On the fifth ring she heard Rosa’s familiar voice.
She fought the lump still in her throat. “Rosa, this is Milli. Is Beau there?”
“Where are you girl? Yes, he’s here. He’s out in the bunkhouse and won’t even come in to eat. What did that boy do to make you so mad you run away? I’m ready to string him up and he won’t say a word. Buster says he’s just lyin’ out there staring at the ceiling. Where are you, Milli? I called over and talked to your Granny and she said you’d left a note that you were on your way to find a job somewhere. Everyone is worried sick about you and that baby. Lord, we thought this was written in the stars.”
“Just get him on the phone, please,” Milli begged.
A moment later she heard the squeaky hinge on the front screen door when he opened it and the slam of the big, wooden door when he shut it behind him, and she could imagine him running his fingers through his blond hair as he picked up the phone, probably to tell her to go to hell on a silver poker and not to waste his time calling.
“Milli?
She could feel the pain in his voice.
“Please don’t talk, Beau. Don’t say a word. Just listen. I’ve made a big mistake. I got scared after yesterday. I thought…” stammered.
“What, Milli? You thought what? Just tell me what in the hell did you think?” Raw pain was still there but so was that old edge she’d heard when he thought she’d cut the fence between their properties.
“I did something really stupid, Beau. I compared you to Matthew, and in my mind you were going to run out on me and hurt me. I’m so sorry. I just want you to know I was wrong. You are fine and decent and you’re not Matthew.”
There was a long silence and she prepared herself for the click of the phone as he hung it up.
“And what are you going to do now?”
“I’m coming home, Beau. I’ll be back before suppertime. I’ve finally figured out that when it comes to you, I’m helpless. I’m hopelessly in love with you and I intend to fight for that love whether it takes standing up and fighting or dropping down on my knees and begging. I love you.”
Her heart, mind, body, and soul were in agreement and that brought peace. Beau might throw it all back in her face, but at least Milli wasn’t a disconnected being anymore.
“I’ll be waiting at the bunkhouse for you. Come here. Don’t go to the Lazy Z. I’ll call Jim and Mary and tell them you’re on your way back so they’ll quit worrying. Drive careful and tell Katy her daddy is waiting,” he said.
She heard a soft click as he hung up, without telling her he loved her.
She caught the southbound lane back out onto I-35 and headed back to face the music. Beau was going to look at her like so much trash beneath his feet, and tell her that they needed to talk about when he could see his daughter and what the visitation rights would be. Or he would tell her he was going to get on with his life, find a woman he could trust, and they’d have a house full of Luckadeau boys, and he didn’t want to acknowledge Katy after all.
She stopped at a drive-by window for lunch and by mid-afternoon she was on Highway 70, the last leg of her journey back to the same place she couldn’t wait to get away from only a few hours ago. By the time she pulled her truck into the circular driveway at the Bar M, her bones were aching from driving all day and her mind was numb from lack of sleep.
Beau stood up from the porch swing and walked slowly across the porch toward the truck. He opened the door and took Katy out of the car seat. “Come here to Daddy, baby. Been a long day for my little girl. Bet you’ve got saddle sores from sitting in that old seat so long. Meet me in the den, Milli.”
He scarcely looked at her.
Her heart rose up to her throat and tried to strangle her to death.
The best scenario she imagined as she drove was the one where he threw open the pickup door and folded her into his arms, telling her she’d scared him to death and begging her to promise never to leave him again. But that wasn’t Beau, and she knew it. If it had been, she probably wouldn’t be in love with him, anyway. If he didn’t challenge her every minute of every day, it wouldn’t be long until their relationship, physical or otherwise, would be in shambles.
She opened the truck door for herself and stretched the kinks out of her back before she followed him through the screen door, through the foyer, across the huge living room decorated in an eclectic mixture of early American and country, and into the den where a strange man sat behind a big, oversized desk in front of massive bookcases.
