Lone Star Hero

by Jennie Jones

  She left the kitchen and strode around the courtyard to where the crane was in place, having arrived early morning yesterday. Saul had driven it up the dirt beside the archway, with Molly fearing for his life when it looked like it would tip over backward and kill him.

  Obviously, that hadn’t happened because there he was, talking to Davie. His jeans were worn in patches at the knee, his T-shirt was rumpled over his chest, and the muscles in his arms bulged more than usual due to the exertion he’d used to get the rafters in place. It had all happened so fast. No doubt due to Saul’s perfectionist calculations, and both his and Davie’s strength and lack of worry about hard work.

  One hand on his hip, Saul was using his other capable and strong hand to describe something to Davie. His brow was beaded with sweat and his hair mussed and a little damp from his strenuous activity.

  He looked like a piece of scorching male art.

  He stopped talking suddenly and looked away from Davie and straight at Molly. He smiled, his eyes softening—she could tell, even from this distance—and it felt like he was telling her she was a very good girl, but oh, when she wasn’t... As though he’d crawled inside her mind and was about to make her imagination run wild. Everything about him made her feel like she was ninety-nine percent lady, and one percent wicked. That one percent wanted so much.

  “What’s next?” she asked as she came up to the men. One who’d remain in her life forever, and one who’d leave.

  “Hi,” Saul said, his eyes still on her face.

  She felt a flush creep over her face, and turned to Davie. “What’s next?”

  Davie nodded at the camera she’d slung around her neck. “Did you get some good photos?”

  “Fabulous. You two look wonderful up on the hacienda roof. All masculine and muscled and whatever.”

  Davie laughed.

  “Of course, I’d like to be up on the roof too,” she said, then shot a look at Saul. “Except my employee won’t let me.”

  “Contractor,” Saul said, then turned back to Davie and held his hand out. “Thanks for your help, Davie. It’s really moved things along. I can manage the rest.”

  “No problem,” Davie said, accepting the handshake. “And make sure my Molly stays off that roof.” He winked at Saul, who grinned.

  “What’s all this?” Molly asked.

  “Nothing.” Davie slapped a gentle hand on Molly’s shoulder. “Take it easy on your contractor, Molly.” Then he walked off to his truck.

  “Don’t forget that once you’ve all gone,” Molly called, “and I’m alone. I can get up on my roof any time I like.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Davie said with a backward wave.

  “So what now, Spark?” Saul asked when Davie had driven off. “Want to take a break?”

  Molly took the camera strap from around her neck. “You can. But first, I want to take a few shots of us. I forgot to ask Davie to do it.” She walked over to the stone steps and chose the best spot for her Pro, then set the timer.

  “Do you think this is a good idea?” Saul asked. “After all that nonsense with your reputation.”

  “Yes.” She ran back to his side. “These photos will be integral to my promo and PR, showcasing the regeneration process and my commitment—and all that type of thing.” Plus, they’d be important for Molly personally, so she had photographic evidence of Saul’s existence on those lonely nights when she was alone except for the sad music she’d play. Nights where she’d wonder what she’d done wrong, and if she could have made it better and tried harder to slot them together so they were right for each other and not a total mismatch.

  “Smile,” she said in a singsong tone as she stepped a little closer to him, tipped her head toward his shoulder, and smiled at the camera.

  He didn’t move and he didn’t speak, so she looked up and checked his face. He was dutifully smiling and looking at the camera. Her heart tripped. Imagine always being able to stand at his side. Then the self-timer tripped and she was still gazing up at Saul.

  “Okay, enough photos,” he said. “Let’s take that break, then I’ll finish off.”

  So he could leave and Molly could get on with being lonely.

  “Want a beer?” he asked, taking two bottles out of the chiller at the bottom of the steps.

  “No, thanks.”

  “Mind if I do?”

  She shook her head. He didn’t need to be so polite all the time. His room and board, and beer, came with the contract price. It wasn’t as though she was paying him much to begin with. “Help yourself to whatever you want.”

  He straightened, hand on the bottle, about to twist the cap off. “Anything?” he asked, his tone caressing her and giving her palpitations. “That fires up my imagination.”

  It wouldn’t, once she gave him the good news.

  She walked across and sat on the step next to him. Then stood because she was too close. She wandered a little way and tried to concentrate on where she’d put the plains cottonwoods she wanted to plant, and how her courtyard would look in twelve or eighteen months’ time. But one of the major things on her mind—after the issue of Saul leaving—was the debt now over her head and whether or not Saul would think her too needy, or too dependent if she asked his opinion on her decision.

  Suddenly, he was at her side, staring out at the courtyard the way she was. “You want to ask me something.”

  Molly shook her head. How did he guess?

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “Not a thing.”

  He smiled and tilted his head as he stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the courtyard. “What? What do you want to ask?”

  “Nothing. I especially don’t want to ask your opinion on whether or not I should search for a company that matches people with leases to people who want a sports car, and who then act as go-between for the person with the lease and the person who might take over the lease.”

