Her breath caught as she waited.
“…being with you,” he continued in a breathy voice. He kissed her and lowered her legs to the floor. “We better get a rush on. I’m sure dinner must be done by now.”
Caroline forced a smile to her face that she didn’t feel. “I’m sure you’re right.” She gave him a shove toward the shower exit. “Give me five minutes alone.”
“I know. I know,” he said with a laugh. “You have girl stuff to do.” He gave her another quick kiss and stepped out.
She could see enough through the glass bricks to know when he’d left the bath. As soon as the door shut behind him, she let the build-up of tears flow.
He’d never know that she’d fallen in love with him. She’d make sure of that.
Chapter Eighteen
Over the next couple of weeks, the ranch was a flurry of activity in preparation for the upcoming ranch rodeo. Caroline remembered the rodeo from the previous fall but she hadn’t realized the amount of work that went into getting Halo M ready to host.
Barns and outbuildings were given fresh coats of red paint and fences painted white. Grazing cattle and horses not involved in this year’s event were moved to outlying fields for the event duration. But foremost attention was given the outside arena.
The existing dirt was tilled then compacted. A mixture of dirt, sand and stone dust was delivered and worked into the arena’s base. As Travis explained over dinner one evening, the idea of the ranch rodeo was to not only recognize the working cowboys in the area, but also to showcase the cutting horses Halo M had bred and trained and were now ready for sale. Since he wanted his horses to show well, the arena base was given special attention to allow for tight maneuvers without fear of the horse losing his footing in the dirt. Plus, a good thick base might help prevent injuries to the competing teams.
As exhausted as Caroline felt each evening, Travis and Noah looked even worse. Close to seven each night, they would meet Caroline for dinner outside on the patio, their clothes too filthy to sit inside. Afterwards, Noah headed upstairs for homework and Travis headed back out to handle more details with the rodeo.
But the nights…oh, the nights were filled with steamy sex followed by sleep in Travis’s arms. It was all she could do to not verbalize her growing emotion for him. She said what she could with touches and kisses.
Whatever Travis was feeling for her remained a mystery. He held her, kissed her, made love to her, but he never said the words she longed to hear.
Mornings were met with blurry eyes and tired smiles. Nonetheless, the vision of a naked Travis stepping from the shower, or his tight ass as he slid a pair of jeans over it still made her heart race and her palms sweat. She doubted she would ever tire of looking at him or wanting him with the heat of a bubbling volcano.
Her medical-services contract with Whispering Springs Medical Clinic would end in three short months. She needed to start making plans for packing up the house, transferring patient care to Lydia, talking with her parents about long-term arrangements for Noah, even buying her own car. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to do any of these. Her clothes kept moving from her town house to the ranch until very little remained in town but token items. When she was required to stay overnight in town because of medical call or patient responsibilities, she had to pack a bag and bring it with her. Dust covered most surfaces in her house.
And yet Travis took her gradual move into his place without comment, pro or con.
The week of the ranch rodeo finally arrived. Having had many years of the pre-rodeo hullabaloo, Henrietta Webster scheduled a daylong educational field trip to the Dallas Historical Society for Wednesday. All the ranch children gathered at the Webster home for an overnight stay on Tuesday to allow for an early start the next day.
Official events didn’t begin until Thursday evening, but Travis had warned Caroline to expect some teams to come early in the week. He hadn’t been mistaken. Tuesday evening, Caroline and Travis sat down to the first meal they’d had alone since Noah’s unexpected arrival. The meal was simple—spaghetti, yeast bread and salad—but Caroline had been looking forward to the alone time. She’d just taken the first bite of salad when the doorbell chimed.
“You have got to be kidding,” she said.
Travis wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood. “Nope. I’ll bet it’s Reno and Darren. And I’ll also bet they left my uncle and aunt running the D&R so they could come early and stake out a prime location for their camp.” The bell chimed again. “Coming,” Travis hollered as he started for the front door.
