Linda Warren - [Cowboy Country] - Caitlyn's Prize p.02

Judd walked farther into the corral. “So you posted the sale in bad faith?”

Maddie and Sky came to stand beside her. Cait thought of Kira, of Maddie’s medical bills and her own pride. She had no choice. A buyer was a buyer. Even if he was the devil.

“You don’t have to do this,” Sky said in a whisper.

But Cait did. She couldn’t renege on a sale, and they needed the money, even if it came from Judd Calhoun.

“No.” Pride went down hard and bitter. “Red is for sale.”

Judd looked at the other men. “Anyone want to top my bid?”

Dale patted Red’s rump. “I was there the day Dane bought this horse. She has great bloodlines and she’s worth every penny.”

“That’s not a bid, Dale,” Judd told him.

The man shook his head. “That’s out of my price range.”

The others walked off and Caitlyn faced Judd. Maddie and Sky stood behind her like her wingmen.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked as calmly as she could.

“I can never pass up good horseflesh.”

“Or sticking it to me.”

He nodded. “That’s always a plus.”

Sky stepped forward. “You’ve gotten hard, Judd.”

“Hello, Sky, Maddie.” He tipped his hat. “I had a very good teacher.”

“Oh, please, no one had to teach you a thing.”

Cait placed a hand on Sky’s arm before her sister went on full alert. “He’s paying a lot of money for Red. Money we need.” Her eyes probed the dark depths of his. “I find that a little strange. You’re giving me money to succeed.”

“But I’m taking something you love.” His gaze never wavered as he delivered a blow that left her speechless. She found there was no response, other than to burst into tears. And she would never do that.

“I’d like a cashier’s check by the end of the day.”

He seemed taken aback. “Don’t you trust me?”

When she didn’t respond, he shrugged. “I’ll have a check and a trailer here later.”

“If you don’t, the sale is off.”

She watched as he walked out of the corral. He went to the end of the barn, where his horse was tethered. No wonder she hadn’t heard him arrive. Sneaky devil!

But his scheme had started.

Would he completely destroy her?

CHAPTER TEN

JUDD WALKED INthe back door and stopped short. People were everywhere. People he didn’t know. Damn party! He made his way down the hall toward his study, sidestepping tables, chairs and startled maids.

His mother hurried from the dining room. “Oh, Judd…”

“Do you really need all this help to get ready for a party?”

Renee glanced at the women arranging flowers in the entry. “Why, of course. We need decorators, caterers, maids and servers. Several guests will be spending the night.”

He shook his head and went into his study. “Keep everyone, and I mean everyone, out of my space.”

As always, his mother paid him no attention and followed him.

“Everyone meant you, too, Mom.” He sank into his leather chair.

“Did I see Harland unloading that beautiful red horse of Caitlyn’s?”

“Yes.” Judd picked up his mail.

“Why is it here?”

“I bought her.”

“What?”

He laid down his mail. “Don’t you have a party to plan?”

Renee closed the door and walked to his desk. “Now, let me get this straight. Caitlyn put her horse up for sale and you bought it. I’m guessing at a very high price.”

“You got it.”

“Why, son? Why would you do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

“This woman you want to bring down. This woman who hurt you. You’re now giving her money.”

“I bought a good horse. That’s it. I’m getting tired of this interrogation.” He rose to his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Son…”

“It wasn’t about the money, okay? I took something she loved.”

“Oh, well, that’s just dandy,” Renee said, narrowing her green eyes on his face. He hated when she did that. He didn’t want her to see too much. “You’re not this hard.”

He moved toward the window. “You don’t really know me.”

“It all comes back to the bad mother, doesn’t it?”

“Leave it alone, Mom.”

“I can’t when it’s destroying your whole life.”

“Mom…”

“I’ve told you a million times, I had to go in order to survive. I never planned to leave you here. I had you in my arms, but Jack ripped you away. When I tried to stay then, he forced me out. I had no choice. I left, but I fully intended to get custody. I never counted on your father’s vindictiveness.”

Judd clenched his jaw. “I’ve heard this story before.”

“I tried twice to kidnap you. I even made it to the upstairs landing the second time before I was caught.”

“What?” He swung around. “I never knew that. Dad said you never came back.”

“Your father was very good at turning every situation to his advantage.”

Judd removed his hat and placed it carefully on his desk. “I’ll never understand why you married him again.”

“Yes, you do. I’ve told you many times. When your father came into that diner where I was working, I was a bit nervous. But the moment he showed he was still interested, I worked it to my advantage. I learned from him. I’d have done anything to be back with my son. And I did.”

Judd raked his fingers through his hair. He didn’t want to hear this story, and didn’t understand why he was still listening.

“The marriage worked out well, though. Jack had mellowed and we formed a stronger relationship. That’s the funny thing about love. Once it’s given it’s almost impossible to destroy.”

Judd didn’t have anything to say, and a response didn’t seem to be required.

“You’re the casualty of our dysfunctional lives. Jack filled your head with his misguided, outdated views of women, and sadly, nothing I said or tried to do changed your thinking. But deep down I know you’re a caring, compassionate man who can love deeply.”

He had his doubts about that. He flung a hand toward the door. “Go plan your party, and stop spending so damn much money.”

His mother lifted her chin. “I’ll spend however much I please. Since you’ve irritated Caitlyn, the Belles probably won’t come. It’s not going to be much of a party without them.”

“Good. Then we can forget this whole crazy idea.”

“Not on your life. I bought this beautiful gold gown and I’m wearing it.” She cocked her head. “I see myself as a fairy godmother.”

“I see you as insane.”

“Tut-tut.” She shook a finger at him. “Don’t talk like that to your mother.”

He sighed. “You try my patience, you know that?”

“Yes, my dear son.” She turned toward the door, then swung back. “I do love you, Judd, and Caitlyn did, too. One day you’re going to realize that, and I hope it’s not too late.”

He plopped back into his chair as her words hit him right between the eyes.Love? Why did women brandish that word like a weapon? They wanted everything wrapped in a neat package withmarried andhappily ever after written on it. But it never turned out that way. There always seemed to be more pain than happiness. A cynical outlook, perhaps, but he was a cynical, unfeeling man. That’s the way Caitlyn thought of him.

Time and again he’d proved he could feel deeply—sexually. But she wanted the package with the vows of undying love.

He shifted restlessly. Their encounter at the windmill epitomized their relationship. They both felt a powerful attraction. Why wasn’t that enough for her? It was for him.

Damn. He flexed his shoulders. He was so tired of thinking of her. When he’d heard of the sale, he’d had no intention of buying her horse. He had all the horses he needed, but against every sane thought in his head, he’d found his way there.

Another way to stick it to me.

Maybe. He wasn’t quite sure why he’d done it. All he knew was that he could and he had. Maybe it was a way to regain some of the ground she’d stolen at the windmill. Even he had to admit that little by little she was making inroads into his control. Into his resolve.

She made him weak when he wanted to be strong. She made him caring when he wanted to be tough. She made him feel pain when he wanted to be oblivious.

But he was never oblivious to her.

He could still see the hurt in her eyes when he’d bought Whiskey Red. That’s what he wanted, wasn’t it? Where was his feeling of victory?

“Judd.”

He turned around and tried not to groan at Brenda Sue’s interruption.

“My goodness, it’s hard not to trip over maids, florists and whoever these people are. Your mother didn’t ask for my opinion. She can be rather snotty sometimes. I don’t think she likes me, but gosh, she knows how to throw a party. Crystal, flowers and a band—the whole nine yards. No plastic at this shindig. Everything is oh, so nice, and you should see the flower arrangement in the foyer. I could live a week on what that cost. But I’ve never—”

“Brenda Sue.” Judd had to shout to get her attention. “Is there a reason you’re in my study—again?”

She blinked like a raccoon with a light shining in its face. “Oh—oh, yes. Harland sent me to tell you that the new horse…” She wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that Caitlyn’s horse? Sure looks like it. Anyway, Harland said the horse is not settling down, and he wants to know if you want him to give her something to calm her. Like, wow, I didn’t even know you could do that. How…”

Judd grabbed his hat and hit the door, leaving Brenda Sue in midsentence. It would probably be five minutes before she realized he wasn’t there.

He ran out the back and headed for the stables. No one was touching that horse. No one was touching Whiskey Red but him.

 

CAITLYN COULDN’T SLEEP. She kept wondering how Red was adjusting to the stables at Southern Cross. She was a thoroughbred and temperamental, but Cait was sure Judd had professional people to deal with her. That didn’t make her feel better, though.

She’d received the payment early enough to go into Giddings and deposit the money. When Maddie and Sky left on Sunday, she’d write them each a check for their part. Her share would go back into the ranch.

It was a solution for now.

She was up the next morning before everyone. She grabbed some cereal bars and bottled water and headed for the bunkhouse. Today would be a full day of baling hay.

Rufus ran the tractor with the baler. It would break every now and then, but she knew the two ranch hands could fix it. Cooper worked the hay carrier that loaded each bale and carted it to a fence line, where it would be stacked until it was sold or fed to the cattle.

Cooper and Rufus had a system, so Caitlyn soon left to check the herds.

The windmill was working fine, the trough full of water. She stared at the mud puddle and briefly thought of yesterday.

And Judd.

He’d seemed to want to help, but then he…She shut out the memory and went on to the next pasture.

This one had a stock tank and it was already getting low. A good rain would help tremendously. The summers were always hell. But then the winters weren’t a picnic, either.

Ranching was tough on a good day, and she wondered why she was killing herself to preserve something no one cared about but her. She knew, though.For Gran. For her heritage. Gran was the only mother Cait had ever known, and she would do everything to keep her on High Five.

The royalty sale ensured that Dorie could stay at the ranch until her death. But what would that be like for her? Dorie’s childhood home would no longer be High Five, but part of the Southern Cross. Once Gran knew that, she wouldn’t stay in the house. Cait knew her grandmother’s pride wouldn’t let her.

Somehow Caitlyn had to make the ranch work.

By the time Cait reached home that evening, she was exhausted. She wanted a bath, some food and…

She paused in the kitchen doorway. Etta, Maddie and Sky stood there, looking anxious.

Cait whipped off her hat. “What’s wrong? Is it Gran?”

“Where have you been? It’s six o’clock.” Sky didn’t bother to hide her temper.

“Where do you think I’ve been? I’m working this ranch.”

“Calm down.” Maddie was quick to intervene.

“You girls better get a move on,” Etta said. “Miss Dorie doesn’t like to be late.”

“Late? For what?”

“Have you forgotten what today is?” Sky asked, rather tartly. At Cait’s blank look, she added, “The ball.”

Caitlyn frowned. “I’m not going to that. I refuse to. No way in hell can anyone make me.”

“Go upstairs and tell your grandmother.” Etta removed her apron. “I’m heading home. Food’s in the refrigerator.”

As the housekeeper went out the screen door, Maddie and Sky grabbed Cait by her arms and pulled her toward the staircase.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to make this short and sweet,” Sky said as they climbed the stairs. “Renee called this morning to make sure we were coming, and Gran’s been in a tizzy all day getting ready.”

“What?”

“Oh, yeah.” Maddie opened the door. “Wait till you see.”

Cait stood aghast at the chaos in Gran’s room. Gowns were everywhere, strewn over chairs, the lounger and the bed. The same with shoes.

The elderly woman came from the bathroom in a long slip, patting her hair, which was in an elegant knot at her nape. “Oh, Caitlyn, baby,” she said when she saw her. “Go take a bath. We don’t have much time. Your dress is all ready.”

