Texas Ranch Justice

by Karen Whiddon

  For all intents and purposes, she appeared to be waiting for him. Ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her, he rode past, deliberately ignoring her while he dismounted. He tied the reins to a hook outside the stall and removed his saddle, which he carried over to the saddle rack. Returning, he dipped his chin in a small nod of greeting and began brushing down his mount.

  He knew the instant she got up and came around to stand silently behind him, though he pretended not to notice. He hated the way his body hummed with hyperawareness of her presence, as if he’d merely been sleepwalking and only came awake when she was near.

  But then again, beautiful women had always been his weakness. A blessing and a curse. Once, when he’d cared enough to actually try to attract them, they’d flocked to him like moths to a flame.

  Now he knew better. Beautiful women were nothing but trouble. Trouble and a world of hurt. These days, he managed to avoid them. He’d even stopped dating, having neither the time nor the inclination to have his heart shattered again.

  Luckily, he kept an iron grip on his self-control.

  Still, having Scarlett watch him without speaking managed to make him feel uncomfortable. He pretended to be entirely focused on his task, refusing to allow her to bother him.

  Only once he had the horse taken care of and back in the stall did he turn and face her.

  “Hi,” she said, offering a friendly smile. “You seemed so engrossed in brushing your horse that I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m guessing you love working with your hands.”

  Suggestive? Whether intentional or not, when he raised one eyebrow at her comment, she blushed. Strangely enough, this actually made him like her a little better.

  He decided to ignore what she’d just said. “Is there something I can help you with?” Direct and to the point. Much better than asking her what the hell she was doing in his barn.

  “Yes.” She met his gaze dead on. “I came out here to talk to you. Hal said you’re his stepson as well as his foreman. I guess that kind of makes us kin.”

  “Kin?” He shuddered. “Not hardly. Hal and I aren’t related at all. Now what did you need to talk to me about?”

  When she didn’t immediately respond, he braced himself, figuring whatever it was would probably be a doozy.

  “I just thought...” She looked down, twisting her hands as she let her words trail away. He almost felt a pang of sympathy—almost—before reminding himself that he needed to be wary around her.

  “I just thought we might be friends.” When she lifted her face to his, the raw vulnerability in her green eyes had him taking a step toward her before he realized.

  “Friends?” he repeated, dazed at how close he’d come to letting down his guard. “Why?”

  “Why not?” She smiled, the beauty of which made his mouth go dry. “I’m getting to know my father. I didn’t even know about him for most of my life, so he and I have a lot of catching up to do. Hal asked me to stay awhile and I’ve accepted. Clearly, you care about him. And he you.” Still smiling, she shrugged. “I just think it would be easier if we all got along.”

  “Delilah mentioned that you’d be staying awhile. Let me ask you something. Did Hal ask for a DNA test?”

  She recoiled, almost as if he’d slapped her. “No. But if he does, I’ll be perfectly willing to have one done.”

  “Good. I’ll be sure to mention it to him.” He kept his tone friendly. “After all, that’s the only definitive way to know you’re actually his daughter.”

  Though she narrowed her eyes, she still didn’t look away. “Why don’t you like me? You don’t even know me.”

  “Does it matter?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  He shrugged. “Look, I don’t dislike you. As you pointed out, I don’t know you. I just don’t trust you.”

  “Again, I have to ask why?”

  He decided to be blunt. “I protect Hal. That’s what I do. I might not be able to stop his illness, or even identify it. But I can keep him away from people who want to hurt him or use him. Do you understand?”

  “I do.” She didn’t even blink. “And since I have no intention of doing either, you have nothing to fear from me.”

  “Fear? Interesting choice of words.”

  This made her groan, clearly frustrated. “Oh, please. Give me a break.”

  To his surprise, he realized she’d managed to coax a reluctant smile from him. He immediately turned that into a frown. “I’m guessing you feel I should just take you at your word. I promise, I’ll be watching you. So help me, it won’t look good for you if you try to take advantage of a dying man.”

  She froze. “Dying? What do you mean, exactly? I know he seems ill, and he has a nurse, but...”

  “We don’t know what’s wrong with him. We’ve had every test run and the doctors can’t figure it out.” He decided to be brutally honest. “We’ve had him checked out at MD Anderson also. It’s definitely not cancer. But whatever it is, it’s killing him. We’ve hired a nurse to be here during the day since he’s not yet at the point of needing help 24/7, but he’s already been authorized for hospice care.”

  “Hospice care?” She blanched as she said the words. “But that means...”

  “Yes, his doctor has certified that he probably has less than six months to live.”

  “Damn.” Closing her eyes, she swayed. “I went through this with my mother.” When she opened them again, he was surprised to see the sheen of unshed tears. “It’s horrible,” she said, her mouth working. “And hard. So damn painful.”

  “Yes. It is.” At the powerful urge to hold her and comfort her, he clenched his hands into fists, resisting. “Which is why someone—a total stranger—showing up claiming to be his daughter is the last thing he needs.”

  “I disagree. He’s my father,” she insisted. “And I might be a stranger right now, but once he gets to know me, things will be different. We’re family.” She lifted her chin. “You know, everyone needs family, especially in times like these.”

