For His Daughter's Sake

by Stella Bagwell

  “Would you like to come in for a while?” she asked. “Or we could sit out under the tree. The evening is still warm.”

  Her suggestion seemed to snap him out of his thoughts and he gave her a nod. “Outside sounds good,” he replied. “These warm August nights won’t last much longer. We need to enjoy them.”

  They departed the truck and, with a hand against her back, Tyler guided her to the courtyard. As they strolled over the freshly clipped grass, Callie was reminded of how alone she’d felt these past several months.

  Since Zach had skedaddled out of Bronco, she’d watched most of her friends find love, get engaged and even get married. She’d tried not to lose faith and feel like the poor little girl standing on the outside, peering in the castle window. However, as the days and weeks had passed without finding her prince, her spirits had started to flag. But, for tonight, with Tyler walking at her side, she felt as though she was floating among the stars.

  “Looks like we have the place to ourselves,” Tyler said when they reached the concrete bench.

  “Everyone is probably inside watching TV.” Using her hand, she brushed off a spot in the middle of the bench then sat.

  Tyler joined her and she was acutely aware that mere inches separated their legs.

  “I didn’t see a TV in your living room,” he remarked. “Do you and Vanessa not watch television?”

  “Only if there’s something special we want to see. But we don’t have a TV. We just stream off our laptops.”

  “Oh, the two of you are uptown girls,” he jokingly mused.

  She chuckled. “You’re forgetting we live in Bronco Valley. We’d have to be in Bronco Heights to actually be uptown.”

  He directed a curious gaze at her. “Would you rather be living in the Heights?”

  Callie shook her head. “Not really. I feel fortunate to be living where I am—doing what I do. There are some very wealthy families living in and around Bronco. The Abernathys, the Taylors, and Daltons, and I happen to be friends with some of them, including you. But I don’t covet the rich, if that’s the point of your question.”

  “Hmm. Don’t put me in that rich category, Callie. Yes, we Abernathys own the Flying A Ranch, and our finances our comfortable, but we’re not wildly wealthy like some of our relatives.”

  As Callie’s gaze thoughtfully slipped over his face, she realized he was very different than any man she’d ever dated. He was far more complex and mature. Perhaps that came from being a husband and a single father. And a widower.

  “We talked about lots of things during dinner, but not much about your job on the ranch. I don’t know much about cowboy things or raising livestock. I guess you rope and ride, but what else do you do?”

  “At present, we’re working on getting all the hay meadows cut and baled. We try to grow enough to last through the winter. But that’s always iffy. If the rains don’t come, hay is scarce, along with any winter grazing. To make it even harder to calculate what we’ll need in the way of feed and grain, we never know how bad the winter might be. If blizzards hit, we have to practically double the amount of hay and up the feed.”

  “I see,” she said thoughtfully. “So much of ranching depends on the weather.”

  He nodded. “Exactly. And we have no control over what Mother Nature gives us.”

  “I’d be walking the floor and chewing my nails,” she admitted then asked, “What else do you do, other than the haying?”

  He frowned. “Are you sure you want to hear this sort of thing?”

  “Sure I’m sure. The Bronco area has many ranches. I need to learn about the business. You never know, Evan might decide to offer a ranching tour in the near future.”

  “Yes, but ranching isn’t exactly a subject you discuss on a date.”

  She gave him a lopsided grin. “Maybe that should depend on who you’re dating.”

  “As I look at you right now—I’m not thinking about ranching. You look...all woman.”

  Callie didn’t know what was happening to her, but from the moment they’d sat on the bench, her senses had dialed in to every tiny thing about the man. From his spicy scent, to the low, sexy timbre of his voice, everything about him was sending erotic signals to her brain. And the way he was gazing at her—like a man did when he wanted a woman—was making every private place on her body hum with need.

  She let out a shaky laugh in the hope of hiding the fact that she was melting inside. “I might look girlie, but, uh, I’d still like to hear about your work. Is haying and feeding most everything you do?”

  “That’s only a fraction of the jobs we do on the ranch. Fence mending goes on all year ’round. The same goes for checking on the cattle to make sure none are sick or injured or stuck in a mud hole.

  “In the spring, we have roundup and branding. In the fall, we wean the calves and drive them to separate pastures. When the calves begin to drop in late winter, we really get busy. Sometimes we have to give the mothers extra help to give birth. Sometimes the newborns aren’t breathing and we have to work to try to save them. And then we have to worry about the young calves getting dysentery. That can be deadly and, if it happens, we have to go around doctoring them with medication. On those occasions, it’s not uncommon for us to work through the night. There are many more things we do, along with plenty of other full-time chores. Sound boring?”

  She laughed. “Are you kidding? I don’t know how you drag yourself out of bed in the mornings.”

  Amused by her comment, he said, “Like anyone else. You crack your eyes open and swing your legs to the floor, then stumble to the kitchen to guzzle down a few cups of coffee.”

  “A few cups,” she repeated with a groan of disbelief. “After all you just told me, I’d need a gallon.”

  “Do you normally get up early enough to drink coffee before work?” he asked.

  His question made her wonder if his late wife had lazed around in the mornings. Or maybe he was thinking Callie was the sluggish sort.

