by Debra Holt
“Yes, it is,” the woman agreed, with a matching grin to Annie’s. “You sit yourself on that stool and I’ll pour us a couple of glasses of milk to go along with the pie. Or would you prefer coffee instead? Then, I have something I want to talk over with you.”
“Milk sounds just fine.” Annie was both intrigued and instantly on guard. She concentrated on taking the first bite of the delicious smelling pie. “I don’t think anyone will be disappointed in the dessert tonight. It’s really wonderful. I wish I could bake like this.”
Aunt Sal set the tall glass of milk in front of Annie and then slid onto the stool across the bar from her, a broad smile on her face at the compliment. “It’s an old family recipe. I can certainly teach you how to make it.”
“That would be lovely, but it would have to be soon. Jessie and I really need to get on the road within the next couple of days. I hope the doctor will agree with that when I see him tomorrow.”
“Yes, you do have an appointment tomorrow.” Aunt Sal nodded her head in agreement. “It works out well. I can drive you into town to your appointment with him and then show you my little shop afterward.”
“Your little shop? I had no idea that you have a business in town. What sort of shop is it?”
“I do a little painting now and then. I have my paintings there along with some of the work of other local artists. It hasn’t been open all that long. In fact, we’re thinking of having a grand opening to coincide with our Founder’s Fest Week. But never mind about that now. We can go into all that tomorrow.”
Annie found the woman’s words and the twinkle in her eyes to hold more meaning than she was evidently willing to share at the moment. She had a feeling Aunt Sal had something up her sleeve, but she’d let her keep her secrets until she was ready to share them. If Annie knew anything, it was all about the importance of keeping secrets.
Chapter Four
When Annie made her careful way back to her bedroom, her phone buzzed. She was overjoyed to see the caller ID showing it was Sandy. The conversation was anything but heartening. Sandy had been out of town, in Houston, on her own job search. The company she worked for, the company that had offered Annie a job, had closed down. The silent partner, not pleased with the revenue, had dismissed everyone, and as Annie shakily hung up the phone wishing Sandy good luck with her job search, she had to face the fact that once again she and Jessie were floundering on the brink of disaster.
Annie had savings. But that had been whittled down to a nub on the trip. She needed to be able to repay their hosts for the car repairs even though they said it had been nothing. And there were surely medical bills to be handled tomorrow. Where were they going and how would they make it once they arrived? Her brain was back in survival mode. If they could access their trust funds their mother had put into place for them without fear that her uncle and his associates were watching for any sign of that as a way to locate them, then they wouldn’t have to worry every moment. But they had to leave all traces of themselves behind and keep it that way for as long as it took to get settled and then find help for their situation. They had to be in a safe place…if one existed. That was what she was seeing in front of her, instead of the beauty of the countryside and the fact that the tall cowboy stood a few feet away, his gaze locked on her, concern in his stance.
“That look is back.” His words served to bring her crashing back to the present. She responded before she thought.
“What look?”
“The look you had when you first arrived. The one where you seem to be shouldering the weight of the world on those slender shoulders of yours. And before you go insulting my intelligence and telling me it’s nothing, think before you speak. I can wait.”
Truitt moved to sit down on the end of the bench, a few inches separating them. His gaze was then on the distance in front of them. But Annie had a feeling his brain was right there waiting in front of her. She didn’t think he would be keen on her escaping.
“It’s a change in our plans. I spoke to my friend in San Antonio. The company is going through a rough patch, and my job is no longer secure, but I already have plans for another when we get there. I just didn’t want to worry Jessie with the details. And I really need to get back to a 100 percent so we can be on our way. The doctor needs to clear me tomorrow.”
“I see.” He was quiet for a moment, but she could almost feel his brain turning. “You know, there’s a lot to be said for putting down new roots, especially in a small town where folks invest in each other, can provide a safe place to land when you need to be able to build yourself back up again. I didn’t always realize that until I had to do much the same thing. But I know it now.”
“But your family had roots here, from what I gleaned from Aunt Sal, going back a couple of hundred years. Not many people can say something like that. You and your family are tending a garden that was planted long, long ago. I can’t even imagine what that must feel like. Jessie and I, we’re pretty rootless right now. We weren’t always like that, but it’s something I don’t want to ever have happen again. Jessie deserves to be a kid and to know where home is whenever she needs to return to it after testing her wings. Sounds trite I guess, but that’s what I am determined to give to her.”
His gaze fell on her, but she kept hers straight ahead. It was the only way to make certain her brain stayed on task and not allow herself to get lost in his eyes and what expression she might see there. Pity was not something she ever wanted to see from him.
“That’s not trite. That’s love for those you care about. Home and roots are only as strong as the people and the love they share for one another. The people you care about are all that matter…without them, those roots will shrivel and die. So seems to me, you’re looking for some good soil. That’s where the right people around you, the right environment, matter if you’re going to find your place in it all. Faris is a good place. Maybe you won’t think so, but doesn’t hurt to keep your options open. And now you’ve got some time to really consider all options. This bench and this ranch are pretty quiet places to do just that…for as long as you need. That’s all I can say since I have some people waiting on me in the stables.” He stood, and that brought her up to meet that blue warmth. It sucked the breath from her chest for a moment with its strength.
