Romancing the Sweet Side
Page 20
My phone rang and I put on my mic. “Arroyo Ranch, this is Melanie McHugh speaking. What can I do for you?”
“Melanie? Is that you, girl? You sound a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
I knew that voice. “Chuck?”
“McHugh huh? Finally went through, huh? My cousin doesn’t deserve you.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Oh, you know, ranting and raving like a lunatic. I keep hearing something about blood and the wrath of the Moore family or something. Too bad there’s four feet of concrete and steel between me and the drunk tank or I’d be more concerned.”
“How bad is this going to be for you?”
“I don’t think it will bother my wife one iota if we don’t get an invitation to the family Thanksgiving dinner next year. To tell you the truth, Mary will be relieved that she doesn’t have to hide her medications from my aunts or pretend like she doesn’t know what they’re talking about when my cousins try to wheedle her into using me for illegal stuff.”
I sighed. “You know, David kept a lot of that from me and Daddy. We never saw any of it until after he died.”
“Yeah, David’s one helluva con man. He looks, sounds and acts just like his dad.” There was a pause. “You should have told me he was hurting you, Mel.”
My cheeks burned and that sick feeling returned. A band of panic locked around my chest, and I found it difficult to breathe. Immediately, anger sizzled inside my head at Jake’s betrayal. “Jake told you?”
“Jake? No. David is pissed that he stood between you two. It’s all he’s talking about. How you needed to remember your place, and it should be like old times when he slapped you around and you shut up.”
“What?” Shock warred with relief. Jake didn’t seem the type to share my business.
“Melanie, listen, when Jake got here, my cousin was already running at the mouth. Jake told me that I needed to get him out of his sight before he shut him up permanently. I’ve never seen him like that. What happened out there?”
I sighed and rocked slowly in the chair. My eyes closed, and the world I had closed myself up in cracked open just a bit. “Are you asking as a police officer or as my friend?”
“Right now? Both. You need to tell me what’s going on. He’s threatening to kill you, Mel.”
I would have laughed if my throat hadn’t closed over a lump of emotion. “He’s been abusive for a long time, Chuck.” The expected shame didn’t rush along and sweep me away. Instead, I had a moment of intense relief. My stomach twisted. Would he believe me?
“Dammit, I knew it. Why didn’t you say something to me? To Mary?”
“You had your own problems.” I opened my eyes and found the door sliding open. Jake stood there, watching me.
“We all have problems, darlin’. You’re family.”
“So’s David.” I choked on the words as tears tumbled from my eyes.
Jake’s hand tightened on the door knob, but he didn’t move from that spot, and I didn’t gesture for him to.
“No man who hits a woman is family to me. My father was an evil man to my mother. David’s was the same. You choose to break that cycle. Listen to me. This isn’t your fault. He won’t be coming back after you as long as I’m breathing, little cousin.”
I laughed at that. “We’re not related anymore.”
“Bullshit.” I’d never heard easy-going Chuck so angry. “The one thing David did right in his life was marrying you. Married or not, you’re still family to us.”
“Thanks, Chuck.” I sniffled a bit and yanked a tissue out of its box. “Be careful with him. He’s dangerous when he starts sobering up.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mel. You just get some sleep.”
“Will do. Give Mary a hug and kiss from me when you get home.”
“I will. Love you, girl. Night.”
The call ended, and I set the phone back down on my desk. I tapped it with a stubby fingernail. “Chuck called. Apparently, David is causing some trouble and making death threats. It looks like they’ll be keeping him a little longer.”
Jake nodded. “He kept going on about you signing a contract. What did it mean?”
“Clayton wanted to buy the Arroyo.”
“At a fair price?”
I sighed. “More than. It was a generous offer.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Not on your life.” I grinned.
Jake grinned back at me, but I knew something was off. He still watched me, blue eyes narrowed as though searching my face for something.
“What is it?”
“I need to leave.”
My heart froze in my chest.
I sniffed and sat up. “Why?”
“I can’t really tell you that, ma’am. I would if I could. Truth is I may be following a ghost trail at this point.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “Are you quitting?”
He jerked in surprise. “No, ma’am. I just need some time off.”
I’m not gonna lie. His reaction eased that panic fluttering in my chest. “When do you need to go?”
“As soon as possible. Tomorrow, if I’m able. Rick and Dan are strong cowhands. They can handle the men while I’m gone. Miller has the horses. If I have your permission to go, I’ll have them briefed by morning.”
Clayton’s words from earlier speared through me. Was he going to skip out? “How long will you be gone?”
“Not sure. Maybe a week?”
It wasn’t the busiest part of my season. The ranch was winding down for the holidays anyway. But this type of abrupt request was unusual. “Is this about David? His coming back into town won’t affect anything. He received no rights to the ranch in the divorce.”
Jake stepped into my office and took off his cowboy hat. I hadn’t realized until just then that he was still wearing it. “Melanie, what happened out there was inexcusable. I put you in danger, and I’m sorry.”