“Welcome to bizarro world,” Sky whispered.

“Wait till you see the dress.” Maddie nudged her.

“I can’t believe you couldn’t dissuade her from this,” Cait muttered with a touch of anger. “We’re not going.”

Sky lifted an eyebrow. “Tell Gran that, Miss Can-Do-Everything.”

Cait shot her a thousand-watt glare and walked to Dorie, who was inspecting a silver, satiny creation.

“Gran.” She spoke softly.

Her grandmother blinked at her. “Caitlyn, go take a bath. How many times do I have to tell you?”

She caught her hands. “Gran, listen to me. We’re not going to any party at the Southern Cross.”

“Oh, my baby.” Gran cupped Cait’s face in frail fingers, but Cait only felt their power. “I know you don’t want to see Judd, but my precious, you made the choice long ago. And I know my baby has the strength to hold her head up and be a lady. To be a Belle. With Southern manners.”

All herno s deflated into a bigoh. She could hold her head up and face anybody, but she didn’t want to go to the Calhouns’ ranch. How could she get through to Gran?

“Gran, I’m tired. I’ve been working all day and I don’t have a thing to wear.”

Behind her, Sky snickered. That was not the right thing to say in a room full of gowns.

“I don’t know why you fool around on the ranch. Your father encouraged that and I never liked it. Leave the ranch to Dane. He runs it effortlessly.”

Oh, God. Not today.Cait didn’t want to say those words today.

Maddie put an arm around their grandmother’s shoulders. “Gran, Dad is dead. He can’t run the ranch.”

“I know that.” Dorie turned and picked up a gown from the bed. “Here’s your dress, Caitlyn. I’ve already chosen it for you.”

Cait stared at the garment. Staring was all she could do. It was red, strapless and tight fitting, with a slit up one leg.

“Daring little number, isn’t it?” Sky said, tongue in cheek.

“Now, my babies, I’m going to finish my makeup, and you get dressed. Hurry.”

The three of them stared at her as she closed the bathroom door.

“You handled that very well,” Sky said, holding up the red dress with a lifted brow.

“I’m not going and I’m not wearing that. I’ll look like a hooker.”

Maddie reached for a white gown trimmed in pink, with capped sleeves and a full skirt. “Does this say Barbie? Virginal?”

Cait choked back a laugh even though there was nothing funny about this situation.

“Wait for this.” Sky leaned over and plucked a black gown from the mix on the bed. “Does this say matronly?” It was a very simple sleeveless, long black dress with a V neckline. “Gran says I can wear a strand of her pearls. Oh, yeah, I’m going to party hearty.”

Cait sank onto the bed, not caring about the gowns. “I don’t know what to do.”

Sky sat beside her, frowning at the black number. “We can just refuse to go. We’re grown women and Gran can’t force us.”

“Yeah.” Cait looked into Sky’s eyes. “But are you willing to hurt her like that?”

“I’m not,” Maddie said, plopping down beside them. “I’ll wear this nightmare and smile, as long as it makes her happy.”

“I think that’s our bottom line,” Cait murmured.

She hadn’t thought about the ball all day, never had any intention of stepping foot onto Southern Cross property. But she had to give Renee credit. The conniving witch had found a way to get the Belles to the ball.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CAIT WANTED TO LINGERin the bath, but she didn’t have time. Damn party! Whoever heard of having a ball in Texas? She griped to herself the whole time she was dressing.

She lathered herself in scented lotion calledMoonlight Madness . She was feeling a little mad tonight. The red dress lay on the bed. Strapless. It had been ages since she’d worn anything like that. Probably since college.

She dug in her dresser drawers until she found what she wanted—a strapless, push-up bra. A little old, but it still worked. She shimmied into it just as Maddie and Sky walked in dressed in their gowns, their faces somber.

“Hey, you don’t look all that bad,” she said. “Actually, you look damn good.” She cast a not-so-nice glance at the red number. “I don’t know how I’m going to hold up my dress.”

“By those babes poking out of your chest there,” Sky told her.

“Very funny.” She grabbed the dress. “It’s too revealing. It’s not me.”

“And you think this black nightmare is me?”

Cait looked her up and down. “Yeah. It’s sassy and tempting, just revealing enough.”

“Compliments won’t work.” Sky shoved the red dress into her hands. “Put it on.”

Cait made a face and stared at the crimson fabric before wiggling into it. She held her breath and Maddie zipped her up. After shifting her breasts into the right position, she glanced in the mirror.

OhmyGod!

“Wow,” Maddie said. “You look…”

“Like a hooker.”

“No, sexy and wild, with your black hair hanging down your back like that.”

“We need to do something with your mop.” Sky grabbed a brush and wielded it through her locks.

“Ouch,” she cried, and yanked the brush away. “I can fix my own damn hairdo, thank you.” Then she smiled. “Remember all the times we did each other’s hair?”

“Yeah,” Maddie replied wistfully.

“Come on, you two,” Sky urged. “We don’t have time to go down memory lane. We’re running late.”

“Put your hair up,” Maddie suggested. “It will look better that way.”

Since Cait wore it in a braid most of the time, it was wavy and easy to loop into a knot of curls on top of her head. Several strands hung loose around her face. Good enough.

She put diamond studs, a gift from her father, into her ears and stood. The dress covered her feet. “Oh, crap. This skirt is too long.”

“No problem.” Maddie handed her four-inch-high red heels.

Slipping them on, Cait asked, “Where does Gran get all this stuff?”

“From the trunks in the attic.” Maddie held up her skirt to glance at her own shoes. “Mine are outdated, and so are yours, but who’s going to notice?”

Thirty minutes later, they drove the Lincoln up the driveway at Southern Cross, Caitlyn at the wheel. The place was ablaze like Christmas at Graceland. Decorative lights lined the front of the house, but Cait didn’t feel festive. She was more in the mood for a funeral.

A young man in black slacks and a white shirt came to her door with a big grin. Good grief, Renee had guys parking cars, probably in a cow pasture. Oh, yeah, this was Texas.

“Help Maddie with Gran,” Cait said to Sky. “I’ll have my hands full holding up this dress.”

“Will you give it a rest?” Sky slipped a small beaded bag over her wrist. “You have plenty to hold it up. It’s not like the summer we stuffed you with tissue.”

Cait smiled as she slid out of the car, remembering her sixteenth birthday party. Breastwise, she’d grown since then, but at times she still felt like that young girl trying to prove she was a woman. To herself. Her father. Everyone.

She caught the boy staring at her skirt. The slit was cut up to way-past-decent and showed a lot of leg. Caitlyn handed him the keys. He kept staring. She wiggled them in front of his face. With a bashful grin, he grabbed them.

The little encounter gave her a burst of confidence. She could do this. If Judd could stick it to her, then she could stick it to him, even if she looked like something out of a 1950s movie. A sexy 1950s movie—with a streetwalker as a heroine.

They made their way up the walk, Maddie and Sky flanking Gran. Cait trailed behind with a sense of trepidation and excitement.

Renee was at the door, greeting guests, as they arrived. She looked years younger in a gold gossamer creation with a boat neck and sheer sleeves. The diamond pendant sparkling around her neck could support a family for a year.

The foyer showcased a huge flower arrangement, the fragrance of which wafted around them. For some reason it made Cait think of a night in the Garden of Eden. She knew the serpent was not far away.

But Judd was not standing with his mother.

“Oh, Dorie.” Renee gave her grandmother an air hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Her gaze swung to the sisters. “And your granddaughters are lovely.”

“Thank you. I’m very proud of them.”

Renee’s eyes settled on Caitlyn. “Oh, my dear. I wish I was young enough to wear red.”

Did that require a response? Cait didn’t think so.

“There’s plenty of food and drink. Enjoy yourselves.”

They trailed into the party room, speaking to neighbors as they went. A band played softly in the background. A buffet was set up at one end of the room, and guests milled around it. Tables bedecked with white linens and centerpieces of azalea sprigs and tea-light candles floating in crystal bowls were placed around the room. The double French doors were flung open, with more tables outside.

A dйjа vu feeling came over Caitlyn. This was almost identical to their engagement party fourteen years ago. She’d been young and so much in love. She’d thought she’d found her prince. She’d thought he loved her.

But he’d only desired her.

Just as she was sinking into despair, Sky grabbed her arm. “We found a table. Let’s get some food. Remember at your engagement party they had all those delicious appetizers? I hope they have some tonight.”

“Could we not talk about my engagement party, please?”

“Touchy subject, huh?” Sky looked around. “I wonder where Judd is?”

“Maybe he has enough sense to stay away.”

“Caitlyn.”

“Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield.” She shook hands with a neighbor and his wife.

“You remember Sherry, our daughter?”

“Yes, of course.” She smiled at the tall blonde, but the smile was not returned. “And I’m sure you remember my sister Skylar.”

“Oh, yes,” Mr. Wakefield replied. “I’m always struck at how different Dane’s daughters look.”

“Yes.” Caitlyn’s heart squeezed. “Dad said he marked us with his blue eyes so that he’d know we were his.”

Mrs. Wakefield glanced toward her grandmother. “How is Dorie?”

“She’s coping.” Cait didn’t want to discuss Gran in a room full of people. “If you’ll excuse us, we were going to the buffet table.”

“Oh, yes, yes.” Mr. Wakefield waved them away.

“That blonde was glaring at you,” Sky whispered.

“Yeah. She thought Judd should have proposed to her instead of me.”

“Well, the nerve.”

They reached the buffet. There was prime rib, shrimp on ice and everything in between. Cait reached for two plates, one for Gran and one for her.

Sky filled Maddie’s and her own.

“Maddie trusts you to choose for her?”

“She eats like a bird and I’m stuffing everything imaginable on here.”

Plates full, the sisters headed to their table.

“Why haven’t Judd and the blonde hooked up since then?” Sky asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.”

“Caitlyn?”

She turned to Joe Bob Shoemaker, a rancher who bought hay from her.

“Is that you?” He eyed her up and down, clutching a drink in his hand. “Hot damn, I didn’t know you had some of those things.” He gestured with his glass at her breasts.

She sighed. “Yeah, every woman comes equipped with boobs. It’s pretty much standard.”

“And, damn, you got legs, too. Never see ’em in those jeans and boots you wear.”

“Is there a problem?” Walker, the constable and only law in High Cotton, strolled over. An ex-marine, he was big and impressive. Everyone called him Walker. Most people didn’t know his first name, and those who did never used it.

“Just Joe Bob being an ass,” Cait replied.

“Ooh, I’m wounded.” Joe Bob clutched his chest.

“Excuse my husband.” Charlene, his wife, came up behind him. “Go get some food or I’m leaving.”

Joe Bob saluted with the glass.

Charlene yanked it out of his hand and pointed to the buffet. “Food.”

The rancher stomped off, muttering, “Damn wife. Free booze and she won’t let me drink.”

“I’m sorry, Cait,” Charlene exclaimed. “Liquor short-circuits his manners.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You look gorgeous in that dress.”

“Thank you. Nice seeing you, Charlene.” Cait held up the plates. “We better go. Our food is getting cold.”

“See you later.”

Maddie rushed forward to help with the plates, and since Walker still stood there, Cait felt she should introduce them.

“This is Walker, our constable, and Walker, these are my sisters, Madison and Skylar.”

“Nice to finally meet y’all. I do remember seeing y’all at the funeral, but I was on duty and didn’t get a chance to visit.” As they shook hands, he said to Maddie, “Ma’am, I must say you look as young as my daughter.”

