Callahan Cowboy Triplets

by Tina Leonard

  They all stared at Ash. She went paler than her hair. “Oh, no. Not me. I’ll never be raffled.”

  “Why? We’ve all had to do our bit to raise money for the town.”

  She shook her head. “No. You don’t understand. None of you wanted to settle down. All of you fought it hard, or did fight it until you got caught fair and square. But I don’t want a man.”

  “Oh, you want a man,” Tighe said, enjoying pricking at his sister’s shell of superiority for just a second.

  “I’ve got my man,” she murmured.

  They all smiled at her as she fidgeted.

  “You have your man?” Tighe asked. “Are you sure? Has Xav Phillips been around? I haven’t seen him in months.”

  “That’s mean,” Ash said.

  “If you’re not spoken for, you’re part of the raffle. It’s all for one and one for all,” Jace said. “That’s what Fiona always says.”

  “Yes, well, she’s speaking of the Three Musketeers type of stuff, but I’m surrounded by the Many Stooges,” Ash snapped. “I’m not doing it. I’ll support all of you while you raise money, but I prefer to man a lemonade stand or something for my contribution.”

  They all smiled adoringly at their little sister. “You know,” Tighe said, teasing her, “maybe we should invite Xav to be part of Aunt Fiona’s custom of being raffled off to raise money for Diablo’s—”

  Ash hopped to her feet, her hands on her hips. “Go right ahead. I’ll buy him.”

  Her brothers whistled and clapped, and roses bloomed in her cheeks. Tighe looked at his family, enjoying the teasing and closeness, but as he looked out the window toward the moon—the same moon and stars that were surely visible in Montana—he wished he could be with River tonight.

  A falling star flew across the sky, bright and brilliant as it flamed on its path.

  Tighe turned away. He no longer believed in magic, dreams and wishes cast into the air. He didn’t believe in spirits, or connections to the elemental or supernatural. He believed in right and wrong, that was all. White and black. Dark and Light. Good and evil. It was a battle he was no longer certain they could win.

  And he had very little patience for the journey he was on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was late October when River heard a light tap at her window, likely snow and sleet hitting the glass. She glanced at her watch to find it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. Snow had blown for days in the wild piney woods surrounding the hideout. Fiona had told Wolf’s two female guards they had to put in supplies for hard weather, and they’d gone to the store, bringing back everything Fiona wanted. River and she had started cooking, but when Wolf snapped at Fiona from the tension of cabin fever, as well as no Callahans showing up for a rescue attempt, she had retired from the kitchen for a week, not preparing a thing.

  Then everybody in the house and bunkhouse gave Wolf the silent treatment, born of deep resentment. River and Fiona had thought it was funny, because they’d stored plenty of snacks in a barrel outside their window. They were doing fine.

  The tap came again, a bit louder, and River realized it wasn’t sleet. She crept to the window, slowly raising the shade. “Tighe!”

  She slid the window up as silently as possible, not easy because it was wood-framed and swollen. He crawled in, and quickly sprayed the hinges of the window with something before closing it. River couldn’t wait any longer—she kissed him like she never had before. “You’re freezing!” Pulling off his coat, River pressed herself against him.

  “I’m fine, babe. No sense in getting you cold, too.” He pushed her away, and pulled off one of his boots. She helped him with the other one, and then dragged him into her bed to warm him.

  “You’ve been outside for a long time,” she murmured against his throat. They held each other tightly, and after a moment, his hand stole to her rounded belly.

  “I’ve been there a few hours, waiting for the right moment.” He kissed her forehead. “I don’t want to endanger you.”

  “I doubt anyone will notice. They’re all upset with each other because they haven’t had a decent meal in a week.” She giggled against Tighe’s chest, loving how it felt to be in his arms again. “Fiona hasn’t cooked. She’s training Wolf to ask how high when she says jump. The whole gang is about to mutiny because they’re hungry. Fiona says they have no survival skills.”

  “What have you been feeding my babies?” Tighe murmured against her hair.

