Reaching out, Addie took Riley’s small hand. “Hi, Riley.”
“Hi.”
Travis smothered a grin as Riley, playing shy, tried to hide behind Brady’s leg. “Since when do you hide, Riley?”
“Since she discovered she gets more attention that way,” Brady answered for her, peeling his daughter from his leg. “Riley, you know Miss Baker. Why don’t you ask her to sit with us?”
“Will you sit with us, Miss Baker?” Riley asked.
“Why, I would be honored to sit with you,” Addie told her with a big grin. “Can I sit beside you?”
Riley nodded, then put her fingers in her mouth. “Hey, don’t do that,” Brady told her sharply. “You don’t know where those have been.”
Addie laughed as Riley instantly pulled her fingers from between her lips. She straightened. “I’m sure her hands haven’t been anywhere nasty. Right, Riley?”
“Uh, huh.”
“Right,” Brady said, taking his daughter’s hand. “You didn’t see her in the barn this morning trying to spell her name with road apples.”
Travis bent toward her. “Did you spell your name this morning?”
Riley nodded gravely. “In the barn.”
“That’s awesome, Riley,” Addie exclaimed. “You’ll have to show me.”
“Okay.”
Brady rolled his eyes. “I told her to wash her hands before we left, but as I didn’t actually witness the event, I don’t know if she did.”
“If she didn’t,” Addie said calmly, taking Riley’s other hand, “all the bacteria she consumed will give her raging diarrhea for the next three days.”
Travis laughed as Brady scowled. “I’ll be sure to send her to your house, Addie,” he snapped.
Addie blew him a kiss, then strolled, between Travis and Riley, into the church.
The only pew with enough room for them all was near the back. Travis sat beside Addie, breathing in the heady scent of her perfume, and liking the feel of her presence by his side. He caught no few curious glances sent their way, and couldn’t help but see how many folks tried to catch Addie’s attention with cheerful waves.
“And you were worried about your reception here?” he murmured.
Addie beckoned to Callie, holding her baby while walking toward them, replied, “I still feel like I don’t belong.”
Callie sat down on Travis’s other side, and naturally, he had to examine the sleeping Gus. “Callie, hi,” he greeted her as Riley all but stood on the seat to get a closer look as well. Brady pulled her back down.
“Travis, will you hold him for a second?” Callie asked. “I have to find his bottle before the service starts.”
He had no time to protest before Gus, wrapped in a blue blanket, was thrust into his arms. Cradling the infant in the crook of his elbow, he stared down into Gus’s small face. Under his closed eyelids, Gus’s eyes rolled back and forth as he slept the sleep of the young. For a moment, grief struck Travis like a kick to his chest.
This is what I’ve been missing all these years. The chance at being a father. Holding the baby felt so right, so wonderful, as though he held his own son in his arms. For a brief moment, he envied Brady, envied him for the joy he no doubt felt with Riley. Nasty diapers and all-night crying fits notwithstanding, Travis wanted his own children in a savage need that gnawed at his soul.
Chapter 10
Without making it obvious, Addie watched Travis and the baby. The naked longing he couldn’t quite keep from his face, the tenderness in his eyes, pierced her through. Her guilt at what she had denied him, through her own needs, necessary or purely selfish, made her look away. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Brady also watching his brother, as well as her.
“Why don’t you come out to the ranch?” Brady murmured, “I promised you a riding lesson or ten.”
That might have broken the spell. Travis lifted his face from Gus and turned to her, and the yearning still within his gaze broke her heart that much more. “We should take another ride.”
“Will you come, Miss Baker?” pleaded Riley, and whatever resistance Addie possessed melted.
“Sure, Riley, I’ll come out.”
“Here, I’ll take him back,” Callie said, having found the bottle.
Travis yielded Gus to Callie with reluctance, and his eyes lingered on the baby even as Addie said, “Isn’t he cute?”
Travis nodded, then glanced beyond Addie to Riley. “I bet Riley would like to show off her riding skills.”
