“Thanks for your help, Callie.”
“No problem.”
She was beautiful, efficient and had brains. But she also took on way too much. He didn’t help when he suggested a reunion. That just gave her extra work. And then he suggested she join the contractors’ meeting. Yet more work.
Maybe he just wanted to be around her as much as possible.
He should have suggested a picnic or a meal at a restaurant. Or just an evening at the ranch watching the sunset.
“I’ll phone the other contractors in the morning and tell them we hired someone,” he said. “But I will keep their numbers handy in case something falls through.
She nodded. “I’ll get back to my spreadsheets.”
He checked his watch. “I don’t want to distract you, but I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving, and you always distract me.” She smiled.
“I’d like pizza from Beaumont Pizza. We could get it delivered.”
“Great.” she said. “Sounds fine. And I can keep on working. I’m way behind. What do you like on a pizza?” “Anything but anchovies and fruit. I like traditional pizzas.”
“Me, too.”
That’s one thing they had in common, Reed thought. Their pizza toppings. Oh, and eating. They both liked that.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doorbell rang, and it was the delivery kid with their pizza and a liter of ginger ale. He tipped the kid heavily, and turned to find Callie with her hand out to take the pizza and soda from him so he could crutch to the kitchen table.
Just as they sat down, the ranch phone rang and Callie answered it.
Callie was on the phone for fifteen minutes or so, arranging for a tour and picnic for several grades, and he felt bad that the pizza was getting cold. He could always put some slices into the oven on a pan or something for her.
“Can I warm up some pizza for you?”
“No. I’m sure it’s fine.”
He put a slice on a plate, handed it to Callie and poured two glasses of ginger ale. He pushed it over to her.
“Thank you.” She took a bite. “The first round of tours starts in two days, Reed. It’s the usual, hotdogs and hamburgers cooked by your cowboys and some teachers and a tour and lecture about the history of the ranch. The school will supply the food and folding chairs. You know, it’s good that some things never change.”
“If they were anything like me when I was young, I just wanted to see the livestock and tolerated the historic tour every two years.”
Callie took a sip of ginger ale. “I remember how you had to lead the tour of our class. Everyone tried to trip you up with questions, but you knew all the answers.”
“If I didn’t, my parents would be disappointed. They loved the history of the ranch, especially my mother, and I hear tell that no one expected her to be so enthusiastic because she married into the Beaumonts. She even led tours for the historical society.”
“I remember her doing that. I worked there for a while, and booked tours with your mom. Valerie Lynn was a lovely lady.”
“Yes. She was, and I miss her every day of my life. I can identify with my father. It hit him hard. When he turned to booze, I added more bull-riding events so I wouldn’t have to come home.”
She put her hand over his and he rubbed it with his thumb. He liked feeling the contact with Callie, liked the comfort and warmth. Her eyes were misty.
Callie took another sip of ginger ale. “I never thought of it before, but it had to be hard for you to come home this time.”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be, but I was glad to be home. It was as if the old place welcomed me back. It was as if my mom welcomed me here, too.”
She blinked back tears. “That’s sweet, Reed. Really nice.” Callie didn’t make any effort to remove her hand. Funny, just a while ago, he was hungry. Now he didn’t care if he ate. He just wanted her hand in his.
“Please don’t cry, Callie. It’s all good. My brothers and I saved the ranch from extinction, Dad’s about to be released from rehab, the Beaumont Big Guns are leading the PBR World Standings and there’s a beautiful woman who’s not eating pizza in my kitchen.”
“Oh, you’re not eating, either. I’m sorry.” She took her hand from his.
Darn it.
One tiny tear was left on her cheek and Reed stared at it. Reaching out, he wiped the tear with his index finger. It disappeared.
Callie looked at him and for a moment there was just nothing to say. So Reed closed the distance between them and kissed her lightly. First on her cheek where the tear had been, then on her lips.
Reed was tentative at first, and he sensed Callie’s hesitation, but she didn’t pull away. She leaned into the kiss and then opened her mouth slightly.
He kissed her again and the years seemed to fade. They had graduated. Callie had given her speech as valedictorian and they’d decided to have a picnic on the bank of the Beaumont River and skip all the parties. Instead, they’d had a party of their own.
Reed kissed her now just as he had on the cool riverbank, with his heart and soul and the longing of a future with her.
He’d tried to forget her for ten long years. Sure, there were some buckle bunnies in between, but they’d known beforehand that he was just out for a good time.
He’d measured every woman against Callie and no one could compare to her. Why hadn’t he just returned home and dated her?
He’d thought it would be ridiculous to try after the way they’d parted.
So they’d continued as friends. Stopping for a little conversation when they ran into each other or exchanging a wave.
He laid the palm of his hand against her soft cheek.
“It’s been a long time, Callie. A long time.”
* * *
CALLIE COULDN’T BREATHE, couldn’t focus. All kinds of thoughts were whirling in her head.
