Reunited...with Baby

by Sara Orwig

  “No, I don’t. I want you to get the hell out of Texas and away from her.” Toby brushed past him, and Luke stepped aside. Toby looked back. “You come from bad blood, bad people. You hurt my sister badly before. Stay the hell away from her.”

  Luke watched him disappear into the barn. He didn’t blame Toby for tearing into him and still respected and liked the guy. When he’d said goodbye to Scarlett when they were high school kids, he’d done the right thing, and, contrary to what she’d thought at the time, it had been for her own good.

  Toby had nothing to worry about where he was concerned. His sister wouldn’t want a serious relationship with Luke ever again because of the family he came from. Toby just said it—Luke had bad blood—and that point would be driven home once Toby got a good look at some of the disaster Luke’s dad had caused at the Double U. Luke knew for certain that what he had accomplished in Silicon Valley wouldn’t ever matter to any McKittrick. At one time, his dad had one of the finest ranches in the area, but Scarlett knew all about his parents’ drinking and the results, and wouldn’t ever want to tie her life to his. All she had to do was to compare his family to her family.

  Luke turned to go into the barn, and Toby looked up as he approached. “Can I help get him into the pickup?” Luke asked.

  “Yes, you can,” Scarlett said quickly, probably cutting off Toby telling Luke to go to hell again. She began giving directions.

  He knew Toby didn’t want his help, but with Scarlett directing and both of them working together, they had the calf lifted into the back of Toby’s pickup in seconds, with a minimum of jostling to the calf.

  “Scarlett, I put your things in my pickup,” Toby said. “I told them I was bringing you and the calf to the vet hospital, and they’re ready for you. Thanks for your help, Weston.”

  “Glad to. Thanks, Scarlett. I know you’ll save him.”

  “The hospital will,” she said. “Take care of the mama.”

  Before he could answer, Toby started the ignition and drove off. Luke went to his pickup and got out his phone to make the calls he planned for the day. He felt a loss with Scarlett gone, and he knew that was ridiculous. Scarlett wasn’t really any part of his life. The sooner he got that through his thick head, the better. He looked at the list before him and tried to get Scarlett out of his thoughts.

  Will was one of the first calls he wanted to make, but as he started to dial, he received a text and saw it was the PI, Cole Sullivan. What had happened to cause Cole Sullivan to text him so early in the morning?

  Five

  He read Cole’s text and saw that the PI wanted to meet with him, but not at his hotel. Cole suggested a private room in the Cattleman’s Club at 9:00 a.m. Luke sent a text back that he would be there.

  About fifteen minutes before the designated meeting time, Luke walked into the Cattleman’s Club. It brought back memories of eating there with his dad, who had been a member. Later, when he was home visiting his dad, he joined. By then he was out of college and working in Silicon Valley and had started West-Tech.

  He parked and headed toward the front door of the large dark stone-and-wood rambling building. New rooms had been added on through the years, but it still retained some of the rooms built in 1910. Sunshine spilled over the tall slate roof. Inside, the high ceilings left room for hunting trophies and historical artifacts that adorned the paneled walls.

  He went to one of the private meeting rooms, and in minutes Cole stepped inside and closed the door. “Thanks for coming on short notice. Meeting here seems better because, if anyone is following either of us, there’s no assurance we’re here to see each other. You might watch to see if you’re followed.”

  “I will, but I go see all sorts of people in Royal. I don’t think Rich will have any interest in me.”

  “He may be a thousand miles from Texas, but it pays to be careful. No one has found Jason Phillips yet.” Cole placed a briefcase on the table, opened it to reveal papers, tablets and envelopes. He waved his hand.

  “I have all this for you to sort through. Some of it, Sheriff Battle has gotten and let me copy. Some of it, I’ve found. The Club has been cooperative and given us some information. Actually, the big banks here have cooperated, too. They always want to catch anyone who has taken as much as a nickel from the bank. They don’t give up.”

