Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6)

by Bridges, Mitzi Pool

  “Are you kidding? The realtor gave us twenty-four hours to get out or have our stuff put on the sidewalk. Both of our cars are stuffed. The rest, which you clearly didn’t want, we sold.”

  “We didn’t get much for it,” his daughter put in. “But we had no choice.” She began to cry.

  Suddenly Beau’s son, full of rage, burst into the kitchen.

  Nellie could see his father in the boy’s features. He was a handsome lad with dark hair and unhappy steel-blue eyes. A quite-beautiful girl-woman followed right behind him. Those same blue eyes, dark hair held back in a ponytail, graceful and angry.

  Each of them glanced at Nellie. Caught up in their own self-interests, they showed no curiosity regarding who she was or why she was there.

  Dani ran to Lela, hugged her as she cried. “How does Dad expect me to earn a decent wage in this one-horse town? He’s being unreasonable.”

  Making soothing sounds, Lela patted the girl’s back.

  Nellie felt about a foot tall.

  Finally, Dani pulled away and told Lela goodbye. Rey hugged Lela but didn’t speak before they slammed out the back door.

  Lela’s hands shook as she poured her and Nellie another cup of coffee.

  “I’m sorry,” Lela said. “Mr. Beau wanted tonight to be special.”

  “It was. You’re a fabulous cook. We enjoyed every morsel.”

  Nellie could tell Lela’s mind was centered on the two who had stormed out of the kitchen. She loved those kids, and they loved her. This had to be hard on her.

  Nellie had just finished her coffee when Beau walked into the kitchen, looking grateful to see her. He came over and took her hand. “I’m sorry you had to witness my children’s bad manners.”

  “I’m sorry for your troubles.”

  “Did they introduce themselves?”

  “They were too upset.”

  “Figures. At twenty-four, Reynaud is the oldest. Danielle is two years younger.” He chuckled. “My wife spent a year in Paris during her college years and fell in love with everything French. So when the children came along, they were given French names. She filled the house with furniture from the early French period. I got rid of it all.”

  Nellie remembered the tour of the house a couple of hours ago. It was furnished in a comfortable traditional manner with a few antiques mixed in. She couldn’t see Beau in a house with French furnishings.

  “The children are beautiful, and their names are lovely. I’m sorry to see them so unhappy.”

  “So am I. I’m afraid if they don’t grow up now, they never will.”

  She reached over and patted his hand. “I’m sure things will work out in the end.”

  “What if I’m wrong? What if they get into trouble?”

  Blue eyes looked into hers. Nellie saw the anguish. If only there was something she could do.

  She heard the Jeep coming up the drive. “There’s Donovan. I stayed to tell you how wonderful dinner was and how much we appreciate your hospitality.”

  They shook hands. “You have lovely children, Beau. If Dani comes back and wants a job, tell her to come see me. I might be able to help.”

  Beau walked Nellie to the door. “I didn’t know they were coming. I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. Your children are who they are, responsible for themselves and their actions. It doesn’t bear on you in the least.”

  “You’re a wonderful person, Nellie Callahan. Can we do this again without all of the histrionics?”

  “Of course we can. Maybe at our place next time.”

  “We’ll talk.”

  He held her hand a tad longer than necessary. Not that she didn’t like it, but wasn’t she too old to feel her heart flutter like a young girl’s?

  It had been many years since she’d felt anything even remotely similar. And that had been with her husband.

  Nellie found it very disconcerting.

  Chapter Two

  When the white-paneled kitchen door clicked shut, Beau sank onto the bar stool Nellie had vacated. “I’ve failed them, Lela. Did I wait too long to teach them they aren’t owed the world?”

  Lela handed Beau a cup of coffee and took one for herself before she sat down beside him. Beau couldn’t count how many times she had done this very thing. She’d always been there for him and the kids.

  “It’s never too late, Mr. Beau. Besides, they’re good kids. They’ll be okay. Just be patient with them.”

