As midnight rolled around, the crowded saloon began to thin out with only the heartiest of the diehards left. Even Tyler had stumbled out of the swinging doors looking tired and drunk, leaving Rand to sigh with relief.
But the relief was quickly replaced by exhaustion. It had been a long day and he had to get an early start in the morning. Too many things to do and such a short time in which to do them.
He intercepted Callie on one of her trips back to the bar. “Can I see you for a minute? Outside.”
She looked around. Everyone had what they needed and the other girls stood by. Even the piano player had taken a break.
“Okay.” They stepped out onto the almost deserted boardwalk. The eerie glow from the street lamps combined with a tumbleweed-blowing breeze to paint a ghost town picture. A lamp at the corner fizzled with the last of its oil.
Rand took Callie’s hand and tugged her to a dark corner of the walk. Before he’d even stopped, he whirled around and caught her in his arms. Hungrily, his lips sought hers while he embraced her with the desperation of a man going off to war.
She gasped for air as their lips finally separated. “My! Have you been saving that up all evening?”
“You know I have.” He let his fingers trail down from her temple to her jaw, cupping the softness of her face in his comparatively oversized hand. Though the night hung dark around them, her eyes lit a path straight to his heart. The heart that had been in darkness for too, too long.
“Well,” Callie smiled, “I guess that’ll make you come back all that much faster, right?”
He knew she was trying to make light of the situation, but he heard the quiver in her voice and the uncertainty of her words. If only he could reassure her with promises of a future. But he couldn’t. She knew nothing of his life as a business tycoon, and her distaste for his western lifestyle cut to the heart of his roots in this town. He had to find a way to tell her everything without chasing her away.
“Callie, today was the happiest day of my life. Nothing even comes close, except for yesterday and the day before.”
She lowered her lashes then looked up sheepishly. “My, my, Maverick, you know how to make a girl blush. But don’t look so melancholy or I’m liable not to believe you.”
“Believe me. Up to this point, I’ve felt as though I was living in a house without windows. No sunlight, no air. Everything inside was stale. Occasionally I left, but when I returned it was still my old life.”
He drew her close, his arms curled around her as naturally as a vine around a post. “Ah, Callie, you changed all that with your special brand of sunshine and fresh air. The moment I saw that golden head of hair among all the others at the way station, I knew my life was about to change.”
Callie was frighteningly still in his arms. He pulled away from her to look into her eyes. They were moist and large with apprehension. She sniffed once then jutted her chin upwards.
“But, when you return to your old life, won’t things be just the same? I mean nothing has changed on the outside. It’s only changed here in Way Out West.”
She made her point: she wouldn’t be a part of his life.
He cleared his throat. “Is it possible you could ever think of Way Out West as more than just a temporary job?”
Callie rapidly blinked away the moisture in her eyes. She cocked her head questioningly.
“Make it a permanent job, or come back as a visitor?”
“Either way. Is there a chance you could make it a part of your life rather than just a short detour?”
He knew he was walking on shaky ground but he had to know how she felt about the town. Her gaze held his for a very long time and his fingers stiffened around her shoulders as he held his breath and waited for her answer.
Finally, her lips turned with a faint smile. “Let’s just wait and see. I have a month-long duty to fulfill and I will do it. I’m not going to be a quitter again.”
His fingers finally relaxed. “When I get back, you and I are going to have a long talk—“
She pressed two fingers to his lips. They tasted sweet with the whiskey she’d been serving. She whispered, “Don’t. If you don’t promise something, you can’t disappoint the other person when you don’t keep it.”
Despite her sunny disposition, he knew she’d repressed many disappointments in her life. He wouldn’t be another one.
“I’ll be back. That you can count on.” He touched his lips to her waiting mouth, delighting in the warmth he found there. His arms folded her into the curve of his embrace.
“And you can count on my being here.”
* * *
After the last of the customers left and every table was cleared and readied for the next day, Callie followed the other girls upstairs. Exhausted to the bone, she nearly fell into bed, grateful for the inviting feather mattress and pillow.
But her mind wasn’t as tired as her body. Minutes ticked by and her thoughts would not rest. She could only think of Rand and how incomplete she felt without him. She chuckled to herself. Funny how a little change of scenery and the right person can change everything you believed.
With Keith she’d been convenient, for his research and secretarial needs. Spider had wanted her for a trophy: the cute blonde on the back of his Harley. But Rand thought only of her. He was the one man who saw her as something other than an appendage. His beliefs in manners and courtship softened her heart till it was pliable in his hands.
Yes, whether he knew it or not, he had her heart. What bothered her most was not knowing what he would do with it.
She turned over, snuggling deeper into the covers for comfort. Tomorrow was fast approaching and it promised to be a long day without Rand.
* * *
Callie squinted her eyes as morning light poked her in the face. She wished someone would pull the shade or close the curtains. She was too cozy to get up and do it herself. No sooner had she thought it than she realized there was someone else in the room.
