by Amy Lillard
It was after breakfast, after their quick cleanup. Grandma Esther had hobbled off to check the weather. From where Bryn stood it looked to be just like yesterday: sunny and hot.
“Where do you suppose your daddy is?” she asked Wesley. Not that the girl would truly answer, but she could hope.
Wesley tilted her head to one side and seemed to think hard about the question. “He’s probably out checking fences.”
Not quite the response she had anticipated, and that made her wonder if Wesley did indeed know what her father was doing at that moment. “Okay. That sounds like it takes a long time.”
Wesley nodded. “A real long time. You want to go see the kittens now?”
And if it took a long time, chances were she wouldn’t have an opportunity to see him or talk to him until supper.
She sighed. Her visit was unexpected. She couldn’t demand that he drop everything and entertain her for the next six days, but it would have been nice to spend a little time with him today. She just needed to get to know him better was all. For the baby’s sake. No other reason.
Wesley tugged on her hand, bringing her back to the here and now. “Miss Bryn, dontcha want to see the kitties? If we wait too much longer, they’ll end up as just plain ol’ cats.”
Bryn laughed. The child was precious. “Well now, we can’t have that. I tell you what. You let me brush your hair and then we go straight out and look at the kittens before they turn to cats. Deal?”
Once again Wesley adopted that thoughtful pose, mulling over the proposition. “Deal,” she finally said, skipping off down the hallway toward their bedrooms, leaving Bryn to follow behind.
Wesley’s room was an eclectic combination of rodeo and baby girl. Pink seemed to be the theme, with a touch or two of purple to keep things interesting. But everything in the room centered on horses, cowboy hats, and boots.
She scampered onto her bed, one leg swinging off the side as she issued her instructions. “My brush is over there.” She pointed toward the large oak vanity. An array of ponytail holders, bows, and other hair ties were scattered about, creating a kaleidoscope of color. “But I brushed my hair already this morning.”
“You did?” Bryn crossed the room noting that the rug was a large pink sheriff’s star. Where did a person find such a thing? Only in Texas. “All by yourself?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.” Wesley nodded. “I mean, yes, ma’am. I brush it every morning.”
Bryn found the brush and joined Wesley on the big four-poster bed. “And do you put it in a ponytail as well?”
“Of course. I am a big girl, you know.”
“I know.” Bryn hid her smile as she tried to get the green ponytail holder out of Wesley’s blond curls. “I hear you’re starting school soon.”
“Ouch,” Wesley complained as Bryn hit a particularly tough snarl.
“Sorry.”
Wesley caught her eye in the vanity mirror in front of them. “Why is your hair short?”
“Because I cut it.”
“Why is it purple?”
“My best friend did that. He thought it would look nice.”
“Your best friend is a boy?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Doesn’t that make him your boyfriend?”
“No.” Bryn stifled a laugh. The child was precocious. “Rick is not my boyfriend.”
“I like purple,” Wesley said.
“Me too.” Bryn continued to brush her hair.
“What about Daddy?”
“What about him?
“He’s your friend too, right?”
“Of course.” She didn’t know what to call her and Jake’s relationship. But friend didn’t cut it.
“Does that make him your boyfriend?”
“Not really.”
“Oh.” Wesley seemed disappointed.
Bryn wanted to press, to see if Jake went on dates or maybe had a favorite girl to scratch an itch, but she couldn’t find the words to delicately ask a five-year-old about her father’s dating habits.
She finished Wesley’s hair and wrapped it in a fresh ponytail.
Wesley critically eyed herself in the mirror. “I like it,” she said. “You can do my hair again sometime.”
“I’m so very honored that you are pleased.” Bryn stood and gave her a small bow.
“Can we go see the kitties now?”
“Are you sure they aren’t cats by now?” Bryn asked as she walked to the door and waited for Wesley to follow.
“I hope not.” Wesley took off down the hallway at a dead run, and Bryn had to wonder if the child walked anywhere. Maybe if she hung around Wesley for the next week, she wouldn’t have to worry so much about gaining weight. The girl would run the pounds off her.
• • •
Wesley skipped across the yard toward one of the outbuildings. It was closest to the house and on the short side of the L that made up the ranch buildings. A white-fenced corral stretched from the red-painted building toward the road, giving it the picturesque postcard appearance.
“They’re in here.” Wesley pranced into the barn like it was her second home, leaving Bryn to follow behind. “Here, kitty-kitty-kitty,” she called.
Bryn heard their meows before she saw them, four gawky kittens with legs too long for their growing bodies. Still, they were beautiful. One had full orange stripes, while another was orange striped in patches over the white. The third kitten was black and tan striped, while the last one was a beautiful solid black.
Wesley beelined for the black cat, scooping him into her arms before he could scamper away. “This one’s my favorite.” She hugged the cat close even as it struggled to get down. “Joe Dan said we should name him Ebony, but I don’t like that name.” She made a face, without words clearly expressing what she thought of Joe Dan’s name choice. “I want to name him Susan.”
