Maybe, With Conditions

by Mariella Starr

  "It's a process of elimination," Jimmy said continuing to fiddle under the hood. "Water would be the lesser problem. If someone put water in the tanks, adding a little methyl hydrate will make the engines burn out the water. Then, we'll have to change the oil and check the plugs, and hope the alternators and starters aren't damaged."

  "What's the worst case scenario?" Dalton asked.

  "Boss, anything could have been put into the tanks," Jimmy said seriously. "I ain't a certified mechanic, but I've been tinkering with cars since I was a kid. If you want, I can wait to test this until the mechanic from town gets here. He'll need to put the newer trucks on computer testers anyway."

  "Damn it," Dalton grumbled. "Wait for Harley to get here," he ordered. "Wayne, get the rest of these men to work. I guess they're going to be in the saddle today. I want them all armed with rifles, too. If someone is blatant enough to do this right in our backyard, we're going to fight back. Tell the men to check their private vehicles, too."

  He dialed the sheriff's office and left a message for Dave Shifflett to get out to the Double C, again.

  "How will I get to class today?" Kay asked.

  "How will we get much of anything done today?" Dalton asked. "Go ask Roy Mac to get on the phone and see if we can borrow trucks from our neighbors. We'll need at least four to do even minimal business."

  "Hey, boss," one of the married hands called. "My truck wasn't messed with and I called my wife, Miranda, neither was hers. Of course, with those dogs of mine, if anyone came near our house, they would have raised a ruckus. That gives us two trucks we can use until the others are running."

  "Thanks, John," Dalton said with an approving nod, "However, I don't want Miranda or any of your wives and family stranded without transportation."

  John's phone rang and he walked off to answer it and then walked back to them. "Miranda's already figured out a solution, boss. She called the other wives. Whoever did this, only messed with the vehicles here at the main ranch buildings. They didn't tamper with any of our personal vehicles. The women will stick together today so we can use the trucks. They'll keep the cars for their use. We should have more than enough transportation to get our work done."

  "Good man," Dalton said. "I should be able to use Neeley's Blazer if I get called out on an emergency. Wayne, call me when Harley arrives."

  Kay had wandered from the group while they were discussing the arrangements for the day. She was on her cell phone. She returned with more good news. "Joanie Guthrie is coming for me. We're in some of the same classes."

  "What about you?" Dalton asked Nicole as they watched Kay jog to the house.

  "I don't have a class today. Besides, I'm still grounded because the insurance people won't get off their butts and settle my claim."

  "I'll make sure a vehicle is available for Gran, Roy Mac, and you if you absolutely must go out today. Otherwise, it might be safer to stay put."

  "I won't become a prisoner," Nicole warned. "We can't allow anyone to intimidate us to the point where we can't come and go as we please. As it happens, I don't have to go anywhere today. I was planning on working a full day at the easel. If this harassment continues, though, what are we going to do about Matty?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "School starts in three weeks," Nicole reminded him. "We need to register Matty for Kindergarten. I'm not happy with the idea of putting him on a school bus for a trip of thirty miles or more to the nearest elementary school. If this crazy stuff continues, I won't want him out of my sight."

  Dalton took a deep breath. "We'll figure it out before school starts. If we don't, I will arrange to keep him safe. You, too."

  Nicole made another call to her secret weapon. She was told he had already put an investigator on the job. When he had more information, he would be in touch.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dalton was relieved by the news from Harley, the town mechanic. The damage to the vehicles was caused by water in the gas tanks. It was a costly annoyance, and it took Harley and Jimmy Morse two days to maintenance the entire fleet of ranch vehicles. An overnight delivery provided locking gas caps for all the trucks belonging to the Double C, as well as all the ranch hands.

  As usual, there were no suspects and no reason to suspect Barbara Ruiz. She had an alibi, and witnesses to her whereabouts. Sheriff Shifflett said unless he had hard evidence, he would not question her, again. She had threatened him with a charge of police harassment.