“How old is she?” Maddie asked in her polite manner.

“Ten.”

“Ten!”

Unflappable, understanding Maddie glared at him, and Cait knew her sister was about to lose her cool. “Bye, Walker.” She shuffled Maddie toward their table.

“He said I looked like a ten-year-old. The nerve of him!”

“He was just being nice.” Cait brushed it off.

“Yeah, and he’s not bad looking,” Sky quipped.

They shared a chuckle as they joined their grandmother.

“Here you go, Gran.” Cait placed her plate in front of her. “Prime rib, shrimp, roasted potatoes with parsley and grilled asparagus.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Maddie looked aghast at her plate. “Sky, I can’t eat all this.”

“Just try.”

The party wore on and Cait found she kept watching the door. Where was Judd? Was he not coming?

What did she care?

Once Gran grew tired, they were leaving. It couldn’t be soon enough for her.

 

JUDD SAT AT HIS DESKin his bedroom, going over the feed ledger and inputting information into his laptop. He heard faint noises from downstairs, but ignored them.

He wasn’t planning on making an appearance.

His door swung open and his mother stood there. My God, she did look like a fairy godmother in that cloud of gold. She glanced at his tux, still in the plastic from the cleaners, on his bed.

“Not coming to the party?”

“Nope.”

She walked in, her long skirt rustling like feathers against tinfoil.

“Everyone in High Cotton is here, and some of our friends from Austin. Janna Durham came especially to see you.”

“I didn’t invite her.” He turned back to his laptop. Janna was one of those women who tried her best to get him to the altar. She never understood that he wasn’t interested in marriage. He didn’t relish another foray into that minefield. Caitlyn had broken him of the marriage bug. He’d rather stay single.

“And the Belles made it.”

He didn’t respond.

“Madison and Skylar are lovely, but Caitlyn is causing quite a stir in a red strapless dress. Every man in the room finds he can’t take his eyes off her. The band is fixing to start playing, and she’ll be dancing the rest of the night. Enjoy your solitude.”

“If that’s your subtle way of getting me downstairs, you’re out of luck. I don’t care what Caitlyn’s wearing or not wearing.”

In his mind’s eye he saw her at the windmill with sweat and mud trickling down her cleavage. It irritated him that he remembered that so vividly.

“My dear son, I would never pressure you to do anything. I’m not your father.”

He turned to frown at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Jack pressured you to marry Caitlyn.”

He slammed the laptop shut and stood. “Dad didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to.”

“Does Caitlyn know that?”

“It doesn’t matter.” His voice rose as he talked. “It happened fourteen years ago and it’s over. Done. Kaput. Do you understand?”

“Good.” She walked to him and slipped her arm through his. He stiffened; he couldn’t help it. His reaction was a reflex from years of pretending she didn’t exist. Much the same feeling he had for Caitlyn. “There are so many beautiful young women downstairs just waiting for you to make their night. I’d hate to think that Caitlyn has you hiding up here in your room.”

“Caitlyn has no control over me, and I told you from the start I wasn’t taking part in this fiasco.”

“Tut-tut.” Renee tapped his nose with an artificial, manicured nail. “You seem rather defensive.”

“Go to your party,” he said through clenched teeth, “and leave me the hell alone.”

“Whatever you say, dear son.” She swished out the door in a cloud of gold.

He sat on his bed and the party noise vibrated around him. Something his mother had said stuck with him. Did people think he was hiding? And when had he ever cared what people thought?

But it still stung.

He jumped up. He was getting out of the house and away from the party. At the door, he stared back at the tux on his bed.

Washe running?

 

THE BALL WASin full swing and the band was revving up to something lively. Some of the tables had been removed to make room for people to dance.

Caitlyn thought this would be a good time to leave. She leaned over and whispered to her grandmother. “Gran, are you ready to go home?”

“Where are your manners? We can’t leave in the middle of a party. It’s just not done.”

Yes, heaven forbid.

“Here comes a waiter,” Sky said. “Let’s have some champagne.”

“And lots of it.” Cait reached for a glass.

Renee appeared in the doorway and a hush fell over the crowd. “I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight and—”

“My mother and I would like to thank you.” Suddenly Judd was there, and contrary to every sane thought in her head, Cait couldn’t look away. Not from his handsome face. And not from the years that stretched behind her like a path covered with thorns. Painful. And littered with what-could-have-beens.

His tux fit like a movie star’s across broad shoulders and that long, muscled body. Expensive cowboy boots covered his feet—only in Texas could you wear boots with a tuxedo, but it suited the man as he gave a perfunctory smile to his guests.

He was a rancher with money and power, and it showed in every chiseled Clint Eastwood-like feature on his face. It showed in the way he moved and in the way he spoke. He was a man to be reckoned with. A man only a fool would cross.

Cait moved uneasily and realized she was spilling champagne into her cleavage. Good grief. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed, under several men’s watchful eyes.

Old fools!

A Texas waltz played, and Renee and Judd took to the floor, dancing round and round. And the night dragged on. Judd danced with every woman in the room, including Gran, Maddie and Sky. Not once did he look in Cait’s direction. Not once did he ask her to dance.

That was fine with her. She had plenty of partners. And she didn’twant to dance with him. It was better if he didn’t touch her. Southern manners only went so far.

She escaped to the powder room and turned on the gold faucets. Patting her face with a tissue, she soaked up the coolness and stared at the ornate wood trim, the crimson and soft pink walls. A fresh bouquet of pink irises graced the vanity, as did monogrammed towels and soaps. Everything was elegant. Everything was Renee.

Cait yanked opened the door and ran into Brenda Sue. Someone up there was testing her patience.

“Wow, Caitlyn, where did you get that dress? I want one just like it. I never knew you had it in you to wear something like that. You know, you never did in high school. But tonight you’re showing actual cleavage. I’m surprised your grandmother allowed it. She’s like, you know, rather high on morals and manners and things I’ve never heard about. Is anyone in the bathroom? I really have to pee. But I don’t want to miss any of the action.” She knocked on the door without taking a breath. “I’ll just use one of the other bathrooms. You know I have the run of the place and…”

Caitlyn walked off down the hall and didn’t look back. She made her way through the dancing couples to the veranda. Japanese lanterns lit up the trees with a magical glow. In a dark corner, she sat down and took a deep breath. It was quieter out here. Couples swayed together and the night air was warm yet soothing.

Feeling a chill, she ran her hands up her arms. She lifted her eyes and saw Judd standing in the shadows a few feet away. Her eyes locked with his and her heart thudded with the force of a nine pound hammer.

Her first thought was to walk away, but this time pride wouldn’t let her. This time she was standing her ground and facing Judd.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“EVERYONE IS EXPECTING USto dance,” Judd said in a voice that flowed around her like a warm blanket and wrapped her in memories.

The good ones.

“Yes,” she managed to reply.

He held out his hand.

Go to hell. Not in this lifetime ever again. When hell freezes over.The comebacks were right there in her throat. All she had to do was say the words and walk away from him. She could do that. She’d done it before.

Something stronger than her pride moved her forward. She placed her hand in his and he pulled her into his arms. Her soft curves pressed into the hardness of his body and they began to move to “Bluest Eyes in Texas.” Her forehead rested against his jaw and his sandalwood scent shot her estrogen levels up a few notches. The tautness of his muscles shot her levels through the roof. But she didn’t pull away. She was on autopilot.

Still dancing, they moved out of the shadows and among the other couples. Out of the corner of her eye Cait saw Maddie, Sky, Gran and Renee watching them. Nothing registered but the male body pressed against hers. She had to admit she’d missed his touch. She’d missed him. That part of their relationship had been nothing less than fantastic.

Some couples stopped dancing, but Cait and Judd danced on. In his arms she felt like a princess—the belle of the ball. He pulled her closer and there was nothing left to the imagination; every muscle, every sinew, she felt. And she floated away to a happy place where fairy tales came true.

“Why wasn’t this enough, Caitlyn?” His throaty voice broke through the clouds to reality.

She pulled back slightly to look into his dark eyes. It felt strange to have this conversation after fourteen years. “Because sex and love are two different things.”

“They’re the same to me.”

“They’re not to me. Sex is an act. Love is a feeling in here….” She removed her hand from his to place it over his heart. Her eyes holding his, she added, “Sex is fleeting. Love lasts forever.”

He glanced down at her hand. “I didn’t know I had a heart until you broke it.”

Her breath felt heavy at his admission. “You could have come after me.”

“You could have come back.”

“But that would have changed nothing. It still would have been an arranged marriage without love.” She pushed away from him then. “So go ahead and get even. Take your revenge. Hurt me if that makes you feel better. The sad part is that I’ve hurt myself more.” She tore away from him and ran from the room, past startled guests, out the front door, down the front steps and into the night.

She lost a shoe and sank to the ground and began to laugh. Laughter turned to tears. Try as she might she couldn’t stop them, so she gave up and howled.

Maddie and Sky eased down by her. She sat on the grass and wiped away tears with the back of her hand. Her sisters didn’t say anything. They just hugged her, which was what she needed.

Maddie held up her red high heel. “Would Cinderella like to try on the magical shoe?”

Cait burst into laughter once more. “Most certainly. Even though I’ve never heard of Cinderella in a come-hither red dress. She looks virginal, like you.”

“Yeah, right.” Maddie ruffled her skirt. “That Walker guy had the nerve to ask me to dance. I told him my mommy doesn’t allow me to.”

“He’s a hottie, so I danced with him.” Sky nudged Cait playfully. “I told him we only let Maddie out of the attic on special occasions, and that she’s a little gun-shy or man-shy.”

“Hardy har-har.” Maddie made a face at Sky, then linked her arm through Cait’s. “Let’s go home.”

“First Cait has to slip on the magical shoe.”

“Hell’s bells, Sky, there’s no magic in it,” she protested.

“I beg to differ,” Maddie said, holding it out.

Cait slipped her foot in.

Nothing happened.

Same old heartache. Same old bizarre evening.

“Okay.” Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe there isn’t any such thing as a fairy tale.”

“You got it. Let’s load up the Lincoln, pick up Gran and get the hell out of Dodge.”

“Good plan,” Sky murmured as they got to their feet. “I guess y’all know we’re going to have grass stains on these dresses.”

“So? After tonight we’ll retire the dresses from hell.” Cait peered through the darkness at the sea of cars. “Now where is that old Lincoln?”

“Whistle, Cait, like you always do,” Maddie suggested. “Maybe that guy who was ogling you will come running.”

She put her fingers to her mouth and blew. Nothing happened. They burst into a fit of giggles. “We’ve had too much champagne,” Cait said.

“May I help you?” The young man appeared abruptly, scaring the living daylights out of them.

“Yes. We’d like our car, please. The Lincoln,” Cait told him, trying not to snicker.

“The old one?”

“Yes. The old one.”

“I’ll bring it around.”

The Lincoln rolled to a stop in front of them.

“I’m driving,” Sky said, and rounded the car.

Cait slid into the passenger’s seat and Maddie climbed in the back. “Make a circle so we can pick up Gran,” Cait instructed.

“Yes, bossy.”

She shot her the finger.

Sky zoomed forward and came to a screeching stop at the front door. Maddie jumped out to assist Gran, who was waiting on the veranda with their hostess.

Gran got in, and Renee waved. Cait did not wave back. Sky tore out of the driveway.

“We’re going home, Gran,” Sky said, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“Yes, my baby, we’re going home.” There was a long pause and then Gran asked, “Caitlyn, baby, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Did Judd hurt your feelings?”