“Thank you. I have a feeling you know more about what my sister and I are searching for than we might even know.”
He nodded slowly. “Stick around, Annie Sims. Maybe someday, I’ll…” He stopped himself. “I’ll stop talking before I spill all my secrets.” He turned and walked down the path toward the stables.
Annie’s gaze stayed on him until he disappeared inside the closest building. He was an enigma of a man. Yet she knew he was deeply guarded in his thoughts and in those secrets he held within. What were they? How did he seem to know what needed to be said out loud to her? On the outside, he was what everyone might discern as having the outward trappings to be a wealthy rancher: a hard-working, decent man from a good family that had opened their doors to a pair of strangers one night without thought to recompense. What were his secrets, and did they have something to do with the scar he seemed to think was so off-putting when they first met in the storm? It was hardly visible to her now, but was it some sort of a defense mechanism or a barrier he kept between himself and the world? Whatever the key to understanding Truitt Tremayne, she doubted she would be the one to discover it.
*
“Surely this is taking you away from your work here at the ranch.” Annie tried to think of a reasonable out the next day so he wouldn’t feel obligated to drive her into town to her appointment. “Aunt Sal planned to drive me in herself.”
Truitt stood quietly, waiting for her to take her seat inside the cab of his truck, his hand holding the door wide open for her. “Aunt Sal had to go into town earlier than she planned. I have some business in town this afternoon, so it worked out for all of us.”
Annie knew she had no other arguments to use. Spending tim
e alone with Truitt Tremayne was a double-edged sword of sorts. If she were smart, she would try to limit her time with the man. As much as she should keep a distance between her and the rancher, the more she found herself drawn by some force she couldn’t understand. Now, she would have to share the confines of the vehicle with him for the next half hour or so.
Annie felt his watchful gaze on her without meeting his eyes. She placed what she hoped to be a casual smile on her face and stepped upon the running board of the truck, very much aware of the fact that a strong hand went to her elbow. That contact sent a quick ripple of heat along taut nerves, which made her almost jerk it from his fingers. With a hasty glance, she saw the muscles in his cheek tighten, and she realized too late that perhaps he misinterpreted her reaction. Before she could say anything, he had stepped back and closed the door between them. Nervous fingers went to smooth back strands of hair from her right shoulder before curling around her shoulder bag in her lap.
Truitt slid behind the wheel, shut his door none too gently, and fired up the engine. They left the ranch behind and traveled several miles without any further conversation between them. Annie was acutely aware of the man beside her. A swift glance from under lowered lashes took in the long length of legs in black jeans which matched the black vest. A dark sapphire-blue shirt with long sleeves highlighted the length of strong arms she remembered so well. His black Stetson sat low and at an angle that she had come to realize was a habit of his, perhaps to keep attention away from the scar. The sum total of the man was fairly overwhelming and set her senses on alert. She tried to place her finger on just what was the reason she would have such a strong reaction to a man she had spent a relatively small amount of time around.
“It was very sweet of Aunt Sal to take Jessie with her this morning. I hope she won’t be a nuisance to her at the store.”
“Jessie is too quiet to be a nuisance to anyone.” His words were low but spoken with conviction.
Was there also a hint of censure in them? Annie stiffened a bit. “Lots of children are quiet. She’s never been one of the boisterous types.”
“I get the feeling she might like to be one of those other types. Something stops her. I can’t quite put my finger on it…yet.” His eyes stayed on the road in front of them.
Annie felt a quick shiver run down her spine at his words. Had he guessed they had secrets? That they weren’t exactly being truthful about things? Don’t be silly. How could he know? At the same time, she felt an unusual tug within her…the tug to share the truth with him. What would be his reaction? Could he understand? If her instincts were right, she had sensed that he would be a man that coveted the truth. When he found out…if he found out…that much of what she had told him about her and Jessie were untruths, she could guess what he would say and do. He would make certain that they were both deposited off his ranch as fast as possible and the gates barred behind them. He wouldn’t tolerate anyone bringing trouble to his doorstep. She couldn’t blame him, but he didn’t need to judge her or make assumptions without the facts. Instead of responding in the way she wished she could, she bit her lower lip and remained quiet, her eyes on the scenery outside her window.
*
The road wound through the high hills and then down into deep canyons. Silence engulfed the pair for a while. Truitt noted the way her hands bunched into the leather of her bag in her lap, knuckles rimming with white in the tight grip. He had touched a sore subject and he was glad of it. Annie had gone on the defensive. For days he had known there was more to the pair than they shared. He had no idea what it could be, and he had tried to tell himself it was none of his business, and they would soon be moving down the road and forgotten. Right.
Annie Sims was a mystery. He sensed she had secrets of her own. And he understood secrets. She intrigued him due to the fact she had managed to get into his thoughts and stake a foothold there. Why was that so? He had no idea. But it was aggravating and frustrating.
