Page 11 of In Love with a Ranger

“I’m gonna clobber you, string bean…”

“I can’t wait,” the man laughed, extending a hand toward him. “Take care, brother, and call me if you need anything.”

“I think I need my head examined for going along with this.”

“Get some rest, relax, and trust the process.”

Gideon slowly lumbered forward and hesitated as Austin’s words struck him as odd. He angled slightly to look back at the other man who was climbing into the plane already, about to ask, ‘What process’… but he was already shutting the door and giving him a thumbs-up, popping his headphones on his head.

“Welcome…” the man in the distance said loudly, causing Gideon to look back over at the van. “Welcome to Laramie.”

The plane was rolling forward slowly and picking up speed before gliding off of the ground. He felt a shiver run down his spine, realizing that he was here – and doing this now whether he liked it or not. Adjusting his crutches, he made his way forward to greet the other man.

“You’ve got Beck’s coloring – and the same stubborn set to the jaw, but your sister has a kindness to her eyes,” the man began and held out a hand. “I’m Houghton, and you must be Giselle’s big brother, Grumpy.”

“Gideon.”

“Same thing,” the man shrugged, and for a moment, Gideon wondered what he’d gotten himself into. “All of you and your weird ‘G’ names…” the man muttered. It took him a second to realize that Houghton was teasing him. His sister, Giselle, must have talked about all of them quite a bit when she was stationed in Afghanistan before getting out of the Army.

“Yeah, well, she didn’t talk about you,” Gideon retorted, trying to get a dig in… only to hear the man chuckle as he looked amused – and extended his hand toward him.

“Houghton,” he began simply, looked at the crutches pointedly, and pulled it back before Gideon could shake it. “This is my wife, Jill. So, up in the van, Ranger, and let’s get to it. Shall we?”

“I’m not a ranger anymore,” he snapped and saw Houghton raise an eyebrow, looking at him dubiously before leaning forward almost in a menacing manner, whispering.

“Son, it’s a part of you and always will be. I’m gonna tell you right now that I can handle your mouth, but if you ever snap at my wife like that - they’ll need your dental records to identify you. Got me?” he said sternly, not backing down and looking him straight in the eyes… and for once, Gideon hesitated.

This older man before him had seen some things, horrors worse than what Gideon had experienced or seen, and that was saying a lot. Gideon had been deployed in war zones, killed enemies, and dragged wounded men to safety, but there was an emptiness in his hard eyes as Houghton looked at him, sizing him up. The man didn’t move as he stared at him, waiting, and Gideon heard the passenger window roll down directly behind Houghton’s head.

“Babe, you ready?”

Babe? Is she serious?

The stern man didn’t look away from him as he spoke.

“Just getting to know each other for a moment – and he’s trying to decide if he’s coming with us or staying here.”

And Gideon had no doubts that the man would leave him.

“I’m coming with you,” Gideon said quietly.

“I figured as much,” Houghton smirked, opening the door to the van for Gideon. “Welcome to Reserve Ranch… brother,” and surprisingly, he clapped him on the shoulder, almost in acceptance like he would fit right in with all of them.

I doubt it, Gideon mused, trying to climb into the van – and accidentally banging his ankle on the door frame, jarring him as he tensed, anticipating the pain. It probably hurt worse for him to tense up like that, and sure enough, a wave of raw, burning ache ran up his entire leg, causing him to grunt only to look up and see a set of eyes watching him.

“What are you lookin’ at?” he retorted hotly to the woman sitting at the back of the van – and Jill, in the driver’s seat, barked at him.

“Gideon – be nice!” Jill snapped protectively, turning to look at him. “I don’t care what you did in the Army, but unless you want that other leg snapped in several places, you’ll keep your mouth shut. Lena, this is Gideon Beck – and he’ll be in the furthest cabin from any of us because of that mouth of his.”

“Hey!” he protested, shocked and pointed at his leg. “I should be in the closest – I mean, look at my dang leg. Do you expect me to hobble around and…”

“Yes,” Jill interrupted. “Yes, I do, and maybe next time, you will be nicer to the other people volunteering at the Reserve Ranch.”

“This is the stupidest idea my sister has ever come up with,” Gideon muttered. “What exactly am I supposed to do on a ranch? I can hardly walk because of these crutches, my knee itches something terrible, and my blasted armpits are freakin’ raw from being rubbed…”

“Look, when you bunk up with Chris – whine there, okay? As for me, I really don’t want to hear it unless you are cooking for all eight of us and doing the dishes.”

“I can help cook and do the dishes,” the woman named Lena sitting behind him volunteered like some ‘brown-noser’ trying to kiss up to the teacher – and it was obviously working. Jill smiled approvingly and nodded at Lena as Houghton climbed into the front seat beside her.

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