Ambush at Dry Gulch, page 16
The prospect of becoming a rancher’s wife had been scary. She’d known nothing about cattle or horses. Had never even been close to a tractor, much less driven one.
Now she couldn’t imagine living anywhere but on the Bent Pine Ranch. Her sons and their families were there. Her memories were there. Her heart was there.
Jake Dalton’s life was here, in this house, on the Silver Spur, raising his troubled daughter, managing his mother, who at eighty was clearly a handful. Spry, independent and delightful. Still sharp enough that nothing got past her.
Which meant she had probably sensed the sparks between Jake and Carolina, just as Tague had. Surprisingly the idea of her being romantically involved with another man hadn’t seemed to bother Carolina’s youngest son at all.
She screwed the top back on the rich cream and walked back into the bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind her. She climbed into the king-size bed and slid between the crisp sheets.
A bed in Jake’s house. On Jake’s ranch. With the taste of Jake’s kisses still on her tongue. With a hunger growing inside her that she longed to satisfy with a man she barely knew. She was falling in love. She wouldn’t even try to deny that anymore.
She just couldn’t fathom where the relationship could go. She had her life. He had his.
She turned off the lamp, wrapped her hands around one of the three spare pillows and hugged it to her chest. She was sensible. Mature. Responsible. But even knowing the odds were stacked against them, even knowing that when she left on Sunday this infatuation would likely end for him, even having a madman who wanted her dead to deal with...
She still wished she were sleeping in Jake’s arms tonight.
A tap on the door startled her but only for a second. It was probably Mildred with a last-minute question about tomorrow’s schedule or just wanting to talk.
She flicked on the lamp. “Come in.”
The door opened and Jake stepped in, dressed only in jeans and carrying an overflowing tray.
“What in the world are you bringing me?”
“Normalcy. A first movie date. Like people have who aren’t dealing with a madman.”
“It looks more like food and drink to me.”
“Hot chocolate, popcorn, Edna’s homemade oatmeal cookies and movies.” He set the tray on the desk and tossed a half dozen movies onto the bed.
“It’s ten o’clock,” she cautioned.
“We don’t have to watch all of them. I wanted you to have a choice.”
“Lonesome Dove? Hangover? Die Hard? The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?”
“Well, you weren’t expecting me to own chick flicks, were you?”
“Absolutely not.” She shoved the pillow she’d been hugging behind her and propped herself up to a sitting position.
He handed her a cup of the chocolate. “What’s your movie choice?”
She patted a spot on the bed next to her. “I’d rather talk.”
“As long as it’s not about Thad Caffey.”
“Who?”
“Atta girl.” He crawled into bed beside her, on top of the coverlet, still in his jeans. “What shall we talk about?”
She knew she was probably about to blow the moment, but they couldn’t always just get lost in the physical. If this had a chance of going anywhere, they had to really get to know each other.
“Tell me about your past, your life as a surgeon, your life with Gloria.”
Jake frowned, his whole demeanor changing. “Do we have to go there tonight?”
“We have to be able to go there if we’re going to keep having movie dates. I’m not asking for your darkest or your most personal secrets. I just want to understand you better.”
“I’m not a complicated man. I am what you see, Carolina. No pretenses. No lies.”
“How did you and Gloria meet?” she asked, moving him along before the desire to be in his arms overpowered her need to talk.
“We were both freshmen at the University of Texas. She was the superior student, determined to be a doctor since she was a kid and taking her classes very seriously. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was there to party.”
“Then you didn’t always want to be a rancher?”
“I did when I was growing up. From the day Mother married John Dayton and we moved onto the Silver Spur, I considered myself a full-fledged cowboy.”
“What changed that?”
“John was killed in a hay-baling accident when I was fifteen. In my mind John was my real father and always will be. With him gone, I found myself hating ranching.
“That might have passed except a couple of years later Mother remarried. Butch Dickens wasn’t a bad man, but he wasn’t my dad. Looking back, I probably didn’t give him much reason to like me. At any rate, we clashed at every turn. I couldn’t wait to leave home.”
“That must have upset Mary.”
“She took it in stride. I think she figured I had a lot of growing up to do and I’d do it better out on my own. And I’m sure it was a lot more peaceful around here with me gone.”
“What made you decide to become a doctor?”
“Gloria. From the moment we met, things started falling into place for me. We both knew we were meant to be together. I worked my tail off. It was a champagne-guzzling day for everyone when we were both accepted into medical school.”
“And both of you went on to become doctors. That’s quite an accomplishment for a bona fide cowboy.”
“You better know it. Gloria loved kids. Becoming a pediatrician was a natural for her. I had to search a little harder to find my niche.”
“What finally made you decide to become a surgeon?”
