Fannin's Flame

by Tina Leonard

  “But would you marry me, anyway? I think I’m more of a long-term convincer than an off-the-cuff romancer. There are benefits to being married to me, I promise. For the long haul.”

  She laughed softly, unwillingly. “Fannin, I have no doubt that you would do the right thing in a flash if I’d let you. But as I said before, I’m not even close to what you ordered that night. You may say it doesn’t matter, but it does to me.”

  “Put yourself in my place. If you were calling up Dream Boat Bob, how would you describe him? Sean Connery in his younger days?”

  “He’s still pretty good now,” Kelly said. “Technically, if I’d ever ordered a man, he would have been just like you in physical appearance.”

  “I’m working on my personality. As fast as I can go,” Fannin said. “But there are some fundamental things about me I can’t change.”

  “Actually, I fell for the whole package,” Kelly said.

  “You did?” Fannin was shocked. “So…what’s the problem?”

  “Your expectations. You would resent me after a while. I don’t want to be resented. My parents resented each other totally.”

  “Hmm.” Long-distance was a tough way to discuss issues like these. He preferred to conquer Kelly with his hands. “I’m not a great conversationalist,” he said. “I reason more physically.”

  “I know. Believe me, it’s wonderful. But the thing is, I don’t think clearly around you. You totally swept me off my feet. I still can’t believe we made it in a truck.”

  “Hey, that can be a cowboy’s fantasy date,” he told her. “I’m not picky. I’d have you anywhere I could.”

  That pulled a giggle from her. “How come you’re calling now when it costs you tons, but you stopped calling when I lived in Texas?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t figure you’d leave,” he said honestly. “I thought I had plenty of time to get the ranch under control, and there you’d be, thinking it through like you should.”

  “Oops for you,” she said.

  “Yeah. You went off half-cocked and I was mad, and then I thought…I would have done the same thing.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “I would. I wish I’d paid better attention so that I could have had a passport and gone with you. Anyway, how are the babies?”

  “You are so transparent,” she said, “but I almost find your fathering determination admirable. It’s really sweet, Fannin. And they’re thriving, thanks. They seem to like fresh Irish air, lying on blankets, long walks in the meadow and me not being stressed.”

  He moved his jaw as he considered her words. “Are you getting married?”

  “No,” she said softly. “I changed my mind about Mimi’s leaf. It was a good theory, but then I knew that the only man I would ever really love was you.”

  “Then can we please figure out how to make it work?” Fannin said. “You’re killing me!”

  “I don’t mean to. Tell you what—you tell me how you see it working and I’ll see if I can see it your way. Because so far, I don’t.”

  “I’ll have to think about that,” he said.

  “I thought so,” she said.

  “FANNIN, COULD I TALK to you for a second?” Last said.

  Fannin barely glanced up from the map of Ireland he was poring over in the family library of the main house. “Shoot.”

  “Um, it’s…private.”

  “Close the door.”

  “I mean, it’s personal, too.”

  Fannin looked up, seeing the distress on his youngest brother’s face. He folded the map up. “I’m listening.” His mind was on the call he’d had from Julia, telling him his passport was ready. How was that for service? Sure, it had been a while, but he’d talked to Kelly almost every night. They’d learned a lot about each other, filled in a lot of blanks. He was going to recommend Julia and the Honey-Do Agency to everyone he met, out of gratitude for her calm guidance.

  “I’ve got a problem,” Last said. “And you’re the only one I can talk to about it.”

  “Sit down.” His brother’s tone was alarming him. He’d never seen the family philosophe so rattled. “Have you heard from Mason?” It wasn’t like Mason to be gone longer than it would take to have a passport made without checking in on the family and, most especially, the baby.

  “No. Last credit-card purchase was made in Montana.”

  “Okay.” Fannin mulled that. “He’s searching. I’ll transfer more money into that account so he can keep moving until he’s done.” Of course, where Mimi was concerned, he was afraid his brother might never be done.

  “I’ve gotten someone pregnant,” Last whispered desperately.

  Fannin’s eyes went huge, and a rock lodged in his gut. “Are you sure?”

  Last nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Anyone we know, I hope, who’s amenable to the idea of marriage?”

  Tears slid down Last’s face. “She wants to get married this weekend, as soon as we get paperwork and blood tests done. We’re supposed to go to Las Vegas to do it fast.”

  Fannin frowned. “Who is she?”

  “Her…her name is Valentine.”

  Fannin culled his brain looking for a Valentine and came up empty. “Where’d you meet her?”

  “The Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon,” Last said miserably. “She’s the receptionist. I don’t know her last name.”

  Fannin’s jaw sagged. “What were you doing out there?”

  A shrug met his question. “I don’t know. It was Christmas season, and—”

  “I remember.” Last had come home zoned, and they’d had to baptize him in cold water. It had literally taken hours for him to ease into a conscious state.

  “If I don’t marry her or pay her five hundred thousand dollars for her emotional distress, she says she’s going to go to the authorities. To sue me.”

