Deadly Desperados (3 page)

“I understand.”

Jake dropped a soft kiss on Ally’s upturned mouth. “How about I buy you that Olive Garden I promised, and then we’ll come back here and relax? James is booking the flights. We’re going to need to be in bed early.”

“Screw Olive Garden,” Ally said, hopping off the couch. “I need to pack. What exactly does one wear in Kansas?”

Jake laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “Never change, Angel.”

“This is so exciting,” Ally enthused the next morning, gripping her armrest as she stared out the window and watched the airplane shoot into the sky.

“Speak for yourself,” Mandy grumbled, resting her head against James’ shoulder and tugging the airline-issued blanket up to cover herself. “It’s still dark out. You can’t even see anything outside of that window, Ally. I don’t know why you’re so giddy this early in the morning.”

James surprised the foursome with business-class seats, which meant they had room to stretch their legs and weren’t crammed in around other passengers. In fact, other than two men a couple rows ahead of them, they had the entire business section to themselves.

“Mandy isn’t a morning person,” James supplied, brushing a quick kiss against his wife’s forehead as she drifted back into dreamland. “She’ll be fine by the time we land.”

“How long?” Ally asked, her eyes sparkling. This wasn’t her first time on a plane, but it had been years since she’d gone anywhere via air travel.

“Three hours,” James said. “That’s plenty of time for you to have breakfast and gaze out the window.” Despite himself, James found Ally’s enthusiasm adorable. Unlike his sister, though, he would’ve been perfectly happy crawling under Mandy’s blanket with her and going back to sleep. He didn’t think that was in the cards.

As if on cue, the flight attendant appeared next to their seats. She was a pretty blonde, her smile unnaturally bright as she gazed between the two couples. “Good morning. Would you like to order breakfast? With only six of you in the section, I’m pretty much going to have nothing to do but wait on you the entire trip.”

Ally wrinkled her nose. “We get to order breakfast?”

The flight attendant – her nametag read “Ashley” – handed Ally a sheet of paper. “You can have anything on the list. If you’re really hungry, you can have two entrees. We have more than enough to go around.”

“Oh, yay,” Ally said, straightening. “I don’t know how I’ve never flown business class before. James, you’re going to have to upgrade me every time I fly from here on out. You know that, right?”

James rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Ally.” He took Ashley’s proffered menu and scanned it. “I’ll have the omelet and hash browns. I’ll take some coffee, too.”

“And you’re wife?”

Mandy didn’t even shift against James’ shoulder. “Give her the omelet and hash browns, too. She’ll take tomato juice instead of coffee, though. Oh, make sure it’s tomato juice. If you try to trick her with V-8 we’re all going to find out exactly how much she hates mornings.”

Ashley pursed her lips. “Are you sure? She seems … zoned out.”

“Yes, well, my wife likes to sleep in,” James replied. “She also likes a big breakfast. She’ll be fine.”

“I’ll wake her up,” Ally offered.

“You stay over there,” James ordered. “If you wake her up she’s going to yank your hair out.”

After placing their orders, Jake focused his attention on Mandy. He was mystified how she could sleep with everyone chatting around her. “Do you think she’s really asleep?”

“She’s drooling on my shoulder.” James gazed fondly down at his blonde. “She’s asleep.”

“We can stop at a restaurant in the airport if you don’t want to wake her up,” Jake offered. “I honestly haven’t seen her that still since the day I met you guys.”

James snorted. Jake’s introduction to the Hardy family came at a tempestuous point in their lives. Mandy was recovering from being injured in an explosion, and when the middle Hardy brother, Grady, brought Jake to James’ apartment, his first glimpse into their lives involved Mandy sleeping on James’ chest. He knew then that there was something different about this family. He was glad he stuck around to find out what it was.

“She sleeps hard,” James said. “If she’s really tired she snores.”

“Ally does that, too,” Jake said.

“I do not!” Ally was horrified.

“It’s cute, Angel. Don’t worry about it,” Jake said, squeezing her hand. “I like it when you snore.”

“I don’t snore,” Ally muttered.

James rolled his eyes until they landed on Jake. “While we’re waiting for breakfast, why don’t you tell me about your uncle and aunt. I’d like to get a feel for what we’re walking into before we get there.”

“They’re great,” Jake said. “Uncle Ben … no rice jokes, Ally … served in the Army for four years before moving from Michigan to Kansas. He’s the one who convinced me the military might be a good fit when I was restless after high school graduation.”

“He grew up on the west side of the state?”

Jake nodded.

“How did he end up in Kansas?” James asked. “No offense, but Kansas isn’t usually one of those states you uproot your entire life to move to. You’re either born there or … tricked into moving there.”

Jake snickered. “Kansas is beautiful,” he argued. “You’ll see when we get there. It’s different from Michigan, that’s for sure. That doesn’t mean it’s not a great place to live.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” James offered. “The only thing I know about Kansas is what Mandy’s reruns of
Smallville
have taught me.”

“And what’s that?”

“Beware of bald men and meteor rocks,” James replied, not missing a beat.

“What about your aunt?” Ally asked, rubbing her hands together nervously. “Do you think she’ll like me?”

“She’ll love you, Angel. Don’t get worked up over this.” Jake realized he’d done a disservice to Ally by hiding her away from his family. Part of it was selfish. He didn’t want to share her with anyone. They already spent so much time with her brothers he felt like they were mired in nonstop family politics. He didn’t want to add his family to the mix when his favorite thing to do was hunker down alone with the brunette of his dreams. “I promise they’re both going to love you, Ally.”

“Of course they’ll love you, Ally,” James chimed in. “They’re going to take one look at you and start measuring your hips to see if you’re of proper breeding stock to carry on the Harrison name.”

Jake scowled.