Caroline remained at the table, unsure what she should do. Turned out she didn’t need to do anything. Travis was back momentarily with Reno and Darren at his heels.
“Hello, guys,” Caroline said. “We were just sitting down to dinner. Would you like to join us?”
“Hell, er, heck no,” Reno said. “We’ve got to get our camp staked out quick. I saw a couple of other cowboys with their RVs headed this way.”
“Evening, Dr. Graham,” Darren said.
“Caroline, please.”
He nodded.
“So, Travis, want to head out with us to show us exactly where you want our rigs? Got to unload the horses too.”
Travis nodded. “Might as well. If you’re right about the other teams right behind you, I need to be out there to make sure the guys from Lonesome Trail don’t get into another fight with the guys from Riggs & Riggs.” He looked at Caroline. “Sorry, but…”
She stood. “I understand. Go. Take care of the arriving teams. I’ll put your food in the warmer and you can eat it when you get back.”
His face lit with a smile. “Thanks. I knew you’d understand.” He turned to his cousins. “Let’s go.” He’d taken a couple of steps before he turned around and headed back to Caroline. “It’ll probably be late when I get back.”
“No problem. I’ve got some medical journals I need to read, and I can promise they’ll put me to sleep.”
He leaned in to give her a kiss. “Later.” He headed back to his cousins waiting in foyer. “Okay. Let’s go.”
She didn’t know when he finally came to bed. When her alarm went off at five a.m., Travis was stepping from the bathroom, drops of water clinging to his chest. Man, how she wanted to lick each and every one of those. Sadly, she didn’t have time, and apparently he was all business today, quickly dressing and heading downstairs after a quick kiss.
“What’s on your agenda today?” she asked as she poured a cup of coffee.
“I had some problems last night with parking some of the large rigs in the fields.” He shook his head. “When I started this rodeo ten years ago, most of the cowboys slept in tents or the back of their trucks. Now they’re hauling in forty-five-foot motorhomes, fancy fifth-wheels and decked out trailers.”
“The cowboys have these vehicles? I can’t believe any of them can afford those.”
“Point taken. No, it’s the owners, and maybe I might have exaggerated a tad, but it’s still going to be a tight fit. Plus, there was a little brawl between a couple of the ranch hands.”
“The two you mentioned last night?”
“Nope. Two new ones.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I have already got a headache and the day’s just starting.”
The house phone rang.
“Now what?” he muttered. “Hello? No. No. Yes. No. Are you kidding, Olivia? When do you plan to do this?”
As his conversation with his sister continued, Caroline could see the muscles in his neck and face tightening. For the first time, she noticed the stress lines etching the corners of his mouth. His lips pulled into a tight line across his teeth.
“Fine,” he said with a long exhale. “Fine.”
When he hung up, he looked at Caroline. “Olivia has decided that there are going to be so many people at her wedding that she needs to use the arena so everybody can see, which would be fine, but she needs to—and I quote—practice riding a horse in while wearing a wedding dress.�
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Caroline snorted. “I am so glad her friend, Emily, is standing with her as maid of honor. I can’t imagine anything worse than me trying to ride, or should I say stay on a horse, in front of people while trying to get that horse to a specific spot and make him stay. Thank goodness Lydia is in the wedding. It may be the first time in my medical career that I’m glad I’m on call.”
“At least all the ranch kids are gone and out of our hair today. That’s one less thing to worry about.”
“True.” She checked the time. “I’ve got to run.” After refilling her mug for the drive into town, she kissed Travis. It was just a brush of lips, but that tug in her gut was strong. “Later.”
Travis stayed on her mind all day. In all the time she’d known him, been around him, this was maybe the first time she’d seen him so high-strung. So far, a couple of fistfights and Olivia’s last-minute wedding changes were the worst events of the week. Maybe the week would play out better than it started.
About ten that morning, as she was leaving a patient consult room—another patient who’d come bearing a gift wrapped in festive Congratulations paper—the front-desk receptionist paged her.