“Yeah!”
Her voice louder than necessary in church had Brady shushing her quickly. “We’re in church,” he whispered.
The music started, and Addie turned her attention to the service, all the while contemplating Travis’s expression when he held Gus, and her own guilt. Lord, can I ever be absolved from that sin? Please help Travis to forgive, and me to heal. Amen.
After the service ended, Riley insisted upon taking Addie’s hand as they walked from the church. The Hamilton brothers strolled slightly ahead, greeting a few parishioners while Callie carried Gus, who had never woke during the service, just behind. Addie’s attention was on Riley and what the little girl was trying to tell her. With Riley’s voice almost lost among the babble from all around, Addie paid little heed to much else.
But a raised voice outside the church doors snapped her head up.
“You rich boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” the voice, far louder than necessary, turned many heads toward it. “I knew your daddy and your granddaddy.”
Some people slowed to watch the nasty scene arrive at the church doors while others hustled on. Still behind the tall backs of Travis, Brady and Colton, Addie could not see who had confronted them. She suspected who the slightly nasal voice belonged to, and exchanged a wry glance with Callie. She edged her way to the side amid the press of people leaving the church service, a now silent Riley clinging to her hand.
The tall older man had been strong once, with broad shoulders and a powerful build. Now the shoulders were bent from the weight of years, but he still stood squarely, facing the brothers. He wore a battered cowboy hat, a faded blue work shirt and jeans. An iron gray mustache drooped to either side of his mouth, and his dark blue eyes looked at Travis with rage and hate.
“You’re using the wealth your daddy left you to drive me out,” he proclaimed. “I won’t have it. I won’t.”
“We aren’t trying anything, Parnell,” Travis replied evenly. “We are not driving you out. And you just might want to shut your fool mouth before it gets you into trouble.”
“What trouble?” Parnell demanded. “I got plenty from you boys. You think you’re so much better than anyone else. Always strutting around like roosters. Now I got a good lawyer, and he’ll make you pay, sure he will.”
The listening and watching crowd now included the pastor, who tried to get through the milling mass to put a halt to the confrontation before it got out of hand. Addie glanced at the expressions of those around them, trying to gauge their thoughts.
“You are planning to sue me,” Parnell continued. “An old man just trying to make a living.”
“Do you really want to continue this discussion in public?” Addie asked, her tone conversational.
Parnell’s head snapped toward her. Clearly he hadn’t noticed her at all. “Who’re you?”
“I’m Addie Baker, Mr. Parnell,” she replied. “I am representing the Hamiltons. Now your very public accusations are wandering into the realm of slander. Obviously, you’re aiming to get popular opinion on your side and that can lead to, yes, a lawsuit. I strongly suggest you say whatever you have to say privately.”
“No big-city lawyer is gonna scare me, little girl,” Parnell sneered. “I’ll say what I got to say, public or private. These boys are picking on me, trying to drive me out to get my land. They won’t, I’m telling you, not one blessed acre of it.”
Turning, he stomped away toward the parking lot, muttering as he went. Gus woke and began to cry, Cal
lie fumbling with his bottle to offer him. The folks shook their heads and wandered away, muttering, though a few remained and offered their support to Travis, Brady and Colton.
Addie caught Travis’s eyes. “He’s trying to taint the jury pool,” Addie commented. “Making you all out to be the bad guys, out to harm an old man.”
“You were right, Miss Baker,” said an older man with Travis. “Parnell is nothing but trouble, and most folks around here know it. These boys are also known fer being kind and helping their neighbors. I’d like to see him sued for slander. He ain’t got the right to say those things.”
“Thanks, Joe,” Brady said. “I’m just glad our lawyer here spoke up, and pointed out what he was trying to do.”
“We all know the trouble he’s causing you boys,” Joe went on. “You need any help, just give a yell.”
With that, he headed for the parking lot along with some of the crowd. The preacher arrived, too late to help, and only watched as his congregation drifted away. Shaking his head, muttering under his breath, he, too, left. Brady grinned at Addie.
