Two of a Kind Read online

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Sneak Peek

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  About the Author | By BA Tortuga

  Coming in October 2018

  Don’t Miss Dreamspun Desires!

  Visit Dreamspinner Press

  Copyright

  Two of a Kind

  By BA Tortuga

  Working on a full house.

  Once upon a time, Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh had quite the whirlwind romance—but that was before family tragedy left them the guardians of five kids. Their lives have changed quite a bit over the last six years, but Ap is still on the rodeo circuit, doing what he does best in an attempt to feed all those extra mouths.

  That leaves Trey back on the ranch, isolated and overworked as the kids’ sole caregiver. Something has to give, and when Ap comes home, they’re reminded how hot they burned once upon a time. But is it a love that can withstand wrangling over time, money, and the future? They have to decide what kind of family they want to be… and whether what they share can stand the test of time.

  So, right there, just like he remembered. God, it had been so long, but it seemed like yesterday, shining in his memory.

  He bit a little, letting it sting enough that Trey flailed and grabbed for him.

  “I got you, honey,” he murmured. “You’re just fine.”

  “That burned so good.”

  “Did it? Can try it again.” He grinned, slow and easy, just ready to try all the things.

  “Please.” Trey lifted his chin.

  So Ap bit down, worrying that spot with his teeth. He never spent time playing, experimenting. Marking. This was a damn fun way to spend an evening.

  As always, to my girl. I love you. BA

  Chapter One

  “GOOD ride, Ap!” Dean Farber slapped Dennis “Ap” McIntosh on the back when he walked out of the arena, hat in hand from taking it off to wave to the crowd.

  “Thanks, buddy. It felt good.”

  Waco wasn’t his favorite town, but they had a fine rodeo, and an eighty-point ride on his last event of the night? Hoo-yeah.

  “You gonna stick around to see the concert? It’s Roger Creager and Cody Johnson.”

  That was damn tempting, but it was only seven thirty now, and if he hit the road, he could be at the hotel in time for his regular Saturday phone call to the kids. “Nah, I think I’ll head on out. I got to ride again tomorrow.”

  “You sure? I got beers….”

  And a pretty, pretty mouth.

  He closed his eyes and prayed for strength. “The kids are expecting me to call. Maybe tomorrow after the short go? I’ll feed you.”

  “I’m in. See you then, man.” Oh, there was a promise there, a smile that went beyond buddies.

  He waved, then unzipped his vest as he headed back behind the chutes. Ap wrestled out of his chaps, but he left the rest of his riding clothes on. He could just make it to the Holiday Inn Express.

  Daniel’s kids waited to hear from him, and Ap would be damned if he disappointed him.

  He made it to his room with two minutes to spare, so he chucked his hat, vest, and boots off, laying them on top of his bag. Then he hit the head. The phone rang about the time he got zipped back up and his hands washed.

  He hit the Answer button. “Hello?”

  “Uncle Ap! Uncle Ap! I made a… goddamn it, Bella, back off!”

  “Cole cussed! Uncle Daddy! Cole cussed!”

  “Whoa, guys. I’ll talk to everyone, now. Just breathe.” He grabbed a Coke out of the minifridge. “Hey, y’all.”

  “Hey. So, I made a touchdown Friday, and Julianne is going to let me take her to the homecoming dance next weekend.”

  “Nice! Good job, and Julianne is the redhead, yeah?” Ap settled on the bed, wiggling his toes in his socks.

  “Uh-huh. She’s a cheerleader. Her momma is the choir director.”

  “Uh-oh. You watch your butt.” Moms who were involved in school were doubly dangerous.

  “Yeah, she’s… she’s fine. I have to get a good pair of pants and new shoes for the dance. And a haircut.”

  “You need me to send you some money?” Trey took care of the day-to-day stuff just fine, but he liked to send the kids money directly for special occasions. Made him a little like Santa Claus.

  He heard Cole take a breath, and then someone said something and Cole sighed. “I gotta let Bella have her turn.”

  “Okay, kiddo.” He made a mental note to add some money to Cole’s PayPal debit thingee.

  “I have new chickens! Uncle Daddy bought a whole farm of animals, and he says the chickens are mine!” Bella always sounded like the world was the most amazing place.

  “A whole farm? Like someone else’s?” He blinked. Had he and Trey talked about that?

  “Uh-huh. Old Lady Marin was—”

  “Bella!” Amelia sounded shocked.

  “Señora Marin is real sick and needed to eat and not have to take care of everything.” Her voice dropped. “God, Amelia is such a prude.”

  “Hey, now. She can hear you, Bella.” Bella was going to be so wicked. He adored her.

  “Good. Anyway, one of the chickens is sick, and she’s staying in my room with me.”

  “Wow.” Hopefully in a cage. “You take good care of her.”

  “I am. Don’t tell Uncle Daddy. Here’s Courtney.”

  “Bye, baby. Hey, Courtney. How’s your goat?”

  “She is going to have a baby goat! Cole says he’s going to sell the baby for cabrito, but Uncle Daddy says we don’t have to.”

  “You tell Cole to leave your goats alone.” He knew Cole would hear him. Their oldest was being a butthead.

