Bighearted Cowboy (Tarnation, Texas Book 5)

by Rhonda Lee Carver

  “I’ll feel vindicated.”

  “Is that so? Are you sure?”

  “Just keep driving. I don’t need to hear a lecture. You’re not my dad.” She was back to staring out the window.

  “Yeah, if I was, I’d lock you in the house until you turned eighteen.”

  “Ooh…you scare me.”

  He let the conversation fizzle. He didn’t have much to say anyway. It wasn’t like he believed her, but what did it hurt to check things out? In fact, he felt a bit sad for the young girl. She was young and when he was about her age he went through a rebellious stage. Music had given him an outlet. He couldn’t be angry with her when she was being led by a broken heart. He understood.

  “There,” she said.

  “That’s the house?”

  “Yes. The only house in sight.” She simpered.

  “Has anyone told you that you have a bad attitude?” He turned into the driveway.

  “Yeah, all five foster care families I’ve been sent to until finally they let my grandma keep me.”

  Something jerked in his chest. Maybe he needed to be more patient. Apparently, she had a story to tell.

  But first he needed to figure out if what she was saying was true.

  Parking, he turned off the engine, climbed out and waited for her at the front of the truck, but she didn’t get out. He went up to the passenger side and knocked on the window. She opened the door. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m not going in there.”

  “You brought me all the way out here and you’re not following through? This is great.”

  “You’re a big boy. Are you afraid?” she chided.

  Blowing out a breath of frustration, he was trying his best to remain patient. “Fine, but you don’t move. You hear?” He marched up the narrow sidewalk and rapped on the door.

  Dogs barked from inside. Lights came on in the windows and the curtain was pulled back.

  “Hello? I’m Brennan Colt,” he called through the door.

  The door finally came open and a woman with pink curlers wrapped in her hair and dressed in a bright pink robe stood on the other side. Her look of confusion quickly turned to recognition. “I’d know you from anywhere. You have the Colt blood.”

  He grew more confused. “Have we ever met?”

  “No, son.” She smiled as if she’d been expecting him. “Truth be known, I knew sooner or later one of you boys would come knocking. You might as well come on in.” She took a step back, waved him in then went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up, “Honey, come down. We have important company.”

  Brennan was surrounded by furballs yapping at his feet, but he couldn’t take his focus off the stairs. Who was “honey” and who would be coming down? Was it Buzz?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “This is my husband, Pastor Calvin, and I’m Raina.” She was still smiling but the man standing on the stairs with his mouth wide open didn’t SHARE the same sentiment.

  “I’m Brennan Colt, but it would seem you two already know that.”

  “I didn’t know which one. You and your brothers look so much alike.” Raina turned and stared up at the man on the stairs. “Close your mouth and come down, hubby.” She sighed, and he listened. Brennan had a feeling the woman didn’t allow room for argument.

  “How do you know my brothers?”

  “Well, actually, we only have met one. Adam. I had the pleasure of marrying him and his bride,” Pastor Calvin said.

  “They are such a wonderful couple. CC saved my Annabelle.” Raina picked up one of the dogs and patted her head. “I have to ask, how did you find out?”

  “Find out?”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Let’s get on the same page here. You are here for the letters, right?”

  And the plot thickened. “I’m here because I was told that Buzz is still alive and you two might know something about that.”

  The couple met each other’s gaze for a brief second and then they turned to look at him, all smile gone from the bubbly woman’s features. “I’m sorry, son. You should read the letter.” She opened a drawer to a desk and held out a large yellow envelope for him to take. “There are six in there. One for each of you sons plus a letter to Roe Robins.”

  He took the offering and stared for a good three heart beats then he looked back at the mysterious couple, feeling his head throb behind his temples. “I don’t want to read a letter. Not yet anyway. I want to know what in the hell is going on. Is Buzz alive, or isn’t he?”

  “Wife, put on a pot of coffee. We’ll need it.” Pastor Calvin rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

  “Certainly.” Raina hurried down a hallway and through a door.

  “Son, let’s go have a seat at the table.”

