Kitabı oku: «Made in Texas!», sayfa 3

Chapter Three

Chow time at the ranch employee cabins was never a dull affair.

The next night, while Caleb sat next to Hugh at a long dinner table outside the mess hall, the usual end-of-the-day cowboy talk swarmed around them, just as thick as the smoke coming off the barbecue. On the other side of Caleb, a young ranch hand named Manny plopped down on the bench, immediately pushing back his hat to reveal a patch of curly brown hair before chomping into his corn bread.

“Did y’all hear about the hot times in the main house last night?” he asked with his mouth full, nodding his head toward the Byrds’ domain.

Caleb, who’d already pushed away his emptied tin plate, leaned his elbows on the table while holding a beer bottle between two fingers. Donna was in that house, and he was all ears.

Hugh was nursing a ceramic mug of coffee. “There’ve been more than a few hot times since the Byrd kids came home to roost.”

“But last night was a real doozy.” Manny dipped his bread into his chili bowl. “Maria and I have both been working, so she told me about it only an hour ago when she took a break.”

Caleb glanced at Hugh, who cocked his bushy eyebrow in response. Manny was dating a housemaid, so she must’ve been dusting or some-such last night while the Byrds conducted business.

“How much of a doozy was it?” Caleb asked, turning back to Manny.

“On a scale of calm to loud, it was at about a bellow. Maria said that the little Byrds were going at it like they were on the Maury show, including a lot of who’s-the-daddy talk.”

Caleb recalled what Donna had told him about Savannah’s pregnancy test. “Is there a long-lost kid?”

“Yup, their P.I. located him,” Manny said. “And it really chapped some of their hides that Savannah named him in the style of Tex’s boys. James Bowie Jeffries is what he’s called.”

Next to Caleb, Hugh made a grumbling sound, seeming to be just as offended as some of the Byrds apparently were.

Then Hugh said, “Did Maria have her ear to the door or something?”

“Very funny, old-timer.” Manny polished off the last of his chili, standing to get seconds, like he always did. “No matter how Maria heard it, she didn’t like the news. That family is coming apart at the seams now that Tex is gone, and she doesn’t know how long we might have jobs here.”

Caleb put down his beer. “That’s a load of bull, Manny, and you know it.”

“Do I? Caleb, we don’t know these Byrd kids from seven holes in the ground. I like them well enough, but what if they end up dismantling the Flying B? What if Tex was all that was keeping the ranch together?”

Something seemed to crack in Caleb, breaking him in a thousand directions inside. This was his home—the only one he’d ever felt comfortable in after his mom had passed on.

Manny had gone back to the food station, leaving Hugh and Caleb alone.

The foreman chucked the rest of his coffee on the ground.

“Before Tex died,” Caleb said, “he told me that, under the conditions of his will, the ranch couldn’t be dismantled. The grandkids have to spend their inheritance on bettering it, so Manny’s worrying for nothing.”

“It’s not the ranch I’m thinking about.” Hugh ran a hand over his grizzled face. “You can’t have more than one person inheriting something and expect them to all agree on every decision.”

“So you’re worried about the family itself. Boss, you’ve sure become pessimistic about things lately.”

“And why shouldn’t I be? It might be time to retire, live off my savings, fish all day. Who needs all this nonsense?”

Hugh’s words were flippant, but Caleb knew better. Like him, the foreman loved this place, as well as the ragtag family of ranch hands that Tex had put together.

Gathering his plate, Caleb prepared to go.

“Where’re you off to?” Hugh asked.

“Where do you think?”

“Aw, no.” Hugh shook his finger at Caleb. “You’re not going to the house like I think you are.”

“I am. There’s no way I’m going to see a rift destroy Tex’s family.”

“So what’re you gonna do—help Donna Byrd carry in another rocking chair and chide her about family business at the same time? That’s no way to get into her good graces, son.”

“This has nothing to do with that. She and the others need to know that we—the staff—have a stake in seeing the family at peace, too.”

“You’re overstepping, Caleb.”

Was he?

Would Tex have told him that, too?