  Luke smiled. “Probably not good for business to let anyone get away with theft.”

  “This is all for you—it’s copies, but this holds information that hopefully you can use in your new programs and come up with something.”

  “Good deal,” Luke said, moving the papers, receipts and folders from Cole’s briefcase to his own.

  “That’s it. If you want to leave, I’ll go have a cup of coffee and stick around. Or vice versa. I just don’t want to walk out of here with you.”

  “Nope. I can sit right here and start looking at this stuff, and you can go.”

  “Okay. Thanks. Good luck with it. We need to nail the bastard because one man may be dead and Will was lucky he survived.”

  “Thanks, Cole. We can get a locker here, share the combination and you can just put info in it, and I can get it out,. And then we don’t have to be here even close to the same time.”

  “Fine. I’ll go now and get the locker, text you the combination.”

  “Can’t beat that.”

  Luke shook hands with him, and Cole left. Luke put everything away and left to go back to his hotel, where he put the briefcase in the safe.

  He had an appointment with the builder again and left for that.

  Midmorning he saw he had a text from Scarlett telling him the calf was doing better. He smiled, thinking about this amazing woman and her way with animals. She was doing what she did best, caring for animals, being mother to little Carl. Luke always felt he was doing what he did best by working in Silicon Valley and devoting his efforts to electronics. However, now that he was in Royal, he didn’t feel the urgency to get back to California that he had expected to feel.

  Maybe it was just because he was needed here to straighten out the mess made by his dad. Once he got the ranch up and running and bills paid, saw his dad, helped Will get some proof about Rich Lowell, then he would probably feel that itch to get home to California. But right now, he wanted to see Scarlett. He sent her a text inviting her to dinner. She had turned him down before, and she would probably turn him down again, but maybe she would accept.

  Thirty minutes later when he heard a slight ping that indicated he had an answer, he picked up his phone. She’d accepted this time. His pulse jumped, and the whole day looked better. It was foolish to feel this way. He couldn’t ever mean anything serious to her or be a permanent part of her life, but she was going to have dinner with him, and he wanted it to be as special as possible.

  Luke left, stepping outside to text details to her. In minutes he got a brief answer back from her that made him smile. She would be ready at five today, and she should get home by noon tomorrow. Her mother would keep Carl.

  Luke’s heart thudded with anticipation. She would be with him tonight. He started making arrangements, finished up his appointments, then went back to his hotel suite to get ready for their evening. He had a limo driver in his employ who was also a pilot and had flown out the day after Luke’s arrival. Luke couldn’t wait to see Scarlett. They’d been apart only hours, but it had been way too long. Scarlett was special. She always had been, and that hadn’t changed.

  * * *

  Scarlett changed clothes four times before she decided on a simple, sleeveless red dress. It had a straight skirt, a belted middle and a scoop neck. Excitement made her eager for the evening. She would be with Luke, and he would see to it that they had a good time. She wanted this night with him. She’d had too many empty nights, too many tears shed long ago over him. This was a special moment, a night to share with him and she wanted it.

 
She opened a drawer to look at jewelry, which she didn’t wear often. She touched a gold bracelet and picked it up to look at it. Luke had given it to her after they had made love the first time.

  She couldn’t ever get rid of it. She never wore it—she had worn it when they dated, but once he left her, she dropped it into a bottom drawer and didn’t see it often for a long time. Now it looked sort of like a kid bracelet. She just had never wanted to part with it.

  When she was ready, she stepped into high-heeled red pumps. Her hair was short, easy to run a comb through. She checked her reflection in the mirror one last time and then went to find Carl and her mother. Joyce had just finished feeding him.

  “Mom, I would take him, but he has little bits of food on him.”

  “Don’t pick him up. He could easily spit up. You look pretty, Scarlett.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Now stop worrying. Luke is taking me to dinner to repay me for taking care of his animals and saving this little calf.”

  “I just don’t want him to hurt you again.”

