Page 13 of The Texas Cowboy's Rescue

“Kenzie married and moved away also?”

Beaudry shook his head. “You’d earn no points bringing him up around her. He was a flyboy stationed in Abilene at the base. He swept her off her feet with all kinds of fancy promises, which were helium-filled lies. Lasted about a year and then he was sent over to Iraq. He stepped off the plane and then began a lifetime stint in a jail cell for trafficking in items... believe they called them ‘artifacts’ from one of their most sacred spots. Anyway, a divorce was granted, and all rights to Brooke were an added bonus. He got his sentence tossed on a technicality, and about a month later, he died in an accident in the Middle East someplace I’ve forgotten the name of. Most think it was a blessing in disguise for Kenzie. He had vowed to make her pay, as was his usual MO whenever things went bad for him... blame it on someone else sort of thing. But she had little Brooke and she had a tough time. She’s one nice lady and a great mom. But any interested males tend to not make it past the front door. She learned a lesson and put a shell around her and Brooke. It’s a pity because she deserves a lot better with a partner of good character.”

“Are we ever going to eat?” Jaxson stood up, eyeing the pit. “Wonder if we can get a pizza delivery out here?”

“Alright, hold your horses. Make yourself useful and go tell our wives the ribs are coming off the grill.”

“Make me useful,” Deke said, standing up and moving to the pit.

“Grab that platter and hold it while I load it up with the ribs. And get prepared to taste the best of the best ribs you ever had.”

“Not much bragging to be found around here. Good to know.” Deke grinned as he held the platter in place.

A half hour later, Deke expelled a sigh and pushed back into his chair. He looked at the bowls of food still to be had. And then at the crumbs on the plate where a big slice of warm apple pie had been, along with the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it.

“Ladies, I have to say that everything was amazing. I thank you for the work you did on this meal. The evening was most enjoyable.” He looked at the man seated at the head of the table. “And I have to admit that I have never tasted ribs as good as these... the meat was tender and juicy and melted off the bone. That sauce needs to be bottled and sold if you ever get tired of raising cattle and horses. Maybe in your spare time?”

That brought a round of laughter from the table. Beaudry grinned. “Right. I’ll look into that in my spare time.”

“I’m glad we were all able to sit down and share a meal,” Sammi Jo spoke up. “That’s one thing that I always wanted to have continued on the Aces High, and Laurel feels the same. The land will always continue, and only the people change and come and go on it. But while it’s our turn to take care of it, it will also take care of us in return. Welcome home to Texas. I hope you, in time, will see this family as yours and want to be part of the future and the history of this place. There is no place better to hang your hat.”

“My sister has taken over where our grandmother left off with the Aces High and really could have taught her a thing or two. No one has this place in her blood more than Sammi Jo... so I warn you that, give her a minute, and she’ll take hours immersing you in all the Texas history you will ever want to know, and you’ll be an expert on this land we call home.” Laurel meant it with full sincerity and a lot of love and pride evident between the two women in her tone. Together, he knew they made quite a team.

“No pressure there.” Beaudry smiled at his wife and then at Deke. “This ground is good for putting down roots. That being said, I know you’ll be meeting with Matteo in a few days. He’s a good man. But do not ever tell him that was said.”

“Amen to that,” Jaxson chimed in. “His ego is already the biggest in Texas. I’m just pleased that you decided to expand your helicopter business into this area. The hospital and the people in these far-flung areas needed it. We never knew the company we used to herd our cattle and do an air survey for us belonged under your umbrella, too. You own the company, yet you choose to fly, as well.”

“You own the ranch and the land, but you choose to be up before dawn and on the back of a horse until after sunset most days. I’m pretty sure it’s for the same reason. You do it on a horse, and I do it in the sky.”

“Can we interest you in any second helpings?” Laurel asked.

“I think I already had seconds. It would be thirds at this stage, and I am wisely backing off. It’s an early morning for me and I need to head home. I know my way around a kitchen, and I believe in eating and then cleaning it up, guest or not. If you’ll allow me to help...”

“Sorry, but the first dinner... you are our guest. The next one, we’ll toss you a drying towel,” Sammi Jo piped up with a grin. “That’s what our husbands are for, so don’t worry.” They rose from the table and with good-natured grumbling, Jaxson and Beaudry walked their newly found half sibling to the front porch.

After handshakes all around, Jaxson had the final say. “Just remember, you’re welcome here anytime. You ride?”

“I do. Not as much as I would like, but I’m thinking I might need to find a good horse now that I’m considering those roots.”

“We have a few of those around here... horses.” Jaxson grinned. “Come out anytime and we’ll get you fixed up.”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

The drive home gave him time to think back over what it might have been like if he had been brought back to this country by their mother after his father died. He could have known what it was to have siblings. To have a home with roots. His whole life might have been different. But looking back got people no place fast. His course, whatever it turned out to be, was ahead of him. But there might be some possibilities that he hadn’t expected. It was a feeling that infiltrated his brain and even a dream or two. It arrived about the same time a cupcake with sprinkles was set in front of him and he had looked up to find the bluest gaze upon him. That moment had stayed with him in daylight and darkness. He was still waiting for that moment to fade from memory. But it didn’t. If anything, it became more intense. And he had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Chapter Eight

“Thanks for cominginto the office this afternoon. I’m glad we could finally find time for our schedules to mesh. I’ve got a trial going on in Lubbock and we’ve been trying to seat a jury for three days now. The judge got tired of us, I think. Or he wanted to enjoy the three-day holiday coming up a bit early. It’s all good. Have a seat.” Matt swept his hand toward one of the deep-cushioned scarlet-leather chairs in front of his desk.

“I’m glad it worked out. Although I’m a bit mystified as to what I might have to do with the will of a man who never met me.” Deke had added a navy jacket to the white shirt and pressed jeans. A cream straw cowboy hat sat on its crown in the chair next to him. It was his “business” attire when not in a flight suit or off the time clock in his head.

“Ben Hawkes was a man who marched to a different beat from most men. It took a lot to figure him out. But he also was a man who never stopped loving the woman who cast him and their boys aside so easily one day. Most other men in his position, well, they wouldn’t have been so understanding. He also tried to keep tabs on what was going on with you two. Then he got too ill all of a sudden, and he left me with his instructions. That leads us to today.” He picked up a folder in front of him and withdrew the two pieces of paper from inside it.

“He was aware that your father wasn’t given much to providing for your mother or you. He had plans to set aside something for your mother when he fell ill. About that same time, we got word that your mother had passed. So he hurried to get things in place for what he wanted to do for you... as his way of showing his feelings for her child. Anyway, it is quite simple. He split the bulk of the Hawkes’s ranch between Jaxson and Beaudry. That included the house and other buildings. But he also set aside a parcel of land in your name, if the day came we were able to hand it over to you. It is a sweet parcel... good land and good water on it... three thousand acres. It’s yours. If, for some reason, you have a senile moment and don’t want any of it... then you can’t sell it. It will revert back into the ranch holdings of your half brothers.”

Deke felt like he had been hit by a punch in the gut out of the blue. He was shocked. A stranger did this for a child he had never met. But it was really a testament to a man who wanted to state his love and forgiveness for a woman most would have written off. A man he never met had reached out to make sure he had something in life besides nothing. He was at once sorry that he had never met him. He was sorry, too, that Ben Hawkes would not know that he had made something out of nothing himself. Something told him that the man would have been pleased.

“Do Beaudry and Jaxson know about this? And why he did it?”

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