The last time Caleb had seen him, lying in bed, looking like half the hale-and-hearty man he’d always been, Tex had told Caleb that he would be leaving him a bit of money. Not a whole lot, but enough to tell him that he valued him.

“Money doesn’t show everything that’s in a person’s heart, though,” Tex had said.

“Of course it doesn’t.”

He had closed his eyes, so weary. “If I could buy goodwill from my sons and their children, I would. I’d do anything for them to realize that they could have something wonderful out here on the Flying B together. At least you’ve always known what you’ve got on this ranch, Caleb.”

“That’s right, Tex.”

The money hadn’t been the point, though. In fact, Caleb had never expected to be treated like Tex’s blood, and he’d been blown away that the man had even given him some seed money for his own future. Naturally, he’d spent it well, on the new house he’d purchased for his dad and aunt, but it was too bad money couldn’t buy a positive word from his father during one of his more lucid times, either.

Now, Caleb began to walk away from the table, saying over his shoulder, “Tex would’ve wanted me to interfere, all right. The Byrds need to know that their decisions affect more than just the few of them.”

He left Hugh sitting on the bench while he scraped off his plate into a receptacle and then headed for the main house, where the dim lights buttered the back windows in the falling dusk.

And where Donna Byrd was about to get an earful.

NEEDING PRIVACY, DONNA had come outside to the wraparound porch, where she sat on the new cottage-style swing she and the girls had chosen for the renovation.

Just do this, she thought, looking at the cell phone in her hand. Go. Now. Dial!

But she couldn’t, even if Dad and Uncle William had finally checked in this morning with their own votes after one heck of a long night of waiting.

They both wanted to find James. And they were both evidently done with their Hill Country trip, on their way back to their respective homes in Houston and Uncle William’s ranch. Even the most clueless person in the world could infer that there’d been a setback with the brothers because of last night’s news, but Donna and the rest of her relatives had promised each other that they would do everything within their power to make things right between them again.

Yet there was this to deal with, as well. And, since Donna had been riding their P.I.’s tail this whole time about Savannah and a possible child, she was the one who’d volunteered to give him the go ahead on tracking down James.

Still, the phone was incredibly heavy in her hand, almost as if it was something that could drag her down until she wouldn’t ever be able to get back up.

Was she going to let one phone call beat her, though?

She dialed without another thought, listening to one ring. Two.

Then, an answer.

“Walker Investigations,” said the P.I.’s rusty-nail voice.

“Hi, Roland, it’s Donna Byrd.”

“Miss Byrd—I haven’t heard from you for a whole day. I thought you might’ve dropped off the face of the planet.”

Hilarious. “We were only waiting for our dads to weigh in on Savannah and James.”

“And?”

She closed her eyes, opened them. “We’d like you to go forward on finding out more about James and setting up a possible meeting.”

“Consider it done.” She could hear Roland tapping on a keyboard. “What about Savannah?”

“Right… Savannah.”

Donna bit her lip before giving a real answer. Last night, the Byrd children had discussed James’s mom, too, after they had called their dads and then met in the living room again. That’s when Donna had told them what she’d left out during their first gathering—news about Savannah Jeffries that just hadn’t seemed as important as the more urgent revelation of James; facts such as how Savannah was a very successful interior designer with her own business and how she was going by her late husband’s last name and how it seemed that she had gotten married long after James Bowie Jeffries had come of legal age, hence the reason he used his mom’s maiden name.

So much information. And so much conflict, because after Donna had filled in the family, they’d been just as divided as ever—this time about including Savannah in a reunion.

Donna sighed. No turning back now. “If you could go ahead and contact Savannah, we want to invite her to meet us, as well.”

It would be a smash-up family reunion, emphasis on the smash-up.

After she took care of particulars with Roland, then hung up, she stayed on the swing.

Dammit, she only wished she had zero interest in Savannah. But she had voted yes both times last night, and part of the reason was because the idea of the woman just wouldn’t leave Donna alone. She was everything Donna had ever looked for in her role models—obviously ambitious, based on her business skills. Donna also liked that she knew how to decorate a room—a hobby that she, herself, had recently turned into somewhat of a vocation with the B and B.

