Patty's Homecoming, page 12
part #1 of Montana Wranglers Series
“That sounds perfect. I will also be able to make some calls and ensure that our bed is ordered, and the custom sheets as well. I am positive that we will also get a bunch more things ordered when we go to Great Falls, if I can’t get everything online or via phone.” Well, she was trying to keep a low profile and said, “Shit, I can’t make those calls. I’m supposed to be invisible right now, aren’t I?”
“Yup.” Blake nodded as he rejoined them at the table. “But, if you give us the information, we can call and play the, she’s a friend of ours and recommended you card. We’ll make up some BS that when we saw you last you mentioned them and if we ever needed anything to get it from them because you just couldn’t think of working with anyone else at all. Etcetera, etcetera.”
“Oh, that is a very good idea,” she said with a happy grin. “Okay, that sounds like a good plan. We will do it that way.” Her men were always thinking. Damn, that was nice. “All right, we will do it the way that we need to. I can buy things but I will likely have to have you boys use Daddy’s ranch card because I’m sure my cards are being watched.”
“You can just use ours,” Corbin said with a shrug. “We’re not even close to being broke, darling. We don’t exactly have a lot of expenses. Just remember to put our names on whatever is being delivered so that your name is nowhere on anything. We don’t want a paper trail leading anyone to you.”
“Then I will tell you boys what I want and need for our home and you guys can order it. That way you don’t have to chance my name or voice being anywhere on it.” She nodded. “In fact, that is the best idea, I do believe. To have you guys ordering it.” She would just tell them what she wanted and what colors.
“Or do it all online,” he said with a smile. “No faces, no voices, just a blank identity. And if it’s coming from our property, which is in our names, no one will be any the wiser. Besides, everyone in three counties knows that we know you and just how big you are in New York. They also know that we’d call you for advice,” he pointed out.
“We should call her office and leave a big-ass long-winded message on her machine,” Blake said. “That way it would be more believable before we started buying. If they are checking then they will think we were talking to her, she gave us some places to look into and some names. Be better if we could somehow actually have a conversation with her via New York to make it really real, but…”
“I think that would be a perfect idea. That way one of my assistants can call you back as well. That is a wonderful idea. See, you are so smart,” she said with a grin. “This is why I need you boys, so that you can help keep me safe, so that you can also ensure that the scent is off my trail. We need to ensure that they think I am as far from here as possible.”
“Do you think one of your assistants would play along?” he asked her. “If we called your office would they just pass us through to one of them? Or would they actually just give us your voice mail?” he asked softly as he leaned back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head.
“If you call and ask for my voice mail and demand it they will put you into my voice mail. Trust me, they have learned to do just that. They have learned to put people into my voice mail when people demand it.”
“Then we’ll ask for it,” Corbin said, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. “That will work best. That way we can chat with it. Only hiccup will be getting a call back from somewhere else to throw them off the trail.”
“Crap. That will be far harder to work out.” She frowned. “How are we going to make this happen? I don’t want to have any kind of issues at all with anyone. How the hell do we work this out?” she asked with a frown.
Corbin’s fingers stilled and then he snapped them. “My sister,” he said with a nod. “She sounds a lot like you on the phone—not exactly, but she’s got a cold right now. Don’t ask, but I had to hear about it the other night. She’s in Florida right now. I’ll shoot her a message through her husband to call your office and ask for the voice mail. We’ll send her the code to get in so it’s more realistic. She listens to the messages, deletes ours and then phones one of our cells. She’ll play the part, even if it’s just a goof-around phone call. All we need is for her to have listened to the messages, save the ones she needs to, delete ours and then call us. That will give the illusion you are on a different cell. Hell, I’ll even get her to go out and get a cheap cell she uses once before pulling the chip and ditching it.” Both she and Blake were staring at him in amazement. “What? I watch those crime shows now and again.” He grinned at them both.
