Lucky In Love

by Carolyn Brown

  “We’ll spread the blanket right here to stake out our claim. We’ll put the chairs right out in the middle of the water where Mommy and Daddy will sit with their feet in the water and watch Katy play,” Beau said.

  Milli’s eyebrows shot up. “Daddy?”

  “And what else should I call myself? I’m not Uncle Beau. I’m Daddy, and she can start learning that today.”

  He jerked his T-shirt over his head, picked up two folding lawn chairs from the back of the truck, and set them in the middle of the shallow creek. “Would you please put her little bathing suit on her? That diaper is going to draw up enough water to make her bottom heavy. And take your sandals off. Wade right out here when you get her ready. The water isn’t cold. Before we leave, I’ll take you over to little Niagara. Now, that’s too cold for our baby to play in, but it’s a pretty sight.”

  Milli peeled off her shirt and shorts, leaving them in a heap on the blanket. She tugged at the bottom of her bright red, two-piece bathing suit, trying to pull it up above the faint white lines left from stretch marks. She frowned when Beau whistled appreciatively and shot him a hateful look. So he thought he could just pop right into this fatherhood role and be “Daddy,” did he? Well, Katy Scarlett was her daughter. Rosa and Granny already had wedding bells in their eyes, but Milli damn sure didn’t see anything but arguments in the future. The biggest one yet was probably coming on in the next five minutes.

  She undressed Katy and put a pink and white polka-dotted swimsuit on her while she squealed and pointed toward the water. When Milli dipped her toes in the water, Katy shrieked and wanted more.

  “Put her down and give her that plastic cup. She’ll entertain herself for hours with it.”

  She held the baby close to her heart. “Don’t be telling me what to do,”

  “What got in your craw? For cryin’ out loud, Milli. The baby wants down. Don’t hold her so tight. Let her play. That’s the whole reason we’re out here.”

  “Of course it is,” Milli shot right back. “So Beau can be a daddy.”

  “Is that what your problem is? Got a little green jealousy sticking in your craw?”

  “A lot of it.”

  She eased Katy into the water and handed her a cup. Katy filled it with water and threw it on Beau’s bare legs and he yelped, pretending to be freezing. She giggled and threw more and the game was on. The dimple in her cheek deepened and so did his. Her blue eyes twinkled and so did his. Milli was losing control faster than a shooting star and it scared her senseless.

  “I’m not ready to share her, Beau. I’m not ready for you to tell me what to do. I’m not ready for a relationship like everyone is throwing me into. I feel like Daniel in the lion’s den. I’m independent and I intend to stay this way. It’s what has kept me going during rough times and the whole bunch of you are going to have to back down and let me have some breathing room. I know how to take care of her. I’ve been doing it for over a year now, and I’ve managed fairly well without any input from you.”

  “Hey, don’t be selfish. I’m not going to grab her up and run off with her. I just want to be part of her life, too. Now look at the fishes, Katy. See the little minnows. Here, baby, set the bucket right here and Daddy will show you how to put gravel in it.”

  “I mean it, Beau,” Milli’s tone caused him to leave Katy to her own games and look into Milli’s eyes.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Sharing Katy isn’t something I want to do right now. I think what we better do is fly back home and forget about the rest of the summer. Slim can do the chores and Poppy is getting along pretty well.”

  “It isn’t going to be any easier in six months or a year or even ten years, Milli. I’m her father. I’m willing and eager to acknowledge that, even if we have to go our separate ways. She will always be mine and I want her birth certificate amended with my name on it. She’s going to inherit the Bar M someday and -”

  “But like I told you. She doesn’t have to. What if I don’t want her to be a Luckadeau? She’s done just fine as a Torres this long. What if I don’t want her to inherit the ranch? Did I lose all my rights this morning when You realized she was your child?”

