She slowly drove toward a stone house that was the best-looking building in the area. It appeared she’d found the ranch house, but where were the people? The cattle? The horses? Even a chicken would be welcome.
There was no movement and no sign that there had been any in the last hundred years or so.
She stopped the car. What now?
Sam immediately opened the door and jumped out. “Do you think they know we’re here?”
“I don’t know.” Jessica got out and stretched her legs. It had been a long three days. They could have driven it in two full ones, but the side trips she’d planned for the first day had slowed them down. She supposed she and Sam had arrived earlier in the day than Matt had expected. Maybe he was rounding up cattle or something.
Sam ran up the gravel path and knocked on the screen door, moving from one foot to the other impatiently.
Jessica stood by the car and looked around, trying to remain upbeat, but the truth of it was that she’d expected something...more. Something like the Fremont ranch.
The main compound of the weekend ranch the Fremonts had owned was larger than this, though to be fair, they hadn’t owned much land with it, and as always, the house was geared for entertaining. Matt probably owned a lot of land.
He’d admitted he needed cash, so Jessica shouldn’t have been surprised that the place could use some attention. A new roof on the building across the way, for starters. Was that the bunkhouse? And the metal storage shed—she knew that’s what it was because the door was off the hinges and an old tractor sat inside—the shed was listing to the right and should be razed and rebuilt.
As for the ranch house, it was a comfortable size, especially for someone living alone, as she presumed Matt was. And how much house did a person need, anyway? Hadn’t she and Rachel closed down the east wing of the Fremont house?
“Nobody’s home,” Sam called, interrupting her mental assessment.
Jessica reached into the car and honked the horn.
An ominous growl answered from the right.
She gasped. “Sam, get back in the car!”
Of course he wouldn’t. “Mom, look!” He was pointing toward the huge pecan tree.
It cast its dappled shade over a...mountain lion. Or a cougar. It didn’t matter. Sharp teeth were sharp teeth.
“Sam!” she screamed, and ran around the car toward her son, who remained oblivious to the danger.
He protested as she stuffed him inside the car and closed the door, then slowly backed around, groping for the handle. Hurling herself inside, she slammed the door and locked it.
“Is that a tiger?”
Jessica had her head on the steering wheel as she gulped in air. “It must be a mountain lion.”
“Sure looks like a tiger.”
“That’s the way the shade makes him look.”
“He’s not in the shade anymore.”
Jessica raised her head as the tiger—and yes, it was a tiger—slowly walked toward the paddock. Fascinated, she watched the animal’s loose-limbed sway as it disappeared around the side of the building, probably a barn.
Then she turned the key in the ignition.
“We’re not leaving, are we?” Sam looked ready to jump out.
“There is a tiger running loose. Of course we’re leaving! Put on your seat belt.”
“But where’s Matt?”
Jessica refused to speculate on Matt’s whereabouts.
“Can’t we go look for him?”
“Sam, there’s a tiger out there. I am not leaving this car.”
He was silent for a moment. “Do you think the tiger ate everybody?”
Jessica shuddered inwardly. “I do not think any such thing.”
“Because, if he did, then he’s not going to be hungry anymore and we don’t have to worry about him.”
“Put on your seat belt.”
“What if everybody is trapped in the barn? We could use the car to distract the tiger, and then they could escape.”
Jessica had the car in reverse. The smart thing to do would be to turn around and hightail it out of there.
But...but what if Sam was right?
“Come on, Mom.”
The thought of being a hero in her son’s eyes made Jessica drive the car past the paddock toward the barn.
She saw a movement against the wall and realized that the big cat was sunning itself, belly outward.
Okay. Jessica positioned her car between the tiger and the barn door, then blasted the horn.
The tiger flinched and looked at her. Jessica honked the horn again and held it down for a long loud blast.
And there was an answering trumpet.
“What was that?” Sam asked.
Jessica had been so startled she’d jerked her hand off the horn. “It sounded like...” She rolled down the window in time to hear another trumpet followed by shouts.
The tiger went back to sunning itself.
A second later, an irritated-looking Matt jogged around the corner of the barn, right past the tiger.
Her heart nearly stopped and all she could do was lean on the horn.
“Dad blast it, stop honking your horn!” he shouted.
Well, that was gratitude for you. “There’s—”
“What do you think you’re doing? We don’t have bellboys or valet parking.”
This was not the welcome Jessica had expected. She glared at him as he leaned in the window, leaving his backside available for tiger snacking.
“Hi, Matt!” As usual, Sam was unaware of the emotional undercurrents. “We were trying to save you from the tiger.”
Matt glanced toward the animal. “That’s Sheba. She’s harmless—unless you scare her by doing something stupid like honking your horn.”
“I’d hoped to scare away what I thought was a loose wild animal,” Jessica snapped.
There was another trumpeting roar.
“Unfortunately you’ve succeeded,” Matt said grimly.
The shouting grew louder.
“Dok! dok!”
