Terms of a Texas Marriage

by Lauren Canan

  “Are you gonna be gone a long time?”

  Alec had given him a regretful smile. “Maybe not too long this time.”

  “Good. Where are you going?”

  “Actually, I’ll be staying on a ranch.”

  “A ranch?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do they have horsees?”

  “I believe they do.”

  “And cowboys?” Scotty’s eyes had been wide with excitement.

  “And cowboys,” he’d confirmed as an idea had formed in his mind.

  It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision to bring him along, but even now, some three hours later, Alec still felt it was the right one. Scott’s preschool was over for the summer. Alec spent far too much time away from his son because of the requirements of his work. This wacky situation actually might provide some time to spend with his son, an experience both he and Scotty would remember.

  The only negative he could see was the possibility Shea and Scott might bond, which could be tough on the boy when it was time to leave. It was because of this concern Alec elected to not mention the marriage. To tell Scotty he had a mother only to take him away from her a couple of weeks later was just wrong. He wouldn’t do that to Scott.

  Alec’s mouth quirked as he thought of Shea and the days ahead. As far as he knew, Shea had no children and possibly no experience with a four-year-old. This unexpected twist could prove very interesting.

  He rose from his seat and entered the area of the plane set up as his office. They were still an hour out from DFW. He might as well get some work done while he could. He had a feeling his time away from the ranch had provided Shea with ample opportunity to put some plans in motion to try to make him give up and leave.

  Good luck with that.

  * * *

  “Okay, that should do her,” Shea said, removing the rubber surgical gloves and giving the mare’s shoulder a pat. “Take her back to the stall and keep an eye on her.”

  “Sure thing, boss.” Hank picked up his hat and slapped it against his leg to dislodge some of the dirt before fitting it firmly onto his head.

  The mare carried one of the best bloodlines in a five-state region. It was the boost this ranch needed. That was the only reason Shea tolerated Bonnie Blue’s ridiculous temperament every time the mare needed medical care. Thankfully, it didn’t happen often.

  With three cowboys holding the high-strung horse, Shea had still been thrown hard against the side of the barn when she’d attempted to inject a tranquilizer. Her shoulder had absorbed most of the impact, providing a painful souvenir she would no doubt carry for a few days. Once the tranquilizer had begun to take effect, it took no time to stitch the mare’s cut, apply a topical dressing and give Bonnie Blue the added safety of a tetanus booster.

  Shea bent to pick up the discarded cotton, linens and syringes, not bothering to watch the three lanky cowboys lead the now docile mare out of the paddock. When she again looked up, the breath died in her throat as she found herself staring directly into Alec’s scowling face.

  He’d gone from being like a character from a foggy, half-forgotten dream to suddenly materializing right in front of her as a crystal clear vision. And he was as disturbingly handsome as ever. His tall stature, the broad width of his shoulders and the sheer male essence of him seemed even more pronounced than she remembered.

  As she approached the paddock gate, Alec swung it open and then closed it behind her.

  “You want to tell me just what in the hell you were doing?”

  “What do you mean?” She frowned, clueless as to what he could be talking about.

  “You. That horse. You were almost killed.”

  Rolling her eyes, she moved to walk past him but the distinctive voice of a child abruptly shattered the tension of the moment, halting her in midstride.

  “Boy, oh boy! That was cool!”

  Shea’s head snapped around in surprise. She focused on a small boy clinging precariously to the centerboard of the paddock fence, allowing the crown of his head and two large round eyes to peek over the top.

  The child jumped from his perch and ran toward the gate to stand directly in front of Shea.

  “Are you all right?” His small face held a look of genuine concern. “Did the horse hurt your arm?”

  “No, I’m...fine.” She sent a questioning glance at Alec.

  “This is Scotty.” He watched her face as if ready to gauge her reaction. “My son.”

  Shea blinked. More than twice. Alec had a child? Good Lord! Devils didn’t normally produce such angelic-looking offspring, did they?

  “Scotty, this is Shea.”

  She knew a look of disbelief covered her features as she leaned over, bringing her closer to eye-level with the boy.

  “Hi, Scotty.” She forced a smile and held out her hand. The boy placed his small hand in hers and produced a wide grin. Then, mysteriously struck with a bout of shyness, he stepped back to stand closer to his father, his arm around Alec’s leg.

  “You never told me you had a son.”

  Alec flexed his shoulders. “So now you know. As I was about to leave I mentioned I would be staying on a ranch.” Alec looked down at his son before returning those tawny eyes to her. “He wanted to come and see the horses and cowboys.”

  Are you freaking kidding me? She could only gasp as her blood pressure shot up to dangerous heights. Momentarily at a total loss for words, she forced herself to breathe deep and stared at the man standing four feet in front of her. He was insane. This child had no business on a working ranch. Not only had this conceited lunatic returned, but he’d brought an innocent child along as his backup. And she’d thought the situation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

  “Are you ready for the next one, Shea?” Hank asked from the side door of the main barn.

  “Take a break, Hank.” Her voice was unnaturally high even to her own ears.

