BRANDED BY A CALLAHAN

by Tina Leonard

  “Don’t make them competitive, Tighe,” Dante said.

  “Competition makes the world go round. We cut our teeth on it.” He laughed when his tiny nephew gained his feet and grabbed him up in his other arm. “You boys like me better than Uncle Dante, don’t you?”

  Dante noticed River’s face had taken on a becoming pinkness as she watched Tighe strut his father potential stuff. Disgusting. “Haven’t had a chance to ask you what got you off the circuit, bro.”

  Tighe glanced at River. “Heard you’d gotten yourself into a small scrape. Figured you needed me. Robin can’t operate without Batman, you know. I’m Batman, obviously.” He grinned at River with his natural swagger and ease of braggadocio.

  Dante snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” There was another reason—or other reasons—his brother had returned, but clearly those were a topic for a more private audience.

  “You weren’t there for our aunt’s announcement. I told her I’d swing by and let you know what’s on her mind. Just so you know, she’s not too happy you did something with her wedding dress.” Tighe looked at him with utter sorrow. “Really, man, it’s beneath you. If you’re afraid to get married, just say so and don’t hide the aunt’s lucky charm.”

  Dante shook his head. “Can you give her announcement to me in shorthand instead of the long, windy version?”

  Tighe grinned, sent a wink River’s way. Dante thought his twin was laying it on just a touch thick, but who was he to quibble? At least Tighe seemed to have a captive audience, while Dante’s audience—Ana—had flown the proverbial coop. “Sure thing. Now that you’re playing dirty pool with the fated frock, Aunt Fiona decided she’d go ahead and let you know that unless the gown is returned by Christmas, she’s pulling the plug on your portion of the ranch raffle.”

  “I didn’t do anything to the stupid dress.”

  River drifted out of the room with the boys and Tighe watched her go with obvious reluctance. “I do believe I’m making headway, bro.”

  “Whatever you have to tell yourself.” Dante sighed. “Focus. You’re wearing me out with minutiae. I prefer my action to be all of a piece, not death by paper cuts.”

  Tighe went to the fridge and selected a beer for himself. “Then she got to rambling. Said she and Burke had planned to buy that ranch north of here, and that Chief Running Bear had been on board with the plan of enlarging the Rancho Diablo footprint. But she’s had second thoughts. Says we’re probably stretched too thin, and that everything needs to calm down for a while before she considers taking on more ranch land.”

  Dante’s gaze widened. “Fiona made this decision just because her dress disappeared?”

  “It might have been the last straw. She says too many things are going awry, that the hands aren’t steady on the plow anymore. I think she means us. Mainly, she’s madder than a wet hen at you.”

  “I figured.” Dante sank onto the sofa arm, pondering his brother’s news. “Oh, well, live by the sword, die by the sword.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Personally, that suits me fine.” He didn’t like the whole marriage-for-acreage scenario, but he would have loved getting the ranch. He’d hoped it would be him who would win the raffle, simply because he’d long dreamed of a place to call his own. He hadn’t really envisioned a family with him there, though. Frowning, Dante realized he’d secretly hoped Ana would want to live with him, here in the circle of the Callahan closeness.

  Yet she’d gone back to South Dakota without even a blink. “If our aunt ends the ranch raffle, Sloan and Falcon are in a bit of an awkward place. They got married.”

  Tighe smiled. “They’re getting a consolation prize.”

  “What is it?”

  “Big chunks of Dark Diablo, in Tempest, New Mexico. I’ve only been out there a couple of times, but it’s a jewel.”

  Dante nodded. “I know. It’s beautiful.”

  “Jonas Callahan was generous about the parcels he offered them. Frankly, I wish I’d gotten to the altar in time for that sweet deal.”

  “I never had plans to get to any altar until I met Ana. Now the thought doesn’t totally horrify me.”