Beau nodded toward the man, who stood up and extended his hand, “This is my lawyer, Mr. Anderson, and this is Milli. Camillia Torres. This is my daughter, Katy Scarlett.” He turned Katy around so the lawyer could see her.
He motioned toward two dark green leather chairs that matched the one the lawyer was sitting in. Beau sat down in one, but he didn’t wait for her to sit first, and he didn’t let go of Katy.
She sat and waited for the explosion.
“As you know, Aunt Alice set things up kind of strangely. But she had her reasons, I’m sure. As a matter of fact, all Luckadeau property carries the same pre-nup agreement. It’s not just this place. I cannot sell this ranch. It has to pass from me to my children and to their children, and if my wife ever leaves me, she cannot ask for one ten-penny nail from this ranch. Do you understand that?”
“Beau, this seems unimportant right now. I know about the way the ranch is set up. Granny and Hilda told me and I know that Amanda didn’t like it.”
His blue eyes snapped as they finally stared into her brown eyes. “You need to understand this.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because, Milli Torres, you have to sign that piece of paper, and you have to be fully aware of what is on it before you sign it. Everything I acquire other than this ranch, you could ask for if you ever leave me again, but this ranch is not up for grabs,” he explained and she could see this wasn’t easy for him either.
“But I told you, I won’t hold Katy over you. I won’t contest.”
“It’s not Katy we’re talking about. It’s us. I’m asking you to marry me, Milli. I love you with my whole heart and have for two years. I’m not going to leave you, not ever. But if you ever leave me again, you’ve got to know your rights.”
“You are what?” She couldn’t believe her ears. He hadn’t touched her, hadn’t kissed her or even hugged her, and he was proposing. There was something wrong with this whole picture.
Oh, yeah. And there was something wrong with the picture last night, too.
“I’m not going to give you an engagement ring, Milli. I don’t want another engagement. I want a wife. I want you to be my wife, and I want my daughter on the Bar M where she belongs, learning to take care of the cattle, learning to love the land that’s going to be hers when I’m dead and gone. I’m not going to leave you, Milli. I’m not going to hurt you like Matthew did. I love you. And you can trust me. You’ve got my word on that, and it’s as good as a solid bar of gold. Maybe better. Matthew had gold but no integrity. Don’t judge me by him ever again because I’m a different man. I love you. I said it before and I’ll repeat it every day for the rest of my life. So if you want to marry me, just sign the papers and then we’ll talk about the rest of the problems we are facing.”
She stared at him sitting there with their daughter. He didn’t move. Neither did Milli. They didn’t reach across the span separating the two chairs and touch fingertips, or stand up and fall into each other’s arms with Katy between them. The world did not stand still and the sun was still moving toward the west. The clocks didn’t stop. It was just a normal day after all, except for the fact he’d asked her to marry him and made promises that she believed with her whole heart. She picked up the pen and signed her name right below the lawyer’s finger.
“Now, what else do we need to talk about?” she asked.
“This.” He set Katy on the floor and gathered her into his arms and hugged her so tightly she could hear his heart doing
double time. He tipped her chin back and kissed her soundly. She shivered all the way to her toes.
“Now, sir, Milli and Katy and I are going to go down to the corrals and have a long talk. Thank you for coming out here on a Sunday, and next time we have a barn dance, bring your wife and join us.”
Buster watched from the barn door as Beau opened the front door and the three of them walked slowly toward the barn. He smiled for the first time that day. Lord, he’d thought for sure Beau would die. He wouldn’t talk all day long. He’d waited more than four hours on that swing, just sitting there like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Seemed like they were doing fine at the dance and he saw Beau kiss her good-night beside the pickup, but evidently that crazy fool boy said something that upset her. Why else would she cut and run like a scalded hound? Hopefully, whatever that lawyer said had helped them to work through whatever the hell the fight was all about.
“Now, tell me again what you told me on the phone,” he said softly.
She looked up into his eyes and didn’t blink. “I said I love you. I’ll stand and fight or I’ll drop down on my knees and beg, but I love you, Beau Luckadeau, and I was wrong to judge you by Matthew’s half bushel.”