  “Oh, good,” he said, shifting his weight. “Because I don’t have an opinion on that. I know that you know that the impact this might have on you financially, and on your credit rating if you default on the loan, is worth the cost of the fee this company will charge to match you with someone who wants to buy your sports car.”

  “Exactly.” Spot on. “You catch on fast, Contractor.”

  “You’re an expert teacher, Spark.”

  Before she had time to phrase a stunningly witty response, he put an arm around her, pulled her into him, and kissed her.

  She was inhaling all that heavenly stuff again, a great big slice of it.

  His mouth moved tenderly on hers and she responded. It was like a long, slow dance. Then he gently pulled his mouth from hers and took a breath as he stared into her eyes.

  “I thought we weren’t going to do that anymore,” she said.

  “So did I, but sometimes the moment has to be taken.”

  “Well, make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said, attempting flippancy.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes.” She reluctantly stepped away and gave him a gentle shove to prove she meant what she’d said—and it took enormous willpower to remove herself from the warmth of that broad, solid chest.

  But the thrill of knowing he wanted to kiss her again and get his hands all over her again almost blinded her. That wicked one percent had a lot to answer for.

  “By the way,” she added, unwilling to say this but knowing she had to. “I’ve got good news.”

  Saul flung his clean clothes into his backpack, which was sitting on his single bed in his room at the lodge house. No point keeping stuff in the chest of drawers any longer, except for his work clothes and his hiking gear. He’d be gone in three days.

  Molly’s good news still had him floored. Alice and Marie had come up with the money to pay someone to tile the roof. Nobody had even asked him if he wanted that job. It looked like Molly’s mom and grandmother had taken things into their own hands. He shouldn’t blame them—not for wanting the best for their
daughter, nor for wanting what was needed for the town and the valley—after all, he had no plans to stay.

  But now he’d have to go back to being offhand with Molly and somehow try to quit the friendship thing that had been happening between them. Plus the kissing. He was definitely going to have to put a halt to that.

  He rotated a shoulder and had to admit his muscles had taken a pounding yesterday and today. Now this—he was leaving sooner than he’d thought he would.

  Maybe Alice and Marie were seeing his indecision about any possible relationship with Molly, and the outcome if he did stay. Because he wouldn’t stay forever, and that would hurt Molly. She wasn’t the dependent type, but she was the kind of person who wanted good things and Saul wasn’t good for her. Not long-term.

  Get back to behaving like the guy just passing through. Because now, end of journey. He was going. So why was something in the back of his mind telling him that the plans the Mackillop women had put in motion, weren’t the right ones?

  Plus, something Davie had said to him this morning as they’d been up on the roof putting the main beams back into place, and then the majority of the rafters, had worried him about Molly’s future safety. They’d been talking throughout the job, just general stuff until Davie began telling Saul about his life. About his own people whom he considered family. About his people here, in the valley, whom he also considered family. About how his family were spread far and wide but all it took was a moment in their company—even after months or sometimes years of not seeing them—and the bond was back and couldn’t be shifted, whether he wanted it or not.

  All that had led Saul’s mind back to a similar conversation he’d had with Molly. Where she’d told him her family were not all blood family but they were still family. And further back, to Alice’s advice that all it took was a phone call and he could sort out his own family problems. After the conversation with Davie ended, he’d stopped working on the roof for a few minutes and considered the pros more than the cons of sticking around Hopeless a bit longer and maybe—maybe—finalizing something with his mother and maybe seeing if there was anywhere he and Molly had to go with whatever their relationship was.

  A moment after that last thought a cold draught had swept over him and the rafter beneath his foot had slipped sideways. He’d almost fallen through the gap and down to the wood floor of the salon. If it hadn’t been for Davie’s quick hand, grabbing him so Saul could right himself, he’d have been lying below with a broken back.

  “You need to take more care up on this roof than most,” Davie had said and something in his studied expression had made Saul nod in understanding.

  “Kind of weird shit, this,” he’d said.

  “I know,” Davie agreed. “I don’t understand it either, but there’s a force in this place and it’s not happy.”

  “I’m getting that impression.”

  “Maybe you ought to have Molly up here with you in future,” Davie said.

  “Why? You think she can save me from the wrath of her great-grandfather?”

  “It’s something Alice said to me the other day. She said to tell you Molly could protect you. I didn’t know what she meant, now I do.”

  “You mean having Molly at my side wards off the bad chills and the creepy stuff?”

  Davie shrugged. “Don’t know how it works. But maybe Molly’s presence is harder for them to penetrate. She’s used to them and to all this weirdness. She won’t back down from them. Not that she realizes that just by being here, she’s helping to rid the place of ghosts, but I’m certain she can be your protection.”

  Saul brought himself out of his thoughts and back to the good news that he could get his end of the job done in three days, and leave. His room in the lodge house already felt stark and bare, without his few possessions scattered around. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

  He had more than a roof to sort out before he left.

  He hadn’t given much thought to Sally-Opal and her father recently, because he’d been so wrapped up in Molly and the problems the valley faced. For some reason, he didn’t want to leave Hopeless without having settled everything. Sally-Opal, her father, and whether or not Sally-Opal had called his sister. He’d kept the sat phone switched off purposely the last few days, so that her father couldn’t trace the number.