She smiled as the scent of Rand met her nostrils when she turned her head and looked into his dark eyes. Struggling against her heavy lids, Callie smiled.
“What are you doing here?”
“Shhhhh. If Miss Becky catches me here she’ll ride me out of town.” They both laughed. Rand crouched down so they were face to face. “I just wanted to say good-bye.”
Their lips met as though they’d never parted. She moaned as he deepened his kiss. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes opened slowly and he dragged a lazy thumb across her bottom lip.
“Callie, whatever fate brought us together will surely see us reunited. Promise me you’ll be careful and you’ll steer clear of Tyler.”
“I promise. And you’ll be back tonight, right?”
“Without a doubt. Sooner if all goes well.”
He branded her with another kiss then rose abruptly. Setting his hat on his head he winked as he backed out of the door. As soon as she heard the lock click, her heart swelled with longing.
* * *
Rand paced the stallion down the bumpy road. As much as he was in a hurry to get to the way station, he needed the time to clear his head. His visit with Callie had filled it with so many dreams, he needed to put everything into perspective.
His first task would be to tighten security against a possible infiltration by Kyle Thornton. The man was a whiz at a keyboard and every airtight system translated into a challenge for him. If Thornton had traced him to Way Out West, no telling what else he knew and how far he would go. With security alerted, they could watch Kyle’s every move while Rand returned to Way Out West. Once there, he’d find out what Tyler Thornton was up to and deal with him himself.
His next problem was what to do about Callie. So much had passed between them. They’d shared laughter, adventure, excitement, and quiet. It was all he could’ve hoped for in a relationship. But was it enough for Callie? She deserved more than quiet walks and stolen kisses in the dark. Rand wanted to show her real love, not the taking relations
hips she’d known with Spider and Keith. He wanted to show her he could love her as no one else had.
Trouble was, he’d never known real love either. Way Out West had become the love of his life. Could he replace it with Callie? Could he give it up altogether if she wanted nothing to do with it?
The answer to both was yes. But could he live with the bitter decision long after the sweetness of its reward?
As the way station came into view, he purposefully shook himself of all thoughts of Callie and focused on the task of securing his business. Leaving his horse at the stable, he quickly entered the way station and proceeded to the front desk. A startled clerk, alone in the deserted station, looked up.
“Mr. Randall! Good morning, sir. What a surprise.” The man tried to recover some poise. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“Get me Jackson, head of security. Have him report here immediately. Then call everyone who is not on vacation or visiting their sick mother and have them report to their job at once. No excuses.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Lawrence said you’d temporarily suspended communications with the town. May I ask what’s wrong?”
Rand glared at the skinny lad, amazed at how young he was. Yet, Rand had been just as young when he inscribed his name in the tome of who’s who in electronics. Summoning his reserve, Rand forced himself to smile while the young man looked as though he regretted asking the question.
“Way Out West is in danger of a major security breach.”
Complete understanding silenced the young man and launched him into action. Assured that his orders would be carried out, Rand went through the back door to the operations center. He crossed to the far wall and stopped at the door with his name on it. Punching his code on the keypad above the doorknob, he entered his plush office and went immediately to his terminal to prepare for the counter attack.
“Okay, Kyle Thornton. Today is your unlucky day.”
* * *
Unable to fall back to sleep after Rand’s early morning visit, Callie couldn’t ignore the call of nature. Reluctantly, she slipped on her boots, threw her robe over her long nightgown, and headed for the outhouse—the one thing she truly hated about this town.
Her boots clunked loudly on the boardwalk behind the saloon that led to the row of outhouses. She thought she heard another sound, but dismissed it as her own echo. As she always did, she took a deep breath, went in and quickly finished her business.
But the moment she stepped out, a hand snuck around to muffle her mouth while another stilled her with a gun in her side. Then she heard the nastiest snarl in her left ear and knew that sickening, sour breath could only come from Tyler.
“Well, looks like your boyfriend left you unattended. I saw him sneaking out of the alley earlier and headed out of town. What’s the matter? Couldn’t you keep him satisfied?”
She struggled to free herself but was no match for his vise grip. He poked his gun deeper as a reminder. “I think you and me are gonna take a little ride. Now when I release my hand, you walk over to the alley real quiet like, otherwise I’ll just have to silence you.” He wiggled the gun playfully. “Oh, yeah, this one’s real.”
He lifted his hand and gave her a shove forward. “Keep going or it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.”
Callie rubbed her mouth to get the awful taste of Tyler’s filthy hands off her lips. She thought about screaming to get someone’s attention in the sleepy saloon but she didn’t doubt for a minute that Tyler would carry out his threat.
As they walked further away from the building, she wondered what Rand would do. Would he gamble with her life? Should she? She’d promised him she’d steer clear of Tyler and here she was, already in the thick of trouble. If Tyler killed her, Rand would certainly go after him. She didn’t want to be the reason Rand ruined his life rotting in a jail cell.
When they reached the end of the alley, Tyler turned her to face his devious smile. “Now where’d he go?”
“I...I don’t know. He said he had business to attend to.”
