“Stop! Letty, make them stop!” She couldn’t tear her gaze off the grappling limbs but clung to her aunt. Tucker steeled his thigh muscle. It bulged against the denim as he used it to lever himself up, lifting her father off his feet a bit.
Unbalanced, her dad staggered and took another swipe at Christian. “At least I knew Langley was fucking my daughter. But you?”
Christian’s eyes flashed dark, his jaw so tight she saw a feral flutter in the corner. “Name’s Christian Davis. Haven’t heard yours.”
It was a dig. He was letting her father know that she didn’t talk about him. Ever. Partly because it hurt too much that he wasnever around, but mostly because there was little to say about a man she’d seen five times in as many years.
“You bastards are taking advantage of my little girl.” He gained a hold on Tucker’s shoulder and flipped him off his feet.
Tucker scrambled back up, fury rippling over his body in waves. He circled her father as Christian dodged a punch.
“Stop it!”
This was insane.
Speaking of crazy, were those four-wheeler engines she heard?
“Claire’s not a kid. She’s old enough to make her own choices.” Christian shrank away from her father’s right hook before he could land it.
“And from what I understand,” Tucker huffed, still circling, “you weren’t around to help her with those choices even when she was a child.”
A sharp cry broke from her. “No more! Please!”
Her father cocked his fist and drove it at Christian, who jumped away before the knuckles dented his face.
Letty was back at her side and twisting her hands.
“You dare to accuse me of not seeing to my daughter’s needs?” her father demanded, arms widespread as if he’d gather Tucker and Christian together and crush them. His eyes, usually mild, were blazing with anger.
“I believe Chris and I just did that infinitely better,” Tucker goaded.
Her father’s face mottled red. A vein pounded in his neck. “You son of a bitch—”
“Jake Mickelson,” Letty bellowed from Claire’s side. “In the name of your mother, stop.”
He paused mid-reach for Tucker and pivoted his head toward his mother’s sister, perhaps the only person on earth who still held some clout with him.
“Sit yourself down and I’ll fix you something to eat,” Letty said, smoothing things with a good home-cooked meal as usual.
Her father looked from Letty to Claire, then turned to Tucker. “You wouldn’t have come back if not for me, and now I see I messed up bad by talking to you frankly.”
Christian looked confused. Tucker shook his head. “I came back of my own free will. This place needed me. This ranch, my horses, land. And these two people.”
“Jesus Christ.” Her father yanked off his ball cap and raked his fingers through his full head of hair.
Claire tripped forward on unsteady legs and right into her father’s embrace. Her father gathered her up, and she breathed his familiar scent.
“Why, Claire?” he asked, low enough she wasn’t sure the others could hear.
She tipped her face up to look at his beloved, craggy features. “Because I love them.”
Her father was silent for a long minute. Letty put her hand on his arm. “If you could have found two loves like Caren, would you have jumped onto that ship?” she asked.
Claire jerked. It had to have been a decade since she’d heard her mother’s name. When she was born, her father had insisted her name start with a C, just like her momma’s.
Her father tightened his hold around her until she could barely draw breath. Then all atonce, he released her. She staggered, but Tucker was right there to steady her.
She felt the flow of unrequited anger running just under Tucker’s skin. As her father moved off with Letty into the house, Claire worked to gain control of her emotions.
