Saving the Soldier (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 2)

by Vartanoff, Irene

  “I’m fine,” Robert’s gravelly voice insisted. “Doc says I have to stay for a few more weeks, but I’m doing my exercises and I’ll be ready to go soon.”

  JD cast a confirming glance at Anita, his mother. She was smiling, so he guessed he could believe his dad.

  “Thanks for sending Rolf with the Humvee. We used it to feed the cattle beyond the first ridge.” He went on to describe what they’d done.

  Robert listened carefully at first, but then seemed to lose focus. “That’s good, son.”

  JD didn’t know whether to bring up the issue of who was to run the ranch in future. He talked about what they might make of the other ranch houses.

  “Veterans’ therapy homes?” Robert repeated.

  “It wouldn’t be completely on the Selkirk nickel. We could get some grants from veterans’ associations to help cover the costs.”

  Robert frowned. “If the veterans actually do a good day’s work for us, we won’t need that. It’s hard to get men to work way out there. If you can get them, some might stick. Lots of men after a war don’t want to be around people much.”

  Yeah, he knew that feeling.

  “Have you talked to Baron about this?” Robert asked.

  “A little. His biggest concern is getting the management of the ranch operation off his shoulders.”

  When Robert made to say something, JD talked over his opening words. “Look, Dad. Face facts. Baron does not want to run the ranch. He was about to sell it when I showed up with the power of attorney paper.”

  Robert turned an alarming color. Anita said, “Now you’ve upset him. Don’t talk about the ranch.”

  A nurse came in and swiftly altered some of the tubes attached to Robert. She shot JD a warning glance. “The patient needs peace and quiet to mend. No drama.”

  JD stood. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to rile you, Dad. Get some rest. No one’s going to sell the ranch.”

  He left the room. Outside, he was swiftly joined by his mother.

  “You said the wrong thing to your father,” she said. “Don’t get him upset. He wants the ranch to be as it always was. Don’t talk to him about the ranch anymore. He’ll never go back, and that’s why he doesn’t want to talk about changes.”

  “Sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to upset him.” He rubbed his head.

  “He’ll get over it.”

  “If he’s not in charge of the ranch anymore, who is? Someone has to call the shots.”

  “Why not you?” She gave him a sharp look. “I’ve been talking to Betty. She told me how you were the one who organized feeding the cattle. You were the one who made sure the horses got tended.”

  “Aw, she ratted me out.”

  “Well, of course she did.” His mother gave him her patented mom look, the one that always made him want to check that his fly was zipped. “Betty doesn’t interfere, but that doesn’t mean she can’t see what’s in front of her face. And report to me.”

  He rubbed his head again. His hair was growing back. “What do you want from me, Mom?”

  “I want you to take the ranch off our hands,” she said frankly. “Don’t bother your dad with the business of it any longer.”

  “As long as he owns the ranch—and why aren’t you the co-owner, by the way?—it’s his business. Can’t cut him out of it.”

  She made a sound of exasperation. “I never wanted to own the ranch. I had all of you to do for. Still do, although it does look like Baron finally is almost settled.”

  JD smiled. “Got to know Addie a bit better when I was out there. He’s well and truly hogtied.”

  Anita said, “Good. Grandchildren on the way soon, I hope. A wedding first would be nice, but I won’t stand on ceremony.”

  “Mom.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Well? Something wrong with me wanting you all to go on with your lives?”

  JD swept her up in a bear hug. He reveled in the familiar comfort. He planted a kiss on her soft cheek. “Yes, ma’am. Working on it.”

  “See that you do.” Anita smiled and reached up to peck him on the cheek. “Love you, darlin’. My strong, wonderful son.”

  For the first time in months, he didn’t wince away from the description. He was strong again. He felt competent. He had recovered. He could handle his life, and he could even handle the ranch.

  Anita said, “Get in touch with that lawyer Paula found, and have him draw up transfer papers, or a trust, or something. I’ll get your dad to sign them.”

  At her mention of Paula, he winced inwardly. Unfinished business.