  “We need to talk.” She shot an if-looks-could-kill glance at Alec and headed to the house, muttering under her breath.

  Her shoulder throbbed. She longed for a nice hot soak in the tub and something to eat, but until she finished checking and treating the remaining horses, she knew she couldn’t stop. The preliminary work for the annual fall roundup and branding would begin in earnest in just a few weeks. There was a great deal of preparation between now and then, and most of it rested on her shoulders. Alec couldn’t have picked a worse time to return. Let alone with a child in tow.

  Entering the kitchen, she tossed the dirty gauze into the trash bin before washing her hands. To give herself time to calm down she took a pitcher of tea from the refrigerator and set three glasses on the counter. Adding ice to two before filling them with tea, she then poured fresh milk into the third.

  “Have a seat,” she told Alec, indicating the kitchen chairs when he and Scotty followed her inside. Her eyes were drawn to the child. She guessed his age to be four or five. He was a miniature of his father except his hair was several shades lighter than Alec’s dark mahogany brown.

  “If you look in the big jar on the cabinet, I think you’ll find some cookies.”

  Scotty wasted no time in pulling a chair over to the counter and climbing up to reach the cookie jar.

  “Can I have two?” He flashed a smile that would melt the coldest heart. She’d bet he’d learned that from his father.

  “Sure.” She tried to return his smile but wasn’t fully convinced she’d pulled it off. “There are some paper towels next to the sink. Grab one and your cookies and follow me. You can watch cartoons while I talk with your dad.”

  “I like cartoons.”

  With Scotty contentedly watching TV and munching on the homemade cookies in the next room, Shea returned to the kitchen and joined Alec at the table.

  He’d shed his usual business su
it; snug-fitting jeans now hugged his muscled thighs and a tan sports shirt hung casually from his broad shoulders. Ostrich-skin boots completed the ensemble and to her surprise, they weren’t new. His tawny eyes were as compelling and enigmatic as ever.

  “You said you wanted to talk?” Alec sat back in the chair looking completely at ease.

  “Yeah.” She set the glasses of tea on the table and dropped into a chair opposite Alec. Where to begin? What to say to a complete schmuck? “This is a working ranch. What you saw out there today happens all the time. It’s what we do. This is not a pony club or a dude ranch. We don’t cater to novices who don’t know the nose from the back end of a horse. A child could get hurt, especially a little one who has never been around livestock. I cannot halt the operations of this ranch to play nursemaid to either one of you.”

  He merely looked at her, his eyes sliding from her mouth to her breasts and back to her eyes. It was unnerving. He was unnerving.

  “Every year we usually find at least two poisonous snakes near the main barn or around the house,” she continued, determined to ignore the pulsing sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Go into the forested sections and you’re likely to find cougars or bear. There are wild boars that can take a man’s leg off. This is no place for a child.”

  “Sorry. Maybe I misunderstood. Didn’t you grow up here?”

  She could only glare. What could she honestly say to that?

  “I will not be held responsible if an innocent little boy gets hurt.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll have a talk with Scott. Tell me his boundaries and I’ll see he stays within them.”

  “Then tell him to stay inside this house.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Me ridiculous?”

  “I have a son I love very much. I do not intend to leave him back in New York or make him stay in the house for however long it takes you to pack your bags.”

  Her annoyance shot across the line to pure fury at his insolence. The wooden chair made a screeching sound as she bounded to her feet. Her hands rested on the table as she leaned toward Alec. “I can’t believe you’d stoop so low as to bring an innocent child into this...insanity.”

  Alec met her angry glare and rose slowly from his chair like a mountain lion ready to pounce. His hands rested on his side of the table as he leaned toward her. “I didn’t cause this. I was not the one who refused to relinquish possession of land that didn’t belong to me!”

  “Oh, yes,” she hissed, her voice coated with vehemence. “Just try and convince me you’re the innocent victim! Do you make a habit of throwing people out of their homes? Do you get your kicks from watching them scurry around trying to find another place to live?”

  “I offered you a sizeable sum of money to leave. Not exactly the same as throwing you out on the street.”

  “Money. All you seem to care about is money! I feel sorry for you, Alec. I pity your son that he must live the kind of life you deem appropriate when you don’t even know what family or tradition is all about.”

  “Leave Scotty out of this.”

  “I’m not the one who brought him into it!”

  “And you’ve made your feelings quite clear.”

  “Apparently not. You’re still here.”

  A movement out of the corner of her eye told her they had an audience. Turning toward Scotty, she pasted a smile on her face.

  “The cookies were good,” he said, his gaze going back and forth from his father to Shea.

  “Oh. Great.” Down shift. “I’m glad you like them. Is the cartoon over?”

  “Are you and Daddy always gonna fight at each other?” He tilted his head in a manner she’d seen his father do. Guilt quickly dissolved the anger as she realized this little boy had heard their heated exchange.

  “I...I don’t know, sweetie,” she hedged and then decided to be honest. If she and Alec didn’t kill each other before this was over, it would be nothing short of a miracle. “Your dad and I, well, we have a lot of things to work out between us. There’s a lot he doesn’t understand.”

  The child seemed to take the answer in stride.

