Chapter Five
By the time Emily-Ann returned to the table, she had pulled her emotions together, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like a complete fool. And when Taggart rose to his feet and promptly reached for her hand, she wanted to burst into tears all over again.
“I’m so sorry, Tag,” she said lowly. “I hope I didn’t embarrass you.”
He smiled at her and the warm light in his brown eyes was more comforting to her than he could possibly know.
“What’s embarrassing about your date going to the ladies’ room? Everything is fine. I’ve ordered more wine and the waiter said our food should be arriving any minute.”
He pulled out her chair and helped her into it as though nothing had happened. Emily-Ann couldn’t possibly guess what he was actually thinking, but he was certainly making it easy to face him after the emotional debacle she’d pulled.
After he’d settled back into his own chair, she looked across the table at him. “Thank you, Tag. And I promise there won’t be any more hysterics tonight.”
“Forget it.” He leveled an empathetic look at her. “To be honest, I’m glad you told me everything that you did. I understand you a little better now. There for a while I thought you didn’t like me all that much.”
She laughed and her reaction put a happy smile on his face. Thank God, she thought. Before she returned to the table, she was afraid he’d probably clamp a hand around her arm and lead her straight outside to his truck. And she wouldn’t have blamed him. No man wanted to deal with an overwrought woman on their first date.
“I like you, Tag—a whole lot. And that outburst I had, it had nothing to do with you,” she said, then promptly shook her head. “Well, that’s not true. It had everything to do with you. Because I kept thinking I was ashamed for you to know about my life—my family. I thought you wouldn’t want to be with me.”
He reached across the table and squeezed her fingers. “I’m sorry that you ever thought such a thing. None of it makes any difference, Emily-Ann. I mean, I hate that your mother had her problems. But you know what I see when I look at you?”
She tightened her fingers around his. “No. Tell me.”
“I see that your mother did a good job of raising her daughter.”
She felt a part of her heart melting and she blinked her eyes as more tears threatened to appear. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, Tag,” she murmured. “I’ll never forget it.”
He started to reply, but the waiter suddenly arrived with their dinner, putting an end to the intimate moment. Still, Emily-Ann didn’t mind the timing of the interruption. The night had just begun and she’d already stored away a lot of memories with this special man.
* * *
When Emily-Ann and Taggart left Jose’s, the night had cooled drastically and she draped the sweater she’d carried with her around her bare shoulders and buttoned the top button to hold it in place.
Taggart understood she needed protection from the cold, but throughout their meal, he’d loved the sight of her bare shoulders. She had that creamy complexion that most redheads possessed and the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose and cheekbones also speckled her shoulders. Several times during dinner, he’d caught himself fantasizing about kissing all those tiny brown dots and wondering if they were on other parts of her body.
But the fantasy of making love to Emily-Ann was not something he could act upon. The last thing he wanted was for her to think that this time he was spending with her was a prelude to sex. Still, none of that stopped him from resting his hand against the small of her back as they walked slowly to his truck. And to his relief, she didn’t move away.
“It’s still early. Would you like to take a drive out on the desert?” he asked, as he helped her into the passenger seat.
“I’d love to,” she answered. “There’s some interesting scenery to the west. But you’re the driver, you choose.”
“West it is.”
After he’d settled himself behind the steering wheel, Taggart drove away from the parking lot and turned onto a street that would eventually lead them to a main highway.
“I’ve not been in this direction yet,” he said once the city of Wickenburg began to appear in the rearview mirror. “I’ve mostly just driven the highway between town and Three Rivers.”
“It’s pretty in any direction,” she commented, then asked. “Have you ever been to Prescott or Phoenix?”
“No. But sooner or later, I’m sure I’ll be going for one reason or another. Actually, Maureen and Blake were going to Prescott tonight for some sort of cattle buyer gathering.”
“And they didn’t ask you to go with them?”
He grinned. “No, thank goodness. I think they’re taking pity on me because we’ve been so busy. And spring roundup is about to start. That keeps everyone tied down for a week or more.”
“I’m glad you didn’t have to go to the meeting.”
He said, “I’m glad, too. But I feel a little guilty. The Hollisters gave me a huge bonus check today. It was a total surprise. To be honest, the amount of it blew me away.”
“You don’t think you deserved it?” she asked.
“Not yet.” He grunted with wry disbelief. “Heck, I’m not worth that kind of money.”
“I don’t think you’ve quite yet absorbed the huge job you’ve taken on. But the Hollisters do and they clearly appreciate you and trust that you’re going to do things right.”
“Yeah, I suppose. But I felt very undeserving.” He glanced over to see she was studying him with an earnest expression. The idea that she was interested in his job and that she cared enough to discuss it with him not only surprised him, it drew him to her in a way he’d not expected.
“That’s the way I felt when you asked me out to dinner,” she said. “Very humbled.”
“Oh, Emily-Ann. I don’t ever want you to feel that way. Not about me or anything else.”
From the corner of his eye, he could see she was smiling at him.
