Run To You

didn’t know what to do with them. It was awful and wonderful and terrifying. “He’s a good guy.”
    “If he wasn’t, Vince wouldn’t have asked him to do us a favor and find you.”
    Her feet slowed as Sadie moved to the oven and turned it on. Stella had forgotten that detail. Beau had been doing a favor by bringing her to Texas. He hadn’t wanted to, but the funny thing was, it didn’t change anything. Didn’t bother her. She’d had to practically force the man into a physical relationship. He’d said he broke his rules with her. He’d mixed business and pleasure, and she knew him well enough to know that did bother him.
    She made the salad while Sadie buttered several loaves of French bread. She watched the clock on the stove and listened to her sister talk about the pregnant mare in the barn. Maribell was due to give birth any day and Sadie hoped for a black-and-white Tobiano. The unborn foal was the last of Clive’s breeding endeavors. While Sadie talked about their father’s love of paint horses, Stella thought about Beau and wondered how much breaking his rules bothered him and what it meant. She wasn’t sure, and the uncertainty put her on edge.
    As Stella cut the last cherry tomato, seven-thirty came and went. She was anxious to see Beau’s face. His unreadable face that told of tight control and holding back, the tempest in his eyes the only sign of his battle with restraint.
    “I knew skeet wasn’t a good idea today,” Sadie said as she put the foil-wrapped bread in the oven. “But they all promised they wouldn’t get super competitive.”
    Stella cut up a green pepper next, and at seven forty-five the back door opened and Vince stepped inside. “Sorry I’m late.” He smiled all cheery and moved to the sink. “I’m starving.”
    Stella and Sadie looked at each other and then at the closed back door.
    “Smells good.” He pumped soap into his hands.
    “Where are Blake and Beau?” Sadie asked the back of his head.
    “Still shooting.”
    Stella reached for the towel next to the cutting board and brushed green pepper seeds from her fingers. “Still? It’s getting late.”
    “They’ll be at if for a while. Better eat without them.”
    Something was definitely up. Vince’s nonchalance was too forced and Beau never passed up a chance to eat. She moved toward the back door to take a look outside.
    Vince turned off the water. “You’re not thinking of going out there?” The way he said it sounded more like a statement than a question.
    Well, she hadn’t been thinking about it until now. “Yep. Can I borrow your keys, Sadie?”
    “Sure.”
    “No.” Vince stuck up a wet hand. “That’s not a good idea.”
    “Why?” Stella and Sadie asked at the same time.
    “They’re working out a few things.”
    “What things?” Stella folded her arms beneath her breasts and waited.
    “They’re having a discussion.” He reached for a towel on the counter and dried his hands.
    Something Beau’s mother said popped into Stella’s brain. Something about ruining Christmas brunch. “Are they discussing Batman and Superman?”
    Vince’s eyes cut to her, and for one brief second, his nonchalance slipped and she saw his concern. “Not yet.”
    “Great.” She dropped her arms and headed for the door.
    “I’ll drive.” Sadie followed close behind.
    Vince grabbed the keys. “I’ll drive.”
    The few minutes it took to drive the half mile to the skeet field felt more like half an hour. As soon as Stella opened the truck’s door, she heard male voices. Not loud like they were shouting at each other, but very clear.
    “I can shoot a round through a fly’s ass at three hundred meters, you shit-for-brains jarhead.”
    “Correction, whiskey delta. Could shoot. Now you can’t hit an elephant’s ass with an AT4 launcher.”
    Stella walked from the crop of trees and her attention immediately landed on the brothers standing about a hundred yards away. They stood practically nose to nose and it was difficult to tell them apart. Thank God they weren’t holding any weapons.
    “I’m going to shove that fucking HOG’s tooth up your ass.”
    “You’re going to try, pudgy fucker, but that’s all you’re going to do.” Beau planted his hands on his brother’s chest and forced him to take a step back. “You’re drunk and you’ve gone to fat.”
    Stella picked up her pace. She sensed rather than saw Sadie and Vince at her side.
    Blake shoved back. “And you walk around like