“The idea of cutting out the diseased tissue and being done with it appealed to me. I chose general surgery. Figured I’d lose fewer patients on the operating table than the specialist surgeons. I liked saving patients. Was never good at telling someone they weren’t going to make it. I never missed that part of being a doctor.”
“What did you miss?”
He lay back, letting his head rest on a pillow as he stared at the ceiling. “I missed my life with Gloria. After the car accident, after she died, I couldn’t go on as if life still had any meaning. Besides, Butch was dead and Mother was in a coma. They didn’t give me much hope she’d ever come out of it. I came back to take care of the ranch. It was the only thing I had to hold on to.”
“You had Lizzie.”
“And she was the only bright spot in my life. I was so lost in my grief that I’m sure I didn’t give her enough attention. I can’t help wondering now if that is what’s at the root of our current inability to connect.”
“You’ll have a chance to work that out with Dr. Otis,” Carolina offered.
“I hope he helps.”
“Even if Dr. Otis doesn’t have all the answers, you’ll find a way to reach Lizzie. I’m sure of it.”
Jake rolled over on his side and propped himself on his left elbow so that he was facing her. “I don’t want to lose you, Carolina. What we have together doesn’t come along every day. You must know that.”
“I can’t replace Gloria, Jake. No one can.”
“I don’t expect you to, no more than I can replace Hugh. What we build together won’t diminish what we shared with them. We’ll carve out space in our hearts and minds for us. Shared moments that are ours alone. A favorite movie. A song that belongs to us. All I’m asking is a chance.”
All she knew was that she’d be crazy to walk away without giving them both that chance. She rolled into his arms and kissed him. Tender at first, then wild with passion.
“Keep this up and we’re never going to get to that movie,” she murmured.
Jake picked up the movies and slid them onto the floor. “In that case, Carolina Lambert, we are wearing way too many clothes.”
* * *
CAROLINA WOKE TO a sweet ache in her thighs and the sound of Jake’s rhythmic breathing. One of his arms was thrown over her naked abdomen. One of his legs crossed hers.
She hadn’t been dreaming. They had made love, more than once. She’d never imagined she’d find this kind of magic a second time in her life.
He stirred, his leg sliding up hers. Delicious desires danced through her again. But it was morning and she had a training session to conduct.
She tried to slide from the bed without waking him. Instead he pulled her into his arms, his body spooning hers. His erection pressed hard against her.
“I thought you were asleep,” she said.
“I was. Now I’m awake. Wide awake.”
“Good because you need to get up and go back to your room before someone realizes you slept in here with me last night.”
“I was thinking maybe I’d just shout it from the rooftop.”
“That would create a stir.” She pushed him away, threw her legs over the side of the bed and pulled on the nightshirt that had ended up thrown over the lamp.
“I have an idea,” he said. “Why go home on Sunday? Why not spend at least a few more days here? Or we could go away. Colorado’s nice this time of year.”
“I have a better idea,” she said, speaking as the idea formed in her mind.
“Let’s hear it.”
“You go home with me for a few days. Meet my family.”
“I think I might be able to handle that.”
“We could stop off at the Dry Gulch for a few minutes. You could say hello to R.J.”
He stretched out across the bed. “You’re never going to let go of this until I do, are you?”
“I might if you tell me why you’re so set against even talking to your father.”
“In the first place, I don’t consider him my father. More important, he let me and my mother down when she needed him most.”
“When was that?”
Jake got out of bed, wiggled into his jeans and walked to the window. “She kept calling for Reuben when she was in the coma. It took a few days for me to realize she was talking about her first husband. It had been years since she’d even mentioned his name.”
“Did you call R.J. and let him know?”
“I did better than that. I paid him a visit. He was so drunk he didn’t even know who I was when he came to the door half dressed in the middle of the day.”
Carolina couldn’t begin to make excuses for R.J. He’d had his demons. Alcoholism had been one of the worst. But he’d changed. He’d found redemption. His body was giving up. His heart had turned to gold. “Did you try to talk to him?”
“No. A woman half his age came staggering down the hall wrapped in a dingy sheet. I left without saying another word. My mother came out of the coma sixteen days later. She never mentioned Reuben again, and I never told her what happened.”
“I can understand how you feel, but I still think you should see him—for both your sakes.”
“I don’t need anything from him.”
“Then what do you have to lose?”
“Okay, Carolina. You win. But I’m doing this for you, not R.J.”
She walked over, stopped behind him and rested her head on his shoulder. She’d never felt closer to him than she did at this second. “Thank you.”
He turned and pulled her into his arms. This time she didn’t push him away.
* * *
JAKE STRETCHED HIS legs under Granger’s small kitchen table and studied the printout his foreman had just handed him. “I don’t see a charge for that new feed blend I ordered when I was in San Antonio last week.”
“They haven’t shipped it,” Granger said.