  Three more incidents occurred over the next week. The first was a cut barbed-wire fence near a major roadway where a car struck several wandering steers. The occupants of the car were not hurt, but one steer was killed and a second had to be put down.

  The second incident was an old homesteader's cabin on a neighboring ranch burned to the ground. It had no intrinsic value, except its historical legacy. Ranchers who bought properties with standing homesteads usually left the buildings and old corrals where they stood. The hillsides were dotted with the ruins of homesteader's dreams gone bust. The ranchers honored their remains as a testament to the valiant efforts of the original settlers. It was an unspoken code of the west to leave standing what another man had fought to build, but through bad luck or untold hardships had been forced to abandon.

  The third incident hit closer to home. Helen had taken Roy Mac to Carson City for an annual check-up. While they were inside the doctor's office, someone deliberately damaged the wheelchair lift on the van. Roy Mac was strong enough to pull himself in and out of the van without the lift, but it was a special manufactured item, and it would take weeks until a replacement arrived.

  The Double C was closing ranks against the mysterious attackers. Cowmen openly carried arms while men only traveled and worked in pairs. At one point, a pilot spotted an unidentified truck from the air and suspected rustlers. Unfortunately, the pilot had to land to refuel, and by the time the sheriff's department arrived, the truck was gone. The license plate tag had been muddied, so it wasn't visible from the air even with binoculars. If any more cattle were taken, it wasn't known, yet, as the ranches were large operations and they were scattering the cattle to prevent an entire herd from being stolen.

  After several weeks of such harassment, the hands were sick of constantly being on the alert. The Calloway family was in even worse shape. The men were stern and diligent in their efforts to protect their women demanding they also travel in pairs. Kay twisted the rule to mean Mark could be her escort, so she was away from home and with him more.

  Nicole suspected the young couple's relationship had matured into a more adult connection. They seemed to spend a lot of their time together at Mark's apartment. She talked to Kay about being careful, but it was not her business to interfere. It especially wasn't her business to lecture when she was carrying on a lusty relationship with Dalton under the same roof.

  She was working on a painting in her studio during Matty's naptime when Dalton knocked on her door.

  "What's up?" she asked.

  "I don't know. Gran called and asked me to come over to the house and to bring you with me."

  When they entered the house, Kay was the only one in the living room.

  "What's going on, Sissy?"

  "Aunt Vivian fell and broke her hip," Kay answered. "Mom and Dad want me to go with them to Minnesota for a few weeks to visit family and help take care of her. Mom's packing. Dalton, I don't want to go!"

  "It won't hurt you to take a little time to help the family, Kay. I don't know if you recall, but when Roy-Mac was injured, Gran's family came in full force to help. Your classes are finished and you don't start full time at WNC for another couple weeks," Dalton said.

  "But…"

  "Kay, I want you to go with us," Helen said firmly returning to the room. "This is my sister who needs our help." She looked over to Nicole. "We would also like to take Matty with us."

  "Why? You'll be busy enough taking care of your sister."

  "Vivian can afford nursing help, so we probably won't be doing
much in those areas. She will need to be entertained. My family hasn't met Matty, yet, and I would like him to meet my side of the family. It would also give you and Dalton some time alone, and allow you to work more on your paintings for your showing."

  Nicole glanced at Dalton and saw he was nodding his head in agreement. "Are you sure about this? Matty can be a handful."

  "Every child is," Roy Mac said rolling into the room. "Helen has a lot of family in Minnesota and they're getting older. They will enjoy having a child around as much as we do."

  "How long will you be gone?"

  "A couple weeks at the most. I know it might mean he will enter Kindergarten late, but we feel strongly about this. He should meet more of his family," Helen said smiling. "Minnesota isn't the end of the world, although it feels like it when you live there, especially in the winter. He'll only be a telephone call away."

  "I have to talk to him first," Nicole worried. "If he doesn't want to go, I won't force him."

