“He did,” Tess said. “Joe has it now.”
“Does he?” He smiled at Nate.
“Yep.” She nodded. “And he makes money, hand over fist.”
“Nate.” Tess’s voice had sharpened.
“Well, that’s what Aunt El says. Right, Gram?”
Roselynn had just returned to the room and set the basketful of sweet rolls next to his plate.
Not waiting for an answer, Nate leaned closer to him. “Mr. Harley has the biggest store in Flagman’s Folly. And he wants to marry Mom.”
“Nate!” This time, Tess’s voice could’ve cut the slice of ham steak sitting on his plate. “I think it’s time for you and the girls to go and straighten up the living room.”
Her friends promptly put their utensils down and began to rise.
Nate remained seated. “Why? There’s nobody here but Caleb. He doesn’t mind.”
“Anastasia Lynn.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Oka-ay. Come on, Caleb, you can help me move the couch back.”
Slowly, he released the death grip he’d held on his knife and fork.
“We’ll take care of that later,” Tess told her. “Caleb’s still eating his breakfast. You go along, now.”
The other girls pushed in their chairs.
Nate pushed out her bottom lip.
That had him biting back a comment. No doubt about it, Tess had her work cut out with this little one. But it wasn’t his place to say anything.
Nate finally got up and shoved her chair up to the table. The kid had a lot of energy.
“See you later,” she said to him.
He nodded. When she’d left the room, he turned back to Tess. Better to think about teasing her—and not about some guy who wanted her for his bride. “Paybacks,” he murmured.
“What?”
“When you’re a real handful as a kid, don’t folks say to watch out, because ‘you’ll grow up to have kids of your own someday’?”
“No.”
Roselynn laughed. “Oh, yes, they do, sugar. And he has a point.” She turned to him. “Tess was an outright handful herself, you know.”
“Mo-om,” Tess protested, her tone sounding exactly like Nate’s. “Let’s not get into—” At the sound of footsteps in the kitchen, she stopped.
A real shame. He’d looked forward to hearing a few stories.
Ellamae ambled into the room as if she owned the place. She carried a coffee mug that matched those on the table. “Am I in time for breakfast?”
“Sweet rolls right out of the oven,” he said, moving the basket to a space in front of an empty seat.
“That’ll do for starters.” Ellamae plopped into the chair and took a roll. “And just how is everyone this fine morning?”
“Lovely,” Roselynn said. “We were just talking about Tess.”
“Who is just getting ready to go to work,” Tess said. “Speaking of which, aren’t you on your way to Town Hall now, Aunt El? Is the Double S closed today?”
He almost smiled at her innocent tone.
“Oh, it’s open.” Ellamae turned to him. “Normally, I pick up an order to go and bring it over to the courtroom. But I felt a need to speak to my sister this morning.”
“Perfect timing,” Tess said. “Caleb and I are just leaving. Aren’t we, Caleb?”
“Without brushing our teeth?” he asked, his tone as deliberately innocent as hers had been. “Does Nate get away with that?”
Her expression could have made a bull run for cover.
“After we brush, of course.” She stood and pushed her chair beneath the table.
“Ah. Then we are just leaving,” he said, following her lead.
“We’ll see you at supper then, Caleb,” Roselynn said.
“I’ll be here,” he confirmed.
He left the dining room at Tess’s heels.
Much as he liked the thought of watching her squirm while her mama and aunt told tales on her, he’d come up with another idea he liked much better.
Getting her alone.
HER SISTER, Roselynn, made a sweet roll you could really sink your teeth into. Ellamae surveyed the breakfast table with satisfaction. But before she had eaten more than two rolls and a side of bacon, Nate and the girls came back into the dining room like a swarm of honeybees headed for the hive.
She held back a chuckle. If she’d guessed right by the look on Caleb’s face, before too much time had passed, he intended to do a bit of swarming of his own—over Tess.
“Where’s Caleb?” Nate demanded, looking wildly around the room as if he’d hidden beneath one of the tables.
“He and your mama left just a few minutes ago,” Roselynn said.
“Rats.” Nate slumped in obvious disappointment.
“What’s the trouble?” Ellamae asked. “He’ll be back tonight.”
“That’s too late. We have to find him.” Nate sidestepped closer to the two women. Her friends crowded in behind her. “We got a great idea,” she announced.
Ellamae couldn’t wait. “And what might that be?”
“We gotta get Caleb to stay in Flagman’s Folly.”
“But why, sugar?”
“Oh, Gram,” Nate said, as if it were obvious. “This town is soooo boring. We need something to make it special. And Caleb’s famous.”
“He’s a rodeo star,” her friend Lissa added.
“Ex,” Ellamae said flatly, but as she’d expected, no one paid any attention to that.
“So we got an idea to get him to stay.” Nate put her hands on her hips and beamed at them. “We get him to marry Mom.”
Roselynn choked on a mouthful of tea.
With one hand, Ellamae patted her back. With the other, she swiped another sweet roll. A conversation like this one called for extra sustenance. “And just how did y’all happen to come by that thought?”