  “No, matter of fact you didn’t lose any of your rights, Milli. But I have rights, too. She’s mine as well as yours. And I want to share in her life. I want her to have her rightful inheritance. I want her to know the Bar M and learn to run it just like you can run Jim’s ranch without even thinking about it. I want her to know the joy of seeing a newborn calf or even pulling one like you do so expertly. There’s things I want, too, and I’m entitled to them because I’m her father.”

  “But can’t we just ease into it?”

  He cocked his head off to one side. She was as beautiful in her red two-piece bathing suit as she’d been in the off-white lace dress. He could see a couple of faint stretch marks peeping out over the top of the bottoms and wished he could have been there through the pregnancy. She’d never been just a one-night stand to him. Not in the beginning. Not one day since. He’d looked across a crowded room and found an angel. His aching heart had been soothed when they’d made love. His soul had found its mate that night, and he’d been in love with her for two years.

  “No, I don’t think we can. We might try to ease into a relationship between the two of us, but Katy is something different. She’s yours and mine and we’ll just have to get used to the fact that we both have to share. I’m damn sure not looking forward to the end of summer when you take her back to Texas, and I’ve only known her a few hours. I can’t imagine the way this old cowboy’s heart will break when I have to watch her leave with you. And it’ll break every time I have to give her back, but at least I’ll have her for a little while each year.”

  “I can’t think about that right now. It scares the hell out of me that someday she’ll call me from the Bar M and tell me she wants to live with you and not come home. And that’s only the thoughts I’ve got now. I can’t imagine how many more will come plaguing me by the time we get home tonight. Beau, what are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to play right here until Katy gets bored, then we’ll go find something else to entertain her, because today we’ve both got her and we’ll think about that and not tomorrow.”

  “Not about today or even Katy. About us.”

  “I’ve been in love with you for two years, and I fell in love with Katy this morning before I even realized she was mine. I know what I’d like to do about us. Now what would you like to do?”

  “Beau, you’ve been in love with a woman you created out of the ashes of a disastrous night. You could make her think or say or do anything you dreamed, because she wasn’t there. I’m stubborn. I say what I think and I’m not some sweet little angel on a puff of smoke who sugar coats everything. I don’t know if I love you. I don’t even know if I like you. We’ve got a child and yet you’ve never even courted me, except last night at a dance. And then you were evidently upset because you’d just been ditched by Amanda and needed someone to help you make it through the night.”

  “Give me the summer, Milli. I’ll court you, if that’s what you want, and at the end of the summer we’ll talk about what kind of plans we can make as far as Katy is concerned. That fair enough?”

  She thought about it for a while. A whole summer to worry with the issue, when she usually didn’t think about anything more than thirty minutes, sometimes not even thirty seconds. Like the issue with Amanda - she’d settled it right then and there beside the truck. If Beau hadn’t liked the way she took care of it, she would have taken Katy and walked back to the Lazy Z. How could she spend a whole summer worrying about the outcome, and yet, what a summer it would be. The thought of Beau actually courting her took her breath away. What other choice did she have? He knew about Katy now and so did lots of other people, and he did have his rights as a father, whether it broke her heart or not. But would he be courting Milli Torres as a woman, or Milli Torres as the mother of his child?

&
nbsp; “Fair enough,” she nodded.

  TWELVE

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  MILLI FILLED THE DROPPER WITH MEDICINE AND SHOT it into Katy’s mouth. It made her drowsy after the first fifteen minutes, but at least it kept her from throwing up. Who would have ever thought Milli Torres’ daughter would get nauseous when she flew? It probably came from the Luckadeau blood lines. Not that she could ever see Beau afraid of anything. He’d fight a forest fire with a cupful of water and expect not only to put it out but have a long drink afterwards. Surely he wasn’t afraid of flying. Not Beau.

  Mary hugged both of them and helped get Katy buckled into her car seat. “You be careful, now. Give your folks a big kiss for me, and don’t get any wild notions about not coming back. Your grandfather would be disappointed. Not to mention the cowboy over on the Bar M who -”

  “That’s enough, Granny,” Milli shook her head.