Her gut tightened. “Naw. He just bruised my pride. I’m tough.”

“Women shouldn’t be tough, Caitlyn.” Her tone suggested Cait should mind her p’s and q’s.

“Come on, Gran,” Sky said, negotiating a turn. “Belles are tough. We all are.”

“That’s why you don’t have husbands.”

“And that’s the name of that tune,” Cait whispered to Sky.

They rode in silence for a moment.

“It was a lovely party,” Gran said. “I kept waiting for your father to show up.”

Cait and Sky exchanged a glance.

“Before any of you say it, I know Dane is dead.”

“Yes,” Cait replied. And added a privatethank God for not having to say the words.

 

THEY WALKEDGran into the house and up to her bedroom. But Cait wasn’t ready to close her eyes. Her engine was still running. While Maddie and Sky helped Gran, she went down to the parlor and to her father’s wine collection. She pulled out a merlot and uncorked it. Breathing the fragrant scent, she closed her eyes.Oh, yeah. This was what she needed. Tipping up the bottle, she walked to the kitchen. She chugalugged right out the door and all the way to the barn.

Within minutes she had a bridle on Jaz. From the refrigerator in the barn, she grabbed two carrots and stuffed them into her cleavage. Then she hitched up her red skirt and slid on bareback, the bottle in one hand. One high heel fell to the ground and she left it there.

She had something she wanted to do, and she rode like hell through the night.

 

JUDD SAT IN HIS STUDYwith a bottle of bourbon and a shot glass in front of him. He should have never gone down to the party. But God, she was beautiful. That red dress was something out of his fantasies. Every man in the room, married or single, had wanted her. He was no exception.

The dancing part was great. Conversing always brought trouble, though. They’d never connected on that level, and it was important to her. Why did women always want to talk and analyze everything to death?

He was an action man and he didn’t like any of that intense inner emotional crap. That’s why he was sitting here drinking bourbon—alone. Tyra or Jenna would be happy to keep him company, and he wouldn’t have to do a lot of conversing, either. Still, he’d left the party soon after Caitlyn. She pretty much put the lid on the night.

For fourteen years they’d managed to stay apart, and in a matter of a few days they were smack-dab in the middle of each other’s lives. He wanted her to bend. He wanted her to beg.

And he was going to grow into a lonely old man waiting for that to happen. He threw the shot glass at the wall and it exploded in a burst of amber liquid.

As he watched bourbon trail down the paneling, his cell phone buzzed. It was 2:00 a.m. Who was calling this late? He picked the device up and saw it was Harland. Something had to be wrong.

He clicked on. “Yes.”

“Sorry to bother you so late, but we have a situation at the stables.”

He stood and ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “What is it?”

“You need to see for yourself.”

“I’ll be right there.” Judd still wore his tux trousers and his white shirt hung loose over them. He didn’t bother to change.

Harland met him at the stables. “I heard a noise so I thought I’d check on the new horse. I’ll show you what I found.”

Judd followed him to Whiskey Red’s stall. They’d put blinders on the horse and she’d settled down. The blinders were now off and Caitlyn sat on the floor of the enclosure, her back against a wall, sipping from a bottle of wine. A carrot poked out of her cleavage. She still wore the red dress and the skirt was bunched between her bare thighs. She was barefooted. Disheveled black hair cascaded around her shoulders.

A familiar longing tightened his lower abdomen.

“Hey, Judd.” She raised the bottle.

“I’ll take care of this,” he told Harland.

“I tried to pull her out of there, but the horse gets riled, so I left her alone.”

“Thanks.” Judd leaned on the stall door. “What are you doing, Caitlyn?”

“Visiting the horse you took from me.”

“Looks to me like you’re drinking.”

“Yep. That, too.” She tipped up the bottle.

“Get out of the stall.”

She squinted at him. “Nope. Don’t think so.”

“You’re trespassing.”

“Yep. I am.”

She was sloshed and he didn’t want to hurt her by dragging her out. The thought hit him like the bourbon deep in his belly—warm, fuzzy and jolting. Everything he’d done recently had been meant to hurt her. Maybe that hadn’t been his intention at all. Maybe all he wanted was her attention.

A sobering thought.

“Come out of the stall, Caitlyn. It’s late.”

She lifted the bottle. “Make me.”

He slid the latch of the stall door open and stepped in. Red immediately threw up her head, fidgeting in an agitated manner.

Judd fully intended to make Caitlyn leave the stall, but once he saw the pain in her eyes, that plan went south. Instead he sank down beside her in the dirt and straw.

She handed him the bottle. “Want a drink?”

“No, thank you.”

She took a swig and then peered into the bottle with one eye. “Damn, it’s all gone. Someone drank my wine.”

“You did.”

“No, no, no.” She shook her head. “You did. You took my royalties, my horse and—”

“I bought your royalties and your horse. They weren’t cheap, either.”

“Why? Why did you have to do that?” Her blurred blue eyes tried to focus on him.

“You’re drunk,” was all he could say.

“Yep.” She jammed the bottle into the hay. “And it never felt so damn good.” She plucked the carrot from her cleavage. “Here, Red, have a carrot before I have to leave Mr. High-and-Mighty’s stables.”

The horse munched on the offering and Cait rested her head against the wall. For a moment he thought she was out, but she wasn’t. She was close, though.

The overhead light cast shadows across them. The scents of manure, horse, sweet feed and hay radiated through the barn. A horse neighed and another stomped in its stall. All normal scents and sounds, but nothing was normal about this night.

“You didn’t have to run away tonight.”

“Yes, I did.” Cait hiccuped.

“Why?”

“Oh, please.” She staggered to her feet. “Your goal in life now is to hurt me. Well—” she clutched at the stall wall for support “—you’ve succeeded, but you’ll never get High Five. Ooh.” She grabbed her head. “The stall is moving.”

He rose to his feet, not bothering to dust off his clothes. “Why do you keep fighting this? It’s just a matter of time.”

“Don’t…Don’t—” she jabbed a finger at him “—say that….” She swayed like a felled tree and he caught her before she crumpled to the ground. He swung her over his shoulder and left the stall, latching the gate behind him.

“Put me down,” she yelled, beating on his back.

He kept walking toward his Ford Lariat truck, parked at the garages.

“The shoe had no magic. Poof. It didn’t work.”

He didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Yanking open the door, he deposited her on the passenger side. He waited to see if she’d try to get out, but she didn’t. Her head dropped onto the leather headrest, her tousled black hair a striking sight against the red dress.

“If you’d been a prince, the shoe would have been magical,” she muttered. “But you’re no prince.” She turned toward him, her eyes managing to hold his. “You’re the devil.”

He closed the door and a chill shot up his spine. Walking around to the driver’s side, he said to hell with her. He didn’t care what she thought of him. His conscience, something he hadn’t been in contact with for some time, chose that moment to awaken and mock him.

From the moment Dane had offered him the royalties, Judd had felt a burst of energy. He would now have his revenge. He would make her hurt the way she had hurt him. But ironically, hurting Caitlyn was harder than he’d ever expected.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JUDD TURNED THE KEYand the engine hummed to life.

“My horse. I can ride my horse,” Caitlyn muttered as the truck moved onto the road.

“Where is your horse?”

“I tied her to a tree by the barn…I think.”

“I’ll return her tomorrow.”

“I don’t need…your help.” Her voice was growing weak and sleepy.

He didn’t say anything else, just drove toward High Five. No other vehicles were on the road at this time of the morning, so he made the trip in record time. He pulled to a stop in front of the Belle house. The front porch light was shining brightly and a light was on at the barn.

He touched her arm. “You’re home.”

She sat up straight and grabbed her head. “Geez, Louise.” She opened one eye to peer through the darkness. “How did I get here?”

“Guess.” His gaze held hers. “You were too drunk to ride a horse.”

“Listen…” She winced.

“Get out of the truck. You’re home.”

Caitlyn stared at him though the darkness. His tousled hair falling across his forehead and his dark growth of beard evoked so many memories. Good memories of when she’d thought he loved her.

Without thinking clearly, she slid a hand around his neck, caressed his roughened skin and pulled his face toward hers. She touched his lips gently, almost reverently. It took a split second for remembered emotions to explode.

He took over the kiss, cupping her face with both hands, and time floated away, as did the years, as they found comfort in a kiss that bound them together. Tongues and lips knew the drill. Memories like this weren’t forgotten, just buried beneath the pain.

He tasted of bourbon, and the heady sensation was making her drunk all over again. Or was it just Judd?

He was the first to draw back. “Why did you do that?” His voice vibrated as smoothly as the engine of his fancy truck.

She licked her lips. “To see if my collection of memories is gold plated or the real thing?”

“And?”

Cait would never know what her response would have been because Cooper tapped on the window, and when she glanced up she saw Maddie and Sky hurrying down the sidewalk.

Cait smiled slyly. “You’ll never know.” She opened the door and almost fell out.

“Everything okay?” Coop asked as he caught her.

“Yep,” she replied, staggering. Coop steadied her. “I’m a little drunk, though.”

“Cait,” Sky called. “Where have you been?”

She glanced at Judd and wasn’t sure how to answer that. It had been a bizarre evening. What had possessed her to kiss him? She blamed it on the liquor, and closed the door. She didn’t want to see Judd’s face any longer. It made her weak.

The truck pulled out of the driveway and Sky and Maddie rushed to her. “Where have you been?” Sky demanded.

“Areyou okay?” Coop asked, and Sky shot him a this-is-none-of-your-business look.

“Yes, Coop, thanks.” Cait smiled at him to ease any hard feelings. “I got a little sidetracked tonight.”

“I saw Jaz was gone and I was worried.”

“I took a midnight ride to visit Red.”

“You didn’t.” Sky was aghast.

“Yes, I did, and I got caught.” She picked up her filthy skirt. “Now I’m going inside to crash. Night, Coop.”

“Night.” He strolled back to the bunkhouse.

Maddie and Sky linked their arms through hers and they marched together toward the house, through the door and up the stairs.

“Your dress is ruined,” Maddie said, inspecting Cait in the light.

“That’s what happens when you wallow in the stables with a bottle of wine.”

“Sometimes you’re like a loose cannon.” Sky opened the bathroom door. “And you stink.”

“Shit happens, I suppose,” she replied, stepping inside and closing the door on her sisters.

She turned on the bathtub taps, stripped out of the ridiculous dress and sank into the warm water. It felt heavenly, and wonderful to wash away the grime. Washing away the memories was something else entirely. Not a task that could be done with mere soap and water.

Why had she kissed him? Why? Her hand went to her lips and she still felt Judd’s soft caress, so different from the strong and powerful man that he was. Liquored up, she couldn’t resist or deny the pull she always experienced when she was around him. That was her only explanation. And it didn’t change a thing in her life.

He was still the enemy.

She quickly got out of the tub, dried off and slipped on a big T-shirt. Opening the door, she found her sisters standing there with their old sleeping bags.

“We’re camping on the veranda tonight, or what’s left of the night,” Maddie told her. “It might be a long time before we see each other again.”

“I’m game.” Cait picked up her bag and they trudged out to the porch and got comfy.

“Gran asleep?” she asked, rolling out her bedding between Maddie’s and Sky’s.

“Yes. The dancing wore her out.” Maddie wiggled on top of her bag. It was too warm to slide inside.

There was silence for a moment as they absorbed the warmth and peace of the night.

“What were you and Judd talking about?” Sky asked. “We were looking for you and saw the truck drive up. What took you so long to get out?”

