give momma ammo to hold over us. How many times have I said those exact words?"
Shrugging and pretending to hang his head in shame, Ranger took one step forward, lifted his head again, spun to the side, and wrapped his arm around Mrs. MacAllen's shoulder. Planting a kiss on her cheek, he snickered, "I know who does the cookin', son, and I wanna eat."
"Well, damn," Zach made a show out of pouting, complete with a kick of the toe of his boot against the hardwood floor as he shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "Beaten by fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits, again. That shit's just not fair."
"What's not fair?" Called Colton, the youngest of the MacAllen brothers and one of the infamous twins, as he joined them in the room that was Ranger's when they were all growing up and the one he'd been staying in since he was released from the hospital.
“Dumbass here,” Zach grumbled, motioning with a nod of his head towards Ranger. “Told mom that she was right and when I called him on it, he sided with her. Even gave her a kiss on the cheek.”
“Holy shit!” Colton bellowed, a gleam of mischief in his eye. “There will be no living with her.”
Swinging her dishtowel like it was a whip, Barbara stepped out from under Ranger's arm before snapping both Zach and Colton with the fringe. "Y'all better watch it," she teased. "Don't make me get your daddy after you."
"Did I hear my name being spoken in vain?" Owen, the patriarch of the MacAllen Clan and the Bronze Dragon who had not only saved Ranger from a pack of hunters when he was only five years old but went back to get the bodies of his parents and made sure they received a proper send-off into the afterlife.
“You did,” Barbara sassed, marching right up to her much taller, much broader husband and poking him in the chest. “Those children of yours…” Glancing over her shoulder and giving each one of them a very pointed glare, she turned right back around and went on without missing a beat, “…are in here giving Ranger a rash of shit as big as the day is long for taking up for me. Can you believe that?”
Throwing back his head and laughing out loud, Owen choked out between chuckles, "I can not only believe it, but I'm also surprised it's just now happening. The boy's been here for damn near a month without so much as an arm-wrestling match for the last piece of rhubarb pie or a coin toss for the last biscuit. It was bound to happen. He always did have the silver tongue and knew what to say to get in your good graces, my love.”
“He damned sure did,” Heath, the second to the last in line and the other twin, hollered in from the hallway. “You’d think he was the youngest instead of Colton. Damned sure always was mom’s favorite.”
“I have no favorites,” Barbara denied, giving Ranger a wink over her shoulder. “I love you all just the same – with all my heart. That means every danged one of you can get washed up for dinner. I think Ranger’s got an announcement to make.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a deafening silence filled the usually uproarious MacAllen household. Looking from face to face, Ranger felt nothing but love and acceptance. He'd missed every single one of them. Was so sorry he'd missed three of his adopted brothers finding their Mates and sworn it would never happen again. No, these people weren't his blood relations, but they were family, no doubt about it.
Opening his mouth to tell them all that he was going to leave right after dinner, the sound of the front door opening and a shouted, "Hey, anybody home?" broke the silence and gave him a moment's reprieve.
“We’re in here,” Owen yelled. “Ranger’s about to give us some big news.”
“Hold up. Don’t start without us. We’re coming.”
Two seconds later, the second of the MacAllen brothers, J.D. and his Mate, Dax, walked into the room. Stopping at the end of Ranger's bed, it was the redheaded Fire Horse who prompted with a nod, "Alright, Bud, we've arrived. What's going on?"
"Well, umm…. It's just that I…" For the first time in his life, Ranger was at a loss for words. He hadn't been back on the ranch for years. His work with the DIA kept him on