  Milli buckled her own seat belt, gave her grandmother the thumbs up sign, and fired up the engines to her plane. It was one of those old Russian war buzzards, a Yak-52, which had been customized with room for the pilot, co-pilot, and enough room to put the baby’s car seat behind the pilot. She’d flown a Cessna 172 at first and she loved that little bitty plane, but this old bird had taken her eye at an air show when she was in college and she decided on the spot she had to have one like it. So she sold her Cessna and with the money she’d saved from stunt shows and a season of crop dusting, she bought the Yak-52. She loved the bubble of glass over her head and felt like the Red Baron every time she flew.

  It was a far cry from the camouflaged plane she bought three years ago. She’d had it painted candy apple red with thin yellow pinstripes and viewers often said it looked like a ball of fire when she danced it through the acrobatics in a show. That’s exactly what she wanted it to look like. Just like she felt when she was doing dives and rolls. Like she was riding a piece of the sun. Like she was fully in control.

  She talked to Katy. “Well, we’ll be there in an hour, give or take a few minutes. Maybe someday you won’t be sick and you can enjoy the whole trip without having to sleep away part of it.”

  When they had gotten home from the park, Beau had told her that he had a cattle sale in Kansas City to attend on Monday and Tuesday and would be home on Wednesday. Could they go to dinner Wednesday evening?

  “With or without Katy?”

  “With, of course. There’s no reason she can’t sit in a high chair at the restaurant. Besides, it’ll be two whole days since I’ve seen her, so I’d like for her to come with us. Now Friday night is a different matter. That night, if Hilda and Mary don’t mind, I would like for them to keep her while we go out to dinner and a movie.”

  She had agreed. He’d be gone for two days and she needed to take the truth to her folks. They needed to hear it from her mouth and not the family gossip vine. When she got back, they’d sit down with a couple, of lawyers and figure out Katy’s future and she could get on with her life.

  Butterflies the size of gypsies danced in her stomach as she landed the plane on the little strip at the backside of the Lazy T ranch west of Hereford. A Yak was made to be landed on a dime and it didn’t care if the takeoff - landing strip was dirt or concrete. Her mother was leaning against her dad’s old work truck and scarcely waited for the plane to stop before she started waving and running toward it with her hands outstretched to take Katy.

  Milli hopped down. “Well, well, seems to me like I should get a little attention. I am the daughter.”

  Angelina nuzzled her face down into the soft curls on the baby’s sleeping head. “Oh, hush, you had all the attention for years. We’ve missed this baby so much. I don’t even care why you came home for two days. I’m just glad to see this critter.”

  Angelina Jiminez Torres was of half-Mexican descent and half purebred English. It was a strange combination producing a lovely woman with a soft Texas drawl. Her chestnut brown hair had red highlights, and flecks of gold floated in her pecan-colored eyes. Her face was a work of art, permanently and perfectly tanned, with a small, thin nose, soft, sensual lips, and a ready smile. But her looks were as deceiving as her ultra-feminine name, because Angelina took sass from no one. She would mourn for her husband, John, if he died tomorrow and might never look at another man even though she was only fifty years old. But she could take up the reins and run the Lazy T as well as he could, and she ruled her household even yet with an iron hand.

  She’d raised Milli to be exactly like her. When Milli stood her ground where Matthew was concerned, and later when Katy was born, Angelina was proud of her independence and glad she’d raised a daughter who could think for herself and take care of herself in the bargain.

  “So what is this big secret you called about?” she asked as they drove back to the ranch house.

  “Is Daddy home yet?”

  “No, he’s off to see about a bull, but I phoned him and he said he’d be back in the middle of the afternoon. There’s not something wrong with Poppy Torres and no one wanted to tell us on the phone, is there? Don’t tell me he’s not ever going to be able to ride again. He’ll swivel up and die if he can’t sit a horse.”