“Dr. Graham. You have a call on line three.”
Caroline stepped into her office to answer. “Caroline Graham.”
“Hi, Caroline. This is Jackie.”
“Good morning, Jackie. What can I do for you?”
“You can have lunch with me.”
Caroline glanced down at her schedule. Booked solid with patients. She really liked Jackie Montgomery, and Jackie had done nothing but welcome her with open arms from the day she arrived. But still, she hated to keep lying to her about the faux marriage. Maybe a little distance…
“I’m so sorry. I’m slammed today. With the rodeo this weekend, we’ve closed the office for Friday so we’re seeing a week of patients in fewer days.”
“I didn’t make myself clear. I want to have a Montgomery women’s lunch. Just you, me, Olivia and Lydia. I’ve talked with Lydia. Since the office will be closing at noon tomorrow, we’ll have time for a nice long lunch.”
Caroline looked down again. Jackie was right.
“Now don’t start looking for a way out of lunch,” Jackie said with a laugh. “I’m calling a mother-in-law privilege.”
Caroline sighed quietly. “Sounds like fun. Where should I meet you?”
“Oh, Olivia and I will pick up you and Lydia at the clinic at noon. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She clicked off.
Caroline set the receiver back into the cradle and leaned against her desk. A soft knock at her door drew her out of her thoughts.
“Dr. Graham. Do you have Mrs. Clark’s file?”
Caroline looked at the file she still held in her hand. “Yes. Sorry. Hold on a minute.” She quickly marked the CPT medical codes on the patient billing form and handed it to the receptionist.
As soon as she dropped in her chair, her door opened again and Lydia walked in and took a seat. “Lunch with the mother-in-law tomorrow. You got the call?”
Caroline nodded. “Like we have time.”
Lydia smiled. “It’ll be fun.” She stood. “Okay, partner. Back to work.”
Caroline followed her into the hall, picked a file off a patient door and looked at the name. “Oh goodie. Mr. Francis is here with his hemorrhoids.”
Lydia laughed. “And they say medicine isn’t glamorous.”
She barely saw Travis Wednesday night. He had meeting after meeting with prospective buyers that ran well into the evening.
Noah had come home revved up from the field trip, so staying in the house with her wasn’t on his agenda either. He disappeared outside about seven and she didn’t see him again until about ten.
At eleven, she went to bed alone.
Thursday morning went quickly, and Olivia and Jackie Montgomery were soon waiting for Caroline in Lydia’s office.
“What sounds good for lunch?” Jackie asked when Caroline walked in.
“Abe’s? The Honey Pot?” Lydia suggested.
“Let’s do the country club,” Olivia said. “That way, Dad gets the bill.”
Jackie laughed. “Sounds good. Okay with you, Caroline?”
“Sure. Any place works for me.”
The Whispering Springs Country Club parking lot was crowded. Caroline pulled the Porsche into a spot and waited for the other women to get parked and meet her at the stairs.
At the dining-room-hostess stand, the four women were directed to a private dining room. “Sorry,” the hostess said as she pointed toward a closed door. “The dining room had a minor spill so we are using this other room today.”
At the door, Jackie stopped to dig through her purse. “Oh, darn. I think I might have left my keys in the car. Go on in. I’ll be right in.”
Caroline opened the door and walked in.
“Surprise!” a room full of women yelled.
Caroline stumbled back, slamming her hand against her chest. “What the…?”
Laughing, Olivia and Lydia each took an arm. “It’s your surprise shower.”
Oh crap.
Jackie was laughing as she came in, dangling her keys off her finger. “Surprise,” she said, a broad grin splitting her face.
Caroline looked around, recognizing many of the women from church, town and other associations. Her gaze fell on KC Montgomery, who shrugged and gave her a smile.
“I’m shocked,” Caroline said. “Truly shocked.” She looked at the three women standing behind her. “You shouldn’t have done this.”
