“She’s excited about seeing a couple of old people?”
Harry grabbed Dale’s arm. “Listen and listen good. You show any disrespect to Mildred and Red and you will have made an enemy of every Randall in the county. And that means you’ll be out of here before you can get settled.”
“I didn’t mean— I didn’t understand.”
“These two are the grandparents of the whole clan, even if they aren’t kin to most of them. So treat them as if they were your grandparents—or pay a price.”
“Okay, I’ve got it.”
“Then come along and I’ll introduce you.”
When they reached the kitchen, they found Melissa surrounded by several of her aunts, as well as Red and Mildred. Harry was warmly greeted, too. He introduced Dale.
“Welcome to Rawhide, young man.” Red immediately filled two coffee mugs for them and offered them seats at the table, where a plate of cookies was waiting. “Help yourselves,” he said, indicating the cookies. “You’d better hurry before the rest of them start eating.”
“Red, we really appreciate what you’re doing,” Harry stated. “Dale was living in a furnished apartment in Cody, and he doesn’t have anything but a television.”
“Oh, good, ’cause we don’t have a spare one of those,” Red said.
Harry laughed, “I think a bed and maybe a sofa would be more important than a television, don’t you, Dale?”
“Yeah. I’m getting too old to sleep on the floor.”
“Anyone who can catch cattle rustlers deserves a good bed,” a deep voice said. They all turned to see a tall, middle-aged man in the doorway.
Harry stood and extended his hand. “Hi, Jake. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“We thought since you caught some cattle rustlers last night, maybe you deserved a little help today.”
Dale stood in turn. “I’m Dale Henry, Mr. Randall. I appreciate your offer to help.”
Jake shook his hand, too. “Welcome to Rawhide. I heard you did good work last night.”
“I just did what Harry told me to do.”
Jake smiled. “Harry’s a good man. One of our favorites.”
Melissa beamed at her uncle. “I think he’s a good man, too.”
“So I’ve heard, young lady,” Jake said with a grin.
They were soon joined by Jake’s three brothers, two of whom greeted their wives with a kiss. In short order they loaded three trucks with an assortment of furniture and volunteers.
When Harry turned to go, Mildred handed him a package of cookies. “Don’t know why he’s getting everything. Here’s something you can snack on.”
“Thanks, Mildred. You’re the best,” Harry said, and leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“Watch it, boy! She’s my woman,” Red teased.
Harry glanced ahead at Melissa and Dale. “I know exactly how you feel, Red.”
“WHAT DO YOU HAVE THERE?” Melissa asked as Harry got into the truck with a box.
“Mildred gave me cookies as my reward.”
“I’m glad you got something,” she said, a hint of irritation in her voice.
“Hey, I’ll share.” Dale offered hastily. “Anything they’re giving me you can have, Harry. I promise.”
“No, thanks, Dale, but I appreciate the offer.”
“I feel like such a fraud,” the new deputy admitted. “Without you and Mike, I wouldn’t have known what to do.”
“Dale, just ignore Melissa. I hope that means she’s on my side. That’s more than enough of a reward,” Harry said, giving her a warm smile.
She smiled back at him.
When they reached town again, Harry pulled into the parking lot behind Dale’s apartment. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Russ Randall, your landlord,” he said.
Melissa stayed to guard the truck while the men went into the accounting office to see Russ. In no time, her cousin came out to help them unload.
“Hi, Melissa,” he said in greeting. “I didn’t know I’d get to see you today.”
“I rode out to the ranch with them so I could say hello to Red and Mildred. They were complaining, you know.”
Russ laughed. “Yeah, I know.” Then he noticed the other two trucks pulling up, and his parents in front. “Dad? Mom? I didn’t know you were both coming.” He turned to look at Dale. “I didn’t know you’d get such a welcome.”
Pete came over to greet his son. “Well, we’re happy to help Dale, but we also came to have enchiladas for lunch. It is enchilada day, isn’t it?”