  “No, Poppy is fine. You’d be amazed how well he gets along. He’s already refused the wheelchair and only uses the walker when he goes outside. I caught him getting in the pickup by himself yesterday morning before church, and he said he was just sitting in the seat for a little while. He swears by the end of summer, he will be twostepping with Granny at the barn dances.”

  Angelina let out a whoosh of air. “That’s good news. I’ve been worried about him. Then when you called this morning and said you wanted to talk… can’t you even give me a clue?”

  “No, Momma. It’s not something I want to tell two times. We’ll eat lunch and then maybe Daddy will be home and…”

  “Okay,” Angelina parked in front of a rambling ranch house, which had never looked so good to Milli. She carried the sleeping baby into the house and laid her gently on the sofa in the great room: enormous living room, dining room, and kitchen all one open area, the furniture in soft, supple leather and weathered wood. Lemon candles burned on the square coffee table and a pot of coffee gurgled in the kitchen. Milli sank down on the end of the other end of the sofa and leaned her head back, taking in the smell that was home. Angelina always had coffee brewing. She poured two cups and took them to the living room.

  “Something to sip on while lunch finishes. There’s lasagna in the oven and a salad in the refrigerator. Now tell me all about what’s been going on at the Lazy Z. Your father and I are kicking around the idea of flying out there in August and driving your rig home. We could send one of the boys, or Jim said one of his crew could drive it home and then fly back on the commercial plane, but it would be fun for us to get away for a few days. Your grandparents whine that we don’t visit often enough as it is. So we might even go down to the valley and visit your other grandparents instead of coming right home. They have a place for Wild Fire, so you wouldn’t have to worry about her. I’m glad you decided to take the plane so you could scoot in and out for a visit.”

  John’s big booming voice filled the room when he opened the door. “Where’s my baby girl? Don’t tell me she’s asleep. And I finished my business early so I could play with her. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to do with a hug from my daughter, then.”

  Milli crossed the room and he wrapped her up in a bear hug, which was exactly what she needed right then.

  He pushed her away without letting go of her shoulders. Something was drastically wrong. Fear was clouding Milli’s eyes, and she had never been afraid of anything in her entire life. Not from the time she was born. She could whomp a rope around her hand and set the meanest bull in the rodeo for eight seconds. She could do stunts in that funny-looking airplane of hers that even made his hair stand on end when it looked like a red ball of pure fiery hell coming down for a crash and then wh
oosh, up it went again. She’d stood in front of them, declared she was pregnant and would not talk about who the father was, and she didn’t bat an eye In the worst of situations there had never been fear, only solid determination. Chill bumps danced down his arms when he thought about what could scare Milli. John wasn’t sure if he really wanted an answer to that question, or if he would rather let well enough alone.

  “So, is that lasagna I smell in the oven?” he finally asked.

  “Yes, it is,” Angelina said.

  The doorbell rang.

  Milli stepped back.

  John answered it.

  “Roses for Miss Milli and balloons and a bear for Miss Katy,” a feminine voice said.

  Angelina carried the huge bouquet of roses and balloons attached to a teddy bear to the living area. “My, oh my, maybe you do have something to tell us. Have you been keeping company with an oil baron or something?”

  Milli unpinned the card from the front of the red satin bow and opened the envelope. “Just part of the courting process. I already miss you. See you and Katy Wednesday.”

  A warm feeling like the start of a sunburn crept up the back of her neck and into her cheeks. She removed the card from the bow around the teddy bear’s neck. “Daddy loves his baby girl.”

  The blush deepened and she rolled her eyes. He must have phoned this morning before he left for Dallas to board his plane and Granny gave him her address in Hereford. If she hadn’t been coming to explain the situation, he wouldn’t have left her any other choice. He probably hadn’t even thought about the consequences of his impetuosity. She wondered if he’d telephoned his parents and told them all about her and Katy! Damn his sorry old scraggly hide anyway. If he was close enough, she’d start a shouting match that could be heard all the way to the valley in south Texas. She tried to frownbut it wouldn’t come out past the silly grin on her face.