Page 101 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

Juliette’s heart swelled at the care they were taking with him.

“You’ll let me drive the UTV?” Lucas asked excitedly.

“I offered, didn’t I?” Tiny took Wynnie’s hand and lumbered toward the vehicle. “Come on, now. You still gotta meet Dwight and the others.”

Lucas ran over to the UTV as Tiny and Wynnie climbed into it, and Gus called out, “Can I come?”

“You bet,” Wynnie said, motioning for Gus to climb onto her lap.

Tiny eyed Lucas. “We got precious cargo in here, Rodeo. You drive slow now, you hear?”

“Yes, sir.” Lucas called out, “See y’all up there!” and drove off, grinning.

Juliette exhaled, feeling like she’d been holding her breath that whole time.

“You okay, darlin’?” Seeley asked.

“I am now. Your parents are really something.”

“Yeah, they are. It took everything I had not to say more to Lucas, or to hug him and tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am for all of this bullshit. But I was worried it would embarrass him and make things worse.”

“That’s how I felt, too,” she said.

“Your boy has got a lot of feelings to work out,” Cowboy said. “Might want to think about a therapist.”

“Juliette tried. He doesn’t want to speak to one yet,” Seeley said.

“I hate my frigging father for doing this to him,” Juliette said. “Seeley, you were right to give me time to think about going after him. As much as I want my father to pay for everything he’s done to us, I can’t do that to Lucas. The minute we give Reggie the information we got from Ana and the FBI gets a search warrant, it’ll be all over the news. And you know how the media is. Lucas doesn’t need that kind of circus.”

“We’re on the same page, darlin’. Reggie knows we have something that will take that bastard down. He’s waiting to move on it until we’re ready.”

“That’s smart,” Cowboy said. “Those media hounds will open up a can of worms, and you’ll be in the spotlight for months.”

“Can’t you guys do what you did for me?” Sully asked.

Juliette looked curiously at Seeley. “What did you guys do for Sully?”

“We kept her whereabouts out of the media,” Doc explained. “But this is different. Sully was in hiding. Nobody knew where she was. We’re too big a part of the community. I will figure out how to keep you and Lucas safe before we do anything more.” He drew her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. “Parenting is fucking hard.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” she said.

“But you know what?” His lips quirked up. “I can finally kiss you without worrying Lucas will see us.”

As he pressed his lips to hers, Sasha said, “The tack room is free, if you want to take it for a spin,” making them all laugh.

Chapter Twenty-Five

THE FLAMES FROM the bonfire danced in a gentle breeze, sending sparks crackling against the night sky. The din of conversation and laughter hung in the air, serenaded by the soft sounds of Sasha’s guitar and Gus’s chirpy voice as Ezra helped him make s’mores. Doc stood by the cooler, taking in the familiar scene of his family and friends around the bonfire. Only this time, his family included Juliette and Lucas. This was how it was always supposed to be.

He might be getting ahead of himself, but it sure didn’t feel that way.

For the first time since that awful summer, he finally felt whole again, like all the broken pieces of himself had come back together stronger than ever. Not even the emotional turmoil they were all dealing with or the need for vengeance that was eating away at him could steal that sense of completeness. He’d make sure they all got the help they needed, and he’d find a way to take down Juliette’s deceitful fucking father while protecting Lucas and Juliette if it was the last thing he did.

He glanced at Juliette, sitting by the fire wearing one of his sweatshirts, her eyes shimmering in the moonlight. She flashed that easy smile that never failed to hit him square in the center of the chest. She looked so comfortable, to an observer it would seem like she’d never left as she chatted with Billie, Sasha, Sully, and Simone Davidson, one of their employees. When Doc had introduced Lucas to Simone, Lucas had been as surprised to learn she’d gone through their program and had remained on to work at the ranch as he had been about Kenny, Hyde, and a handful of their other employees he’d met at dinner.

He looked at Lucas on the other side of the fire, laughing at something Kenny, Rebel, Dare, or Hyde, had said. For all the heartache Lucas had shared earlier, he had laughed a lot tonight and had clearly enjoyed the banter around the dinner tables in the main house. It had taken some time for him to loosen up and realize it was safe to be himself. Meeting that many people in one day would be a lot for anyone. But with a little encouragement, he’d come out of his shell, and by the time they’d finished dinner, he’d set up motocross lessons with Billie on Sundays and he and Kenny were heckling Doc and his brothers like it was old hat.

“Hey, Tiny,” Lucas called across the fire.