The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel)

by Cheryl Gorman

  Rafe grinned. “That’s because I am. I was smart enough to marry JC who is the best thing to ever happen to me and I got the sweetest little girl on the planet in the bargain.”

  Rafe was silent after that. He just gave him a look with his brows raised waiting for him to say something. “Let me start you off. How’re things going with Kinley?”

  How were things going? They were spinning out of control. She was driving him nuts. She had kissed him three times and lured him into kissing her back. She had floated down the river naked. He had seen every inch of her. He had felt her skin, tasted her lips. Cinnamon woman. He knew what her breasts looked and felt like. She smelled of apples and tasted like cinnamon. “She’s just like Maddie, through and through.”

  Rafe laughed. “Heard Lilly caught the two of you smooching the other day.”

  Linc heaved a breath and raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn it. I was hoping she hadn’t seen us.”

  “No such luck. I even heard Grace talking about it over at the Bluebonnet.”

  That meant it was all over town. He’d better start putting that particular fire out right now. “It was just a kiss. No big deal.”

  “That’s not what I heard. Apparently Lilly said Kinley’s hair was all messed up and your shirt was half-way out of the waistband. She said you two jumped apart like a couple of kids caught stealing Halloween candy.” Rafe laughed again then quieted while Linc felt heat move over his face and neck. “Want some advice?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Go for it. It’s high time somebody pushed you out of your comfort zone. And while you’re at it push her buttons back.”

  ***

  The next day when Linc came to the ranch to help Kinley and check on Ethan, his mouth fell open and his boots dug into the ground. Kinley and Ethan perched atop a road grader. He got out of the truck and started toward them. Ethan sat in the driver’s seat. The motor was running and Ethan tried to put the machine in gear and it jerked. Then the blade on the front fell suddenly to the ground. Instead of moving forward, the machine started moving backward. Linc ran around to the side, away from the blade and the big wheels, and waved his hand to get Kinley’s attention.

  She waved and called out something but he couldn’t hear her over the sound of the engine. He cupped his fingers around his ear and shook his head. In a moment she switched off the engine. “I said I was just teaching Ethan to drive this thing. Or we are teaching each other because I really don’t have a clue how to drive it myself.”

  Linc crossed his arms over his chest. “First, where did you get it?”

  “I rented it in town and the man at the rental place said it was a snap to drive. He gave me a break on the price because he knew Maddie and liked her. He even delivered it for free. Great deal, huh?”

  She smiled like she’d just discovered she’d won a few bucks on a scratch ticket. Unbelievable. Just as Rafe had suggested the night before it was time for him to start pushing back. “Could you both come down here for a minute?”

  Kinley shook her head. “We just got started. You come up here. Got a bench seat. Plenty of room.” She held out her hand. “I’ll help you up,” she said with a smile playing around her mouth.

  Damn it. The woman never stopped. He ignored her hand, grasped the side of the partially enclosed cabin where the controls were located and climbed up. Before doing anything else, he reached over, grabbed the keys and stuffed them in his pocket.

  “What did you do that for?” Kinley asked.

  “Relax, we were just having some fun,” Ethan said.

  “Ethan is fourteen,” Linc said. “He doesn’t even know how to drive.”

  “Actually, I do,” Ethan said. “I learned one summer when I lived with this family on a farm. The old man taught me to drive his truck.” He widened his eyes slightly. “I bet you learned to drive when you were young too, growing up on a ranch and all.”

  Kinley sat back with a smug look on her face. “Yeah, I bet you were barely knee high to a calf when your daddy taught you how to drive.”

  “Driving a truck and driving a road grader are two different things.”

  Kinley shook her head. “Not really. They both have an engine, wheels and basic steering. The only difference is the blade on the front but you can even attach one of those to a truck if you want to so they really aren’t that different at all.”

  Her crazy logic was starting to make sense but he wouldn’t let her know that. “Look, it’s not a good idea for Ethan to drive this thing. He could have an accident and get hurt. You said yourself you don’t know how to drive it.”