  “I’m not sixteen, and I’m not going to get hurt,” she said, hoping she could live up to that promise.

  She looked at her baby and he smiled, his dimple showing, and she had to laugh. She leaned closer to him. “You’re trying to get me to come close and then you’ll get part of your dinner on my dress. You’ll probably think it’s prettier that way.” He laughed, and she did, too. “You are sneaky, Carl McKittrick,” she cooed, and they both laughed again. “Mom, isn’t he adorable? I think he is,” she said, without waiting for her mother’s answer.

  “He has the best disposition of any baby I’ve ever seen. I thought you did, but he’s even jollier than you were. Scarlett, are you sure you want to go to Dallas with Luke tonight?”

  “I’ll be careful. Stop fretting, Mom.”

  “Never,” her mom said with a beleaguered sigh. “Oh...you have mail that came this afternoon. I didn’t get out to the box until late. It’s in the dining room. You have something from Luke.”

  “He paid his bill, but he said he sent something extra and to use it to help the strays I take in,” she said, hurrying to get the mail. She moved slowly as she returned. “Mom, he said he sent this because he knows I help strays and all that. He said just to put it in my business however it will help,” Scarlett said, staring at the check in her hand in Luke’s bold scrawl.

  “What’s wrong with it? You sound worried,” her mother said.

  Scarlett stared at the check and then looked up at her mom. “I can’t take this. He said use it to help animals. I still can’t do it.”

  “Why not?” Joyce asked, frowning. She crossed the room to look at the check. “My heavens! That’s half a million dollars, Scarlett. You could build a whole second facility with that.”

  “I could do all sorts of things, including buy TV spots where I could show the dogs that are up for adoption. Half a million, Mom. I could do so many helpful things for the rescue animals with that much money.”

  “No, I don’t think you should. You don’t want to owe Luke Weston anything. Half a million. Scarlett, he wants you. He’s trying to buy you.”

  She shook her head. “Luke knows me well enough to know that if he gave me five million, I wouldn’t feel obligated. It’s a gift. He can afford it, and I can use it to help stray and injured animals. I can add on so we can take in more homeless animals. I have to give this one some thought.”

  “Just don’t let his money get you carried away.”

  She looked at her mother. “Mom, don’t worry about it. Whatever I do, the money won’t make one bit of difference about how I view Luke. He broke my heart once. It won’t happen again, especially not because Carl will be involved. I’m not going to do anything to let Luke hurt Carl.”

  “If you weren’t my daughter, I wouldn’t believe that. But you are my daughter, and I know you, and I think you mean every word you just said.”

  “Honestly, he may just be that grateful. You can’t imagine how pitiful his horses and some of the cattle were. They were just hours away from dying, Mom. If I hadn’t been there, he would have had to put them down. You’ve lived on this ranch long enough to know what that’s like and how much it hurts when it’s just one animal. When it is a lot of livestock, it’s excruciating. I saved him a lot of money, too.” She smiled. “Not half a million, mind you. But, in any event, I’ll think about this. I can save so many animals if I cash this check. I won’t have this chance again.”

  “Just as long as it doesn’t come with strings.”

  “Luke knows me better than that.”

  “Your brother will blow his lid.”

  Scarlett laughed. “Yes, he will. Toby will be suspicious of Luke’s motives. I’m sure of that.”

  “Your brother is just protective.”

  “I know it. He’s a good brother. A little overbearing sometimes, but good. Just wait until that cutie daughter of his grows up and starts dating. I feel sorry for the boys that go home with her.”

  Her mother smiled. “His daughter may have enough of Toby in her that she’ll be a match for her dad.”

  Scarlett laughed as the doorbell rang. “There’s Luke. Bring Carl and come say hello. I don’t dare carry Carl in there in this dress.”

  Her mother wiped Carl’s face, unbuckled him and picked him up to follow Scarlett toward the front door. As Scarlett went to the door, Joyce carried Carl into the living room.