  Back at the VA, JD made a point of researching bypass operations. His father’s situation wasn’t all that wonderful, although people could live for many years after one.

  Tess called. “You’ll never guess where I am.”

  “Uh…back here in Cheyenne?”

  “Think bigger. I’m in Los Angeles!” she gushed. “I’m going to be acting on Caz Cassidy’s television show. Addie arranged it all.”

  “L.A. You’re kidding. You shouldn’t be there all alone.”

  “Listen to me, big brother. I’ve been waiting for you to stop being a jerk and get on with your life. All the while, Paula’s been telling me to get on with my own. You wouldn’t listen to Baron six months ago. Dad wouldn’t listen at all. Seeing Baron doing the right thing made me finally brave enough to take a chance myself. Be happy for me.”

  JD asked a lot of questions, most of which she answered in her usual impatient style.

  “Of course I’m not in some fleabag hotel. I’m staying with Addie’s parents. They have a nice home in Tarzana. It’s a suburb. Everybody lives in a suburb here.”

  “What about a car?”

  He could hear her shrug through the phone.

  “I’m buying one tomorrow. Meanwhile, Addie’s mom and dad have been driving me around. He’s an agent, you know. He’s representing me and says he can get me some more acting work.”

  “You’re kidding. You, an actress?”

  “I’ll have you know I’ve acted in high school plays and college plays, too. You weren’t around to see me, but I can act.”

  “Okay, okay, I believe you. Does Mom know?”

  “No! And don’t tell her. Let her think I’m still at the ranch. I can’t bear the constant surveillance. I can’t live that way anymore.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  “Not talking about that to you,” she said. “I told Paula all about it.”

  Paula again. Still couldn’t get her out of their lives.

  After more reassurances, she clicked off.

  Changes. He’d changed, but so had Tess. She sounded so sure of herself for once. But she was making a mistake not telling their parents.

  Chapter 21

  The doctor said JD should make only minimal effort prior to the operation, so the shrapnel didn’t shift any farther. She scolded JD for having visited his father. He decided to follow the rules and rest up for the operation.

  “Knock, knock,” a familiar voice said.

  He looked up. Paula.

  She smiled tentatively, obviously unsure of her welcome. She looked good, wearing one of her city outfits of black slacks, a white man-tailored blouse, and a vest that outlined her shapely breasts. Her chin-length black hair shone.

  “I…uh…I wanted to see how you were doing,” she said.

  Everything that had gone between them suddenly slammed into him. All the times she’d nagged him to get on with his life and save his family from self-destructing. Her role as family friend and confidant to Tess. Her daring abduction of him to the ranch. Finally, that night when she came to his room and insisted they finish what they’d started.

  The color rose in her cheeks as she remembered, too. They had a lot between them now. A lot to keep them apart. More than she knew, since his operation was upcoming and he’d rather not have anyone hanging over him beforehand. In case he didn’t make it.

  “You shouldn’t have come,” he said.

  She flinched,
then recovered. In a low voice, she said, “What I did was wrong. I know it now.” Her voice gathered strength. “Everybody was so unhappy. I wanted to help you all. You in particular.” The last sentence seemed torn from her.

  “You had no right,” he said flatly.

  She tightened her lips, acknowledging the truth of his bitter statement. “I was afraid Baron would go ahead and sell the ranch. My motives were pure, but I realize now it wasn’t my job to solve your family dilemma.”

  “You interfered. Butted in where you weren’t wanted.” Each word he said seemed to pain her more. Why was he reverting to his old bad ways? Was he afraid of being vulnerable with Paula? Or did her optimistic outlook stick in his craw? She thought she could make everything right, but some things would never be right again.

  She said, “I owe you an apology.”

  “I’m never going to forget what you did.”

  She bowed her head. When she raised her head, he could see liquid gathering in her eyes. He felt like a heel but he pushed it back. “Don’t you dare use a woman’s weapons now, and cry on me. It’s over. I don’t want to see you again.”