  The faint scent of lavender sent his thoughts to the woman who had just left. She’d raised five children, every one of them a success. He had two, and the way it was going they wouldn’t succeed at anything except parties, good times, and doing what they wanted when they wanted.

  They had to grow up before it was too late. The free ride was over.

  He fought the urge to call the kids on their cell phones and check on them. They were so miserable, accustomed to having no responsibilities. Now they were thrust into the world and didn’t know how to handle it.

  His fault.

  An old-fashioned taste of reality was what they needed, Beau tried to convince himself. No more coddling.

  Could he stick to his guns? Could he make the kids come around and see he had their best interest at heart?

  He took a deep breath. Would they ever forgive him?

  Weary now, he gathered up the last of the dishes and, over Lela’s protests, put them in the dishwasher before he went to his room.

  ****

  Dawn brought the usual chores of ranch life. Beau mounted Taro, his sleek midnight-black stallion, and rode out with his foreman, Frank Gordon, to check the fences in the far south pasture.

  Responding to Beau’s pent-up emotions, Taro was skittish. Beau spent a few minutes calming him. “Don’t go all uppity on me, Taro. I’m low on patience today.”

  As if he understood, Taro settled down. Beau spent the next few hours with Gordon, a notebook in hand, making notes on which fences needed to be replaced and which ones could get by with repairs.

  When Beau had bought the ranch, he’d thought if he hired the right people to run it, he could take it easy and concentrate on his children. Wrong!

  His foreman was good about following orders and answered Beau’s many questions with respect. However, it didn’t take long for Beau to figure out that Gordon was happy taking short cuts instead of looking to the future and doing what would be best for the long haul.

  After a few neighborly visits with Donovan, Beau had ventured a few questions, learned he’d made some major mistakes. He’d planted seed that produced a fine crop of hay the first year, little the next. He’d bought a bull that looked good, but didn’t breed. It was sold at a loss. Donovan found a registered Angus in Abilene that sounded promising and took the day off to drive there for a look. Beau bought it on the spot.

  Beau had made his millions years ago, but his recent mistakes and the current financial crisis had eroded a goodly portion. He couldn’t afford too many more blunders.

  By noon, Beau was back at the ranch for a quick lunch. “Have you heard from the kids?” he asked Lela.

  “Dani called to say they were in San Antonio.”

  “They’re okay?”

  Beau hated the hitch in his voice, but he couldn’t stop worrying about them. They might be adults, but they were still his babies.

  Lela patted his hand. “They’re fine. They’ll come around. Just wait and see.”

  Beau chuckled. “Do I have a choice?”

  Beau had never re-married. There had been many women over the years. Some were eye candy, nice dates for political dinners and parties. Others had been short-lived affairs, none worth remembering. When he’d married Janine, he’d been head over heels in love. He’d expected to live with one woman the rest of his life. But Janine had been a troubled woman. He’d tried to help. But she started drinking after Dani’s birth, and everything he tried to do to help made her angrier.

  The accident that ended her life had ended his happy-e
ver-after illusions.

  Yet, Nellie Callahan moved him. Beau was past sixty, too old for youthful infatuation. Was he having a late mid-life crisis?

  Nellie was different. She wasn’t young and flirty. She wasn’t the kind of woman to condone unwarranted advances. Nor was she one to have an affair. She was a mature woman who had been a widow for many years and seemed happy with her lot in life.

  Where would this tug of attraction go? Or would it go anywhere?

  Over the next few weeks, Beau asked himself a hundred times if buying the ranch had been a mistake. Every day brought another crisis. His new bull got stuck in the pond. It took every hand on the ranch, plus a tractor to get him out.

  Once out, the bull went nuts and ran through a fence and onto the Callahan spread. With Donovan’s help, they coaxed him back. Then there was the day it rained while Gordon was cutting hay. Donovan said they should have heeded the weather report and waited for clear weather. Instead, they had a field of cut, wet hay that couldn’t be baled until it dried. Even now it was losing its nutrients.

  Another costly mistake.

