by Diana Palmer
“That’s how it is here. Just me and the cattle.” Bart grinned. “You’re right. It’s not so bad. They never complain. They never want me to buy them things. They don’t even pout when I ignore them for a whole day.”
Cort threw back his head and roared with laughter. “I never thought of it like that,” he confessed.
“Now you have,” Bart returned.
* * *
THAT NIGHT, Mina had dreams. Nightmares. They came back with a vengeance, probably because of what had happened in her friend’s pasture with the calf. She got up at three in the morning and made coffee.
The house was lonely. She had cats who lived in the barn to keep away rats, but she didn’t have a pet indoors. She thought about getting a dog, but they required a lot of attention and she was having to travel on occasion to promote books. It would mean boarding a pet for long periods of time. So she went out to pet the barn cats when she was particularly lonely. Just not at three in the morning, in the dark.
She sat down at the kitchen table and sipped coffee. That man, Cort, had yelled at her and brought back terrible memories. He’d been sorry afterward. It finally dawned on her that he’d been afraid that he couldn’t save her from the charging mama cow. Imagine that, she thought to herself with a faint smile. He’d actually been afraid for her, after all the insults they’d traded back and forth.
She couldn’t go soft on him, however. That way lay disaster. Just because he’d saved her from a goring didn’t make him an object of romantic dreams. He was just a cowboy, and she knew from experience that many of the single ones were drifters, who never stayed put. They liked variety not just in work, but in women as well. Cort had a very sensual way of looking at a woman, and it didn’t take much guesswork to know that he was experienced. He’d spent the night with the happy divorcée, which tainted him in her eyes. Everybody knew the woman’s reputation. She was a man killer. Well, Cort was a lady-killer, from what his cousin said. Maybe they were a match made in heaven, the jaded man and the promiscuous woman.
It wounded her. It shouldn’t have. She had nothing invested in the cowboy who worked for Bart. She had to stop thinking about him. There was one way, at least. She carried her hot coffee to her desk in the living room and turned on her computer. When the world was sitting on her shoulders, writing was her salvation. She’d lived in her fantasy world for years, escaping her mother and the drunken boyfriends her mother brought home. It was a bright and beautiful place, where her heroes and heroines lived, and no ugliness was allowed there.
She smiled as she pulled up the chapter she was working on and began to type. She often wondered where the words came from. She had no idea what the characters were going to do until she started writing, and then they told their own story. It was a fascinating, delicious process that never failed to intrigue her. She didn’t try to understand it. She simply accepted it.
* * *
SHE WAS INVITED over to the Simpsons’ house later in the week by Pam Simpson, who’d had the party for her.
“You simply have to come,” she told Mina excitedly. “One of your biggest fans is just home from Australia and he wants to meet you. He reads your books while he’s watching over first-time mama cows until they give birth! He says he’ll be doing it at the Catelow ranch for a while. Well, you know that your cousin Rogan is partners with him, and Rogan’s still in Australia managing the station there.”
“Yes, I knew. Is it Mr. McGuire?” she wondered aloud. “I think I met him once a long time ago. When my mother was alive,” she added quietly. She didn’t tell Pam that her mother had made a play for McGuire, who was years her junior, and he’d turned her down. His name was never mentioned at home after that.
“It is,” Pam said. “Jake McGuire. He’s really nice. I’ve had the cook prepare a special meal, just in his honor. Well, in yours, too. So you have to come for lunch.”
Mina laughed. “Okay, then. It will save me from having to cook. Not that I don’t love it, but there are a lot of leftovers when you’re just cooking for one person.”
“I can imagine. So then, we’ll expect you.”
“What time?”
“Eleven sharp.”
“I’ll be there.”
* * *
MINA HADN’T SEEN Jake McGuire in a very long time. She was a little intimidated by him. After all, he was a millionaire many times over and she was just beginning to make her mark as an author.
He’d be used to women who were sophisticated and wore haute couture. All Mina had were clothes off-the-rack. But she was going to wear the best she had. She put on her prettiest spring dress, a pastel floral concoction with a V-neckline and wide sleeves, belted at the waist and midcalf length. She’d left her hair long and experimented, lightly, with the makeup Sassy Callister had given her. She didn’t look half-bad, she thought.
Jake obviously thought she looked very nice, because he just stared at her, smiling, when Pam introduced them.
He was good-looking. Very good-looking. Tall and tanned, with dark hair and light silver eyes, and a physique that would have done a rodeo rider proud. How odd that a man who looked like that, and was rich, wasn’t married. Maybe he was a romantic and wanted that fairy-tale romance that both men and women dreamed of.
“We met a long time ago,” Mina began hesitantly.
“No, we didn’t. We’re just meeting now,” he said gently, and smiled. “Those long-ago, terrible days are done.”
She let out a breath. “Yes, thank God,” she replied, grateful that Pam had gone into the kitchen to check on the progress of lunch. “My mother was my worst enemy, most of my life.”
“I know that. But she’s gone. You’re safe, now.”