“What business?”
“He didn’t tell me. He said it was better I didn’t know.”
Tyler grunted. “When’s he coming back?”
“I’m not sure.” She nervously tossed her hair to one side.
He gave her a slanted look. “You make a lousy liar.”
“It’s true, I’m not sure when he’ll be back.”
“You expect me to believe that the two of you are as inseparable as Siamese twins and he leaves without telling you where he’s going or when he’ll be back?”
“All he said was he’d be back as soon as he could.”
“Hmph.” He stared hard as though trying to decide whether to believe her or not. “No matter. With your help, I should be able to finish up today and then I’m out of this hell hole.”
“Finish what?” she chanced to ask.
He waved the gun under her nose. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” He laughed as though he’d just made a big joke. Then, pointing the gun at her temple, he growled, “Any funny business from you and your boyfriend gets it when he returns. Understand?” She nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”
Behind the fence was a horse laden with saddlebags, a shovel, a pick, and some brown paper parcels.
“Get on,” he ordered.
Not again. “I can’t, I don’t know how to ride a horse.”
“You’re not gonna ride him, I am. You’re just gonna sit. Now get up!”
She approached the horse with a resigned sigh. Picturing how she’d seen Rand get up, she grabbed the saddle horn and put her foot in the stirrup. She pulled as hard as she could, but her legs were too short to give her any leverage up. She fell back to the ground.
Tyler gritted his teeth. “I said no funny business!”
Rising, she kicked at the dirt. “I can’t help it, I’m too short.”
“Not as short as my patience with you. Now, try again.”
She tried again, but this time felt a hand press against her bottom and push her up. She swung her leg over and landed with the saddle horn against her stomach while she teetered from side to side.
“Hang on!” he yelled.
She grabbed the horse’s mane, making him stomp in protest. Before she could be sure she was on to stay, Tyler mounted behind her and snaked his arm around her stomach. He jabbed the gun in front of her stomach, pressing it against her ribs.
“Put both your hands on the horn and keep them there. That way I’ll know where yours are and you’ll know where mine are.”
His laugh chilled her as he lifted the reins and moved the horse out of the alley.
Chapter Eleven
Callie looked around as they emerged from behind the last of the clustered buildings in town. The few people who were about took little notice of them. It was early yet and the town was still sleepy from the long exciting weekend.
She couldn’t very well yell for help with Tyler’s gun stuck in her rib cage either. If she could just get someone’s attention, someone who knew her, they’d know something was wrong with her headed out of town with Tyler.
As they passed the church, Callie gazed longingly at the garden where she and Rand had shared a special moment. It was also where he’d told her he had to leave. Little did she know then what that announcement would mean for her.
They continued up the road toward the last building, the blacksmith shop. Hard at work, Abe hammered a shoe into shape.
Abe, look at me. Remember me? I was with Rand the other day. Do I look like I belong with this lowlife creature? She silently pleaded that he’d hear her thoughts and rescue her.
Abe looked up briefly from his work but the continuing fall of the hammer sank Callie’s heart. The horse plodded on by.
Suddenly, the hammer stopped. Yes! Callie turned to see Abe staring at her, a frown wrinkling his forehead. She sent him a pleading look. I’m wearing a robe, Abe!
Tyler poked the gun deeper into her ribs. “Turn around,” he warned.<
br />
Reluctantly she looked ahead to where the road opened into nothingness. For the first time, real fear twisted in her gut as she faced the reality that they’d be far away from any civilization. There’d be no one around to help her or even know what had become of her should Tyler decide to kill her. Only Abe had seen them and from his puzzled look there was no way of knowing if he’d recognized her from their brief meeting.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked, certain that Tyler would want to brag about his plan. When he answered with only a laugh, she tried again. “Are we leaving the town?”
Up ahead, the iron arch that welcomed visitors to Way Out West now loomed to reinforce her desperation. When Rand’s arms had been around her as they’d entered, she’d felt the warmth of the welcome to her very soul. She’d seen the town emerge through his eyes and saw beauty in all its simplistic forms. With Tyler, there was no beauty, just desert, brush and rocks.
Leaving the gate behind them, they rode for about half a mile before he suddenly turned the horse off the road. He guided the animal slowly down the small embankment and around rocks and cactus. They rode on for another half-mile before stopping at a small bush. He slid from the horse, tied him to the bush, and motioned with the gun for Callie to get down.
“Let’s go, I don’t have all day.” Then he laughed. “Well, I do, actually, but I want to get this over with.”
Callie’s short legs couldn’t reach the stirrups so she hung on to the saddle horn and slid herself down the side.
“Now, grab that shovel and pick and take them over there.”
“Over where?”
“There, where you see that mound of dirt.”
She squinted against the bright sun until she spotted the mound he pointed to. It blended so well with the landscape, no one would have suspected it’d been freshly dug. As she lugged the tools, Tyler unloaded the rest of the stuff. He dropped it all on the ground near the gaping hole, but gently placed the brown parcels out of the way.
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