  “Sue for what?” Slow burning flickered in Fannin’s gut. That kind of talk was serious.

  Last shook his head. “I can’t say it.”

  “Never mind,” Fannin said, his whole world bottoming out. “I got the picture.”

  TWO HOURS LATER, Fannin had a game plan. It wasn’t a good one, but it was all he had. “Julia,” he said, “it’s Fannin.”

  “Hey, Fannin. Ready to do an Irish jig?”

  “I’m actually calling to ask you to cancel the plane ticket. We’ve had something come up at the ranch. And as much as I’d like to go, I can’t.”

  “I see,” she said.

  “Probably not, but it’s something that can’t be helped. Thank you for all your help.”

  “You’re welcome,” Julia said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  “Thanks. But this time there’s nothing anyone can do.” He hung up and called the brothers in for an emergency conference. Looking them over, he realized this was the moment when he assumed the mantle of guardian for this family. Mason couldn’t help them now. No one else had Fannin’s desire to hold fast to the ranch and never leave. And that was exactly what had kept him from Kelly. His home was here.

  “We have a problem,” he told his brothers. “An assault on the good name and financial resources of the Union Junction Ranch. Last, would you care to elaborate?”

  His brother broke down sobbing.

  Fannin took a deep breath. “I’m not the only one adding to the family. Apparently, Last will be a father, as well.”

  His brothers stared in shock at the family moral compass, who sat in their father’s old wing chair, shaking with fear.

  “Never,” Calhoun said.

  “Condoms are our friend,” Archer said.

  “Treat ladies with respect,” Crockett said. “Wear your condom.”

  “We expect this from everyone but you, Last,” Navarro said.

  “Who is she, Fannin?” Bandera wanted to know. “She must be a real looker to catch Last.”

  His brother’s red-rimmed eyes told how miserable he was. Fannin was moved to pity. “Her name is Valentine, and she
works at the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon.”

  They stared at Last, their faces scrunched.

  “She wants marriage or five hundred thousand dollars for her trouble. Or she goes to the law,” Fannin said.

  Except for Last’s heartbroken gasps, dead silence hung over the room. His head was down on his arms now, and Fannin began to worry for his emotional state.

  “For now everybody stays home at night. We bring Helga back to the ranch as a chaperone,” Fannin stated. “Mimi’s had her for nearly three months. We’ll increase her salary so that she can be here, as well.”

  “Who’s going to call Mason?” Archer wondered. “We’re going to have to find him now. He’ll kill us all if he comes home and finds we’ve lost that much money.”

  “Out of the question,” Fannin said. “We are neither going to call Mason nor pay this woman that money.”

  “What are you proposing?” Calhoun wanted to know.

  “For now, we call her bluff. She may not be pregnant,” Fannin said.

  Last’s head raised with hope.

  “I’ve got a girlfriend who is, and not only will she not marry me, but she never asked for a dime. All she ever wanted was for me to move to Ireland, which in retrospect sounds like a very small request.”

  The brothers gasped.

  “That would be number five,” Crockett said. “Only seven of us left, six if Mason pulls a total Maverick.”

  “Man, we’re in deep doo around here,” Navarro moaned. “We are Malfunction Junction for sure.”

  “I don’t think we should be held hostage by a female,” Fannin said.

  “One of us is always being held hostage,” Calhoun said on a groan. “Who are you kidding?”

  “I don’t know,” Fannin said. “Something just isn’t ringing true.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Fannin,” Kelly said urgently. “Fannin.”

  She stood in his living room, watching him sleep. He looked exhausted. He had what looked like four days’ beard growth, and his clothes were wrinkled. His face was gaunt, cheekbones showing beneath dark lids.

  He didn’t move, so she set Joy and her luggage down. The little dog jumped up in her favorite cowboy’s lap, and Fannin instantly woke up. “Hey, little lady,” he said to Joy, glancing up suddenly to see Kelly looking down at him. “Hey, big lady!” he said, leaping to his feet to grab her in his arms.

  Kelly laughed, knowing she’d done the right thing by coming to the ranch. “Big because of my stomach or big because of my height?”

  “You’re no teacup poodle,” Fannin said, holding her tightly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see the father of my children,” she said simply. “I needed to see the man I love.”

  He blinked. “Love?”

  “Yeah. Love,” she replied.

  “But you were in Ireland,” he said, and she smiled, running her fingers over his cheeks.

  “I was. And Julia called me three days ago and said you’d canceled a trip to Ireland. I was astonished that you’d planned to come at all.”

  “And so?”

  “So I decided to come check on my mother,” she said coyly.

  “And?”

  “And Joy.”

  “And?”

  “And you, cowboy. I figured if you’d bought a plane ticket and still something was keeping you from my side, it must be bad. I want to help you.”

  “Do you know what happened?”

  “I’ll confess to calling Mama,” Kelly said. “She gave me the rundown.” She snuggled underneath his arm so she could stand close to him. “I choose to stand beside you and take care of you while you go through this.”