  When Scarlett opened the door, her heart skipped a beat as she looked up at Luke. He wore a navy suit, a white dress shirt with gold cuff links, a navy tie and black boots. He had on a white Stetson, and he took her breath away. She didn’t think she had ever seen a man look as handsome as Luke did at that moment.

  “Hi. Come in and say hello to Mom and Carl.”

  “Hi, yourself. You look gorgeous,” he said and she smiled.

  “Thank you.” She led him into the big living room where Joyce was holding Carl and turned to face them, smiling at Luke.

  “Hello, Luke.”

  “Hi, Mrs. McKittrick.” He walked closer. “Hi, Carl.” Carl gave him another dimpled grin. “He is one friendly kid.”

  “He gets smiles all day,” Scarlett said, “so he’s friendly in return. He’s a happy baby. Don’t stand too close. He just had dinner, and he might have some food stored in those little fat cheeks. Food that he could blow out all over you. That would give him a laugh.”

  Luke grinned. “Thanks for the warning. He looks delightfully harmless. So he has a sneaky side.”

  “He just thinks it’s funny.” She leaned over to kiss Carl’s cheek and moved away quickly. “Bye-bye, sweetie. Mom, I have my phone and I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Both of you have a nice evening,” Joyce said politely.

  Scarlett knew her mother didn’t want her to go out with Luke and hadn’t forgiven him for the hurt he caused when she was a teenager. But Scarlett always wondered if Luke had wanted her to drop out of school at sixteen, marry him and go off to California with him, if her mother wouldn’t have fought that to a bitter end. She had a feeling that her mother and her brother both would have been adamantly against her marrying Luke. Scarlett shoved aside the speculation on the past. It hadn’t played out that way, and her mother and her brother were both still angry with Luke. Either way, he had lost their friendship.

  Luke took her arm, and they walked to the waiting limo.

  When they were settled in the back seat of the limo, she smiled at Luke. “Thank you for your so very generous check to me for my vet services.”

  “I’m really grateful for all you’ve done, Scarlett.”

  “Your check goes way beyond what I did.”

  “Not to my way of thinking. No other vet would have given me the time and attention that night that you did, and you know it. No one else would have worked straight through the night. No other vet would ha
ve saved as many animals as you did. Not only that, I can afford what I paid you, and you can use it to save a whole bunch more mutts.” He sighed heavily. “Too bad you didn’t come along in time to save old Mutt. I did love that dog, and I should have taken him with me to California. There are a lot of things I should have done.”

  “You need to stop blaming yourself for all your dad’s shortcomings, Luke. You had no idea.”

  “You’re right. I need to leave that all in the past and just fix things as fast as I can.”

  “You’ve really stepped up, Luke.” She met his gaze. “And, yes, I’ll use your generous check to help the rescue animals and get some up-to-date equipment for my clinic, and I’ll give part of the money to the Royal Veterinary Hospital.”

  “Save your money there. I’ve already sent them a check because of my calf.”

  “You get what you want in life now, don’t you?” she said, smiling at him.

  He looked at her without smiling. “Not really. There are some things all the money in the world won’t buy,” he answered, his blue-green gaze holding her mesmerized. Was he talking about her? She drew a deep breath and told herself that was ridiculous. She didn’t mean anything to Luke beyond a quick romp in the hay. He had proven that a long time ago.

  “I suppose, Luke.”

  “You’re lucky, Scarlett, to have little Carl. I never thought I’d feel that way about a baby, but he’s a cute little kid and I’ll bet he brings you and your family all kinds of joy.”

  “Yes, he does. Toby and Naomi’s daughter is a little doll, as well. It’s fun to have the little kids in the family. You’ll have a family someday, Luke,” she said, thinking of that half million.

  He shook his head and looked out the window. “I don’t think so. I never want a marriage like my folks had. That’s strike one. I have bad genes. That’s strike two. I don’t want to settle down. Strike three. Three strikes, and you’re out,” he said, and she heard the bitter note in his voice.