“I was making a fool of myself.” She folded her hands behind her head. “Yep. I’m getting good at that.”

Sky rose up on an elbow. “What happened?”

“Well, remember I was highly intoxicated….”

“Anyone who would visit a horse in the dead of night has to be intoxicated or insane. Should we take a vote?”

“Shut up, Sky,” she said, and moved uneasily.

“So what happened?” Sky pressed.

She didn’t answer for a moment. “I just wanted to make sure Red was comfortable. She’s very temperamental. I took her a treat, a couple of carrots, and I took a treat for myself—a bottle of wine.”

“After all the champagne we consumed!”

“Yes, Betty Crocker, it wasn’t a brilliant idea, and my head is pounding. Let’s go to sleep.”

“Not until you tell us what you and Judd were talking about.” Sky wouldn’t give up.

“Geez, you’re relentless. It was the same old, same old.” She moved uneasily again as the truth weaved its way around her heart. “I sat there looking at him through liquored up eyes, but all I could see and feel was the way I used to love him.” She watched the moon hanging in the sky like a neon sign, and was sure the fictional man in the moon had a come-on-in sign stapled on his chest. It was that warm. That inviting. Breaking down her barriers. “So I kissed him.”

Maddie sat up straight. “You did what?”

“Well, well.” Sky rose also, sitting cross-legged. “Now what does that say?”

“It says I was drunk out of my mind.”

“It says you still love him,” Maddie countered.

Cait sat up and wrapped her arms around her bare legs. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll always love him, but that doesn’t change a thing. Judd hasn’t altered. He’s still like his father, needing to have power over a woman because he feels she’s less than he is. I can’t live with a man who thinks that way. I can’t love him, either.”

“So, what? You’re going to sneak over at night and have sex with him, and during the day you’re still enemies?”

“Sky, I didn’t have sex with him.”

“I’m sticking to my original suggestions,” she stated. “As a woman, you have the power to make him beg. Use everything in your arsenal, and High Five and Southern Cross will be yours. Think of it as a contest and the big prize is Judd.”

“Judd is not a prize and I don’t have an arsenal.”

“Well, honey, you should have seen yourself tonight. Judd couldn’t take his eyes off you, and when you danced there was not a smidgen of daylight between you.”

“Sky…”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Maddie asked. “We only have a few more hours together. Let’s don’t spend it bickering.”

“Okay,” Cait said with a smug expression. “Let’s talk about Kira. When are you going to tell Gran?”

“When I see fit.”

“Gran has a right to see her great-granddaughter.”

“I feel awful lying to her, but I have little choice. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Todd so he can get his parents off my back, but so far no response. Until that happens I have to stay in hiding.”

Sky stretched out on her sleeping bag and Cait and Maddie followed suit. They were quiet as crickets serenaded. A horse neighed and a dog barked in response to a coyote howling in the distance. The sounds of High Five. The ranch that Cait loved, but how long would she be allowed to stay here?

As if reading her thoughts, Sky asked, “Do you think you can show a profit in six months?”

“I’m going to give it my best shot.”

“But you have no help,” Maddie pointed out.

“That’s why I work fourteen-hour days.”

“The simple solution is just to sell,” Sky said. “Gran can still live here, and I’m sure if you ask nicely, Judd will let you stay, too.”

“I don’t doasking nicely to Judd Calhoun.” The mere thought made her stomach roll.

“Leave Cait alone,” Maddie stated. “We agreed to six months, and she even sold Red, so stop browbeating her.”

There was silence for a moment and then Sky said, “Okay. I’m in for the long haul.”

They gave each other the customary high five and snuggled onto their bags, settling down for the rest of the night. But Cait stayed awake long after she heard her sisters’ wispy snoring. Tomorrow she would be alone again with Gran, and fighting to save High Five.

Somewhere between lucidness and sleep she wondered if she was fighting a losing battle. In the end, she could lose it all. But she still had to take that risk.

 

JUDD WALKED INTO THE BARNto check on Whiskey Red. She raised her head with a nervous neigh.

“It’s okay, girl.” He tried to reassure her, and she seemed to settle down. He saw the wine bottle and opened the stall door to retrieve it. The thoroughbred watched him, but stayed calm. Along the wall, Judd glimpsed a flash of red. He picked up a red high heel. He hadn’t noticed it before. It must have been behind Caitlyn.

On his way out he flipped off the lights and tossed the wine bottle into the trash. He glanced at the shoe and started to trash it, too, then stopped.

Caitlyn had said something about the shoe having no magic. That if he was a prince, it would have been magical. Was she talking about a stupid fairy tale? No, she was too mature for that. But it was romantic stuff. Stuff that was important to her.

He strolled to the house with the shoe in his hand. The place was in darkness and endless quiet prevailed—the way he liked it. His study light was on and he headed there for the bourbon.

Placing the shoe in the center of his desk, he poured himself a shot and sank into his chair with a groan. What a night!

He licked his lips, still tasting the wine on Caitlyn’s. Magic was there. Why couldn’t she see it? Why couldn’t she feel it? He downed the amber liquid in the shot glass and gazed at the shoe.

It seemed to taunt him.

The shoe wasn’t magical.

Did she honestly think she could slip her foot into a magic shoe and he would love her? He had never loved her, had he? He desired her. He wanted her. Those were the emotions he understood.

Oh, God.He jammed his hands through his hair and then poured himself another drink. Everything was supposed to be simple. With the royalties gone, Caitlyn’s only option would be to sell High Five. Even though she wouldn’t want to, her sisters would force her hand. He’d have his revenge and she would disappear out of his life forever. He wouldn’t see her in High Cotton. He wouldn’t see her anywhere.

His mother had warned him that Caitlyn would come back fighting. She’d been right. Now Caitlyn was making his life a living hell.

He downed the bourbon. She was making him aware of how much he wanted her. That was lust, not love. And there was no magic in that.

After opening a drawer, he reached for the shoe and flung it inside.

So much for magic.

And Caitlyn Belle.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE NEXT MORNING SAWa tearful goodbye. After a big breakfast, Etta drove Maddie and Sky to the airport. Gran went along so she could spend more time with her granddaughters.

Cait didn’t have time to be nostalgic. There was work waiting for her. She met Coop and Rufus at the barn.

“The baler broke, but Ru and I got it fixed last night,” Coop told her. “We’re ready to go.”

“God willing and the baler doesn’t break again, we should be through by the end of June.” Ru climbed into his truck. “There’s still a lot of hay on the ground, though.”

“I’ll check the herds and then give y’all a hand,” Cait called.

Coop jumped onto the tractor connected to the baler. “Jaz was in the corral this morning. And I found a red high heel in the barn. Don’t know where it came from and I’m not asking. I put it on a shelf. See you later,” he added, with a twinkle in his eye.

She waved as they rolled out of sight, and then glanced toward the corral. There was Jaz, and her bridle was hanging on the fence. Had Judd brought back the horse or had he sent one of the cowhands? Either way, she just wanted to forget the miserable evening. Her aching head made that a little hard, though—a reminder that was going to be with her for the rest of the day.

Saddling up, Cait found her eyes straying to the red shoe laid haphazardly on a shelf. She had no idea where its mate was. The only explanation was that she’d lost it on the way to Southern Cross, and she’d just as soon forget about that visit.

She headed for the pastures. Water was flowing in all of them, the windmill spinning like a large whirling fan. The stock tanks were getting lower, though. Local ranchers needed rain badly.

In the last pasture, she didn’t see Boss, and worried he might be on the Southern Cross again. Cait rode through the herd twice and still didn’t spot him. Damn! Then she saw him coming out of the woods, looking a little scuffed up. He’d probably been fighting with the other bulls, which was his modus operandi. But she was relieved he wasn’t trying to court the Southern Cross cows again.

At midday she headed back to the ranch house, and was surprised to find Etta and Gran weren’t back. Cait checked for messages on the phone and there weren’t any. If something was wrong, there would have been a message, so she told herself not to worry.

She made sandwiches and packed a lunch to carry to Coop and Rufus. Afterward, she worked the tractor with the front fork to lift the round bales from the field and place them along the fence. It was a hot, scorching day—the type of weather to be indoors with air-conditioning or in a swimming pool.

But she wasn’t an indoor person, and lying around a pool wasn’t her, either. She must enjoy cruel and inhuman punishment, Cait decided ruefully. Sweat rolled down her back and soaked the waistband of her jeans. It coated her whole body, and the warm breeze made her feel as if she was in a sauna.

She lowered a round bale to the ground and massaged the calluses on her hands.This isn’t women’s work. How many times had her father said that to her? And how many times had she tried to prove him wrong?

Was she trying to hold on to High Five for Gran, or trying to prove something to her father? As she removed her hat and wiped sweat from her brow, she thought she might be proving him right.

He’d always said that a woman’s place was in the home, making babies and pleasing her husband. None of his daughters had cottoned to the idea, so to speak, but he’d never wavered in his conviction. And neither had Caitlyn.

As the sun sank in the west, Cait suspected she was going to grow old clinging to her beliefs. Nothing would ever change her mind.

Not even Judd Calhoun.

Or her love for him.

That thought stayed with her as they made their way home.

She came to an abrupt stop in the kitchen doorway. Etta was at the stove, and Maddie and Gran were setting the table.

“Maddie, I thought you left.” She removed her hat and placed it on a rack.

Her sister wiped her hands on her apron. “I thought about it all the way into town. I now have the cash to pay off my debts, so I stopped and called my mom and wired her the money. She’s going to pay the bills and I can stay here and help you. You need it.”

“Maddie…”

“Belles stand and fight. Isn’t that one of Dad’s sayings? And I have a stake in this ranch, too.”

“Oh, Maddie!” They hugged tightly.

“Why are you girls talking about such things?” Gran asked, straightening a napkin. “Your father takes care of all that.”

Cait and Maddie glanced at each other and knew a response would be useless.

“Here, Gran.” Maddie pulled out a chair. “Have a seat. Etta’s chicken fried steak is almost ready.”

Gran sat as Cooper and Rufus walked through the door.

When Coop spied Maddie, he took a step backward. “Oh, I didn’t know we still had company.” Before he could take another step, Maddie grabbed his arm.

“No, you don’t, Cooper Yates. I don’t bite. I promise.”

Maddie’s sweet smile thawed the cowboy faster than the Texas heat. “I just don’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not,” Cait said. “And I’m starving. How about you?”

After supper, Maddie helped Etta with the dishes.

“See you at home, Etta.” Rufus shuffled out the door and Cooper followed.

The phone rang and Cait ran to answer it.

“This is Gil Bardwell. I’m trying to locate Caitlyn Belle.”

“This is Caitlyn.”

“Chance Hardin gave me your number. I’m the foreman of a large road construction company and I need sand and gravel. Chance said you have some to sell.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” She took a long breath. This was too good to be true, but she wasn’t looking this gift horse in the mouth. They arranged to meet in the morning and discuss a price.

“Was that Sky?” Maddie asked from the doorway.

“No.” Cait hugged her. “You’re bringing me good luck. That was a man who wants to buy sand and gravel. It’s going to help tremendously. I have to make some calls to check on prices.” She picked up the phone and glanced at Maddie. “Could you please help Gran? I’ll be up as soon as I finish.”

“Don’t worry about Gran. We’re going to watch an old movie.Giant, with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to catch the end.”

By ten o’clock Cait’s eyes wouldn’t stay open any longer, so she trudged upstairs. But she had numbers and knew what prices to ask. There was a light beaming at the end of the tunnel of her nightmare.