  “The delivery guy gave me a quick lesson.” Kinley patted the spot on the seat next to her. “Have a seat and join us. You’ll feel better.”

  “I’d feel better if I was driving.”

  “I’m sure you would,” Kinley said, “but you said that fixing this place was my obligation and I intend to honor that judgment. I wouldn’t want to get put in jail or anything,” she finished with a smile playing around her lips.

  Woman had an answer for everything. So much for pushing her buttons. “Okay,” Linc sat next to Kinley, her apple scent teasing his nose. “Go ahead and start her up,” he said to Ethan.

  Kinley held out her palm. “You have the keys, remember? Or I can dig them out of your pocket if you’d rather…” Her green eyes twinkled with hanky-panky. That’s all he needed. Her hand in his pants.

  Linc pulled out the keys and handed them to Ethan.

  Ethan put the key in the ignition and turned. The engine started up. He put it in drive and slowly started down the rutted, dirt road. Linc looked at the kid with his focus on the road, his hands gripping the wheel and a happy look on his face. Seeing Ethan without a look of defiance and fear on his face was almost worth having to give in to Kinley.

  The grader rocked over a bump and Kinley slid closer to him on the seat, her hand grabbing his thigh to steady herself. Heat shot like a bronc out of a chute over his body. He tensed the muscles in his leg automatically and she glanced at him then turned her attention back to the road.

  A car drove out of the trees in the distance from the direction of where the other property was located. Must be the owner. Dust swirled behind him as he drove toward them.

  “Better pull over and stop,” Linc called to Ethan.

  “No, there is enough room for him to pass,” Kinley said.

  “I don’t want to take that chance.”

  “Keep driving, Ethan. You’re doing fine.”

  The car came closer, slowed and moved easily around them. The driver threw them a quick wave.

  “See,” Kinley said. “No worries.”

  “I think you’re forgetting who’s in charge here.”

  “I’m not forgetting anything. This is my place and I’m trying to fix it up. Just as the court ordered me to do.”

  Everything she said was true. He was the one making a big deal out of everything. He had ordered her to fix up the property and she was trying to do that.

  Of course his order said nothing about allowing a fourteen year old boy to drive a grader and fix the road. But he had learned at an early age how to do things on the ranch including drive a vehicle. Driving a truck was part and parcel of living on a ranch. It was an asset for him to know how to drive for himself and his family. Now Ethan was learning a new skill. He wasn’t in juvie and he wasn’t getting into trouble. He was beginning a new life for himself. “You’re right.”

  Kinley turned her head and cupped her fingers around her ear. “What? Did I just hear you tell me I was right?”

  “Smart ass.”

  Chapter Five

  An hour later the road had been graded but Kinley knew that was just the beginning. Not just for the road, but for Linc and his need for control. She knew there would be many battles ahead between her and Linc but she looked forward to the challenge.

  Linc had headed for home and she was in the kitchen getting dinner started when the door flew open and
Ethan ran in.

  His eyes were wide and he was breathing hard. “Midnight’s sick.”

  Quickly, she headed for the barn and went to Midnight’s stall. The mare was nervously walking around her stall. She turned her head periodically to nip at her sides followed by a kick at her stomach. Her flanks were sweaty and she held her tail in an elevated position.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Ethan asked.

  “She’s going to have her foal and I need you to help me get things ready.”

  Kinley had already prepared an empty stall with fresh straw for bedding. They transferred the mare to the stall and Kinley soothed her by stroking her neck and murmuring to her.

  “What do we do now?” Ethan asked. She turned and saw him standing outside the stall door with a worried expression on his face. He glanced from her to the mare and back again.

  “We wait. This is stage one. It might be a few minutes or a few hours.”

  The minutes turned to hours. In the meantime, they ate sandwiches sitting by Midnight’s side. No time to cook a meal when the mare’s water could break at any moment.

  Ethan was curled up asleep on a couple of horse blankets and Kinley was leaning against the stall wall about to nod off when the mare’s water broke. The horse groaned and lay down on her side. “Ethan, wake up. It’s time.”

