The Rodeo Man's Daughter (Harlequin American Romance)

by White Daille, Barbara

  She sighed. “Not funny. You know exactly what I meant—your remark about staying with me.”

  “Aw, you shouldn’t let that upset you none. I’m sure Joe’s a very understanding man. Although, come to think of it, he did look a bit taken aback by the idea, didn’t he? Doesn’t he know about your mama’s bed-and-breakfast? Maybe you should tell him at supper.”

  So, he did care that she planned to go out with Joe. Why? He had no right to interfere in what she did. He never would. She’d make sure of it. “Caleb Cantrell—”

  “Tess LaSalle.” He murmured her name, his voice low and husky, his exaggerated drawl long gone. He leaned forward until their bodies almost touched. “I am staying with you, aren’t I? I’m even sharing your room—”

  “You are not—”

  “I am.” He tilted his head down until their mouths almost touched, too. “I’ve got to be in your room, one way or another, if I’m in your dreams.” He smiled. “Bet your good ol’ pickle-picker-upper can’t lay claim to that one.”

  “You’re right,” she said, keeping her voice low, as well. “Joe’s no dream. He’s a man that can be counted on.” Shaking, she turned away, certain she’d had the last word. Knowing nothing could top the truth. And hoping Caleb had gotten the message.

  He put his hand on her elbow. In the coolness of the frozen-food aisle, his fingers felt hot against her skin. She swallowed hard and tried even harder to keep from yanking her arm free. From letting him see how he affected her.

  He opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, she blurted the most critical comment she could think of. “And at least Joe doesn’t turn his down-home accent off and on.”

  He tilted his head again, putting his cheek close to hers. “Yeah,” he breathed into her ear, “but I’ll bet he doesn’t turn you on, either.”

  A FEW MINUTES LATER, after saying their goodbyes to Joe, Caleb trailed after Tess, who stomped toward the front door of the store. She hadn’t looked his way once since they’d left the ice cream section behind. Could he blame her?

  He shook his head in amazement at what had happened back there.

  His plan called for impressing Tess just the way he would drive home his message to the rest of the folks in town. It didn’t involve teasing her. Or getting so close he could have kissed her. But his brain had had other ideas, and his body had followed along, same as that first night at the inn, when he’d stood in the upstairs hallway with her. Now, at last, he knew why—though it galled him to admit he’d have to credit the news of her date with old Joe for smartening him up.

  He intended to rub everyone’s noses in his wealth, to prove he was just as good as they were. But that wouldn’t work with Tess. With Tess, he needed something more.

  He wanted her to see what she had missed. To know just what she’d walked away from when she took off to marry some other guy.

  And yeah, dammit, to realize he was the best thing she could ever have had.

  A few steps ahead of him, she came to a dead halt just inside the automatic doors. His revelations had put so much kick in his stride, he barely reined himself to a stop in time to keep from trampling her.

  As the doors slid open, he followed her gaze to the sidewalk outside, where his local fan club stood waiting.

  “Not again,” she muttered.

  “Yep, again. Or still. And it seems like their numbers have swelled.” They had additional reinforcements with them. Reinforcements that weren’t so pint-size. “Your mama and aunt have joined them.”

  “They’d better not have.” Her words sounded threatening. She barreled through the front doorway like a bull down the chute.

  “Hello, again,” she said to the crowd on the sidewalk.

  Her forced cheerfulness couldn’t have rung true to any of them, yet they all smiled back as if she’d meant it.

  “And my,” she went on, looking at the women, “isn’t it nice to see you two here. But Aunt El, don’t you have to go to work this morning?”

  “We’re on our way over to the Double S.” Her aunt made a production of looking at her watch, then stretching her wrist out at arm’s length. “Noon, see? I normally get a lunch right about now.”

  “The judge lets you off for good behavior?” Caleb asked.

  The two older women laughed and glanced at each other.

  Finally Tess made eye contact with him again—only to shoot him a look that told him she didn’t appreciate his humor. Or, more likely, his interference.

  “How did your morning go?” Roselynn asked.

  “Fine.” Tess clipped the word.

  “Not bad,” he said more easily. “Just a few visits to touch base with folks again.”

  Roselynn smiled. “That’s good. Did they get you all caught up on things?”

  “I don’t know about that. They talked politics, mostly.”

  “Heck, that wasn’t worth the trip,” Ellamae assured him. “We’ve had the same mayor for years, and he was a shoo-in this time around, too. What else did you talk about?”

  “Not a lot. We didn’t have enough time for any real conversation.”

  Tess made a strangled sound. Probably thinking again about his spending spree.

  “Is that so?” Ellamae looked at Roselynn, who smiled.

  Without their saying a word, he had the feeling they’d spoken volumes between them.

  “Our visiting’s done now, though.” He turned to Tess. “We’ll be heading out of town to look at property again, won’t we?”

  “Tomorrow,” she confirmed.

  “Then can we go to lunch with you and Gram, Aunt El?” Nate asked. “Caleb can come with us.”

  “No, I don’t believe that will work,” Tess said.

  He registered the strain in her voice and guessed her thoughts had flown to how much a meal for this gang would cost.

