“Thank you. You’re very courageous.”
She shook her head in abnegation. “If I am, I learned that quality from you and Pam. Please be careful, Audra.”
“I will.”
Rick cupped Sherry’s elbow. “Let me walk you outside.” He opened the front door and helped her to her car. Once she was inside, he said, “Be expecting a phone call from a police detective later today. He’ll want to talk to you.”
“Okay.”
He watched her drive off, then he hurried into the house. Audra stood in the middle of the living room balancing on one crutch. Moisture glazed her cheeks.
Without conscious thought, he put his arm around her and let her cry it out.
“Why is it the children always have to suffer?”
Rick hugged her as close as he could with the sling between them. “You heard Sherry. She’s already taking steps to see that the abuse stops.”
“I’m proud of her.”
“So am I.”
She raised her head. Her wet blue eyes held a sadness that wrenched his heart. “My cousins must have had some wonderful traits or their wives wouldn’t have married them. How tragic if three couples are forced to divorce because the boys can’t or won’t be helped.”
“There’s always hope,” he said, but he didn’t really believe it in their case.
He kissed her curls. “I think it’s time you had something to eat. How about some soup?”
“That sounds good.”
They’d barely started for the kitchen, when Rick heard another car pull into the driveway. Maybe Sherry had something else to tell them.
“Walk into the hall while I find out who it is,” he said.
In two seconds flat he reached the front door and opened it in time to see a workman from Diamond Glass get out of his truck. Clint had said he’d take care of the repairs. With all the broadcasting equipment, not to mention the expensive harp and soundboard, the room needed to be secured.
Rick showed the man in and introduced him to Audra. While he replaced the window, the two of them ate a late lunch. After he’d gone, she phoned her boss to let him know why she couldn’t do the Friday-night radio show.
“Any problem?” Rick asked when she’d hung up.
“None at all. Because we devoted the program to the tornado victims, he’d been listening and got angry when he heard Tom’s comments. According to him, the requests for CDs haven’t stopped pouring in. We’ll be able to send a nice amount of money to the Red Cross. With all our personal problems, I haven’t given a lot of thought to the poor people who’ve lost homes and barns.”
“You did last night. People aren’t going to forget.”
Her gaze flicked to his. “Do you know something? If I were running for office, I’d pick you for my campaign manager. Seriously—” She put a hand on his arm for a brief moment. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything.”
“Even for breaking into your bedroom?” he teased.
Her lips curved. “Even for that. It’s comforting to know that if someone had been attacking me, you would have stopped him.”
“You think I could have?”
“With one of my crutches, I have no doubt.”
They both chuckled.
“For my own selfish reasons, I don’t want you sleeping at the main house tonight.”
She toyed with her soupspoon. “I admit it’s been fun having you around. I’ve never had a roommate before.”
“Aren’t you forgetting Boris?”
“We didn’t live together.” He sensed her hesitation before she asked the question he knew was coming. “Did you? Live with those three women, I mean?”
He shook his head. “Not in the sense that they brought all their belongings and moved in with me. No—living with you is a first. I like it. I like it a lot.
“For one thing, you’re a great cook. Listening to you sing live is better than putting on my Walkman headphones. You’re easy on the eyes, and you have the sexiest accent this side of the Continental Divide.”
Her eyes were smiling.
“Now it’s your turn,” he prodded.
“I’ve already written a song about you.”
He cocked his head. “That was your impression of me before you got to know me.”
“Well, you put the fear in my cousins the other day when they broke in. That rates high in my book.”
“Keep going.”
“You honored my uncle’s request to stay with me without asking why. When you do something that kind for him, you’ve done it for me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he drawled. “Go on. You’ve got to tell me two more things so we’re even.”
“Two more things…” She rolled her eyes. “You leave the bathroom neat and clean. That’s a huge plus.”
He grinned. “One more.”
“You’re a gentleman like your father. It’s a trait I haven’t seen in another man except Uncle David, whom I trust with my life.”
“How about something more personal?”
“Oh—so you want to hear I like my roommates tall, dark and handsome? I do, but I also like them with two arms.”
Rick burst into laughter. “Give me another week.”
“It’s okay. This peg leg of mine leaves a lot to be desired, too.”
“With all our handicaps, we managed fine in the culvert yesterday. That’s what comes from living together on a twenty-four-hour basis. I’m not sure how I’m going to fare when I’m alone.”
“You told me your brother’s coming.”
“My older brother,” he emphasized. “He can’t cook, he sings off-key and he doesn’t have curls like bluebonnet blossoms.”
She looked stunned.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”
“No,” she whispered before averting her eyes.
“I’ve been working on a song about you. One day when it’s finished, I’ll sing it for you.”
“The music and the lyrics?”
“That’s right.”
“I can’t wait!” She sounded genuinely excited.
“Not all my talents have to do with speed.”
When he read Audra’s mind correctly, a built-in truth mechanism sent a blush over her face and body.
“Next you’re going to tell me you strum a mean guitar.”