  The boy woke and rushed to her side. Kinley checked the mare. The foal would be born soon.

  “Eww, what’s that?” Ethan asked.

  “It’s the amniotic sac. In about five minutes we should see the foal’s front feet.”

  The mare groaned, her belly moving with a contraction. She turned her head toward her flank. “Ethan, sit by her head and soothe her as best you can.”

  For once he didn’t argue. He moved by the mare’s head, sat down and stroked her neck. “Easy, girl. Everything’s going to be okay.” He turned and looked anxiously at Kinley. “Everything is going to be okay, right?”

  Kinley nodded. “You bet.” But inside she was a jumble of nerves. She’d seen what could happen when things went wrong with a foaling and she prayed it wouldn’t happen here. So far so good. The warm, humid night closed in around her. The barn’s light illuminated the stall. The stall smelled of warm, wet straw and horse. The foal’s front feet appeared inside the amniotic sac. “I see the feet.” They were facing down in the correct birthing position. Relief gushed through her. Thank God. She wouldn’t need to call the vet and have him talk her through a difficult foaling. He would have to talk her through because there wouldn’t be enough time for him to get here before the foal and possibly the mare died. The foal’s nose appeared and Kinley smiled. “I can see the head.”

  Ethan scooted over, his eyes like saucers. He looked at her and grinned. “Wow.”

  “Okay, this next part will be the most difficult. We should see the foal’s shoulders.”

  The horse groaned, her sides moving as she struggled to push the foal through the birth canal. “Go back by her head and soothe her. She’s really going to need you now.”

  Ethan scooted back by her head. “It’s okay, you’re doing fine.”

  The mare pushed, then rested to regain her strength then began to push again. She rolled to her stomach for a few moments then lay on her side again. She did this for several minutes before Kinley saw the foal’s shoulders. Quickly after, the foal was born. She pulled the membrane away from the baby’s head, grabbed the large towel she had laid out and began to rub it down. The foal shifted its legs and she could see that it was a male. “Look, Ethan, a baby boy.” Ethan came over with his face in a wide grin.

  The mare rolled to her stomach again and lay there. She looked back at her baby then lay on her side and rested. The foal lay on the straw, its little eyes staring at the new world around him. He was solid black with two white front stockings, a white star and snip on his nose.

  Kinley’s heart filled at the site of the newborn. “Good job, Midnight.”

  In a few minutes, the mare rolled to her stomach, put her legs out in front as if to stand, but then remained in that position. She rolled to her side again and looked back at her baby still nestled in the straw, then heaved herself to her feet. Kinley had prepared the birthing kit and she got a plastic bottle and a nipple from the kit then expressed some milk for the baby.

  “Is that like milking a cow?” Ethan asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never milked a cow before only a mare,” Kinley replied. Once the bottle was filled she attached the nipple and turned toward Ethan. “Want to feed the baby? I’ll talk you through it.”

  He glanced at the foal then at Kinley. “Okay.”

  Kinley handed him the bottle. Ethan took the bottle and moved slowly over to the foal. “Stand close to the foal, lift his head and ease the nipple against his mouth.”

  Ethan did as she asked and in a moment the baby was suckling greedily from the bottle. Ethan looked at Kinley with a grin splitting his face. “Hey, I did it.”

  “You sure did.”

  After another hour the baby was standing and suckling on its own. After cleaning up and making sure the mare and her baby were settled, Kinley and Ethan headed for the trailer. It was two in the morning by the time she went to bed. A new moon had risen and along with it a new life.

  ***

  A week later, Kinley finished washing a pot and handed it to Linc to dry. The three of them had spent the day cleaning out the flower beds and setting in some new plantings. She rinsed a glass and placed it in the drain board. “Ethan was great today, don’t you think?”

  Linc smiled. She looked at his profile as he stared out the window at the rapidly fading sunlight. The wind was gusting, pushing against the sides of the trailer. “Yeah, he worked hard and didn’t try to weasel out of anything I asked him to do. I think he’s really going to make it.” He wiped a dish and set it aside. “I’ve wanted to help kids for a long time and I’m finally doing it.” His voice was low and clear with a hint of surprise.