  Brennan followed the man down the hall and into the kitchen where his wife was preparing coffee in a percolator. Brennan took a seat at the table, feeling much the same confusion and anger that he had felt that day sitting at Roe Robins table almost six months ago. Once they had coffee cups in front of them, Brennan wasn’t even interested but he sipped to be polite. He stayed focused on the man who looked like he was stalling.

  Raina joined them at the table, her smile had returned…some.

  “Is he here?” Brennan forced the words through thin lips.

  “No, son. He’s not,” it was Raina who answered.

  Brennan’s shoulders naturally dropped. He didn’t realize how much he’d hoped it was true until that moment. What would he have said? Done?

  “I don’t know who told you he was still alive but no, he isn’t.” Pastor Calvin looked sympathetic.

  “Why would someone tell me he was? You have these letters.” He touched the envelope. “So I’m guessing there’s a lot more to the story.”

  There was that vague look exchanged between the couple again. Pastor Calvin nodded. “Because he was here and alive until two months ago.”

  He wouldn’t have been as floored if he’d been shocked with an electric rod. “What? He was alive two months ago? He was still alive when my brothers and I came to Tarnation?” the words fell off his tongue on a hiss of breath.

  Raina looked like she wanted to cry. Her bottom lip quivered. “Yes, he was.”

  “I’m going to explain because you deserve it.” Pastor Calvin took a sip of his coffee. “Your father and I grew up together. We stayed in touch over the years. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he came to us.” The pastor swept a hand through the space between him and his wife. “He spoke to us about his sins, his sadness, and all his regrets. We talked all night long, mostly he talked, and I listened. He realized you and your brothers wouldn’t forgive him and it broke him to think that his ranch, his legacy, would all go to the grave with him.”

  “Poor guy. Sometimes we reap what we sow,” Brennan growled.

  “I understand your pain. I do. That’s why he didn’t want to ask your forgiveness. But he wanted his sons to come to Tarnation, to live at Grinning Spurs, to come to love the land as he did. Sure, there was a risk that you would hate it there, or that one of you, or all of you, wouldn’t stay, but that was a risk he needed to take. He needed this as much for himself as he felt you boys needed it.”

  Brennan leaned back in the chair that creaked under his weight, reflecting his inner turmoil. “Let me get this straight, Buzz created this plan to get us to come to Tarnation? Then why the marriage stipulation?”

  Pastor Calvin shrugged a thin shoulder. “I don’t know. I think Buzz believed he could play matchmaker. Or maybe he was just hoping you’d find happiness. Buzz found peace the last months of his life.”

  “So I’m lost. Why was he here?”

  “He went to a clinic to try some new drug, but it didn’t work. He realized he wanted to come home and live out the rest of his life in harmony. Because he had this plan to bring you boys here.” Raina folded her hands on the table, “he couldn’t go to Grinning Spurs. He would have just been happy to go to a cabin and be left alone to die, but we couldn’t
let that happen. We offered him a place to stay with us. Several nurses came in every day to take care of him and he seemed better.”

  “Each day we would sit and talk. I’d read the Bible for him,” Pastor Calvin said. “Up until his last breath he was committed to you boys. I know it might not feel that way now, but he truly wanted what was best for each for you,”

  “By orchestrating our lives? Controlling our hearts? That might seem like invested to you, but it seems like betrayal to me,” Brennan muttered angrily.

  “Look, son. You have every reason to be upset, but please don’t take your anger out on us. We did try and convince Buzz to call you and your brothers. To speak to you. To let you know he was still alive, but he didn’t want anyone to see him at the last of his life. He’d grown weaker with each breath and became a shell of his previous person. He even started to forget things, and people.” Pastor Calvin took his wife’s hand. “We prayed for him.”

  “I’m not angry with you. I know you did what you thought was best for a friend.” He leaned on his elbows trying to wrap his head around the facts. It was almost too much to handle. “Did Buzz know about Corbin?” Brennan hated that Buzz had betrayed even his infant son.