  Beau threw himself into his work, but his thoughts returned again and again to his children. Did they get jobs, or were they spending the last of their money foolishly? What would they do without funds? Without a roof over their heads? Would they come to him and try to get their old life back?

  He didn’t think so. Both were proud. If only they could learn to be as independent as they were stubborn.

  Today, Beau’s thoughts were dark; his voice surly when Gordon asked if Beau thought the hay had dried enough to bale. “You’re the foreman. Check it out.” Gordon turned to do as ordered. “If you screw up and bale it wet, it’s your job.”

  Gordon didn’t acknowledge the threat. Instead, he mounted the tractor, gunned the motor, and took off.

  “There goes another mistake,” Beau mumbled. But he didn’t know where he’d find someone to replace the man. The kid he’d hired, Joe Hammond, wasn’t experienced enough.

  Beau let his gaze sweep over the horizon. Why had it been so important to take on sixteen hundred acres, plus a herd of cattle, and half a dozen horses at this stage of his life? He could have kept his comfortable home in Connecticut, kicked back, and enjoyed his retirement in peace.

  Swinging into the saddle, he patted Taro’s head. Taro needed no further encouragement. He trotted out of the yard and started across the field.

  Beau took a deep breath. The air was pure and bracing, everything quiet and peaceful. In the distance, he saw part of his herd and wondered at the sense of accomplishment they gave him.

  He’d just had a country breakfast. He felt stronger than he had when he’d strode the senate halls or even his younger days when his thoughts were on how fast he could make another million. He soon learned that the more he made, the more he wanted. After declaring he had enough, he’d run for and won the senate seat. Soon, the behind-the-door deals had made him re-think his choice. One day, he woke to wonder how his lifestyle was shaping his children.

  And didn’t like the answer.

  As a kid, he’d loved to watch any kind of western movie or sit-com. The open plains called to him. When he opted out of the senate, his decision to satisfy that deep-seated desire to live on a ranch had seemed the perfect solution.

  Rey and Dani would benefit from the change, he’d convinced himself. But the openness, the sky that went on forever, the deep sense of place, didn’t suit everyone. Tastes differed. Rey and Dani had hated the thought of ranch life.

  Now, they were furious with him.

  The thought brought a sting to his eyes.

  Spurring Taro, he raced across the field, trying to rid himself of the thought that his children were lost to him. Not in the sense that he didn’t know where they were. They kept in touch with Lela. He knew they were still in San Antonio. He knew they’d rented an apartment in a low-rent district and had jobs. Dani worked at a restaurant; Rey captained a boat on the Riverwalk.

  At least they were trying. That thought made him feel somewhat better. But how long would they last? Both liked to sleep late. Neither liked a fixed regimen. They had to be miserable.

  That wasn’t what Beau wanted. He wanted them to be happy, to have a good life, enjoy life, while at the same time be independent enough to take care of their own needs.

  He didn’t think it would happen. He’d waited too long. Slowing Taro, he studied the herd milling around the pond. His heart filled with sadness. Maybe if he’d brought them here years earlier when they were young enough to adjust and appreciate the ranch…

  A calf’s bawl brought him upright in his saddle. Even after his short time on the ranch, he knew a cry for help when he heard one.

  Edging his way through the cattle, he came to the water’s edge. “Not again,” he muttered. A young calf was in the pond and couldn’t get out, her cries loud and heart wrenching.

  Beau jumped from Taro’s back and pulled out his cell. Gordon didn’t pick up. Neither did his wrangler, Joe.

  Cursing, Beau sat down and pulled off his boots. How hard could it be to get one young calf out of a pond?

  He soon found out.

  An hour later, the calf was still stuck, and Beau was worn out. “Not as young as I thought I was,” he said, swiping at a fly that landed on his nose.

  “Beau? What in the world are you doing?”

  Startled, he looked up. Nell sat on a beautiful white-faced Palomino. She looked magnificent. And he was covered from head to foot in mud. That wasn’t the worst part of it. The calf was still stuck. This wasn’t a picture he wanted her to see.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked a bit gruffly. He popped the calf on her rump. Again. She didn’t budge.

