West Texas Nights

by Sherryl Woods

  “That’s Grandpa Harlan’s doing. He’s not happy unless the place is crawling with family. He likes to think of himself as head of a ranching dynasty.”

  “He was very kind to me when I called. I doubt he will be the next time I show my face in Los Piños.”

  “Oh, darlin’, you’ve got to be kidding. You’re the mama of yet another great-grandbaby. You’ll be welcomed with open arms. In fact, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t greet you, then introduce you to a minister and hand me a couple of gold bands.”

  “Now, there’s a reason to stay away,” she murmured.

  Harlan Patrick chuckled. “I never took you for a coward. You don’t have a bit of trouble saying no to me. Are you saying you won’t be able to resist granddaddy’s matchmaking?”

  “You know I’ve always respected your grandfather.”

  “And?”

  “And yes, it would be hard to ignore his wishes. I would hate to have him think less of me.”

  “Guess that tells me where I rank in the Adams hierarchy.”

  “Don’t pout, Harlan Patrick. When you’re eighty, I’ll probably listen to you, too.”

  “In the meantime you’ve just given me a tremendous incentive to lure you back to Texas.”

  She regarded him with a stubborn lift to her chin. “I am not going anywhere near Texas, so you can just forget about that.”

  He shrugged. “Then I’ll just have to figure out how to be more persuasive in Montana, Texas, Tennessee or wherever else you intend to run to hide out.”

  “I’m not hiding out. I’m working.”

  “From where I sit, it looks like the same difference.”

  Laurie couldn’t take any more. The worst part about Harlan Patrick’s accusation was that it was true. The further she ran, the busier she stayed, the less she had to think about Amy Lynn’s daddy and the sneaky way he had of stirring up vivid memories and wicked sensations.

  The instant she stood up, though, the baby began to cry. Harlan Patrick was on his feet in a heartbeat, reaching for Amy Lynn and murmuring soothingly until she quieted at once in his arms. Laurie scowled at the two of them—one a persistent, clever devil, the other a tiny traitor.

  “I’m going to go in and pack,” she said, and whirled around to leave the room. If she spent too much time witnessing the wonderful, instantaneous bonding between Amy Lynn and her daddy, she would never in a million years be able to keep Harlan Patrick on the fringes of their lives.

  At the doorway to the bedroom, she glanced back to find Harlan Patrick totally absorbed with his daughter. He was regarding her as if she were the most magnificent, mysterious creature on earth. Which, of course, she was, Laurie conceded with motherly pride.

  Watching the two of them, she realized that in less than twenty-four hours the plan she’d had to keep Harlan Patrick at bay had totally and thoroughly unraveled. She would never keep him on the fringes of their lives as she had hoped just moments ago. He was already smack-dab in the middle of their world. And one thing she knew about Harlan Patrick—about any Adams—was that budging him once he’d gotten so much as a toehold was all but impossible.

  For better or worse, Harlan Patrick was in their lives to stay.

  Six

  Once he’d lost the first round in his fight to claim Laurie as his wife, Harlan Patrick didn’t even have to think twice about what he was going to do. For as long as it took to win them over, he intended to stick to Laurie and Amy Lynn like glue.

  First he called Jordan and made arrangements to have his uncle’s plane picked up in Montana and flown back to Texas. Next he called his father and arranged for an extended vacation from the ranch. He’d expected an argument and was surprised when he didn’t get one. He was even more surprised when his father began to probe more deeply into his reasons for staying away.

  “Do you still love her?” Cody Adams asked him point-blank, proving that the family grapevine was in fine working order and engaging in a whole lot of speculation.

  He hesitated, then admitted, “Right now a part of me is still furious with her, but yes, I love her. I always have.”

  “And you’re happy about being a daddy?”

  There wasn’t even a split second of hesitation before he responded to that one. “It’s amazing, Dad. I’ve never felt anything like it. Just wait till you see Amy Lynn,” he said. “She’s a little angel. How could I be anything but happy about her? She’ll steal your heart, too.”

  “Then take my advice, son. Don’t take no for an answer. They’re your family. You fight for them any way you have to.”

  “Even if I have to play down and dirty?” he inquired lightly, thinking of how he could always bend Laurie to his will with a couple of well-timed kisses.

  “Whatever works,” his father agreed. “I pulled out all the stops with your mama and I’ve never regretted it. The situations are not all that dissimilar, you know. She’d had your sister without telling me, and I came back to Texas to discover I had a ready-made family. I was furious, but once I got beyond casting blame I did everything except stand on my head and whistle the wedding march to get through to her. I’d have tried that, too, if I’d thought it would work.”

  “What did work finally?” he asked his father, not too proud to seek advice that might make a difference in his campaign to win Laurie.

  His father laughed at his eagerness for surefire answers. “You’d have to ask your mother that, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was the fact that I never gave up, that I stuck around even when she was being the most contrary female in all of Texas. She finally had to take me seriously.” He chuckled. “Of course, she did wait till they were wheeling her into the delivery room to give birth to you before she finally gave in. I suppose she figured with two babies of mine, she didn’t have a chance in hell of ever shaking me.”