“Susan?” Bryn nearly choked.
“It’s a good name for a cat.”
“Sure. A girl cat. Didn’t you just say it was a boy?”
The cat had finally settled into Wesley’s arms sensing that escape was not forthcoming, but his struggles started anew when she lifted him into the air, straight above her head. “I don’t know that I believe them. I think they just don’t want to call her Susan. They keep turning her over and saying that it’s a boy. But I can’t tell any difference in the bottom of her feet.”
Bryn stifled another laugh and rescued the kitten from Wesley’s hands. She was no expert in telling boy cats from girl cats, but from what she could tell, Susan was a boy. “I think Joe Dan may be right.”
Wesley stomped her foot. “Gosh darn it!” Then she seemed to recover. “That’s okay,” she said, reaching for the cat. She plucked him from Bryn’s embrace, kissing him on the top of the head. “He’s still my favorite. Even if I can’t name him Susan. But I don’t think Ebony is a good name either. I don’t even know what that means.”
“It’s another word for black.”
Wesley scrunched up her nose and shook her head, her ponytail bouncing from side to side. “Is there another another word for black?”
“Several, but I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you name him something that is black?”
“Like Crayon? I have a black crayon.”
Honestly, the child was precious. “How about Midnight? The sky at midnight is dark like a black kitty.”
“Yeah.” She dragged out the word until it was a mile long. “Sometimes the sky is black. Come on, Sky. Let’s find the cat treats.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind,” Bryn muttered as Wesley carried the cat into a small room off to the right. This must have been a common ritual as the kittens followed behind her like the mice after the pied piper.
“Daddy said we can’t have any more cats,” Wesley said as Bryn came into the doorway. “Uncle Chase brought t
hese home a while ago.”
Chase . . . that was the rodeo brother, if Bryn remembered correctly.
“He’s always bringing home animals of one kind or another. Dogs, cats, rabbits. But I don’t think he’s going to bring any more home whether Daddy says he can or not.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the last time he left he was real mad. He and Uncle Seth got into a fight and—”
“Wesley!”
She stopped abruptly at the sound of her father’s voice.
Bryn turned to find him standing in the doorway. He was backlit so she couldn’t see his features. His entire body was thrown into silhouette. And what a silhouette it was.
“There’s no need to talk about that with our guest.” He stepped into the barn looking even more handsome than he had last night. Last night when he had almost kissed her.
Another man stepped in behind him, followed by the ever-faithful Kota. The dog dropped to his haunches at his master’s feet.
“Yes, sir. But he was mad. Don’t you think?”
“Joe Dan was going to show you a rope trick,” Jake continued.
“I was?” the other man asked.
“Yes, you were.” Jake cut his gaze toward the door in a not-so-subtle hint for the foreman to take his daughter out of the barn.
“Oh, that’s right, I was.” But instead of taking Wesley’s hand, he extended his own for her to shake. “Joe Dan Stacey,” he said with a charming smile. “I’m the ranch foreman.”
She returned his smile. “Bryn Talbot, nice to meet you.”
Joe Dan was a husky bear of a man with a short beard and twinkling blue eyes. Bryn could immediately see that he was a trusted member of the Langston ranch.
Jake cleared his throat. “That rope trick.”
“Right,” Joe Dan said. “C’mon, little sister. Let’s get ourselves some sunshine.” He led her from the barn, and once again Bryn found herself alone with Jake.
“I should have known this would come up sooner or later.”
“What?”
“Family drama. See, Chase used to date Jessie. Sort of. They were always a couple, but not.” He stopped. “I’m not making much sense, am I?”
“A little. But Jessie is married to Seth—oh.”
“Yeah. Something happened between Seth and Jessie, they got married, and Chase is a little upset about it.”
“Is that why Chase doesn’t come around much?”
“Yeah, but Chase isn’t the kind to stay mad long.” He shrugged, that same one-armed motion as Wesley’s. “It’s only a matter of time.”
She nodded, unsure of what to say. Her family had always been small. Though now with Emery gone, it was just her and the baby.
Jake gave an uncomfortable chuckle. “I didn’t mean to come out here and air the family secrets.”
“And I didn’t really come out here to hear them.” She gave him a smile she hoped looked encouraging. But somehow it felt stiff and plastic.
“Why did you come out here?”
“Wesley wanted to show me the kittens.”
“I could show you around the ranch later.”
Bryn had never been on a working ranch before. She nodded. “I’d like that.”
An awkward silence descended between them.
“Thank you for coming out here with Wesley. She always wants to show the kittens to anyone who steps foot on the property.”
“She’s adorable.”
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“I take it she looks like her mother.”
And just like that a shutter descended over his expression, effectively shutting her out.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered. It had been at least five years since his wife’s death, but it seemed that was something they didn’t talk about.