“That is utterly perfect.” Patty moved and kissed Corbin with a happy grin. “God, you are so damn smart,” she said happily. “How did I get so damn lucky to have you in my life?” Okay, so they might just end up spanking her for her cussing but she was so down with that.
“Dunno.” He shrugged with a laugh. He pulled her onto his lap and gave her a squeeze. “I just figured if it worked in a show that we might be able to make it work here. And it wasn’t one of those drama things either, it was a true crime story of some sort. It apparently worked for a time and threw the cops right off the trail of whoever they were looking for. It won’t work with the Feds, they’ll know for sure. But if we keep it short and sweet enough, just long enough for some names-and-numbers kind of conversation, in theory.” He shrugged again.
“It’s a gamble but it could work, short-term,” Blake said from behind her. “The only thing is, what happens if the guys working your case to stop this guy think we’re yanking their chains?”
“They are already pissed at me. I left the hospital, snuck out with one of their guys watching my door. They don’t know where I am either so they are already totally pissed off at me. Don’t worry, they won’t stop looking for me though, they need me too much to put this monster away. Believe me, they need me more than I need them.”
“Then we won’t worry about them. If it comes down to it, we’ll apologize later for leading them on a wild goose chase,” Corbin said. He turned his head to look up at the clock. “All right darling, let’s get a move on. We should get to the house sooner than later. Did you want bring your rental along so you have a way of getting back and forth?”
“Yeah, I should so that I have it if I need it. When we get a new car, well hell, how are we going to do that? I cannot let you boys buy me a new car, I mean it. I can’t do that. I also know that I need one so how in the world are we going to work this one?” she muttered.
“You’re going to let us buy it for you and then, when it’s safe, if you feel the need, you can pay us back.” Blake leaned in and kissed her cheek. “If you don’t, then that is more than fine. It’s our way of taking care of you and making sure you are safe, babe.”
Patty melted a little bit right then and sighed. “Goodness gracious, I have missed this. Having someone other than my father willing and wanting to take care of me as you boys do. It’s…” She didn’t have the words to express how much it meant to her so instead she just smiled and shook her head. “You make me happy. Thank you for that.”
“Always,” Corbin said with a grin. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he set her on her feet. “Go and pack up anything you need to and I’ll come grab your bags. I’m just going to help clean up and then I’ll be there.”
“Don’t bother,” Blake said. “It won’t take more than five minutes to clean up. Go with her, otherwise she’ll think she can carry all her bags at once.”
“You know me far too well.” Patty laughed. “This is just another reason I love you boys so much. You ensure that I’m happy and well cared for. I love it.” She had missed it so very much, someone looking out for her, someone who was honestly there for her and only her.
“We practically grew up with you, Patricia,” Corbin said rolling his eyes. “The only person that likely knows you better is your father. And even then, there are likely things he doesn’t know that you want to keep that way.” He had a point. Especially given some of the shit she’d talked them into doing. And, on the flip side of that coin, some of the shit they had talked her into doing.
“Good point.” Patty laughed and nodded. “This is true, and no one knows you better than I know you boys.” And that made her insanely happy. “Okay, enough talking. I have things to get if we are going to make it home and for me to be able to take some measurements before the sun goes down.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t bet on that. But you might be able to do the measurements before midnight at this rate,” he teased with a smirk. Laughing at her look, he leaned in to kiss her cheek before taking her hand. “Let’s get a move on, we need to get out of here sometime today.”
She laughed at that and shook her head. “You are too funny.” Not. “All that I know is that I want to be with you boys, okay? And please God tell me that you won’t have to leave our beds before the crack of dawn?” Yes, she loved the way that the world moved at the ranch, but she was still trying to get used to the early mornings.
“You won’t have to,” he said as they headed for the stairs. “Or me either, tomorrow’s my day off. But Blake has to be back here early. He’ll have to check on the foal and then deal with the vet when she comes out to look over Matilda and Dot.”