“I don’t ever want you to feel that way, either,” she said. “So we’re even.”
After traveling several more miles westward on the lonely strip of asphalt, a large picnic area appeared on the right side of the highway. Three concrete tables and a trash receptacle were positioned among two tall saguaros and several Joshua trees. At the moment there didn’t appear to be anyone around. In fact, there wasn’t any kind of light suggesting civilization was anywhere nearby.
“Let’s stop and stretch our legs,” he suggested.
“Sounds nice.”
He parked the truck to one side of the graveled area and helped Emily-Ann down from the truck. The night had grown even colder than when they’d left Jose’s and she quickly pushed her arms into the sweater.
“If it’s too chilly for you we can get back inside the truck,” he suggested.
“Not at all. It feels good.”
Anchoring a hand on the side of her waist, he guided her forward past the tables and over to one of the Joshua trees. To the north of them a ridge of mountains jutted upward toward the starlit sky.
“This is beautiful,” he said.
She asked, “I know you said Three Rivers’s property looks different than the Flying W where you used to work. But what about this area? Does it look anything like your old stomping ground in Texas?”
“No. The only thing similar is the vast openness.”
“Did it snow there?”
“Yes. Sometimes we even had blizzards. That’s when ranching is especially hard work.”
She looked up at him. “It rarely ever snows here. But that’s okay. I’m a terrible driver on slick roads.”
Icy fear suddenly lodged in his throat and he outwardly shivered as he tried to swallow away the sensation.
“Tag? Are you okay?”
He wiped a han
d over his face. “Yeah, sure. I was just thinking that you should always be careful when you’re driving. I lost someone I cared about to a car accident. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Oh.”
As her gaze continued to slip over his face, he could see all sorts of questions in her eyes and Taggart prayed that she wouldn’t quiz him. Someday he would tell her everything. But not tonight. Not when he was beginning to feel a change coming over him. A change that he desperately needed.
“Then I promise I’ll be extra careful from now on,” she said, then with a cheerful smile, changed the subject completely. “See that area to the north? Where the mountains are in the far, far distance?”
He followed the line of her pointed finger. “Yes.”
“That’s where lots of gold was found in the Congress Mine back in 1884. A town by the same name boomed there for many, many years. But hardly anything is there now. And Constellation, another nearby mining town, is more or less a ghost town. Maybe you’d like to see them sometime? That is, if you like that sort of history. To me it’s fascinating to think of all that sudden wealth and how it affected people back in those days when there was very little law and not much civilization.”
“I’m sure there were a few men who were murdered for their gold,” he said thoughtfully, then glanced down at her. “I would like to see the area sometime if you’d be willing to show me around.”
“I’d like that,” she said, then laughed. “Actually, one of the women who works at Chandler’s clinic lives at Congress. And in her spare times she likes to pan for nuggets. Maybe we could hike up one of the canyons and try it. A good-sized nugget nowadays would buy new flooring for my living room.”
He laughed. “That’s a practical thought. But only one nugget would be enough?”
“I’m not greedy. Acquiring wealth never really was that important to me. Except...”
When her words trailed away, he looked down to see she was gazing wistfully out at the dark desert.
“Except what?”
“Oh, there were many times when my mother was alive that I wished I could have given her things and made her life easier. I did what I could, but I wish I could’ve done more.” She turned her gaze up to his face. “Do you ever feel like that about your mother?”
He tried not to let the emptiness inside him show on his face. His mother had been the only real anchor he’d ever had in his life. When he’d lost her, it was like he’d drifted out in a big rough ocean with no way to swim back to shore.
“I used to. Before she died.” His sigh could barely slip past the achy lump in his throat. “When Blake gave me the bonus check today, I couldn’t help but think about her. She would’ve been amazed and proud. I wanted to change things for the better in her life, too. But her heart gave out before I had the chance.”
She reached for his hand and, as the warmth of her fingers tightened around his, a sweet sort of contentment poured through him. The sensation was like nothing he’d ever felt and he wondered if he would ever experience it again. Or was this night something out of the ordinary and tomorrow all the magical feelings would vanish with the light of day?
“At first I didn’t think the two of us had much in common,” she said softly. “But I’m beginning to see that isn’t entirely true.”
With his hand still entwined with hers, he turned so that he was facing her. “We do have things in common and the best one is that we like each other’s company. Don’t we?”
She let out a long breath as her fingers tightened ever so slightly on his. “Yes, we do.”
His free hand lifted and he touched the hair that framed part of her forehead. “You’re a special woman, Emily-Ann. I want you to always remember that. Promise me that you will.”
Starlight illuminated her face enough for him to see her lashes flutter and then her gaze latched on to his. The contact caused his stomach to clench.
“I promise,” she whispered.
He allowed his fingers to drop to her cheek and as the tips moved ever so slightly against her petal-soft skin, he knew the rest of her would feel just as incredibly smooth.
“Emily-Ann,” he said softly, “would you mind if I kissed you?”