Russ laughed. “Yes, it is, and I might just have to join you. I’ll call my wife and let her know.”
As he took out his cell phone, everyone grabbed something and began climbing the stairs. With all the willing workers, the furniture was unloaded and put in place in no time. Then Melissa joined two of her aunts, Janie and Anna, on a shopping trip.
“I’m glad you’re all helping Dale,” Melissa said to her aunts, “but Mike and Harry did most of the work last night with those rustlers. Harry even caught the other two rustlers this morning.”
Anna patted her shoulder. “We know, honey, but they’re going to be rewarded monetarily. They don’t need all this stuff.”
“Oh. Is that a secret?”
“I think so. I just wanted you to know that we’re not forgetting them. And Steve will get something, too. I’m not sure what.”
“Thanks for telling me, Aunt Anna.”
Aunt Janie grinned at her. “We know you’re just standing up for your man.”
“No,” she stuttered. “I mean, he’s not— We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, we heard,” Janie said with a laugh. “You go, girl!”
Melissa turned bright red and didn’t say anything else. Instead she focused on purchasing linens and kitchenware for the new deputy. Debating over what comforter to pick was a safer topic.
By now, Dale’s apartment was completely functional. He was quite stunned by the nice apartment and furnishings, and all the work donated by the Randalls.
“All right, it’s lunchtime. I’m buying. Let’s go,” Jake called to everyone.
“I think I should buy lunch for all of you,” Dale suggested.
“No, boy, you can buy after you’ve been here a few years.”
Melissa made sure she sat next to Harry at lunch. It wasn’t hard to do, since all the family expected it. And they made sure Dale was at the other end of the table.
Melissa didn’t care where Dale sat as long as she was sitting next to Harry. She was so glad her family hadn’t forgotten his role in apprehending the bad guys. The sheriff’s department had completely destroyed the ring of rustlers.
“Did Mike commend you for your work last night and this morning?” Melissa asked him.
Harry turned to stare at her. “Why would he?”
“Well, you were part of the raid last night. You guarded the other two men all night long and then caught the last two.”
“But I might not have caught the last two if you hadn’t noticed Mr. Lindstrom’s truck.”
“No, you would’ve caught them anyway. I know.”
“Honey, you might be a little prejudiced, which I’m pleased about. But Mike doesn’t sit around singing our praises because we do our job.”
Melissa stuck her nose in the air. “Well, I think he should. You could’ve been shot!”
“You mean like Steve?”
She nodded.
“That’s not going to happen.” Harry said in a soothing voice. “I take time to properly assess a situation, and use caution.”
Melissa looked up at him. “I hope you always do,” she said softly.
Harry leaned forward, and Melissa thought he was going to kiss her right there. But the waitress arrived with their food, and he turned away.
Melissa sighed. She wanted him to kiss her. It seemed to be all she could think about.
Her mother! Melissa remembered then that she hadn’t told her she’d be gone for lunch. She excused herself from the t
able and walked outside, pulling out her cell phone.
“Mom? It’s Melissa. I didn’t think I’d be gone this long, but Uncle Jake took us all to the café and—”
She broke off as a strong arm slid around her waist. She looked up to see Harry frowning at her, a questioning look on his face.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She nodded. “Yeah, Mom, I’m sorry. Oh, you do? Okay, thanks. I’ll see you in a little while.”
She hung up the phone and leaned into Harry’s embrace. The warmth of his arms heated her immediately. Looking into his chocolate-brown eyes, she whispered, “Should I say I’m going back to Paris?”
He smiled. “Honey, I can’t kiss you out on the street. We made that mistake once.”
“Just a little kiss?”
He bent over her and pecked her lips with his. “Maybe…you can come up to my apartment after lunch and I can really kiss you.”
“You don’t have to go to work?”
“Yeah, but I can take a minute or two. If I don’t get a real kiss soon, I may go into withdrawal. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“Definitely not!” Melissa exclaimed, and reached up to give him a brief kiss as down payment.
