Free And Then You Dare (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 5) by Heather A Buchman

granddaddy, Hugh McCullough Senior, although
everyone calls him Gramps.”
    “Hello sir,” Ben shook her grandfather’s hand, who then turned
to Tristan. “Fancy stuff little girl, travelin’ in a private plane.”
    Tristan smiled. “Not something I plan to get used to.” She
didn’t want Ben to think she expected door-to-door plane service on a regular
basis.
    “My pleasure. And it was necessary. I’ll do just about
anything to put off comin’ to New York City. Havin’ another reason to fly east
forces me to take care of business.”
    Ben told Tristan his agent had been threatening to withhold
his royalty checks until he made the trip. “He wasn’t serious. But that tells
you how mad he’s been at me for avoiding the business side of my profession.”
He told her how hard it was to leave Crested Butte. He hated being away from
Liv, their little girl, and the two sons he had from a previous marriage. He
knew touring was necessary for the band to continue to sell records, but
anything else was easy to put off.
    Sometimes she felt as though all she did was travel. Having a
place she never wanted to leave, having people in her life she never wanted to
leave, was something she couldn’t comprehend. Although, she was yearning to get
back to Crested Butte too, and it hadn’t been forty-eight hours since she left.
    Her dad offered to let Ben use one of their ranch vehicles to
drive into the city. He declined and took the train from Ronkonkoma instead.
“I’m a boy from the mountains, used to wide-open spaces. I’m not built for city
drivin’,” he told them.
    Tristan offered to drive him back to the train station.
    “What do you think of Bullet?”
    Ben rubbed his hand over his face. “As Liv would say, ‘Bullet
is one hot mess.’ I know, I was one myself. Cowboy Patterson seems to think
spendin’ time in Black Forest on their family’s ranch will help rein him in.”
    “Cowboy Patterson?”
    Ben laughed. “I was never a big fan of ol’ Billy. Still can’t
say I am. Although now that he’s my business partner, and my son-in-law, I
suppose I should work on gettin’ over it.”
    “Do you think being in Black Forest will make a difference?”
    “Can’t predict whether it will or won’t, but if there’s a
woman alive Bullet might listen to, it’s Dottie Patterson.”
    “Yeah? Why’s that?”
    “You know the type. Some people just have a way about them.
Dottie is a second mother to my Livvie, and one of the most loving people I’ve
known in my life. You should meet her. She’ll look straight into your soul, and
then wrap her arms around you in the best hug you can imagine.”
    Tristan looked away when her eyes filled with tears. Dottie
sounded like her mother. She’d been that way too. She always seemed to know the
right thing to say, even if it was nothing at all. When she was a little girl,
getting a hug and a smile from her mom always made things better.
    ***
    Miss Dottie’s cooking reminded Bullet of his Gram’s. Every
time he walked in to the kitchen, she was cooking something that made his
stomach growl. Her homemade macaroni and cheese was extra gooey, rich with
butter, fresh cream, and a blend of sharp and mild cheddar cheeses. She added
crumbled bacon to it as a twist. Grey ate two big bowlfuls and was asking for a
third when Bullet swept him out of the high chair.
    “He sure likes your cookin’
ma’am. And so do I.”
    Dottie beamed at the little
boy. “It’s my pleasure Grey. You’re welcome at my table anytime.” She opened
her arms and Grey ran straight into them. It was another thing that reminded
him of his Gram. Dottie’s hugs.
    “I love having little ones
in the house. I miss my granddaughter when she’s in Crested Butte,” Dottie
looked at Willow, Billy and Renie’s four-year-old daughter. At a little over
eighteen months, Grey was almost as tall as the little girl.
    “Say hi to my baby,” Willow
pulled her grandmother toward Renie. Dottie obliged by rubbing