Desert Bound (Cambio Springs) (3 page)

She hugged a crying Allie to her chest as Jena grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass from the kitchen. But in the back of her mind, she heard Alex whisper. 

“Dance with me.”

Chapter Two

The car door slamming shut sounded louder than normal in the still desert night. Ollie rolled down the window.

“You got it, or you need help in?”

“I’m good.”

His best friend didn’t say anything, just lifted an eyebrow. “No more bourbon, Alex.”

“Go home. I’m fine.”

“Don’t wake up your mom. She’ll yell at me.”

“Good night, Ollie.” He started to turn.

“Hey, Alex.”

“What?”

Ollie seemed to hesitate, but finally said, “She’ll forgive you. She has to eventually. Just shake it off.”

Right…

Alex waved at Ollie’s retreating truck and walked with heavy steps up his parents’ front porch.

“I’m not setting myself up just to get knocked down again.”

She was never going to forgive him. Ever. Never, ever.

Shit, he was drunk.

He sighed, hearing the steps come down from upstairs as he turned the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. Only an idiot with a death wish was going to break into the McCann house. They were the wolf alphas of Cambio Springs, and no one—not even the most foolhardy Quinn—wanted to test their protective instincts.

“Alex?”

Oh yay. His father was in the kitchen.

“Hey, Dad.”

Robert McCann was in his sixties but didn’t look a day over a very healthy fifty. His steel grey hair was cropped close to his skull, and he still carried the military bearing of the former Army Sergeant he was. Alex’s father hadn’t been pleased his son didn’t follow him into the service. There had been McCanns serving in the US Army since the Civil War, and Robert didn’t let his son forget it. The fact that Alex had made millions in real estate didn’t provoke more than a slightly satisfied grunt.

Robert eyed him with suspicion. “Are you drunk?”

Alex leaned against the doorway of the kitchen. His father was making coffee. He didn’t need much more sleep than Alex did. Never had. It was a benefit if you were the alpha or the disappointing son of one.

“According to the mostly-empty bottle of bourbon Ollie forced me to abandon… yes.”

Robert curled his lip but pulled out another mug for coffee. 

“That cat giving you problems again?”

“Not talking to you about her.”

He refused to talk about Ted with his father. Alex had learned his lesson when he’d been twenty-seven and heartbroken. His father had waited on the porch for Alex to get out of his car, took one look at his haggard face, then told him he knew their relationship would never have worked out anyway, so it was better that it ended before kids had become involved. 

Alex had spent that weekend at Ollie’s cleaning out the attic and ignoring calls from his mother. He never mentioned Ted’s name in his father’s presence again.

“You know—”

He glared. “Not. Talking. About. Her.”

Robert lifted the corner of his mouth in what might have been a smile. “Fine. I expect you’ll figure it out. You have a plan for everything else.”

Though he’d never, ever say it publicly, Robert McCann had plenty of doubts about the resort his son planned for his hometown. That was fine. Alex was used to his father doubting him. He’d just work ten times harder to prove him wrong, like he always did.

His father splashed a little milk in Alex’s mug. A concession, since the Sergeant took his coffee black.

“Your mother got a call tonight from Kathy Crowe.”

Alex frowned and tried to focus through the bourbon haze. The coffee helped. “Jena’s mom?”

“Joe Russell took off.”

“What?” he asked again. “What are you talking about?”

“Took off. Left his family.”

“Are you talking about Allie’s Joe? Joe Smith?”

Robert nodded. “Never understood why that boy took his woman’s name after they married. Russell is a perfectly fine name.”

“Joe wanted to fit in. He always did. He
left
her?”

“Yep.”

“That
fuc
—!”

“Language.”

It brought him up short. He was still in his parents’ home, and if he had to guess, his mother was listening with her eagle ears. Not
actual
eagle ears. Julia McCann was full human, like many spouses in Cambio Springs, but preternatural hearing must have rubbed off over the years of living in a town full of shapeshifters.

“That ass!” Alex set down his mug, anger and surprise cutting through the bourbon. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. Walked out the door right when Allie and the kids were sitting down to dinner.”