The way he said it made her feel warm and comforted. She smiled at him. “Thanks. For not blaming me, for what she did,” she added.
“How could anyone blame you?” he asked. His face tautened. “We all knew what she was. Rogan was furious when he realized what she’d tried to do to you, what she’d let her drunken boyfriend do. Australia is a long way away. We didn’t get any news from back home at all!”
“Cousin Rogan kept the ranch solvent, at least,” she told him. “I don’t know what I’d have done if he hadn’t. He bought me a computer and kept the bills paid until I learned how to buy and sell cattle, and especially until I started selling books. He was my biggest fan. He always believed I could get published.”
“So did I,” he returned. “Your cousin told me about SPECTRE. I bought a copy and I was hooked! I couldn’t imagine how a woman could write in almost a man’s style about mercs and cops and soldiers. You even know about weapons.”
She grinned. “I have a commando group that adopted me years ago,” she confessed. “They take me out on missions occasionally, so that I get a real feel for what I’m writing about. That’s how I came up with the idea for SPECTRE. I dedicated it to the guys.”
“I did wonder about the dedication,” he teased.
She laughed. “I also pumped Bart’s cousin Cody for information. He’s been sheriff of Carne County for years and years.”
“He has, indeed. He’s a good man. Shame about his wife.”
“Yes, it was. He tried to help me, before my mother died. He just couldn’t ever get anything on Henry that he could use to put him away.” Her face hardened. “Henry was a bottom-feeder.”
“I could think of some better adjectives.” He smiled at her. “You came through it, though. What doesn’t kill us...”
“...makes us stronger,” she finished, and laughed. “Cousin Rogan’s favorite slogan,” she recalled.
“And a true one.”
“Cook has lunch ready,” Pam called from the dining room. “Come and get it!”
* * *
LUNCH WAS DELICIOUS. The cook had made a bacon and egg quiche with fresh fruit and a poppy seed dressing, followed by Cherries Jubilee for desser
t.
“I can’t remember when I’ve had better food,” Jake said as he worked on his last cup of coffee.
“Neither can I,” Mina added, smiling at Pam. “It was delicious!”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Pam said. She wiggled her eyebrows. “Was it delicious enough for you to tell me what the new book you’re working on is going to be about?”
“You wish,” Mina chuckled. “You know I never talk about them when I’m writing them. I’m afraid it will jinx them!”
Pam sighed. “I knew you’d say that.”
“I can tell you that the hero is a mercenary, and it’s set in Texas,” Mina volunteered.
“Wow!” Pam frowned. “Why not in Wyoming?”
“Well, I’m from here,” Mina said. “And Texas is one of my favorite states.” She sighed. “Zane Grey wrote about Texas, you know. I think I have all of his books.”
“So do I,” Jake said. “I grew up on cowboys. I guess it’s why I was so happy to inherit my dad’s ranch.”
“Your dad’s ranch was a mess,” Pam said with a twinkle in her eyes. “Dead broke and almost done for. You turned it into a going proposition and made a fortune with it.”
“With oil and minerals, mostly,” he confessed on a laugh. “I love cattle, but the by-products under the land made me rich.”
“I need to have an oilman look under my husband’s old classic car,” Pam said with a straight face. “I’ll bet he could find the mother lode.”
They all laughed.
* * *
JAKE WALKED OUT with Mina after they’d said goodbye to their hostess. Mina compared her little economy car with Jake’s big, new Mercedes and grimaced inwardly. It certainly denoted the difference in their economic status.
“That’s one of the new Mercedes,” she noted. “I’ve seen them on the internet.”
He chuckled. “What I really wanted was the one that lights up inside. The Maybach. But I needed a car right then and they said it would be a couple of months before I could get the Maybach. So I bought the best Mercedes they had on the lot instead. It’s not bad. A real champ on the roads... When the state police aren’t looking,” he added with a grin.
“It goes fast, then?” she teased, and her big brown eyes sparkled.
He looked down into them with real interest. “It does.”
She smiled. She liked him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sort of liking he wanted, and he realized it very quickly. She was pretty and sweet and he could do worse. But she wasn’t feeling the things he was. He pursed his lips and considered that. Then he discounted it. He knew she wasn’t seeing anyone locally. That meant he had a chance with her. He wasn’t wasting it.
“How about a nice steak a week from this Friday?” he asked.
She hesitated, but only briefly. “That would be nice. There’s a good restaurant in town...”
“Not here. In Billings.”
She blinked. “Montana?”
He nodded. “Best steak in the northwest,” he added with a grin.
“But it’s a long drive,” she began. “We’re over a hundred and fifty miles south of Billings!”
“I have my own baby jet,” he said easily. “We can land on the Rimrocks at the Billings Airport and I’ll have a limo waiting to take us to the restaurant.”
Her lips parted on a shocked gasp. The expense would be monstrous. She said so.
“I’m rich,” he reminded her with a wicked smile. “There’s no sense in being rich if I can’t enjoy it while I’m still alive. I like a good steak. Best one in the whole territory is in Billings. I’ll have you home by midnight,” he added. “I promise.”
