Strung Up: A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella Read Free

to anything. It’s just…” How did I say this? “Why haven’t you all given up on me?”
    “Because you’re family, bro. All we can do is be here for you when you’re ready to pay attention again.”
    I scrubbed my hands over my face. “If I haven’t said so, I appreciate that none of you have nagged and told me I’ve been grieving long enough and it’s time to move on.”
    Wyn actually looked horrified. “Cres, that ain’t for anybody but you to decide. I wasn’t bullshitting you earlier. We miss you. All of us do. We thought it’d do us all good to be together tonight, no kids, no talkin’ about the ranch. Just the five of us hanging out.”
    I tried not to think back when it was the six of us hanging out. My brothers and their wives had accepted Mick and me as a couple and him as part of the family. “It still feels wrong that he’s not here,” I admitted.
    My brother reached over and patted my leg.
    The drive had taken a little more than half an hour. We turned down a dirt road and I saw hundreds of cars parked in a field off to the left side.
    “Holy shit.”
    “I had that same reaction the first time I saw it too. Like I said, the Gradskys don’t do anything half-assed. They arranged for buses to take guests up to the compound.”
    Berlin and Chuck Gradsky were my sister-in-law London’s parents. Their business interests ran the gamut from horse breeding, to horse training, to cattle ranching, and they invested their all financially and personally in every venture they attempted, which was why it seemed everything they touched turned to gold. After Sutton became their son-in-law, Wyn and I became part of their family too. I’d understood why Wyn was in the inner Gradsky loop, since his wife Melissa worked as a teacher and a trainer for Grade A. But they’d accepted me too—welcomed me even—and that meant more than I could express.
    Wyn bypassed the parking lot. He handed me a heavy piece of paper he’d pulled down from his sun visor. “VIP parking pass. Put that on the dash.”
    It was hard not to gawk at the structures as we tooled up the blacktop. We passed three indoor arenas, each with its own corral. The road forked and a sign marked “dormitories” pointed to the right. Behind the trees I could make out two buildings with a courtyard between them. The road split again and an arrow pointed to the left with a sign that read “classrooms and dining hall.” Then we crested a rise. I blinked at what appeared to be a small town spread out at the base of the hill.
    “They did all of this in a year and a half?”
    “Actually, it’s been less than a year.”
    “Did you know the Gradskys had this kind of money?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t think anyone knew, including their kids.”
    “Well, everyone will know after tonight, won’t they?”
    “Yep.” Wyn parked in the VIP lot.
    We hoofed it through the tall grass toward the biggest tent I’d ever seen—guess a three-million-dollar barn wasn’t big enough to hold everyone. Beneath the big top were bleachers. I half-expected to see clowns making balloon animals, jugglers throwing flaming batons into the air, scantily clad women twirling on trapezes, and the trumpeting of elephants.
    I muttered, “I need a damn drink.”
    “Staff and family have their own section with an open bar. We’re almost there.”
    The moment we stepped through the curtained-off area, my sister-in-law Melissa threw herself at my brother, greeting him with a steamy kiss. Then she whapped him on the chest. “What took you so long?”
    “I checked on Evan before I picked Cres up.”
    Melissa whirled around, noticing me for the first time.
    I managed a smile at her look of shock that I’d actually shown up. “Hey, Mel. You’re lookin’—”
    “Round. I wasn’t this big at the end of my last pregnancy.” Then she wrapped herself around me as best as she could with the basketball baby between us. “I’m so glad you’re here, Cres.”
    “I