  He guessed she had no way of knowing that sounded exactly like something Hal might have said.

  “I’m not getting through to you,” he began.

  Crossing her arms, she stared at him, disappointment and confusion warring in her expression. “No, you’re not. I don’t see your point. If I can bring a little happiness to Hal when he’s so ill, then what’s the harm?”

  “What do you get out of it?”

  To his surprise, she considered his question seriously. “Me? Well, I missed out on having a father my entire life. I really want to get to know him while I can.”

  Still, he couldn’t help but notice the way she said nothing about an inheritance. People just didn’t show up out of the blue at the very end of a formerly rich man’s life without a good reason. And in most, if not all, cases this reason was money.

  His only consolation was that Hal was no fool. If anyone could be convinced to see through a shakedown, Travis would convince Hal. He’d done it before. He’d do it again.

  “Don’t you have your own home to go to?” Another cruel question, another deliberate attempt to get her to reveal the truth. “I know you said your mother had recently died, but surely at your age, you’d long ago moved out.”

  Rather than annoying her, this made her smile. “Like you have?” she asked. “Or is my impression that you still live on the premises entirely wrong?”

  “Touché.” He gave a two-finger salute to the brim of his cowboy hat. “But I’m the ranch foreman and I live in the foreman’s quarters. Which is where the foreman always lives. In addition, I support my mother and my sister and her son. They moved in with me.”

  She jerked her head in a nod. “You know, for someone who claims to care about Hal, you appear to be focused on the negatives. I think having me here will be good for him.”

  “May
be,” he allowed. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Exactly. Until then, how about we call a truce?”

  A truce. “I’ll think about it. How long are you planning on staying?”

  The tension in her shoulders softened. “I don’t know. As long as he’ll have me.”

  He nodded. “A truce it is.” He allowed himself a slight smile. “Since you’re going to be around here awhile, you’ll need to meet the rest of the family.”

  “The rest of the family?”

  Clearly, she hadn’t expected there to be others. He nearly laughed out loud. “Yes, there’s Hal’s ex-wife, my mother, Vivian. And my younger sister, Amber, and her son, Will. He’s five. As I mentioned, they all live with me.”

  Her expression cleared. “That means I have extended family, sort of. I know you find this hard to believe, but I’m delighted.”

  Delighted?

  “You haven’t met them yet. Come on.” He reached a rapid decision. Maybe once she met the others, she’d realize it wouldn’t be so simple to scam the old man.

  He held out his arm. “There’s no better time than the present.”

  “Now?” She didn’t move. “You want me to meet them right now?”

  “Sure, why not?” He gave her a look plainly daring her to chicken out. “You want family, you’ve got family. My house is on the property. It’s not far at all.”

  Since he hadn’t really given her a choice, she took his arm. “I’d rather freshen up first,” she said.

  “No need. They won’t be expecting you and even if they were, we don’t put on airs. We’re just down-home country people.” Sort of. His mother was an avid churchgoer who loved to gossip, drink, smoke and play bingo. His sister was...he didn’t know what. A vampire wannabe? And then there was his nephew, Will. Most awesome five-year-old ever. Travis loved that kid.

  He took Scarlett over to his truck, opening the passenger side door and helping her climb up before going around to the driver’s side. She seemed slightly nervous, twisting her hands over and over in her lap. She didn’t speak again as he started the truck and they drove down the bumpy dirt road toward the part of the ranch where he lived.

  The foreman’s house had once been the main ranch house, sixty some-odd years ago. Hal had been born in the rectangular wood-and-stone house. He had built his own house and moved out. His parents had lived there until their deaths, at which time Hal had decided to use the place for his ranch foreman. Travis was the third foreman to take up residence there. He’d had the place to himself for a couple of years before Hal and Vivian had divorced. These days, Vivian considered the place hers.

  A few minutes later, they pulled up in the short gravel drive and he killed the engine. She didn’t move, not even to unbuckle her seat belt.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, resisting the utterly strange urge to reach out and cup her chin in his hand.

  She blinked. “Sure.” Shooting him a brilliant smile, she unclipped her seat belt and opened the door.

  Shaking his head, he got out after her. She waited at the end of the sidewalk, her shoulders back and her head held high. He got the strangest sense she was putting on an act, playing a role, though he didn’t know her well enough to say for sure.

  Whatever. She’d need all the help she could get once Vivian got a hold of her.

  At the front door, he glanced once more at Scarlett. She flashed him an eager smile, looking as if he was about to give her the best Christmas present in the history of the world.

  Inhaling, he squared his shoulders and opened the door.

  Once inside, the sound of the television blaring greeted them. Judge Judy or one of those other courtroom shows his mother and sister seemed to find so fascinating. But the small living room was empty.

  Travis debated calling out, but Vivian hated being called Mom or Mother, so he didn’t. “Maybe they’re in the kitchen,” he said instead. They trooped into the kitchen, where his sister, Amber, sat at the table playing games on her phone. With black lipstick and fingernails, her fondness for heavy eyeliner and mascara, and bright red lipstick, she looked as out of place on the ranch as Scarlett did, though for entirely different reasons.