Gran was sound asleep with Maddie curled up at her side, a popcorn bowl in the crook of her arm. Cait clicked off the TV and shook her sister.

“Time for bed,” she whispered.

Maddie sat up, stretching. “I didn’t realize I was so tired.”

“Me, neither,” Cait admitted. “See you in the morning.” At the door she looked back. “Thank you.”

“That’s what sisters are for.”

“I’m sorry I was on the phone so long. Sky couldn’t call.”

“I phoned her on my cell. I told her you were making big deals. She made it home safely and said she can’t stop holding Kira.” Maddie kissed her cheek. “’Night, sis.”

Cait showered and fell into a dead sleep, but right before the hazy, blissful slumber claimed her she saw Judd’s face and heard his words.

Why wasn’t this enough?

 

THE NEXT MORNINGwas hectic as everyone hurried to work. After breakfast Coop and Rufus went to the hay field and Cait rushed to meet Mr. Bardwell. Within an hour, they had hammered out a deal. He explained they would have to dig forty feet deep or more with a dragline excavator, creating some steep hills and deep valleys. He promised to level the land as much as he could and keep damages to a minimum.

She showed him the places on the ranch he could dig, the areas Grandfather Bart had sold from years ago. The pastures with the cattle were off-limits.

Maddie stayed at the house with Gran, and that arrangement worked well. Cait didn’t worry about Gran with her sister there.

Maddie had also undertaken the job of cleaning the house from top to bottom. Dust didn’t have a chance with her around. And most days she brought lunch to the fields so they didn’t have to make the trip to the house.

Several people had called about buying hay, and Cait sold what they didn’t need. The ranch was taking a turn for the better. If her luck held, she’d have the books in the black before the six-month time period. She couldn’t let up, though. Every day she had to stay on top of things.

It was time to tag the new baby calves and round up the older ones to sell. Maddie saddled up to help. She was a good rider; their father had seen to that. The job was dusty, hot and tedious, but Maggie never faltered.

With the help of the dogs, they herded the cattle from the pastures into the corral. There, Cait and Coop dismounted and waded into the herd. He caught a baby calf and she marked it, using an ear tag gun. More than once Cait stepped in cow crap, and the scent filled her nostrils. She never stopped, though. They continued until every baby was tagged with the number of its mother.

Then they saddled up again and separated the herd, cutting out mothers and babies into another corral. Rufus worked the gate and Maddie helped; the dogs nipped at the cows’ feet. Cows bellowed and the dust was suffocating. Finally, only the older calves were left in the corral. Rufus and Maddie herded the other animals back to the pastures.

“I’ll load ’em up later and get ’em to the auction barn for tomorrow’s sale,” Coop said.

“Good. I’ll make sure the cows are settling down.” Cait glanced up as she heard riders, knowing it was too soon for Maddie and Rufus to return.

Harland and four Southern Cross cowboys rode into view.

“Uh-oh, I sense trouble.” Coop wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his chambray shirt.

Harland galloped forward. “Miss Belle, we have a problem with your bull again. I have orders not to shoot him, so you’d better come take care of the situation.”

“I’ll be right there.” She put her foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle. Coop did the same.

“Yates doesn’t come onto Southern Cross property.” Harland spit chewing tobacco onto the ground.

Cait rode out of the corral to within a foot of Harland. “Cooper goes where I go.” Her voice was sharp enough to cut through a T-bone steak.

“Well, Miss Belle.” Harland leaned back in the saddle. “You just might need a man to help you with this problem, so I’ll allow it this time.”

A round of snickers echoed from the cowboys.

“Just show me where my bull is.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Harland jerked his bridle and shot away, the cowboys behind him. She and Cooper immediately followed. It was clear the foreman was trying to lose them, or to prove that they couldn’t keep up. But she knew every inch of High Five and there was no way she’d fall behind.

They came to a gap and one of the cowboys opened it. It was farther along the fence that Boss had broken through earlier. She wondered why they weren’t riding through a broken fence instead of the gap.

She pulled up as Harland and his boys stopped. All eyes were on her. Boss stood alone in the woods, with his head hanging low. He hadn’t budged as the riders approached.

Cait dismounted and walked to the animal, Harland and Cooper behind her. She stood in shock for a moment at the sight in front of her. The lower part of Boss’s belly was swollen and his split penis was almost hanging to the ground. Blood and pus oozed out of it. Her stomach churned with a sick feeling, but she tried to hide her reaction.

“How did this happen?” she managed to ask.

“Well, Ms. Belle, it seems your bull has taken to jumping the fence. This time he was ready for action, if you know what I mean, and he caught his main feature on the barbed wire, splitting it open. He’s useless now. He has to be put down.”

A low, guttural sound left Boss’s throat. He was in pain and probably had an infection and fever.

“I’m not sure your boy Yates here is allowed to use a gun—being on probation and all. Looks like you’ll have to do the honors.”

The cowboys snickered again.

Out of the corner of her eye Cait saw Judd’s black horse, and a few seconds later he was standing beside them.

“What’s going on here?”

Harland relayed his story and Judd squatted to look at Boss. “Damn. He has to be put down. He’s in a lot of pain.”

“That’s what I was telling Miss Belle.”

“She won’t do it,” she heard a cowboy murmur.

“She hasn’t got the guts,” another said.

“Shut up or go back to the barn,” Judd ordered.

Cait headed for her horse. “I’ll do it,” Coop whispered beside her.

“You’ll get in trouble.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.” She yanked her rifle from the scabbard on the saddle. She always carried one for coyotes and wild dogs that preyed on baby calves. But she’d never used it.

And she didn’t know if she could use it now. The men kept watching her with smug expressions. She saw money exchange hands between two cowboys. They were betting she couldn’t.

“We’ll take care of the animal,” Judd said.

The note in his voice that said she shouldn’t have to do this ricocheted her courage into high gear. She was a woman and shouldn’t be running a ranch. This was where the fictional line was drawn in the sand. She either stepped over it and did her job, or she stepped back and admitted she couldn’t run this ranch.

For her, the latter was unacceptable.

“It’s my animal. I’ll take care of him.”

“Caitlyn…”

She walked away, stopping about twenty feet from Boss. He made that gut-wrenching sound again and she knew she had to put him out of his misery.

What was the price of courage? Her pride? Her heart?

Without a second thought, she released the safety and raised the rifle. She took aim at Boss’s shoulder through the crosshairs. Everything else faded away. Boss was in pain. She had to do this.

She had to do this.

The rapid beat of her heart pounded in her ears. Her palms were sweaty, and fear like she’d never known before crawled up her spine.

She had to do this.

I’m sorry, Boss.

She squeezed the trigger. The big bull dropped with a thud. He was dead.

The rifle butt kicked her shoulder as the sound of the blast echoed across the landscape. The explosive noise caused a ringing in her ears.

She stood frozen.

After a moment she lowered the gun, walked to her horse and shoved the rifle into the scabbard. Swinging into the saddle, she said to Coop, “Get the tractor and take him back to High Five.” Then she rode hell-bent for somewhere other than here.

She kept nudging Jaz on, faster and faster, her stomach churning. When she reached Crooked Creek, she jumped off and threw up until there was nothing left in her but the pain. The pain of having to kill a living thing.

On her hands and knees, she crawled some distance away and leaned against an oak tree, taking deep breaths. Her mouth tasted like bile and she wiped her hand across it. Feeling weak, she rested her head on her knees.

There was absolute quiet here in the deep woods. Just an occasional twitter of a bird, the rustling of leaves and the call of a crow. Through the silence she heard a rider, and thought Coop was coming to look for her.

She raised her head and saw the black horse. Judd.

The last person she wanted to see.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JUDD WALKED TO HERand sank into the grass. Plucking a dried sprig, he studied it as if it was a marvel of science.

She didn’t speak.

Nor did he.

He lifted his eyes, and their depths were so dark she couldn’t even see the pupils. “Why do you have to be so tough? You didn’t have to do that.”

“A man would have without a second thought, and no one would have told him not to.”

“You’re not a man.”

“Yeah.” She faked a laugh. “My father reminded me of that every day of my life. I was never the son he wanted.”

“No, you’re his daughter—his beautiful, brave and spirited daughter. Why does that make you less of a person?”

It was weird hearing Judd say that. It was even more weird to be sitting here talking to him. Almost as if they were the only two people in the world and he understood her and her feelings.

She took a long breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I find it strange that you would say that. You believe every woman is beneath you, the way your father believed…and mine.”

“I’m not my father.” His eyes darkened to pitch-black.

“But you are. His beliefs have been ingrained into you from birth. You even told me that.”

“People change.”

“Yeah.”Maybe. Judd? She doubted it. She ran a hand through the dried grass and knew they had to talk about the past. It was right there between them like a boil that needed lancing. Time to get it over with. “Let’s talk about what happened.”

An eyebrow darted toward the rim of his Stetson. “We’ve killed that already.”

“No, we haven’t. We’ve danced around the flagpole without ever saluting the flag.”

“What?”

“That means we’ve talked about everything but the real issue—my leaving and the reason I felt the way I did.”

He moved restlessly. “I thought we covered that.”

“No.” She drew a hot breath from the bottom of her lungs. “I didn’t leave you for another man. I didn’t leave you because I didn’t love you. I left because you didn’t support me when I learned our marriage was arranged by our fathers. You didn’t support me when I wanted to return to college. I left because you didn’t love me. I couldn’t live with a man who doesn’t put me first and treat me as his equal. I wanted it all, and I will never settle for less.”

He rubbed the sprig of grass between his fingers. “I told you I’m not familiar with love. I’ve never had that emotion in my life.”

“Bull. Even abused kids know what love is. It’s a feeling inside the heart—a special feeling for one certain person. I know you have it. You just won’t acknowledge it.” She held up a hand. “No. You’re afraid to acknowledge it. Once you do, it makes you vulnerable to pain. And I know you suffered a great deal when your mother left you. But she came back. That’s what love is. Highs and lows. Joy and sorrow. But it’s worth every risk.”

Heat suffused her cheeks at the audacity of her words.

She waited for equally heated words to rain down on her head, but none came. He kept staring at the sprig.

“At nineteen I knew what I wanted,” Cait told him, “but I couldn’t force you to love me, so I ended the engagement. That wasn’t easy to do. My father practically disowned me, but I still couldn’t give in.” She swallowed and said the words she needed to say. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

He lifted his head and a rare glimpse of a smile lit his face. “I think hell just froze over.”

Her mouth twitched in response. “I do remember saying hell would freeze over before I’d ever apologize. But I’m tired of this fighting. You want revenge? Go ahead. Give it everything you’ve got. But you are not blameless.”

“Maybe not,” he muttered, and leaned back in the grass. He crossed his booted feet as if he and Cait were having a pleasant relaxing afternoon instead of reliving the engagement from hell. His snakeskin boots were dark brown and bespoke high-dollar comfort. She glanced down at her scuffed, worn ones caked with cow crap. What a difference.

Her eyes were drawn to his long legs and manhood, outlined by the tight Wranglers. It made her acutely aware of the difference between the sexes.

He gazed at her. “The night you visited Whiskey Red you said something about a magical shoe. What did you mean?”

It was hard to look away from the warmth she saw in his eyes, so she didn’t. “That was silly.”

“I want to know.”

She swallowed. “When I ran from the party, I lost a high heel. You know the Cinderella story. Maddie brought me the shoe and, being the romantic she is, said that all I had to do was slip it on and you would love me. Fairy-tale stuff.”