  Harlan Patrick had heard the tale a thousand times before, but this time he was hearing it in a whole new light. This time it wasn’t just a humorous family legend. It was inspiration for his own battle to win Laurie’s heart and claim his family. If persistence was what it took, then he was already on the right track.

  “Thanks for reminding me of that,” he told his father.

  “You just bring those two back home with you. They’re what’s important in your life right now. Family matters more than anything else, son, this ranch included. Your granddaddy would be the first to tell you that, and you know how he feels about this place. In the meantime he and I can manage the ranch. There are plenty of others in the family who’ll pitch in if we need them to.”

  “Just don’t forget that I’m the one who’s going to get the place one day. I don’t want you running it into the ground while I’m not looking.”

  “Very funny,” his father said dryly. “Besides, with your granddaddy around, I don’t think there’s much chance of that. As old as I am, he’d still tan my hide if he thought I was messing with his legacy to all of you. Take care, son, and good luck with Laurie. If she’s the woman you want, then I wish you only the best in getting her.”

  Harlan Patrick knew what it had cost his father to wish him luck. He’d been blaming Laurie for a long time now for mistreating his only son. Forgiving her would take some time, but Harlan Patrick didn’t doubt that in the end his father truly did wish them well.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Something tells me I’m going to need all the luck I can get.”

  As he hung up, he realized that Laurie was standing in the doorway.

  “Your father?”

  “Yep.”

  “How is he?”

  “Fine. He sends his regards.”

  She looked skeptical. “Is that so?”

  “He told me to hurry up and come home with you and Amy Lynn.”

  She frowned. “Now, Harlan Patrick—”

  He cut her off. “I know. You haven’t agreed to go anywhere
with me. I guess that leaves me with just one alternative.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  Laurie looked shaken by the announcement, even though she had to know that it was what he’d intended all along. “With me?”

  Harlan Patrick grinned. “That’s right, darlin’, when that big ol’ bus of yours pulls out of here, I’ll be sitting in there right alongside you.”

  “But the ranch...” she began hopefully.

  “Covered.”

  “Didn’t you say you flew here in Jordan’s plane?” she asked with a note of desperation in her voice.

  “I did. He’s sending someone to get it.”

  Her expression fell. “I thought maybe you’d just fly to the next stop or rent a car or something.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “You’ll hate being all cramped up on the bus.”

  “You like it, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “I’ll manage, Laurie. If it’s good enough for you and Amy Lynn, then it’s good enough for me.”

  She stared at him silently, then asked, “You’re going to pester me until you get your way, aren’t you?”

  He chuckled. “You’ve got that right. I gotta say I’m looking forward to it, too. Always did love a challenge.”

  “Does it matter at all to you that I am not looking forward to it?”

  He regarded her solemnly. “Well, of course, it troubles me that you’d like to be rid of me, but if you’re asking if that means I’ll give up, the answer is no.”

  She sighed heavily. “I was afraid of that.”

  They sat across from each other in silence. Harlan Patrick knew from her irritated expression that Laurie was wrestling with herself, trying to decide whether she could get away with banishing him from her bus. He was confident she’d reach the right decision, so he didn’t waste his energy trying to start a debate with her.

  When the quiet had dragged on too long, he grinned. “Give it up, Laurie. You can’t think of any way to get rid of me short of having a security guard hold me down while the bus drives off.”

  For an instant her expression brightened.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he warned. “I’ll just keep turning up like a bad penny, and my mood won’t improve if you make it difficult for me.”

  “Why? Doesn’t it matter that I don’t want you around?”

  The remark stung, though it shouldn’t have, especially since he knew for a fact it wasn’t true. She didn’t really want him to go away. She was just scared that having him around would weaken her resolve, that she’d give in and marry him. She was probably right to be terrified of that, because making her his wife was exactly what he had every intention of accomplishing.

  Reacting without thinking, he crossed the room and pulled her up and into his arms. His mouth found hers just as it opened to form a protest. The kiss went from an intended brush of his lips across hers to a deep, soul-searing possession in seconds. She tasted of minty toothpaste and surrounded him with some sweet, fresh scent from her morning shower, unadorned by the rose-petal perfume she favored. This was Laurie at her most basic—innocently alluring, unconsciously seductive.

  His pulse pounded as tongues met and danced an old, familiar duel. His skin was on fire where her hands finally settled after an instant of protesting reluctance. His body throbbed with need as her hips cradled his arousal. He threaded his fingers through her hair, tangling in the long strands of silk. He withdrew from the kiss, gazed into her dazed eyes and went back for more.

  But that brief hesitation had been enough to break the spell, long enough for her doubts to come flooding back, apparently, because she gave him a shove that took him by surprise and had him staggering back a step before he recovered.

  There was fire sparkling in her eyes and a don’t-you-dare expression on her lips when he grinned at her. “That’s okay, darlin’. I think I proved my point.”

  She scowled. “And what point would that be?”

  “That you’re not immune to me, even after all this time. You just wish you were.”