They had been getting along fabulously, and Callie wondered what she’d done for Reed to kiss her like he had.
She’d purposely treated Reed like a friend because she was tired of working at relationships. They’d had their chance ten years ago and they’d gone their separate ways. No more falling in love for her. No way.
She’d vowed that there’d be no touching. No kissing. And certainly not the “biggie.”
Now she’d just broken her “no touching and no kissing” rules, but she had no intention of making love with him. She’d keep her third rule for sure.
She tried to be casual, like kissing over pizza happened to her every day.
Reed could really kiss. His soft lips were tentative at first, then more demanding, until she couldn’t think of anything but his scent and the softness of his hair, that she didn’t remember touching.
So what should she do now? She didn’t know what to say.
She was twenty-eight years old and she’d just been turned into a quivering mess by Reed Beaumont.
“I’ll reheat the pizza,” Reed said. “You haven’t touched a bite.”
“Nether have you. We’ve both been a little...busy.”
They both laughed and that seemed to erase the tension.
Later, they ate the pizza and talked about upcoming events.
Callie checked her notebook. “You have an autographing tomorrow, and the day after, Beaumont Grammar School’s first grade is coming for their barbecue and tour, then grade three, then grade five—the rest are going to the state capital.”
“What are grades two and four going to do? The usual?”
“Yup. They are in for a historic tour of downtown Beaumont and the historical society,” Callie said.
“Some things never change. That’s what we used to do.” Reed shook his head. “Nothing like a small town, huh?”
Callie gave two thumbs up. “There’s nothing like Beaumont.
”
“Who’s going to do the tours here?” he asked.
“You, of course. Who else would know the history of the ranch?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s me by default.” Reed snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute. How about Big Dan? It would be a perfect opportunity for my father to immerse himself back into the history of the ranch. Besides, he’d love the kids.”
“What a fabulous, fabulous idea.”
“Yeah. And it’ll give him something to do. He needs to keep busy.”
“It’s really a great idea, Reed.” She liked how he’d thought about his father. “Give him a call and ask him.”
It was great that Reed had a relationship with his father, even though it might have been hard for him when Big Dan was drinking. Callie didn’t have any contact with her father, which was fine with her.
Until Callie bought her own home. Never would her father cross the threshold of her cute beige house on the corner of Main and Elm. He wasn’t welcome.
Speaking of which...
“Reed, I think I should be going home. It’ll be a long day tomorrow with a two-hour drive up and back to Barton Mills. Your signing is from noon to two.”
Reed nodded. “I have to find the time to clean up here tomorrow for the tour. Nothing is all that bad, maybe a little dusty.”
“I can help you clean, but first maybe you could remove your gear bag that’s in front of the door over there,” she said. “And put all your boots in your bedroom closet, cowboy.”
Callie got up from the table. “We sound like an old married couple.”
He winked. “We do, don’t we?”
Chapter Nine
He didn’t want to get up, so Reed lay in his bed for a while thinking about Callie, like he had so many times in the past.
Their kisses blasted his boots off.
He could tell she was holding back, and he couldn’t blame her. They needed to get acquainted all over again.
Callie was quite a woman. In spite of moving all over Beaumont and dealing with her father’s gambling addiction, her mother’s breast cancer, and raising her brothers, she was a woman who could handle anything that life dealt her.
Then again, with the exception of her brothers’ football game, they’d always been doing things that revolved around him or his family: autograph appearances, TV tapings, working at the ranch and a doctor’s appointment to which she was kind enough to drive him.
He was going to ask Callie what she’d like to do. She only had to name it and they’d do it.
He put some coffee on, took a shower, got dressed and crutched out to the barn. Jace, one of the cowboys, was saddle-breaking a horse in the corral. Leaning against the wooden fence, Reed watched and cheered Jace on, wishing he could be the one to break the horse. He and his brothers loved to do that.
He could have asked one of the hands for a ride, but he wanted Callie’s company. He chuckled. He was taking her away from her work, and she’d let him know it.
Reed moved on to the ramrod’s house, where the construction workers were putting on a new roof. Later they’d relocate to the inside of the house and do some updating. He stopped and talked to the contractor.
On his way back, he went to the barn, where another construction company was adding a tack room to the barn and fixing some things on the inside.
He thought about Callie and how she’d had great ideas after interviewing the contractors. They’d compared notes, had a discussion, and he’d taken her advice.
Another builder’s crew was hard at work on the cowboys’ bunkhouse. He decided not to level it but to update that, too. And it needed a new roof. He decided not to walk over there.
So he walked to the house to sit outside, to enjoy the beautiful day and wait for Callie to pick him up.
After a short while in the sun, he saw Callie driving down the long dirt road that led to the house. She passed under the cast-iron arch that read Beaumont Ranch, with a big, fancy B on top.
Hurricane Daphne had knocked the sign down, but it was the first thing his brother Luke had put back up when he was here.