  “Freddy Correnski said his mommy and daddy used to fight all the time. Then Freddy and his mommy moved to another house. Are Daddy and me gonna live in your house with you?”

  “Uh. Well. Yes. I guess you are,” she answered, trying to force happiness into her tone. Her eyes cut to Alec as she added, “For a while.”

  “Cool.” He walked over to stand in front of Shea. “Sometimes Daddy gets sad and I ask him why and he says he’s not sad, but I know he is ’cause he just sits there in his chair and looks real tired, but he says he’s not tired but he won’t get up.” He took a deep breath and looked at Shea. “Will you make Daddy not be sad?”

  For the life of her, Shea couldn’t think of an appropriate reply. Alec, apparently, had no such difficulty.

  “She is going to do her best, Scott,” he said as a wide grin spread across his face. The mischievous twinkle was back in his eyes.

  “Good. Can I have another cookie?”

  Her voice seemed to have abandoned her, so Shea merely nodded her head.

  As the youngster scrambled for the cookie jar, she whispered to Alec, “You can bring a hundred kids out here. A thousand. I’m still not going to let you have this ranch.”

  His eyes roamed over her face. “Why don’t you show us where we’ll be sleeping?” he suggested, choosing to ignore her blatant declaration. “It’s been a long day. I have a feeling we’re going to have an early night.”

  Six

  Shea turned and marched toward the stairs. She didn’t pause until she stood just inside the doorway to a second-floor bedroom overlooking the barn and paddock area. She crossed to the window and opened the blinds, letting the sunshine in.

  “I think Scotty will be comfortable in here. If you had bothered to call and let me know he was coming, I could have had the room prepared. Yolanda, the wife of one of our ranch hands, comes in twice a week and helps with the laundry and general cleaning. She should be here soon to start dinner. I’ll have her change the bedding and air the room.”

  “This is gonna be my room?” Scotty asked in delight, oblivious to the tension still hanging heavy between the adults. “Cool!” He ran to the bed and joyfully bounced on the springy mattress before bounding to the floor and running to the large double window. “Wow! Daddy! Look at this! Is that where you keep the horsees?” He pointed a finger at the barn.

  “Some of them.” Shea smiled down at Alec’s son.

  “Can I ride one?” He looked up at her, his bright, eager eyes hopeful.

  She reached out and tousled his hair. “You’ll have to ask your dad.”

  “He’ll say okay. Won’t you, Daddy?” Not waiting for an answer he added, “I like it here.” He turned and surveyed the room, then nodded his head as if he’d made a great decision. “Yep. This is gonna be all right.”

  “I assume you brought extra clothes and personal items?” Alec nodded. “I’ll get Jason to help you with your suitcases. Just tell him if you want to change anything around, move the bed, whatever.”

  “This will be fine.”

  “Hey, Daddy, where is your bed?”

  Shea had started out of the room. This question, however, made her pause. Clearly, Alec hadn’t shared the fact he’d gotten married with his son. She couldn’t pass up the chance to see how he was going to handle this one. She turned toward him, eyebrows raised, her head tilted as she waited for the answer along with Scotty.

  Alec stood staring down at the small child in front of him. He rubbed a hand over his mouth, sighed, then rested his hands on his hips. “Actually, I’m going to be sleeping...in another room.”

  “Where?”

  “I’ll be bedding down with Shea.”


  “How come?”

  Get him, Scotty!

  Alec put his large hands together, cracking his knuckles as he fought to answer that one. Then his head shot up, he glanced at Shea and back to his son. “She’s afraid of the dark.”

  “Oh.”

  He did not just say that. She couldn’t withhold a snort of laughter, which earned her a glare of warning from Alec.

  “Okaaaaay.” Your son. Your bad. “Well, I’ve still got a lot of work to do this afternoon. Yolanda will start supper about six.” She again looked at Scotty. “What do you like to eat?”

  “Hot dogs! With ketchup.”

  Her lips slid into a full, easy grin and Alec had to wonder if it had the same effect on his son as it did him. Damn, she was beautiful.

  “I’ll see what we can do.”

  As she disappeared around the corner, Scotty’s voice rang out. “I like her, Daddy.”

  Alec nodded. His son had just answered his unspoken question and he wasn’t surprised. He’d carried the far-fetched hope that returning to the ranch would dispel his initial attraction to Shea and he could chalk up the whole thing to stress.

  No such luck.

  He looked around the room. The wallpaper was faded, its edges peeling away from the walls in a couple of places. Slightly discolored stains on the ceiling indicated water had entered uninvited at some time in the past and left its murky calling card. The light fixture, a remnant from a bygone era, dangled precariously from the twelve-foot-high ceiling. The faint scents of mothballs and lemon touched his senses. But in spite of its worn appearance, this room, in fact the entire house, brought to mind childhood memories of home-baked bread and leftover meatloaf sandwiches. Of the big tree that had been outside his window, perfect for sneaking out of the house to go night fishing with Grandpa Jacob and old man Muldoon.

  Alec moved to stand beside his son at the large window. Shea came into view directly below, walking toward the barn.