Lonestar Secrets

by Colleen Coble

  Her throat swelled with tears that wanted to move to her eyes, and she swallowed them down. "Are you saying you don't want to care for sick kids?"

  "That's not it at all. But this is your chance to show Faith you care about her."

  "If I don't go, the horse will likely die, Jack. What do you expect me to do? The girls are just getting a cold." With every fiber of her being, she longed to stay here, to cuddle her sick children, but this was what she'd trained to do. What she had to do. Why couldn't he see that?

  He waved his hand in a dismissive move. "Go then. I'll explain it to the girls."

  "I will," she said fiercely. "I love them with all my heart. But sometimes duty calls." She brushed past him and pasted a smile on her face. "Girls, I have to go tend to a sick horse. I'll be back as soon as I can. Enrica is bringing you up some medicine and when I get back, I'll make some hot chocolate."

  "With marshmallows?" Kylie asked.

  "Is there any other kind?" Shannon dropped a kiss on each golden head, even though Faith flinched away.

  "Is the horse going to die, Mommy?" Kylie asked. "Can you save it?"

  "I'll do my best," she promised. At least her younger daughter cared about something other than herself. Unlike Jack.

  18

  HE'D BEEN OUT OF LINE LAST NIGHT. JACK RECOGNIZED THE FACT IN THE hard light of day. He'd have done the same thing. Shannon had returned in time to brush the girls' hair and fix them hot chocolate before rushing out again to check on the horse. They were better this morning, though they hadn't said much over breakfast. Jack still wasn't sure he'd done the right thing by telling them the truth so soon. Faith clung to his pant leg like a burr as he tried to get ready for his day.

  Shannon rushed into the dining room late, carrying her boots. Jeans hugged her long, slim legs, and she'd tucked her sleeveless blue shirt into the waistband. He jerked his gaze away from her curves.

  She pulled out a chair and sat down to pull on her boots. "Sorry I'm late. I didn't get to sleep until two." She straightened and swiveled to the table to dig into the bacon-and-egg casserole Enrica had made.

  "You've got dark circles under your eyes," he said.

  "You know just the right sweet talk, Jack," she said, her smile flashing a dimple.

  He grinned to show her he was sorry about his harsh words the night before. "Was I supposed to lie?"

  "A little white lie can be balm to a woman's ego." She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him.

  He rolled his eyes, and she laughed. "Did you sleep well, Faith?" she asked.

  Faith didn't look at her from her perch on Jack's knee. She turned and buried her face in Jack's chest. Jack's gaze locked with Shannon's, and he saw the pain in her eyes. "She'll be fine," he mouthed. Her smile fading, Shannon nodded and looked down at her plate.

  "Mommy, we're going to go to the Big Bend museum today. Enrica is taking us," Kylie said.

  Shannon's smile was strained, but Kylie didn't seem to notice. "That's great, sweetheart. Are you excited to go too, Faith?"

  Faith pressed her head more tightly against Jack, but she gave an almost imperceptible nod. A small victory, but one that made Jack exchange a smile with Shannon. He kissed the top of his daughter's head, then lifted her away from his chest and set her in the chair though she clung to him. "I've got to go, baby. My mustangs are looking for me."

  "I want to go with you today," she said.

  "You'd miss the exhibit at the museum," he reminded her.

  She frowned and nodded with obvious reluctance. "Okay, I'll go with Kylie." She scooted off the chair and went to sit by Kylie, who took her hand.

  "Don't be sad today, Faith," Kylie said. "Enrica said we would be junior rangers. Maybe we'll see a snake!"

  Shannon grimaced. "Stand very still if you do."

  Jack dropped a kiss on both golden heads. "Gotta run, munchkins. You ready?" he asked Shannon.

  She nodded and shoveled in one last bite of casserole. "Great breakfast," she called through the doorway to Enrica, who was in the kitchen. The housekeeper waved a hand without looking.