Whatever construction crew he liked the best would get the job of putting up a portico that used to be there. Hurricane Daphne had got that, too.
His mother had always liked the portico. She could enter the house without getting wet in bad weather.
Callie stopped, and he put his crutches on the backseat and got in on the front passenger side.
He tweaked his hat to her then took it off. “Hi, Callie. Thanks for the ride and for the company.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll find a quiet corner and do some work. Then the day won’t be completely wasted.”
Wasted?
Obviously she didn’t enjoy his company as much as he enjoyed hers.
Callie was very quiet, so the trip was pretty boring. He wondered if she was thinking of the kiss they’d shared. He looked at her flowered blouse and beige shorts that made her look cool and summery. Her blond hair had various shades of gold and yellow, and it shone in the sun.
Callie had beautiful legs and, he had to admit, he was a leg man.
“Hey, Callie. What’s on your mind? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just thinking of all the things I need to do. Your agent called me at home last night. Your brothers need plane tickets and hotel reservations to Tucson, Aspen and Billings. There’s a lot of arrangements to be made.”
“Yeah? What does Rick have them doing?”
“Same as you. Personal appearances and signing autographs. I also have to update all your websites and put the new information up. I noticed that they all need refreshing and some new pictures.”
“That’s a lot of work, Callie.”
“I can do it.”
“I know you can, but you need to have fun, too.” He grinned. “How about doing something fun? Whatever you’d like to do, I’d be glad to make it happen. Just ask and you’ll receive.”
“Oh? I have my own genie in a bottle, but no bottle?”
“Callie, if I could rope the moon for you, I’d do it.”
“Isn’t that from a movie?” She chuckled. “But what would I do with a moon? And I didn’t know you could rope!”
She was back!
“Yeah. I can rope. I’m good at it. I used to rope steers. Luke was the header and I was the heeler.”
“That’s very interesting. Reed, you’re quite a cowboy.”
“And I miss bull riding. It’s been a month since Cowabunga did his thing on my knee. I want to get back on.”
“And you go back to your doctor in two weeks. I think you’ll get good news. But, Reed, if you draw Cowabunga again, are you going to pass and put him out?”
“Not this cowboy. I’m going to ride him again, and I can’t wait.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely serious. I ride whatever comes up in the draw, and Cowabunga is a good bull, a fair bull. There’s belly rolls and jumping in the air, but, boy howdy, he can buck and spin. The only thing he doesn’t do is pull a knife on me.” He laughed. “You have to remember that I had eight before he bucked me off and a ninety-point ride. I won the go-round.”
“And you got a torn meniscus.”
“It’s all part of the job, Callie, and I do consider it a job. It’s my income.”
“I see that the PBR posts your winnings. You Beaumonts win a lot of money.”
“We pool our money, and it’s all going into the ranch for now—most of it anyway.”
“Good for you guys. I know you guys paid all the zillions of dollars in back taxes. We Beaumonters were worried that someone was going to buy the ranch and throw up condos or something worse. Thank goodness you were one step ahead of the tax auction.”
“Yeah. We have Luke’s wife, Amber, to thank for that. But
as long as there is a Beaumont left, the ranch will stand intact.”
“Of course, Reed. It’s your heritage, your roots.”
“It sure is.” Something settled inside him. It was...pride.
He was proud of all the Beaumonts that had gone before him, that had added onto the ranch house and bought more land. They’d bought and sold livestock to make it profitable. His father had, too, before Valerie Lynn died. Reed hoped that Big Dan would get his pride back, and bury his hurt when he got to the ranch and gave tours to the kids.
“Callie, you should have a lot of pride, too. You worked hard to buy your house.”
“Oh, I am. But you have a history, and I have a beige house.”
“History has to start somewhere. Maybe it’ll start with you.”
* * *
REED COULDN’T BE any sweeter—wanting me to tell him something I’d like to do, Callie thought.
She just liked being with him. She always had. There was something about Reed that drew everyone to him like a magnet, Callie included.
As she pulled up in front of the Shoe and Boot Warehouse, he pushed open the passenger door, slid off the seat and stood. Taking his crutches out of the backseat and closing the door, he waited for her to park so she could walk with him.
She slung her laptop case over her shoulder, got out another briefcase full of items along with her purse.
While Reed was signing autographs and taking photos with his fans, she’d be logging in his family’s items for their income tax this year.
The workers at the Shoe and Boot Warehouse were happy to pull out a table for her and to get her a chair. If she positioned it correctly, she could watch Reed.
Also with him were three other men, all dressed like Reed, like cowboys. Reed hailed Callie over and introduced her. One was Canadian, one was Brazilian and one came from Stephenville, Texas.
All great guys that she’d watched on TV. They had stacks of pictures in front of them. She picked up Reed’s: he was straining as he rode a white bull. The bull had bucked so high that its back hooves could be seen over Reed’s head.
“What’s the name of this bull, Reed?” Callie asked.
Reunited with the Bull Rider Page 11