  “I’m sorry.” She made to turn away, but then stopped and faced him again. “You might not believe me, but I didn’t come here expecting you to welcome me. Although I admit I hoped you might. I came to ask if you’ve seen Tess.”

  “I haven’t.” He didn’t elaborate even though he knew he should.

  She took a deep breath. “Okay. Guess I’ll look for her elsewhere.”

  “What are you talking about?” he felt himself frowning.

  “Your mother called me, very upset. She hasn’t heard from Tess at all since I flew her back her last week. Tess hasn’t called me, and I can’t raise her on her phone.”

  JD knew the answer, but such was his renewed anger at Paula he wouldn’t tell her. He knew she’d been pushing Tess to go to Hollywood. Paula interfered. She nudged every Selkirk to action. “Where do you think she is?”

  Paula looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll track her down.”

  He grasped her wrist, the feel of her soft flesh sending a chill down his nerves. Paula felt it, too. She shivered and tried to rear back. He wouldn’t let her. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”

  “You want the truth? Can you handle it?”

  “Stop evading. Spill.”

  “You know Tess has been drinking ever since you landed here. You know your nasty tongue drove her to it, plus your parents constantly pressuring her to visit you every day.”

  “Yeah, guess I did.” He didn’t like to think about how he’d behaved toward his sister.

  Paula had regained her spirit. “This is your fault, JD. It’s not just Tess having a weakness, it’s you deliberately exploiting that weakness, making it worse, for your own twisted reasons. Just like your seduction scene with me at the ranch.”

  She took a pace away from him as his hand suddenly didn’t have the strength to hold her. “You were angry at me for the abduction. You felt trapped by the snowstorm. So you lashed out at me, not with your usual bitter, self-pitying words, but with deliberate charm. You touched me. You kissed me. You saw my response and you went in for the kill.”

  He winced. It was all true. He’d set out to pay her back by seducing her.

  She was passionate now. “You saw my love for you and you used it. You revved me up and then withdrew, putting on more of your self-pitying act so I’d be the one who made the final move. I fell for it,” she said bitterly. “I fell right into your trap.” She dashed wetness from her eyes. “How could you do that to someone who loves you?” she cried. “Do you think I bother to drug and abduct just any man who isn’t getting on with his life?” She pointed toward the corridor with one shaking finger. “There are dozens of men on this floor alone who need as much help and push as you. But it’s you I love. So I took the risk.”

  Love? How could she love him? He didn’t deserve any woman’s love.

  One lone tear ran down her cheek and she impatiently brushed it away. “I’m willing to admit I made a mistake. I didn’t trust you to take action on your own. I usurped your hero’s role. But is your damn male ego so brittle that you can’t admit it was necessary to stop Baron?”

  She halted the flow of passionate words. “Enough. I’m making peace with what happened if it kills me. Meanwhile, I’d better go scout the usual dives for Tess.”

  “What do you mean, dives?” He frowned.

  She gave him a cynical look. “You’re just like the rest of your family. You think Tess is about eight years old. She’s a grown woman, and she’s been running wild right under your noses and you never noticed. She doesn’t drink alone at home where it’s safe, not every night. She goes bar hopping. She dances with strangers, and drinks with strangers. Two weeks ago I had to drag a guy off her who had drugged her drink and was trying to rape her. Didn’t you ever ask yourself where I got the roofies?”

  His went cold at the implication.

  She nodded. “Yeah. It’s like that. Dangerous places she goes. Blackie’s is the worst. I’d better go track her down.”

  She turned and left, before he could tell her he’d changed his mind. He almost yelled after her, to stop her. But he’d just told her he didn’t want anything to do with her. Why should he treat her like a friend and tell her Tess was in L.A.? Tess was in danger out there in Hollywood, and it was all Paula’s fault for encouraging her.

  Paula, who said she loved him. How could she love a man like him?

  ***

  Paula managed to hide her tears until she was safely in the elevator. She didn’t want the nursing staff to see how miserable she felt. Especially the ones who’d had sex with JD.