  “I get up early,” she told him. “Especially when we have a busy day of tours scheduled. I like to get to the office before the day starts rolling so I can double-check departure times of the tours and make sure none overlap. The gift shop has to be restocked nearly every morning, too. We sell a ton of merchandise.”

  His smile was wry. “I’m sorry, Callie, but when I think of people taking tours of haunted places and spooks, I—”

  “Want to laugh?” she finished for him.

  Grinning sheepishly, he said, “Maybe not laugh, but roll my eyes. To be honest, when I heard Evan was putting in a ghost tour business, I thought it might last a month or two. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to tour haunted places. If there really are such places,” he added skeptically.

  She slanted him an indulgent look. “Depends on the person. Some people get goose bumps just hearing about haunted places or scary incidents. And some laugh at the whole idea of a ghost and goblins.”

  Smiling faintly, he reached over and slid his fingers up and down her forearm. “What about you, Callie? Do you get goose bumps?”

  Her heart suddenly decided it needed to run instead of walk. “I, uh, the thought of a ghost doesn’t do anything to me,” she murmured. “When it comes to spooky things, I guess I must be numb.”

  His head bent slightly toward hers and Callie wondered why the tree limbs appeared to be swaying when there was no wind. And why were the stars streaking across the sky like comets with long bright tails?

  “I don’t believe you’re numb, Callie. You feel soft and warm and very alive. And I...um, think—” He pulled his hand back from her arm and rose from the bench. “I’d better head home.”

  Callie couldn’t allow them to part on such an awkward note. All through dinner, she’d felt a connection growing stronger and stronger between them. She didn’t want it to break just because the evening was coming to an
end.

  Standing, she reached for his hand and pressed it tightly between hers. The contact brought his eyes down to hers and, in that moment, Callie felt something deep and real stir inside her.

  Oh Lord, she couldn’t fall for this man. He still loved his late wife. He had a child to remind him of the woman every day. The warnings zinged through her mind, yet as Callie looked up at his handsome face, none of them seemed to matter.

  “This night has been so special for me, Tyler. I’d like very much for you to kiss me good-night. But if you’re not ready for that kind of closeness, I’ll understand.”

  His brows shot up and then, with a frustrated shake of his head, curled his hands over her shoulders and pulled her into his arms. When his mouth fastened over hers, Callie’s knees threatened to buckle and she instinctively grabbed the front of his shirt to brace herself.

  His lips roamed hers in a gentle yet devouring way and before she could actually register what was happening, her senses spun off into the starlit sky. For long, heated seconds all she could do was stand motionless and drink in the heady sensations of his masculine taste, and the warm clamp of his fingers sinking into the flesh of her shoulders.

  Sparks of light showered behind her closed eyelids, while heat plunged from her face all the way to her feet. She was going to combust into a flame right here in his arms.

  The wild thought was racing through Callie’s mind when suddenly he lifted his head and stepped back from her.

  “Good night, Callie.”

  Before she could utter any sort of reply, he walked off toward his truck and left Callie to stare after him in stunned silence.

  Good night, Callie. That was all he’d had to say after the kiss they’d just shared?

  Her lips were on fire and she was breathing as though she’d just climbed several flights of stairs. Hadn’t he experienced the same earth-shaking reaction? She’d thought so.

  But his lips could’ve been acting out of sync, she mentally argued with herself. He might have been kissing Callie while his mind had been on the late Mrs. Abernathy.

  No! She wasn’t going to let her thoughts go off in that miserable direction. Tyler had kissed her—Callie Sheldrick. And there had been real feeling behind it. She had to believe this was a genuine beginning for them.

  * * *

  “Callie, do you know if we’ll be getting any more of those little skeletons holding up signs with the Bronco Ghost Tours’ logo? Mrs. Landry would like to purchase a few for Halloween decorations. But she’s leaving town tomorrow and won’t be back through Bronco Heights until the first part of the year.”

  Callie pulled her attention away from the monitor on her desk to see Saundra standing in the open doorway that led into the booking office and gift shop.

  “I’m not sure about the skeletons. I do know that Evan ordered the little ghosts and jack-o’-lanterns. If she wants them that badly, get her address and phone number. We might be able to order the skeletons and mail them to her.”

  “Okay, will do. And if you can spare a minute, there are customers waiting to book tours and purchase gifts.”

  Callie pushed herself to her feet and walked over to Saundra. “Sure. I’ll do the booking if you can handle the shoppers.”

  Saundra’s eyes narrowed on Callie’s face. “Honey, are you okay? You look beat, and it’s only ten o’clock in the morning!”

  Callie bit back a sigh. Last night, when Tyler had left her at the bench in the courtyard and driven away, it had only been a few minutes past ten. Plenty early enough for her to get a good night’s sleep. But once she’d gone inside her apartment, she’d been unable to think of getting ready for bed or going to sleep. Instead, she’d stared at the walls, thinking about Tyler’s kiss and what, if anything, it had meant to him.

  As for what it had meant to Callie, her head was still swimming among the clouds. Though she knew she was probably being a fool, she couldn’t stop thinking about the man.