Alex was going to kill him.

“Allie’s going to need some help.” Robert motioned to the kitchen table and Alex followed him. “She’s not technically part of the pack, but—”

“She’s one of my best friends, Dad. It doesn’t matter that she’s a fox.”

The other canine shifters tended to be more solitary or roam in family packs. They didn’t share the strict hierarchy of the wolves, but since they all shared a common ancestor, they still held a certain level of loyalty.

“I agree. Plus, her mother was a McCann, even if it was distant. She’s family.”

Alex rubbed his face. “Is Kathy with her?” Allie’s mom had died when she was young, leaving her dad to raise his small family of shifters among his wife’s people. Jena’s mom had been a second mother to the Smith girls.

“I think so. Your mom just found out a few hours ago. They’ll get her covered. But if there’s a need—”

“It’s covered. She’s covered. I’ll take care of it, Dad.” 

His father nodded approvingly, but didn’t say anything while they finished their coffee. It was moments like that, quiet moments, that Alex knew his dad
did
appreciate some of what he’d done. What he was trying to do. They may have had different personalities, but their hearts were in the same place. His father would go without before any of his family or pack.

On lonely nights, the knowledge that Alex had the resources to help the people he cared about was sometimes the only thing that kept him warm. The sacrifices were worth it at times like that. He had to remind himself it wasn’t all about him. It was about his father and mother. His sister. The wolves who depended on him. His friend with four kids who needed someone to step up when their father stepped out.

“I’m not setting myself up just to get knocked down again.”

If he’d really lost Ted forever, it had to mean something.

The next morning, Alex roused himself from his childhood bed, downed as many aspirin as he could get away with, and slipped out the door after a quick conversation with his mom, who was already putting food together for Allie. Then, like every Saturday for the past few months, he headed to his sister’s house. The fact that she happened to be home that weekend was only a bonus.

Willow McCann lived at the edge of town, halfway out into the desert and away from as many distractions as she could. The fact that his baby sister was a famous painter with work shown across the Southwest surprised him some days. But then, when he thought about it more, it didn’t seem strange at all. In her own quiet way, Willow was the mirror image of their father. She was stubborn as hell. Alex figured that, one day, his little sister had simply decided she wanted everyone to buy her paintings for ridiculous sums of money. Then she quietly set about taking over her tiny corner of the art world until her mission was accomplished. She was like a special ops soldier with a paintbrush. 

She had recently taken up ceramics. In a few months, she’d conquer that, too. People who didn’t know her thought she was shy. She wasn’t. Willow just didn’t like very many people and found it easier to adopt the mantle of a reclusive artist in their tiny community. It worked for her because it kept most people away.

She was sitting in the shaded lean-to outside her house when Alex pulled up. Some thick vine covered the arbor, lush, green, and dripping with yellow flowers. The road up to her house was covered in a new coat of gravel, and the old place gleamed. It was a small house his grandparents had built, but Willow had improved it. 

The desert landscaping was blooming with sparse beauty; colorful murals and tiled mosaics decorated the low garden walls, lending a lush look to the area, despite the arid plantings. She’s recovered an old wooden table with a blue and green glass mosaic and added red chairs she’d painted herself. A pot of coffee was sitting on the table, along with some sweet rolls he knew she probably only bought for him.

Willow didn’t look up, but continued sketching in the pad at her left as she drank her coffee. 

“Joe left Allie last night,” she said. “Took off right in the middle of dinner. What an asshole.”

“I heard.”

“Apparently, she was making meatloaf. And Allie’s meatloaf is great. So he’s a
stupid
asshole.”

“Not gonna disagree with you.”

She finally looked up when his chair scraped across the terra cotta tiles under the arbor. “How did you hear?”

“Kevin called Jena, who came home from the bar. Jena called her mom to help watch the kids so they could go over to Ted’s. Kathy called Mom. I knew about it by the time I got home from the Cave.” He closed his eyes against the glaring light. “How did you know?”

She shrugged. “Allie called me this morning.”

“How’s she doing?”