  JD had totally rejected her. She shouldn’t have expected or hoped for more, but she had. It had only been revenge sex. JD had used her feelings for him against her. She should feel humiliated. Probably she did, but the pain of his ultimate rejection was much more intense than any passing sense of humiliation.

  When he’d left the ranch in the Humvee, he hadn’t said out loud what he felt for her. She’d feared the worst but she hadn’t known for sure. Now she knew. He hated her.

  Yet their few hours together that one night had been so sweet, so wonderful.

  She couldn’t think about them. For over a year, she’d been a beggar at the feast with this family, and with JD. All that time, she’d confidently believed she could wait JD out. She’d had hope. Now she’d had her one taste, and it would have to last her a lifetime. JD was back in his hospital bed, back to being bitter and nasty, wanting to hurt anyone who cared. He’d not been like that on the ranch. Did he even realize how different he had been?

  Her shoulders slumped. There was no way she could convince him. No way he would ever listen to her. She had outraged his pride one too many times.

  Pride and love didn’t work well together. She had no pride where JD was concerned. His pride kept him from seeing what a good life he could have, with her or without her.

  If he did something about his untreated PTSD. Something in his eyes told her he often thought about the bad end to his Army service. All these months, his bitterness and nastiness had been his method of purging the pain from his traumatic injury. Too bad her grand plan to dump him back at the ranch hadn’t been the simple cure she’d hoped for.

  She sighed. Time to deal with Tess. Was the Selkirk family a lost cause? Maybe. She’d hoped Tess would come home and move out of the condo and get away from her mother’s smothering fears.

  Chapter 22

  Paula stopped at every bar she’d ever been to with Tess, delaying as much as she could going to Blackie’s. She asked after Tess, showed her photo to bartenders and bouncers, tipped them and left her card, and moved on. Finally, she could delay no longer. She turned her car toward Blackie’s.

  The music was as loud as before, and the bar patrons looked about as scummy as before, too. This place attracted the worst sort of man. She didn’t know how
or why, and she didn’t care to know.

  She went to the bar. “Where’s Billy tonight?”

  The bartender said, “He’s off. Got nobody to run interference tonight, so don’t get into any trouble. Your friend with you?”

  “I’m looking for her. Have you seen her?”

  “Not since two weeks ago, when you had that rumble in the parking lot. Why? She missing?”

  She nodded. “I’ve looked everywhere tonight. Started with her apartment, just in case.”

  He shot her a wise look. “Yeah. People drink that much, they sometimes drop dead from it.”

  She winced. “My friend is young and healthy,” she denied, as if saying it made it true. She admitted to herself that being young didn’t insulate anyone from bad outcomes. Look at JD and all his buddies’ suffering.

  “And crazy. You’re not so smart to come here by yourself, either,” he said. “You’re too classy for this dump. Couple of guys eyeing you. Your friend’s not here. You’d best leave.”

  She handed him a bill. “Thanks. I’ll do that. Here’s my card. Call me if she surfaces?”

  He nodded. “Will do.”

  The parking lot seemed even darker on her way out. Near her car, she found her path blocked by a man with the typical scruffy look of a Blackie’s regular. He wore jeans and boots and a cheap cowboy hat. Another cowboy wannabe.

  “Been waitin’ for you, sugar.”

  “Sorry. I’ve got a late date,” she said, and tried to move around him while staying out of his reach.

  “Classy gal like you comes to a place like this lookin’ for one thing.” He made an obscene gesture. “I got it right here for you.”

  She edged toward her car. He reached out and grabbed her.

  Paula attempted to pull away from him. He was too strong for her. “Let me go!” she cried. He yanked at her, and she used that force to propel her past him and pull him off balance. Down he went.

  He came up swiftly. Her self-defense training kicked in and she put her car keys between her fingers to make a weapon. She scratched at him when he pulled her closer again. He let her go and reared back in pain. She should have gouged at his eyes, but she hadn’t been angry enough to want to hurt him. Her mistake.