“Easy,” Nate said.
“She doesn’t want her mom to marry Mr. Harley,” Lissa put in.
“Caleb’s richer,” Nate said.
“And cuter,” added Lissa.
“And a star,” chorused the two remaining girls.
“Oh, sugar, I don’t know—”
“Well,” Ellamae broke in, “it’s an idea, all right, Nate. But you and the girls better just forget about that for now. Let your mama and Caleb have some time together, see what happens. You never know. Everything might just come to pass the way you want it, without your helping things along.”
“You like the idea, though, right, Aunt El? Right, Gram?” In her eagerness, Nate leaned so far forward she almost fell into the basket of sweet rolls. “You want Caleb to stay here, too, don’t ya?”
“It has its possibilities, I’ll admit,” Ellamae told her. “But as I said, let’s give it some time. You girls go on about your business. Unless you want to help clear the dishes.”
“No, thanks.” Nate backed up, almost trampling her friends. “We already have to fix the living room. Come on, guys.”
All four girls turned and fled.
Ellamae laughed.
Roselynn smiled, shaking her head gently. “Those kids. What a wild idea.”
Abruptly, Ellamae stopped laughing. “What’s so wild about it?”
“For a rich man like Caleb? He has a ranch and a big house up in Montana. Why in the world would he want to move back to a little place like Flagman’s Folly?”
“Two reasons.” Ellamae held up a finger still sticky with icing. “One reason went out the door with him earlier.” Another finger. “And the other just ran into the next room with her friends.”
Roselynn stared at her. “Oh, no. That’s not a reason. Not for Caleb. He doesn’
t know.”
“He could find out.”
Now Roselynn shook her head in earnest. “Not from us, he can’t. Our lives wouldn’t be worth the price of a three-day-old loaf of bread if Tess ever found out. Besides, she doesn’t even realize that we know.”
“Then I guess the girls are right.”
“About what?”
“He’s got to come around to the idea of marrying Tess.”
Her sister gasped. “What makes you think she’d want to marry him now, after he already left her once and broke her heart? You remember how she moped around here.”
“I do. But I also see how she’s been acting since he’s come back again. Like a firecracker ready to explode.”
“She doesn’t want to get hurt again.”
“Of course not. And she’s got her defenses up high against that, all right. Caleb’s gonna have a time knocking them down. But you called it, too. He won’t just up and decide on marriage all on his own. I imagine he’ll need to be roped and hog-tied by his friends.”
Roselynn set her teacup so firmly into its saucer, Ellamae felt sure it had cracked. “Those are children you’re talking about, El. You are not going to get them involved in something like—”
“Settle down, settle down,” she said, waving her hands to calm Rose. One of her hands just happened to pass over the basket, so she snagged another sweet roll. “I don’t plan for those girls to do anything about it at all. This situation calls for a couple of mature, educated people to handle it.”
“Like who?” Roselynn demanded.
“Like us, of course.”
Her sister sighed. “Oh, Ellamae, it’s so obvious our Nate’s related to you. You both do come up with the wildest ideas.” Grabbing a sweet roll, she smiled. “You always were good that way.” She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So, what’ve you got in mind?”
Chapter Six
The sun had crawled well above the horizon by the time they finally left the bed-and-breakfast. A hot morning already, even for the start of June.
Caleb smiled to himself. Tess would soon regret that buttoned-up shirt she’d worn today.
She moved toward the parking area at a near-trot. He kept to a slower pace, but a steady one, eager for the chance to be alone with her. That spark he couldn’t have missed between them last night had him curious. Had she felt it, too?
Then he recalled Nate’s statement about the local store owner—the one who made money “hand over fist.” She’d seemed impressed by that. What about Tess? What would she think when she found out how easily he could give the man a run for his money?
“So,” he asked, “what Nate said at the table. You planning on marrying Harley?”
His question put a definite hitch in her stride. He smiled.
Without turning, she said coolly, “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Sounds like he could take care of you in style. According to Nate and your aunt Ellamae, that is.”
“Yes.”
Yes, what? He knew she and Roselynn were struggling. The man’s financial status had to mean something to her. She stopped and faced him. His heart revved up with the crazy thought he’d just given her reason to decide in Harley’s favor.
A frown line creased her forehead. “What was that my mother said about seeing you at supper?”
His heart settled back into its normal rhythm. Her mind hadn’t been on Harley at all. “We renegotiated my reservation while you were in talking with the girls this morning. I’m paying a little extra and getting another meal. On top of the other perks,” he said, grinning.
The glint in her eyes told him she’d understood his teasing. Her suddenly expressionless face let him know how little she liked the idea of sharing another meal with him at the inn every day.
“Well,” she snapped, “since you’ve made arrangements of your own already, you won’t mind that I’ve had a change to my plans, too. I’ve got some errands to run. I’m sure you’ll be able to amuse yourself until supper tonight.”
