He mentally stopped.
Then what? More kissing? Sex? Yeah, all of that was still on the proverbial table. Which might mean he was an idiot after all. He wanted to be with Cait. Wanted it more than he wished his ribs would stop aching. But there was that whole “big picture” thing. In three weeks, give or take a day or two, he’d be leaving, and he really didn’t want to hurt her.
Hayes mentally stopped again.
There was no way Cait would just hand him her heart. Not when she thought of him as having the same morals as her father or the strayest of stray alley cats. Hayes didn’t make it a habit of sleeping around, but Cait wouldn’t believe it. That meant her attraction to him was just that.
An attraction.
It likely wouldn’t go beyond kisses and then possible sex. They could spend a little time together having fun and burning off some of that heat they’d generated, and then...
He had to mentally stop yet again.
Shit.
Hayes was about to launch into an argument with himself about why flings could get messed up, but the moment he pulled to a stop in front of Em’s, his phone rang. He saw a familiar name pop up on the screen. Kurt Benson. He played Hayes’s father on Outlaw Rebels, and at seventy-four, Kurt was still as much of a womanizer as Marty. Kurt also wouldn’t be calling to bust Hayes’s chops about his forced hiatus from the show.
“Kurt,” Hayes greeted him when he answered the call.
“Hello, Hayes,” the woman responded.
Hayes responded, too, with another “Shit,” but this one he said aloud. Not Kurt, but he instantly recognized the voice of the caller.
His mother, Sunshine.
“Don’t hang up,” Sunshine immediately said. “And don’t blame Kurt for this. I sneaked his phone because I knew you wouldn’t answer the call if you knew it was me.”
“Damn straight I wouldn’t have. Did you do something to Kurt?” Hayes snapped.
“No.” She sounded damn right cheery. “I’m just spending some time with him these days.”
In other words, Sunshine had probably slept with Kurt, maybe gotten him drunk—which wouldn’t have been hard to do—and then she’d coaxed his phone password out of him.
“There’s nothing you’ve got to say that I want to hear,” Hayes told his mother.
“Yes, there is,” she insisted. “I need to see you and your sisters, and trust me, this is a meeting you’ll want to take.”
Hayes was about to hit the end-call button when Sunshine said the one thing that could make him stop and listen.
“This is about Ivy.”
* * *
CAIT WAS TRYING hard to rein in her temper because she didn’t want Adam to think one drop of her anger was aimed at him. The boy was already in a bad place and didn’t need her adding anything negative to it. Still, it was hard not to spew some venom about her father.
The very father who was supposed to call her right back.
Well, the right back was going on an hour now, and while that wasn’t a huge amount of time for most things, it was when Adam and Debra were waiting to hear the outcome of their fate.
Shaw had updated Sunny and the others as to what was happening, and Em and the triplets had appeared in the kitchen only long enough for introductions before going back to the sewing and decorating. Cait considered that a wise thing to do since it might be even more hours before Marty called.
Or never.
However, Lenore and Kinsley had stayed in the kitchen, which made sense since this was, after all, a family crisis and they were family. Well, Kinsley was by DNA and Lenore was family in a big-picture kind of way because she had more than enough heart to accept any of Marty’s offspring who showed up. She’d done that especially with Leyton and had ended up adopting him. Lenore likely would have done the same to Kinsley had Shaw and Sunny not stepped up to the plate.
Her mother was doing her usual “cheerful hostess” stuff and had made a fresh pot of coffee and arranged some apple muffins that she’d gotten from the diner onto a pretty plate. The fact Lenore hadn’t baked them herself was the reason the muffins were actually getting eaten.
Kinsley added some teenage surliness to the mix—again aimed at Marty. Kinsley might only be fifteen, but she already knew the score when it came to their father. When she wasn’t simmering in surliness, though, Kinsley had also managed to engage her nephew in some chatter about high school, favorite subjects.
And their shared interest in Outlaw Rebels.
That in turn led to chatter about Hayes. Apparently, the teens had some hero-worship thing going on, though Cait knew that Kinsley’s interest was because Hayes was straight fire. Adam seemed to be a big fan of the show itself, and he liked the motorcycles.
“Would any of you like some of my special tuna surprise casserole?” Lenore asked.
Cait didn’t gasp, but it was a close call. Eating anything that Lenore had prepared wouldn’t help Adam’s situation. He’d have digestion issues from Hades to go along with the wait to hear what was going to happen to him.
“No, thank you,” Debra said, causing both Cait and Shaw to release the breaths they’d been holding. “You’re being very kind to us, and I appreciate that.” She gave her grandson’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I just want you to know that I was with Marty before he married you. I don’t want you to think he cheated on you with me.”
Lenore dismissed that with a wave that halted in midwave when Cait’s phone rang. The sound shot through the room, and everyone was clearly waiting for her to check her screen.
“It’s Marty,” Cait verified.
She debated putting the call on speaker, but since you never knew what would come out of Marty’s mouth, she opted against it. No use hitting Adam with another hammer if Marty was about to refuse to help.
Cait pressed the answer button on her phone but didn’t issue a greeting. Instead, she let Marty start the conversation, and if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, she’d take the call into another room and verbally kick his sorry butt into the middle of next week.