A slow smile broke the corners of his mouth. “No. I appreciate music, I don’t play it. One of my interests is golf.”
“I once dated a guy in Austin who tried to show me the fundamentals.”
“End of story?”
She laughed quietly. “I wrote a song about it.”
“Of course. What did you call it?” He couldn’t wait to hear.
“‘That’s Par For the Bogey Woman!’”
Rick tried to hold back the laughter, but it was impossible. “Brent’s got to hear that.”
“Who?”
“Nate’s brother-in-law. He came close to being a pro golfer. It’ll crack him up. Do you have the song on CD?”
“It’s in the inventory somewhere.”
The package of CDs he’d ordered from the station should have arrived at the main house. He would ask his father to bring it when he came for Audra later.
“Speaking of my stuff, I’ve got to get busy and sort things for the movers to pack.”
“I’ll help.”
“I’d better start with my instruments. The first thing I need to do is get my harp ready.”
He followed her into the first bedroom. “I know nothing about them, but it looks elegant and expensive.”
“It’s a Venus Grand Concert Model 75 pedal harp. Kind of like your M3.”
“Aren’t you nervous how the movers will transport it?”
“It has a special case. If you’ll tell them to rest it on its column before they strap it, there’s no worry.”
“Where’s the case?”
“In the closet. It’s a burgundy color.”
“I’ll get it.”
>
Rick loved doing things with her, for her. Anything, as long as they were together. When he thought about night coming on, he hated it because she wouldn’t be in the house. Audra had changed him until he didn’t know himself anymore.
Too soon Pam came for her. He put Audra’s suitcase in the trunk, then helped her into the front seat of his car and leaned inside the window. After brushing her lips with his own he said, “Give that kiss to little Becky for me tomorrow. Sleep well tonight.”
FRIDAY AFTERNOON. It was time to go.
Clint was driving Audra in Rick’s car. Pam followed behind them in the truck.
Strange how Audra had dreaded the day when she would be leaving the ranch she’d lived on all her life. Yet right now every bit of her pain had to do with being parted from Rick.
Last night they’d slept apart. The kiss he’d given her had suffused her whole body with yearnings that had kept her awake all night. It wasn’t fair when there were no guarantees she’d be seeing him again anytime soon.
The ranch house looked deserted as they drove away. If the boys came by either house, they would assume there was no one on the premises.
That was the whole point.
She felt Clint’s glance. “You’ll always have a home with us, Audra.”
As long as he didn’t know how deeply she loved his son, she would let him go on thinking her tears were for this abrupt uprooting from all she held dear.
Little did anyone know she’d already done her grieving. The boys’ cruelty had tainted everything. When she didn’t think she could take any more, Rick had come into her life, bringing her more joy and happiness than she’d thought possible.
If this was all she could ever have of him, she would hug the memory to herself forever.
“The boys aren’t going to be a menace much longer.”
She let out a sigh. “Did Sherry talk to you?”
“Yes. She had Pam in tears before she was through.”
“When this is all over, Uncle David and I want to have a wedding reception for you and Pam. I’m sure Sherry and Diane will help. There are so many people who love Pam and would want to honor both of you. We could hold the function at the church in Hill Grove.”
He patted her arm. “You spend your whole life worrying about everyone else.”
“Don’t give me any credit. Pam’s the selfless one. In case you didn’t know, I’m so thankful she went to Colorado and met you. I had to talk her into going.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Even though it was her best friend getting married, she hated leaving Uncle David, but I convinced her I could look after him while she was gone. She fell in love with you so fast, my uncle and I walked around the house with huge smiles on our faces.”
“When Anja died, I didn’t think it was possible to love again like that. But I hadn’t counted on Pam coming into the store. One look in those big brown eyes of hers and I felt a jolt in my heart.
“The more time passes, the more I’m convinced the Jarretts and the Hawkinses were meant to meet.”
She bit her lip. “I just hope you don’t live to regret those words.”
“Stop worrying about the boys. I have every confidence things are going to work out. Why don’t you try to sleep until we get to the hotel.”
She closed her eyes and put her head back to humor him, then knew nothing more until they arrived at the hotel.
EVERYONE HAD CONGREGATED in the sitting-room area of Clint and Pam’s suite. It seemed while Audra had been asleep in the car, Pam had picked up Uncle David at the Cattlemen’s Club. Now they were all together.
“Audra Jarrett?” Clint said, holding little Becky in his arms. “I’d like you to meet my son Nate and his wife, Laurel.”
She let go of the crutch handle to shake hands with them. “I’m so happy to meet you at last.” Her eyes fastened on their baby. “Oh, your daughter is adorable.”
“Isn’t she?” Clint beamed at his granddaughter.
Her gaze flicked back to the stunning couple standing before her. Laurel Hawkins was a beautiful blue-eyed woman with glistening black hair, the kind Audra would have killed for in her younger days when everyone called her Red.
Nate, on the other hand, had dark-blond hair and blue eyes, which smiled at Audra as if he knew a secret. In every way except his coloring, he resembled Rick so much she had to discipline herself not to stare. There couldn’t be two better-looking men anywhere in existence. Three, if you included their father.