“Okay, let’s go finish our lunch.”
She wanted to tell him she didn’t care about lunch, but Harry was a big man. He probably needed his food. So she returned to the restaurant with him, completely oblivious to the stares of everyone in the café, including a large number of Randalls.
She could barely eat, thinking about going upstairs to Harry’s apartment.
“Are you okay?” her aunt Janie whispered.
“Oh, yes! I went out to call Mom. I hadn’t told her I’d be gone so long. But she’s had lunch and is feeling fine. She told me to take my time.”
“Oh, good. Anna and I are going to visit her before we head back to the ranch.”
“I’ll probably see you there, but…I’ve got a few errands to run first.” Her one and only errand was kissing Harry Gowan.
“No problem. We’ll keep her company.”
“Thanks. She’ll enjoy that.”
Melissa finished her lunch quickly, but continued to chat with those around her, keeping an eye on Harry’s progress. When everyone stood to go, she breathed a sigh of relief and felt her heartbeat speed up. She was going to be alone with Harry, where no one could interrupt them, even for five minutes.
She could feel her cheeks heating up, and hoped everyone would think it was exposure to the cold air. When Harry reached down and surreptitiously clasped her hand, she held on to his as if it was her anchor.
When they reached the sidewalk, everyone split up.
Harry turned toward the Sheriff’s Office. Melissa moved with him, anticipating her time alone with him.
Dale called out to Harry, “I’ll be right over, as soon as I change.”
Harry nodded. “I’ll see you there.” But he passed by the door to the Sheriff’s Office and headed for the stairs leading up to his apartment. He looked down at her. “Okay?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, smiling brilliantly.
They started up the stairs, only to be stopped by a booming voice.
It belonged to her father.
Chapter Eleven
“Hey, Harry and Melissa, where are you going?” Griff called as he walked toward them up the street.
Harry wondered if his guilty conscience had sent out a signal to Melissa’s dad. A kind of beacon that illuminated a couple headed to a romantic rendezvous.
“I—I was going to show Melissa my apartment,” he said. “She wanted to see it after touring Dale’s new place.” He figured that was as good a reason as any.
“Oh, good, I’ll come, too. I haven’t seen it since the repairs.”
Harry met Melissa’s tortured glance and looked away. At least he knew it wasn’t her happiest moment, either.
“Sure. Though, actually, it’s not that interesting. But at least it’s fairly clean today, because Dale slept here last night.”
Slowly, so Griff wouldn’t notice, he removed his hand from Melissa’s and led the way up the stairs. He unlocked the door and then stood back until both Randalls had entered.
Griff looked around, assessing the place with a keen eye. “They fixed it up real nice,” he said. “No bullet holes in sight.”
“There were bullet holes?” Melissa asked. She looked at Harry, fear and concern in her eyes.
“Yeah, there were a few.” He walked into the kitchen area. “Anybody want a drink?”
“No thanks,” she murmured. “Who did the shooting?”
Griff offered the explanation. “Steve was working undercover in L.A.”
Melissa stopped him right away. “You mean the deputy? He worked for the FBI?”
“No. Your cousin Jessica’s husband, Steve, though, of course, they weren’t married then. Anyway, Jessica had finished with her movie and decided to come home. She found Steve in her alley. He talked her into not calling the cops, and she put him in her car and brought him home. He’d discovered his partners and his boss in Washington were dirty. They came after him.”
“So he shot them here?”
“Not exactly,” Griff said. “You see, Jessica was staying here with Steve. One of the guys got past Mike and broke in. It was Jessica who killed him.”
Melissa stared at her father, her mouth agape, then turned to Harry. “I can’t believe it.” She shook her head. “I don’t know that I could’ve been that strong.”
“You don’t need to be. That was an extraordinary situation.” Harry moved nearer to her again, more than anything he wanted to pull her close to him, to let her draw from his strength. It was killing him not to take her in his arms. But he couldn’t.