A huge gray shadow lumbered toward the paddock followed by two men hurrying after it. “Scheherazade, dok!”
Jessica stared. “I realize everything is bigger in Texas, but that is the largest cow I’ve ever seen.”
* * *
MATT SIGHED. SHE WOULD have to arrive at this precise moment. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to hide Scheherazade forever, but he sure hadn’t expected to have to make explanations so soon.
“Mom, that’s an elephant,” Sam said, then added doubtfully, “Isn’t it?”
Nobody answered him. The elephant continued tramping toward the paddock.
“Chi! Dok! Chi—chi!”
“Scheherazade, don’t do it...” Matt muttered as the elephant plowed through the wooden fence of the paddock, kept going and crashed through the other side. She headed across a field, the men running after.
“Nuts,” Matt said without heat.
He would have said a lot more if Jessica and Sam hadn’t been there.
Jessica turned off the car engine.
In the sudden silence, Matt stared at the destruction of his paddock and wondered exactly what he was going to say to her. He wasn’t angry. It wasn’t her fault she’d scared Scheherazade and it wasn’t the elephant’s fault she associated car horns with fire alarms. He was just thankful the animal had taken off toward home.
“Wow, you’ve got an elephant!” Sam opened his door and scrambled out.
“She just visits occasionally.”
Matt opened Jessica’s door, but apparently she hadn’t decided whether she was getting out yet. Couldn’t say he blamed her.
“And the tiger?” she asked.
He h
adn’t remembered that her eyes were so blue. “You should have seen the barn rats before we got her.”
“Very funny.”
He half smiled and held out his hand. She took it and swung her legs out. She was wearing a short denim skirt and sandals and her legs were a golden honey color. They sure put the wrecked fence into perspective.
Before standing, she asked, “Any other wild animals I should know about?”
Matt thought about his menagerie. “I’ll introduce you later.”
Jessica got out of the car, but Matt figured it was only because Sam was inching toward the tiger. “Sam,” she called in warning.
The boy stopped creeping forward.
Jessica raised her eyebrows at Matt.
“You caught us at a bad time,” he said.
“I guess so.”
She didn’t say anything else.
Matt gestured. “If you come over to the house with me, I’ll show you your rooms and you can get settled.”
“Wait a minute—where is everyone?”
“Running after Scheherazade.”
“The rest of the people.”
Matt decided not to tell her that the two men running after the elephant only worked part-time when he could talk them into it. “Lita, my housekeeper, has gone grocery shopping in Lampasas. She’ll be back by suppertime.”
Jessica waited. “And?” she prompted when he didn’t say anything else.
“And what?”
Glancing at Sam, Jessica leaned closer and lowered her voice. “The regular ranch hands. Are they out with your herd? You do have cattle, don’t you?”
Before Matt could answer, Frank limped around the side of the barn. He stopped to scratch the tiger’s belly, then saw Jessica and Sam.
“Matthew! Why did you not tell me your lady had arrived?”
His lady? Matt groaned inwardly. Nothing he’d said could convince anyone that theirs was strictly a business arrangement. He felt Jessica looking at him, but didn’t meet her eyes.
“We just got here,” Sam said.
“Hello, young man. I am Frank, better known as the Flying Francisco.” He swept Sam a bow. “My trapeze work is legendary. You have heard of me, yes?”
A wide-eyed Sam nodded yes.
Frank gave a hearty laugh and draped his beefy arm around Sam’s shoulders. “I like you. You don’t want to hurt an old man’s feelings. Because of that, I will tell you many stories.”
Jessica didn’t look at all sure she wanted Sam hearing such stories. Having heard them himself, Matt had to admit that her instincts were on the money.
“And now, you must present me to this lovely lady. Never say it is your mother.”
“Yes, this is my mom.”
Frank had made his way over to them. “Ah, Matthew.” He took Jessica’s hand and brought it to his lips. “You have done well.”
“Frank, this is Jessica Fremont, Sam’s mother.” Matt tried to signal the old rogue to lay off, but he ignored him. “Like I told you, she bid on me at the auction and they’re staying for a couple of weeks so Sam can have a taste of ranch life.”
“So.” Still holding her hand, Frank smiled at her as though he knew a secret. “Tell me, it was the way he looked at you, yes? As though no other woman existed?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Matt muttered beneath his breath, fervently wishing that Scheherazade would pull a U-turn and distract everybody. “It was my horse, Frank.”
“That’s what she told you, eh?” He gave Jessica a look from beneath his bushy brows and lowered his voice. “That was naughty of you.”
Gently, but firmly, Jessica tugged her hand away. “Matt, could we talk for a moment?”
He’d been expecting this—not looking forward to it, just expecting it. “Sure.” He glanced at Frank.
Frank smiled benignly.
Sam had been awfully quiet. When Jessica looked down at him, Matt followed her gaze and saw that Sam was transfixed by the tattoo on Frank’s forearm of a naked woman with anatomically impossible proportions.
Jessica sent an inscrutable look toward Matt.