“Ah yes, good point.” Patty grinned and winked. “So that means that you and I are going to get to sleep in?” Ha, their idea of sleeping in was eight a.m. and they both knew it. “Goodness, it’s going to be an adjustment getting back to ranch hours.”
“You’ll get back to it eventually. I promise I’ll be gentle.” He grinned. “Plus there really isn’t much food over there. We have coffee, but other than some bread that may or may not be a science experiment and some cereal but no milk, we need to come here for breakfast.”
“Right. We will come here for breakfast. But, before that, we will ensure that everything is cleaned out that’s bad, so that when we do go to the big city we will be able to do grocery shopping as well. Especially since I want you to cook us a nice, lovely meal as well.”
“Oh really?” he asked with a chuckle. Nodding, he squeezed her fingers. “I think I can manage that. What about you, pint-size, did you ever learn to cook something other than burnt water?” Corbin was grinning at her as he asked that. Of course he’d remember that one particular incident, which hadn’t been her fault, not in the least!
Patty laughed. “No. I learned how to order out for food,” she admitted to him. “I tried. Believe me, I tried. However, it didn’t work at all for me.” Sadly. “I tried. Oh, heaven only knows I tried but you know how that goes.”
“I do.” He flinched visibly. Shaking his head, he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “Don’t worry, I will teach you a little so you needn’t starve if we’re not here or I’m not around to cook. I won’t strain your talents but being able to boil water and make toast are handy tools to have. Especially since a toaster has settings on the damned thing.”
“It will still burn,” she shot back. “I swear that everything except for my beloved coffee maker is out to get me. Everything. Toaster, oven, stove, all of it,” she muttered. “I must have been a trash compactor in a previous life or something and squashed all kinds of kitchen gear for it to hate me as it does.”
“Not possible, they just can smell your fear,” he told her as they entered her room. At her look, he nodded. “It’s true. Not technically but on some relative term, they can. It’s like a karmic dog knowing when you’re afraid. Quit giving me that look like I’ve lost my ever-loving mind woman. If you know you are in control you will master the beasts of the kitchen appliances.”
She snorted. “The only one I have mastered is the coffee maker and that’s only because I need my caffeine and I refuse to give it up. The food I can still order out but the coffee, there is nothing like that first cup while still walking around the flat in the nude.”
“Well, there is no takeout around here but you can wander around in the nude all you want.” He grinned at her. Turning, he looked to her bags and pointed at them as he threw her a glance. “That all we need to grab?”
“Yep, that’s it.” It was sad really. She didn’t have but two bags with her. She had a hell of a lot more back in New York but when she ran, she didn’t touch anything in her home. Instead, she had hit up thrift shops after getting as much cash out of the bank as possible and ran. Fast as she could.
“Hey.” He moved toward her. Pulling her into his arms, he hugged her gently. “It was just a question, love, not judgment. Just needed to know what I had to haul around, nothing more, nothing less. I promise,” he murmured against her ear softly.
“I know. It just reminded me that I pretty much just up and left. Blew out of town as fast as I possibly could. I hate that I had to, as well,” she admitted. “However the fact is that I am here now and that is all that really matters, right?
“Right,” he pulled back and smiled. “Grab your pillows, your jammies, your toothbrush, your whatever-the-hell-you-unpacked and let’s go. Once we’re at the other place you can start to unpack, spread out and mark your territory. Though we discourage peeing on furniture and walls. Other than that, our place is yours to do as you wish. Just no pink in the bedroom, please. It gives me hives.”
She snickered and shook her head. “Right. Well considering I am really not a huge pink fan, I think that you will be fine. Give me just a couple of moments and I will be ready.” She was ready to get to their home, their forever home.
“Take your time, darlin’,” he said. Squeezing her hand, he gave her a wink and then stepped out of her way. “Go, do what you need to. I’ll take your bags down and come back for anything else you might need me to carry.”