“She’s worried about the kids.”

Joe was such an asshole.

Alex helped himself to the extra mug his sister had set out and filled it from the bright blue carafe. He didn’t say anything. It was one of the benefits of hanging out with his sister. They didn’t really need to talk much. Thirty years being related made non-verbal communication a breeze. She passed him the milk and a sweet roll without even looking up from her drawing.

“So,” she asked, “has anyone told Ollie?”

Leave it to Willow, asking the one question that everyone was thinking and no one wanted to say.

“I haven’t.”

“Neither have I. I figure Joe deserves at least a day’s head start before we set Ollie loose on him. Anything less seems unfair.”

Alex snorted. “What makes you think Ollie would track him down? I figure he’d just make sure Joe stayed gone.”

Willow didn’t say anything for a while. She finally looked up from the sketch and gave him a sad smile. “He would if he thought Allie wanted him back.”

“Does she?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. She sounded sad but… relieved, I guess? I don’t think he was an easy guy to live with the past few years.”

Alex frowned. “Did we miss something?”

“Allie always puts the best face on stuff. You know that. I think Joe… said a lot of mean shit to her.”

“Bad enough.”

She nodded. “Bad enough.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, before Alex asked the question he asked every week.

“Please? I promise I’ll be quiet.”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“I let you use my house as much as you want when I’m out of town. Don’t think I don’t see your messes, Alex. You are not moving in with me.”

“Mom and Dad are going to drive me crazy.”

“And you’d drive
me
crazy if you move in. You’re a big boy. Deal.”

“I’ll be in a mental hospital and you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

“You’re so full of shit. Why don’t you just get your own place? There’s not a lot, but there’s a few houses in town available. Marcie and Phil are moving. Why not rent their house?”

“Because.”

“That is not an answer.”

Because…

In the back of his mind, he’d always figured that he and Ted would be back together by now and he’d be with her, skipping the awkward “Should we move in together?” conversation because he’d be homeless and she’d take pity on him. His condo in Huntington was already rented out and providing a very nice extra income. Even with as much money as he had tied up in the resort, cost wasn’t the issue. If he rented or bought a place without Ted, then he’d be conceding defeat.

Willow picked up her sketchbook again. “Just rent one of Jena’s trailers until you and Ted get back together.”

Alex stayed silent and glared at her, but she didn’t notice.

“You know, she’s more likely to think you’re actually staying in town if you buy a place.”

He still said nothing.

“So stubborn.” She sighed. “I can give you tips on groveling once you figure it out.”

“You’re such a little shit sometimes.”

Willow smiled. “I love you, too.”

By Saturday afternoon, he felt better physically, but he was still pissed about Joe, couldn’t get ahold of Ollie—no matter how many times he called his house and the bar—and his foreman, Marcus Quinn, had called him to the job site to rework the plans he thought they’d already finalized so the guys could get to work right away on Monday.

“I don’t get why we have to change the angle of the swimming pool that much.”

“Alex, I know you want the bungalows to face the water, but how much do we want to fight nature? If you want the creek to run down this way, then the natural course of the water…”

Alex let his mind drift as Marcus went into details. He knew at the end of the day, he’d end up agreeing with him. Marcus Quinn might have been born to a slightly shady clan of reptile shifters—his natural form was a king snake—but that hadn’t stopped him from being one of the best contractors around. He’d started with a surveying company, but had quickly expanded. He’d gone into partnership with his wife’s brother a few years ago, and their business had grown to include landscape and general engineering contracting, too. 

Like most of the shifters from the Springs, Marcus married away. Josie was a hairdresser from Vegas, who seemed to take the knowledge that their three kids would eventually sprout scales in stride. Their oldest was almost ten, and Alex knew they were talking about moving back to the Springs full time. 

“So, if you want the hot spring to feed into the lake we’re digging here—” He pointed at the plans spread out on Alex’s tailgate. “—then the slope needs to start here. Which means the swimming pool is going to have to angle southeast a little more. That’s going to block some of your afternoon sun, but we’re talking about the hottest part of the day. I don’t think guests are going to complain much.”