  “We stocked up on healthy goodies, which are hidden in a barrel outside in the snow. They’ve gotten pretty lax about keeping tabs on us because they’re so unhappy. You Callahans haven’t ridden to the rescue, and now the weather is harsh for living in this cabin. Wolf doesn’t want to pay heating bills, so we’re surviving with log fires. But that’s only in the den.”

  Tighe’s hands circled her belly. “I brought you prenatal vitamins.”

  “I have some. The girl thugs bought them for me. Fiona told them to sneak them in and she’d make her special muffins. But thank you.” River kissed his chin, then his lips. He hesitated for a moment, then kissed her long and sweetly. She sighed against him. “It’s really not that bad here. I guess because Fiona’s with me.”

  “I don’t like the thought of you being cold and not having medical care.” His hands stole down to her bottom, cupping her against him.

  “A midwife comes out every two weeks. And I’m never cold.”

  “It’s like an iceberg in this place. Almost as cold as outside.”

  “I got to a certain point in my pregnancy where I’m warm all the time. In the night, I kick off all my covers and lie on top of them. I wish I had a fan, I really do. I’d blow it on me constantly.”

  “That’s my boys,” Tighe said. “Raising your body temperature.”

  “Maybe. I’m like a polar bear.” Now that she’d warmed him a bit, she wanted to hear the plan. “Why are you here? Are you rescuing us?”

  “No. Not yet. Running Bear says maybe after Christmas.” Tighe kissed her forehead. “He says Wolf’s minions aren’t stir-crazy enough. But this storm is going to dump four feet of snow, and then the nerves will really start to fray around here. That’s when they’ll make mistakes.”

  River was a bit crushed. Yet she also understood. “I hope it can be by Christmas. The midwife says I’ll probably be on absolute bed rest by next month.”

  Tighe raised up on an elbow. “Okay. Then I’m busting you out of here.”

  “I’m not leaving Fiona! And if I leave, Wolf will be angry. He might take it out on her.” River slid her hands into his pants, feeling his warmth and his strength.

  “Whoa,” Tighe said, “none of that, young lady.”

  He tried to remove her hands, but she put them right back, holding the part of him she wanted to hold, while she kissed his mouth, feverishly luring him to make love to her. If she couldn’t be rescued, then she definitely wanted him to kiss her, hold her, romance her.

  “You’re coming with me.”

  “I will not.” She pulled him free of his jeans, massaging him. He groaned, so she kept doing exactly what she was doing—tempting him.

  “I brought you a cell phone,” he said, making a last-ditch effort to resist her. He tried to put himself back in his jeans, but she’d gotten him into such a state that nothing was fitting in place easily.

  “I have one.” She climbed on top of him, straddled his stomach, kissed his chin.

  “You have a cell phone?”

  “Yes. Didn’t I tell you? It’s in my bag of tricks.”

  The conversation was conducted in whispers, but River thought that if Tighe could yell at her at this moment, he probably would. He seemed so dumbstruck. Though she couldn’t see him in the dark—turning on a light might alert the night watch—she could feel that his body had stiffened. Yes, he was a bit annoyed.

  “If you have a cell phone, it would have been nice if you’d texted us how you were doing.”

  “I could have,” River said, not
icing that his hands had crept back to her hips. She wore a stretchy pair of pajama bottoms that were light and thin, and a matching top. It wasn’t fancy, but for modesty’s sake in a house full of eight men and two strange women, she’d wanted pajamas.

  Tighe played with the elastic, almost seeming to ignore her bare skin.

  “I could have texted, but I was afraid they’ve got some kind of communication device that looks for cell messages and phone calls. It’s not that hard to trace such activity. I never dared to switch the device on. They don’t know I have it.”

  “Smart,” he said gruffly. Then his hands slid around to her stomach once more. “You definitely have to leave with me. I can’t risk you needing medical help that this area can’t provide, especially under Wolf’s auspices. This might be a high-risk pregnancy. I can’t imagine that having triplets isn’t.”