  “Oh, go to blazes, Harlan Patrick,” she all but shouted just as someone knocked on the door of the suite. Laurie raced to open it.

  Harlan Patrick spotted Val on the doorstep and concluded that the kissing and the argument were at an end for now. Laurie wouldn’t pursue either with an audience.

  “You all set?” Val asked Laurie, though her speculative gaze was fixed squarely on Harlan Patrick.

  Laurie nodded. “I’ll get the bags.”

  “Want me to get Amy Lynn?” Val asked.

  Harlan Patrick interceded. “I’ll be bringing her,” he announced, seizing the carrier in which the baby had been napping, along with his own bag.

  Val’s gaze shot from him to Laurie and back again. “You’re coming, too?”

  “I am,” he confirmed.

  She looked to her boss. “He is?”

  Laurie shrugged. “Apparently so.”

  Val edged closer to her boss and lowered her voice. “How do you feel about that?”

  “She’s mad as a wet hen,” Harlan Patrick supplied cheerfully.

  “I asked her,” Val noted.

  Laurie glowered. “He has it right.”

  “I could make him disappear,” Val offered. “All it would take would be a word to security.”

  “Don’t waste your time,” Laurie said with regret. “You might slow him down, but you won’t get rid of him.”

  “But it’s your bus, your tour,” Val argued. “He has no right—”

  “Now, that’s where you’re wrong,” Harlan Patrick corrected mildly. He hoisted the baby carrier to draw attention to it. “This little girl gives me all sorts of rights.”

  To his satisfaction that seemed to be enough to silence both women. He doubted, though, that he’d heard the end of it, especially from Laurie.

  * * *

  On the bus Laurie headed straight for the back, hauling Val right along behind her and all but shoving her into one of the two custom-made lounge chairs that had replaced the half-dozen regular seats in the back to create a comfortable lounge. There was a table between the two seats with cup-holders built in. A small refrigerator had been tucked in on one side with a microwave atop it for heating Amy Lynn’s bottles or the coffee the band consumed by the gallon. There was a built-in crib, as well, a recent addition that had been installed right after she gave birth. Laurie’s guitar cases rested in a pile behind the seats.

  Satisfied that Harlan Patrick was several rows in front of them with the baby’s carrier seat-belted in beside him, Laurie sank down.

  “Do you want something to drink?” Val asked, regarding her worriedly.

  “Bottled water,” Laurie said. “And a couple of aspirin.”

  “I imagine fending him off would be enough to give you a whopper of a headache,” Val agreed, handing her the requested items. “He’s a persistent guy, isn’t he?”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Laurie muttered.

  “Sexy, too.”

  “Are you planning to enumerate all of his attributes?” Laurie inquired testily.

  Val grinned. “Nope, I think I’ll just linger awhile on sexy. I haven’t seen a man that gorgeous up close in a long, long time. You must have astounding willpower to have turned your back on him.”

  Laurie waved her off. “If you find him so blasted fascinating, you can go on up there and sit with him,” she suggested. “Look to your heart’s content. Keep him distracted.”

  “You wouldn’t mind?” Val asked, sounding just a tad too eager.

  “No. I’ve had a song buzzing around in my head for the past couple of hours. Maybe I can get some of it down.”

  “Something to do with cowboys and Texas, I’ll bet,” Val commented with a wink
.

  “No,” Laurie denied. “Something about murder and mayhem on a country singer’s tour bus.”

  That was enough to encourage Val to scoot out of the line of fire. She settled into a seat across the aisle from Harlan Patrick and attempted to engage him in conversation. Even though Val’s move had been her idea, Laurie found she couldn’t concentrate knowing that the two of them were chatting. When she heard Harlan Patrick’s low, seductive laugh, her stomach knotted. When he leaned halfway across the aisle to whisper something to Val, it took all her willpower to stay in her own seat.

  She was jealous, she realized with astonishment. In all the years she’d been in love with Harlan Patrick, he’d never given her cause to be jealous. Though plenty of girls in high school had chased after him, though he’d been a natural flirt, she’d never felt so much as a twinge of jealousy because she had always known that he was hers.

  He claimed the same thing was true now, but just how long would he remain loyal with her pushing him away and declaring that she didn’t want him back? Did it even matter, when nothing had changed? She lived half her life on the road. He was the ultimate homebody.

  But he was here now, a nagging little voice reminded her. He had walked away from White Pines in the blink of an eye when he’d discovered he had a daughter. Could he walk away for good? She doubted it. This was temporary. He was just staking his claim, trying to get her to marry him and go back to Texas with him. He’d said nothing at all about making a long-term change in his life-style. The impasse was as overwhelming as ever.

  Gary Whitakker, her lead guitarist and one of the kindest, gentlest guys she’d ever known, edged down the aisle and dropped into the seat Val had vacated. There’d been a time when she’d considered the possibility of a romance with him, but memories of Harlan Patrick had intruded every time the man had tried to kiss her. Eventually they’d settled for being friends.

  “You doing okay?” he asked, searching her face for signs of distress.

  “I’ve had better days,” she admitted.