“Okay, I cleared a few things on my schedule,” Marty said, “and I can be at the ranch in a day or two.” Cait relaxed just a fraction until her father added, “A week or two at the latest.”
Crap. That could turn into a month or two at the latest. Or years. There’d been a long stretch of five years once when Marty hadn’t shown his face in Lone Star Ridge. During that time, he’d probably knocked up multiple women and turned his back on more of his own kids.
“Can you nail it down to a more specific day and time?” Cait snarled once she managed to unclench the muscles in her jaw. “Maybe like tomorrow at noon?”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I’ve got gigs scheduled, and I can’t just ditch them.”
That was ironic since he had no trouble ditching daddy or granddaddy duty. She wanted to growl something snarky, but Adam was staring at her, not only listening to her every word but watching her body language.
“A day or two?” Cait repeated instead. “Get here then.” And she made sure that didn’t sound like a vague suggestion but the demand that it was.
“I’ll sure try,” Marty answered. Unfortunately, that did indeed sound vague to Cait. “In the meantime, see if your mom can take the boy until I can get there and work something out.”
Cait opened her mouth to say that wasn’t acceptable, that he wasn’t going to dump this on his ex-wife, but she would have been talking to the air because her father had already ended the call. She took a moment to compose herself before she turned around to face Adam. He must have picked up on the gist of her conversation with Marty and was already getting to his feet.
“I can stay by myself,” he said. “It’s only a couple of months, and I’ve got a little money saved. I could probably find a place if the rent’s cheap enough. I checked, and there’s no law in Texas th
at says I can’t stay alone.”
Cait sighed. “You’re how old, fourteen?” she asked.
Adam’s head dipped a little. “Thirteen.”
After another sigh, Cait was about to launch into an explanation of while him staying alone might be legal, it surely wasn’t safe. But Lenore spoke before she could get started.
“Do you like snickerdoodles?” Lenore asked, smiling at Adam. “I have some I got from the diner, and I could get you a couple with a glass of milk.” In the grand scheme of things, that offer just didn’t seem relevant, but Lenore made it so by adding, “Then we can talk about you staying here with me.”
Debra and Adam stared at her, probably because they didn’t know that Lenore made a habit of doing this sort of thing.
“The house is big,” Lenore went on. “We have seven bedrooms and only three are being used right now. Shaw and Kinsley are here. So is Shaw’s fiancée, Sunny. You’re welcome to stay until...Marty comes to get you.”
Cait figured her mom had had to tamp down a little disgust when she said that last part. She’d tamped down her skepticism, too, because Lenore’s bright expression made it seem as if everything would be just as sweet and fine as a snickerdoodle.
“Miss Lenore’s nice,” Kinsley offered when neither Debra nor Adam said anything. “Sunny, too. And Shaw’s okay most of the time.”
Kinsley and Shaw exchanged one of those big brother/little sister glances. Glances like the ones Shaw and Cait shared. Yeah, he was nice most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to be an overprotective oldest sibling and butting his nose into their private lives. Of course, nose-butting was fine until Kinsley reached her eighteenth birthday.
“You’d really be all right with Adam staying here?” Debra asked. The tears were in her eyes again, but Cait thought these were ones of relief.
“Of course,” Lenore quickly assured her. “We’ll be right as rain, and I’ll have someone new to test out all these recipes I’ve been wanting to cook.”
Kinsley and Cait both tried to give Adam subtle head shakes to warn him off that last offer. Later, she’d pull him aside and explain that they basically cooked for themselves or brought in food from the town diner. Of course, it would only take a bite or two for the boy to learn to steer clear of Lenore’s culinary attempts.
“We’ll help you get your things here,” Shaw offered, looking first at Adam but then shifting his attention to Debra. “We also need to stop by the lawyer’s office and do some temporary guardianship papers.”
“I’ve had those drawn up already and they’re in the car,” Debra said, standing. “They’re for Marty’s signature.”
“We should have those redone with my name on them,” Shaw countered. “Just in case Marty’s delayed in getting here.”
Debra nodded and made a sweeping glance at all of them. The relief and gratitude were obvious in every bit of her body language, but Cait suspected the sadness would soon set in. After all, she was basically handing over her grandson to strangers. Good strangers, but Debra didn’t know that.
“Let me have a look at the guardianship papers.” Shaw started toward the back door but stopped when Sunny came in.
One look at her face, and Cait knew something was wrong. Shaw knew, too, and he went straight to her.
“What happened?” Shaw asked.
“Hayes,” Sunny said, her voice barely a whisper, but Cait was close enough for her to hear.
“Hayes?” Cait repeated. God, had something happened to him? Her body obviously thought so because it went into a weird overdrive, and she got a hard smack of adrenaline. “What’s wrong with him?”
Sunny must have noticed how alarmed Cait was. No surprise there. She probably looked the picture of hyped-up gloom and doom. “He’s okay. I mean, he wasn’t hurt or anything.”
The adrenaline eased up enough that Cait could level her breathing. But not her worries. Because something was clearly wrong.
“What happened?” Shaw asked Sunny.
