Hard Ride (Clean Slate Ranch) Read online

  “Damn.” Derrick’s expression softened. “Do you see her often? Rachel, I mean, not the mom.”

  “Not a lot.” Derrick’s curiosity and lack of outward judgement helped Slater keep talking when he would normally clam up. “When I get my week of vacation at the ranch, I try to go home and see everyone. She knows me, but we aren’t close.” Not like I wish we were.

  “Do any of the guys know about Rachel?”

  “Arthur knows. I told him about her, briefly, when I interviewed for my first job at the horse rescue.” Weariness settled deeply in his bones, and not just from today’s activity. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Derrick, but I’ve spent a lifetime trying to make up for them. And then for all my hard work, the universe decides to bust up my fucking ankle.”

  “Maybe there’s something to what Mack said earlier about life putting us where we’re meant to be.” Derrick’s dark eyes flickered down to Slater’s lips. “Thank you for telling me about Rachel. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

  “I trust you.” Slater didn’t trust easily but he did trust Derrick Massey. Maybe more than he should after knowing the guy for a month.

  “Same,” Derrick said, “or I wouldn’t leave you alone in my house every single day. Or have invited you to live here in the first place. I don’t...trust easily.”

  Slater didn’t have to phrase it like a question, but he did. “Because someone broke your trust?”

  “Two someones, and pretty badly. I thought I’d learned after the first time, but apparently not. Fortunately, I never had to watch Conrad go through the same pain. Maybe he saw what I went through and figured out what not to do.”

  “Everyone fucks up. There’s no shame in that as long as we learn from our mistakes and try to do better.”

  “You should hook ‘Everyone Fucks Up’ onto a rug.”

  Slater grinned. “Maybe I will. Or I’ll save it for my first wall sampler.”

  “You’re going to try needlepoint?”

  “Dunno. Dez made me watch a few beginner videos yesterday, and I might try it if I get bored with latch hook. It’s not like I don’t have the time to try new things.”

  “True.” Derrick yawned, which made Slater yawn in turn. “So, we survived our first week together. Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “It wasn’t bad at all. You ever call Conrad about your birthday next week?”

  Derrick sat up straighter and grinned. “I did. We’re having a small family dinner at our parents’ house on Thursday, and you are, as my boyfriend, invited to join us.”

  Slater chewed on his bottom lip. He knew this moment would come, and he’d already been introduced as Derrick’s boyfriend to the neighbors. No one had to find out they weren’t fucking. Hell, even if they’d been actual boyfriends, who would expect them to be fucking a week after Slater had ankle surgery?

  “Okay,” Slater said. “I, uh, guess it’s too late to ask, and also kind of a dumb question considering Sophie, but will your parents mind that I’m white? And, you know, a guy?”

  “Nah. I mean, they were a little surprised by Sophie at first, because Conrad had never dated white girls before. But they saw how happy she makes Conrad. Mom might fuss a little about me not giving her grandbabies, but Sophie wants at least three kids, so she’s covered.”

  Slater tried to imagine a future with Derrick where he introduced Rachel to Derrick’s parents. He could almost see it...but Slater also saw himself back at work on the ranch, surrounded by guys he’d known for years, living on the most beautiful land he’d ever seen. This thing with Derrick was temporary, anyway, and trying to imagine something different was pointless. Slater would enjoy the friendship while he had it and focus on the present. No more distant futures and pipe dreams.

  Except as Slater fell asleep that night to the newly familiar rumble of Derrick’s soft snores, he couldn’t help dreaming for a little while longer.

  Chapter Ten

  Slater needed to keep his ankle elevated and iced for at least another week, so he could only practice a bit with the hands-free crutch, because of the way he had to position his leg. He still used the regular crutches for most things, but the hands-free made fixing his own sandwich for lunch so much easier.

  He had a doctor’s appointment Friday to have his soft cast switched to a hard one, and Dez had volunteered to drive him so Slater didn’t have to pay for a Lyft. No way was he letting Derrick take off work for it. But before that, he had to get through dinner with the Masseys. Not that he expected a disaster or anything. Slater had seen the couple from a distance the few times they’d been up to the ranch, and they seemed incredibly kind.