  He held the door open for Shannon and caught a faint whiff of her shampoo as she passed. Some kind of stuff that smelled of oranges. He liked it, and it was just one of many things he liked about his new wife. Shannon was already in the truck by the time he shut the door behind them and dug his keys out of his pocket.

  "I don't feel like working today," he muttered, sliding under the wheel.

  "We can delay it a few minutes. I need to stop by the office and get my scanner," she reminded him when he turned the key in the ignition.

  He nodded. "I remembered. I thought maybe we should check in with the sheriff about all this.You've got a description now, and he can watch for strangers."

  "Aren't there always strangers passing through on their way to Big Bend?"

  "Yeah, but it's mostly families, or at least couples. A strange man or two might stand out."

  She shrugged. "We still don't know who it is. The sheriff already knows some big guy broke into my house. I want to find out what's going on. Let me see what the scanner shows first."

  He said nothing. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he realized he knew very little about her. He'd told Faith the truth about her mother, but what about her father? Even Jack didn't know the truth about that. Someday Faith would ask. It was sure to happen. Maybe now was a good time to find out. It had been hard enough to let another mother into Faith's life. Allowing another father to be a part of her growing up would be even harder.

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You mind if I ask you a question?"

  She narrowed her eyes. "What kind of question?"

  "Who's the father?"

  She didn't pretend to misunderstand. Turning her gaze away, she sighed. "Let's not go there now, Jack. Don't we have enough to deal with this morning? Save it for another time."

  "What if he wants to be a part of their lives?"

  She continued to stare out the window at the desert landscape. "He doesn't."

  "Are you sure? Does he live nearby? What if he hears you've come back to town and comes looking for the girls?"

  "He wanted nothing to do with a baby. I had to fight him about getting an abortion. No way would I do that."

  "Look, just answer the question. I have to know what I'm dealing with. Does he live around here?"

  She turned back toward him, her blue eyes deep pools of grief. "He was a cowboy drifter who worked at my uncle's. I met him my senior year of college and came home every weekend to be with him. I thought he cared about me, but I was wrong"

  "His name," he pressed again. "I have to know, Shannon. It might be important someday for medical reasons."As well as his sanity.

  "I'm not going to tell you. Not now."

  "More secrets from me?"

  Her lips pressed together. "If you want to call it that. I just don't see any benefit in going there, not when we have other problems to face right now. I'll tell you. Just not right now."

  "Do I know him?"

  Her chin jutted out, and she stared out the window. "I'm not talking about it."

  Which meant he probably did. He decided to go in another direction. "What happened when your uncle found out you were pregnant?"

  She blinked fast, not looking at him. "You want to see me bleed or what? You must be the kind of person who likes to pull the wings off flies."

  "Sorry. I was trying to be sympathetic."

  "You're about as subtle as a horse tromping on my foot. He was mad, okay? He'd have thrown me out onto the street if my cousin hadn't intervened. As it was, he wanted me gone as soon as the girls were born."

  "He left you his property."

  "Believe me, that was a shock." Her face puckered and her eyes clouded. "He and Curt had a huge fight just before Uncle Earl died, and Curt told him to leave it to me, that he didn't want an albatross around his neck. I think my uncle decided to do it out of spite. He wasn't a bad man. Just solitary a
nd inept around women. He was perpetually disappointed in how his life turned out."

  "How did you get through school and raise a little girl?" he asked, careful to keep his voice soft. The lady had guts. He hoped the girls had inherited Shannon's spunk and grit.

  "I was lucky. I rented a room from the sweetest lady to walk the earth when I first moved to Alpine. She offered to care for Kylie for free while I finished school. In exchange, I did light housework when I wasn't waiting tables, ran errands for her, that kind of thing. I was sorry to leave her when I went to veterinary school at A&M."

  "Who took care of her when you were there?That's a lot of hours."

  "She was in preschool by then, and I found a good one nearby. The owner's teenage daughter helped out after hours. She brought Kylie home and stayed with her until I made it there."

  "And you waited tables too?" He waited until she nodded. "When did you sleep?"