Maybe he was out of sorts more because he could feel Skylar’s memory slipping further from his mind in the past few days. It shocked him for a moment when he couldn’t pull up her face as easily as he used to be able to not that long ago. And it set him on edge.
Truitt’s instincts were on high alert around Annie Sims. Not to mention other parts of his body that he fought to ignore in a battle that he could easily lose. From the moment he had looked into her frightened eyes during the thunderstorm and held her in his arms, something had touched his very core. A core that he thought well and truly buried.
There was an unfamiliar urge to protect except, he had no idea from what…or was it from whom? Himself? He had seen her reaction when she had seen his face the first time, felt her stiffen in his arms. As much as he had tried to stay away from her, something kept drawing him to her. He made the excuse that he was helping his aunt Sal, lightening the load for her with their patient houseguest, except he knew the only person he was fooling with that one was himself.
Since the night of the storm, however, he had sensed that perhaps Annie didn’t find him as repulsive as at the first. He had even thought she might feel the same strong connection that flowed between them each time they came close to each other. However, in the blink of an eye, she would pull back and leave him to believe that he was only imagining it. Annie Sims was a beautiful woman with a soft spirit and an invisible wall around her and her little sister for some unknown reason. Whatever it was, it had been in place long before they came to the ranch. It was firm and keeping others at bay.
There was something going on with them that he couldn’t figure out…at least not yet. Perhaps it was best that they would be on their way soon. His life was what it was. The ranch and its hard work and ever-changing days and nights was the center of his life now and for the future. A woman like Annie wanted the city life, as evidenced by her burning desire to get to it so quickly. She also deserved a man who was whole and not wounded. The scars were not only on the outside but carried through to his soul. Constant reminders of his failure. She didn’t need someone like him and his dark baggage.
*
“Seeing all of this in the daylight… I had no idea the hills were as high as they are,” Annie said, breaking the silence. When they had come along the road the first time, the blinding storm and darkness had hidden the beauty that Annie was able to see now. They crossed over a high bridge, and below she could see the sunlight glinting off the river which flowed beneath them. The water was so clear she could make out the rocks on its river bottom. Huge trees with chalky trunks lined its banks, and she marveled at their height.
“What are those trees called? The tall ones growing along the banks of the river.”
Truitt ventured a quick glance. “Those are cypress trees. You find them along rivers and streams in these parts. Later in the spring and summer, they’ll provide more shade than you see now.”
“The water is so clear. I imagine it’s quite inviting in the summertime.”
“Clear and cold in the summer thanks to hundreds of natural springs. Lots of tourists come to this area in the warm months because of the river and the camping areas.”
Were they actually having a civilized conversation? Annie didn’t want to do or say anything to break the truce they seemed to have found. She proceeded with caution.
“Are the winters very cold here?”
“Sometimes they can be. We might get three or four days a year where we’ll have snow. Several more days of ice. Then there are those years where we have a couple of weeks of snow. The weather in Texas can only be counted on for one thing…being unpredictable.”
“I imagine that makes it hard to be a rancher. Or at least I would guess that might be the case. Jessie and I have never been on a ranch before.”
She didn’t think she imagined it, but the lines of his body seemed to relax a bit and Annie felt herself respond in kind.
“Ranching is not for the fainthearted. It’s hard work on a daily basis. It has to be in your blood. There
are times it will break your heart and bust your spirit…if you don’t keep in mind that there are good days that come along also to make it all worthwhile. Our ranch has been in the family for a few generations. Each generation takes care of it and hopes to improve it for the next one.”
Annie looked over at the man who still concentrated on the highway. “Do any of your siblings have families? Children?”
“Our oldest brother Thomas has a son, Andy. He’s eight going on eighteen.” This comment produced a slight smile on the man’s face as he continued, “He married a nurse from Faris a little over a year ago. They live about six miles from the section of ranch where we are. My brother Trey is on the road following the rodeo circuit and helping with the rodeo stock. Tori has her own little place about two miles north of us. Don’t tell her I mentioned it, but the local sheriff has been sweet on her since kindergarten. And she feels the same way if she would stop being so stubborn for more than five minutes.”
“And you…no special lady in your life? I’m surprised you don’t have a family that has begun to carry on the family tradition.” She could bite her tongue as she realized she spoke the words without pause. There was a long stretch of silence. And the man had become a stone statue, his voice flat.
“No. Not anymore. Some women might pretend that I suit or that ranch life suits as the bank account is large enough.”
His words and the bitter tone underneath them shocked her. At the same moment, Annie experienced a need to reach out to him. She didn’t think twice about it.
“Not all females should be lumped together in that assessment. The right woman will see with her heart. The measure of a good man is in his deeds and his heart. You strike me as a good man.”
His gaze locked on hers and it took her breath. The blaring of a car horn broke into the charged moment. Luckily, they had stopped for a red light at that point in the conversation. It was an obvious effort for the rancher to drag his attention back to the task at hand. The truck moved through the green light and entered the outskirts of the town. Silence filled the next few minutes.