Caitlyn’s Prize

by Linda Warren

“But it wouldn’t solve anything, would it?”

  Her pulse took a nosedive. She’d never expected him to be honorable.

  “I guess not,” she replied.

  He swung to his feet before she realized his intent. “Hang on to your dreams, Caitlyn. You deserve a man who can love you completely.”

  She stared up at him. “What if you’re that man?”

  He expelled a breath. “I’m not. As I told you, I don’t know a thing about the kind of love you need. The kind you deserve.”

  “We all know about love, Judd. It’s something we’re born with, but you have to be willing to open your heart to accept it. And to give it. It’s really very simple.”

  “Not for me.”

  “As I told you before, love starts by caring. I bet you care about that black horse of yours.”

  “I sure do.”

  “You’d be hurt if something happened to him.”

  “I suppose.”

  “And your mom. You don’t make waves because it would hurt her feelings. That’s caring. That’s loving. That’s how it starts and grows. It’s putting someone before yourself. It’s trust and respect. It’s a special connection between two people and it’s felt in the heart—deeply. I know you’ve felt those emotions.”

  “Not the way you do, Caitie.”

  Words hung in her throat and she wanted to hit him, hug him, do anything to change his mind. Sadly, she realized he was the only who could change his way of thinking.

  Judd glanced at the sleeping calf. “What are you going to name him?”

  She thought for a second. “How about Solomon?”

  “That works.” He reached for his hat in the hay. Fitting it onto his head, he said, “Goodbye, Caitlyn.” Then he turned and walked out of the barn.

  She scrambled to her feet and watched as he strolled to his truck. Besides her family, High Five had always been the most important thing in her life. But now she wondered if it really was. A strange feeling settled on her. Had her father been right?

  Was the man walking away more important to her than High Five?

  Did she love Judd Calhoun that much?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “CAIT.”

  Caitlyn jumped and pushed her palm to her chest. She’d been so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t seen Maddie walk up. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Who’s that leaving?” her sister asked, watching the taillights disappear down the road.

  “Judd.” Cait turned and went back into the barn.

  “What did he want?”

  She closed the gate of the stall. “He was checking on the calf.”

  “Is he going to let you keep him?”

  “Yes.” Cait flipped off the light and the barn was shrouded in darkness. “We named him Solomon.”

  “We did, huh?” Maddie remarked in a mocking tone as they strolled toward the house. “That’s progress.”

  “Not really,” Cait replied.

  “Why not? No, don’t answer. Wait.”

  They walked into the kitchen and Maddie hurried to the stove. “I’ll make hot chocolate.”

  Cait frowned. “It’s August in Texas.”

  She shrugged. “So? I just won’t make it so hot.”

  “Whatever.”

  A few minutes later, Cait sat with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, wondering if she should go raid the wine cabinet. She might need it to keep thoughts of Judd at bay.

  The two sisters drank in silence.

  “What did Judd say?” Maddie asked at last, eyeing Cait over the rim of her cup.

  She took a long swallow. “He’s not set on revenge anymore.”

  “Oh, Cait, that’s wonderful.”

  “He’s still buying High Five if it’s not showing a profit, though.”

  “Oh.”

  “But he was different tonight.”

  “How?”

  “He was genuinely sincere. He said Dad was wrong and I can run this ranch as good as any man.”

  “That was nice.”

  “Mmm.” She placed her cup on the table. “But I didn’t want him to be nice. I wanted him to throw me in the hay and make passionate love to me. I didn’t want to think about profits, ranches or revenge. I just wanted to think about him and me. I wanted love to make a difference.”

  “But it doesn’t to Judd?”

  “No. He says he’s incapable of the kind of love I want.”

  “Everyone’s capable of love.”