  No problem there. He’d willingly pick up the check. It would pay Dori and Manny back some for all they’d given him. But as he opened his mouth, Tess cut him off, just as she had at the store.

  “Gram has your lunch ready at home,” she told Nate.

  “I’ll eat it for supper,” she shot back.

  She looked on the verge of having a tantrum right there on the sidewalk. Tess looked about to explode. A gut feeling told him his arrival in town might have added to her parenting troubles. The thought made him feel low.

  “Well,” he said quickly, “we’re here now, all together. Why don’t we walk on over to the restaurant? My treat.”

  The girls cheered. The two women smiled.

  Tess looked up at him. “How nice of you, Caleb.” She’d muttered the words for him alone, and again her tone fell far short of matching her words.

  “Just trying to be hospitable,” he said. Besides, along with adding to the profits of the Double S, he’d have been a fool not to grab this opportunity to show a few more folks the big spender he’d become.

  The sour look she sent him—eyes squinted, lips pursed—made him think she’d seen right through to that last goal.

  And that she didn’t much like what she saw.

  Chapter Nine

  Tess had hoped for an empty table at the Double S—a nice, long table that would put distance between her and Caleb. She should have known Roselynn and Aunt El would immediately claim their favorite booth up front next to the window. From there, they could see both everything that went on in the café and anything that happened within sight on Signal Street.

  With luck, nothing of interest would happen at their own lunch table. She had noticed the look they’d exchanged outside Harley’s General Store. They were up to something, no doubt about it.

  Uneasily, she followed her aunt across the room.

  “I’m sitting next to Caleb,”
Nate announced.

  “There’s not enough room for all of us,” Tess said before her daughter could put the statement into action. “You girls can take the next booth.”

  To head off any argument, she promptly dropped onto one of the bench seats and scooted over to the space near the window. She expected her aunt, who had hovered near her elbow, to follow. Instead, Aunt El gestured to Caleb.

  Squaring her shoulders, Tess locked gazes with him. As strongly as she could without words, she attempted to send the idea that he’d do much better to choose a seat somewhere else.

  He nodded, as if confirming receipt of her message. Then, just as she began to relax, he smiled, sat on the end of her bench, and slid across it nearly to the center.

  “Well, thank you,” Ellamae said, plopping down beside him. “Just give a gal a little more elbow room, would you?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Caleb moved closer to Tess, close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from him, the slight press of his thigh against hers.

  His mouth had tightened into a straight line, but the skin around his eyes crinkled. The man was laughing at her. Was probably trying to unnerve her.

  Gritting her teeth, she fought the idea of edging closer to the window. That would only give him proof of how well he’d succeeded.

  Ridiculous. Here she sat at high noon, in a crowded café, in front of her entire family, and she was allowing this man to get to her.

  To her dismay, her aunt waved again. “Come on over, girls. Plenty of room now. Nate, you settle there by your gram. Lissa, hop up beside her. The rest of you, pull up a couple of chairs and we’ll be all set.”

  Tess swallowed a groan. Trust Aunt El to take over. But what could she say about it? Besides, her aunt’s grin showed how pleased she felt at coming up with a solution she thought suited everyone.

  Not quite.

  Even more apprehensive now, Tess watched as Nate scrambled across the bench, eager to take the next-best place of honor—the seat opposite her hero.

  As the rest of the group grabbed at menus, Tess rubbed her temple, feeling a monstrous headache coming on, all thanks to the man beside her. When she caught Caleb looking at her, she froze.

  “Sun in your eyes?” he murmured sympathetically. “Want to switch places?”

  The others were too busy to hear this side conversation. She looked pointedly from the booth’s tabletop to the small space between them. “What do you plan to do,” she muttered, “climb over me?”

  The wicked gleam in his eyes made her flush. She hadn’t meant anything by her sarcastic question except to vent her frustration. But that gleam and his soft laugh told her he’d found an underlying message in it.

  Another great choice of words. Good thing she hadn’t said that aloud, too.

  “Whatever it takes, Tess.” He dipped his head toward her, and his eyes looked suddenly serious. “That’s a promise.”

  She laughed bitterly. “No, thanks. You can keep your promises to yourself.” She didn’t want anything to do with them.

  “What do you want, Mom?”

  Startled, she looked up to see Nate waving a menu at her.

  “Everybody’s ready but you and Caleb.”

  Oh, she was ready all right. To get him on the road again tomorrow and on the way to a sale that would take him out of her life. Their lives.

  What he was ready for…

  She recalled that gleam in his eyes and had a very good idea of what he had in mind. She didn’t want that from him, either.

  No matter what her dreams said.

  She looked over toward the end of the booth, where Dori stood waiting to take her order. “I know what I’m having,” she said, forcing a smile. “A bowl of Manny’s good, hot chili.”

  “Act like it, too,” Caleb muttered. “Real chilly.”

  “What?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice down in front of their witnesses.

  “I said I’d like that, too.” He smiled and turned away to place his order. “A bowl of real, homemade chili.”

  After Dori had gone back to the kitchen, the others returned to their conversation.

