by Linda Conrad
Oh, the smoke of it still smoldered, to be sure. And the hardness of his body was slow to respond to the change. But his brain had awakened from its sensual fog, and he knew he must pull away from the tempting sizzle that was Bella.
He lifted his head and gently put her arms back to her sides. Not quite able to let go just yet, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, willing her to open her eyes.
She did, drowsily lifting her lids to look at him with some confusion. "What—" she cleared her throat "—what is the matter?"
A few more splashes of cold rain managed to fall through the leaves above their heads. "It's raining, honey. I think maybe we'd better…"
Kaydie's sudden cries changed the atmosphere around them in an instant. Bella pulled away from his hands and stood to check on the baby.
"Oh, do not be distraught, nina," she cooed. "It's only the rain."
But Bella quickly lifted Kaydie from her carrier and covered her head with a baby blanket. "We should be heading back to the cabin now, I think," she told Cal.
Cal made the torturously slow effort at standing. "Yes, that would be best." His head agreed, but his body still argued the point.
Bella handed over his daughter and then made short work of cleaning up their picnic area. Cal helped her with the baby carrier, and before he knew it they were ready to go.
It grated on him that she had to assist him into the saddle. But he gritted his teeth and surprised himself when mounting the horse turned out to be much easier this time.
The pack horse was ready, the grounds spotless and all that was left to do was for Bella, along with the baby on her back, to mount the mare. Cal turned his horse in a circle and realized that the rain now came down with driving force.
"Honey, you'd better pull the tarps back out of the saddle packs so we can have cover on the way home," he warned.
She turned to do as he asked. But as she dragged the first heavy, green cloth from the pack horse's back, a lightning strike cracked the plain about a quarter of a mile from where they stood. The ground shook, a brilliant flash of white light illuminated the world and a startling shot of thunder fractured the air around them for miles.
Kaydie shrieked and Bella's body jerked in reaction. Worse, all three horses spooked, folded back their ears and jerkily danced sideways in protest.
Cal had his mare under control in a moment with one firm word and a couple of well placed hands and thighs. But Bella was overwhelmed, what with her hands and back full and two extremely scared animals to settle.
He reached down and took the tarp from her. Then he urged his mount over toward the pack mare. When he was close enough, he used his hands and his voice to soothe the frightened horse. Meanwhile Bella did her best to calm down both her mare and Kaydie.
His efforts paid off with the pack mare. But just as Bella had quieted the baby and was about to climb into her horse's saddle, the ground shook and another crashing boom of thunder rattled through the air.
"I can't keep the mare from bolting," Bella screamed over the clamor. "I can't take a chance with the baby."
Without giving it a second thought, Cal reacted. "Give me your horse's reins. I'll tie her behind my mare." When he'd accomplished that, he directed Bella to tie off the pack horse directly beside the other mare.
Still skittish, Bella's mare rolled her eyes back. There was no way Bella and the baby could mount her. "Give me your arm," he demanded of Bella.
"What? Why?"
He could see the first real sense of panic growing in Bella's eyes. Lowering his voice and speaking with as much control and patience as he could manage, Cal tried to soothe her the same as he'd done with the mares.
"You and Kaydie will ride in front of me. It'll take a little longer for us to ride back that way, but the baby will be safer and we'll all stay drier."
She stood there, shaking her head, the indecision written across her features. Lordy mercy, but she was one gorgeous woman.
"Bella, listen to me." He hesitated until he had her full attention. "The lightning has moved on. All that's left is a heavy rain, but the mares are still skittish. Keeping us together on one mare is the only answer. I'll take care of you and Kaydie. Trust me."
"But your bad knee…" she stammered.
"My knee isn't bad," he said with a forced grin. "You said so yourself. Now trust me to know what I'm doing. Give me your arm and I'll help you up."
The sleeting sheets of rain had turned to icy prickles of mist by the time Cal maneuvered their little party over the first section of ranch toward home. Settling Bella and the baby in front of him had been easier than he'd thought it would be.
