Page 5 of Colton’s Inferno

Since his parents had divorced, he’d made it his mission to take care of his mother. She was a capable woman and would have done just fine on her own. But the truth was, he liked being the one she called. “You are never a bother, Mom.”

Matti and Ryan caught up. They took their seats at the table, and for several minutes, the five of them ate their ice cream in contented silence.

“Can we come here tomorrow?” Sammy asked.

“I don’t know,” said Ryan. “I have a shift at the hospital in the morning.”

Emily, Matti, and Ryan kept talking about who had time to come back to the fair and when. Aiden had a shift at the fire station tomorrow as well. But he wasn’t really listening. His attention was on his foster brother, Ted.

He stood at the edge of the fair and was talking to a woman with long blond hair. She wore a flannel shirt and jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places. She was one of the most beautiful women Aiden had ever seen—and what’s more, he’d never met her before.

“Hey, Sammy,” he said, knowing full well that he was using his nephew to get an introduction to the beautiful woman. “You want to go and say hi to Uncle Ted?”

The kid stood on his seat, bouncing on his toes. It seemed like all the sugar had gotten into his system. Aiden wondered how Matilda and Ryan would get Sammy to go to sleep. Then again, his sister was a social worker and Ryan was a doctor. They’d figure it out. “I see him.” Sammy pointed. “I see Ted.”

He hopped off the bench and ran toward the mayor. “Uncle Ted.”

“Hey, Sam. Come back,” said Ryan, rising from his seat.

“I was the one who got him all wound up,” said Aiden, standing as well. “I’ll go get him.”

He trotted after the kid. By the time he caught up with Sammy, the boy was holding up his space alien toy. “He likes hot fudge,” he said.

Ted glared at the child. “Can’t you see that I’m in the middle of a conversation?”

Sammy took a step back, his eyes wide. “Uncle Ted?”

“Hey.” Aiden put his hand on Sammy’s shoulders. “Everything okay?”

Ted shook his head. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, you just caught me off guard, that’s it.” He smiled. “So, you got a hot fudge–loving Martian?”

Sammy seemed to have forgotten all about Ted being rude. “Uncle Aiden won him for me at the ring toss,” he began.

Kneeling to get on the child’s level, Ted continued to talk to Sammy.

“So,” said Aiden, nodding at the woman. “This is some turnout for the carnival. Nice to have something like this in the area.”

It wasn’t his best line, but it was a start.

“Thanks,” said the woman. “It took a lot of work, but it all came together.”

For a moment, her words didn’t compute. But then, he understood. “You own this ranch?”

“Well, my family does.” She nodded her head toward the rides and snacks and games. “I run this place with my grandfather, Rusty Harris.”

“I heard this was called the Five Steers. For some reason, I imagined that it was run by a bunch of guys.”

“You’d be half right,” she said, giving him a perfect smile. “My grandparents had five boys. That’s where the name came from. But nobody wanted to take on the responsibility, except me.”

“That’s impressive,” he said, looking beyond all the lights and people. The land had several barns, a large homestead, wooded areas, and hills. “I’m Aiden, by the way.” He held out his hand to shake. “Aiden Colton.”

“Lucy Harris.” She placed her palm in his. An electric current, like he’d just touched a live wire, raced up his arm. It filled his whole body until Aiden’s pulse was galloping. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Chapter 2

For the first time in his life, Aiden was at a loss for words. His mouth had gone dry. His tongue was numb, and his mind was a slate, wiped clean. The only thing he knew for sure was that Lucy’s hand was still in his.

“It’s a… It’s nice to meet you,” he stammered.