The Renegade Cowboy Returns: The Renegade Cowboy ReturnsTexas Lullaby

by Tina Leonard

  Chelsea nodded, letting that be her response to Kendall’s pointed query.

  “I’d like to help you, welcome you to the family.”

  Chelsea wasn’t sure how much goodwill she would actually receive from Kendall. “I don’t need a whole lot of welcoming, to be honest. As I recall, you think I’m marrying your brother simply for legal status.” She shrugged. “I think that sums up your attitude about me.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  “You didn’t. My feelings aren’t hurt that easily.” Chelsea looked at the cucumber sandwiches and selected two more. “I am marrying your brother for legal status. That’s what he offered.” She gave Kendall an even look. “And I happen to be pretty fond of Cat.”

  Gage’s sister returned her gaze. “Would you be willing to sign a prenuptial agreement?”

  She shrugged. “If Gage wanted me to.”

  “Because I’m sure this marriage wouldn’t be about money for you,” Kendall said.

  “Gage says he lives by his trade. He didn’t offer me money.” Chelsea frowned. “To be honest, I make a good living that’s sufficient to take care of myself and my mother. Money has never come up in any conversation Gage and I have had.”

  “You can look around you and see that Gage is well-off,” Kendall pointed out.

  “He doesn’t seem interested in claiming his fortune, and it’s not something I care about,” Chelsea said. “Is money why you invited me to tea? Not to welcome me to the family?” She put down her cucumber sandwich. “Not that I expected much more. Gage warned me that the family wasn’t the welcoming sort. But I do take exception to your idea that I’m marrying him for money.”

  Kendall briefly lowered her lashes. “Please don’t take it to heart. I’m looking out for my brother.”

  “I don’t think so,” Chelsea said cheerfully. “Gage doesn’t seem to want anybody looking out for him, and if he did, I’m pretty certain it wouldn’t be anyone in this house.”

  “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  Chelsea smiled. “As Gage has said, he’s not a complicated man. He’s very forthright about what he wants.”

  Kendall took a bite of her first cucumber sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “What about Cat?”

  “Cat is wonderful.” The thought of Gage’s daughter made her smile again. “The more time I spend around her, the more I appreciate her bright mind and caring personality.”

  Kendall nodded. “I hope you can convince my brother to live here, he and Cat and you.”

  “Oh. No.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid I won’t be doing any convincing, Kendall. My laptop and I can move anywhere, and wherever he decides to go is where we’ll go.” She stood and held out her hand. “And now I have to get back to my work-in-progress. Things are flowing nicely, and as a fellow working girl, I’m sure you appreciate the value of hard work.”

  “Yes, I do,” Kendall said. She took her hand. “I really do welcome you to the family, Chelsea. I can see what Gage likes about you. I hope we can be friends.”

  “Thanks, Kendall.” Chelsea returned the smile and made her way up the stairs to the room where she’d slept last night. Her laptop was open, her heroine no longer in jeopardy. Now the villain was in danger and on the run, though he had no idea where the danger lay. She could feel his anxiety and his desperation. He needed to hide from his crime, hide from Bronwyn Sang. Sang was determined and focused, unlike other detectives who’d tried unsuccessfully to catch him. It was as if she never slept.

  Bronwyn was a tough woman, and it felt as if she was gaining strength all the time.

  Chelsea leaned back in her chair, staring out the window as she thought about her plot. Her mind wandered to Gage, and how much she liked him. He was a kind man, a good man, the antithesis of her villain. Though he’d mentioned he didn’t get along with his family, she sensed a willingness among all the Phillipses to make amends. She hadn’t been offended by Kendall’s probing of her reasons for marrying Gage, because underneath the questions, she’d felt Kendall’s sincere concern for her brother.

  I’d be concerned about my brothers and sisters, if I had any. It was just me and Mum, though, most of my life. Maybe that’s why I like the Phillipses; they’re a family. Family is important. They will love Cat, they want to love Gage, and they would accept me.

  But Chelsea hadn’t been completely honest with Kendall. The marriage was not about a green card or legal status. Gage was offering her a temporary fix, and she’d probably say yes—gladly. That’s what Chelsea had told Kendall, because she was comfortable with business transactions.

