy on the bare sheets.

“He got hit a few times that I saw, but I thought he was more dazed than anything.”

Gabe unbuttoned Cassidy’s shirt. “Not the fight club?”

Travis shook his head, gaze darting to Allison’s then away. “We were kind of ambushed—they took us by surprise.”

There was a world of things Travis wasn’t saying, and she didn’t want to know more than he was willing to give. “You guys need me to do anything?”

Gabe nodded, the bloody shirt tossed to the floor. “Call Tamara. Ask her to come out.”

“Dammit, Gabe,” Travis complained.

“No—” Gabe held up a hand. “It’s the hospital or Tamara, you choose. Passing out isn’t fine in my books, but you can decide. At least until Tamara gets here. If she says he needs medical attention, then he goes. If you have a problem with that, you picked the wrong place to come for help.”

The tension rushed out of Travis so fast he folded, collapsing to the ground. Allison instinctively moved forward to help him, but he waved her off. “Do what he said and call Tamara. You’re right, Gabe. You’re right.”

He leaned back on the wall, one leg pulled up, totally drained. Staring intently at the still body on the bed.

Getting hold of Tamara and asking her to quietly join them at the cabin only took a few minutes. Allison hurried and grabbed a cup of coffee for Travis—from the looks of it the man was barely staying vertical himself, and he probably wouldn’t give in to reason and go take a rest without a huge protest. By the time she returned to the bedroom, though, Travis had vanished.

“Where…?”

Gabe nodded toward his bedroom. “Showering. Help me with Cassidy for a minute.”

She put down the cup and joined Gabe. He’d been carefully washing the cut on the man’s forehead, the edges already turning blue, bruises rising on his torso as well. Cassidy was powerfully built, his muscles visible even while totally relaxed.

“Must have been quite the crew to put that kind of hurt on someone this strong.” Allison picked up a second washcloth and carefully wiped Cassidy’s knuckles and hands.

Gabe didn’t say anything for a minute. He peeked out the doorway, but the shower was still running. “Travis goes to a fight club every now and then. I go with him to make sure he comes home in one piece. Tamara is aware of Travis’s little adventures because she’s volunteered a few times now—just so you know.”

Fight club. She’d never heard of it. “Maybe I’m too sheltered, but what is that. A boxing ring?”

He shook his head, pulling a light sheet over Cassidy and gesturing her out of the room. “More hardcore, less rules—bare-knuckle a lot of the time.”

The mental image she’d had of boxers in the Olympics vanished to be replaced by street fighters. “Sounds dangerous. But Travis said they weren’t fighting.”

“I don’t need to know the details, Allison. I just want Cassidy to walk out of here in one piece.”

They were at the edge of the living room when he tugged her against him and held on tight. It was out of the blue, and slightly confusing, but being back in his arms? Whatever reason put her there, she was willing to take it. Pathetic as that made her if she thought about it.

So she didn’t think. Just tucked her head under his chin and held on. Soaked in his warmth. Waited, taking every second she could until he decided to let her go.


Somewhere in the past seven days Gabe had lost track of exactly what he was trying to accomplish. Oh, he still knew his deadline was coming at the end of the summer, but even the burning need to provide for his family was less on his mind than Allison.