  She worked him entirely free of his jeans. “I’m not leaving Fiona. And that’s that. End of discussion.”

  “Then she’ll come with us.”

  Her man was dreaming. He was talking big. This was the same guy who’d tried to ride Firefreak when he lacked the skills—according to his siblings—to do so. “No, Tighe,” she said, and then did what she had to do to make him forget all about rescue attempts.

  * * *

  RIVER’S BELLY WAS huge! Tighe had kissed every bit of her once-flat stomach, astonished by the size his sons had stretched her to. And matters were only going to get worse. His growing boys weren’t going to stop supersizing. It seemed to him that she was the shape most women were at the nine-month point of a single pregnancy.

  In fact, he shouldn’t have allowed her to make love to him. That was not a good idea. But her soft hands had been so busy, teasing and tormenting him, and he’d missed her so terribly. She’d moved so quickly, straddling him, that he couldn’t resist. He felt comfortable about her taking things at her own pace; still, he’d worried that pleasuring her would bring on an early delivery.

  She’d laughed at him, and taken his mind right off anything sane.

  Now she slept in the crook of his arm. He hated that he had to leave. An hour had passed; there was no reason to tempt the devil. Tighe got up, kissed her goodbye. Kissed his sons goodbye. “I’ll be back in a couple of days. Be ready. Tell Fiona, too.”

  “But Tighe—”

  He put a finger against her lips. “Just this once, I want you to say, ‘Whatever you want, darling.’”

  “No one talks like that,” River said, and giggled.

  “Try it. It’s my fervent desire to hear those words on your sweet lips.”

  “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Darling.”

  “Darling.” She giggled again, and he wished he could see her face.

  Within a week, they’d be back at Rancho Diablo. With a new moon, they’d celebrate Thanksgiving together, as a family. Then he’d put River in a rocker and make her stay still as a bowl of fruit until his sons were born.

  He went out the window and disappeared into the swirling snow.

  * * *

  TIGHE RETURNED TO Rancho Diablo for a rescue party. He went to Ash, because he could trust her to be up for an adventure. “I’ve got to get River out of there.”

  His sister turned to look at him from her perch atop the bunkhouse. She’d had binoculars glued to her face, peering toward the canyons. It was a great vantage point, but he was pretty certain she was looking for Xav Phillips just as much as any trespassers.

  “What are you talking about? Running Bear isn’t ready.”

  “I saw River last night. The chief’s going to have to be ready.”

  “How did you see her?”

  “I staked out the cabin for a few days, figured out the routine and which window was hers.” He shrugged. “A big storm moved in, and I took advantage of the situation.”

  Ash’s eyes were huge. “Running Bear is going to gnaw on you for that.”

  “I don’t care. River’s enormous. She’ll be on bed rest soon. We’ve got to get her out of there. Fiona, too. River says Wolf’s men are fighting among themselves, and Fiona’s not feeding them right now. They’re like hungry animals.”

  Ash smiled. “Sounds like Fiona has everything just the way she wants it. Everybody eating out of her palm.” His sister shook her head, the smile fading. “But I want no part of what you’re planning. Not unless you talk to Running Bear first.”

  “Ash. River is my woman, and she’s carrying my sons. Or my daughters.” He didn’t care which; he just needed her home safe. Tighe took a deep breath. “I’m getting her out of there. I’m getting her real medical care. This is a matter of my family’s lives. My wife’s life.”

  “You’re not married,” Ash said, with a sneaky smile.

  “I’m married in my heart. And River’s coming home.”

  “You talk to Running Bear and tell him the problem, and I’ll help you any way I can. I promise.” She patted Tighe on the back. “Poor brother. I know this is so hard for you.”