  But the truth is, it’s all about the man for me.

  * * *

  GAGE KNOCKED ON HER DOOR thirty minutes later, poking his head inside her room when she said, “Come in!”

  “Working?” he asked. “I can come back later.”

  “I am working. My villain is trying to decide if he should keep running or trap my heroine with her own bravery.” Chelsea looked at Gage, thinking he was a very handsome, very sexy man. Hopefully, he wasn’t here to tell her that he’d changed his mind. Maybe Kendall had gotten to him. The very thought of that pained her. When he’d made love to her, Chelsea had felt something new, something different, a bond she’d never before experienced.

  She tried to ignore her suddenly racing heart. “It’s a good time to take a five-minute break. I want to talk to you, anyway.”

  He sat on the end of her bed near her. “About?”

  Chelsea saw no reason to hesitate. “Your sister has suggested that I sign a prenup.”

  “Why?” Gage sounded surprised. “I don’t want any of your income.”

  She blinked. “I think Kendall is worried about the reverse situation. That I might try to take advantage of you.”

  He sighed. “My sister is very protective of the family. Don’t let it bother you. I don’t need a prenup. If you want one, I’ll sign it.”

  “I don’t need one.”

  Then there was no reason to discuss his sister’s concerns further. “How is Cat?”

  “Thinking pretty seriously that she’d like to stay with me. With us.”

  Chelsea nodded. “I’m glad.”

  “I’ll talk to her mother again later.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jeweler’s box. “Chelsea, my proposal the other night was more off-the-cuff than I wanted it to be. So Cat and I went shopping. I hope you’ll accept this.” He opened the box and handed it to her, his dark eyes searching her face.

  “Gage, it’s beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.”

  But she didn’t reach out to take the ring. Not yet. She had to know exactly what was on his mind. What were they actually going to be to each other?

  “Cat picked it out, I’m not too proud to say.” He grinned, clearly delighted with his daughter. “I’m really happy you’re willing to marry me, Chelsea.”

  Slowly, she picked up the ring. “What are we doing, Gage?”

  He looked into her eyes. “Being expedient, I guess.”

  “You need me, I need you.”

  He nodded. “I hope you need me. I sure as hell need you.”

  “Because of Cat.”

  Not replying, he leaned to slip the ring on her finger, where it sparkled and shone, catching the hot Texas sunlight spilling in the window. Three round oval stones glittered at her, more beautiful than anything she’d ever owned.

  “Cat says there are three diamonds, one for each of us, all on the same band forever,” Gage said.

  “She’s so sweet,” Chelsea whispered, touched.

  “Are you marrying me because of my child?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Chelsea said, and he laughed.

  “Good. For a while there, I thought you might be marrying me for me,” he teased.

  “Cowboy, you think too much of yourself.”

  He kissed her on the lips, lingering for a moment, sending her blood into a crazy dance. “We won’t worry about prenups. Our marriage wi
ll end when and if you decide it should, Chelsea. No forward-looking agreement necessary.” He stood, his hands in his jeans pockets. “I’m going to let you get back to work. Dinner is at six. If you don’t want to come down, a tray can easily be sent up.”

  “A tray?” She couldn’t believe he thought she might not join his family for dinner.

  He nodded, as if he hadn’t said anything unusual. “Yes. One of the butlers will bring up whatever you want. Just push the button on the phone and order anything.”

  She watched Gage leave, stunned. When her door closed, she looked down at her ring, watching it throw dancing prisms of light around the room. She let her breath out slowly, somewhat painfully. She’d been holding it in too tight.

  She wasn’t going to ever plan on ending their marriage—because they weren’t going to get married in the first place.

  * * *

  “I CAN’T MARRY GAGE,” Chelsea told her mother when she called that night. “It’s not fair. It’s not honest. I know I’m in love with him, Mum. I’m crazy about Cat. But I know he’s not in love with me. That was clear when he gave me this beautiful ring.” She took a deep breath. “It’s how fast he became a Phillips when he got here. The man I know is the man who lived day to day, job to job. He thrived on his independence. The truth is, Gage is vastly wealthy, and I’m not comfortable with that.