  “Won’t matter if you love the idea like a puppy loves a bone, bro. Fiona says you’re not getting one grain of dirt from this ranch until you bring her dress back. Further, she’s not sanctifying any marriage or children or anything. You know, Aunt Fiona sounded serious, and I’ve never heard her speak of marrying us off in anything but glowing terms. Now everybody’s mad at you. Including me, I guess. Really puts a crimp in my bachelor status not to have a shot at the ranch. I was planning on using that bait to my advantage. However, I am a bit more competitive than you are, as we know.”

  Dante didn’t wholly care that he wouldn’t get any land. He was extremely bothered that his adorable aunt was upset with him. “I didn’t do anything with her dress, Tighe, I give you my oath on that. The silly thing just went...poof.”

  Tighe snapped his fingers. “Just like that. Right after Ana tried it on, and you were supposed to put it away.” His brother winked. “Now, listen, bro, we all know you’re a little skittish when it comes to spending more than one night with a beautiful lady, repeats have never been your thing and certainly romance isn’t your—”

  “Tighe,” Dante said, interrupting with purpose, “I would never sabotage Fiona, or Ana, or anybody. I don’t believe in magic. At least I didn’t.” He shook his head, still shocked by what had happened to him in the attic. “I just can’t imagine what Ana saw to make her run like that.”

  “You didn’t say anything about a running bride.” Tighe looked at him expectantly.

  “First of all,” Dante said as patiently as he could, because clearly his brother had taken one too many rings to the bell when he’d been on the circuit, “there was no running bride.”

  “You said yourself that Ana tried on the dress, and then she ran away. That makes her a bride on the run, if you ask me.”

  “No,” Dante said, even more patiently, “I never asked Ana to marry me. I don’t know why she was trying on Fiona’s fabled gown.”

  “Fiona said that Ana had asked about the dress. Said she had heard all the Callahan brides had worn it.” Tighe smiled as if his brother were the slow one. “That means Ana must have believed on some level that somebody might eventually proffer her a proposal. And everybody knows that Callahans need brides in order to get the new ranch. Or at least we did, until Fiona changed her mind ’cause you made her mad. Upset her something fierce. Never saw her that upset, Dante, truly. That gown is part and parcel of our aunt. You better return it on the double, is my advice, and I hope you’ll take it.” Tighe looked at him with a rather pitying, disgusted expression, having decided that his brother lacked honesty and core principles to steal a woman’s dress and do something heinous to it. “Anyway, the point is, Ana doesn’t know you don’t need a bride anymore. I bet she’d come back if she did know.”

  Dante blinked at his twin’s circular thinking. Compared it to the mental notes River had given him. “Are you saying that in your august opinion, Ana left because she didn’t want to marry me?”

  “My guess is she thought about it, briefly toyed with the idea, as women do from time to time. But then she put on the gown and just couldn’t envision herself taking the walk of happy endings with you waiting at the altar for her. Maybe she saw you as more of a gargoyle than a prince.”

  “Okay. That’s all I can take today. I’m off.” Dante headed to the door.

  “I’d go with you, keep you company, help you hold your head up. I know how tough it is to take a smack down from a woman you’re hot for.” Tighe nodded as if he knew the secrets to the universe. “I know you came home for her, man. I wish like hell it had worked out for you.”

  Dante left, not sure what had just happened to him. He was in the doghouse with ever
yone. His brother’s boneheaded pity was just about the final ounce of humiliation he could swallow.

  It was time to hit the hay and plot his next logical course of action. Until Tighe had started yapping he’d been certain his next stop was South Dakota. River had him convinced all Ana needed was sweet words of reassurance.

  But then Tighe had sowed seeds of doubt Dante was sure he’d be wise to consider, if not heed. What woman wanted a man to follow her, track her down, try to sway her—when the last thing she wanted was to ever see him again?

  He needed his bed in the worst way, and about ten hours of uninterrupted sleep. Maybe his subconscious would reward him in the night with the answer, because he sure as hell was out of any.