Her gaze continued to cling to his and what he saw there caused his heart to hammer. She wanted him. Maybe just as much as he wanted her.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
He drew in a sharp breath and then before he could change his mind or analyze the wisdom of his actions, he bent his head and softly placed his lips over hers.
She tasted just as good as she had the night of the party, yet somehow he managed to keep his passion tempered throughout the short kiss. Not for anything did he want her to get the idea that he had sex and only sex on his mind.
“That was nice,” he murmured as he nuzzled her cheek with the tip of his nose. “Very nice.”
Her tongue came out to nervously moisten her bottom lip. “Yes, it was. But I think we—uh, should head home now. I have an early morning scheduled and I’m sure you do, too.”
In other words she wasn’t going to give him, or herself, a chance to let a second kiss carry them away.
Well, that was good, Taggart thought. That was exactly how it needed to be. Until he was sure that she trusted him. Moreover, that he could trust himself.
“You’re right. We should be getting back to your place. I have to meet Matthew at the cattle barn at five thirty in the morning.”
His hand still on hers, he gently turned her in the direction of the truck. As they walked slowly back to the vehicle, he was acutely aware of her hip brushing against the side of his leg and the flowery scent of her hair drifting up to his nostrils. Over the years, he’d forgotten all the little things that made a woman enticing. Having Emily-Ann so close was a reminder of all that he’d been missing as a man and he wondered how long he’d be able to keep his desire reined in and his common sense intact.
* * *
When Taggart entered the cattle barn early the next morning, Matthew hadn’t yet arrived. But he found Chandler busy wrapping up a C-section on a young cow. Since the two ranch hands that were trying to assist him were inexperienced with the process, they were both relieved to see Taggart.
“Boy, are we glad to see you, Tag,” Jerry, the taller of the two men told him. “Me and Flip are trying to take care of this little guy, but we’ve never done this before.”
While Chandler continued to stitch the cow’s uterus back together, Taggart squatted over the newborn calf that was lying on a special bed to keep it warm. The mucus had already been cleaned from his nose and the rest of his body dried of afterbirth.
“He isn’t struggling to breathe and you have him dry and warm. Looks like you’ve done things right so far,” he told the two men.
“Yeah, but Doc says we’ll have to see that he gets his mama’s milk in the next couple of hours. That ain’t gonna be easy,” Flip said.
“Easy or not, the calf needs his mother’s colostrum,” Taggart told the men. “If the mother doesn’t want to nurse we’ll have to change her mind.”
He turned back to Chandler, who’d already moved on to stitching the incision in the cow’s flank.
“How is she, Doc?” Taggart asked.
Not bothering to look up, Chandler continued to stitch. “She’ll be fine. And the calf doesn’t appear to be too stressed. Hopefully, he’ll stand within the hour.”
Taggart glanced over at the black calf. “He looks big.”
“Hell yes, he’s far too big for this girl to give birth the normal way. I’ve been telling Blake the bull he has on this bunch of heifers is too large. I hope you can convince him to do something about it.”
“He wants big healthy calves,” Jerry spoke up in Blake’s defense.
Chandler frowned at the ranch hand. “What good is that going to do if the
mamas die trying to give birth to them?”
“I’ll talk to him about it,” Taggart assured Chandler. “But I’m not sure I’m the right person to convince him.”
Chandler muttered a curse as he tied off the suture and poured antiseptic over the incision. “You’re the foreman, Tag. It’s your job to give him advice about the cattle.”
“I know, but Blake is—”
“Not some sort of ranching god,” Chandler insisted. “He’s just the manager. He doesn’t know everything.”
Taggart heard shuffling feet behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Jerry and Flip exchanging amused glances. They might think it funny to hear Chandler say Blake didn’t know everything. But Taggart hardly found it amusing. He didn’t want to get caught in a war of wills between the two brothers.
Taggart said, “I’ll talk to him about the bull. If Blake is agreeable to the idea, we could exchange him with the one on the Buzzard Gap range. He’s nicely built but a bit smaller.”
“Good choice,” Chandler said.
With his job finished, the vet gathered his tools and medications, then turned his attention to the calf. Taggart joined him and watched closely as Chandler checked the calf’s vitals.
“Thank God his respiration is good.” Hanging the stethoscope around his neck, he rose to his full height. “I wish TooTall was here. He’s a wizard with calves like this.”
“TooTall? Is he a ranch hand I haven’t met?” Taggart asked.
“He’s Matthew’s foreman down on Red Bluff. They’re also the best of friends. I don’t know if it’s because TooTall is Yavapai or what, but he understands livestock and instinctively knows how to care for them. As for this little guy, I’ll have to leave him in your hands, Tag. I’ve got to get to the clinic, pick up Trey and be at the Rafter R Ranch by six thirty. And considering that place is twenty minutes west of Wickenburg, I’m going to be late.”
Chandler started out of the barn in a long stride and Taggart called after him, “Don’t worry. Doctors are never on time. And put the calf out of your mind. I’ll see that he’s taken care of.”
The Texan Tries Again (Men 0f The West Book 44) Page 7