Most of all, though, Donna respected that, from what she knew, Savannah had raised James by herself.

An independent woman in every way, she thought. And even though she hadn’t planned on ever having a family herself…

Well, there was an empty place in Donna that actually perked up at the thought, now that she finally did have a family she was starting to feel closer and closer to.

But really? Her? The überprofessional Donna Byrd?

A mom?

It would’ve been laughable if there wasn’t a string of yearning tying her up because of the lingering notion.

The wind stirred and, from the side of the porch, she could hear some chimes tinkling. The sound reminded her of a soothing song that a baby mobile might make above a crib. Someday.

Maybe.

The porch swing was creaking back and forth in a lazy rhythm when Donna saw someone coming around the side of the house.

And guess who?

But instead of groaning with exasperation, her heart gave a jaunty flip.

Oddly, though, Caleb Granger’s grin wasn’t as dimply as usual. And she could’ve used one of his sexy grins right about now.

She spoke first, just as he began to mount the porch steps, coming into the light from the caged lantern near the door.

“Are you here to say a good evening to me?”

He stopped near the top, his hands planted on his hips. “I heard some talk, so I thought I’d come over to let you confirm or deny the rumors.”

Whatever kind of peaceful bubble she’d just created for herself busted like a balloon.

“Rumors?” she asked tightly.

“About the new Byrd. About all the arguing you and your family were doing about him.”

“Maybe the next time we Byrds have a conversation,” she said, “we can broadcast it to the entire ranch. Do you know anything about installing closed-circuit television?”

He ignored her sarcasm. “Just listen to me on this. For years, this ranch has been what you might call ‘harmonious.’ Tex made sure everyone was happy, inside and outside the main house. He even went the extra mile at the end of his life to guarantee that his family made amends with each other, and it’s a damned shame that all his hard work seems to be for naught.”

Donna couldn’t say a word. Not one. Anger was roiling in her… and maybe even something else. She’d never had a man presume to talk to her like this. She’d never stood for someone to so boldly nose into her business.

But… damn whatever it was weaving around all that anger in her. It was something that had her utterly confused, and she struck out in an effort to erase it.

“Is your lecture over now?” she asked. “Because I’m already bored.”

“Bored?”

He narrowed his gaze, and she did the same right back at him.

“Yes,” she said. “Bored. You know why? Because I have a hundred other issues all poking at me from every side, and yours don’t even begin to compete with them.”

He took a moment, looking down at the porch, as if to compose himself. Then he let out a curt laugh.

She didn’t know what to make of that.

“Believe it or not,” he said, “I’m only looking out for Tex’s interests. Do you know what it would’ve done to him if he’d heard y’all arguing?”

“There’s more going on than even Tex knew.”

Caleb locked gazes with her, reading her, and she stiffened. But she also melted ever so slightly, deep in her core, where she never melted.

He cared. She could see that. But she didn’t want his care, didn’t want anyone to meddle because she and Jenna and their cousins would have this under control soon.

She rested her hands flat on the swing, leaning forward. “I told you before—I know how close you were to Tex, but that doesn’t mean—”

“Sometimes I wonder if you Byrds have any idea what Tex gave to you, what he did for you.”

Donna felt her face go pale, and she knew that he knew he was wrong.

He gentled his tone. “What I’m trying to ask you to do is to stop battling with each other and appreciate what you have. That’s all he would’ve wanted.”

He said it with such longing that her heart bumped against her ribs.

But her anger had been fully roused, and her voice was torn when she answered.

“I know what I have now, believe me, because I didn’t have much of it before.”

Before now, her life had been defined by a father who was all business, plus a mom who hadn’t been alive for years and whom Donna had missed so much that she had told herself to never put her heart out there again, where it could be stomped all over.

When Caleb took a step onto the porch, one booted foot still on the stair behind him, Donna didn’t move. Was he coming up here to get his point across even more emphatically?

But he didn’t advance. Instead, he slipped his thumbs into his belt loops, a sheepish look on his face.

“Sorry for laying into you like that,” he said. “I didn’t realize how seriously you were taking this.”