“They promised immediate delivery. Check with them on Monday. If they don’t have a good reason for the delay, cancel the order. I don’t want to start doing business with a company if I can’t depend on their word.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Jake scanned down a few inches. “Looks like Dan Stinson robbed me again with those tractor repairs.”
“He swears that everything except the two-hundred-dollar labor charge went into the parts.”
“He always does,” Jake said. “He’s the best tractor mechanic this side of Austin, though, and I can’t afford to have that big John Deere sitting idle this time of the year.”
“And Stinson knows it,” Granger agreed.
Jake pushed back from the desk. “Everything else looks good to me.”
“Lanky says the engine on the Yamaha four-wheeler sounds like it’s chewing rocks,” Granger said.
“Have Tilson take a look at that on Monday. He’s got an ear for those ATV engines. Better than those diagnostics they run at the shop.”
“Will do.”
Expenditures and ATVs. Jake was going through the motions but having a devil of a time wrapping his mind around anything to do with the ranch. Carolina claimed too many of his brain cells.
He’d been with other women since Gloria’s death. Beautiful women. Successful women. Women who’d made it clear they’d like nothing better than to become Mrs. Jake Dalton.
He wouldn’t say he’d never enjoyed being with them, but there were none he’d wanted to be with when the sun came up the following morning.
He could have stayed in bed with Carolina all day. He could see himself having lazy breakfasts with her on Saturday mornings in the future, lingering over coffee and then going back to bed and making love until noon.
He could see himself curled up beside her watching the movies they’d never gotten around to last night or even a chick flick. He could picture the two of them cuddled in front of a roaring fireplace on a frigid January night, or dancing in the moonlight beneath a star-studded sky.
He could see spending the rest of his life with her.
He’d only felt that way about one woman before. If you’d asked him last week, he’d have bet the ranch that kind of magic could never happen twice. He might well be the luckiest man on the planet.
“You ever think about getting married, Granger?”
“All the time. But then I think about it some more and decide against it.”
“Why?”
“I’ve seen too many men who let wives wreck their lives. Want to go hunting? The little lady wants you to spend the weekend with the in-laws. Want to go fishing? Wifey wants you to work in the yard. Want to have sex? She has a headache. My dog, my horse and my pickup truck. And a few cold beers on Saturday night. That’s as good as it gets.”
“Sounds like you got your philosophy of life from a country song.”
“You can do worse.”
Jake was hoping for a whole lot better.
“I need to let you know that I’ll be away Sunday night,” he said.
“Leaving when the crew of women do?”
“About the same time, hopefully around three thirty tomorrow afternoon.”
“So what about all this extra security we have in place? Want me to call the dogs off with the exit of Mrs. Lambert and those Saddle-Uppers?”
“No. Leave it in place until I give the word. I’d like at least two men watching the house at all times while I’m gone. Move Tilson into the house. He can stay in one of the guest suites.”
“He’s gonna lap up that luxury like a starving dog.”
“That’s okay, as long as Mother and Lizzie are safe.”
“So Thad Caffey is still on the loose?”
Jake nodded. “For now. Hopefully not for long.”
But the odds of his crossing the border to freedom grew greater every minute. Jake glanced at his watch. Almost ten. He’d expected to hear from Brad Pacer before this. If Brad was as good as his reputation, he should have found Caffey and turned him over to the police by now.
“Anything else you want me to take care of while you’re gone?” Granger asked.
“Yourself. Don’t do anything to aggravate that leg.”
“I’m watching it. This hobbling is getting old fast.”
“You can reach me by cell at any time,” Jake said. “Don’t hesitate to call, especially if it concerns Mother or Lizzie.”
“I’ll see they’re watched over. Don’t you worry none, boss man.”
He’d stop worrying when Caffey was behind bars. He waited until he was back in his truck and then made a call to Brad Pacer. No answer. He left a message for Pacer to call him back.
And he still needed to tell Carolina about the bounty hunter. Last night had not been the opportune time.
He placed a call to Sheriff Garcia’s private cell phone to see if he had any news on Caffey’s whereabouts. He was about to break the connection when the sheriff finally answered.
“Damn, Jake. You must be psychic. I was about to call you.”
“With good news?”
“Not good for a young woman in Brownsville, Texas. Thad Caffey struck again.”
“I’m not following you.”
“Melissa Green, a young Brownsville woman, had her house broken into in the wee hours of the morning. She was savagely attacked, beaten and kicked until she passed out. She’s in the hospital now, undergoing surgery for internal injuries.”
“I know Caffey is capable of beating up women, but how did they tie Thad Caffey to Melissa Green?”
“It was all caught on a security camera that he obviously didn’t see.”
“And it’s a quality image, clear enough that you’re sure the attacker is Caffey?”
“That’s the word I’m getting.”
“Attacking a stranger has never been his modus operandi. He must have some connection to her, perhaps in his past, in Gunshot or maybe in prison.”