“Matthew’s half bushel?”
“You know. I judged you by his standard and that wasn’t fair. And I ran because I was scared of my own self, scared to trust you, scared of all these feelings you make in my body, scared that someday you’d leave and all I’d have left was a broken heart.”
“I’m going to tell you one more time, Milli. I love you. I love this baby we’ve made and it don’t matter if we make one more, six more, or no more, she’s my firstborn. Now I want to marry you, and I don’t want to wait forever to have you here where you belong. But I want things to be right there, too. I want you to go to Shreveport with me next weekend to meet my folks,” he said.
“You’re going to take me home to meet your momma? I’m the one-night stand from the wedding! She’ll have your hide tacked to the smokehouse door if you come dragging someone like me into her house. And remember, I’m part Mexican. What’s she going to do with that?”
“Love you just like I do. Momma ain’t prejudiced. And she’s going to fall in love with Katy, too. So is next weekend all right?”
“Only if you go to west Texas with me the weekend after that.”
“Hey, you got two big brothers. I’ve seen pictures of them over at Jim’s house. What do you reckon they’ll do? Remember, I’m the sorry sucker who got you pregnant and didn’t marry you. And I’m French and English.
Maybe those Mexicans want you to marry one of theirkind and they’ll hate my blue eyes and blond hair.”
“They love Katy and she looks just like you.”
“Guess we better make both trips to take care of things proper,” he nodded. “Now, about a wedding date. What do you think about August first?”
“Less than a month? Momma will shoot me. I’m the only daughter and she’ll want a big hoopla.”
“Nope, just a simple ceremony right here at the Bar M. It’s midway between the two families and seems only right that we start here.”
“Sounds good to me. Momma can come stay with Poppy and Granny and make plans from the Lazy Z. She’ll have to have flowers and a cake and a big reception, no matter if it harelips the governor of the great state of Texas, himself,” she said.
“That’s fine. Guess that’s all settled now.”
“Guess it is,” she nodded.
But she didn’t have that breathless, ecstatic feeling in her heart she had when he finally kissed her in the house. He’d proposed and they’d just discussed their wedding and she felt strangely as if they’d just talked about whether they were going to ride three-wheelers or horses out to check the pasture fence.
He set Katy on the ground and she toddled off to chase a passel of kittens scampering around the back porch steps. Then he carefully and deliberately took Milli back into his arms and kissed her and that terrible feeling in the middle of her chest dissolved. “And Milli, if you ever scare me like that again, I intend to turn you down over my knee and give you the whipping you were begging for.”
“You and what army?” A secure feeling enveloped her entire being and she knew she’d just made the right choice.
“Don’t ever do it again.” He left no room for discussion. “We’re not going to talk about this again. Just don’t ever break my heart like that again. Promise?”
“I promise. I love you, Beau.”
He hugged her close enough that she could hear the pounding of his heart. “I’m scared to let you drive out of here, but I’ve got to trust you just like you have to trust me. You’d better get on over to the Lazy Z. Jim and Mary are going to be sitting in hot water until you get home. Unless you want to take me to the barn before I go. Or you want to take a drive to the nearest motel.”
“I’m so tired I couldn’t hold my eyes open for another kiss,” she whispered. “Good night, Beau.”
Everything was perfect, or was it? So much could still go wrong. She hoped they were strong enough to face the hurdles and get on with their lives - together. But the thought of facing a whole tribe of Nordic-looking gods made her knees go weak.
NINETEEN
************************************************************************************************
MILLI DRESSED IN A STRAIGHT DENIM SKIRT WITH A SLIT up the side, showing off a tanned, muscular leg. Then she picked out a sleeveless, light blue lace shirt from the closet and buttoned it up the front. She heard Beau’s truck tires crunching the gravel in the driveway followed by Katy’s squeals as Beau swung her around.
They’re Katy’s kin, so don’t be so nervous. You’d think you were plain old white trash from the wrong side of the tracks the way you’re acting.