Now, that bothered him. He’d hired her to find him a ranch. “What do you mean, you’ve got errands? I thought you were all mine today.” Despite his annoyance, it gave him satisfaction to see the soft pink blush filling her face. It also offered him a sliver of hope as sweet as Ellamae’s pecan pie.
He thought back again to their meeting in the hallway last night. The look in her eyes then, the expression on her face when he’d touched her—they meant something. What, he didn’t know, but he had a feeling it would be in his best interest to find out.
Besides, she’d said it herself, she hadn’t yet promised herself to that Harley character.
“Actually,” she said, “it may surprise you to hear this, but you’re not the only item on my agenda. I’ve got business to take care of. First, I need to stop by the office to pick up some business cards and brochures.”
He raised his brows. “You’re planning on advertising to the critters out in the wild?”
“Very funny. No. Dana and I are doing an advertising blitz to try to…to increase our client list. I’m going to hit all the businesses on Signal Street today.”
She turned and walked away, as if that ended their conversation. A few spaces short of his pickup truck, she stopped beside the old Toyota he’d seen yesterday.
If she thought she could shake him off with a trumped-up list of errands, she’d have to think again. Besides, her plans fit nicely into his own agenda. He would have had as much chance to flash his cash out in the desert as she’d have had passing out brochures. Now he could make like a rodeo star the length of Signal Street—with Tess right there to see him shine.
He moved to the passenger side of the Toyota and looked at her over the roof. “No problem. I’ll go with you. Get a chance to say hello to folks I haven’t seen in a while.”
Her face fell, but she nodded shortly.
The cramped front seat wouldn’t allow much room for him to stretch out his legs or ease his bad knee. Before he could suggest taking the truck, Tess had slipped inside and cranked the engine. He shrugged, then shoehorned himself into the car, sure he’d eventually wish he hadn’t.
On the other hand, their close quarters kept her well within reaching distance. He recalled the warmth of her cheek against his fingertips the night before. This arrangement could work in his favor.
She looked away, carefully checking her mirrors before backing out of the parking space.
After they’d gone a block in silence, he decided playing along with her would work, too. “Good idea about the promo,” he said easily. “You ought to work up some for the bed-and-breakfast. Your mama needs to get going if she wants any takers for those empty rooms upstairs.”
She pulled over to the curb and jammed on the brakes so abruptly, his knee hit the dashboard. Pain radiated down to his ankle. He swore under his breath and made a big production of putting on his seat belt. She ignored that.
“Caleb, what exactly are you up to?” she demanded. “Why are you so interested in the inn?”
“I’m not int—”
She ran right over him. “And how is it you oh-so-conveniently had your suitcase in your truck last night? What happened to your plans to stay out of town? You had everything ‘covered’—or so you’d said.”
“This works out better.” The idea of her seeing him throw money around town had started to appeal to him more than he’d thought.
“For you, maybe.”
Yeah, his decision to take the room at the bed-and-breakfast had riled her. Not a good thing, maybe, in view of his plans. Even knowing it would make her more irritated, he couldn’t help laughing at her response.
She exhaled forcefully. “Don’t you have a reservation somewhere?”
“The
re’s not a hotel, motel or town, for that matter, within fifty miles of Flagman’s Folly, as you—being in the business of selling property and all—must surely know.”
“All right, knock off the sarcasm.” She pulled back onto the street and continued driving.
He shook his head. “Better watch yourself. I’m sure it wouldn’t sit right with Dana to hear how her ‘glorified file clerk’, as you called yourself, is treating her biggest client.”
She gave a snort equal to one of her aunt Ellamae’s. “You mean ‘the client with the biggest head,’ don’t you?” she asked sweetly.
“Maybe some people around here don’t think so.”
“You can’t trust the judgment of some people. Especially when they’re under the age of ten.”
She’d noticed Nate and company’s hero worship of him, too, then. She didn’t need to sound so sour about it. “It’s not like I’d asked for the attention.”
“Of course not.”
And she’d accused him of sarcasm.
She probably thought he’d encouraged the kids.
“Hey, it comes with the territory.” When she didn’t respond, he continued mildly, “We seem to have strayed from the subject of your mama. I was only asking about promo out of concern for her.”
“Why would you even care?”
He looked at her without speaking, and this time her face flushed twice as fast. She grasped the steering wheel more tightly and swallowed hard before replying. “Never mind. But I’m sure she’s working on some advertising for the inn.”
“Not by the sound of it last night. Said it costs money.”
“Which we don’t have,” she said flatly. “Is that what you’re getting at?”
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Whoa, now. I’m not getting at anything, only repeating what I’d heard from her. You know, I could give—”
“No.” She stopped at a traffic light and stared straight ahead, her hands now in a white-knuckled grip on the wheel. “I know Mom’s happy to have a paying guest, but that’s as far as your money goes. I also know you’re rich. Richer than anyone here in Flagman’s Folly—probably everyone put together. But we don’t need your charity.”
The Rodeo Man's Daughter (Harlequin American Romance) Page 6