“Did you believe?”

Like a fool.

“No. I’ve outgrown that.” She bluffed like a Vegas poker player. A palpable silence stretched, as taut as her nerves. “May I ask you a question?”

“I suppose.”

“Why did you ever agree to marry me?”

He sat up and rested a forearm on a knee. “Have you looked in the mirror?”

Astonishment hit her in the face like a handful of manure. “You agreed to the marriage because I’m easy on the eyes.”

“Mostly. And the marriage would have been beneficial to Southern Cross and High Five.”

“Oh, yeah, that really makes my heart flutter.”

“I don’t get it. You’re fighting tooth and nail to save High Five now, but back then you walked away from it.”

“High Five wasn’t in trouble then.”

“It wouldn’t be now if you had stayed.”

“But would we still be together?” She fired back the question, her voice as fervent as a preacher’s on Sunday morning. “Without love, how would our marriage have survived?”

He lifted his shoulders. “Does any marriage come with a guarantee?”

“No, but love always beats the odds.”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it muddles the situation.”

“Not in my opinion. It makes it stronger.”

“Whatever.” He waved a hand. “It makes no difference now. Your father has pitted us against each other and I will honor the agreement I made with him.”

Judd rose to his feet and blew out a hard breath. “We can’t go back and change the past, and we certainly can’t start over. We’ve hurt each other too much.”

“Uh-huh.” She waited for an apology from him, something to ease the ache in her heart. She waited in vain.

He held out a hand and she placed hers in his big palm. He pulled her to her feet. “I’m tired of the fighting, too.” He gazed off into the distance with a thoughtful expression. “Yes, I admit I wanted revenge in the worst way, and I intended to make you pay for walking away from me and everything I’d offered you. What woman would do that? I knew without a doubt you’d come back begging.” His big chest expanded with a sigh. “You never did.”

“Did you want me to?” she asked, and held her breath.

His expression changed. “I’m not surewant is the right word. I never thought about you or your feelings. My father said you’d come crawling back and I believed him. A woman has to know her place in life.”

“Do you still believe that rubbish?”

He heaved another sigh. “No. The years and Caitlyn Belle have slowly altered my mind-set. I can’t say I’ve changed completely. Like you said, those ideas were drilled into me. I’m making progress with my mother. I give in to her because I don’t want to hurt her feelings. That has to be progress.”

“Yes. I believe it is. It means you care about her, and caring leads to love.”

“Ah, yeah, that infamous four-letter word. Keep your dreams, Caitlyn. You deserve them. For me, that elusive emotion is just that—elusive.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Oh, yes, it does. My scars are too deep.” His jaw tightened. “But I don’t have to live with this anger and resentment anymore. I don’t hate you, but like I said, your father has put me in the middle of High Five’s affairs, and in six months we’ll assess the situation and take it from there.”

“You don’t think I can make this ranch show a profit, do you?”

“The odds are against you. It’s been in debt too long.”

She bit her lip to keep words locked in her throat.

“Take the money, Caitlyn, and find the man you want. He’s not here.”

She wanted to smack him, shake him and, to her surprise, hug him. In a moment of clarity she realized the man she wanted was standing in front of her. And as before, he didn’t love her. With her heart somewhere in her crappy boots she walked toward Jaz.

“Caitlyn.” She turned back. “Your father would have been proud of you today.”

Ironically, those weren’t the words she wanted to hear. Her heart had been hoping for so much more. The fairy tale loomed just out of her reach.

She swung into the saddle and headed for home. Love was something he wasn’t willing to give or didn’t know how to give. The years stretched ahead, lonely and empty. High Five had to survive. That’s what she was fighting for. But it wasn’t enough.

She still wanted it all.

 

JUDD WATCHED HERride away and marveled at what a sincere apology had triggered in him. He’d mellowed. Some would say like a lovesick pup, but he knew that wasn’t the case. The honest fact was he didn’t enjoy hurting her.

Maybe there was hope for him.

He wasn’t good at sharing, and today he’d shared more with her than he ever had with anyone. It was a start, and maybe someday he’d understand what that love she talked about meant.

He seriously doubted it, though. That emotion hadn’t been ingrained in him from birth. And he didn’t know if it was something a man could learn.

For the first time in his life, he wanted to.

He reached for Baron’s reins and headed for Southern Cross. Harland and the cowboys would be quitting for the day. Caitlyn and the bull would be the topic of conversation. He had a feeling she’d been elevated a few notches in their eyes.

It would certainly cut back on Harland’s antagonism of her. Judd was sure the man was responsible for a lot of incidents that happened on High Five, like the broken fences and the broken windmill. He couldn’t prove it, but the moment he could, Harland would be gone from Southern Cross. He’d worked many years for Judd’s dad, and out of respect for those years Judd gave the man the benefit of the doubt.

He dismounted and handed a cowboy his reins. “Take care of Baron.”

“Yes, sir.” The cowhand led the horse away.

“I didn’t have to shoot that bull, after all,” Harland said, his tone boastful. “I never thought Miss Belle had it in her.”

“You’ve underestimated Caitlyn Belle.”

The gloating left his face. “Your father wouldn’t think so. He wouldn’t like a woman running High Five.”

“My father doesn’t run this ranch anymore.”

“I know. But he wouldn’t kowtow to no woman.”

Judd’s body became rigid as he tried to control his anger. “I’m telling you for the last time to leave Miss Belle alone. Southern Cross is your business, not High Five. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then get the stables cleaned out and I’ll attend to Whiskey Red.”

“I can give the horse a workout,” Chuck, an eager young cowboy, volunteered.

“No one touches that horse.”

“Yes, sir.” The young man stepped back.

Judd didn’t have to apologize for his actions. He owned this place, but suddenly his blasted conscience was kicking in again, like a buzzing mosquito he wanted to swat. He wasn’t sure why it was being exercised more than usual.

His father had never apologized in his life, and never cared one iota what the cowhands thought of him. He’d hired and fired them at will. It was a plan that worked well.

Until now.

There was something about respect that had to be earned. His father had never cared about respect. He had bought that, too. But Judd wanted to be different. And he started now.

Or maybe he had started earlier, with Caitlyn.

“Chuck,” he called as the cowboy strolled away, his head bowed. “Feed Whiskey, lead her into the corral and let her walk around. I’ll be out later.”

“Yes, sir.” The boy seemed to bounce in his boots as he hurried to the stables.

“You can’t be easy on these hands.” Harland spit chewing tobacco into the dirt. “They’ll take advantage.”

“That’s my business.”

The foreman saluted and walked into the barn.

Judd made his way to the house. He should check in at the office, but Brenda Sue would be there and he wasn’t in the mood. Ron, his office manager, was hard of hearing and tuned Brenda Sue out without much of a problem.

In his study, Judd grabbed the bourbon and a shot glass. Before he could pour it, the door swung open and Brenda Sue breezed in.

Damn, the woman was like lint—hard to get rid of and aggravating in the process.

“Oh, Judd, glad you’re back. Ron wants you to look at these grain prices. The supplier raised ’em because gasoline and diesel are so high, and he thinks they’re sticking it to you. I know what he means about that. My ex-husband sticks it to me every chance he gets. He’s supposed to have the kids two weeks this summer, but now he says he can only do one week. Bullshit, I told him. They’re his kids and he needs to spend time with them. I need a break. And my parents are griping thatthey need a break. I feel like a damn pincushion and—”

“Shut up!”

She drew back. “Oh, you’re in one of those moods.”

He glared at her and yanked the papers from her hand. “I’ll get together with Ron on this.”

“I don’t know why you have to be so rude.”

Did the woman not have a clue?

“You sound like my ex,” she continued. “He was always yelling at me to shut up.”

Judd bet the man had a constant headache. His skull was ringing in just five minutes.

“I don’t know why people are so mean to me.”

He sat down, and there went his conscience again, knocking on his door. Damn woman. He didn’t care about her problems. He didn’t want to hear one more word about her or her life. He just wanted her to do her job. Could she really not know how annoying she was?

He picked up a pen and twirled it between his fingers. “I’m going to tell you something and I want you to listen. Don’t speak. Do you understand?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“You talk all the time. You never even take a breath. Everything is about you and your life, and it gets annoying. If you don’t want people to be rude to you, stop talking so much, and listen.”

“I don’t do that, but my ex said something similar. He was always rude, though. That was his personality. I talk a lot, I know, but that’s me. I just talk and—”

He held up a hand. “Stop.”

She stomped a foot. “I can’t.” Her face fell. “Oh, no. It’s true.”

“Judd, are you here?” His mother’s voice echoed from the hallway.

“Just ask a question and wait for a response. That’s all you have to do. Count to ten or something.”

Brenda Sue smiled, and that was the last thing Judd wanted to see. He didn’t want her getting any ideas about a personal relationship between them.

“You can be quite nice sometimes.”

“Just do your job and try not to annoy me with incessant chatter.”

“Judd…” His mother paused in the doorway, her eyes going from him to Brenda Sue. “Is there a reason you always seem to be in Judd’s study?”

“Yes, ma’am. I work for him.” She said the words slowly, as if talking to a child, and then walked out without saying another word.

Hot damn.Maybe Brenda Sue did have an off switch.

Renee’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not getting involved with her, are you?”

“No, Mom, I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that I am not.”

“Good.” She took a seat in a leather chair and crossed her legs. “You haven’t said two words to me since the ball.”

“And you wouldn’t want to hear those two words.” He poured the bourbon. “How about a drink?”

“No, thank you.” Renee looked at him. “You can act as mad as you want, but I know you enjoyed the party, especially your dance with Caitlyn.”

He downed the shot. “I’m not in a mood to talk about that horrid ball.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Nothing.”

“Surprise, surprise.”

“Don’t be cute.” He fingered the glass. Since his talk with Caitlyn, a lot of thoughts had been running through his mind. And a lot of them were about his parents. Their relationship. He couldn’t believe the question that mingled with the bourbon on his tongue.

“You told me a number of times how you and Dad got back together.”

“Yes.”

God, he needed more liquor to ask this question. He poured another shot and downed it. “Did Dad ever tell you that…that he loved you?”

Her eyes opened wide. Clearly, she was shocked. He was feeling a bit of that himself.

She scooted her chair closer, as if she was going to reveal some deep dark secret. “No. Not in all the years I was married to him did he ever say those words.”

“Did it bother you?”

“Damn right, it did. It was the main reason I left the first time. That and his affairs. A woman can only take so much.”

“Other than the fact that you would get to see me again, what did he say to make you marry him the second time around?”

“Well.” She tapped a pink fingernail against her cheek. “I was working in a diner in Abilene at the time. He just walked in and I almost lost the cookies I’d had for a snack that afternoon. He sat in my section so I had to wait on him. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, golly gee, this is my lucky day.’ It was more like, ‘You rotten, sorry bastard.’”

“So you had words?”

“Hell, no. I wanted to see my son, so I plastered a smile on my face and asked what he wanted in my sweetest, softest voice.”

“And?”

“He looked me up and down and said I was still the best goddamn looking woman he’d ever seen. Then he glanced out the window at the motel across the street and said how about a quickie for old times’ sake.”

“Did you slap his face?”

“Son, I don’t think you’re getting the picture. It had been seven years since I’d seen you, and he could have demeaned me any way he wanted as long as he let me see my son.”

“So you had sex with him?”

“Not before we worked out a deal. I knew he’d divorced Blanche, and I was ready to come home. We spent that evening and the night together. The next morning he asked if I wanted to get married. He made it very plain that was the only way I could see you. We flew to Vegas, did the deed and returned to Southern Cross.”