  “I’m not like Kendall, or like his mother, Millicent. They’re nice people, Mum. But they live differently. Not the way I saw us living together, needing each other. Gage doesn’t really need me. He thinks he does, because of Cat. But he doesn’t. He’s got more staff around here than I’ve ever seen. Even the Callahans don’t live like this. At Rancho Diablo they have help, foremen, trainers. But here they have actual buttons and bells. Push this button and your dinner arrives. Ring this bell and a uniformed attendant comes to do your bidding. And it’s crazy how fast Gage got comfortable with it. He even told me they’d send up a dinner tray if I wanted one.”

  She was still surprised by his automatic acceptance of the Phillipses’ routine, after he’d said many times that it didn’t suit him, and never would. “I like the Gage I met in the beginning, who had to fight for every single thing.”

  “He may not decide to live in Hell’s Colony,” Moira soothed.

  “Still, I didn’t know him. The man I fell for is not this man. He has so much here, and Cat will have so much.” Chelsea looked around her at the sumptuous surroundings, so different from anything she’d known in Ireland. Their backgrounds were vastly dissimilar—and she would never fit in. “I’m going back to the farmhouse.”

  “Come to Rancho Diablo,” Moira said. “I’m in the middle of major baking with Fiona. We’re teaching each other a few things. In fact, I think I’ve talked her into letting me teach her lacto-fermentation of vegetables.”

  “My job is at the farmhouse,” Chelsea said slowly. “I look after it for Jonas. And I can write there, where it’s quiet. Gage needs to stay here and figure things out with his daughter. Get her ready for the new school year.”

  “It will all work out,” Moira said.

  “It’s not bad,” Chelsea said. “It’s just not what I thought it would be.”

  “That’s okay,” her mother said. “Often things aren’t. It’s good to know now. Remember Tempest. She folded under her own expectations.”

  “Did she?” Chelsea frowned. “I thought she just went off to get away from her childhood.”

  “Sure,” Moira said. “She wanted a lot out of life, to make up for what she had never had. But then she got it, and she went away. You don’t want to trade yourself for something you don’t want, love.”

  Chelsea hung up after telling her mother she loved her. Moira’s words stayed in her mind.

  It was true. She wasn’t like Tempest, who’d scaled dizzying heights and then melted away. She wasn’t like Bronwyn Sang, who was tough and tenacious and fought crime to keep from thinking about her painful childhood and the parents she’d lost to a bungled crime.

  She was just Chelsea, an Irish girl who’d grown up without a father, a man who’d died in a fight with the law. The Trouble, it was called. The shadows of it had formed her childhood, misted over her later years with independence and an urge to create alternative realities.

  Kendall had been right. Chelsea liked Gage the fighter. She couldn’t marry Gage of Gil Phillips, Inc., the millionaire and man of privilege.

  I’m pretty sure he thinks he needs to save me. It’s the chivalry in him, and his good heart.

  I just don’t need to be rescued.

  * * *

  “WELL, DAD, WE’RE on our own,” Cat said to Gage when they were about to go in for dinner. “It’s just me and you now.”

  Gage looked at his daughter. “What do you mean, honey?”

  “Chelsea told me she was going back to Dark Diablo. She left your ring upstairs.” Cat gazed at him, and he could see she was worried about him. “Dad, it’s going to be all right.”

  “I know it is…. But she told you she was going? How did she get back to Dark Diablo?”

  Cat put her arm around his waist, giving him a squeeze intended to comfort him. He hugged her back, shaking his head. “Why didn’t she talk to me?”

  “She said you’d try to talk her out of it.” Cat shrugged. “She’s right. You would have, Dad. Chelsea says you come from stubborn stock.”

  “I think my little Irish friend has some stubborn in her, too.”

  “Yeah. She mentioned that. She said it never worked when two rocks ground against each other. Eventually, the rocks became dust.” Cat sighed. “Chelsea said she needed to go back home. She talked Kendall into taking her into the bus depot in town.”