“Sounds good.” Patty had to turn and look at him once more. She sighed and her heart constricted because she was well and truly happy. Damn, she had missed this. So much. “Be down in like three minutes,” she told him and scurried off.
Chapter Eight
Blake unlocked the door and, reaching inside, the lights in the entry came on. “After you.” He waved her inside. Corbin was right behind her. Each man had a bag and a pillow under their arm. “Trust me, there’s not much to trip over so feel free to poke around.” The house was a sprawling ranch style, single level, and massive if the outside were anything to go by. It was stone and log on the exterior, and inside were rich woods with white-painted walls. And empty, if the echo and Blake’s words were anything to go by.
Stepping inside, Patricia immediately sized up the place. “Wow.” She entered the foyer, which was impressive, and then the main living space. “Who did this?” She walked to the fireplace. The stone and the wood looked to be hand cut. “No.” She moved closer and traced the indentions on the wood. “The old hickory tree?” There, sure enough, was a triple heart that they had put onto that tree so very long ago. “Who? How?” she asked softly as her fingers traced the well-loved triple heart, the symbol that she had goofily come up with one day with them. Fishing, she thought was what they had been doing when they came up with that symbol.
“We did,” Corbin said, moving closer. His hands were empty and tucked into his pockets. “We’ve had a lot of time on our hands when we had it. And it was either build this or hunt you down and haul you back home. We figured that we should at least have somewhere for you to come when we finally did go and get you. But we kind of got stuck on the whole furnishing bit, obviously.” He waved a hand at the empty space.
That had her smiling and she turned. “The furnishing bit I will take care of. This.” She touched the mantel and looked at them as she touched it. “This is amazing,” she whispered, with tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “So much. Thank you.”
He gave a lazy shrug and smiled. “We wanted this to feel like home to you too, Tisha. Plus it’s cute and a great story one day to tell our brilliant and gorgeous progeny. Which of course will all look just like their mother. But not until they are thirty and we’re over the protective stage, at least a little.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I love it. However, when we have little hell-raisers, I want them to look just like their father too. I want our boys to be just like the two of you boys.” She wanted that. She actually looked forward to it, to be perfectly honest.
“Yeah, you say that now, but after a couple hell-raisers I have a feeling Blake and I will be sleeping in the doghouse. Which we’ll have to build since we don’t currently have one. You really sure you want a couple of little boys?” he asked curiously. “’Cause, as I recall, I was a serious troublemaker, and don’t even get me started on Blake.”
“Hey,” came an indignant shout from somewhere in the house.
Patty giggled. “I’m very sure, because if you will recall I was right there with you boys. I adored you then and I will adore little mini yous as well, so don’t even go there.” Turning to face Corbin, she grinned. “All that I know is that we will be happy. As long as we can keep me alive long enough for the rest of that time, at least.”
Corbin’s smile faded and his face went hard as he stepped in closer. He cupped her face and stared down at her. “No one is going to touch you. Nothing is going to happen to you. You are finally here with us, and damn it all to hell and back again, we’re not letting them have you. You are ours, now and until the end of time. They can just pull up their big boy pants and accept that fact and, if they can’t, we’ll show them why cowboys are just plain better at everything.”
“I hope that you are right.” She leaned into him and then smiled. “Cowboys are better at everything,” she agreed. “And I know that if you boys put your minds to it you will keep me safe and you guys as well.” And her father. “Now, show me our bedroom?”
Nodding, he dropped his hands to her arms and squeezed lightly. Then he took her hand in his and tugged. “Come on.” Leading her into the open hallway, pillars the only thing really defining the space, he headed toward the back of the house. Walking slowly, he showed her a bunch of the empty rooms and what they might be used for. He showed her the bathrooms and bedrooms and then their room. It took up a large chunk of the side of the house, and was L-shaped and empty except for a king-sized bed and two side tables.