  She rinsed some flatware and laid it on a dish towel on the counter by the sink. “Sounds like you had some doubts.”

  He shrugged. “It was really a matter of figuring out how to make it happen.” He turned and looked at her. “Part of Ethan’s success is due to you because you were the one who suggested he come and live on the ranch. If not for you, he’d be in Juvenile Detention right now. Thank you.”

  She felt his thank you deep in her soul. Maybe she was starting to get to him, to help him relax. “You took the chance and if I miss my guess taking risks isn’t something you like to do. Wanna tell me why?”

  His open expression snapped shut and it was as if he’d erected a temporary fence around his emotions. “How’d you like the chops,” he asked quickly changing the subject

  “They were delicious,” she said deciding not to push the issue but there was definitely something he was hiding only now wasn’t the time to try to ferret it out. “Thanks for helping with dinner. I’ve always liked potatoes but I never knew they could taste that good roasted on the grill.”

  He took the pot he’d finished drying and set it on the counter. “No problem. Glad you enjoyed it.”

  She turned off the faucet and wiped her hands. “You’ll make someone a wonderful wife someday.”

  The corner of his mouth tilted up in a smirk and he cut her a glance out of his impossibly blue eyes. “Cute.”

  She laughed, reached over to the radio sitting on the counter and tuned it to a country station. A slow ballad about love healing a broken heart came on the radio. She heard the sound of Ethan in the shower and knew they’d have a few minutes alone. She stepped into the middle of the small kitchen and held out her hands. “Come on, dance with me.”

  A look appeared on Linc’s face as if she’d asked him to stand on his head. “I don’t dance. Sorry. I need to go anyway.” He tossed the dish cloth on the counter and started for the door.

  Kinley stepped in his way. They were close, so close she could feel the heat from his body and see the
chips of gold in the iris of his eyes. His hair was tousled and had a sweat band from his hat around it. His shirt and jeans were dirty, his boots dusty. He smelled of turned earth and sweat and man. A lethal combination. “I’m a really good dancer and it’s only the two of us. Ethan’s in the shower. No one will know.”

  His arms and shoulders tensed and he took a hesitant step toward her. He raised his hands, placed one palm on her waist and the other grasped the fingers of her left hand. “Just so you know I haven’t danced since third grade.”

  She felt the touch of his hands spread over her skin, warming her, making her want more from him than just a simple dance. “I’ll be gentle with you.”

  Something shifted in his expression, a look of heat but he quickly covered it up. Somehow she knew they weren’t just talking about dancing anymore. Would he really want her to be gentle or would he be the one who would be gentle? Slowly they started to move over the kitchen floor. Linc was stiff and a bit awkward at first looking down at his feet. “No, look at me, don’t look at your feet.”

  His chin lifted and he stared into her eyes. “That’s right.” She had placed her hand on his shoulder and she felt his muscles relax as they moved in a tight circle. He kept his gaze on her face. “You’re a good dancer.”

  He raised a brow. “You’re a good liar.”

  She lifted her chin and stopped as the song faded. “I never lie. I always tell the absolute truth. You are a good dancer. I just think you’ve never really tried.” On impulse she raised to her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  His lips parted and they stood barely an inch apart looking at one another. “You kissed me again. Why did you do that?”

  She licked her lips and smiled relishing the brief taste of him. “Do you always need a reason for doing something? Are you never spontaneous at all?”

  Between one breath and the next she was in his arms with his mouth on hers.

  He knew it was a mistake the moment his lips met hers but the temptation was too great. He needed to taste her special cinnamon flavor again and inhale the scent of her skin. Her lips were smooth and pliable under his, easy and hot. Her warmth and enthusiasm for the kiss made his senses spin and at first he wanted to resist but then he just let himself go. He let himself sink into her, his hands pulling her against his body, his mouth devouring hers and to hell with the consequences.