She meant every word. Unfortunately, the Montgomery women and Lydia laughed, sure Caroline’s protests were pro forma.
“Come on,” Olivia said and began pulling Caroline toward a table at the front of the room. “We really do have lunch coming. Then it’s present time.”
“But Travis and I don’t need anything,” Caroline protested.
“We know,” Jackie said from behind her. “That’s why Olivia suggested a sexy lingerie shower.”
Olivia giggled. “My brother will love this.”
Caroline felt heat flush her neck and cheeks. “Great,” she said. No, no, no is what she meant.
As she made her way to the front, she stopped to hug KC. “Meet me in the bathroom. Now,” she whispered in her ear.
KC nodded.
Once the four women reached the head table and took their seats, Caroline saw KC rise and leave the room. She counted to fifty then leaned over. “Gotta run to the restroom. Be right back. Don’t hold lunch. Start without me.”
Jackie nodded. “Okay.”
Caroline hurried from the room and headed toward the ladies’ lounge. The door to the housekeeper’s closet between the ladies’ lounge and the men’s lounge was ajar, which was odd. She thought about shutting it as she passed, but she didn’t really have much time. She had to get back. Rushing past the closet, she blew into the lounge.
“We alone?” she asked looking around.
KC nodded. “Yes.”
Caroline twisted the lock and sagged against the door. “Give me some advice. This is out of control. You’re the only one I can talk to. Travis just smiles and says don’t worry, but I do.”
KC took a seat on a stool in front of the mirror. “I told you your fake-marriage idea was crazy.”
Caroline joined her on an adjacent stool. “Except it worked. My grandmother was so happy when she died.” She dropped her head into her hands. “What am I going to do? I can’t go back into that room and tell all those women Travis and I aren’t married. It’d embarrass his whole family. I couldn’t do that to him or them.”
KC laid a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “So stay married. Travis doesn’t seem to be fighting the idea too hard.”
“I can’t,” Caroline said, her voice echoing against the marble counter.
“Why not?”
“Travis doesn’t love me.”
“Ah,” KC said. “But you’ve fallen in love with him.”
Caroline sa
t up and nodded. Publicly acknowledging her feelings for Travis sent heat rushing up her neck to her face.
“So how do you know his feelings aren’t the same as yours?”
“He would have told me. He’s always talking about what good friends we are, and things like that. If he felt more, he would have said.”
“And of course you’ve told him how you feel.”
“I can’t. If I do and he doesn’t feel the same, it’ll put him in a horrible situation.”
“But what if he does feel the same?”
“He doesn’t.” Caroline sighed. “No, he’s being a good friend to me right now.”
“Taking Singing Springs Ranch as part of the deal is a great way to show how good a friend he is.”
“I gave him that ranch. He didn’t take it.”
“Whatever. Look, as your lawyer, you’ve not done anything illegal that I’m aware of. As your friend, I think you’re a fool for not telling him that you’re in love with him.”
“I can’t.”
KC smiled. “If you could see yourself when you look at him, you’d realize it’s written all over your face.”
“Oh, God. Do you think Travis knows?”
KC shrugged. “Doubtful. Men can be so clueless when it comes to nonverbal cues. For today, open the presents. Coo over each gift. Make sure the giver’s name is well documented. Don’t take the tags off the gifts. When you leave, I’ll return everything for you.”
Caroline hugged her. “Thank you.”
“I still say you’re a fool. Tell Travis tonight. You might be surprised at his response.”
“Yeah, and I might wreck everything. No, I’ll stick to the agreement. Remember to process all the title-transfer paperwork for Singing Springs.”
“A million-dollar ranch in exchange for marrying you. Hell of a deal.”
“It was a good deal for both of us.”
There was a knock at the door. “Hello?”
The two women exchanged looks.
“I’d better get back,” Caroline said.
They stood and Caroline unlocked the door. Elsie Belle Lambert stood there.
“Is this a private lounge now?” she asked in a huff.
Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 Page 24