Guiding his mare in a slow but steady gait, Cal chuckled at the idea of what a sight their little party must make. He'd draped the three of them completely with the extralarge tarp. Meanwhile, the other two mares drooped along behind them, splashing rainwater and mud as they went.
Kaydie had snuggled down into her dark warm cocoon between him and Bella and was soon sound asleep. Since then, there had been nothing but crackling silence to stir the air.
Every once in a while, though, he'd torture himself by taking a whiff of Bella's hair. Or he'd drive an electric current through both of them by shifting the reins in his hands and folding his arms around Bella's inviting body.
As they rode on, it occurred to him that now everything had changed. No longer was it the most important thing in the world for him to talk Bella into his bed. Although that prospect still held a lot of promise and certainly most of his interest.
But she'd trusted him enough to hand over her life into his hands. He couldn't begin to imagine when anyone else had ever deliberately taken such a drastic step with him. And that meant something. Something so profound it might take him weeks of thinking to figure it out.
Bella leaned back on her heels and grinned at Kaydie. "What a big girl you are," she praised.
Kaydie was sitting upright without the aid of pillows for the first time in her life. And all it had taken was a small bribe of a cracker, which the baby had now proceeded to stuff partially into her mouth. Of course, the little one ended up with more chubby fist in her mouth than cracker.
In the three weeks since their picnic was rained out, Bella had grown to love this child with everything she had. She knew it was foolish and that her heart would break when she had to leave, but there was no curing it.
It seemed there would be no stopping her foolish heart from falling in love with the baby's daddy, either. The man was rash, annoying and beautifully tender. She lay awake at night just yearning for him to touch her once more.
Bella shook her head at such nonsense. He hadn't made a move in her direction since the day they'd ridden home in the rain.
However, he'd been working hard at learning to walk without a crutch. She'd let him lean on her when he was too tired to go on alone, helped him unlace his orthopedic shoes late at night and massaged his sore muscles when they'd cramped with unbearable pain.
She'd had to touch most of his body. But still only as a nurse. And he'd never once made a move to change the direction of that relationship, either.
Bella tried to tell herself she should've expected him to lose interest. That's what happened with womanizers, wasn't it? But nothing she did or said could change the fact that she wanted him to want her. It wasn't smart, but it was the way she felt.
The kitchen door swung open, and Cinco strode through into the cheery room. "Howdy, family," he drawled. "Where's the daddy of the house today?" He flipped his hat onto a hook.
"Well, howdy to you, too, Uncle Cinco," Bella said, mimicking his accent. "Cal is soaking in that bathtub you so kindly had installed."
Cinco and Meredith both spent several days a week bringing things out to the cabin, playing with the baby and helping Bella with the animals or the housework. Cal's sister, Abby, hadn't come quite so often because, in addition to their regular work, she and Gray were remodeling the ranch house Gray had inherited from his stepfather when he
'd died. But the newlyweds came as often as they could.
"Dang. Something sure smells good." Cinco took a deep breath and grinned. "Whatcha cooking, little sister?"
She knew the endearing nickname did not mean the same thing to Cinco that it did to her. But it gave her a warm tingle in her soul every time he used it.
Bella stood and picked Kaydie up off the floor, dropping cracker crumbs behind her. "Those are the beans. Today is the day to cook the pinto beans." She dusted off Kaydie and checked her diaper. "I'll be making chicken and rice later, if you want to stick around for supper."
"Chicken? You're not going to cook one of the laying hens are you?"
She laughed. "Of course not. I'm not sure I could actually ring a chicken's neck … even if I wasn't friends with it in the first place." Bella put Kaydie in her high chair. "Fortunately for me … Lucy, Gracie and most especially Mabel … Meredith brought several fryers and a couple of whole chickens when she stocked the freezer last week." She turned to get the baby another cracker.
"Hold on a second. Why 'especially' Mabel?"