  “I will. I am going to call the baby Patrick the Greatest Goat.”

  “What if she’s a girl?” Amelia asked, her voice soft as clouds.

  “It’s not. It’s a boy goat.”

  “Well, if it does turn out to be a girl, you can call her Patricia. Amelia, honey, how are you?”

  “Okay. I miss you. Are you coming home ever?”

  “I am. You know I come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.” Otherwise he was on the road. Playing the game while he still could.

  “Halloween this year? Maybe?”

  “Amelia, enough. Braden, do you want to talk to your Uncle Ap?” Trey’s voice cut through everything like a knife.

  “I’m playing my game, Uncle Ap. I’m winning. Love you! Bye!”

  “Bye.” Lord help him, Braden played a lot of games. “Love you.”

  “Okay, y’all. Tell him good night. I got to talk to him a minute.”

  Goodie. If Trey wanted to talk, it generally meant trouble. All the little ones—and the not particularly little ones—said good night, and then he heard Trey take the phone off speaker and head out to the rickety old sun porch that the man had claimed as his own.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  The click of a lighter sounded, then a soft sigh. “You need to come home, Ap. I need some time of
f. I need to drink myself stupid and get poured into bed. I need to not sleep with Courtney and Amelia on either side because their asshole older brother told them the zombies were coming.”

  “What?” In all the years they’d done this, Trey had never asked for help that wasn’t money. Not once.

  “I want you to come home. I haven’t been to the bathroom where someone didn’t knock for six years. I haven’t slept through the night without someone needing something. I haven’t gotten laid. I haven’t gotten drunk. I want a motherfucking vacation. Come. Home.”

  Holy shit. What the hell was he gonna say to that? No? “Sure. Okay. I can skip the Stampede and stay through Thanksgiving, but I’ll have to go to finals.” He was number seven in the top ten.

  “You always do. The kids will be excited.” Trey sounded utterly exhausted.

  “Not always, but one way or the other, I’ll come tomorrow night. As soon as the short go is over. I’m in Waco, so it will be Monday.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “Hey, you’re okay, right? You don’t have cancer or something?” Ap was really starting to worry.

  “I have burnout. I have been taking care of five kids for six years.”

  “Sure. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t like you were gonna die.” He shook his head. Trey had told him back in the day that he was worthless as tits on a boar hog at taking care of kids. Why would he want Ap to do it now?

  “Not that anyone’s told me.”

  “Okay. Well, I’ll ride tomorrow and come on.” He mourned his rendezvous, but he would make it up to Deano later on.

  “Good ride, cowboy. You know where the ranch is.”

  “I do. I’ll be home in no time.”

  “Thank you. I need this.” The phone went dead, the grouchy old man just a giant butthead.

  He called Dean right off. “Got called home right after the round tomorrow. Rain check?”

  “I could come over now.”

  “Oh.” Huh. Well, that would be something. “I have to get up early….”

  “Don’t we all?”

  “Well, yeah.” He chuckled. Dean was a persistent one.

  Ap wasn’t sure if he hoped Dean would come on over or stay away.

  Chapter Two

  TREY headed in from feeding to start his second pot of coffee.

  He put five bowls out in front of the Crock-Pot, then pulled out brown sugar, raisins, milk, and butter.

  All right.

  Breakfast.

  Now, children.

  He started down the hallway, bellowing at the top of his lungs. “Good morning to you! Good morning to you! Good morning. I love you! Good morning to you!”

  He banged at every door he passed.

  Kids began to appear by the time he made his way back down the hall, Bella and Amelia first, then Braden. Sleepy-eyed, hair wild, they all blinked at him.

  “Good morning! Oats for breakfast. School bus is in an hour. Brush your teeth and hair and get dressed.” He kissed them each, went to bang on Cole’s door again and then wake his youngest, who would sleep twenty hours a day if he let her.

  Cole flung the door wide. “I’m up. Oats?”

  “Yep. Just for you, son. Good morning.”

  “Morning.” Cole shook his head. “Sorry I missed feeding. I was up late working on that history project. I’ll get Courtney.”

  “No big. I remember you telling me about it, bud.” He went to gather up laundry.

  He heard Courtney grumbling at Cole, but that was the last one up, so he moved back to the kitchen to start the wash.

  “Uncle Daddy, my button fell off my shirt!” Bella was standing there, looking at her blouse like this was a personal affront.

  “Well, either fix it or pick another shirt. You’re twelve. That’s old enough to mend a button.” He didn’t have time to baby them, not about that sort of stuff.

  Her lower lip pooched out. “You never help me!”

  He fixed her with a stare. “Pardon me?”

  “I tried to put the button on!” She thrust the shirt at him.

  “Okay, let me…. Damn, girl. The button broke!”

  “I told you!”

  “Go find another shirt. I’ll have to take this and buy a new button.”

  She whirled around and stomped away, and he wanted to beat her butt, but she came out dressed a few minutes later. He let it go.

  “You’ll fix it, Uncle Daddy? It’s my favorite.”

  “I’ll fix it. Oats.”

  “Thank you.” She hugged his arm before making a bowl.