  “Try telling that to Judd.” She carried her cup to the sink. Leaning against the cabinet, she added, “The last couple of months I’ve been hoping that Judd and I could work out our differences. I never realized until tonight that I wanted the working out part to come with an I love you.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “I now know that’s never going to happen. I’m going to be a lonely old spinster yearning for Judd Calhoun.” She walked back to the table, gritting her teeth to keep from bursting into tears.

  “Sometimes, and I say this from my vast experience—” Maddie rolled her eyes “—men don’t know the difference between love and lust. I mean, you’re never going to love anyone the way you love Judd, so wouldn’t it be better to be with him than without him?”

  “This from the eternal believer in love and fairy tales.”

  “Life sometimes changes our point of view.”

  “Mmm. But I can’t see myself settling for anything less.” Cait stood and linked her arm through Maddie’s, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s go to bed.”

  Arm in arm they walked toward the stairs. Halfway there Maddie stopped. “Oh, I came out to the barn to tell you that Sky called, but I got sidetracked.”

  “What did she have to say?”

  “She said Todd’s parents hired a P.I. and he was snooping around a diner not far from her apartment. So she and Kira are on the move again. She said she’d call when she found a safe place.”

  “Did you tell her to come home?”

  “I did, and she said she’d think about it.”

  “Why can’t she see this is the safest place?”

  “Sky has to make her own decisions.”

  “Hopefully she’ll turn up in the next day or two.”

  Later, Cait tossed and turned. Her thoughts were on Judd. Tonight was the final goodbye. He knew it and so did she. That’s why he hadn’t made love to her. He didn’t want to complicate the issue.

  Tomorrow her broken heart would start to mend—once again. Tomorrow she would continue her quest to save High Five. That was all she had now—a lot of empty tomorrows.

  A choking sob left her throat and soon the tears followed. She made no move to stop them. They were what she needed at this moment in time.

  JUDD SPENT A RESTLESS night, but was in his office early. All night he’d kept wondering if he’d lost his mind. Caitlyn wanted to make love and he’d said no. Why had he done that?

  Make love?

  He just caught his choice of words. It wasn’t love. It was sex—nothing but honest sex. Then why had he made the slip? Did he want her love?

  “Judd.” Brenda Sue walked in with that nonchalant attitude that irritated the hell out of him. The woman didn’t know what privacy meant. “Oh.” She paused for a brief second when she spotted him. “I didn’t know if you were in here or not, but Harland’s been looking for you. He checked at the house and you weren’t there, and he waited last night for you to come home, and finally gave up. I asked him what was so important but he wouldn’t say. He keeps things pretty close to his chest, if you know what I mean. You know he’s just a tad too serious and grouchy for me, but then most men are like that and…”

  He held up a hand and she actually stopped running off at the mouth. “Gave up on taking a breath, huh?”

  “Well…” She fidgeted in a self-conscious way he’d never seen before. Brenda Sue never seemed ill at ease. “Monty says my talking doesn’t bother him and I have to be, well, myself. I feel awkward when I have to think about what I’m saying
. That’s just not me, so if people don’t like it, they can stuff it. Oh…” She quickly backpedaled. “I don’t mean you. Heavens, no. You were actually nice to me and I’ll really try not to be annoying when you’re around.”

  It wasn’t working.

  “But Monty likes me the way I am. No man has ever said that to me before and he was really serious. Sometimes you can’t tell, but—”

  “Monty Crabtree who works here?” Judd interrupted, to save his sanity. In his forties, Monty was a quiet, hardworking man who was a cowboy to the core. Conversing was not his forte. He preferred peace and quiet. The thought of Monty and Brenda Sue as a couple was almost comical. Or maybe they were made for each other. What did Judd know?

  “Yeah. His mother lives down the road from my parents. I had a flat in front of her house about two weeks ago and Monty fixed it. He was so nice. Men usually are jerks, but he actually listens to what I’m saying. I asked if I was getting on his nerves and he said the sweetest thing. He said I could never get on his nerves. Isn’t that adorable?”

  “Yep.” Judd was all choked up. “Tell Harland I want to see him—now.”