  She saw tears in his eyes.

  “You’re everything I ever wanted in a woman,” he told her.

  “You’re everything I ever wanted in a man.”

  He nodded, then kissed her deeply. “God, I missed you.”

  “You won’t have to anymore.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means,” Kelly said slowly, “that I belong with you. And if that’s here at the ranch, then that’s where I’ll be.”

  He put a gentle hand on her stomach. “I can’t ask that of you.”

  “You didn’t. I ask it of myself.”

  “When this is over,” he said, his tone serious, “and Mason has returned and everything is normal, you and I are going to live in your ring house. At least six months out of every year.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes full of love. “Once I heard that you’d tried to come to me, I knew that you loved me. Me. That it wasn’t just a fling.”

  “Yeah. It was,” Fannin said, “and I’m going to keep flinging with you until the day I die.”

  She giggled. “I am going to hold you to that promise.” Then she turned serious. “What are you going to do about Last’s problem?”

  “Fight,” he said. “That’s all we can do. I suppose you realize you’ll be marrying me with possible poverty in mind. And maybe a stain on the family name. I’m not joking you. This one’s going to be serious.”

  “Pfft,” Kelly said. “We can take ’em.”

  He grinned, the happiest she’d ever seen him. “I love you,” he said. “I always knew you were going to be mine.”

  “I love you,” she said, “and I wanted you to make me yours.”

  “The house is empty,” he told her. “We could have a fling before we run to the jewelry store. I can’t wait to put my mark on you.”

  “Fannin,” she said, giggling as he carried her up the stairs, “you’re going to hurt something. I’m getting too big for you to carry.”

  “Let’s find out. Because this feels pretty much like heaven to me.” He squeezed her bottom as he carried her, and Kelly laughed, completely in love.

  This cowboy was made-to-order—for her.

  Epilogue

  Down by the pond that Tex had beautifully landscaped, tiki torches blew gently in the early-evening breeze. The stylists from Union Junction Salon and the Lonely Hearts Salon had banded together, stringing Tex’s trees with tiny white lights and making a wonderland of the lawn.

  Kelly wore a tea-length white gown that her mother had sprinkled with tiny white seed pearls and sequins, which twinkled in the firelight. Her hair had been pulled up high by the Union Junction girls, and beautiful diamond earrings Fannin had chosen dangled from her ears.

  The ring they’d selected together was a stunner. Two carats of heart-shaped flawless diamond, it was the loveliest ring Kelly had ever seen.

  She looked up at her handsome husband, her heart beating with happiness. Helga gave her daughter away, a broad smile on her face. Everything had worked out just fine between her mother and her new husband.

  She had learned so much in her short time in Ireland. Touching her father’s things, walking where he’d walked and living where he’d lived had given her time to forgive the past. He’d had weaknesses, and two of those were his temper and an unforgiving nature. In a letter he’d left her in the family Bible, her father had talked about the disaster pride could wreak in a person’s life. You could give up the very things you loved most fighting for your pride.

  Kelly had vowed then and there to lance the unhappy memories of her past out of her soul.

  And this was the most wonderful night of her life. Kelly touched her stomach where her two babies were growing and thought about the amazing miracle that she was experiencing.

  Joy sat at her feet, her attendant. Or maybe Joy was Fannin’s attendant. It didn’t matter. The little poodle was thrilled to be down by the pond where all the action was.

  Mimi came down for a few minutes after the Jefferson men helped her father down from the house in his wheelchair. All the Jefferson brothers who still lived on the ranch were in attendance. And Frisco Joe, Annabelle and Emmie had driven in especially for tonight.

  Even Jerry and Delilah from Lonely Hearts Station made it for Fannin’s sake. They said only seven more weddings to go�
�and then the Jefferson boys would be the most married family they’d ever known.

  Of course, that brought on some sly, friendly questions as to whether Jerry and Delilah ever intended to tie the knot.

  Delilah had simply smiled.

  But Kelly knew that strangely wonderful, miraculous things could happen, sometimes when you least expected it. She was sorry about Last’s problem and Mimi’s predicament and the brothers losing Mason, but she was by Fannin’s side now, and she intended to stay there always, for better or worse.

  Being with Fannin was a wonderful place to be.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered in her ear.

  “I’m wearing the thong that brought us together,” she confessed, her smile naughty. “You can look for it tonight. Think about it when you’re reaching under my dress to take my garter off.”

  “Oh, no,” Fannin said. “Garter tossing is outlawed for this wedding, my love. No one’s ever touching anything of yours except me.”

  “Whew,” Kelly said. “You’re making me want to leave my own wedding early and head upstairs.”

  Fannin grinned. “And one day, my love, I’m going to chase you around Irish fields of green.”

  She laughed. “And I, my cowboy, will be more than happy to kiss your blarney stone,” she said as Fannin pulled her into his arms for a kiss that told her that the happiest beginning of her life was tonight.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5855-0

  FANNIN’S FLAME

  Copyright © 2004 by Tina Leonard.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.