  "About four hours a night." She smiled. "It was hard, but it was worth it. How many people get to do their dream job? After college, I got a job with a vet in San Antonio, but I could only afford the worst of apartments you saw it. I had to get Kylie out of that environment, so when I inherited the ranch, I came back here."

  "To face the ridicule I'd caused," he said softly. "You're pretty amazing. I think I'm glad you're the mother of my daughters." The surprise was he actually meant it.

  One shapely brow arched, and delicate pink rushed to her cheeks. "I hope Faith can accept me."

  "Give her time." He'd thought Faith would cling to Shannon the minute she found out she had a new mother. Maybe she wouldn't forget Blair. His emotions were a mixed bag right now.

  Her smile was shy. "Thanks for being so sweet to Kylie."

  "She's easy to love. She's one of those people who give their heart first and think about it later. Faith is a little more cautious."

  "Like her father."

  His gaze locked with hers. "You don't give your heart easily like Kylie. Where'd she get that?"

  Her lips tightened and she glanced away. "I try to think things through now."

  The town limits flashed by. Bluebird Crossing, population 850. He'd lived all his life in the wide-open spaces. How had she adjusted to the confines of the city? Her love of the desert and of the horses had been evident to him the first time he'd met her. But he'd asked enough personal questions for one day.

  He pulled into the parking lot of the Bluebird Veterinary Clinic. His tires crunched the gravel of the empty parking lot. "No customers."

  "Nope." She thrust open her car door and began to root in her purse, then pulled out a set of keys.

  Jack followed her up the walk. "Your receptionist isn't here yet."

  "She doesn't come in until nine." She stopped to pet a kitten that raced to her feet from under the oleanders.

  She had a way with animals. The kitten was purring at the attention. Two more crept out from behind the bushes and approached her. She dug in her purse and pulled out some bagged food, which she sprinkled on the gravel.

  Jack watched her gentle touch with the kittens. "You always carry food with you?"

  "I try to. You never can tell when it will come in handy. Wyatt sure was glad for it." She stood and went to the door.

  Jack was close enough behind to hear her sharp inhalation. Close enough also to see that the door stood ajar about an inch and the doorplate had been busted out.

  "Stay here," he said, pulling her away from the door.

  THE FILE CABINET LAY ON ITS SIDE WITH ITS CONTENTS STREWN ACROSS the floor. The desk drawers had been jerked out and left upended on the carpet. Papers and pens littered the area as if an explosion had gone off in the room. A picture of her and Kylie lay upside down with shards of glass around it. The odor of a strong male cologne lingered in the air.

  Shannon stood gaping at the destruction. She clutched herself, but her teeth chattered.

  "I told you to stay back," Jack said. He strode from door to door checking each room.

  She couldn't stand here shaking in her boots. She dropped her arms. "It's my office. I wanted to see what had happened." She gingerly plucked the picture from the debris. The broken glass had cut across her face but left her daughter's intact, and the relief flooding through her was out of proportion to the circumstances.

  Her scanner. She glanced around the room, seeking the piece of equipment amid the destruction. Wading through the debris, she lifted the chair from in front of the cabinet where she had kept the scanner. There it was. She picked it up and turned it on. The light blinked and stayed steady.

  "I found my scanner," she said, turning toward Jack. "It's working"

  He stepped over to join her. "You think this is related to the phone call?"

  "What else could it be?" Looking at the destruction, she felt as if her insides were hollowed out. It felt personal, as though someone hated her. She'd never had a personal enemy that she knew of, and now some stranger was out to terrorize her.

  "Mexican vagrants maybe, looking for drugs or money."

  She shook her head. "We've had illegals break into the barn or the house through the years. They're too scared to take the time to cause such destruction. This looks like someone didn't find what they were searching for, so they decided to do as much damage as possible."

  He glanced at the scanner and held out his hand. "Let me run it over your skin."