  “Hey,” Travis said, resisting the urge to irritate her and ruffle her hair like he used to when they’d been younger.

  “Hey,” she grunted, without even looking up.

  “Where’s Will?”

  At the sound of his name, the five-year-old dynamo rushed into the room, throwing himself at Travis’s legs. “Unca Travis!” he squealed.

  Travis picked him up and swung him around. Will giggled, his brown eyes wide and excited. They grew even rounder when he caught sight of Scarlett when Travis set him back on his feet.

  “Who are you?” he demanded, tilting his head and studying her. “You’re pretty.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, smiling. “My name is Scarlett.”

  The sound of another female voice must have registered. Amber glanced up from her phone, frowning. “New girlfriend?”

  Travis laughed. “No. She’s a friend of Hal’s.”

  “A friend?” The emphasis Amber put on the word made Travis laugh again.

  “Not that kind of friend.”

  “Good.” Amber raked her gaze over Scarlett once more. With her heavy black eyeliner and several layers of mascara, the effect made her appear owlish rather than menacing. “She looks kind of young to be his friend.”

  “She is standing right here,” Scarlett put in coolly. She held out her hand. “I’m Scarlett.”

  After a second’s hesitation, Amber shook her hand. “Amber. And this is my son, Will.”

  “We’ve met.” After ruffling the boy’s hair, Scarlett looked around the cluttered kitchen with interest. “I love the color scheme.”

  Travis managed to suppress a snort. Right. With green cabinets, orange walls and beige countertops, the kitchen looked like it had been decorated by an insane artist on drugs. For all he knew, it had.

  “Where’s...?”

  “Vivian?” Amber yawned, making her disdain and boredom clear. “She’s getting ready for bingo. I’m guessing she didn’t know we were having company.”

  “Oh, you’re not,” Scarlett put in. “Having company, that is. Don’t think of me as company. After all, I’m going to be staying here awhile.”

  “Here?” Amber’s eyes widened in black-smudged horror. “Where are you planning on sleeping?” She cut her gaze to Travis and then back again. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t realize you two were a couple.”

  Travis couldn’t help laughing again as he waited for Scarlett to deny it.

  “We’re not.” Scarlett sounded calm, rather than flustered, which disappointed him. “I’m staying at Hal’s place.”

  “Hal’s place?” Amber narrowed her heavily made-up eyes.

  “That’s right.” Scarlett glanced at Travis. “We should probably go. I promised to help Delilah this afternoon.”

  “But you just got here,” Amber said.

  “And you haven’t met Vivian,” Travis put in. “You definitely need to get to know her if you plan on hanging around the ranch. She knows everything and everyone.” He raised his voice to be heard over the TV. “Vivian!”

  “What?” Vivian came bouncing into the room, the movement graceful despite her recent knee replacement surgery. She stopped short the instant she caught sight of Scarlett. “Who’s this?” she asked, glancing from Travis to Scarlett and back again. “Do you have a new friend?”

  Even though friend was how she referred to her gentlemen callers, Travis knew Scarlett had no idea. Even so, he shook his head. “She’s here to visit with Hal.”

  “Hal?” Vivian’s perfectly arched brows rose even higher. “You can’t be serious.”

  Again, Travis found himself laughing out loud. He hadn’t had so m
uch cause to find things humorous in a long time, at least since Hal had gotten sick. “Not like that,” he began.

  Scarlett, who still had no idea of the underlying meaning to Vivian of the word friend, looked perplexed. “I’m his daughter,” she said.

  Travis nearly groaned aloud. Now the S was sure to hit the fan.

  “His daughter?” Vivian sounded as if she was choking. She glared at Scarlett for a moment before turning her stare on Travis. “Is this your idea of a joke?”

  He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Scarlett spoke again.

  “What is wrong with you people? Why do you all find the idea that Hal could have a daughter—me—so threatening?”

  “As if you didn’t know,” Amber drawled, barely looking up from her phone.

  “I don’t.” Scarlett crossed her arms. “So please, someone enlighten me.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Vivian put in. “Young lady, who do you think you are? How dare you perpetuate a scam like this on a dying man?”

  “For the last time,” Scarlett said, a thread of steel hardening her voice. “I am not scamming anyone. Or joking. Hal Gardner is my father. I just learned about him after my mother died. Now if any of you want to tell me why that’s a problem, I’m all ears. If not, I need to get back to the main house.”

  Despite himself, Travis admired her backbone. His mother could be intimidating to people, especially those she didn’t like.

  Vivian opened and closed her mouth with a snap. Without saying another word, she spun around and strode back to her room, her huge dangling earrings swinging.

  Staring after her, Amber laughed. “I think I like you, Scarlett,” she said. “You’re the first person I’ve met who can get Mama to stop talking.”

  Clearly not sure how to respond to that, Scarlett nodded.

  “I like you too,” Will declared, coming out from behind Travis and bestowing a quick hug. Scarlett smiled down at the little boy, her expression somewhere between enchanted and uncertain.