Page 1 of Reuniting with the Rancher

1

WAITING ON PERFECT

GREYSON

“I toldyou I’d call when I had anything new,” the deep baritone rumbled through the speakers of Greyson’s truck.

“That’s not the only reason I’m calling. I want to talk about the wildfire projections for the rest of this summer and fall. I’ve got our first group of kids coming and I need to know if there’s going to be trouble. Last thing I want is for these kids to be traumatized more at a place it’s supposed to be safe. I know you’re focused on what’s happening in Colorado and Montana, but I’ve got a feeling things may get dicey here.”

Logan sighed deeply. “You’re right to worry. My projections are giving your area a fifty-fifty chance something will break out soon. It’s been a long, dry summer Grey. You and your team have prepared well, but at the first sign of trouble, you bug out, hear?”

On paper, Logan Kahale was a search and rescue specialist. Off the books, he used his Marine Corps training to hunt the worst of society for big and not completely legal bounties. He and a group of loosely connected former armed services brothers worked together on the toughest cases and didn’t allow thingslike laws to stop them. They were perfect for the job he asked them to do.

“I got you. I’m starting to think I should’ve headed back East to start this program.”

“You want to stay near Silver Creek. That’s the place that brought you back to civilian life, your touchstone… and after what you’ve been through you’ve got to do what’s best for you, otherwise you’re no good to those kids that are coming to Crystal Fountain to change their lives.”

Greyson took in a deep breath and nodded to himself. “Miss Bee always says, ‘If you’re waiting on perfect, you’re going to be waiting a long time.’”

“She ain’t wrong,” Logan replied with a small chuckle. “Though her cookies are damn near perfection. I could go for a warm chocolate chip one right now.”

They chuckled together over Miss Bee’s delectable baked goods for a moment before Logan let out a sigh and Greyson tensed in anticipation.

“Listen Grey, I know Ivy is asking a lot of questions about her mom, but are you sure you want to lay this on her right now? LaLa Fair’s been spotted in locales across Europe, but my sources tell me she’s actually here in the States, lying low. The record company thinks she quit for good. Her publicist hasn’t seen her since she left the hospital months ago. They’re all worried she’s lost it, which tells me she ain’t in a good place to be introduced to your little girl.”

“It might sound crazy, but this is the perfect time to show Ivy who her mother really is,” Greyson growled as he turned onto the road that led to his ranch, Crystal Fountain. “Ivy has built her mother up in her imagination and despite my warnings and Mom’s downright demonizing, Ivy is sure she’s a misunderstood supermom just waiting for the opportunity to love her. The bestway for Ivy to face reality is to have it right in front of her - the mess that is LaLa Fair.”

“Shit man, that’s a rough way for a kid to meet their parent. To find out she’s this famous pop star and that she’s a hot fucking mess all in one go?”

“It’s the best way to protect her. It’s better than her going off on her own when she’s eighteen and being sucked into whatever fucked up shit LaLa is doing by then.”

“Although…”

“What?”

“It’s been ten years, Grey. People change. And there are a lot of inconsistencies in the stories surrounding LaLa. It’s hard to pin down which are real, and which were created to generate press.”

Greyson threw himself into a parking spot near the front of the restaurant but left the handicap space open for someone with greater needs. Pinching his nose against a hunger, anxiety, and stress induced headache, he tried to will away the memories flashing through his mind…

Lily singing in a darkened nightclub in New York, her eyes glued on him, her lush hips swaying, a secret smile playing on her lips… Lily, dark hair and skin lit by the glow of a small desk lamp as she studied for class, her nose wrinkled in concentration… Lily dancing effortlessly, her belly swollen with their baby girl as she played him her first demo. The empty hospital room…Months of silence before “LaLa Fair’s” voice smacked him in the face one day on the way to one of hundreds of doc appointments for Ivy.

“Orgies, drug fueled performances, disappearances attributed to rehab… And now the crash and the hush hush mystery behind it… No. LaLa changed the day she had Ivy. I won’t let her destroy Ivy’s life like she’s destroyed her own, like she almost destroyed mine.”

2

MAYBE

LILY

“Sing me to sleep Lily,one last time…”

“Don’t say that…Mari! Don’t say goodbye…PLEASE!”

“Auntie, wake up!” Her nephew Caleb’s rough voice cracked, revealing the adolescence underneath the manly image he had been trying to portray lately. She startled out of the same dream she’d been having for months.

Could you call it a dream when she really was reliving memories? A hellish reality that followed you into sleep, ensuring you could never rest.

She’d slipped up. Since the accident Caleb had been trying to assert himself as man of the house and Lily was trying to assert herself as his new guardian and force him to hold on to what was left of his childhood for as long as he could. They were both failing. Maybe they were both unqualified - he was too young and she was too…her.

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