She let out the breath she’d taken. “Well!”
“Come on. Say yes. I’m tired of my own company.”
She searched his eyes. “You could get anybody, any woman, you wanted...”
“I don’t have a lot of friends,” he said, emphasizing the last word to put her at ease. It did, too. He saw her relax, saw the worried look on her face eclipse into a smile.
“Well, okay, then,” she said finally.
His heart jumped. He laughed. “Okay.” It was something that she’d even agree to be friends with him. He could hope for more, later.
“So I’ll pick you up about five. That okay?”
She smiled. “Okay. What do I wear?”
“Jeans and a shirt. And a jacket. It gets chilly at night.”
Her eyebrows arched. “It isn’t dressy...?”
“Not really, and I hate suits,” he murmured, although he was wearing one. A nice one, she observed.
“I wanted to impress you with my trendy wardrobe,” he said outrageously, and smiled when she started laughing.
“I’m impressed,” she said when she was able to contain the humor.
“Good. I’ll keep that in mind for future outings,” he said. He frowned slightly. “Don’t you have a signing coming up in Manhattan?” he wondered.
She grimaced. “Yes, I do. It’s such a long way to New York,” she began.
“I’ll fly you up there, anytime you want to go,” he said at once. “Sure beats trying to go on a commercial flight, packed in like sardines, eating peanuts instead of a nice meal.”
“I’m convinced. If it wouldn’t inconvenience you,” she added quickly.
He waved a hand. “I have business interests in New York,” he said easily. “I need to make a trip up to talk to one of my investment counselors. I can combine business with pleasure. What sort of entertainment do you like? Theater, opera, symphony concerts, ballet...?”
Her eyes lit up. “Ballet?”
He chuckled. “I’ll see what’s playing while we’re in town. Just give me a week’s notice.”
“I’ll certainly do that, and thank you very much for the offer of a ride.” She made a face. “I hate flying.”
“You’ll love it in the jet,” he promised. “I’ll see you next Friday.”
She smiled warmly. “Yes.”
She climbed into her little car, waved and drove off.
* * *
“I HEAR YOU’RE going off to eat with that McGuire feller,” Bill teased as they watched one of Mina’s part-timers work a filly in the corral.
She gaped at him. “I just talked to him yesterday, and I didn’t tell anybody.”
“It’s Catelow,” he told her. “Small town, big ears. And your hostess can’t keep her mouth shut, either,” he added with a chuckle. “Made her feel good, playing matchmaker, I hear.”
“It’s not like that,” she said softly. “Jake’s a terrific person, but I don’t feel that way about him.”
“Shame,” he said with a sigh. “He’s got all the money in the world.”
“Money is how we keep score when we’re doing a job we love,” she said lazily. “I don’t care what I’ve got, as long as I can pay the bills. We’re doing great here,” she added with pride. “Cousin Rogan won’t have to supplement us in a few months.”
“No, he won’t, the way your book is selling,” Bill said with quiet pride. “You’re on your way to fame.”
She wrinkled her nose. “As long as it’s distant fame, I don’t mind. I’d hate to be one of those people who’s on magazine covers and tabloid covers all the time, so they’re recognized everywhere they go. It would be like living outdoors in the city, with people watching everything you do. I’d go nuts. I love it here.” She looked around at the towering distant mountains with their snow-covered peaks, the buttes closer to the ranch that curved gracefully on the horizon. “This has to be the most beautiful place on Earth.”
“I’d agree,” he said. He frowned. “Jake McGuire’s a great catch,” he began.
“Money isn’t enough. I’m holding out for a man I can love.”
“Yes, Miss Mina, but you don’t date anybody,” he r
eturned gently. “Never going to find a husband that way.”
“Not sure I want one.”
He turned his attention back to the corral. “Had a call from your cousin Rogan earlier today.”
“Was he looking for me? I had my phone cut off while I was at the Simpsons’...”
“Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“He’s heard from your father,” he said.
Her face tautened. Once, when her mother was alive and she was younger, she’d wanted badly to keep in touch with her parent. But her mother had told her father that Mina hated him for leaving and never wanted to talk to him again. As the years passed, however, and she suffered her mother’s incessant lovers, the lie had become truth. Her father had deserted her, left her to the torment her mother had given her. She blamed him, because his desertion had caused most of her pain.
“I don’t want to hear from him,” she said flatly. “Not ever again.”
He hesitated for just a minute. “You sure? It’s been fifteen years, you know.”
She bit her lower lip.
“There’s something he wants to tell you,” he said finally.
“He can write me a letter.”
He shook his head. “He wants to see you. He’s in Billings.”
Her heart jumped.
“You should think about it,” Bill said gently. “When he’s gone, there’s nobody else who knows anything about your background. About your extended family. I know your mother never talked about her parents or their parents. History is important.”
She knew that. Still she hesitated. She hated even the memory of the past few years, hated the anguish her mother had caused her.
“It might be your last chance, to find out why your mama was so mean to you,” he finished. “He’s the only person alive who would know.”
She drew in a breath. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”