  He fired up the phone. No messages. Not even from Sally-Opal.

  That got him a little worried about her. Should he have called her, to check on her? Would her father be looking after her, or was he off on some crusade to find Saul? There was no way a paternity suit was going to stick, but it was going to cause Saul nine months worth of aggravation. And he was a little concerned for Sally. She needed someone by her side, some sort of protector. Not that he wanted it to be him, but he’d feel better knowing she had someone around who cared for her and understood the challenges she obviously faced.

  He opened the contacts list and contemplated calling Karlie first, then decided against it. No point getting in touch if Sally hadn’t given her his number, because his mother would want to talk to him too.

  Karlie. If he attempted to fix family issues, or at least settle them, he’d do it in person with both his sister and his mother. He didn’t yet know what he’d do about his brothers.

  He hit the number for Sally and waited as it rang in his ear.

  “You!”

  “Afternoon, Sally-Opal.”

  “I’m not pregnant. It’s your fault.”

  Saul closed his eyes, thanking God, and at the same time asking for advice about whether or not to just hang up now. “Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s...” Good news for Saul, but maybe not for Sally. “Eh, that’s... How do you feel about it?”

  “Cheated.”

  “Aw, come on.”

  “I had plans. I was going to be the perfect mother.”

  “I’m sure you will be, when the time comes.”

  “But that’s not going to happen, is it? Since I don’t have a man in my life. So this is what is going to happen.”

  Saul had a bad feeling in his gut.

  “I’m coming to visit you.”

  “I’m in Idaho, it’s a long trip. Where’s your father?” he asked, trying to gather as much intel on the situation as he could before Sally-Opal took off on another verbal spree.

  “He’s furious with you!”

  “But I haven’t done anything, Sally-Opal, come on—”

  “Daddy’s gone on a golfing trip.”

  He’d left her alone? Unbelievable.

  “And you are not in Idaho,” she continued. “You’re in some crummy Calamitous Valley place by the canyon.”

  Oh, shit.

  “Once I get a ride there, we’ll make up and then we’ll make a baby. I’m just having trouble finding someone to drive me. I’m in no condition to drive myself. I’m a bag of nerves!”

  Saul had to think quickly. If for some reason she didn’t make it here in the next three days, he’d be gone, and he didn’t want Molly having to deal with her. “But I’ve got a girlfriend, remember?”

  “She’s ugly.”

  “She’s beautiful,” he said in what he thought of as a reasonable tone. “How can you make a snap decision when you don’t know what she looks like?”

  “I saw you!” Sally yelled. “Everybody in Texas saw you! You took your clothes off for her and she’s making big cow eyes at you.”

  Saul covered his eyes with his hand. How could he have forgotten about that stupid photograph? You are so in trouble, Marie.

  “You are not to come here,” he said.

  She burst into tears, which pinched his heart. This poor kid really needed someone to look after her.

  “Look,” he said. “I’m leaving in a couple of days. I’ll call you when I’ve left, and maybe—” Sorry, Grandpa—but I’m about to lie. “Maybe I’ll come and see you in El Paso.” Or have a word with her daddy, and try to make him understand his daughter needed help. “So you stay put, and maybe I’ll come dow
n to you. In a few days. Maybe a week. You can wait a week, can’t you?”

  “You hate me, don’t you?”

  “No. Of course not. I’ll try to visit, okay? You stay where you are.”

  “I’d do anything for you.” Between heaving sobs that sounded theatrical more than real, she hung up on him.

  He put the sat phone down. He’d call her again later, and try to dissuade her from making the trip. He thought about calling her father, but wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk calmly to the man.

  He gazed out the open French window, at the courtyard and the land beyond, trying to figure out how he could have gotten himself into this mess. He didn’t go looking for trouble, but it had sure found him.

  He’d sort Sally out, somehow. He’d get the roof ready to be tiled, and he’d harden up with Molly and behave like a contractor ought to. He’d quit with the friendship thing. He’d stop the playful jokes. He’d halt anything warm or humorous between them. He was out of here in three days. No point taking their relationship any further. It wouldn’t be kind to him, or to Molly.

  Molly threw the clothes she’d spent twenty minutes taking out of her chest of drawers back into the drawers in random order, knowing she’d be furious with herself tomorrow for not neatly folding and placing them back with meticulous care.

  She slammed a drawer closed with her hip and turned from the mess of her room to look out the window instead. The courtyard in front of her lodge house was peppered with the plant pots Momma had donated. Soon, she’d be able to move them to the brick-paved area at the front of the hacienda. Of course, she’d have to do that on her own now, since she wouldn’t have a big, strong, handsome contractor to order around.

  What did she really want from Saul? Surely it was too soon to be thinking of sharing the rest of her life with him. Even if he wanted to...

  Her thoughts went back to her previous relationship and the engagement ring she’d been trying to find, tossing clothes and all sorts of gear out of cupboards, drawers, and purses she hadn’t used in years. She hadn’t found it. Impossible she had it. She’d thrown it at Jason and the new girl.