  Matty wanted to go. He viewed any outing with his great grandparents as an adventure. Nicole and Dalton talked to him even showing him a calendar to make sure he understood how many days he might be gone, but Matty was eager to go. Without a good reason to refuse and many valid reasons to let him go, Nicole packed a suitcase for him. They kissed Matty goodbye, along with Helen, Roy Mac, and Kay. They watched as one of the hands drove them to the Babbitt airstrip where a friend of Roy Mac's was going to fly them to the Reno airport to make a connecting flight.

  Nicole sighed forlornly as the van drove out of sight.

  Dalton hugged her. "He'll be okay. They will treat him like a little prince. I was when I spent part of my summers on the lake."

  "We have never been separated before."

  Dalton laughed. "He hasn't been gone three minutes, yet. Kay will be back in twelve days. If Matty is unhappy, she can bring him back with her."

  "It's still two weeks away."

  "I have plans for you during those two weeks," Dalton growled in her ear. "I have you alone and all to myself. I intend to take advantage of it."

  "Promises, promises," Nicole teased.

  * * *

  Nicole marveled at how quickly she got used to not having her son around. She missed him, and called or Skyped him every day, but there were long hours in between when she was able to bury herself in her work. It was a luxury she didn't indulge in very often.

  Dalton kept his promise, too. His libido went into overdrive. With no occupants in the house, except them, they weren't limited to waiting until everyone had retired for the evening. Since Dalton's hours at his veterinarian practice were his own, he spent most of his downtime with Nicole.

  "What's next?" Dalton asked Neeley coming out of his office and observing his empty waiting room.

  "Nothing. The schedule is clear for the next several hours unless we get an emergency call," Neeley reported. "Mrs. Ward canceled her appointment. She said Bartley escaped from his run last night and they haven't found him, yet."

  "Call her back and tell her to call Mort Harris," Dalton said with a grin. "Bartley is probably outside Mort's back door trying to figure out how to get to his prize Dalmatian, Delia."

  "I'll call her," Neeley agreed with a grin.

  "If there isn't anything scheduled, I'm heading to the house to get lunch and catch up on some computer work."

  "Uh huh," Neeley snorted.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It means you've been spending a lot of time lately catching up. You need to put a ring on that little gal's finger!"

  "Mind your business," Dalton said mildly. "I'm working on it."

  "Uh huh," his assistant chortled again.

  Dalton did one more pass through his clinic checking all the animals. Then, he walked through the barn checking on his larger four-legged patients before detouring to Nicole's studio. He stood watching her, visually taking in every inch of her.

  Nicole was a natural beauty. Her skin glowed with a light tan she had acquired since coming to Nevada. Her hair was bleached lighter from the sun and she had a few new freckles across the bridge of her nose. He loved looking at her and his body reacted instantly. She startled when she realized he was there, and then smiled at him. She put her brush in a container of cleaner and turned to him wiping her hands clean.

  Dalton stepped to her, tilting her face upward to kiss her. "I have a few hours free. Can you break away?"

  Nicole understood what he was asking. She knew what he wanted and a burning ache started between her legs.

  "I have time."

  "Good." Dalton moved his hands around to her buttocks and squeezed them. "I'm not sure I can wait until we get to the house."

  "We can wait," Nicole said, nodding her head in the direction of the gardens outside and at the man weeding between the rows. "I'm not big on exhibitionism."

  Dalton's response was to take her by the arm and guide her toward the door. They quickly walked together to the main house. He was on her the moment the door closed behind them. Shutting it firmly, he devoured her mouth, unsnapping her shorts so she could step out of them as they fell. He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  He stumbled toward the stairs but decided he couldn't wait a second longer. He took her into his office where he kicked the door shut. He deposited Nicole on the couch and it became a wrestling match to drag his clothing off while he removed what little was left on her.

  Naked, they were skin to skin. Nicole shivered as she felt the hum of her body rhythm. He positioned her for the most pleasure for both of them and slid into her. She took his full length, loving the way he filled her, the way he moved with her as their bodies slid against each other.