"Well, she hasn't been laying like the others, for one thing." Bella threw her hands on her hips. "She nips at me when I go to collect the eggs, for another. And yesterday she tried to organize a breakout."
Cinco laughed until tears came into his eyes. But before he could speak, she heard Cal moving around in the bathroom.
Bella checked Kaydie and started to excuse herself to go help Cal put on shoes. When she turned, Cinco picked Kaydie back up out of her high chair and plopped her on his lap.
Then he waylaid Bella with a look and a raised hand. "Wait, sugar," he urged. "I have something important to tell you."
"But I have to go help…"
At that moment Cal appeared in the doorway, wearing jeans but no shirt or shoes. "What's happened, brother?" he grumbled. "You figure out how your fences were breached?"
Bella hissed out a breath at the sight of Cal. Every time he stepped into view, she had to fight a reckless urge to fling herself into his arms. But when he appeared like this, his skin and hair still glistening from the bath, his muscles bunched and firm from working out, she had to blink her eyes twice in order to keep still.
"Have a seat, Cal," Cinco mumbled. "You'd better hear this, too."
Cal settled himself at the table.
Cinco watched him closely. "Hey. You made that trip without your crutch. You're steadier than I've seen you since the accident." He reached over and punched Cal in the arm. "Way to go, bro. You'll be dancing again soon."
Cal scowled. Bella noticed he'd done a lot of that lately. For a man whose grin had probably broken enough hearts to fill a grandstand, he hadn't cracked so much as a smile in days. She'd thought all along that he must be in pain, but today she wondered if it might be something else.
Cinco ignored his brother's mood and turned his attention back to Bella. "I took several calls today about you. The news isn't good, sugar."
After handing Kaydie a spoon to play with, Cinco continued. "Ray has been in constant touch with the authorities. Seems he has several old friends in the FBI, and they're telling him that your case is about to become an international incident."
"My case? What is my case?" Bella was stumped, and a sudden chill caused goose bumps on the back of her neck.
Cinco smiled at her, but his eyes remained serious. "The Border Patrol and the Texas Rangers have been working with the authorities in Mexico trying to locate those coyotes you saw commit murder. The State Department had to get involved when the Mexican authorities wanted to know why you were not sent back to help identify them."
"But … if they have not found them yet, how could I—"
"Right," Cal chimed in. "That's totally phony … like maybe someone on the Mexican side wants to get their hands on Bella … to shut her up."
Cinco nodded. "That's exactly what the FBI thought. They're calling her a material witness to a federal crime of alien smuggling and insisting that she stay in the U.S. until the coyotes can be brought to trial."
Bella was stunned. How could she have become embroiled in the middle of what seemed like two countries squabbling?
"Ray and a couple of agents will be coming out to talk to you tomorrow," Cinco told her, then turned to Cal. "Our esteemed county judge, Dr. Domingo, has also been calling wanting to talk to Bella. He apparently has a brother who is the aide to the governor of the state of Coahuila."
"He would be a very important man," Bella advised.
"What the hell does Joe Domingo have to do with Bella?" Cal exploded. "I don't know why, but I've never trusted the guy. This sudden interest by a bigshot brother is all bull. I don't want him anywhere near her."
Cinco gave one quick shake of his head and lifted Kaydie to his shoulder. "Easy, brother. The FBI doesn't much care for this sudden interest by such a heavy-duty bureaucrat from the across the border, either. They're investigating, but they don't want Bella to talk to anyone but them until they can get a better handle on what's really going on."
"Fine," Cal grumbled.
Restless and tied up in knots as usual, Cal stood and moved to the counter to get a glass of water. God. He was actually starting to enjoy being edgy and irrational.
His hunger for Bella had grown hot enough to boil his blood, he knew. But the constant, painful steam of it must've also fried his brain. Or else his brain must have lodged somewhere below his belt during the long hours of physical therapy.
