LITMIR.BIZ

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      “So you all live here on the estate?” Beau asked when he and Hayes had completed their stalls and met in the middle of the barn.

      Hayes rested his hand on the top of the pitchfork handle and swiped his other forearm across his damp forehead. “Yeah. I renovated Granddad’s old house back by the fork in the river and the creek. I’ve always loved that place and it just seemed logical when I came back.”

      The original farmhouse for Pebblebrook would be the perfect home for Hayes and his family, providing privacy, but still remaining on Elliott land.

      When they’d all been boys they’d ventured to the back of the property on their horses or ATVs and used it as a giant getaway or a man cave. They’d had the ultimate fort and pretended to be soldiers or cowboys in the Old West.

      Once upon a time the Elliott brothers were all close, inseparable. But now...

      Beau was virtually starting over with his own family. That deathbed promise to his former agent was so much more difficult to execute than he’d originally thought. But Hector had made Beau vow he’d go home and mend fences. At the time Beau had agreed, but now he knew saying the words had been the easy part.

      He leaned back against Doc’s stall and stared blankly.

      “Hey.” Hayes studied Beau before slapping a large hand over his shoulder. “It’s going to take some time. Nolan is hurt, but he’s not pissed. Me? I’m just glad you’re here, though I wonder if you’ll stay. So I guess that makes me cautious. But Colt, well, he’s pissed and hurt, so that’s the one you need to be careful with.”

      Beau snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, we’ve already had words.”

      Like when Colt swung by earlier to talk, but ended up going off because of the new nanny. Colt claimed Beau was still a wild child and a player, hiring a nanny looking like that. Beau had prayed Scarlett hadn’t heard Colt’s accusations. She was a professional and he didn’t want her disrespected or made to feel unwelcome. Not that his brother was disrespecting Scarlett. No, he was aiming that all at Beau.

      Even if the choice had been his, Beau sure as hell wouldn’t have chosen a woman who looked like Scarlett to spend twenty-four hours a day with inside that small cabin. Even he wasn’t that much of a masochist.

      Beau had no idea what had originally brought Colt over to see him, but he had a feeling their morning talk wasn’t the last of their heated debates.

      “You’d think my twin would be the most understanding,” Beau muttered.

      “Not when he’s the one who held this place together once Dad couldn’t,” Hayes retorted. “I was overseas, Nolan was married to his surgery schedule and you were gone. Colt’s always wanted this life. Ranching was it for him, so I guess the fact you wanted nothing to do with it only made the hurt worse. Especially when you rarely called or came back to visit.”

      Beau knew coming back would rip his heart open, but he’d had no clue his brother would just continually pour salt into the wound. But he had nobody to blame but himself. He was man enough to take it, though. He would push through the hard times and reconnect with his family. If losing Hector had taught him anything, it was that time was fleeting.

      “I can’t make up for the past,” Beau started. “And I can’t guarantee I’ll stay forever. I just needed somewhere to bring Madelyn, and home seemed like the most logical place. I don’t care how I’m treated, just as long as she’s loved. I can work on Colt and hopefully mend that relationship.”

      “Maybe you should start with seeing Dad if you want to try to make amends with anyone.”

      The heavy dose of guilt he’d been carrying around for some time grew weightier at Hayes’s statement. His older brother was absolutely right, yet fear had kept Beau from reaching out to his father since he’d been home.

      “Will he even know me?” Beau asked, almost afraid of the answer.

      Hayes shrugged. “Maybe not, but what matters is that you’re there.”

      Beau swallowed the lump of emotions. Everything he’d heard over the past year was that their father barely knew anything anymore. The Alzheimer’s had trapped him inside his mind. He and Beau may have had major differences in the past, but Grant Elliott was still his father and Beau respected the hell out of that man...though he hadn’t done a great job of showing it over the years.

      His father had been a second-generation rancher and took pride in his work. He’d wanted his sons to follow in that same path of devotion. Beau, though, had been a rebellious teen with wandering feet and a chip on his shoulder. Pebblebrook hadn’t been enough to contain him and he’d moved away. On his own for the first time, he’d wanted to experience everything that had been denied him back home, and ended up in trouble. Then he was discovered and dubbed “a natural” after a ridiculous commercial he wanted to forget.

      Beau threw himself into the acting scene hard. His career had seemed to skyrocket overnight.

      At first he’d been on a path to destruction, then a path to stardom. And through it all, he hadn’t even thought of coming home. He’d been too wrapped up in himself. No excuses.

      Then one day he’d realized how much time had passed. He had come home but the cold welcome he’d received had sent him straight back to LA.

      But this time was different. This time he was going to stay, at least through the holidays, no matter how difficult it might be.

      “I’ll go see him,” Beau promised, finally meeting Hayes’s eyes. “I’m just not ready.”

      “Always making excuses.”

      Beau and Hayes turned to the sound of Colt’s angry voice. Just what he needed, another round with his pissed brother.

      * * *

      Colt glanced to the pitchfork in Beau’s hand. “Are you practicing for a part or actually attempting to help?”

      “Colt—”

      “No.” Beau held out his hand, cutting Hayes off. “It’s not your fight.”

      Hayes nodded and took Beau’s pitchfork and his own back to the tack room, giving Beau and Colt some privacy.

      “I came home because I needed somewhere safe to bring my daughter,” Beau stated, that chip on his shoulder more evident than ever. “I came home because it was time and I’d hoped we could put aside our differences for Christmas.”

      Did he think he could just waltz back onto the ranch and sing carols around the Christmas tree and all would be well? Had he been gone so long that he could just ignore the tension and the hurt that resided here?

      “You won’t find a red-carpet welcome here,” Colt grunted. “We’ve gotten along just fine without you for years. So if you’re just going to turn around and leave again, don’t bother with all this show now. Christmas is a busy time for Annabelle at the B and B. I don’t have time to figure out what the hell you’re doing or not doing.”

      Seeing his twin back here where they’d shared so many memories...

      Every part of Colt wished this was a warm family reunion, but the reality was quite different.

      Beau had chosen to stay away, to make a new family, a new life amidst all the Hollywood hoopla, the parties, the women, the money and jet-setting.

      Bitterness had settled into Colt long ago and showed no sign of leaving.

      “What did you want when you came by this morning?” Beau asked. “Other than to berate me.”

      Hayes carried a blanket and saddle down the stable and passed them, obviously trying to get the hell out of here and not intervene.

      Colt hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “I was going to give you a chance to explain. Annabelle told me I should hear your side, but then I saw your replacement nanny and realized nothing

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