“As seriously as you do, evidently.” Breathe, just breathe.

But when he came all the way up onto the porch, breathing wasn’t easy. Plus, he was making her skin do funny things, raising goose bumps and causing her fine hairs to stand on end.

If he noticed the evidence on her bare arms, he didn’t say anything.

“Promise me you’ll let me know if you need help with any of this mess,” he said.

“I’ve got it covered.”

Brother, did he have a lot to learn about her.

His voice lowered. “I’m being serious. Just give a yell if you need me for anything.”

She wasn’t sure they were talking about family business anymore.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” She rose from the swing, and it creaked, as if in protest.

As she passed him on her way to the door, she smelled that saddle soap on his skin, and it filled her head, making her dizzy.

A chuckle stopped her in her tracks, and she glanced over her shoulder to find him shaking his head.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re what we call a ‘firebrand’ out here.”

“I guess that just means if you insist on getting in my business anymore, you’re going to get burned.”

He laughed, and the dimples made a grand appearance, tweaking her heart with sparks that showered down until they settled in her belly.

But just as quickly, she shoved the ridiculous feelings aside.

Not her type. Never would be. And just as soon as she got back to the city, it’d be much easier to remember that fact.

As if he had sensed the direction of her thoughts, he gave her another one of those sultry up-and-down looks, sweeping her skin with flame.

When he got to her eyes, his gaze snagged hers with an electric jolt.

“Thought about that wine yet, Donna Byrd?”

She rolled her eyes, opening the front door and going through it, hearing his laughter while she leaned back against the wood.

And, damn it all if she couldn’t help the smile that wouldn’t leave her alone afterward.

THE WEEKEND WAS ushered in with a blast of July heat, and even after the sun started to dive down to the horizon, it was sweaty business.

But the misters and fans that had been planted around the yard near the side of the barn helped, as Caleb spread a blanket over the grass and put down an ice-filled bucket that held a bottle of rosé.

The other night, when he had confronted Donna about the Byrd-fight rumors, he’d left on a better note than the one he’d come to her on. And tonight, Donna Byrd was going to have that wine with him so they could completely make up… whether she knew it or not.

Manny and Maria were just coming from the buffet line, where the cook was dishing out the food to the staff and their children.

“Lookee here,” Manny said, one hand holding a plate loaded with barbecue and all the trimmings, the other hand holding Maria’s. “Someone’s getting romantic with themselves.”

Caleb reached into the bucket for a piece of ice and flicked it at his coworker. Maria laughed until Manny offered Caleb a rascally smile and pulled her away to their lawn chairs, which were closer to the makeshift screen that Donna had hung from the side of the barn.

Even though other female staff members cruised by Caleb, grinning at him, maybe even expecting him to revert to form and do some flirting, he wasn’t swayed. He patiently went back to waiting for Donna to appear and, when she finally did, his hormones went into overdrive, growling like a roadster before a race.

White summery sundress, strappy sandals, blond hair twisted and pinned so that her neck was bare… Donna Byrd slayed him and, as usual, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Except when he saw the man she was with.

It was as if Caleb’s engine sputtered. Her “friend from college” who was supposed to be here to write an article did indeed carry an expensive camera with him, aiming it around the area. And if this pricey accessory wasn’t enough, he had an East Coast crustiness about him, dressed in brand-spanking-new jeans and a short-sleeved plaid shirt that marked him as a dude. He even had yacht-boy hair, light blond and flipped up in front, as if it was gelled to within an inch of its life.

When Caleb saw him and Donna across the lawn, laughing together at some private joke, he wondered if he should’ve read more into the moment when she’d told him about this “friend.”

Of course a knockout like her would have “friends.”

But a niggle of doubt still hounded Caleb, although he did have the feeling that tonight really might not be the time for getting Donna to leave her buddy and sit down to drink some wine with him.

He glanced at the bottle and at the glasses. Hell, why let a good vintage go to waste?

He reached into the bucket to pull out the wine just as Tina Crandall, the elderly housekeeper who stood out in a crowd with her silver-streaked black hair, strolled by.

