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  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 April Zyon

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-070-0

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Brieanna Robertson

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To Moira Callahan, you rock. Seriously, I love you lots lady. Thanks for the 4am calls when I’m unsure about things.

  To Elle Boon, thank you for being there when I was pulling my hair out!

  To Brieanna, my editor… You are amazing. Without you these books wouldn’t sparkle and shine as they do.

  And last, but not least, to my readers. You all make the world go round. I love you all and the notes I get from you make my day, every single time.

  TAKING A CHANCE

  Massey, TX 4

  April Zyon

  Copyright © 2014

  Prologue

  When he’d started flying planes, Travis had found such pleasure in it. Sure, it was a bit like a taxi job, but he got to travel the world, and got paid for it. He got to stay in exotic locales, meet new people, see new things, and enjoy being single.

  The last year, though, he just hadn’t enjoyed it as much as he once had. It was starting to get old, fast. Travis didn’t have the same love for it any more. The long hours in the air were wearing on him, the exotic locales no longer as exotic, and he only ever saw the same people in each stop.

  He’d known the day would eventually come when he’d have to make the decision to keep flying or quit. That day had arrived two months ago when yet another vacation had been yanked because of budget cuts and staff shortages. All he’d wanted was a week, one week, to go home and see his family.

  It hadn’t been too much to ask for, not in his mind, but those who “knew better” said no to him anyway. So he’d put in his notice, and despite all the bullshit promises, he’d held to his guns. He was getting the fuck out.

  What he would do after the fact hadn’t even been a consideration. He likely wouldn’t decide for months yet to come. One thing he knew for sure was he was going home, and living the simple rancher’s life for a while.

  Of course he hadn’t actually told anyone he would be coming home. He hadn’t wanted his family to go all out to welcome him back. He didn’t want the party, the noise, the people. All Travis wanted, for a few days anyway, was peace and quiet. The sounds on the ranch, the people that did their jobs and stayed out of everyone else’s business.

  So, as part of his master plan, he’d landed in Dallas, Texas and picked up his brand new car. He could afford one since, when he was in the States, he usually stayed with his friends the few days he was there. When he was anywhere else, the airline took care of accommodations, transportation, and meals. Overall, he didn’t have a lot of outgoing funds compared to what he’d made as a pilot.

  Unlike the married pilots, he’d taken all shifts, holidays and otherwise, to ensure that at least one pilot with a family could be home with those they loved. Not to say he hadn’t taken a couple of the holidays to go home. He had, but it had been a rarity.

  Now he would be able to spend holidays with his family, with those he’d called friends over the years, even when he’d been away.

  Pulling into Massey, Texas, his hometown, he took his time to drive through. It had been almost a year since he’d been back. The town had grown a little more. At least in the suburbs.

  That still made him grin. He couldn’t believe that Massey had suburbs. When he’d been growing up, it had been a place every teen had wanted to get away from for the lights and excitement of the big city. Now it was a place that the big city folk came to live because it was a place with very little crime.

  A place to raise the kids, teach them about the values of playing outside and hard work. A place without gangs and minimal violence. A place you could leave your doors unlocked, and knew the name of every neighbor for miles.

  Taking a turn, he drove through one of the new neighborhoods, mainly just to see what had been done, but also to see if it was something he might want to buy into. He loved the ranch, always would, but he just didn’t know if he wanted the five a.m.—or earlier—wake up calls each and every day. He’d done that, both on the ranch and when he’d been flying, just a few too many times.

  Maybe it was time for something else. Perhaps not in Massey, or the burbs, but a little place outside of it all. Something that still gave him the ranch feel without neighbors barely a few steps away, but without the need to get up and tend the animals at all hours.

  He’d have to look into it, not right away, but soon enough. For now, though, he just wanted to get to the Carver Ranch and find a bed to crawl into. Preferably one in the main house, where there was a door, with a lock, and privacy. Damn, that sure sounded good.

  Chapter One

  Cassidy smiled at the prompt before her and said, “That’s right, folks. This is my last time giving you weather. My last hurrah.” She was all smiles before the camera, even as she was seething and sick inside. “It’s not all bad, though. Miles Truegood will be coming on board and taking over for me.” She had to hold tight to that smile, needed to for just a couple more minutes. “I get to go home to a place that I haven’t been since I was a small child. I get to finally go back to my family home. So farewell to you, Destin, Florida. May your days always be filled with sunshine, and may your nights always have a cool breeze.” She gave her final wave to the cameras and then stepped away as soon as she was given the all clear.

  When she walked off set, she all but ripped her microphone off and tossed it at the producer. “Fuck you, Scott.” She was pissed and her temper was showing. “I can’t fucking believe that you wait until today to tell me this shit, and you are replacing me with Miles? Really?”