“What? I’m guessing farm jokes should be limited on this trip, huh?” James was enjoying himself despite the early hour. Nicer weather was beckoning him. He loved Michigan except for one notable exception: the long and brutal winters. He hoped to take Mandy on many warmer climate excursions once she quit her job at the courthouse in September – not that he was counting down the days or anything.

“You can make farm jokes,” Jake said. “My uncle makes farm jokes. Just … they’re good people. I don’t want anyone making them feel bad because they’ve chosen to live a different kind of life than we have.”

“Do you honestly think I would do that?” James asked, adjusting the overhead fan so it blew directly on Mandy’s placid face. “I’m just messing around with you. I’ll be respectful.”

“I know you will,” Jake said hurriedly. “It’s just … this is the first time I’ve brought anyone to the farm. I’m kind of nervous myself.”

“You’re nervous to introduce Ally to them,” James clarified. “Mandy and I are just along for the ride.”

“Is that true?” Ally asked, her eyes widening. “Are you nervous for them to meet me?”

“I’m excited for them to meet you,” Jake corrected. “I haven’t seen them in a few years, though. It seems weird to be going out there now. I should’ve stopped by when I got back to the country after my last tour but … I kept putting it off.”

“I understand that,” James said, his mind briefly traveling back to his own military stint and the initial alienation he felt upon his return. “I’m sure they understand it, too.”

“You still haven’t told me about your aunt,” Ally pressed. “Is she going to try to dress me up in prairie skirts and make me churn butter?”

Jake barked out a coarse laugh. “Where did you get that idea?”

“
Little House on the Prairie
,” Mandy answered, her eyes still shut as she shifted and cuddled closer to James. “We used to watch it when we were kids.”

“Holy crap! I forgot all about that,” James said, laughing. “They used to braid their hair and everything so they could pretend they were Laura Ingalls.”

“Didn’t you guys miss the
Little House on the Prairie
craze?” Jake asked. “That was the seventies and eighties.”

“They have reruns,” Ally supplied. “We used to love that show. We wanted to live in a little house and beat up Nellie Oleson.”

“Ah.” Jake fought the mad urge to laugh at Ally’s nostalgia. “Well, Aunt Mary won’t try to dress you up in prairie skirts and I don’t think she’s ever churned butter.”

“Still, she must do stuff the old-school way,” Ally argued. “Does she sweep wood floors and plant her own potato crop?”

“I’m hiding the television when we get home,” Jake grumbled. “Aunt Mary grew up in Kansas. She went to school to be a nurse. She met Uncle Ben when he was back on rotation for a few months and they fell in love. Since he had to go back to active duty, she didn’t think she’d ever see him again.

“The second he was released he showed up at the hospital where she worked begging for a date,” he continued. “They went out four nights in a row. On the fifth night he proposed, and they’ve been happy ever since.”

“That’s a beautiful story,” Ally said, her brown eyes shining. “That doesn’t answer my question about the potatoes, though.”

“You definitely watch too much television,” Jake said, tugging on a strand of Ally’s flyaway hair. “She does have a garden, but they don’t need it to live on. She enjoys canning stuff … and she’s the best cook ever.”

Ally made a face. “After me, right?”

“Of course,” Jake hedged, causing James to laugh.

“I think what he’s trying to tactfully tell you is that she’s a better cook than you, Ally,” James interjected.

“Stop poking your sister,” Mandy murmured, her eyes still shut.

“I would poke you if you’d wake up,” James countered.

“Shh.”

James rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Jake. “Is your aunt still a nurse?”

“She picks up a shift a week at the local hospital and volunteers with a group of area midwives, but she spends most of her time working on the farm,” Jake explained. “Their big crops are corn and soybeans. They have a small beef market, and they also have horses.”

“Beef market?” Ally furrowed her brow. “Oh, man, does that mean I’m going to make friends with cows only to have them show up on the dinner table?”

Jake’s smile was rueful. “You’re probably not going to want to make friends with the cows in case you get attached to them,” he said. “Look at it this way, though, you’ll finally get to ride a horse.”

“That’s right,” James chortled. “Now, instead of constantly telling Mandy to ask for a pony when she’s mad at me, you can actually ride a horse and get it out of your system.”

“I’m kind of excited about it,” Ally admitted. “The only horse I’ve ever ridden has been on a carousel.”

“I’ll take you for a special ride and we’ll have a picnic,” Jake offered. “I think you’re going to have a great time … once you get used to the change in lifestyle.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that life moves differently in the country,” Jake replied. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and the cabins we’re going to be staying in aren’t like the house. There’s not a television there for you to watch
Little House on the Prairie
. You have to go outside and actually live the life.”

“I can do that,” Ally sniffed.

“We’ll see,” Jake said. “I think you’re going to have a good time if you relax and let yourself enjoy it. I also think you’re going to go into culture shock for the first twenty-four hours. Don’t worry. I’ll be there to ease the transition.”

“Speaking of easing the transition,” Ally said, leaning forward and glancing around. “With so few people up here, I’m thinking now is the time to do something I’ve always wanted to do.”

“What?”

Ally pointed at the bathroom. “Have you ever wanted to join the Mile High Club?”

“Don’t even think about it,” James hissed. “I will kill you both if you try something like that.”

“Oh, ease up,” Mandy muttered. “You were excited to join the club when we flew on our honeymoon.”

“Seriously, that’s what you’re conscious enough to bring up?” James asked, scowling at his wife.

“Shh.”

Jake knew smiling wasn’t a good idea, but he couldn’t help himself when James’ murderous glare landed on him. “It does make you a little bit of a hypocrite, man.”

“If you go in that bathroom with my sister I’m going to kill you,” James warned.

“Yeah, but what a way to go.”