It sounded so cold, so unemotional. Just like Judd was. Just like his father had been.

Judd glanced out the window to the miles and miles of Southern Cross. His heritage, his birthright.

He brought his gaze back to his mother. “Did you love him?”

“At times. At others I hated him, but we were good together. We understood each other and he didn’t cheat again. I nursed him in his last days when he was dying of pancreatic cancer. I thought it was love until I saw the will.”

His father had left her an allowance, and permission to live at Southern Cross until her death. If she remarried, she received nothing.

“If I had known what he had in mind, I would have wrapped that oxygen tubing around his neck and choked the life out of him before the good Lord could take his sorry soul.”

Judd could see so clearly that his and Caitlyn’s marriage would have been the same. He would have browbeaten her at every turn until she’d bowed to his every wish.Oh, God. A chill shuddered through him. He didn’t know much about love, but he knew it wasn’t like that.

He swallowed hard and met his mother’s eyes and said what he had to, what he should have said years ago. “I’m sorry I was mean to you when you came home.”

“Oh, Judd, my son.” She jumped up and ran around the desk and hugged him. For the first time, he hugged her back.

“Don’t be like him. Please don’t be like him.”

He made a vow to himself that he wouldn’t. But he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“HOW COULD SOMETHINGlike that happen?”

They sat in Cait’s office going over the day’s events. Maddie was appalled at Boss’s injury, and Cait tried to explain it as best as she could. “It was just a freak accident.”

“Couldn’t you have called a vet? Why did you have to shoot him?”

Guilt scraped across her conscience and her stomach clenched. She knew Maddie didn’t mean it that way. Her city-raised sister was not accustomed to the hard knocks and plain bad luck of ranch life. How could Cait make her understand?

“There was nothing a vet could have done. The bull was in excruciating pain. His penis had been split open by the barbed wire. I worked at a vet clinic in college and I know even a prize bull would have been put down.”

“How did you do it?” Maddie shivered in her chair.

“I was shaking so badly I didn’t know if I could hold the rifle steady, but somehow I managed. No way was I going to back down in front of Harland and his boys. But most of all I could see how much pain Boss was in, and it was up to me to end his misery.”

“I could never have done it.”

“It’s amazing what you can do in a crisis.” Cait reached down and pulled off a boot. Her feet were beginning to hurt, along with her backside and every other part of her. She placed both boots to the side. “I’m dog tired, and I need a bath to wash away the trauma of this day. And maybe a bottle of wine.”

“Remember the last time you drank a lot of wine,” Maddie stated with an impish grin.

“Yeah.” She closed her eyes briefly as she recalled the heady feeling of kissing Judd. Today she’d wanted to do the same thing. He was understanding, compassionate—just like the man she knew he was under all that male-superiority rhetoric.

“What did y’all do with Boss?”

“When Coop got back from hauling the calves to auction, we took a tractor and buried him beneath a cottonwood on Crooked Creek. We don’t usually bury an animal, but Boss’s body was probably riddled with infection, and I thought it best. He can see his herd from a very shady spot.”

“Ranching is hard work,” Maddie remarked.

“Yeah.” Cait looked at her sister. “And I’m going to need your help.”

“Anything, just so it’s not gruesome. I do not do the gun thing.”

On the outside, Maddie acted soft and fragile, but she was a Belle and would do what she had to—just as Cait had.

“This doesn’t require a gun. Tomorrow Gil Bardwell’s crew will start loading sand and gravel from our property. I’ll be elsewhere on the ranch and I was hoping you could keep an eye on them.”

“Okay.”

“We’re being paid by the weight. Mr. Bardwell has a scale at his plant, and they weigh the truck empty, and then again after it’s loaded. He seems like a nice enough fellow, but somehow expecting him to be one hundred percent honest about what he hauls out seems a little too trusting. If you could take my truck and check on the operation, keep track of the number of loads you see going out, that would help. He would know we’re watching and he wouldn’t be tempted to cheat us.”

“Now that I can handle.”

“No bloodshed at all.” Cait removed the rubber band from her hair and wiggled her fingers through the French braid, loosening it. “Gran seemed fine at supper.”

“I think she’s much better.”

“She’s happy you’re here, and maybe we won’t see any more of these dressing up…” Her voice trailed away as their grandmother appeared in the doorway, leaning on the jamb.

“‘Come up and see me sometime.’” She wore a frilly short skirt and equally revealing top, with fishnet stockings and heels. Her long white hair tumbled down her back.

Oh, crap!Cait didn’t need this tonight.

“Mae West, remember?” Dorie asked gleefully.

“Let’s go upstairs, Gran.” Maddie took her arm.

“What’s wrong with you girls? You used to love playing dress-up.”

Cait stood with a tired sigh. “We’ve outgrown it, Gran.” And there was the little matter of the big bad wolf at their door, which made play-acting seem immature.

“Now, that’s just sad. You’re never too old to remember being young.”

Cait took her other arm. “Okay, Gran.” But Cait felt she might have to dig deep and use dynamite to retrieve that feeling. Tonight she felt tired and completely used up.

As they made their way upstairs, she wondered if this would be the scenario for the rest of her life. Would she be old before her time and never remember the carefree days of her youth?

Suddenly those feelings she’d had as she’d worn the red dress fluttered over her—she was feminine, young and desirable. She’d experienced an exhilaration that was hard to forget.

Especially when she’d seen the look in Judd’s eyes.

Maybe she was just tired, but tonight she would store that memory as a keepsake close to her heart.

Heaven only knew when she’d feel that way again.

 

JULY SNEAKED INon sultry waves of suffocating heat, and Texas felt like the bowels of hell. Every day God seemed to stoke that fire a little more as the ground dried and cracked and the grasses turned a dusty brown.

But cattle and horses had to have water and feed, so ranchers had to work. Each day seemed to grow longer and hotter as they settled into a routine. Maddie took care of Gran and the selling of the sand and gravel. She was very organized, keeping notes and numbers in a small notebook. Mr. Bardwell wasn’t going to slip a load by her.

Cooper had fixed the transmission on Cait’s truck, so she didn’t have to worry about Maddie careening off into a ditch somewhere.

Maddie was also getting a tan, and had gained weight from Etta’s cooking. She looked healthy again, Cait was glad to see.

Cait worked her butt off most days and didn’t have time to think about anything beyond keeping High Five afloat. She’d received a good price for the calves, but if the county didn’t get rain soon, calf prices would drop.

She was actually able to pay Cooper, Rufus and Etta a decent salary this month. That was a satisfying feeling. She had to keep working, though.

Since the bull incident, she hadn’t seen Judd. As he’d said, her father had now pitted them against each other. Even in death, Dane Belle was controlling her life. And she had to wonder how long she would continue to try to prove him wrong.

 

AS A BOY, Judd had worked on the ranch as a cowboy, but then he went to college and came home with a degree. His father put him to work managing the business, and he missed cowboying. Jack Calhoun had planned his only son’s future, and Judd never wavered from that vision.

Southern Cross was a big responsibility, yet he took it on because it was expected of him. But after talking to Caitlyn and his mother, he found life taking a detour. He now firmly believed Renee had a right to a share of Southern Cross. She had earned it in more ways than he had ever imagined. He also knew that Caitlyn had had good reason to end their engagement.

Admitting that had taken a hefty amount of bourbon, sleepless nights and more soul searching than he was used to. Revenge faded into the background, and his goal now was to be able to live with himself, his choices and his decisions.

After much thought, he offered his mother half of the ranch. With tears in her eyes, she declined. That he’d suggested it was all she needed, she told him, and to know her son thought that much of her—as his mother and as a woman.

Making things right with Caitlyn wasn’t so easy. Judd couldn’t just gift her the royalties. The big expense of buying the rights was already putting a strain on Southern Cross finances. His conscience, his ever-growing nemesis, knocked on his heart daily with a reminder that he needed to talk to Caitlyn. But he kept putting it off.

He threw himself into working on the ranch, much to Harland’s chagrin. The foreman told him repeatedly he could handle things, and Judd had to wonder why his presence made the man so antsy.

One day, watching from a hill, he saw Caitlyn ride across the High Five. There was no mistaking her curved body. She was putting everything she had into making that ranch survive. No man could do a better job.

He also saw the dump trucks going in and out daily. She’d found a way to make money, and he admired her determination and ingenuity. He admiredher.

Soon he had to tell her that.

 

THERE WAS A HURRICANEgathering force on the Gulf Coast and rain was expected for the area. It was the best news Cait had heard in a while—not the winds, but the rain.

She dismounted at a stock pond and realized that within a month the pond would be dry. They’d have to move the cows to another pasture or pipe water from a nearby well. Or sell. Her stomach tightened at that prospect.

She’d make that decision later in the week. She swung back into the saddle and took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow. Damn, it was hot! But it was late afternoon, and the force of the heat was ebbing as the giant fireball sank slowly toward the western horizon. She could almost hear a sigh from the landscape.

Suddenly, she heard riders coming. She was close to the Southern Cross fence line, so it had to be cowboys from there. With an uneasy feeling in her gut, she turned Jaz toward the sound.

She guided the horse out of the clearing into the woods, heading toward the fence. The fact that this might not be a good idea crossed her mind. She was a woman alone, and Harland and his cowboys weren’t all that friendly. Just like shooting Boss, though, she had to be able to handle every situation that arose.

Beyond the thicket she could see horses and riders. She pulled up and looked closer. They were gazing at something near the fence. And they were too close for her comfort.

What were they doing?

She pulled the rifle from the saddle scabbard, clicked off the safety and rode forward. Stopping about forty feet away, she took in the situation. A dead Southern Cross Brahman lay right at the fence. A newborn calf had somehow maneuvered beneath the barbed wire and was now on High Five land. It lay prone. She wasn’t sure if it was dead or alive. Cait rode closer.

Harland and a cowboy she’d never seen before had dismounted and were inspecting the cow.

“Miss Belle.” Harland tipped his hat and looked beyond her. “Your boy Yates not with you?”

“What’s going on here?” His nasty remark made her edgy, but she kept it out of her voice.

“This is none of your concern, Miss Belle.” He dragged out her name like a prisoner would a ball and chain—slow and hard.

She pointed with the barrel of the rifle. “That calf is on my property.”

“Why don’t you go paint your nails or something and leave this to me.”

The cowboy laughed.

Anger zigzagged through her. Her hand tightened on the rifle and she kept her eyes squarely on Harland. “I’m asking you one more time…what happened here?”

Harland glanced at the cowboy on his right, and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. She was just grateful the fence was between them.

“One of our pregnant heifers got out of the corral, and this is where we found her—dead. From the signs of struggle on the ground it must have been a difficult birth, and the calf slid under the fence.”

Cait’s eyes were drawn to the trembling baby. It was alive. She also noticed something else—the calf was black, not white like the Brahman.

As if Harland read her mind, he said, “Must be an offspring from that damn black bull of yours.”

“Must be,” she murmured.

“Mr. Calhoun is not going to be pleased about this. The heifer is dead and that calf is worthless. We’ll knock it in the head and be on our way.” Harland nodded to the cowboy.

What? The mere thought of such a senseless, cruel act ricocheted through her, triggering more anger and a double dose of determination. No one was killing the calf.

The cowhand moved forward, grabbed a fence post and was about to swing himself over when Cait pointed the rifle at him. “Cross that fence and you’re a dead man.”

The cowboy’s boots hit the ground with a thud.