“Let them,” Aidan said sharply. “I don’t care. I love Lexi and I love Lucas, and I’m not hiding it or pretending it’s less than it is. If Deer Run, Texas, can’t handle it, then they can go to hell.”
He was damn sick of living up to other people’s expectations. He’d lost the best thing in his whole damn life because he couldn’t handle the potential fallout. He knew what real pain was now, and he knew that the only thing that healed it was genuine, pure love for another human being. He’d been lucky enough to find two soul mates. He wasn’t letting them go because society deemed he was only allowed one. The world could go to hell as long as he had Lexi and Lucas in his life.
“Well, I admire you for your conviction, Aidan. I hope it doesn’t bite your ass in the end.” Dwight was silent for a moment and then seemed almost hesitant. “Are you sleeping okay, buddy?”
Aidan stood beside the door to his room and felt his soul sag. “Sure.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
He sighed and decided that honesty was the word of the whole damn day. He didn’t like talking about how he’d been injured, mostly because he couldn’t remember anything about the day. “Lately, I can’t seem to stop dreaming about it.”
“The doctors said you wouldn’t be able to remember that day, Aidan.”
“Well, they also said I wouldn’t walk.” They had been firm on that point. He’d been stubborn, and exactly six months after he’d been sentenced to life in a wheelchair, he’d stood up and walked. He’d walked because he loved them. They would never know it, but Lucas and Lexi had been his crutches, the very thought of them spurring him to walk. And they were going to be his reward. “It’s nothing, really. Just flashes of the team and the firefight. I don’t even know if what I’m seeing really happened. Probably not.”
But he wished it would go away. Every night, it was the same dream. Darkness and then that terrible sound. In the dream, he rushed out to see what was happening, and he felt the bullets hit him. Then just Dwight looking down at him. Aidan wanted it to stop.
“The dreams are coming even when you take your sleeping pills?”
Aidan groaned. “I didn’t bring them with me. I’m trying to get off of them.”
He hated the fact that he didn’t sleep well without them. He was going to break free of those pills. It was all a matter of discipline, but he knew Dwight disagreed. There was a long pause, and Aidan was happy when Dwight didn’t argue.
“How long will you be gone?” Dwight asked.
“Like I said, a week or two. Hire some more hands if you need it. The money is there. And tell Bo to keep his hands off the emergency funds. I’m not paying for his drinking binges.”
“Will do, boss. Tell me something, have you given any thought to bringing Lucas and Lexi here?”
He sighed. He would love that. “Only if I can figure out a way to drag them.”
He hung up his phone, opened the door, and started to get ready for the most important night of his life.
Dwight Creely shoved his cell in his back pocket, cursing under his breath as he did it. He’d really thought he could get Aidan to come home. Aidan had explained to him how important these two people were to him. He understood that. When they were in the Army together, he’d talked about his ex-fiancée and their best friend. It was only after the incident that Aidan admitted he was involved with Lucas, too. Something had changed after Aidan had gotten out of the hospital. He had purpose. First, he’d fought hard to get back the use of his legs, and then he’d thrown himself into the ranch.
Dwight had stayed close, managing to get himself hired as the ranch’s foreman. He’d known a little about ranching having grown up in Wyoming. His uncle had a ramshackle ranch where Dwight had spent a couple of years after his father had kicked him out. It was a stroke of luck since he needed to stay close to Aidan. He had to keep a watchful eye on the big bastard.
“Hey!” Bo O’Malley swung down from the horse he’d been riding. It still surprised Dwight just how much the boy looked like his brother. Well, he looked like his brother before he’d gotten shot up in Iraq. Bo was a younger, slightly thinner version of Aidan, with sandy hair and a square jaw. “Have you talked to Aidan? Did you tell him Karen came around again? She tried to get me to tell her where Aidan went, but I didn’t think that was such a great idea. I don’t know what Aidan’s doing in Dallas, but he probably doesn’t want Karen around.”
Dwight hated Bo. Every word that came out of the younger man’s mouth was like nails on a chalkboard to Dwight. He’d been given everything, but he whined about how his brother didn’t pay enough attention to him. Spoiled little fucker. It was fun to come between him and his precious brother. A few words here and there and both brothers thought the other hated them. Dwight was glad he’d never been saddled with a sibling.
“I just talked to him. He’s pissed at you. He says the paperwork you did sucked, and he won’t let you near the business side again.” Aidan had said nothing of the sort, but those two didn’t talk, so there wasn’t a lot of worry that they would find out about his lie. They would simply yell at each other about other things, never getting to the heart of the matter. “You need to watch yourself. I think he’s close to getting rid of you. The only reason he’s kept you around is he doesn’t have money for new hands. You have to understand, your brother is trying to make this place work again. If you get in the way, he’ll cut you loose.”
“He can’t do that,” Bo insisted. “This is my home. He can’t kick me out.”
Actually, Aidan had said just that when Dwight had suggested kicking the annoying pest out. But Dwight wouldn’t admit that. “Look, you have to see where your brother would be pissed off at you. He got the ranch, but you took a decent portion of the money. He had to sell out a piece of his ownership to Barnes-Fleetwood to have the cash to operate.”
“Hell, I offered to buy shares a couple of months back.”
And Dwight had convinced Aidan that Bo would cause trouble. It had been easy. Bo had been pissed about the terms of the will. He had been making trouble. Now he was more reasonable, but Dwight still wanted to keep them apart.
“And Aidan doesn’t want you to have anything to do with the business end.”
Bo’s face fell. He was an easy mark. One minute he was all sad puppy dog, and the next he was pissed off boy. It was a turbulent combo that Dwight had used to his advantage. “Well, if he wanted me to do the fucking paperwork, he should have taught me how. Screw this. I’m going into town.”
Bo stalked off, leading the horse toward the stables.
That was a good thing. If Bo was out getting drunk, he wouldn’t notice that Dwight was gone. Aidan needed to come home where Dwight could watch him.
Dwight sighed as he entered the house. He needed a plan. He wouldn’t be so fucking worried if Aidan had taken his sleeping pills with him. Those pills kept him from dreaming. When he didn’t take them, he dreamt about what had happened the day he was injured.
Dwight couldn’t let that happen. If Aidan ever remembered what happened to their squad, Dwight’s life would be over. He had to get him home and get him back on his pills.
Maybe a little chaos was in order. What if Aidan had a reason to do just what he’d said? What if he needed to bring Lexi and Lucas back home to Deer Run?