  “You’re welcome. Orange juice or milk?”

  “Why does Cole get coffee?”

  “Because I got tired of fighting with him about it.”

  Braden came in. “You don’t even like coffee,” he told Bella.

  “No, it’s nasty.”

  “Well then.”

  She rolled her eyes, and he growled like a bear and grabbed her. “I’ll roll those eyes right back at you.”

  She squealed happily, wriggling in his arms. “Uncle Daddy!”

  God, he loved them. All of them. He hoped, somewhere, their momma was looking down on them. She would be proud.

  “Not so loud, Bella! My head hurts.” Courtney dragged in, her clothes all mismatched, her eyes cloudy.

  “Let me feel your head, baby girl.” Christ, she was burning up. “Okay, Tylenol, juice, and back to bed.”

  “No fair!”

  “Why does she get to be sick?”

  “Feel my forehead!”

  “My head hurts!”

  “Enough!” he barked. “Y’all eat. Now. Come on, Court. You need some medicine.”

  She began to cry.

  The sound of a diesel truck pulling up outside made him close his eyes and pray. God, please. Please let it be Dennis “Ap” McIntosh.

  “Who’s that?”

  All five kids perked up.

  The back door swung open a few minutes later. “Hey, y’all. I’m home.”

  Four kids went running, Courtney elbowed him in the balls, and one of the bowls of oats crashed to the floor, shattering.

  Yay.

  “Oh, now.” Ap ended up on the floor, kids piled on him.

  Trey grabbed a towel and scooped up the biggest pieces of glass before he went to fetch the mop.

  “Hey, Trey!” Ap was hugging kids, laughing, and Trey wanted to hit the guy with the mop handle.

  “Mr. Ap. How was your drive?”

  “Not too bad. Weather was good all the way up. I was in Waco,” Ap told the kids. “Did you know they can’t dance there?”

  “Cole’s going to a dance on Saturday!” Bella announced. “And Courtney’s—” Courtney puked all over Ap and Amelia, who began to scream at the top of her lungs. “—sick.”

  “Oh God.” Ap’s eyes rolled, which made Trey jump over to grab up Courtney.

  “You puke too and I will personally roast you in your own smoker.” He held Courtney at arm’s length. “Cole, deal with mopping. Braden, make more oats. Bella, clean your sister off. Amelia Danielle, if you don’t shut up, I will give you a reason to scream.”

  Then he ran to the nearest bathroom with the puking wonder.

  By the time he got back, all of the kids were eating, the puke was mopped, and Ap was wearing a clean shirt.

  “Oats?” Ap asked, standing to go get him a bowl.

  “No, thank you.” If he tried to eat now, he might die. “Coffee?”

  “Got it.” Ap got him a clean cup and fixed his coffee. One cream, two sugars. It made him smile that Ap remembered.

  “Thanks. Y’all hurry up now. School bus is on the way.”

  “Yessir.” Cole scooped up dishes.

  He pulled lunch boxes for Bella and Amelia out and handed Braden and Cole lunch money, slipping Cole enough for snacks after football practice.

  “I’ll see all y’all tonight,” Ap said, taking hugs as the kids headed out the door.

  Trey closed his eyes, just inhaling his cof
fee. Breathe. He could do this. He could. He’d managed to admit he needed a vacation. He’d spoken to Ap. He could do this.

  Silence fell, because Courtney had dozed off where he’d put her on the couch with a cartoon.

  “Tell me when I can safely talk to you,” Ap murmured.

  “Come to my office.” He led Ap to his porch, then plopped down on his recliner.

  Ap sat on one of the other big chairs, the wood slats groaning. “So, been tough, huh?”

  “Yeah. I need a few days. I need a break.” He needed to be a grown-up, not a parent.

  “Okay, man. You should have called before now.”

  Sure, for his own sanity he should have. Ap was having an amazing season, though, so he knew better.

  “Yeah, well.” What was he supposed to say? He knew.

  “Thanks, Trey. Really.”

  “For what?”

  “For staying home with them. I got a good check if you want to take off for a few days.”

  Ap sent most of his money home to the ranch, keeping out just enough for travel and entry fees.

  “I do. I need some sleep, a few beers.” He couldn’t believe it had been six years since Tammy and Daniel had died, since they’d had to take on the kids.

  “Sure.” Ap’s bright smile told Trey the man had no idea what he was getting into.

  “Good deal. I just need a few days.” Maybe a week. He could take a week.

  “You just set up whatever you need. The kids are old enough now that I can talk to them. That makes a difference.”

  “Cool. Do you need a list of all the after-school shit?”

  “Please.” Ap looked a little panicked for a second.

  He nodded and got up so he could go grab a pad. “Cole has football every afternoon, plus his game on Friday. It’s homecoming. You’ll need to get him slacks and pick up his girlfriend’s mum before Thursday. He has car privileges for the dance Saturday. 4-H is on Wednesday for Braden and Bella. If Courtney’s not running a fever, she has dance Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Braden and Courtney have soccer on Saturday. Bella has softball while Court’s in dance. Amelia has Girl Scouts this afternoon. She’ll go directly from school, and Lisa Anders will bring her home.”