  Still, other than the first time he’d taken Nina on a date when they were sixteen, he’d never done the whole “meet the parents” thing. Derrick was relaxed on the drive over, so Slater tried to relax, too. Nothing to stress over. This wasn’t even a real “meet the parents” dinner. It would be fine.

  As Derrick pulled into the driveway of a nicely tended, mid-century rancher, Slater blurted out, “Don’t bring up Rachel tonight.”

  “I won’t.” Derrick shifted into park and angled to face him. “I promised I’d keep your secret and I will.”

  “Thank you. It’s not that I thought you would mention her, but...”

  “I get it, pal.” He quirked an eyebrow. “Do I get to call you ‘babe’ in mixed company now?”

  Slater flipped Derrick off and reached for his door handle, grateful for the familiar way they teased each other. Today was the first big hurdle in their fake relationship, and Slater didn’t want to say or do anything to screw up Derrick’s plan.

  He eased his cast out of the foot well and swiveled his body. He still had to wait for Derrick to bring the crutches around from the back seat, but he no longer needed help getting up, even from such a low sitting position. Still made his ribs ache, though. Conrad pulled in behind them before Slater was completely situated, and Derrick instantly migrated to the baby in that car’s back seat. Slater hadn’t met the newest addition to the family yet, so he waited while proud Uncle Derrick carried the tiny bundle over to him.

  “This is my girl, Mia,” Derrick said. “Isn’t she gorgeous.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Slater replied, mostly to a beaming—if tired—Sophie. “She’s got your eyes, I think.”

  “That’s what people tell me,” Sophie said. “I think she looks more like Conrad, but she’s still so young. She’ll probably grow up and look like neither of us.”

  “Or the perfect blend of you both,” Derrick added. “At least we know she won’t look like Wes.”

  Sophie giggled.

  “Why not?” Slater asked.

  “Because Wes is adopted,” Sophie replied. “Derrick never told you that?”

  “I guess it never came up.” Slater had had no idea Wes and Sophie weren’t biological siblings. Huh.

  “Well, now you know, and can we move this inside? I have to pee.”

  Their group moved up the cement path to the front door with Slater bringing up the rear. Robert and Sharon Massey greeted them at the front door with smiles and hugs for everyone, Slater included, and a chorus of “happy birthdays” for Derrick. Sophie dashed into the house. Sharon gave Slater an extra-firm hug, then pulled back to look him over. “You are a handsome young fellow, aren’t you?” she said. “No wonder Derrick’s kept you all to himself.”

  Slater blushed, because his face was still a bit of a healing mess he applied ointment to twice a day. “Thank you, ma’am. You’re lovely yourself. I can see where Derrick gets his looks.”

  “And a charmer to boot.”

  “Damned shame about your ankle, son,” Robert said. “But I hear you saved a little boy that day.”

  “Yes, sir.” Slater tried to shrug it off because he was tired of being called a hero for doing something so instinctive as yanking a kid back from the e
dge. “I did my job that day, nothing more.”

  “Charming and modest,” Sharon said. She wrapped her hand around Slater’s forearm and squeezed. “Come into the living room and sit. You probably need to get off that ankle.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

  She led him into a warm, cozy living room full of dark furniture and framed family photos. Slater spotted a few of the brothers when they were kids, and he kind of wanted to see more. But Sharon helped him settle on the couch and leaned the crutches on a side table within easy reach. “Can I get you a drink? We have diet cola, iced tea, apple juice or beer.”

  “A cola would be great.” Slater didn’t usually drink this much soda, but he also hadn’t kept it on hand at the ranch, and Patrice didn’t buy it for the guesthouse. Might as well take advantage of its availability.

  Apparently, the other kids could fend for their own drinks, because Conrad followed Sharon into the kitchen and returned with beers for him and Derrick, who’d seated himself and Mia right next to Slater. The baby was awake and staring wide-eyed at her uncle. When Sharon returned with a diet cola for Slater and a cup of coffee for Robert, she asked Slater, “Do you need to elevate your foot?”