I waved it off. “No way you could have known he’d be like that.”
“I have some things to take care of, some things that have an intense timeline, and I need to move on it now. Chuck tells me that he won’t let David near you. I’m inclined to believe him.”
“When will you be back?”
“I will call you as soon as I know.”
“Is this family or health related?”
“A bit of both, honestly. I know you have no reason to trust me, especially with your past experiences, but I will be back. I wouldn’t leave now if it wasn’t important.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Sure. I need you back the week before Christmas though. We have our final sale of the year.”
“I’ll be here with bells on.”
I smiled and put my hands on the desk. The ache in my back and shoulders were immense. My butt could use a nice long soak in the bathtub. “I’d like to see that happen, Jake. Make sure you’re wearing bells when you come back.”
Humor lightened his expression. “You’re kidding, right?”
I walked around my desk and grinned. “Not a bit. Make sure it happens, cowboy.”
He sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Get out of here before I change my mind.”
He hesitated a moment and then crossed the threshold to stand in front of me. “While I’m gone, don’t take any chances.” His gaze roamed over my face. “You didn’t hear him on the way to jail, Melanie. He’s dangerous and desperate.”
“So dangerous that you’re skipping out on me?” I hated how selfish that sounded, but the fact that he was leaving now, after finding out about my abusive relationship, well it just seemed like he was running from me. I didn’t blame him, honestly. Who the hell wanted a boss with this kind of baggage?
“So dangerous that Chuck will keep him locked up until I get back.”
“Can he even do that?”
“It’s the holidays, sweetheart. Everything goes slower at this t
ime of year.”
The endearment threw me off. Everything about this night seemed to keep me in a perpetual state of uncertainty. “And if he gets a lawyer?”
“We’ll cross that creek when we get to it. Wait for me.”
He touched my cheek with a brush of his fingertips, and then, he was gone. I heard the screen door slam.
Wait for him? My cheek tingled where he’d touched it. I didn’t know what I was going to do without him.
Chapter Five
It took three days for me to track down Sophia Kerston, the owner of the Lazy K out of Tyler. Three days in which I hadn’t heard from Jake, and David was threatening to sue the police department for not letting him go. Stress was my constant companion at the moment.
The sandpaper voice on Sophia’s recording was quiet and unassuming, but according to my research, she spent more time in the pastures than out of them. I didn’t know what to expect when she called me back.
“Ms. McHugh?” Sophia was too quiet for me to hear, so I turned up the volume.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for calling me back.”
“My pleasure. What can I do for you? Your message didn’t mention anything specific.”
“I wanted to talk to you about a man who used to work at your ranch. Jake Taylor.”
“Ahhh,” she said. I heard the sound of a small drink. “Sorry for drinking while on the phone, but I’ve been out since dawn, and this is my first cup of hot coffee in hours.”
“I completely understand.” My body relaxed just a fraction. “I heard some rumors about him leaving.” I paused a moment. “Also, thievery was mentioned.”
“I’m sure you did, honey. And they were all started by a member of our family, I’m afraid. The truth is the only one who knows why Jake Taylor left is me.”
“Would you be willing to share that information with me?”
“Yes, and only because he called and gave me permission. You must be a pretty special lady.”
I let out a small laugh. “I’m his boss.”
“Every boss since his time here has called, and I’ve told them they’d have to ask Jake. He swore me to secrecy. So, for him to make an exception for you... well... that says a lot, honey.”
My curiosity burned. What kind of secrets did she have? Was it a scandal? I shook my head. Men have done worse for love and money, but Jake didn’t have that kind of shame riding his heels as he spoke about the Lazy K. If anything, he just seemed sad.
“Please tell me, Mrs. Kerston.”
“Call me Sophia, please. Did you know that Jake Taylor was married, Ms. McHugh?”
Politeness kicked in while the news kind of rocked me. I mean, Jake was an older guy, so the fact that he’d been married before shouldn’t have surprised me. Every cowboy had his sob story and more than a few skeletons in his closet. “Please call me Melanie. He never mentioned it.”
She laughed. “He’s like that. I didn’t know either until he asked to leave my ranch. I wasn’t as easy going about it as you may have thought. I knew someone was stealing from me, and I couldn’t figure out who. Jake was under suspicion, of course, but he was the only person I knew I could rely on in a crisis. In those years, there were plenty.” Another sip over the phone. “I demanded to know why he’d have to leave, and he told me more than I think he’s ever shared with another soul on this Earth.”
I didn’t know how to feel about that, but I wanted to know more.
“He and his wife were estranged. She’d found another man, and Jake, bless his heart, was still sending money to her. They had a house and a son together. All the money he made at my ranch was going back to her, it seemed.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Hell no. I thought he was lying through his teeth. I thought he was about to explain why he’d stolen money from me.”
We both laughed for a moment. My heart ached for Jake’s relationship, but a part of me realized it was just one side of the story: Jake’s.