  “Oh.” She seemed genuinely upset that he didn’t want to hear about Monty. And just to make sure she thought he was his normal grouchy self, Judd added, “And don’t distract Monty from his work.”

  She winked, all bubbly and happy. “You got it. I’ll go and find Harland. Who knows, I might see Monty. You wouldn’t mind that, would you? I mean, I wouldn’t be interfering or anything in what he was—”

  “Get Harland!” Judd shouted.

  She cleared the doorway in a split second.

  He leaned back in his chair, not able to get last night out of his head. His love—that’s all Caitlyn wanted. Why couldn’t he give her that? She’d said it started with caring. He took care of Whiskey Red for her, not letting anyone touch the horse but him. What did that say?

  It said he was a flawed individual incapable of accepting the greatest gift of all—love. Was that bull? Cait had said everyone was capable of love. For the first time in his life Judd wanted to experience the emotion, to give Caitlyn everything she wanted. But just like fourteen years ago, he was the one standing in the way of their happiness. Could he continue to live like this?

  A tap at the door interrupted his thoughts.

  “Come in,” he called.

  Harland stepped in and closed the door. “Good morning, Judd.”

  “Morning.”

  The foreman took a seat in front of Judd’s desk. “The Belle woman is a problem again.”

  “Walker contacted me yesterday about Caitlyn and the calf.” He leaned forward slightly, watching Harland’s face.

  “Good.” The man nodded. “Something has to be done. The woman pulled a gun on us.”

  “Walker and I talked to Caitlyn. She said you threatened to kill the calf.”

  “Come on, Judd. You’re not going to believe that, are you?” Harland moved awkwardly in his chair, the only sign he might be nervous.

  “I just know one of my prize heifers was found miles from the corral she was supposed to be in. How did that happen?”

  “One of the boys must have left the gate open for a second while he was feeding. As soon as I realized she was gone, we tracked her. But we were too late.”

  Judd rested his forearms on the desk, his eyes holding Harland’s. “That’s a damn big loss and I’m not happy about this situation.”

  “I know. I’ll have a talk with the boys.”

  “I’ll talk to the boys.” His words were clipped.

  Harland stood. “If that’s what you want.”

  Judd hated his condescending tone. “Gather them at the bunkhouse in ten minutes.”

  “Okay. Afterward, do you want me to go over and pick up the calf?”

  Judd could see Harland was looking forward to the task. “No. Miss Belle is keeping the calf.”

  “What?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “You have a problem with that?”

  “It’s your decision.” From his voice he might have been saying, “You idiot.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Harland walked out without another word.

  Ten minutes later Judd talked to the cowboys and made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate sloppy work and the loss of a prize animal. He was angry and he didn’t hide it. He wanted to get his point across.

  Later he and Ron went over the books, including gas, feed and supplies. Judd was checking every expense of the ranching operation. Every now and then he was distracted, though. You can love. You just have to allow yourself to. Caitlyn’s words intruded at the oddest times.

  Was she right?

  THE DROUGHT WAS CAUSING a problem, but another hurricane was forecasted to hit Galveston by the end of the week. The last storm had missed them completely. Cait was hoping for rain.

  She put off culling the herd until the bad weather was over. With enough rain, the ranch could survive the hot summer. They spent the day making sure High Five was ready for whatever Mother Nature threw at her.

  Later Cait stood in her bedroom and looked out the window toward Southern Cross. She wondered if Judd had talked to Harland, and what kind of excuses he’d gotten for the heifer being so far away from her corral.

  No one had come for the calf, but she knew Judd’s word was as good as gold. That’s the kind of man he was—honest and forthright. She wished he’d allow himself to express all his other good qualities. But wishing was going to give her a big headache.

  She wasn’t giving up, though, even if she had to use some of Sky’s tactics.

  Stretching, she realized how tired she was. Dust and sweat coated her skin and there was dirt beneath her fingernails—not sexy, attractive qualities. The responsibility of the ranch was draining her femininity. Was this what her father had meant?