“Sam, how are you doing with that two-fingered whistle?” he asked.
“I’ve been practicing.” Sam blew and managed to get a little sound out.
Matt augmented it with a whistle of his own, and a horse about the size of a large dog came trotting out of the barn.
Caesar, wearing his usual red hat and matching vest, was riding her. They ought to be good for a distraction while he talked with Jessica.
“A baby horse! And a monkey! Mom, there’s a monkey!” Sam looked thrilled.
Jessica looked stunned.
“That’s Caesar,” Matt said. “He’s riding Sally. She’s a full-grown miniature horse.”
Caesar jumped down and came running toward them. Startled, Jessica grabbed Matt, but Frank held out his arm and the monkey ran up it and climbed onto his shoulder.
Sam was busy petting Sally.
“She’s used to kids,” Matt told Jessica as she released him. “He’ll be fine with her.”
He’d instinctively turned his body, placing himself between her and the monkey, and for a moment, she’d been pressed against him. Matt had had to force himself not to close his arms around her as a dozen sensations bombarded him at once.
The primary one was that Jessica was female. He could also tell she was slender without being bony, and her hair was silky and scented with a flowery shampoo. Her head came to a couple of inches under his chin.
She fit as though she belonged.
And this would be the only time he ever held her in his arms.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JESSICA STARED into the beady eyes of the skinny brown monkey and knew they weren’t going to get along.
She had nothing against monkeys one way or the other, but this one looked at her funny.
The barrel-chested man with the waxed mustache fed him something, and the whole time the monkey ate it, he watched her with wary eyes, as though he expected Jessica to steal it from him.
She stepped away from Matt, embarrassed that she’d grabbed him like that. She wasn’t usually the scream-and-cling type but there was something about the man standing next to her that brought out a dependent streak she didn’t know she had.
“Sam, why don’t you and Frank take Sally into the shade over there?” he said.
“Come on, Sally.” Sam patted his leg as though he was calling a dog, but Sally responded.
Frank gave Jessica a look she wasn’t sure how to interpret and silently followed her son and the pony. The monkey chattered at her, then jumped off Frank’s shoulder.
Jessica flinched, but maintained her ground.
Matt drew his hands to his waist. “So what’s on your mind?”
What was on her mind? What was on her mind? Surely he didn’t think he could bluff his way out of this.
“The elephant, for starters. What kind of ranch is this?”
He gazed at her before he answered, and she was reminded of Frank’s words. It was the way he looked at you, yes? As though no other woman existed?
“We’re just a small operation trying to stay in business.”
“But...lions and tigers and bears, oh my?”
“You told me you weren’t expecting Dallas.”
“But I wasn’t expecting Wild Kingdom, either.”
He drew a deep breath. “Some circus folk lease a wedge of land in the northeast corner. Sometimes the animals—”
A movement caught Jessica’s attention. “That monkey is in my car!” She was going to have to fumigate at the very least. The most, she didn’t want to think about.
Matt’s jaw tightened. “Caesar! Get out of there!”
Caesar ignored him. Jessica stepped closer. “He’s going through my purse!” Liz’s parting gift was still in there. The way Jessica’s day was going, she fully expected the monkey to fling the packets right at Matt’s feet. And how would she explain that?
“Caesar!” Matt strode over to the car, but Caesar hopped out. Chattering, he ran away.
He was carrying Jessica’s wallet. She was almost relieved.
“Frank, can’t you keep that monkey under control?” Matt yelled.
“He’s not my monkey,” Frank retorted. “I’m an aerialist.”
Matt and Jessica chased Caesar toward the pecan tree where Sam was playing with the miniature horse.
Jessica knew it was a losing proposition. The monkey scampered so fast she couldn’t see his legs move.
He stopped once to chatter a taunt at them, then ran up the tree and perched on a branch well out of reach. There, he proceeded to remove her credit cards, pictures, business cards and assorted pieces of paper and drop them one by one.
“Caesar, coin!” Matt called.
The monkey dropped a twenty-dollar bill, which floated on the breeze. Except for the credit cards, most of the papers were floating on the breeze.
Sam laughed as he tried to catch them before they hit the ground. Thoroughly annoyed, Jessica chased down the others.
“Come here, Caesar!” Matt caught a video rental card.
The monkey shook the wallet and heard the change jingling. At the sound, he screeched and bit the leather.
“If you won’t come down, then just drop the wallet!”
At that instant, Caesar figured out how to open the coin purse and squeaked delightedly. As Jessica watched in frustration, he hopped from foot to foot and turned around, scattering coins from the open purse in the process. When he heard them fall, he started chattering again, dropping the wallet, which caught on a leafy branch.
Screeching, Caesar ran down the tree and gathered the coins, twirling and hopping as he did so.
Jessica gave up and watched. She was not going to get into a coin-gathering competition in the dirt with a monkey.
With each coin he picked up, Caesar bit it, then put it in his hat.
The Rancher and the Rich Girl Page 9