Contents
WCR9: ePub Title Page
By Nicole Edwards
WCR9: Copyright
WCR9: Dedication
WCR9: Note to Reader
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
WCR9: Acknowledgments
ePub
BW1: Prologue Amazon Link
Nicole Edwards on Amazon
KADEN & KEEGAN
THE WALKERS OF COYOTE RIDGE, 9
NICOLE EDWARDS
BY NICOLE EDWARDS
ALLURING INDULGENCE
Kaleb
Zane
Travis
Holidays with the Walker Brothers
Ethan
Braydon
Sawyer
Brendon
THE WALKERS OF COYOTE RIDGE
Curtis
Jared
Hard to Hold
Hard to Handle
Beau
Rex
A Coyote Ridge Christmas
Mack
Kaden & Keegan
BRANTLEY WALKER: OFF THE BOOKS
All In
Without a Trace
AUSTIN ARROWS
Rush
Kaufman
CLUB DESTINY
Conviction
Temptation
Addicted
Seduction
Infatuation
Captivated
Devotion
Perception
Entrusted
Adored
Distraction
DEAD HEAT RANCH
Boots Optional
Betting on Grace
Overnight Love
DEVIL’S BEND
Chasing Dreams
Vanishing Dreams
MISPLACED HALOS
Protected in Darkness
Salvation in Darkness
Bound in Darkness
OFFICE INTRIGUE
Office Intrigue
Intrigued Out of the Office
Their Rebellious Submissive
Their Famous Dominant
Their Ruthless Sadist
Their Naughty Student
Their Fairy Princess
PIER 70
Reckless
Fearless
Speechless
Harmless
Clueless
SNIPER 1 SECURITY
Wait for Morning
Never Say Never
Tomorrow’s Too Late
SOUTHERN BOY MAFIA/DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND
Beautifully Brutal
Without Regret
Beautifully Loyal
Without Restraint
STANDALONE NOVELS
Unhinged Trilogy
A Million Tiny Pieces
Inked on Paper
Bad Reputation
Bad Business
NAUGHTY HOLIDAY EDITIONS
2015
2016
Copyright © 2020 by Nicole Edwards Limited
All rights reserved.
This is a self-published title.
Published by Nicole Edwards Limited
PO Box 1086, Pflugerville, Texas 78691
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Kaden & Keegan
Walkers of Coyote Ridge, 9
Nicole Edwards
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.
COVER DETAILS:
Image: © Wander Aguiar Photography
Model: Michael, Natasha & Luke
Design: © Nicole Edwards Limited
INTERIOR DETAILS:
Formatting: Nicole Edwards Limited
Editing: Blue Otter Editing | BlueOtterEditing.com | Fairest Reviews Editing |Fairestofallbookreviews.blog
IDENTIFIERS:
ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-64418-035-8 | (paperback) 978-1-64418-036-5 | (audio) 978-1-64418-037-2
BISAC: FICTION / Romance / General
BISAC: FICTION / Romance / Western
Dedication
To all those little surprises in life.
Dear reader,
This is a standalone book, HOWEVER…
Before you start reading, I want to let you know that you’ll see quite a bit of Travis Walker in this book. His storyline is continuing from the Brantley Walker: Off the Books series. While you don’t have to read that series to get the gist, you should check out ALL IN if you haven’t done so to learn what happens to Travis and his family.
Thanks for reading!
Nicole Edwards
Prologue
Twenty-one years ago
Friday, September 17, 1999
“A ranch, Kaden. We will own one one day. If we have nothin’ else, we’ll have a ranch.” Keegan Walker stretched out his arms and did a three sixty as he continued to walk. “None of this suburban, cookie-cutter crap. A house we can make our own, a barn worthy of some horses.”
Beside him, his twin brother Kaden’s boots scraped as they walked along the fancy sidewalks leading home. He missed the dirt road to the old place, the dust they kicked up as they clomped along the tree-lined path that had been formed by hard work and heavy vehicles.
“One day,” Kaden agreed.
His brother wasn’t much for talking. Of the two of them, Keegan was the one who’d gotten the boisterous personality. Or so his parents had been saying since the day they were born.
“And while we’re dreamin’ big, we’ll have ourselves one woman,” Keegan announced, grinning wide.
“We’re sixteen,” Kaden noted. “Don’t think that’s somethin’ we need to worry about for some time.”
Definitely not, but it was something they would plan for. Until that time came, they would find joy in moving from one hot girl to the next. That was one of the good things—perhaps the only good thing—about living in suburban hell. Just in the short time they’d been there, it was clear these chicks were hot for a couple of twins who sported cowboy hats and boots, and they didn’t bat an eyelash at making out with both of them at the same time.