All Cal knew for sure was that he'd decided against trying to get closer to the sexy Bella. But he sure as shooting didn't want her to be hurt in any way. Nor would he just stand aside and watch her be used as some kind of pawn in an international game.
He took a swig of water and offered some to Cinco and Bella, while considering what had made him so touchy. After their picnic a couple of weeks ago, it had occurred to him that he'd almost lost it with Bella. Another minute or two without the rain and he would've been inside her and watching the passion bubble up in those stunning brown eyes.
And when would he have thought about protection? Certainly not until it was way too late. How could he have been so stupid? You'd think having one child because you were stupid enough to unzip your pants without protection would be enough. Wouldn't you?
Cal glanced over to where Kaydie sat babbling away in baby talk to the side of Cinco's head, trying to get his attention. She was a pretty cute little kid, he had to admit. But he still planned to figure out a way to leave her with his brother—and certainly not create a new mess to have to deal with.
"So, anyway," Cinco continued. "Expect Ray and the FBI tomorrow. And I'll keep our distinguished county judge from finding out where you are." He stood and handed the baby over to Bella. "I've got to be getting back."
Cinco headed toward his hat, still on the hook by the door, but stopped midstride. "Aw, dang. Abby would've had my head if I'd left and forgot to invite y'all to her and Gray's barbecue Thursday night."
Bella looked up at him with wide eyes. "They wish for us to come to a big party?"
"What're we celebrating?" Cal asked.
Cinco chuckled at Bella. "Not a huge party by Texas standards, sugar. Gray doesn't much care for crowds." He turned back to Cal. "They've finished the remodeling of the old Skaggs place, and they want to show it off to their family and friends."
Cal nodded and glanced around the cabin. "Judging by what he did to this place, Gray does good work. I'll bet his stepfather's place turned out fantastic."
Cinco drove a hand through his hair and flipped the Stetson over it. "Well, it's not the Gentry, but I'd say it would come in second best. Better see it for yourself."
"We'll be there, bubba," Cal said, knowing full well if he didn't, Abby would pitch a fit. "We wouldn't miss it."
The damn afternoon was too nice. The sun shone a little bit too brightly in soft-blue skies to suit Cal. Crisp autumn breezes brought the smell of mesquite smoke and Texas prairie just a bit too gently to make him happy. He didn't
want to feel so stuffed and lazy after a great meal.
In fact, it annoyed the hell out of him that every dad-blamed thing had to seem so perfect.
He didn't need this family barbecue to remind him of happy times growing up here. The last thing he wanted to do was remember how loved and safe and free his parents made him feel back then. That time was gone forever, and Cal intended to keep his concentration focused on returning to his current life—the track, the traveling, the parties.
The only block to that focus was the exotic and wildly erotic Bella, whose presence in his life and whose troubles with her life were causing no end of lack of concentration on his part. He glanced past the pit, where earlier a side of beef had slowly rotated on a spit, and found her talking with Meredith on the other side.
Bella looked spectacular standing there with the sun in her hair, making it look like a shiny black paint job. The honey color of her skin had turned to bronzed gold in this light.
Cal sighed, leaned on his new cane and stuffed his other hand in a back pocket. A couple of days ago, when Ray and the two agents had come for their interrogation, her eyes had grown narrow and dark with concern. Today her eyes were back to their normal chocolate color with those bright sparkles at the edges.
He didn't know why, but he didn't want to ever see that black look in her eyes again. If her eyes were going to go dark, it would be because of passion—not fear. Of course, soon he wouldn't be able to see the color of her eyes at all. Soon he would be well enough to go back to racing, and Bella would become a distant memory.
Somehow that fact just wouldn't sink into his heart.
The other fact he was having trouble with was Kaydie. Right this minute, his sister-in-law was cuddling the baby and bouncing her in her arms. Cal knew both Cinco and Meredith had come to love his child—the way he'd planned. And the timing seemed perfect to ask them about taking her into their home permanently. He would even be willing to consider letting them adopt her, if that's what they wanted.