“It’s Mother. Sunshine,” Sunny supplied. “Hayes is on his way over to tell us about the trouble she’s causing. It’s bad, Shaw,” she added, stepping into her fiancé’s arms. “It’s bad.”
CHAPTER NINE
HAYES CERTAINLY HADN’T expected to be making another trip this soon back to the Jameson ranch, but he needed a family meeting, and his sisters were already all there. Too bad he was going to have to add another layer of problems onto what was no doubt already going on.
Sunny was likely in the middle of the discussion about what was to be done with Marty’s grandson. Along with the troubles she was having in her pregnancy, Hayes normally wouldn’t want to put anything else on her. But this couldn’t wait.
Cursing his mother under his breath, Hayes parked Em’s truck in the very spot where he’d driven it away a little over an hour earlier. He hadn’t headed to the Jameson ranch immediately after finishing the call with his mother, though. First, he’d had to rein in his temper and pretty much the rest of his emotions, too.
Even now, all these minutes later, he was still pissed off all the way to the marrow, but he didn’t want his sisters to see that in him and feed into it. They had a right to their anger, of course, but wanting to throttle their mother wasn’t going to fix what Sunshine was trying to set in motion. And it would only add to the stress Sunny was already dealing with.
Damn Sunshine for trying to use them this way. And he wished he could send her straight to the deepest pit in hell for threatening to use Ivy.
It was Cait who met Hayes at the door, and he was thankful for it. Even though he could see the worry in her eyes, that worry meant there were also concerns. And feelings. Hayes didn’t know what the heck to do with those feelings she had for him, but it was nice to have someone in his corner. Of course, his family was in that corner. Probably the Jamesons, too. But it felt especially good to have Cait right here.
“Are you okay?” Cait asked, giving him a quick hug and then easing back to study his expression.
Yeah, it was nice.
“I’ve been better. How are things with Adam?” He tipped his head to the driveway. “His grandmother’s car isn’t here.”
“No. Shaw, Mom, Adam and Debra left to go get some guardianship papers amended at the lawyer’s office in town.”
Hayes lifted an eyebrow. “Marty came through?”
“Not a chance.” She took him by the arm, urging him into the foyer. “Mom and Shaw will take Adam while Debra’s serving time in jail. We’re not counting on Marty lending any help whatsoever.”
That was wise considering the man’s track record. But there was another track record, as well. Lenore might end up being the boy’s legal guardian, but Cait and her brothers would step up to help.
“Your sisters are in the kitchen,” Cait told him. “We talked Sunny into sitting down while McCall’s fixing her something to eat. They’re waiting for you.”
He’d expected that. The waiting. The dread. Because when Sunshine poked her greedy talons at something, it was always something to be dreaded.
Hayes followed Cait a few steps, but then he stopped and moved in front of her. Before he could change his mind, he kissed her, and man, had he needed that, too. Even better, he needed that Cait didn’t move away from him. She melted into the kiss right along with him.
Progress.
Well, it was if he were vying for the “most stupid of the year” award. He apparently was because he let the kiss go on way too long before he finally eased back from her.
“Don’t read anything into that,” she muttered in such a way that he was dead certain she’d read plenty into it.
“A pity kiss?” he asked, trying to keep the moment lighter than it ever could be.
“You bet. There’s absolutely no other reason I’d kiss you.”
Despite what he was about to face, he smiled and then realiz
ed that Cait was probably the only person who could have managed to get him to do that. Bolstered and a whole lot calmer than he had been when he’d stepped through the door, Hayes started toward the kitchen.
“I’ll be in the dining room if you need me,” Cait said. “Not that kind of need,” she added when he gave her his best dirty-minded leer.
This wasn’t the time for dirty minds or leers but, mercy, it felt good to be with Cait for just a moment longer. Hayes considered asking her to go with him. He might be able to use another dose of what she’d just doled out to him, but this discussion needed to at least start with just him, his grandmother and his sisters. Then he could fill in Cait later. Maybe by then he’d have an actual fix for the mess that Sunshine was trying to start.
Steeling himself up some more and trying to put on a calm face, Hayes went into the kitchen and found Em and his sisters exactly where Cait said they would be. Sunny was at the table, sipping some kind of flowery-smelling tea. Hadley was across from her, drinking a Coke. McCall and Em were at the counter, putting the finishing touches on some sandwiches.
They all looked up when he stepped in, but McCall went ahead and set the sandwich tray along with a bag of chips on the table. Em got him a beer from the fridge.
“How bad is it?” McCall asked just as Hadley said, “What’d that she-witch do now?”
“It’s what she’s trying to do,” Hayes started. He sat and waited for the others to do the same before he continued. “First of all, Sunshine’s not here in town. There’s a restraining order against her.”
“Damn straight there is,” Em volunteered. “That’s the deal Sunny and I struck with her earlier this year. Sunshine got some jewelry that belonged to Sunny and McCall, but for my greedy daughter to get her hands on it, she had to agree not to show her face around here again.”
It was a relief to know that Sunshine wouldn’t crash the wedding. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Hayes doubted a restraining order would hold her back if there was money to be made.
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