  Gage blinked. “The bus depot?”

  “Well, Aunt Kendall says it’s really a shuttle someone runs to Santa Fe.”

  “I’m going to have a word with her,” Gage said, trying not to look as upset as he was. He didn’t want Cat thinking she’d done something wrong.

  “Won’t do any good, Dad. Aunt Kendall did everything she could to talk Chelsea into staying. Then when she couldn’t, she offered the helicopter, a taxi, even a butler to chauffeur her in one of the family cars. Then she pleaded with her to let her drive her herself. Aunt Kendall said she was just there last week, she knew full well how to get there, and it’d be a great time for them to get to know each other better.” Cat looked at her dad with her wise eyes. “I heard the whole thing. You can’t be mad at Aunt Kendall, Dad.”

  “All right. Thanks.” He didn’t feel any better, though.

  “Chelsea told me that her decision had nothing to do with me,” Cat said, her tone accepting. “She said she loved the ring I picked out, said it was the perfect one she’d want if she thought she was the woman who would make you happy.” His daughter looked up at him, her expression worried. “Chelsea told me that she loved me. But that she wasn’t the right woman for you.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I know she does love you, Cat.”

  “Well, I’m lovable.” She put her head against his midsection, hugging him. “I think she’s just scared, Dad. I know how that feels.”

  “Yeah. I guess I do, too.” He ran a hand over his daughter’s long hair, and sighed.

  He remembered being scared. He was remembering it right now. “It will all work out.”

  “I know. Let’s go eat, Dad. Grandma Millicent doesn’t like it when anyone is late.”

  “This is true.” He followed his daughter toward the dining room, thinking the family mansion was going to be a lot lonelier without a certain Irish firecracker to make him smile.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chelsea thought she’d write like crazy with no one else in the farmhouse. It was just her and her laptop.

  But somehow the words had come to a stop again. A slow, torturous drip, drip, drip of jangled action and structure that never seemed coherent. Splices of dialogue, splinters of scenes—that was all.

  The place was just too
quiet.

  She’d been here a week, alone with her thoughts and Bronwyn Sang.

  “The thing is,” she told her laptop, “I’ve always created best under pressure. Dysfunction. It’s what I knew growing up, and I learned to compensate.”

  Too quiet. Too lonely.

  She missed Gage. She missed Cat. And she missed her mum.

  “I’m not leaving this chair until you tell me your next move,” she told Bronwyn. “You’re hiding your conflict, and your real desires. So I can wait as long as you can.” She leaned back, read back over ten pages of story for inspiration.

  The doorbell rang, surprising her. “I didn’t even know there was a doorbell in this house. Talk about ignoring one’s surroundings.” She smoothed her hair and went downstairs, expecting a delivery, maybe, or Jonas. He didn’t usually call, just showed up. It was his house, after all, and it would be like her mother to make certain he checked on her.

  She opened the door, astonished to see a tall, gorgeous, voluptuous blonde staring in the window to see if anyone was home.

  “Tempest!” Chelsea exclaimed. “Tempest Thornbury!”

  The larger-than-life portraits in Cactus Max’s seemed to have materialized on the farmhouse porch.

  “Yes,” she said, nodding. “You must be Chelsea Myers.”

  Chelsea blinked. She couldn’t believe she was actually speaking to Tempest Thornbury, the Zola Cupertino of Tempest, New Mexico. Tempest had a smooth, honey voice, and was even more stunning in person. “How do you know my name?”

  “I’ve read all your books,” Tempest said.

  “You have?” It seemed unbelievable that this beautiful woman could have heard of her work.

  “Yes. I like reading. It’s my favorite thing to do.” Tempest smiled, and the effect was blinding. “Besides cooking. I love to cook, too.”

  “Wait a minute.” Chelsea held up a hand. “Why are you here?”

  She shrugged delicately, her face relaxing into a smile. “A little girl asked me to come introduce myself to you.”

  “Cat,” Chelsea said, light dawning. Cat had been very fond of reading her work and her notes. Chelsea had written a lot about Tempest, wondering about her life.