Then, to make matters worse, Griff suggested, “Let’s look at the bedroom.” Without waiting, he went into the room.
Harry took full advantage of being alone for a moment, and pulled Melissa to him for a quick kiss. But it only whetted his appetite for more. Then he walked with her into the bedroom.
“Hey, you’ve got a great view of the town,” Griff remarked.
“Yeah. That’s one of the good things about this apartment.”
“For a policeman,” Griff said. “I mean, most people would rather have a view of the Rockies.”
Harry shrugged. “To each his own.”
The older man nodded. “Well, thanks for the tour. They did a great job with the repairs. We’ve got to get to the hospital. Ready, Melissa?”
She looked her father in the eye. “I’ll be right there, Dad, as soon as I have a moment with Harry.”
“One moment? I’ll wait,” Griff agreed with a smile.
“No, Dad. One moment alone.”
Father and daughter stared at each other for several seconds.
Finally, Griff nodded. “I’ll wait downstairs.”
As soon as he left the apartment, Melissa threw herself into Harry’s arms. He didn’t hesitate to kiss her, not needing his convenient excuse of kissing her goodbye.
He claimed her with purpose, his tongue entering her mouth to engage hers in a frenzied dance. Never before had he kissed a woman with this much pent-up desire, and he made sure his lips conveyed all that emotion.
Neither he nor Melissa broke the kiss; it was all they’d have, until they heard Griff bellow up from downstairs. “Melissa!”
Reluctantly pulling away, Harry muttered a curse.
She rested her head on his chest and let out a deep sigh. “I have to go.”
“I know. Me, too.”
“So I guess you kissed me goodbye again, huh?”
“I guess so.”
But as he watched her walk out the door, he realized the goodbye game was no longer one he wanted to play. His arms felt empty without her.
“YOU MADE ME FEEL LIKE a schoolgirl, Dad, and I’m not!” Melissa lambasted her father even as they walked down the street.
“You were going to a man’s apartment in
the middle of the day, when everyone could see you! You need to consider your family’s reputation around here!”
“You, of course, have never done anything like that, have you? Isn’t that what Mom was telling me yesterday? That she was a month pregnant when you got married?”
“Are you planning on getting married soon? ’Cause if you are, I haven’t heard about it!” Griff retorted, walking even faster.
Melissa sped up to stay even with her father. “Had you asked Mom to marry you when you slept with her? Tell me, Dad, and remember I’m going to ask Mom that question when we get to the hospital.”
“That’s different, and you know it! You’re planning on going back to France. You’re just making out with Harry and then you’re going to dump him!”
“Oh, so you can read the future? Can you tell me what’s happening tomorrow, or next week, or is it only my behavior you can determine in advance?”
“Tell me you’re staying here and I’ll escort you back to Harry’s apartment myself. But if you can’t tell me that, then I have nothing to say to you except behave yourself.”
“I’m not a child!” Melissa screamed at him.
“Then quit acting like one!”
They came to an abrupt halt as they entered the waiting room of the hospital and came face-to-face with the four Randall brothers.
“Afternoon, Griff, Melissa. How are you two doing?” Jake asked, his gaze alternating between the two of them.
“Uh, we’re fine. Have you been in to see Camille?” Griff inquired, trying to pretend nothing was wrong.
But Melissa stepped forward. “We’re not fine, Uncle Jake. Dad keeps treating me like I’m a child!”
Her uncle Brett leaned forward. “Now, Melissa, it’s hard for a dad to let a daughter grow up.”
“You let Jessica go to Hollywood!” Melissa retorted.
“So? I let you go to France!” Griff pointed out.
“You only did so because Mom wouldn’t speak to you until you agreed!” Melissa turned and almost spat the words at her father.
“Fine! At least I did agree! And now you have to come back to my hometown and ruin your family’s reputation?”
A Randall Thanksgiving Page 11