“I think our big city lawyer put a scare into that old coot.”
“He took off as soon as she mentioned slander,” Colton added. “He hadn’t expected her to be here.”
“You still coming out to the ranch?” Travis asked, his smile both feral and proud.
“Uh, sure. I have to go home and change though.”
“We’ll see you soon, then.” Travis winked at her, then led his brothers toward the lot. Riley waved at Addie over her shoulder, her hand in Brady’s.
“What did Parnell hope to accomplish?” Callie asked, holding the bottle to Gus’s mouth as he fed.
“Intimidation,” Addie replied as they started to walk to her Prius. “Get the townspeople, who may become jurors, sympathetic to his cause. If they think the Hamiltons are trying to steal his land, they may side with him at a trial.”
“That’s not right.”
“Oldest trick in the book,” Addie said, unlocking the Toyota with the remote. “I think I’ll motion for a hearing in front of the judge over this.”
Hungry, Addie changed clothes, and bolted a sandwich while standing at the kitchen counter. “I’m not sure what time I’ll be back,” she said, her mouth full. “But I’ll try to call.”
“I can certainly eat dinner alone,” Callie assured her, holding Gus to her shoulder, rubbing his back firmly, trying to get a burp from him. “It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”
Gulping water to clear her mouth, Addie replied, “But it’s not fair to leave you hanging. That’s rude.”
“If you’re not back by six, I’ll eat dinner,” Callie told her firmly. “We have plenty of leftovers that need to be cleaned up.”
“Okay,” Addie agreed. “Gotta run.”
“Be careful around those horses.”
Driving out to the ranch, Addie’s thoughts bounced between Travis and his smile, and Parnell’s little attempt to sway public opinion in his favor. In her head, she outlined her motion for the hearing, and wondered what Parnell’s attorney would do. “Hopefully he’ll scold his client for risking a slander lawsuit.”
To her surprise, Riley ran to meet her car as though they were old, old friends. “Miss Baker!” she shouted as Addie got out of the little car. The little girl was wearing a riding helmet. “I’m going to ride Zora.”
“Can I watch?”
“Yeah!”
Riley grabbed her hand and all but dragged Addie toward the arena behind the great barn. By the dust rising from within it, horses trotted and cantered inside. Addie saw Travis on his bay, Brady on Zora and Colton on a dapple gray with a charcoal mane and tail. Climbing the fence, Addie sat on the top rail and watched as the Hamiltons rode their horses.
Riley, heedless of the horses and their dangerous hooves, ran into the middle of the arena. Thinking to call her back, Addie held her silence as Riley stood well clear of the horses, and waited her turn. Within a few minutes, Brady walked the flashy mare to his daughter, and dismounted.
When Brady went to lift her into the saddle, Riley shook off his hands. “I can do it.”
Addie laughed as the little girl literally climbed hand over hand up the saddle with her grip on the straps, and finally perched on Zora’s back proudly.
“Now show Miss Baker how well you ride,” Brady said, standing back.
With a hand on either rein, Riley turned Zora around, and kicked her small legs. Being small, she kicked the saddle skirts, not the horse, but Zora immediately walked off. More kicks resulted in a slow, careful trot, Zora’s ear titled back as though waiting for her next order. Brady sat on the fence beside Addie as Riley bounced up and down in the huge saddle.
“Now I know what you mean about Zora,” Addie told him.
“Zora won’t let anything happen to her,” Brady said. “Watch.”
Raising his voice to be heard, he called, “Riley, tell her to lope.”
Riley kicked and kicked the saddle urging Zora into a lope, but she continued her slow methodical jog. She didn’t even speed up her pace. Addie eyed Brady questioningly.
“Zora knows Riley will most likely fall off if she canters,” Brady explained. “So she won’t do it.”
“That’s incredible.”
“Travis scoffs,” Brady said, watching his daughter and his horse trot along the rail. “But I think it’s the Arab in Zora.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Arabs are people horses,” he said, “and smarter than Quarters. Don’t get me wrong, there are other breeds that do as well with kids, but Zora takes care of her.”