  “Corbin?” Pastor Calvin and Raina looked at each other in confusion.

  “The child he conceived with Wren. Coincidently, she also passed away recently.”

  Raina brought her hand to her mouth. “Wren? Oh no. That poor girl. We knew she had been sick, but we didn’t know she passed. Buzz didn’t know she was pregnant, at least not to our knowledge. Do you think he did?” she directed her question to her husband.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Why didn’t Roe tell him? He knew that Buzz was Corbin’s father.” Brennan couldn’t wait to wrap his hands around the lawyer’s neck.

  “Roe had no clue that Buzz was still alive. He had enough money that he could fake his death and have a certificate signed without any issues. I’m sure if Roe knew that he wouldn’t have gone along with the stipulations of the will.”

  “Okay, so if Buzz didn’t tell Roe, there was someone else watching us. There had to be.”

  Silence fell over them until finally Raina started but Pastor Calvin shook his head to stop her. “Yes, husband. I’m going to tell him everything. He deserves to know.” She lifted her chin in determination. “Buzz did have help. I’ll give you the names but all I ask is that you keep an open mind. When these two agreed to help they hadn’t met you or your brothers and they thought they were helping, although they didn’t know the details.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Brennan waited in Buzz’s office at Grinning Spurs as his brothers filed into the space, taking seats. “Why are we here? You said it was important,” Ash said as he dropped down on the sleek leather couch.

  “You look like shit, man,” Arc said to Brennan.

  “I’ve been up all night.”

  “So, why are we here?” Adam inquired.

  “We’re waiting on a few more people.” Brennan rubbed his forehead.

  Baxter narrowed his gaze. “Is this about a marriage maybe?”

  Brennan didn’t answer, and thankfully the door came open and Roe Robins stepped in, looking from each of the brothers with curiosity. “I hope this is important, fellows. I’m late for a meeting,” he grumbled.

  Brennan shrugged. “Trust me, you’ll all want to hear what I have to say.”

  Roe took the available chair, tugging at his too tight collar. The man always seemed uptight. “Okay, what is it?”

  “There are still a couple of people who need to hear what I have to say.”

  As if on cue, Sheriff Bash stepped inside, looking from each of them with a narrowed gaze. “Is this about sick cattle?”

  “I don’t know, is it, Bro?” Baxter looked at Brennan.

  “In a roundabout way.”

  Sheriff swiped off his hat. “Fellows, I’ve got work—”

  “Well, this is the first time I’ve been invited here to Grinning Spurs,” Betty Sue said as she swept in, her skirt floated about her shapely thighs. When she saw Sheriff Bash she turned as white as a ghost. She took a step back for the door.

  “Please stay, Betty Sue. You’re one of our guests of honor.” Brennan pushed off the corner of the desk. “I think we can begin now.”

  “Yes, let’s do. I have a feeling things are about to get interesting.” Ash rubbed his hands together.

  Brennan looked at Roe. “You’re going to want to pay close attention.”

  “I do?” He quirked a brow.

  “Yes because the will of Buzz Colt is now null and void.”

  “What the hell?” Arc muttered. “You found a loophole?”

  “I wouldn’t call it a loophole exactly, but a will is only executed when a person dies. Isn’t that right, Roe?”

  “Yes, but I’m not following.”

  “Of course. It took me most of the night to wrap my head around the facts, but I have proof that Buzz wasn’t dead when we arrived in Tarnation.”

  Roe stood, shaking his head. “I don’t know if this is some joke—”

  “Not a joke, Roe. I promise that. But these letters written to my brothers and me are dated four months ago.” He turned over the large envelope and dropped out the smaller white envelopes onto the desk.

  “What the hell is going on, Brennan?” Baxter shifted in irritation on the couch.

  Roe dropped back down in his chair. “Are you saying that Buzz faked his death? Is he still alive?”

  “No, he isn’t but he was up until two months ago. Isn’t that right, Betty Sue and Sheriff Bash?”

  The two stared.

  “You have nothing to say?” Brennan pressed the two as he passed out the envelopes to his brothers that had their names written on front in big bold letters.