The big two-story red brick house their parents bought came into view and grew larger with every step. He missed the old house, the giant pecan tree in the front yard, seeing their devoted retriever, Roscoe, run out the door to greet them when they walked up the path. He would never understand how his father could give all that up to live in a neighborhood with nosy neighbors who brought
over pies they’d purchased in the freezer section of the grocery store and pretended they wanted to get to know them when what they really wanted was to see how the rednecks lived. Yep, he’d heard a couple of the jock assholes call them that.
But Keegan would make the most of it because they only had two more years here, then they could go off and do whatever the hell they wanted. Which would be, “A ranch, one woman, and … we’re gonna live in Coyote Ridge.”
Kaden’s head snapped his way. “Seriously?”
Keegan shrugged. “In the country with our cousins on every street corner. Not this”—he waved his hand in the direction of the house—“uppity-housewife-screwin’, picket-fence-havin’, briefcase-carryin’ bullshit.”
Kaden snickered. “Sometimes, Keeg, you say the nicest things.”
“Don’t I?” He grinned.
While Keegan loved his parents beyond measure, couldn’t imagine living anywhere they weren’t, he despised this residential mecca Gerald and Sue Ellen Walker had moved into last year. It drove him absolutely batshit crazy that they had neighbors right next door. Why Mom and Dad had up and sold the ranch and moved here, he would never know. Nor had they shared the reason the few hundred times he’d asked.
“It’s not so bad,” Kaden said, as though reading his thoughts. “We’ve got a pool.”
“Only good thing about it,” Keegan grumbled.
“We don’t have to share a bedroom with Quinn anymore,” Kaden added.
“Okay, only other good thing,” he agreed.
When his mother and father had presented them with the idea of moving—something they quickly learned they had no say in—their parents had used the number of bedrooms as a way of getting them on board with the idea. Six kids, seven bedrooms. Enough for them to have their own.
Keegan had immediately disputed the idea. So had Kaden. They shared a bedroom and that was that. Why he felt compelled to be where his twin was, he didn’t know, but it had been that way since birth, and he didn’t feel the need to justify his reasons. Separate beds were a must, but the room had to be the same. Their argument had taken some of the pizazz out of their parents’ presentation—at least for them—but it hadn’t changed the outcome. And here they were, living in this monstrosity of a house, going to a big-city school with their big-city rules, and trying to fit in. Not that the latter was difficult for them. Gauging by the number of girls who bombarded the house phone with calls, they were doing a damn fine job.
“So a ranch, not a farm?” Kaden asked as they tromped across the perfectly manicured lawn toward the front door.
“Yep. Livestock’ll be our focus.” Keegan smirked. “But you can have a garden if you want it.”
Kaden rolled his eyes. “How big then?”
“Size don’t matter. Just as long as we’ve got some cows and pigs. Maybe some chickens.”
“Chickens?”
Keegan peered over at his twin. He could see Kaden’s brain working, doing the calculations, likely figuring out what they would need to make their dream into a reality. Once he did that, he would move on to the ROI, determining how many of each they would have to send to slaughter to make ends meet. Never mind the fact they were teenagers and God only knew when they’d have the money necessary to buy a ranch. If he knew Kaden—and he most certainly did—his brother would have it all figured out before Momma and Daddy’s front door hit ’em in the ass on their way out into the world in a couple of years.
Speaking of Momma and Daddy’s front door, Keegan reached it first, turned the knob, and pushed it open. He stepped back, bowed slightly, and said, “Ladies first.”
“Screw you, Keeg.”
The fact that his brother laughed made it okay.
No sooner had he shut the door behind him than their little sister shouted Keegan’s name. A second later, Roscoe came charging toward them, his feather-duster tail wagging with excitement.
“What?” Keegan shouted to Eve while he squatted down to rub Roscoe’s head.
“Phone!”
He glanced at Kaden again, shrugged in answer to the silent question.
“Who is it?” he asked Eve when she shoved the cordless handset toward him.
“How should I know? Probably another girl who wants to play kissy-face with you.”
One could only hope.
Keegan grinned, took the phone. “Hey.”
“Keegan?”
“Yep. Who’s this?”
“Anna,” she replied as though he should’ve known.
While he mentally flipped through images in an attempt to remember which one she was, he said, “Oh, hey, Anna. Whatcha up to?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out.”
Then he remembered which one she was. Redheaded cheerleader with the giant tits and the sweet little ass. She’d been cozying up to him in Texas History, batting those eyelashes and putting an extra pout in her lips.