“Turns out, his wife got the cancer. Some kind of thyroid thing that was eating her alive. She’d refused treatments and wanted to die with dignity. He’d just found out. She’d been keeping it from him for six months.”
“My God.”
“Jake felt responsible and wanted to do right by his wife, so he wanted to go home and be with her.”
“So he left.”
“He had to finish out work for two weeks, and then, he could go. I still didn’t believe him, so I tracked her down and gave her a call. She invited me to the house.”
“What did you find?”
“A dying woman with regrets about the way she treated her husband. There was no doubt that she had cancer. And she told me some things about how she’d treated Jake. I swear had she not been on her death bed, I would have throttled the woman. Their son looks just like him. He was kind and polite like his daddy. He told me she had less than a month to live. On the way back to the ranch, I told him to go and that I’d send his final pay immediately. He never asked me why. I assume his son called him.”
My brain muddled through the story. “What happened.”
“He sent me a letter. Didn’t know men still do that. And told me when she’d passed. I invited him back to the ranch, but he said he wanted to go somewhere new. He’d only stayed in that area because it was close by home. I told him he could use me as a reference at any time. He said he couldn’t do that in good conscience because he’d left early.”
One thing bothered me. “Why did he say he was fired, then?”
“What?”
“When I asked about the Lazy K, he said he was fired for leaving early without giving a season’s notice.”
“That knucklehead. Is that what he thought? He didn’t argue with me, so I assumed his son or wife had called to say I’d visited. I’m going to call him now and kick his butt.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over my face. “Before you go, I have one other question. Did you find your thief?”
“I did. And I divorced him. I hear tell that you had one of those yourself.”
Rumors in Texas spread like wildfire, it seemed. “That is the God’s honest truth. We know how to pick ’em, it seems.”
“Well, you have a good man in Jake Taylor. If he becomes yours, hold on to him forever. No man deserves a second chance at love more than that one.”
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone with my heart pounding in my throat. Mine? I’ve never had a more amazing foreman or skilled cowboy under my employment. Keep him? For a moment, I let myself fantasize about a life with Jake Taylor by my side. A second chance for both of us. Was it possible?
In the three days since he’d been gone, I kept waiting for him to stop by my office or looking for him at the small kitchenette table. Sharing breakfast was nice and comfortable. But his morning smile devastated my senses, especially when he showed up at my table with sleep-disheveled hair and a day’s growth of beard lining his jaw.
Those long night conversations about the ranch as we sat on the porch. All of it, including the way he’d handled David, made me wish he was back here. Where did he go?
The ranch had settled down for the evening. Work was going great, and the money I’d recovered had gone a long way toward rebuilding the ranch.
Now that I knew Jake’s history, part of it anyway, my head and heart were free to spin fantasies about the blue-eyed cowboy. A man, who likely, held not one iota of romantic interest in his boss.
I groaned and got up from my desk. I poured a cup of coffee and tugged on a long sweatshirt. With a quick sip of the fire-hot liquid, I trudged out onto the porch. The icy boards froze the bottom of my feet as I raced to my favorite rocking chair. I got in the chair and set the coffee cup on the side table. Bringing up my knees to wrap my feet in the bottom of my sweatshirt reminded me of the countless times I’d done this in my childhood. The sounds of my ranch soothed me as night fell.
Jake Taylor was far differ
ent than I’d imagined he would be. Every step of the way he’d surprised me. I hated that I hadn’t trusted his word, but after David, no one could really blame me.
I took a long sip of my coffee, savoring the heat against the chilled air.
The wind shifted slightly, and the scent of familiar aftershave tickled my nose. I took another drink to calm my racing heart, surprised to see my hands were mostly steady. “How long have you been back?” My voice was husky with suppressed emotion.
“About forty minutes. I swung by the bunkhouse to see how everyone was faring.”
“And?”
“They did all right while I was gone, but I’ll need to do some fine tuning tomorrow.”
I watched him walk up the steps of my covered porch. Eyes lined and tired, but his smile lit up the space. Joy pumped through my body.
“Welcome home, Jake.” I hid my embarrassment behind another gulp of coffee. It burned like fire, but I welcomed it over the case of nerves eating me alive from the inside.
“It’s good to be home, Melanie.”
I spluttered my coffee, and he was suddenly there, pulling the cup from my hands as I jumped to my feet. My coughing embarrassed me almost as much as the hot liquid staining my clothes.
“You okay?” His hand was on my back, warm and soothing to both my cough and my heart.
“Yeah. I’m glad you’re back.”
“So I can make you spew your coffee?”
I wiped my sleeve across my mouth and looked up at him with a smile. “That too. Sorry.” My cheeks were red-hot with embarrassment.
“Don’t be. I’m glad to be back.”
I remembered the touch of his fingers against my skin before he’d left. Right now, more than anything, I wanted him to touch me again.
“Would you be put out if I asked you for a kiss?”
My heart thundered. “I’d be delighted.”
He bent his head down and took my lips in a kiss that sizzled through the doubts circling in my head, leaving only fire in its wake.