  “I think I’ve been staring at the screen too long. I just need to rest my eyes.”

  Saundra hardly looked convinced. “If that’s the case, maybe you should make a visit to the optometrist. You might need glasses.”

  A visit to the psychiatrist would probably be more in line, Callie thought. To help her regain the common sense she’d lost last night when Tyler had kissed her.

  “Let’s go,” Callie told her. “We have customers waiting.”

  Out in the booking room, Callie met with a set of middle-aged parents and their two, clearly bored, teenage daughters. The man and wife were eager to take a tour, but the girls were making it clear with eye rolls and folded arms that they wanted to be anywhere but on a ghost tour.

  “Our most popular tour is the downtown walking tour,” Callie said to the husband and wife. “It includes a visit to the courthouse, the cemetery, and then a walk over the old train bridge to Easterbrook House.”

  “And how long does this tour take?” the husband inquired. “We want to get our money’s worth.”

  “About ninety minutes,” Callie answered.

  “Ninety minutes!” one of the girls exclaimed. “I can’t walk that long!”

  With a wry shake of his head, the father turned to his daughter. “Then how do you manage to walk around the mall for two or three hours?”

  “But ninety minutes is a long time, Dad,” the younger looking of the two girls complained. “And it will be hot outside!”

  Seeing trouble brewing, Callie attempted to reassure her. “I promise the guide will be happy to let you rest whenever you need to.”

  “That’s because he’s probably so ancient he walks with a cane,” the older girl mumbled crossly. “This whole thing is stupid.”

  Callie wasn’t so old that she’d forgotten what it was like to be a teenager being forced to accompany her parents on trips. Still, that was no cause for these girls to behave rudely.

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” Callie told the girl in the sweetest voice she could muster. “Josh is a young college student. But if you’d rather have a different guide, I’m sure he’d be glad to exchange tours with someone else.”

  The sulky demeanor on the girl’s face instantly vanished. “A college guy will be guiding us? Oh! He’ll be fine.”

  “Sure, Lacey,” her sister mockingly chided her sister. “Now you’re happy. But what about me? I’m going to be bored out of my mind! Dad—”

  “Girls, that’s enough!” the man snapped.

  Even if Callie had gotten a full night’s sleep, this family would still be wearing her patience paper-thin. As it was, she wished she’d chosen to assist the customers buying gifts instead of booking a tour.

  “Maybe you’ll have some real excitement and spot John Easterbrook’s ghost,” Callie told the family. “Most people around Bronco say he never left his house, even after he died. Or you might hear the gallows creaking outside the courthouse where the public executions used to take place.”

  Thankfully, that was enough to get the girls talking excitedly between themselves and to give the parents a chance to finish booking the tour. By the time the four of them trooped out the entrance, Callie went over to a couch supplied for waiting customers and practically fell onto the end cushion.

  Now that the room was empty, Saundra walked over to the glass door and peered out at the family moving on down the sidewalk.

  “Whew. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with them! Are they actually coming back?” she asked.

  “Yes. For the eight o’clock tour tonight. I only hope Josh doesn’t have any problem with those girls. Maybe I’d better warn him.”

  “I wouldn’t say anything. He’s young. Josh is used to that kind of behavior.”

  Callie grimaced. “No matter their age. Those girls need lessons in manners.”

  “Tell me about it. I imagine they’ve been spoiled since the day they were b
orn.”

  Saundra’s comment caused Callie’s thoughts to turn to Maeve. At this point in the baby’s life, Tyler was simply trying to meet his daughter’s physical and emotional needs. But later, when she was able to talk and voice her opinions, to ask for things that were out of reach, or to do things that were out of bounds, how would he handle her? Would the fact that she had no mother sway his better judgment and pressure him to give in and spoil her? Or would he guide her with a firm but loving hand?

  Callie, you need to get a grip! One kiss from Tyler and you’re in a silly dreamworld. Picturing him as your husband and Maeve as your child. Do you know what a fool looks like? If you don’t, then go find a mirror.

  “Earth to Mars! Can you hear me, Callie? Or have we lost radio transmission?”

  Saundra’s voice managed to penetrate the words of warning in Callie’s head and she looked blankly at her coworker.

  “Sorry, Saundra. You were saying something to me?”

  Saundra waved a dismissive hand through the air. “Nothing important. I was just saying we should mention to Evan about the skeletons that Mrs. Landry ordered. He’ll probably want to have them restocked in the gift shop by Halloween.”

  “Good idea. I’ll make a note.” Callie forced herself up from the couch. She was about to leave the room when the door to the office opened and Vanessa Cruise stepped inside.

  “Well, look at this. We’re graced by royalty this morning,” Saundra affectionately teased. “It’s Miss Bronco in all her glory. Where’s your tiara?”

  Laughing, Vanessa touched a hand to the top of her head. “Don’t tell me it’s missing! And the one I put on this morning had the ten-carat diamond in the center.”

  “Don’t worry,” Saundra assured her. “You’ll soon be wearing a ten-carat diamond on your finger.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that.” Vanessa walked over to the display window and peered at the array of the latest gifts Callie and Saundra had added to the mix.