“I can see that.”
Travis reined in his slightly sweaty bay beside them, and cocked his right leg over the saddle horn. “Hi,” he said, gazing at her with that same warm, proud smile from earlier.
“Hi. Brady has been giving me a lesson on the Arabian intelligence.”
“That goes to show my dear brother has none,” Travis replied, turning his head to watch Zora and Riley. “A Quarter Horse can do just as well.”
“You want to put Addie on that beast there?” Brady asked, gesturing toward the bay.
Travis said nothing, but he glanced away with a small grimace. Brady elbowed Addie’s ribs. “It’s because his knot head would take off with you.”
“He’s trained as a roping horse,” Travis protested. “He’s touchy.”
“And as dumb as a box of rocks.”
Riley also stopped Zora beside the rail. “Didja see me and Zora, Miss Baker?”
“I did, sweetie,” Addie replied, wishing with all her heart for a child, a family. I really blew it back then. I could have had Travis as my husband, kids, and now he’ll never trust me enough to give me a second chance. An intense wave of regret washed through her, and she fought the tears that wanted to rise.
“Riley, will you let Miss Baker ride Zora?” Travis asked. “I want to take her out to see the work we did.”
“Okay.”
Riley, leaving the reins on the mare’s neck, seized hold of the saddle strings, and slid the entire way to the ground. She patted Zora’s shoulder, and had to stand on tiptoe to do it.
“That horse is so mellow,” Addie said, climbing down from the fence.
As Brady helped her to mount and adjust the stirrups, he said, “Maybe when you get back we can have a few lessons.”
Then he swung the arena gate open, and let Addie and Travis ride through it.
Chapter 11
“You’re much more relaxed on her today,” Travis commented, half turning in his saddle to watch Addie ride.
She grinned. “Maybe it’s because I saw Riley with her. Now I feel she’s safe.”
“She is that,” he replied, “but whether it’s her Arab half or not remains to be seen.”
Riding across the pastures, following the trails, he took her to the irrigation ditch, and showed her the work on the stock tank the three of them had accomplished. Addie sat in her saddle, gazi
ng at the newly improved water system, then nodded slowly. “I think the inspector won’t have a single issue with this.”
“So after the lab report comes in,” Travis added, “we’ll see whether there’s anything toxic in there or not.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t, and we can put this whole thing behind us.”
He led the way back toward the houses and barn, pointing out the cattle as they grazed. “Parnell wasn’t so far wrong,” he said, glancing at her. “Colton does want to buy him out, expand our property and profits.”
“Buying out is a far cry from driving out,” Addie replied dryly.
“True. If the EPA fines him, and we win the suit, thus making him pay for everything, then he may be forced to sell.”
“Perhaps he should consider it anyway,” Addie commented. “He’s too old to be working a cattle ranch. Does he do it all himself?”
“He’s got some kids or other helping him, I think.”
Travis wondered how he might bring the subject up without alerting her that he may have ulterior motives for the conversation. “Mind if I ask what went wrong with the boyfriend in Houston?”
Addie gazed down at the reins in her hand. “I did,” she admitted. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“He was the epitome of the self-serving, bloodsucking lawyer,” she went on, gazing out over the land. “At first, that attracted me. I wanted to be smooth like him, always winning cases. Then later, I decided I couldn’t be that person. I didn’t like who or what I had become. Once that happened, I couldn’t be with him.”
“I heard he asked you to marry him,” Travis ventured, thinking about what she had said.
“He wanted a trophy,” Addie replied, glancing sidelong at him. “He liked how good we looked together. I decided I didn’t want to be a prize on his arm.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” Travis said, realizing that he spoke the truth. If that’s all he saw in her, then he has to be the most shallow creature on earth.
“I blamed me,” Addie told him without looking at him. “Then maybe I grew up a little. I discovered a little self worth, then lost it again when I got fired from a very lucrative job.”
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