  “Look, Cass. Don’t be such a bitch,” Scott Forman, her former fiancé, said as he walked along at her side. “You knew that it had to be coming. I mean, really? I’m the producer, and I’m more important than a glorified weather girl.”

  Whirling on him, she looked at the far too slick and far too polished man and pointed a finger at him. “I’m more than that, you douchebag.” She stepped in closer and added, “Just because you are putting your fuck buddy into my place in all areas of your life doesn’t mean that it makes it right. It means that it makes you a prick.”

  “Yeah, well, at least you are leaving, diva.”

  Cassidy snorted. “Well good luck explaining to the powers that be why you have to have not only Miles on board, but also another meteorologist since he can’t read the maps worth a shit.”

  “At least he will look good in front of a camera and not look like a total bitch.”

  Cassidy rolled her eyes, and instead of retorting, grabbed her purse and box from her desk and turned to look at Scott. “Have a wonderful life, asshole. I’m ever so hopeful that you and Miles will be exceptional together.” Her mom always told her to end an argument with a pleasantry because when someone was shitty back from that, it would forever be on their head, not hers.

  “Yeah, well.” He sputtered and Cass walked away with a grin.

  “Thank you, Mom, you were so right on that one.” She strode out of the offices of the station she had worked at for the last five years and into the sunshine.

  ****

  “Thanks for putti
ng me up, Maggie,” Cassidy said to Maggie Hershel, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast in Massey, Texas.

  “No issue at all, Cass. Your family has been a part of Massey for generations. I’m so damn sorry about your mom and dad.”

  Cassidy nodded. “That was many years ago, but thank you.” She smiled, even if the pain of the loss of her parents still haunted her. “So I hear that the great-grandparents sold the place. It’s about time. They needed to get out of there and enjoy life while they can.”

  “And that they are. From what I understand, they were going to fly out to Hawaii.”

  That had Cassidy giving Maggie a true smile. “They met in Hawaii. During the first World War. She was just out of nursing school and he was a private or something like that. He was only supposed to be gone from the farm for four years or something. I’ve heard the story a hundred times, but I always get it confused. I just know that is where they met,” Cass finished with a shrug.

  Maggie kept looking at Cassidy and then snapped her fingers. “I know! Ha. Damn, but Genny is going to owe me.”

  Cassidy frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Okay, I will bite. What are you talking about?”

  “What size are you? Four?”

  “Yes, why?” Now Cassidy was getting nervous.

  “Well, you see, Gennifer Baker is getting married soon. It’s going to be this huge shindig and the whole county is going to be invited. Anyway, she’s short one bridesmaid and you would be perfect. The right size and everything.”

  “No,” Cassidy said with a smile. “Thank you, but no thank you. The whole white wedding thing isn’t for me, and as much as I appreciate a good party, I don’t think that I will add wedding crashing to my list of occupations.”

  “It wouldn’t be crashing if you were there for the bride.”

  “I don’t even know her,” Cassidy countered.

  “Then we will just have to introduce the two of you.”

  Cassidy groaned. God, she was so not going to enjoy this, she was sure of it.

  Chapter Two

  He couldn’t breathe. Quite literally, Travis couldn’t breathe. His mother was crushing his ribcage. Hell, he was pretty fucking sure he was already turning every shade of blue there was. He didn’t even have enough air left in his lungs for a token protest.

  The woman would not let go either, despite all he’d said earlier when he’d had air. Now he was pretty sure she was hanging on so he couldn’t leave. Even though he had told her he was there to stay for good, no more jetting off into the sunset.

  His youngest brother Joshua stood there grinning, clearly enjoying the fact that their mother was target locked on someone else for a change. He did move finally, likely having seen the desperate edge in Travis’s eyes as the spots flashed and the light at the end of the tunnel became so much clearer.

  “Mama, you might want to let Trav catch some air. He’s about to keel over any minute now would be my guess, given his eyes are starting to roll in two different directions,” Josh told her.

  Thankfully, Theresa Carver, the woman who had given him life, spared him an untimely demise and let go.

  Sucking in air, he stumbled back, catching himself on a chair as he bent over desperately trying to fill his lungs time and again. The spots began to dissipate, the oxygen starvation to his body began to be relieved, feeling returned to his limbs, and all he could think was he wasn’t getting close enough for a repeat of that any time soon.

  Finally giving in, he collapsed into the chair. Rubbing a hand to his ribs, he shot his mother a look. He’d forgotten how strong the woman was. Joshua, the shit, was just grinning away like the goofball he was.

  “I’m sorry, Travis,” his mother said softly. She moved closer, and he honestly couldn’t have stopped the instinctive flinch had he tried. She gave him a glower. The one that all mothers had in their arsenal. The one that turned a child of theirs from a little shit into a perfect angel in under two seconds no matter what. It was the one that promised hell would be visited upon their heads, without mercy.