  “I baked pies this morning and thought you might enjoy one.” She pointed to a basket tied to the saddle. “Looks as if you’re having a little trouble.”

  “You could say that,” he said, scratching his head with muddy fingers. “She’s a stubborn one.

  “Do you have a length of rope?” she asked as she slid to the ground.

  “Not with me.”

  “This might do.” She untied the basket from the saddle. “Hope it’s long enough. Catch.” She threw the rope.

  He caught it with one hand, tied it around the calf’s neck, got in front of her, and pulled. Still nothing.

  “I think this is a two-man job,” Nellie said, coming up next to him. She had pulled off her boots, rolled up her jeans, and splashed into the water to stand beside him.

  “What are you doing? You’ll get as muddy as I am. Call Donovan. He won’t mind helping.”

  “Since Donovan left for town an hour ago, that won’t happen any time soon.” She laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll have her out in no time.”

  Walking around him, she kicked up water with every step, until she was behind the calf. “I’ll push. You pull.”

  Beau shook his head. He didn’t know another woman who would do such a thing. Who else wouldn’t care how dirty they might get? Or how wet?

  Green eyes flashing with mischief, Nell grinned and pushed.

  The calf pranced out of the mud as if going for a leisurely stroll.

  “Damned calf.”

  Nell laughed. Beau’s heart did that rolling thing again.

  “They’re prone to do that, you know.”

  “I’m learning,” he said as he pulled himself out of the pond, reached for Nell’s hand, and pulled her up beside him.

  “Now you’re a mess.” Nell didn’t have a dry stitch on her. His mouth went dry, his heart pounding an uneven rhythm when he took in her perfect-for-him figure. His gaze drifted from her figure to her face. She had a dab of mud on her cheek. He swiped at it with his thumb—and fought the urge to kiss her.

  She laughed again. “You should see yourself.”

  Beau looked down at his mud-encrusted body. “I think I’ll take a swim.” He splashed back into the pond, paddling out until he came to clear water.

  “
Better?” Nell called out.

  “Much. You should try it.”

  “Think I will.”

  The next thing he knew she was next to him, laughing and splashing water at him.

  He felt like a kid as he splashed water into her perfect face.

  Throwing back his head, he roared with laughter. Now he knew why he’d bought the ranch. Despite the problems, despite his grief over his children, he was right where he wanted to be.

  Nell kicked off and headed for the bank. He grabbed her foot and hauled her back. Here was the woman he wanted to be with.

  When she was next to him again, he was unable to stop himself. He pulled her close and kissed her.

  Heat, swift and unexpected, shot through him.

  He wanted her. He deepened the kiss; let the want spread.

  Nell gasped. Pushed away. Looked at him with fear in her eyes.

  Turning, she swam away.

  “Nell. I’m sorry,” he called out. But she’d reached the bank, pulled on her boots, and was in the saddle before he could apologize properly.

  Watching her leave was pure agony.

  What had he done?

  Chapter Three

  Nellie was furious at herself. A man she hardly knew had kissed her, and she’d kissed him back. What in the world had come over her? This wasn’t like her at all.

  Nellie dug her heels into Casey’s flank. Horse and rider raced for home. For a swift moment there in the pond her body wasn’t hers. Evidently, neither was her mind. Despite the cool air rushing over her as Casey thundered back to the ranch, Nellie felt her face heat up.

  What must Beau think? She’d acted like a wanton.

  Tears fell down her cheeks. Anger dried them. She was almost sixty—a mother and grandmother. Where was her poise? Her control? Over the years, she’d prided herself on both. In a flash, she’d forgotten everything she’d fought so hard for the biggest part of her life.

  The barn came into view, then the house. Had it taken only ten minutes to get here? It seemed like hours.

  Slowing Casey, Nellie walked her into the barn and slid from the saddle. Her knees were so weak she had to hold on for a minute.

  Jimmy, Donovan’s latest hire, ran to her. “Are you okay, Ms. Callahan? You’re all wet, and you look kinda pale.”