  She arched, as he became more demanding, thrusting harder, and making her hot with the need of him. She wasn't aware of thrashing beneath him and raking him toward her, taking him into her deeper. When the moment of pleasure came, she nearly screamed as her body rocked with an orgasm.

  Dalton was caught in her body as it squeezed and tightened around him. He had heard of men using vacuum cleaner hoses, but he thought there couldn't be any comparison to what Nicole's body did with his. It sucked him in and held him hostage until he had been wrung dry and then it aroused him, again, as she couldn't control how long the spasms lasted. When she finally released him, there were tears on her cheeks.

  He moved against her and, although he was spent, he whipped her into another frenzy. When he withdrew, she whimpered wanting more. He replaced his limp organ with his fingers thrusting, two, and then three inside her as he bent to suckle her breast. She went off like a firecracker and then curled into a tight ball of spent passion. He pulled her to him, cradling her, soothing her tension, and kneading her soft parts, her buttocks, her thighs, and her small flat stomach. She sighed and collapsed under him. Her sultry eyes watched him as he continued to stroke her.

  "What are you thinking?" Nicole murmured.

  Dalton rolled over onto his back and pulled her on top of him. "How incredibly lucky I was the day I agreed to visit my Aunt Penelope. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have run into you, again."

  "I don't think it was accidental," Nicole said laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I think Helen was behind it," Nicole said. "I've asked her several times about Mrs. Windgate, but she always changes the subject. I think Dee Dee found the connection between you and Matty, and somehow she and Helen set us up. Helen thinks we are destined to be together."

  "I don't think my gran was behind it," Dalton disagreed.

  "Really?" Nicole asked. "Then why has she been calling Dee Dee in Ireland and having long talks with her?"

  "Has she?"

  Nicole nodded. "I saw the phone account on her computer. It was an accident. I wasn't snooping. Either Dee Dee contacted Helen or vice versa. For two women who supposedly have not met, they have had some really long conversations. One lasted forty-eight minutes. I think they deliberat
ely planned your trip to D.C."

  "Huh," Dalton grunted.

  "It's suspicious. You come to Washington on a rare visit to your aunt. Mrs. Penelope Windgate, suddenly wants her portrait painted. She called me directly demanding an immediate meeting even though she was already planning to leave for England only a few days later. Dee Dee gets all cozy with you and talks me into moving out here with Matty. Then, she decides to visit Ireland for the first time, in like, never! She has never had an interest in returning. Phillip has offered to take all of us, but she always claimed Ireland wasn't kind to her when she lived there. She had no reason to return."

  "I think you're a little paranoid, but what if they did? The end result worked out beautifully. We are together, again. I love you, Nic."

  "I love you, too."

  He rolled over and pinned her underneath him. "Enough to marry me?"

  "I think so, but I want to start with an engagement ring first."

  "Jesus, I believe you do this to torture me."

  "Not really," she denied. "I want to be absolutely sure. I don't want to make a mistake."

  "We are not a mistake," Dalton growled. He swore as his cell phone rang immediately followed by Nicole's hard-rock ringtone.

  They hurriedly dug into their clothing to find their cell phones.

  Dalton was asking questions about an animal. He disconnected his call and waited until she had finished hers. "I have to go. I have a mare in the first stages of labor. It's her first and the owner is in a panic."

  "My call was from the nurse at Matty's doctor's office. She was reminding me about his school physical. I forgot to cancel it."

  "Back to the real world," Dalton groaned.

  Nicole picked up her thong to get dressed, only to have him toss it away. She was surprised to see him magnificently aroused, again.

  "I can't help it," he said wrapping his hands around her drawing her to him. "I need you once more before I leave."

  Their coupling was hard, fast, and unbelievably hot. He lifted her onto his desk, leaning her back on her elbows and raising her legs on his forearms as he pounded into her with a fury of passion that took her breath away. He was a human machine, pumping into her, gasping for breath as he took her, expending himself, but leaving her wanting release. He would have taken care of her, except his phone rang, again. After trying to get his breathing under control, he answered it.