  His entire body tensed when she got to his side. All she did, though, was wrap a gentle arm around his shoulders and give him a light squeeze. “I’m just so happy to have you home again.”

  “I know, Mama,” he said, his voice a little rough. From not breathing, of course. He also didn’t have a tear in his eye—nope, he wasn’t crying. That was an irritant removal lubricant doing its job. At least that was what he was telling himself. “I’m glad you’re happy I’m home. I am, really.”

  Joshua snorted. “I think he’s trying to say that he was hoping you wouldn’t be nearly so enthusiastic about it.”

  “Joshua, don’t you have some work to do?” their mother asked him in a rather pointed tone.

  “Nope, all done. Just killing some time until my bride gets her tush in gear so we can go out for our night on the town.”

  For a moment, Travis’s brain fritzed out. Then it clicked—his brother was a happily married man. To Alison, formerly Hollister, the girl who had grown up next door. The girl his baby brother had been in love with from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her.

  “How’s Ali doing?” Travis asked curiously. He hadn’t made it to the wedding, which had been an impromptu affair in Vegas, much to his eternal regret.

  “She’s great,” Josh said. The smile on his face was one of true, pure happiness. He was in love and it showed.

  Travis was happy for his brother. Josh had always mooned about in regards to Alison. The fact they were now married, in love, living happily and all that jazz, just made it even better. Though he would admit, to himself and no other, he was also a little bit jealous. His baby brother deserved to be happy, but Travis still felt a little off balance by it all. He didn’t fully understand his feelings on the matter.

  He also wasn’t going to be telling anyone he was jealous of his baby brother’s bliss. That would just make him sound like a raving moron. The other emotions he’d figure out as he went along. While he didn’t like to talk about his feelings, he didn’t bury them either. Travis would work through them to figure them out in his own way, in his own time.

  “I’m glad the two of you finally got your heads on straight and admitted how you felt for one another,” Travis said. It had been highly comical during the early days into their teens, more painful as they’d turned into adults and gotten their own lives. Then a little sad when he’d catch them shooting longing looks at the other one from across the room.

  In his family, though, there was a rule to never interfere unless things didn’t resolve in a timely manner. Unfortunately, the loss of the Carver family patriarch had thrown their grand scheme to get those two on the right path a bit askew.

  Looking around the kitchen as his mother and Joshua talked about this and that, Travis took in everything that had always made the room so welcoming, including the oversized jacket and heavy duty boots that had belonged to his father. His mother couldn’t move them, wouldn’t move them. She said they, or some version of them, had been in those very spots since the day they’d moved into the house and they would remain there until it was her time to join her one and only love.

  It was a wonderful reminder of the love his parents had shared. It was also a goal each of the kids in the Carver family hoped to achieve for themselves. Brant, the oldest of the kids, had tried and failed. Not that anyone had been shocked by that. His ex had been a raving bitch. Joshua, though… He smiled slightly. Josh had achieved it.

  A hand waving in his face brought his attention back and he blinked up at his brother. “What?” he asked. The look on Josh’s face was amused, which led him to believe his brother had been attempting to gain his attention for a while.

  “I said, we’re heading over to the old Milner place to meet up with Ali. She’s over assisting Genny Baker with some last minute wedding things. Want to come along? There will be food,” his brother said.

  It was tempting, really tempting. He was starving. “You sure they won’t mind
?” he asked, pushing to his feet.

  “Hardly,” Josh scoffed. “Hell, Rhys will be there and likely be glad to see you, I’m very sure. You can meet some of his friends from the Corps too. One of whom is the lucky bastard that Genny roped.”

  He only hesitated a moment more before nodding. “Sure, why not?” he said with a grin.

  Chapter Three

  When Cassidy told Maggie she would help Genny Baker, nothing had prepared her for the chaotic madness that had gripped the home, a home that Genny Baker commanded right now. The men all marshaled to do whatever she asked them to do. It was pretty clear that they adored her like a kid sister if the ribbing she got from time to time was anything to go by, and the man she was marrying obviously thought she hung the moon and stars.

  It was just a bit disconcerting because there was so much love in that home and she was an outsider looking in.

  She didn’t know the people and she vaguely recalled Rhys Hollister and Gwen Baker. She had met Gwen when her parents were alive, only a moment before her father had all but scooped her up into his arms and ran from Gwen and the woman’s viperous mother.

  Cassidy shuddered as she thought of Margo Baker and prayed that the woman wouldn’t make it to Genny Baker’s wedding. Genny was a really nice person. Happy, bubbly, and so damn sweet Cassidy was sure she was going to get a cavity. So it was hope against hope that Margo Baker wouldn’t crash the wedding.

  Stepping back around a corner, Cassidy hid behind the large palm plants that were on the front porch and leaned against the outside wall of the house. Yeah, it was a bit cowardly, but good lord, she could only handle so much organized chaos before she was ready to run, and she had reached that point.