  She showed him how to use it and where to look for the readout. Holding out her arm, she prayed he found nothing. All she wanted to do was get on with her life.

  His rough fingers steadied her arm with an impersonal touch. She stared at the nicks and cuts on his hands. Work hands that could cradle an injured horse or a crying child with equal ease.

  She glanced at her watch on the extended arm. "We don't have much time. We need to get out to the training ground."

  "We'll get there. We need to call the sheriff too." He began to move the scanner over her arm. When the scanner reached the top outer area of her arm, he paused. "I've got a reading"

  She closed her eyes briefly. She'd so hoped there would be nothing. "What's it say?"

  "It's a set of numbers. 07623876. Mean anything to you?"

  She shook her head. "The ID numbers I use are longer. We've got to get it out, see what we can find out about it."

  "How do you do that?"

  She sighed. "It will take surgery. I'll have to get it cut out." She glanced at her watch. "We've got to get going."

  "Just a minute." He lifted the desk back onto its legs and began to pick up the papers on the floor.

  "I can do that later."

  "I'm here now." He continued to work until the papers were stacked on the desk again and the furniture was upright. "One of the chair legs is broken. I'll fix it after work." He went toward the door. "I'll call the sheriff on the way. We'll leave the office unlocked for him. It's not like anyone could do any more damage."

  She listened to him call in the problem as they drove off. If only she could talk to Mary Beth without interruption, get her to explain the chip. What would have numbers like that? A password? A bank account? If only she knew what she was dealing with.

  When they reached the mustang training camp, Jack parked in the lot and didn't get out. Instead he glanced at her, and his green eyes seemed to really see her. A person who was scared and hurting, not someone who was in the way of his plans. Shannon found she liked being the focus of his attention.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  Her initial response was to deny her fear, but that would keep the barrier up between them, and she wanted to start removing the bricks in it. She leaned back against the headrest. "I'm scared. Mostly for Mary Beth. I want this to be over."

  The back of his hand grazed her cheek. The deliberate touch made her inhale. Her gaze sought his. All the feelings she'd had for him when she was a teenager bubbled to the surface, but she buried them again. He meant nothing but kindness.

  "Two blows, one right after the other," Jack said. "I know Fa
ith's reaction to the news hurt you."

  "But not you," she said, drawing away so his hand fell. "You want Faith to love and remember Blair."

  "Actually, I felt bad," he said. "We are married, whether we like it or not. I can't imagine anything worse than spending the next fifteen years fighting. I'd like us to at least be friends."

  A tight bud of pain relaxed. Could he be sincere? Shannon stared at the strong line of his jaw. "I'd like that too." Before she could chicken out, she leaned across the truck and brushed her lips across his, then leaped from the truck before she could read his expression.

  19

  JACK TOUCHED HIS LIPS AND STARED AFTER SHANNON'S RETREATING BACK. Knowing what he knew now, he was willing to admit to himself that she was exactly what she said: a mother intent on making sure both daughters were cared for and loved. A vet who loved her patients and cared about her community.

  And maybe someone he could love. Was Rick right? Was it possible to decide to love someone? To act on it without the emotion being there?

  He leaped out of the truck and ran after her. When he caught up with her, Shannon's color was high. Maybe she feared he was going to be upset about the kiss. All the things he wanted to say dried on his tongue. "Make sure you're not alone today," he said. "With that guy breaking into the office and not finding anything, he might be more active today."

  "I'm not afraid. I brought my pistol in my pack."

  "You might not have time to get to it. There are plenty of people around. Stay out of the barns when they're empty and avoid the bunkhouses."

  Her brilliant eyes flashed. "Look, Jack, I'm not some hothouse flower that shrinks back at the first sign of danger. I've lived in a big city in a not-so-nice part of town. I know how to take care of myself."

  "I'd be a poor husband if I didn't try to make sure you're safe. We're pulling together in the harness now, Shannon."

  The fire in her eyes died, and she shrugged. "Are you my husband?" She bit her lip as though she was sorry the words had escaped.