“Sit down and rest your leg, honey.” Her uncle patted the seat next to him on the couch.
She walked over and put her crutches against the wall. “I’ve missed you,” she said, giving him a kiss and a hug, which he reciprocated.
Laurel and Nate sat down in the two chairs next to them. Clint and Pam took the other love seat. There was a coffee table in the middle loaded with several trays of drinks and sandwiches Pam had ordered from room service.
Nate reached for one and devoured it so fast, it could have been Rick sneaking food from the kitchen counter before she’d had time to put it on the table.
He treated her to another searching gaze. “My brother sent us something in the mail the other day. We’ve been listening to your CDs nonstop.”
Heat scorched Audra’s cheeks.
“You’re the most fabulous singer!” Laurel cried. “You compose and play. I can’t get over it.”
“Neither can I,” Nate murmured. “Why aren’t you marketed nationally? You’re phenomenal.”
“No, I’m not, but thank you for your kind words.”
“She’s a musical prodigy,” her uncle spoke up. “When she plays her harp, it’s like having my own little angel around.” His eyes glistened with tears.
“Will you all stop?”
By now Pam was cuddling the baby. “Audra could have a film or television career if she wanted. I can’t tell you the number of agents who’ve tried to get her to sign with them and make her a star.”
“That’s not what I want, Pam. You know it’s not. I’m perfectly happy doing my radio show, performing on my harp. Let’s not talk about me.”
“It’s impossible not to,” Nate persisted with that same intensity his brother exhibited. He leaned forward. “I want to know when you wrote ‘Racetrack Lover.’”
Audra had been afraid of that. She averted her eyes in panic.
“I think I can answer your question,” Pam interjected. “It was the night I called her after she’d finished her program. I was worried that she’d overdone it. She was upset with me for hovering when I had a husband who needed his sleep.
“I told her Clint was outside watching for Rick, who was expected any minute. Audra said, wouldn’t it be funny if the legendary Lucky Hawkins had gotten lost and was whizzing around the various ranches in the area asking, ‘Does my daddy live here?’”
“Pam!” Audra couldn’t believe her cousin would reveal a confidence like that.
Nate burst into laughter. So did everyone else. The noise startled Becky, but Pam soon got Nate’s little girl under control. Laurel didn’t know it, but she probably wouldn’t get to hold her baby again until she and Nate flew back to Colorado.
If tending Becky didn’t convince Pam she needed a child of her own to dote on, nothing else would. Clint was so crazy about his granddaughter, Audra had the strongest feeling he’d love to be a father again.
She felt a nudge and looked at her uncle. More often than not, they were on the same wavelength. Sure enough, the twinkle in his eye meant he was picturing Pam with a baby of her own.
Audra smiled at him.
Maybe her cousin was already pregnant. Wouldn’t that be fantastic. Another Hawkins…
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RICK HAD TOLD Nate the two-story main ranch house had been built in the Queen Anne style. He wouldn’t be able to miss it because it looked so out of place against the flat land. The house was completely dark and it gave him a lonely, empty feeling.
The b
ungalow was supposed to be three miles farther down the road on the right. Another minute and he spied the mailbox out in front of the property where a yellow-sided structure sat back a little ways from the road. There were no lights on here either.
He picked up his cell phone and rang his brother. “It’s me. I’m just pulling into the driveway.”
“Terrific. Drive around back so no one can see your car from the road. I’ll let you in through the side door.”
“Will do.”
For someone who could only use one arm, Rick’s bear hug was almost as bone crushing as their father’s. “It’s good to see you, bro.”
They stood in the darkened kitchen taking each other’s measure. Nate shook his head. “How did you and I ever end up on a ranch in this back-of-beyond state?”
“That’s the way it appeared to me on the drive down, but I’ve discovered Texas has certain things to recommend it after all,” Rick replied.
“If you’re speaking of Ms. Audra Jarrett, I have to agree with you. That woman’s accent sounds positively sexy when she sings. There’s only one word for her. Sensational.”
Their eyes met. “I’m glad you got the CDs.”
“Laurel and I started listening to her songs and couldn’t stop.”
“Did you meet her?”
“Yes. You were right. She’s one attractive redhead. Watching her perform must really be something.”
“You don’t know the half of it. How did she seem tonight?”
The emotion in Rick’s voice, the concern in his eyes revealed everything Nate had suspected. “A little tired, but otherwise all right.”
“She’s not all right. When Dad drove her away this evening, she realized this was the end of life as she’s known it on the ranch all these years. But she hides everything well, just like Pam.”
“Let’s be thankful she’s in Austin now where she’s safe.”
“Thank God.” Rick expelled a deep sigh. “That bullet could have hit her if she’d happened to be standing in the trajectory.”
“Don’t think about it. When I left the hotel suite, she was holding Becky and loving it. Everyone was having a great time. Dad and David Jarrett seem to be close.”
“They are. David’s a great man.”
Home To Copper Mountain Page 18