  She caught sight of the red dress hanging on the back of her closet door. Grass stains and dirt marred the skirt. She took the garment down and held it to her, dancing around the room. Closing her eyes, she thought of Judd and his strong arms and tempting kisses. All those feminine feelings resurfaced in a flash and she smiled. Oh yeah, she was still alive, and she knew this was what life was all about.

  Somehow, some way, she had to convince Judd of that.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  JUDD SPENT THE WEEK investigating the books of Southern Cross. It didn’t take him long to find discrepancies. And they all pointed to Harland. After talking to his gas and diesel supplier, Judd found Harland was taking kickbacks from a guy in the office. He always ordered five hundred gallons of fuel, but the company only delivered four. Southern Cross paid for the five and the guy in the office refunded the difference, splitting it with Harland.

  Harland was chipping away at the ranch’s profits, a fact that angered and frustrated Judd. It was all done under his nose. He had trusted the man like his father had. But Harland didn’t have allegiance to anyone but himself and his pocketbook.

  Walker had also uncovered damning evidence. Two Southern Cross Brahman heifers had been sold in Oklahoma and one in Louisiana. The buyers still had the receipts, with Harland’s signature. The foreman hadn’t even tried to cover his tracks.

  “Since I don’t have a holding facility for prisoners, I contacted the county sheriff. I’ll arrest Harland and transport him to the jail. The sheriff is sending a deputy for backup in case there’s a problem,” Walker said as they sat in Judd’s office. “We have enough to put him away for a long time.”

  “Yeah, but I want to talk to Harland before the deputy gets here.” Judd stood and went into the outer office. “Brenda Sue, tell Harland I want to see him.”

  She looked up from her desk. “What? I don’t know where he is. This is a big place and I step in stuff when I go out there. I have new shoes and I don’t want to get—”

  “I didn’t ask for an excuse. I asked for you to find him—now.”

  “Oh, okay.” Brenda Sue got to her feet in a huff. “I can see yo
u’re in one of those moods. I don’t understand why men are so touchy. You’d think you were the ones with PMS, but oh, no, you get off easy and still most of you act like a bear with a sore head. I’ll never understand men and I’ve given up trying.” She was still chattering as she went out the door.

  Judd headed back to his office, but swung around again when he heard the door open. Brenda Sue stood there. Damn it! Today wasn’t a day to try his patience. He was in a mood to fire everyone on this ranch, including her.

  “Now don’t lose your temper,” she said in a rush. “Monty was outside and I asked him where Harland was and he said in the bunkhouse. There’s no way I’m going in there with all those cowboys, so Monty went to get him. Isn’t that sweet?”

  When Judd didn’t respond, she added, “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

  “He better be here in five minutes.” With that, he slammed his office door.

  “Calm down, Judd,” Walker said.

  Judd ran his hands over his face. “I’m just so damn angry. I haven’t been this angry since…”

  “Since Caitlyn left,” Walker finished the sentence.

  He sank into his chair. “I forgot you were home at the time.”

  “Yep. Your father and you were certain she’d come crawling back.”

  Judd grunted. “I was a fool for listening to my dad.”

  “Jack had old-fashioned ideas about women.” Walker made a steeple with his fingers and Judd could feel his eyes on him. “But I sense you see those ideas for what they are. Rubbish and chauvinistic.”

  “It’s hard to change habits of a lifetime.”

  “But you and Caitlyn seem to be getting along a little better. I mean, I thought you’d take that calf back come hell or high water. Your father would have.”

  “Yes, he would, and probably have her arrested, too.” Judd drew a long breath. “I’m trying very hard not to be like him.”

  Walker eyed him observantly. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

  A tap at the door prevented Judd from answering, and it was just as well. He didn’t have an answer.

  “Showtime,” Walker said, getting to his feet and moving to Judd’s right.