  Betty Sue moistened her crimson lips. “Buzz came to me and asked for my help.” Her voice shook.

  “You mean he bought your help, right?” Brennan went back to the desk and sat on the corner. He’d been up all night and although he was damn tired he wouldn’t sleep until all this was out in the open. Sometime after he left the Calvin’s, with the envelopes, he put all the puzzle pieces together. As much as it hurt, he knew that Charlotte had played him. Although Raina nor the Pastor had recognized her name, Brennan understood that Charlotte and Betty Sue had conned him. That’s why she had pushed him into being around Charlotte. That must have been the warning Haleigh was trying to tell him about Charlotte. He’d never know what more the young girl knew about the situation with Charlotte, Buzz, or the rest because when he came out of the Calvin’s house she was long gone.

  Charlotte had swept in and played him for a fool. All along she’d had a plan with Betty Sue.

  He wished he could hate Charlotte, despise her, but instead he felt sorry for her. As far as he was concerned, he’d rather not see her again.

  Betty Sue looked uncomfortable. “I can explain…”

  “Yes, you will.” Brennan kept his cool. “I think it’s time we brought everything into the open.”

  All eyes were now on her. No one was saying a word. No movements. Just quiet.

  “He asked for my help and if I agreed he promised me money and a building to open my studio.” She clasped her hands tightly. All her self-confidence seemed to evaporate.

  “Wait, what’s going on?” Baxter asked.

  “It only gets better. Tell us what you agreed to do.”

  She lowered her gaze for a mere second then when she brought her eyes back up some of her courage had returned. “I didn’t do much. I kept an eye on you men for Buzz. Then I went back to him and informed him of how things were going. There were times he wanted me to make sure you fellows were at a certain place at a certain time.”

  “Don’t you want to add that you orchestrated our relationships like we were puppets?”

  “Fuck me!” Arc growled.

  “No! I didn’t orchestrate anything,” Betty Sue whined.

  �
��Really?” Brennan chuckled but felt nothing but disgust.

  “Fine. I might have helped things along, but I didn’t force any of you to fall in love. Your marriages, your emotions, are your own.” She blinked while her face flushed.

  “What about you, Sheriff?”

  He gave a slight shrug. “Yeah, I knew Buzz was alive when you Colts came to town. I owed Buzz my life. Ten years ago I got involved in some bad stuff. He helped me, gave me a second chance at life. Without him I wouldn’t be here. So when he asked if I’d keep an eye on you all and report to him, I was more than willing to do what I needed to as a thank you to him. No one got hurt. I know you fellows have every reason to be pissed but his intentions were good. Look at you all, can you honestly say that you regret coming to Tarnation?”

  The room went grimly quiet.

  Brennan cleared his throat. “He wrote each of us a letter. I haven’t read mine yet and I don’t know when I will. Buzz was staying with Pastor Calvin and his wife—”

  “What the fuck?” Adam stood and stuffed his hands into his front pockets.

  “Yeah, I know he married you and CC.”

  “Did she know about Buzz being alive?” Adam shifted form one dirty boot to the other.

  “No, Bro. She didn’t. None of your wives knew. They married you by choice, just like Betty Sue said, yet you might not have ever met them unless Buzz had planned this all like he did.”

  Roe stood and shook his head. “As of right now, the will is voided.”

  “I have something for you, too, Roe.” Brennan took the last envelope on the desk over to the lawyer. “I’m going to guess in this envelope you’ll find the proper will for Buzz.” Brennan turned to the circle of men who were staring at him as if they had no clue what to say. “I have someplace to be. I’ll talk to you all later.”

  He had a wedding to be at.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Charlotte nibbled the corner of her lips then remembered she was wearing lipstick. She didn’t want to chew it all off before Brennan got there. As she paced the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, she kept looking both directions. Hoping she’d see him soon. The white, lace dress she wore clung to her as the sun became hotter. The tulips in the flower arrangement that she’d picked up on her way to the courthouse were starting to wilt.