  The bunkhouse was dark. The dark sky was lit by a huge hanging moon of brilliant white, a winter moon rising, to his mind. Perfectly serene and silent in a wide sky of black nothingness, which was just about how his brain felt right now.

  He pushed open the front door. A lamp was burning in the kitchen, so he detoured that way and grabbed a glass of water, gulping it down. Briefly, he considered the medicine cabinet his brothers tossed various tonics and crapola into on occasion. Grabbed a couple Advil and washed them down with a slug of whiskey, telling himself one or the other medicinal approaches would surely work on the pounding headache he’d developed.

  What had happened to that cursed dress, anyway? He was still a bit freaked out over that. And Ana? Had she run from him? Could he be as much of a sad sack as Tighe, imagining something that wasn’t there at all?

  He considered taking the whiskey to his room, to give the Advil a chaser until it worked. Picked it up, set it back down, shrugged. All he needed was sleep.

  He opened his bedroom door and saw Ana sound asleep on top of the denim coverlet. Her blond hair fell over her shoulders, her black sweater clung to darling breasts, her hips in dark jeans half-turned toward the ceiling.

  The headache and sleepiness disappeared just as the wedding gown had. He looked at the gift in his bed and felt as awake as the morning sun.

  Sleep was overrated. Way overrated.

  He had much better things to do.

  Chapter Seven

  This time he wasn’t going to mess up. And he sure wasn’t going to let the moment slip away again. He crossed to the bed. “Ana.”

  She opened her eyes. “Hi.”

  “You all right?”

  She smiled. “Yes. And no.”

  God, she was beautiful. He was indeed as lost as Tighe. Could he hang himself out on the ledge again without giving her a chance to get there with him? No. “Heard you were heading back to South Dakota.”

  “Sure thought about it.” She watched him, her eyes luminous and soft in the lamp’s gentle light. “Hope you don’t mind I came here instead.”

  He swept a golden strand away from her face. The feeling hadn’t changed for him. He still felt like an angel had dropped right into his bed, on loan from heaven. He was pretty certain that he could marry this woman, if he was the marrying kind, and fifty years from now he’d still feel like heaven had gifted him with something amazing and extraordinary.

  He sank onto the bed. “So now what? You got a flight out in the morning?”

  She shook her head. “I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “About?”

  “I wanted you to know some things.”

  She was in the mood to talk. This was good. At least he thought it was. It would be much more to his liking if she was in the mood to try seducing him again, because he sure would let her. Right? He wasn’t that big a dummy to let her slip through his hands twice. “I’m listening.”

  “Okay. Dante—”

  He waited, letting her take her time.

  “I’ve kind of had a little thing for you for a while.” She watched to see how that registered with him.

  “A little thing?” He’d been hoping for a big thing. He sure had a big thing for her.

  “I feel like if we’d met in another time—”

  This wasn’t good. This was the kill-you-with-kindness goodbye. He’d heard about these, and they were killers on the man, who was supposed to be left with his ego intact but instead ended up with his heart shattered.

  He wasn’t going there. Ana opened her mouth, and Dante didn’t let her get one more word out. He kissed that goodbye right off her lips, and then he proceeded to show her just how he felt about her, inch by glorious inch.

  * * *

  ANA AWAKENED IN THE NIGHT, realizing Dante was wound around her. She smiled—for a moment. It was amazing being with Dante, just as she’d known it would be.

  “Hey,” Dante said to her, nuzzling her neck, “why are you awake?”

  “I need to go,” Ana said, curling into his arms.

  “I thought we discussed that.” He kissed down her neck, settling in the curve of her throat.

  “Did we?” It was hard to think with Dante kissing her. Wild, sensual emotions swept her, making her wish for things that couldn’t be.

  “Mmm. I made love to you, and you liked it.”

  “I did.” She kissed him back, falling a little further in love with him.