“Milli, you’re goin’ to miss the plane,” Jim called from the bottom of the steps. “They don’t hold them big birds for women just because they can’t figure out what to wear!”
“You are beautiful. I’ll have trouble keeping you for my own when all my cousins see you,” Beau said when she made it to the living room. “Especially Griffin. He’s the only one of us who’s not blond. His wife left him and he’d snatch you up in a minute to help him raise his daughter, Lizzy.”
“What color is his hair?”
“Black with a white streak right in the front. Lizzy has it, too. It’s a genetic thing from his momma, but the rest of us are all blonds. Just be careful one of them don’t try to beat my time with you.”
“One big old blond feller is enough for me,” she said nervously.
“That’s good news,” he beamed.
They settled Katy into the car seat and drove south. Beau tapped out the rhythm to tunes from an Alabama CD, and she chewed on a thumbnail.
“They ain’t goin’ to bite you, so quit chewing your fingernails.” He gently pulled her hand down and held it firmly in his.
“I had a hangnail. Besides, how do you know they won’t bite? You’re the fair-haired son. I’m the darkhaired witch who has caused a big family embarrassment.”
“They’ll love you because I do.”
“We’ll see who’s biting their fingernails next week.” She looked out the side window.
Mercy, what was she doing in this truck on the way to the airport, anyway? It was only four hours, but Beau said the baby didn’t need that big of a trip plus a full weekend. So they would drive to Dallas and catch a 30-minute hop over to Shreveport. She should have offered to fly her plane, but she hadn’t told him about that yet, and besides, she really needed the time to calm her frazzled nerves and get ready to meet the horde of Luckadeaus, who were planning a big hoedown party tonight, church tomorrow morning, a family reunion alter church, and then at six o’clock, their plane left for the return to Dallas.
She shut her eyes tightly. It was only for two days. Monday morning everything would be right back to normal. Beau lived in a make-believe world of “everything is
wonderful and everyone is going to love everyone else” but that kind of Cinderella syndrome didn’t happen in real life. Even though he had an earring in his pocket it wasn’t a glass slipper and it didn’t mean all of his family was going to drop down on their knees and slobber on her toenails. She wasn’t fair-haired Cinderella with a pumpkin coach and a dozen horses, and at midnight she was still the same old Milli.
“So why did you name our daughter Katy Scarlett?” Beau asked when they were in the sky.
Now, just exactly why did he think of that now? All these weeks and he’d never asked about her choice of names.
“Have you ever read Gone With the Wind? Or seen the movie? It’s old. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable star in it.”
He shook his head. “Saw a lot of old westerns on late night television, but not that one.”
“It’s not a western. It’s a story of the South after the Civil War, and the main character in it is Katy Scarlett O’Hara. She’s full of spit and vinegar and steps right up in a man’s world and makes a place for herself at a time when it wasn’t the thing to do.”
“So you named our daughter after a character?”
Milli set her jaw and challenged him with flashing brown eyes and drawn eyebrows. “Yes, don’t you think she can fill the shoes?”
“I just think it’s strange.” He didn’t back down from her gaze. The battle lines were drawn and even if he didn’t win, he would have the fun of making up later.
“Strange! I don’t think a fine old southern name like Katy Scarlett is strange,” she huffed.
“Katy Scarlett sounds like a character in a book. It doesn’t sound like a real name. Look at her, Milli. She looks like an Adelida or a Ruth, or something that has stability.”
“Katy Scarlett sounds like a fine southern…”
The baby whipped her little head around and stared up at her mother with big blue eyes. Milli giggled, realizing that every time they said her name she turned to see what they wanted. “Besides, I couldn’t very well name her Beau or Beauetta, now could I? Or even Antoinette, since I didn’t know your first name was Anthony. We weren’t exactly dragging family skeletons out of the closet that night she was conceived. I just picked out what I liked, and you can learn to live with it. Besides, my middle name is Kathryn and Katy is a nickname for that,” she declared.
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