Read Northern Exposure: Compass Brothers, Book 1 for Free Online Page A

clue. Go on as usual, I suppose.” Like anything could be normal with Silas at Compass Ranch again.
    “Your wife is in love with my son. Has been since she was no higher than my knee.”
    “You think that’s news to me, JD?”
    “And what about you? Gonna admit you want Silas too?”
    Colby spun on the heel of his boot, forcing himself to close his gaping mouth with a snap. He couldn’t say what surprised him more, that JD knew or that he didn’t seem too upset by the idea. No point in pretending things might have changed. What he carried for Silas couldn’t be obliterated by time or distance.
    “It don’t matter. I’m married. Happily. I won’t fuck around on Lucy. Si never wanted me anyway. Not with the fire he’d get in his eyes every time he saw Lu.”
    “No man’s a good judge of shit that close to his heart. What seems obvious to others gets distorted, like the horizon on a hot day, when you’re twisted up with need and devotion.”
    “Then why—?”
    “I don’t have all the answers, Colby. And I’m not trying to bust your balls either, just talking. This next bit will be rough for us all. More so for you. Make sure you’re ready to grab the bull by its horns and sit tight. I have faith you’ll tough it out. Hell, you’re the only one of my sons that stuck. Every other one couldn’t put up with this life. Took off the second they turned eighteen.”
    “They’re morons. Every one of the Compass Brothers. I wouldn’t have picked anyone else to be my father. No other place to call home.” Pride at the man’s compliment filled him with awe and gratitude. JD put his sons above all else. To be counted among them meant something. Something huge.
    They pivoted as if by mutual agreement, standing shoulder to shoulder against the rail so they didn’t have to look into each other’s eyes. “You and Victoria raised your kids right. Nothing like my shithead sperm donor.”
    JD grunted his agreement.
    Colby had always suspected it’d been the head of Compass Ranch who’d kicked the living crap out of his father to encourage the asshole to leave town. The sick bastard had limped from Compton Pass, never to be seen again, abandoning his teenage son. An hour later Vicky had showed up to claim the malnourished, beaten kid Colby had been and welcomed him into their lives. She’d tamed him like a wild animal, inching closer until he finally believed in the reality of their generosity, kindness and love.
    The Comptons had given him shelter, a job and so much more. Family. A home.
    A life worth living.
    “I’m not planning on leaving Compass Ranch anytime soon if that’s what you’re working toward. I would never abandon you or Vicky or Lucy. Not after what Silas put you all through. I’ll give him a chance to heal up, but we’re gonna have words about it. That I promise.”
    Another long silence followed, this one easier as the firm set of JD’s shoulders relaxed a hair. As they often did while catching a break, they shared the silence, watching over the ranch as they kept their own company.
    Colby had become fast friends with all four Compass brothers—as the locals referred to them—overnight. Still, there’d always been something about Silas and Lucy. The three of them would take off on adventures, exploring the land and the bond growing between them.
    Until things had spiraled out of control.
    “Remember Jack Newton?”
    Colby searched the recesses of his memory at JD’s random interjection. A lot of wandering men had worked the ranch a summer or two but…Jack?
    “Tall, skinny like a bean pole, mean as a bear with a tooth ache?”
    “Ah, yeah. I remember that fucker. Never did trust him.” More like he’d hated the way the man had appraised him with lurid intentions blatant in his stare.
    “When I fired his ass, he tried to throw it in my face how he’d seen you and my ‘fag son’ going at it in the barn. How little Lucy caught you and bolted the night before Silas hightailed it