  “And so you decided that taking off for parts unknown was not in your best interest. You realized there were things around here you’d miss too much to leave.” He moved over her, and Ana’s breath caught.

  “There are things I like,” Ana said, and Dante said, “I’m going to give you something else to consider before you make your final decision about leaving,” and then he was making love to her, and Ana let herself get lost in the moment.

  * * *

  “HERE’S THE DEAL,” DANTE said as dawn broke over the New Mexico skies. “You stay here at Rancho Diablo. I’ll do my best every day to convince you that I’m the man for you.” He kissed her hand, raising it to his lips, working his angle. Surely Ana knew that they belonged together. Whatever had spooked her could easily be solved.

  She leaned up to kiss him goodbye, then reached for the bag she’d neatly packed. “I have to go, Dante.”

  More convincing was needed. “I know in my heart you want to stay. I can feel it every time I touch you, lady. You like me.”

  He pulled her to him. She smiled and stepped away, shaking her head. Dante didn’t allow himself to consider defeat—he knew Ana was crazy about him. No woman made love to a man the way Ana did with him and honestly believed she wasn’t in love.

  No. Not just in love. She was crazy for him, just as much as he was for her.

  It was the baby thing bugging her, he knew it had to be. Trouble was, a guy just couldn’t come right out and say, “Hey, I heard you have one ovary and are worried you can’t have children, but I can fix that for you if you give me a shot.” No, a man had to be more suave than that. He was suave.

  At least he thought he was. “Marry me.”

  He surprised both of them by saying it. But he felt great the moment he said it. Ana’s eyes widened, and he thought bingo, that was the right thing to say.

  But then she shook her head, sending his world into dust. “I can’t, Dante. You don’t understand. I— It wouldn’t work. We’re not right for each other.”

  “You’re exactly right for me.” He wasn’t going to let her go until he’d told her how he felt about her. Then if she still said no—well, he wasn’t going to think about it. Better to imagine a yes coming from those sweet lips.

  “Dante, it’s hard to explain. I don’t think—”

  If she was going to be like this, he’d just play along with it. So he pulled her outside and helped her into his truck.

  “What are we doing?” Ana asked.

  “Taking a drive. I’ll drive, you talk. Things come to me when I drive. I’m determined to help you see that you don’t want to leave me in the pond, gorg
eous.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Dante. I’m taking myself away from the pond.”

  “Every woman fishes for a man. At least that’s what I heard. And I’m pretty sure I’ve got bait you like.”

  She didn’t reply, but that was all right. He drove to the end of the canyons, parked the truck. A wide panorama of beautiful, undulating gorges and walls carved by time lay before them. “Come on.”

  She got out of the truck. “Where are we going?”

  “To the most romantic spot on earth. At least I think this is romantic.” He supposed maybe not everyone thought the canyons were as beautiful as he did. But he really loved it here, more than any place he’d ever been. “I’m going to try to change your mind. Be lightly warned.”

  She didn’t protest when he took her hand. “Here’s the deal, gorgeous. I know something’s bugging you. Why don’t you tell ol’ Dante? I’m known as a problem solver.”

  She let him pull her against his chest, and he ran a comforting hand down her back.

  “You can’t solve any of this.”

  “Consider me your knight in shining armor.” He kissed her, lingering against her lips. “And this knight really wants you to be his lady.”

  “Dante,” Ana said, “you’re not the man for me.”

  He looked at her. “You can’t say that after last night. I’m pretty sure I know the sound and feel of a happy woman.”

  “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re not the man for me.”

  This sounded off. There was a hidden message he couldn’t decipher. He took her over to a canyon ledge that jutted slightly out over the gorge and tugged her down next to him. “This is beautiful,” Ana said, staring at the amazing, mysterious landscape.

  “It is.”

  Why did the canyons sing to his soul? There was something lonely and yet alive, too, about them. He always felt most alive here. “Much better than South Dakota, I’m sure.”

  She laughed. “You don’t know that. I love my little town.”