Everyone knew Tina enjoyed a splash of spirits every now and then, so he whistled, and when she turned around, he lifted up a glass to her.

Her gaze sparkled. “You devil. What do you have here?”

“A Domaine Tempier rosé.” He’d driven to the suburbs during the week after a full day of work to visit his aunt and his father. It’d gone as it usually did, with Dad loudly complaining about dinner, and the highlight of Caleb’s night had been dropping by a store farther over in Houston to buy this bottle.

Tina gingerly sat on the blanket, spreading her flowered skirt around her ample hips. “That sounds like a fancy label, Caleb. I think Tex would’ve loved it.”

“Then let’s drink to him.”

He poured a glass for her, then himself. They toasted and drank to Tex.

After they took that first sip, he kept his eye on Donna as she and the yacht boy passed close to the barn. When she seemed to hold back a sneeze, he recalled hearing that she occasionally took allergy medicine whenever she absolutely had to spend time near any hay.

Hell, she was taking one for the team tonight.

Tina drank some more, being ladylike and discreet about it, but Caleb didn’t have much taste for the wine tonight. All he could do was percolate as Donna and her friend walked around the area, still laughing and touching each other’s arms.

Full darkness—and movie time—arrived, and Donna Byrd and Gilligan went to some reserved lawn chairs. But, first, the guy took flash pictures of people enjoying their food while waiting for the film.

When Donna strolled by Caleb’s blanket by herself, her gaze met his. He toasted her with his nearly full glass, then reached over to refill Tina’s.

“Looks like you brought the wine, after all,” Donna Byrd said casually. A nearby mister blew a strand of hair out of her upswept ‘do, and the tendril caressed her neck.

Caleb’s fingers itched to do the same. “If I had an extra glass, I’d pour some for you, but I gather you’re busy.”

Tina obviously had a buzz on, and she grabbed the neck of the bottle, pouring even more into her glass. “You’re missing some good stuff, Donna.”

She smiled at the housekeeper, but just as she was about to turn her attention to Caleb, her friend meandered over with his camera, snapping a picture of Caleb and Tina on the blanket.

Caleb pulled down the brim of his hat, discouraging any more of that nonsense.

Donna linked arms with Jimmy Olsen. “Theo, this is Tina, who runs the household. And this is Caleb, one of the hands here.”

Theo bent down to shake Tina’s hand, then Caleb’s. “You both run a good operation. Donna and the girls have got a real gem on their hands with this B and B idea.”

When he straightened back up and wrapped an arm around Donna’s shoulder, Caleb just about rocketed off the blanket.

But he kept his hat on. Literally. And he offered a vague smile to the dude.

Donna linked arms with her boy pal, and for a bright second, Caleb wondered if she was being deft, avoiding what had obviously been an attempt to cuddle.

“Have fun,” she said to Caleb and Tina, then strolled away with her guest.

Caleb kept watching them from under his hat, especially when Donna sneaked a glance back at him.

But what did that mean? And what was with the arm linking?

He was still wondering that when the movie flashed onto the screen, much to the delight of the crowd, who applauded and hooted as the title of The Man from Snowy River appeared.

And when Caleb saw Donna seating Theo in a chair of honor right in the center of things, then excuse herself, he couldn’t hold his questions any longer.

He leaned over to Tina, who’d turned the empty wine bottle upside down in the bucket. “I’ll be back.”

“Take your time,” she said with a happy lilt as she watched the screen.

He followed Donna to the back of the house, where the new bucking bronco fountain splashed playfully.

And where she sprawled in a cushioned chair, her white skirt hanging down like angel’s wings.

His heart caught in his chest as he stood there, taking her in, his body going warm.

Tired Donna. Beautiful Donna.

Maybe this was just lust, but Caleb wasn’t so sure about that. There was something chemical between them he couldn’t explain and, more than anything, he wanted to see why he always found himself coming to her when most women came to him.

He sat on a wood bench nearby, taking care to make enough noise so that he didn’t scare her, and when she glanced over, she put her palm to her chest, as if to keep her heart from leaping out of it.

It was like the moment he’d initially laid eyes on her all over again—attraction at first sight.

And maybe something more?