  “I’m okay for now—”

  “No, you need it up,” Derrick interrupted. “Conrad, go get him a chair from the dining table. And an ice pack.”

  Conrad rolled his eyes then did as asked. Derrick’s insistence on the ice pack and the way he ordered his brother around were amusing as hell. Sophie returned and shared the love seat with Sharon. Once Slater’s foot was elevated on a chair and covered with a towel-wrapped ice pack, Derrick asked, “Do you want to hold Mia?”

  “Maybe in a little while.” Slater hadn’t held a baby that tiny since Rachel was a newborn, and he wasn’t sure he remembered how.

  “Okay.” Derrick gazed around the living room. “People, I know I said I wanted a low-key birthday but this is dead silent. Not even a card?”

  “Your gift is our company,” Conrad snarked.

  Derrick blew a raspberry at him. “Fine. This little one’s company is all I need, anyway.”

  Slater couldn’t help admiring the easy way Derrick held his niece. The way he smiled and his eyes gleamed simply by looking at her. He’d felt that way about Rachel. Even when he’d come home late at night, exhausted from a double shift at the gas station, just looking at her slumbering face had made Slater feel alive. Aware that everything he did, he did for Rachel.

  “So, Slater,” Robert said. “Living this close to the city must be a big change from being out on that ranch.”

  “It is different but it’s not unfamiliar,” Slater replied, careful to keep his tone light and conversational. Time to try and sell this fake relationship. “I grew up north of here, so I’ve been in and around the area my whole life.”

  “How long have you been at Clean Slate?”

  “A bit over three years.” Slater told them about the shipping company he’d worked for previously, and how he’d ended up working for Arthur Garrett, while Sophie and Sharon put the finishing touches on dinner in the next room. Conrad told a story about an exhausting client who kept changing her mind about his closet designs, until the women said dinner was on the table. Sophie settled Mia in a carrier to chill while the adults gathered in the dining room. Derrick helped him get situated at the far end so he could keep his foot propped up, and Slater’s mouth watered at the spread.

  “Birthday boy gets to pick his favorites for dinner,” Sharon said.

  “Your favorite is corned beef and cabbage?” Slater asked Derrick.

  Shit, should I have already known that? Don’t boyfriends know those things?

  “One of my favorites,” he replied. “Never had it growing up, but a college roommate turned me onto it. Why?”

  “It’s just something we ate a lot growing up, that’s all. My dad could get the cut cheap from a butcher friend, and cabbage was even cheaper.” This pot smelled way better than the thin soup Dad used to batch up before he married Kim. His stepmother couldn’t stand the smell of cooked cabbage, so they only ate it on the rare occasions Kim went out of town to visit her folks.

  “It took me a while to find a recipe we all liked,” Sharon said. “But it’s hearty stuff. I’ve gotten compliments on it at potlucks over the years.”

  “Well, it smells amazing, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, dear.”

  The side dishes included potatoes gratin with Brussels sprouts, crescent rolls and a gelatin mold with canned fruit inside. All favorites of the birthday boy. For someone who existed on takeout and frozen meals, Derrick had an eclectic palate. Slater hoped that once he could use the hands-free crutch more, he could put his free time to good use and cook them both healthier (and cheaper) meals.

  Dinner went more smoothly than Slater expected, with casual conversation all around the table. Mia squalled once to be fed, so Sophie disappeared into the living room for a while. But with the layout of the house, she was close enough to the table to still contribute until Mia was satisfied. And since Slater had stuffed himself full of good food at that point, Sophie decided it was time for him to hold the baby.

  She eased the precious bundle into his arms, and Slater’s heart melted instantly. Mia had been small at birth and she hadn’t grown much, but she was gorgeous. Tiny pink lips smacked together, and her dark eyes drooped shut as he gently rocked her. No goo-goo noises or silly words, he simply held her close and inhaled her baby smell.