“Me and Kaden, right?”
“Umm … yeah. Of course.”
Keegan heard the uncertainty in her tone, knew this was going to go nowhere fast. As hot as she was, he knew better than to mix it up with the girls who didn’t want the two of them together. No way was he brushing off his brother for some chick. No way, no how.
“Where do you live, girl?” he asked, sauntering through the living room toward the kitchen.
She went on to give directions. Turned out, she lived in the same neighborhood, only a couple of streets over.
“Your momma and daddy gonna be all right if we both come over?” he asked directly.
Keegan knew what the girls at school were saying about them. They’d already pegged Keegan as the bad boy, the one without a care in the world. And they were calling Kaden studious and sweet.
“They’re not home right now,” Anna said.
Keegan mouthed her response to Kaden and waited for him to answer.
He got one. A quick jerk of his head and Kaden had relayed his lack of desire to hang out with the firecracker known as Anna Benson.
“You know what, Anna? I think we’ve got homework. Maybe another time?”
“Maybe Kaden could do your homework for you,” she said, a teasing tone in her voice. “And you could come by. Doesn’t have to be both of you.”
“Sorry. He’s not good at math.”
Kaden glared his way.
“Talk to you later,” he said into the phone, then hung it up and set the cordless receiver near the charging base.
“I’m not good at math?” Kaden grumbled.
“Hey, I coulda told her we’d come over and you coulda watched her paw at me like a cat toy. Which way’d you rather have it?”
“Whatever.” Kaden marched to the fridge, yanked open the door, stared inside.
Before they could rummage through the kitchen for some after-school snacks, the doorbell rang. Footsteps sounded overhead, then trampled down the stairs.
“I got it!” Eve shouted.
What was it with twelve-year-old girls having to be the first one to answer the phone and the door? Eve had certainly mastered the art of getting there first.
From where he leaned against the kitchen counter, Keegan heard a soft female voice. “Are your brothers home?”
Keegan glanced at Kaden, cocked an eyebrow in question, and got a shrug for an answer.
“I’ve got five,” Eve said snidely. “Which one?”
“The twins.”
Okay, that piqued his curiosity, had Keegan marching through the house toward the front door, Kaden right on his heels.
“Who’re you?” Eve asked the woman.
“Shauna Whitley. Your next-door neighbor.”
“Really?” Eve didn’t sound impressed.
“Eve, don’t be rude,” Kaden said, stepping in front of Keegan as they reached the door. “I’m Kaden. This is my brother Keegan. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Whitley.”
Shauna Whitley smiled, and Keegan was almost positive she radiated.
That was the day they’d bee
n introduced to the woman who would forever change their lives. It would be months of manual labor—mowing her yard, cleaning her pool, tending to her flowers—before Mrs. Whitley finally got around to her real reason for introducing herself that day.
By the time they were seventeen, they would and did consider themselves men in every sense of the word, thanks to the sassy, sexy, suburban housewife whose husband spent a majority of the year away on business. Or with his mistress, if Mrs. Whitley was to be believed.
They had whiled away many afternoons over at Mrs. Whitley’s, and as the months passed, after she’d taught them things that would last a lifetime, they continued to show her all they’d learned. After all, practice made perfect, did it not?
Turned out, Mrs. Whitley was the woman who had sealed their fates, made them realize their idea of sharing one woman between them was exactly what they wanted in life.
And one day, like the ranch, Keegan was damn sure they would finally find exactly what they were looking for.
***
Twenty years later…
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Keegan Walker grinned over at his brother as he lifted his hand. “Last chance to back out.”
He waited for Kaden to change his mind, something his twin was prone to do.
“She told us she’d meet us,” Keegan reminded him. “True gentlemen will check on a lady, right?”
Before Kaden could say a word, Keegan dropped his knuckles to the door. Three quick raps and he was stepping back.
Kaden sighed. “She’s probably as—”
The door opened and Bristol appeared, fresh-faced, her silky brown hair pulled back into her normal ponytail. Her eyebrows lowered, confusion written all over her beautiful face.
“Hey,” she greeted even as she stuck her head out the door and peered down the hall. “What are you doing here?”
Keegan smirked. “The real question is why aren’t you downstairs?”
Her eyes widened as though she just remembered she’d promised to meet them in the bar.
“I am so sorry. I must’ve forgotten.”
Yep. Or she chickened out, which was likely her real reason for avoiding them.
“No worries. Mind if we come in?” Keegan asked, knowing his brother would be too tongue-tied to get the sentence out.