Page 30 of She Autumn Be Mine

“I’m glad you’re all happy. But what I say next stays on this porch between us.” I went face to face and eyed each of them. We each may have served in different uniforms, but the rest of our brotherhood we’d built here, fence line by fence line, at the Off-Duty Rescue Ranch.

When Daisy’s stalker came hunting last fall, Knox hadn’t stood alone; every man here, except Cash who had not arrived yet, had closed ranks around him and her both, and not one word of it ever left the circle. There wasn’t a man on this porch who’d break my trust. That’s the only reason I’d called them.

“Here’s the situation. Autumn got served Friday with court papers. Her ex’s family—the Eatons, out of Sheridan—are suing for full custody of Stetson.”

Gasps went up.

Gavin spoke first, in his serious, lawman way. “So that’s who was in town asking about her. The stranger at the Copper Cup.”

“Has to be. Somebody had to confirm where she was so a process server could find her, my guess.” I worked my jaw. “You all remember the condition she was in when Trig first brought her out to the ranch. The bruises she combed her hair over, thanks to her ex. Autumn says the Eatons are worse—money, power, influence. She’s scared to death she’ll lose her boy. I won’t let that happen. I won’t let her face them alone. So I asked her to marry me.”

“Wait. Not for love then?” Cash cocked a brow.

“I didn’t say that. We both admit our relationship has grown beyond friendship. She wants to take things slow, but we’ll marry quickly, and fight this battle together. I’m asking if I count on you to keep this quiet and help me protect her?”

“Of course we well,” Carter confirmed on behalf of them all, with most nodding, even if Ash and Colt were silent.

“What do you need us to do?” Cash stepped forward, and there was not an ounce of the old playboy left in his face.

“The enemy has a name now. Brantley Eaton is the fa—uh, sperm donor.” Father wouldn’t come out of my mouth. It didn’t belong to him, ever, not with Stetson calling me Dada. “Autumn hasn’t heard one word from him since she fled Wyoming. He’s not even named in the lawsuit; it’s his parents doing the suing. And that’s about everything I know. I’m flying blind here, guys. I don’t know a thing about these people beyond what they did to her and what little she’s told me.” I looked at Cash and then over to the sheriff. “Can you two see what you can find out?”

Cash nodded once, slowly, already working the problem behind his eyes.

“I’ll run Brantley through the database,” Gavin offered. “See if he’s got warrants, priors, anything outstanding. A man who’d put bruises on a woman usually leaves a paper trail somewhere.”

“Sheriff, could I borrow a minute of your time?” Cash tipped his head toward the yard. “Got a professional question for you.”

The two of them stepped off the porch. Cash threw one look back at me over his shoulder. I wondered if he was about to tell Gavin the real reason he was in Forest Grove after all. His call to make. A man who found lost people for a living probably needed the law on his side.

“The rest of you, please, keep your eyes and ears open. Any stranger in town, I want to know about it before he finishes his coffee.”

Nods came all around. Then I turned to the one man who hadn’t said much of anything yet, standing by the door of the house he’d built into a home for his wife and her daughter.

“Ash, would it be possible to move Autumn and Stetson into your old cabin? Better she’s here on the ranch where I can keep an eye on her—where we all can—than alone above a shop in town.”

“I never expected to be a father.” When he spoke, he surprised me. It wasn’t the voice of the bossy ranch foreman, more like an older and wiser man of words. “Then Willow found her way here with Ro, and I watched how much that single mother and her little girl needed a man who’d show up for them. So I opened my life to them and I never once looked back. Best thing I ever did.”

He chewed his cheek and smacked his lips before talking again. “I’ve been wondering how long it would take you to do the same. You spent almost every night with her son. You were there for her when she needed anything at all. I figured it’d be quicker, honestly. But you always were slow on the easy missions.” He winked and chuckled.

“I prefer to call it being thorough,” I joked back.

He nodded once. “The cabin’s yours. Move them in when you’re ready.”

The way he and all these men rallied—I had to clear my throat before I could thank him.

“So when’s the wedding?” Colt asked, practical to the last.

“As soon as we can manage. We’re only going to the justice of the peace.”

“Are you kidding me?” Colt looked genuinely pained. “The second Ivy hears of this, that plan is dead in the water. You know that, right? I sleep next to the woman. There is no JP in your future, McCall.”

“I don’t know if we want to make a big deal of it.” I rubbed my neck.

“Actually, I’d argue you should.” Carter’s voice shifted into that boardroom register he only used when money or lawyers were involved. “Think about how it looks, Jake. The Eatons file suit, and a week later there’s a rushed courthouse marriage with two witnesses? A judge might look sideways at that. But a real ceremony—say here on the ranch, plenty of people, cake, dancing, your mother crying in the front row—that’s a family, and on the record. A lot harder to call convenient.”

Silence overcame us while that settled over the porch. The man had a valid point.

“I’ll talk to Autumn tonight.” I pulled out my phone and looked at the list I’d started, which had been growing all day. So much to do, and all of it mattered. “First I need to see Trig, and ask for his blessing.”