“It’s okay,” Jake said.
But despite his words, she understood that there was only one thing that could make him so guarded when it came to Wesley’s mother. Jake was still in love with his late wife.
Chapter Five
The last person he had expected to see when he’d come into the barn was standing just a breath away, looking like something out of one of those women’s magazines at the grocery store checkout. Frayed jeans that ended well above her ankles, gauzy shirt that billowed when she walked, and those same leather sandals she had worn the first day he’d met her.
“About last night,” she started, then shook her head. “I don’t want anything from you. I mean, you don’t have to woo me or whatever.” She gave an awkward shrug, then another.
“Is that what you think I was doing?”
“I just think it’s better if we don’t do anything like that again.”
What was she talking about? They hadn’t done anything at all, but he had a feeling that if she hadn’t skedaddled to her room, the morning would have found them together. But she was right. That would only complicate matters further.
“We still have to figure out what to do about . . .” He nodded toward her midsection. She was already starting to show. A lot. Which meant she was either carrying a big baby or she was further along than she said. But that would mean . . .
He looked into those brown eyes and knew that she was telling the truth. It was insane to trust her so quickly, but he did.
And that night . . . it came back to him at the oddest times. Like now. When he could remember every touch and every sigh.
Her eyes widened. She remembered it too. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
He swallowed hard, then gave a quick nod. “Tomorrow,” he croaked. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “Tonight. We need to get this straightened out as soon as possible.”
• • •
She was leaving in a few days. But the thought was no consolation to him. Until she left, she was underfoot, a constant reminder of his shortcomings.
Last night he had only wanted to talk to her, but some baser part of his nature seemed to take over and the next thing he knew, she was in his arms. She fit there like a lost puzzle piece, and that was really and truly what unnerved him. She was a stranger to him.
A stranger who was having his baby.
But still a stranger.
She was not some mythical other half of himself. He didn’t even believe in such hogwash. She was simply a woman.
So why couldn’t he seem to get her off his mind?
He ducked out of the barn, but she was nowhere in sight. That was good. He didn’t know what to say to her anyway. And every time he did try to talk to her, he seemed to foul it up.
Joe Dan laughed at something Wesley said, then stopped when he saw Jake.
“I think it’s time to go in now.”
Wesley looked up and nodded, but her disappointment showed. She wanted to be right in the thick of everything, and it worried Jake to death. He was having a hard enough time knowing she was heading to school in just a couple of weeks. That was something he didn’t have much control over, but whether or not she was around a bunch of bucking horses and heavy hoofbeats, was something he could manage.
“You know she’s going to be a horsewoman like her grandmother, right?”
“That’s a long time from now.”
Joe Dan shook his head. “Not really. She could be barrel racing in just a couple of years.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I’m just sayin’. You take her out riding fences and let her have free rein in the barn.”
“That’s different.”
“It may be to you, but I don’t think it is to her.”
“I’m going to the house. I have some invoices to pay.”
“That wouldn’t have anything to do with your houseguest, would it?”
Jake shook his head. “Not willing to discuss it.�
��
“The boys in the bunkhouse are betting she’s pregnant. Any truth to that story?”
“Not willing to discuss it.” Jake headed for the house with Joe Dan close behind.
“So it is true.”
“Joe Dan, there are some things a rancher shares with his foreman and there are things that a rancher keeps to himself.”
“Right. And I take it this is one of those second choice things.”
Jake stopped on the porch so suddenly that Joe Dan nearly ran into him. “You got it right. Now get back to work.”
Joe Dan tipped his hat, but continued to grin. “Whatever you say, boss. Whatever you say.”
• • •
Small and insignificant. The two best words to describe how she felt.
Bryn shifted in the padded armchair in front of the desk and tried to make herself feel a little less small and a little less insignificant. But that was the job of the large polished desk and the even larger leather chair sitting behind it.
She shifted again.
The last place Bryn had wanted to find herself after supper was in Jake’s office once again. The place was huge and hugely intimidating. Framed diplomas and certifications just added to the foreign atmosphere. He sat behind the desk to separate the two of them. With the width of the desk between them, surely there wouldn’t be a repeat of last night.
Right?
“I guess we have to think about visitation times.” She hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but wasn’t that the best way? Face your fears and all that? Well, this summed it up. Her worst fear, having to ship her baby to Texas. But she had known when she pulled into his drive that it would come to this.
“Getting married is still on the table.” And he looked so serious when he said it.
“Will you stop that? I cannot marry you.”
“Why not?”
She rolled her eyes, refusing to answer.
But moving to Texas would make it a sight easier. She pushed that thought away. “I’m sure we can come up with a solution that suits everyone.”
He leaned forward in his chair and all at once she was grateful for the desk between them. “How do you suppose we do that?”
She didn’t have the first clue.