  “Not hard on me like it is on Fiona and River.” He felt terrible about that. “The cabin is freezing. There’s no heat. River’s brave, says her body temperature changed with the babies and now she’s hot all the time, so she’s fine. But what if Fiona gets pneumonia? Or River?” He was worried sick. “It can’t be healthy to live in those conditions. And though Fiona has everybody doing house chores, it’s not like being here.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Ash laid her head on his shoulder. “When Running Bear gets back, discuss it with him.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s gone somewhere. I don’t really know where. I have my suspicions, but if I’m right, he’s on a mission. My guess is he’s gone to visit the unmentioned part of our family tree. Might not be back for a while. Obviously, we didn’t foresee you trying to move up the timetable on the rescue.”

  Tighe’s heart felt as if it might beat out of his chest. “I don’t have that long to wait. It’s got to happen now.” He climbed down the ladder from the roof and headed to find Dante and the rest of his brothers. He and River would be at an altar in the next few days if he had to stop and marry her in Montana on the lam from Wolf. Tighe had looked it up. There were very few restrictions on getting married in that state. No blood work. It could be done.

  Or Running Bear might return, and could do a traditional wedding blessing.

  Tighe’s brothers were out handling their duties. They’d be back by early twilight. It’d be easier to herd them all into the library and state his case then.

  Maybe he’d go hunt up that stupid wedding dress while he waited for their return. He wanted to see what it was that had freaked River out.

  Had any of his brothers or cousins laid eyes on the fabled magic wedding dress while in its ephemeral cocoon?

  Was it to be handled only by hopeful brides seeking knowledge of their one true love—or could a man touch it? Would it still be a supernatural gown, or would merely holding the charmed fabric turn him into a gargoyle?

  It was time they all stopped tiptoeing around the bewitching fiddle-faddle Fiona endorsed. There was no such thing as magic. The thing was, they’d drunk in the stories and the mystery and the mysticism.

  He silently crept up to the attic, even though no one was in the main house. At the top of the stairs, he flipped on a lamp and closed the door behind him. Then he went to the closet where the gown supposedly hung, and took a deep breath before looking inside.

  There was the shimmery white garment bag, just as he’d always heard. It did seem to twinkle a bit in the dim closet, but that was just his eyes adjusting to the low lighting.

  He brought out the bag, hung it on a hook. Stepped back, pondered what he was hoping to learn.

  “All right, dress,” he muttered. “You’re just a fable in this family, a story that was created to get anxious brides to the altar.”

  The bag twinkled at him. He held his breath and took hold of the zipper.

  Chapter Fourteen

&nbs
p; There was nothing there.

  Tighe stared at the empty space where a magic wedding dress should be. This made no sense. It wasn’t at the cleaners, because Fiona wasn’t here to take it. No doubt she’d had it properly put away after Ana’s wedding to Dante. Yet River had told him she’d seen it. He couldn’t think of a single reason that the gown would be out and about without its special garment bag.

  This wasn’t good.

  The thing was around here somewhere. He just had to find it. He’d put it back in the bag, and when he brought Fiona and River home from Montana, everything would be as it should be.

  He searched the attic, then every room of the huge house.

  The dress was nowhere to be found.

  Ash approached him with a puzzled look when she found him rummaging through the basement. “What in the world are you doing down here, brother?”

  “I’m looking for something.”

  She glanced toward the long scar in the floor where the Rancho Diablo silver treasure was hidden.

  “No,” Tighe told his sister. “It’s not there. I wouldn’t dare dig anything out of that hole.”

  “What’s not there?” Ash asked.

  “The Callahan wedding gown.”

  Ash blinked. “What Callahan wedding gown? The magic wedding dress?”

  “I refuse to call it that,” Tighe said. “I don’t believe in magic.”

  Ash shook her head. “Why would it be in the basement?”

  “Because it’s not in the attic,” Tighe explained.

  “Of course it is.” Ash gave him an impatient look. “Typical male. Can’t find anything that’s right at hand, in the most obvious place.”

  “Fine,” Tighe said. “Go see if you can find it.”

  Ash jutted her chin into the air. “I will.”

  She trotted up the stairs. He went into the kitchen to see who was making dinner tonight. All seven of them had been assigned dates on a dry-erase board, and if anyone needed to swap their night, they erased their name and exchanged with their substitute.