  “You’re a natural, dear,” Sharon said.

  Slater couldn’t bring himself to admit he was a father of his own kid, so he swallowed back a thick lump in his throat and said, “Thank you, ma’am.” He glanced to his left at Derrick, whose sad eyes made that lump grow.

  “What do you charge to babysit?” Sophie asked, and she didn’t seem to be entirely joking.

  “I have no idea what the going rate is. Besides, I can’t manage a baby on crutches.”

  “Derrick told us about that hands-free crutch your friends gave you. I have another six weeks of maternity leave, and even when I go back to work, it’ll only be part-time because Conrad makes enough at his job.” Sophie flashed a dazzling smile at Sharon. “Momma S has already agreed to help out but I don’t want to rely solely on her and Papa Rob.”

  Slater couldn’t make himself turn down the offer to watch this little angel. “How about we wait and see how I do on that new crutch? I need to get myself from one end of our apartment to the other without pitching over, never mind while holding a baby.”

  “Fair enough,” Conrad said. “And no pressure. We’ll get the childcare thing figured out before Sophie goes back to work. Right, Soph?”

  “You’re right, no pressure, Slater.” Sophie’s gaze flitted back and forth from him to Derrick. “You guys would make adorable parents, you know.”

  Derrick nearly inhaled his beer. “Jesus, Sophie.”

  “Sorry. I mean, you guys are dating and are already living together.”

  “For convenience,” Slater said. “We are nowhere near serious enough to discuss adopting kids. Right now, I can’t think further than my next doctor’s appointment, much less a year from now.”

  “Which is completely understandable,” Sharon added. “You’ve already had one huge life upheaval recently. Baby steps until your ankle is better.”

  “Exactly. Thank you.” He truly did like Sharon Massey and her quiet strength. She reminded him a bit of his own dad, fighting like hell for his kid no matter what. Believing in Slater despite every bad choice he made. Visiting him every goddamn week during the five years Slater was in prison.

  And he took the compliment Sophie had quietly paid him by trusting him with her baby, when she didn’t really know him. Maybe she trusted him via his association with Derrick, and that was cool. He genuinely liked the Massey family, and regretted the way he’d fooled th
em all today, selling them on his fake relationship with Derrick. He truly hoped they never found out the truth—for Derrick’s sake.

  * * *

  Derrick had never had a better birthday. Low-key and still fun. Full of good, home-cooked food. Easy conversations with the people he loved most. Sure, he’d have liked to see Wes and Mack in the group, because he loved ganging up against Conrad with Wes, but they had their own jobs at the ghost town and couldn’t always duck out early. This was enough.

  And watching Slater fall in love with Princess Mia? Priceless. After dinner, they had coffee and chatted more, until Sophie brought out a chocolate ice cream cake with big 3-0 candles on it, surrounded by a bunch of smaller, sparkling candles. Unsure if they were trick candles or not, Derrick had Slater hand Mia over to Gramma so Slater could help him blow them all out.

  They were trick candles.

  Eventually, Mom took the cake away with a laugh and dunked the candles in a bowl of water to get them to stop sparking back to life. Derrick didn’t expect gifts, but Mom and Dad gave him a gift card to a fancy restaurant nearby—“for when Slater is feeling better and able to go out,” she’d said—and Conrad said he was welcome to take back all the extra beer overcrowding his fridge. Sophie rolled her eyes, then handed him a card with a gift card to the nearest movie theater.

  Last year, he’d gotten basic Visa gift cards.

  Turn thirty with a boyfriend and suddenly you’re flush to romance him right.

  The idea of romancing Slater intrigued him, because Derrick got the sense no one ever had. He’d never been cared for and spoiled, and Slater deserved that. They’d only lived together for a little over a week, but Derrick was hooked, and he couldn’t wait to spoil Slater with a fancy dinner and IMAX movie. A real date.

  If Slater wanted that. The chemistry was real, and his parents seemed to like Slater, but this was still an arrangement. No matter what they told other people, he and Slater weren’t really a couple.