  She slumped back against her seat and raised her hand to her temple again. “Caleb,” she muttered, “why don’t you just give me a break.”

  LUNCH HAD GONE DOWNHILL from there, in Tess’s opinion.

  Just as they had done ever since they’d met him, the girls hung on Caleb’s every word. Worse, Roselynn and Aunt El did the same, while occasionally sending each other meaning-filled glances. Once in a while, they let their gazes slide her way.

  They’d cooked something up between them. Who knew what—but one thing was certain. Aunt El had instigated the plan.

  She would have an easier time dealing with Nate’s belligerence than she would trying to get anything out of her aunt. Instead, she’d have to corner her mother.

  Meanwhile, stuck beside Caleb in their booth, she was literally held captive for more of his rodeo tales. Did the man’s stories never end?

  Though she had to suffer through watching the adulation on Nate’s face, at least she had the satisfaction of knowing the conversation didn’t stray into any dangerous topics.

  When their group left the Double S, Tess trailed behind, trying not to grumble under her breath.

  Caleb held the door for her, and as she stepped outside, she saw everyone had gathered beside a car that had pulled to the curb. Kayla Robertson sat behind the wheel. Tess smiled. Kayla had lived in Chicago, but since marrying Sam last year, she had become a part of Flagman’s Folly and Tess’s good friend.

  Their daughter’s puppy hung his head through the rear passenger window. The dog, a Labrador-Shepherd mix, had a tan face, with one eye completely surrounded by dark fur.

  “This is Becky’s puppy,” Nate told Caleb. “His name’s Pirate. Becky can’t hear, so she talks in sign language. This is how you say ‘Pirate.’” She put her hand over her right eye.

  “Like an eye patch,” Caleb said.

  “Right.” Nate beamed at him.

  Tess stepped forward and made introductions.

  Kayla reached through the window to shake Caleb’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Sam,” she told him.

  “Have you?” He seemed taken aback.

  “Oh, yes. And he’s heard you’re in town again. He plans to be in touch.”

  “Where’s Becky?” Nate asked.

  “Home.” Kayla laughed. “She’s getting to be a real rancher. My sister’s coming for a visit soon, and Becky’s already excited about showing her aunt how she feeds the chickens. Her daddy and the ranch hands are going to build her a chicken coop one of these days. Now that the subject’s come up,” she said to Caleb, “I’ll warn you Sam mentioned having you stop by the house.” Her gaze shot toward the two older women and back again. “And once I tell him what Roselynn said about knowing your way around with a hammer and a paintbrush, you’re doomed.”

  He grinned at her. “Any time. Just say the word.”

  Tess swallowed her frustration. Or tried to.

  “I’d better get going,” Kayla said. “I’m taking Pirate to the V-E-T.”

  “Is he sick?” Nate asked in alarm.

  “No, just going for a checkup. Tess, call me.” Kayla waved to them all, then pulled the car away from the curb.

  Before anyone could move, Aunt El announced, “Well, we’ve got a busy day on the books for tomorrow.”

  Tess looked at her. “You mean at Town Hall?” she asked warily. Hopefully.

  “You know I told the judge I don’t work on Saturdays. That’s family time.”

  She shook her head. “Sorry, Aunt El, I’m afraid I’m busy, too. Whatever you have planned, you’ll have to
count me out.”

  “Oh, sugar, that’s a real shame,” Roselynn murmured.

  Her aunt stared steadily at her for a long moment. Then she drawled, “Why, that’s not a problem, Tess. We can work around you. We just need this man standing by your side.” She put both hands on her hips and grinned up at him. “It’s high time we reintroduce Caleb Cantrell to the gentry of Flagman’s Folly.”

  So that’s what those two were up to. “Really, that’s not necessary.”

  “It surely is.”

  “No, Mom,” she said, trying not to sound as desperate as she felt. That would be all she needed, to have Caleb distracted from their business. Maybe to have him extend his stay. Just the thought made her shudder. “Caleb’s here to look at property.”

  “Can’t spend all our time doing that,” he said.

  “We don’t have time to waste, either,” she shot back, refusing to look at him.

  “What’s gentry?” Nate asked.

  “Besides,” Tess rushed on, feeling her control of the situation beginning to slip, “we’ve already lost today.”

  “Well, I don’t see—”

  “And I don’t see why you have all this interest in visiting with folks.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  He’d asked calmly enough, but from the corner of her eye, she saw him tense. She couldn’t antagonize him now. She couldn’t upset him at all.

  Facing him, she said, “I thought you’d want to get your business taken care of so you can go back to Montana.”

  “What’s gentry?” Nate asked again.

  Tess sighed. “It means people. Gram and Aunt El want to introduce Caleb to folks.”

  “That’s a great idea, Mom! We can help.”

  “Yeah.” Lissa nodded. “We know lots of people.”

  “Good. You just hold on to those thoughts,” Aunt El said cheerfully. “They’re sure to come in handy. But for now, we’ve got plenty of things lined up.”

  “Yes,” Roselynn agreed. “Starting with a potluck tomorrow afternoon at Ben Sawyer’s place.”