Lone Star Nights

by Delores Fossen

  Okay, and maybe Cassie, as well.

  That blasted attraction was still there, and he was positive now that it wasn’t just gas. Too bad. Because attractions like that usually got him in trouble.

  “Lady Doctor?” Mia said, reaching up to tug on Cassie’s sleeve. “Will you be staying with us?”

  “Yes. And call me Cassie.” She stopped. “Or maybe Miss Cassie. All right, just Cassie.”

  It wasn’t a good sign that she still seemed to be waffling about what the girls should call her considering they had some whopper obstacles in front of them. Like finding the girls’ next of kin. And getting enough washcloths to remove all that makeup from Mackenzie’s face.

  He parked Logan’s car right in front of the house. Like Logan, the Jag had too many bells and whistles, and it took Lucky several minutes—yes, minutes—to figure out how to pop the trunk to get to the luggage. However, before he could even step from the car, the front door of the house opened, and Della and Stella came out. Judging from the gleeful looks on their weathered faces, they were excited about the possibility of kids staying with them. Or maybe they were just excited about the possibility of Lucky being responsible for the kids.

  Responsible for anything, for that matter.

  “Cassandra Weatherall,” Della greeted, pulling Cassie into a hug. “You haven’t changed a drop. Well, except you’re dressing more comfortably these days. Nothing wrong with that.”

  Cassie frowned when she looked down at her skirt and shoes. Something she’d done several times in the past hour. Of course, her clothes were catwalk-ready compared to Mackenzie’s.

  “I was so sorry to hear of your grandmother’s passing,” Della added to Cassie. “Dixie Mae always did treat Lucky all right, so that made her all right in my book, too.”

  “Thank you.” And Cassie repeated the process when Stella hugged her and offered her own condolences.

  Lucky hadn’t been aware that the housekeepers would even remember Cassie since to the best of his knowledge, Cassie had never been to the house. Still, it was Spring Hill, where everybody knew everybody.

  Along with everybody’s business.

  By now, what had happened would be all over town—along with some embellishments to the gossip. Lucky didn’t care about that gossip when it came to himself, but he doubted Cassie would appreciate it, what with her status as a celebrity therapist.

  “It’s about time you came home,” Della said, looking at him.

  That was the only scolding he got because Della turned her attention to the car’s back door when it opened. She gave a big, welcoming smile when Mia stepped out. As did Stella. He could practically see the fantasy they were weaving in their heads about him, Cassie and the cute kid.

  Then Mackenzie stepped out.

  Della and Stella actually dropped back a little, and just as fast as their mental fantasy had come, it went. Good thing. Lucky didn’t want anybody playing matchmaker here, and Della and Stella were prone to that since they often said he didn’t choose wisely when it came to female companionship. Which he didn’t. And he intended to keep on choosing unwisely.

  “Uh, I thought you were getting sisters,” Stella said. “Children sisters,” she clarified.

  “They are children,” he assured her. He still intended to check Mackenzie’s birth certificate, though. “This is Mia Compton,” Lucky said pointing to her. “And that’s her sister, Mackenzie. This is Miss Della and Miss Stella. They pretty much run the place.” Something they managed to do even when Logan was there.

  Della recovered from the shock before Stella did, and she managed an inkling of the smile that she’d had before her eyeballs had been widened by Mackenzie’s appearance. “Well, welcome to the McCord Ranch. I hope you feel right at home here.” She extended that to Cassie.

  Then to Lucky.

  It was a nice chain-yanking kind of reminder that he should come home more often. Lucky expected to hear that a lot in the next twenty-four hours. He grumbled that he wasn’t very pleased about it, but then because he knew it would make her smile, he winked at her. It worked. Stella smiled, then giggled.

  “What’s with all the vehicles?” Lucky asked, hauling out the girls’ suitcases.

  “Wedding stuff. Claire, Riley, Ethan and Livvy are here. Plus, Riley’s having a meeting with the horse trainers in the office. Oh, and there are two fellas from a magazine, and they’re taking some pictures and talking to Riley about an article they’re doing on Logan.”

  The latter seemed to be a monthly occurrence, but maybe the other things were temporary. In other words, maybe they’d all be leaving soon.

  “Riley is Lucky’s brother,” Della went on, talking to the girls now. “He’s marrying Claire, and Ethan’s her little boy. Claire’s a wedding photographer.”

  Mackenzie showed no interest whatsoever, but Mia seemed to hold on to every word.

  “She’s got a little boy?” Mia asked.

  Della nodded, tapped Mia’s nose. “Cute as a button, just like you.”

  “Right,” Mackenzie grumbled. “Because all buttons are sooooo cute.”

  Since that sounded like something Lucky would have said twenty years ago, he tried not to laugh.

  “Oh, and Livvy’s here,” Della added. She glanced at Cassie. “She’s Claire’s business partner.”

  Livvy was also one of Lucky’s ex-lovers, and with the side glance that Cassie gave him, it seemed she’d already picked up on that. Then again, she would probably give him a side glance because she thought he’d slept with every woman in town but her. He hadn’t, but that particular gossip thread had been exaggerated at lot.

  “Are they nice ladies?” Mia whispered to Lucky.

  “Very nice. But they might make you eat vegetables. Is that okay?”

  Mia gave it some serious thought. Nodded. But it garnered some disapproval from Big Sis. “She doesn’t have to eat anything she doesn’t want to eat,” Mackenzie declared like gospel. “And I don’t want her compared to a stupid button.”

  Lucky had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that, but sounds good to me probably wasn’t the way to go here. Even though that had been his philosophy about life for a while now. Don’t eat anything you don’t want to eat. Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.

  Don’t be like his brothers.

  It kept things simple and meshed with his smart-ass outlook on life.

  Lucky braced himself for the chaos he was sure to find inside. Good thing because there was indeed chaos. The moment he stepped in, Ethan zoomed past him, running so fast that he was practically a blur, and it took Lucky a moment to realize the toddler was chasing a cat. Judging from the looks of it, it was the same cat Lucky had given him three months ago. It had grown almost as much as Ethan.

  He saw Livvy next. She was teetering in needle-thin heels on a stepladder. She was as skinny as a zipper except for those massive boobs. Today, her hair was turtle green with tiny gold star decorations scattered over her head. Most women couldn’t have pulled off the look, but Livvy had the personality to pull off anything. Including his clothes.

  Something that wouldn’t happen again, of course.

  Now that Riley and Claire were getting married, it seemed too risky to sleep with a woman so close to his brother’s wife. A two-night stand was one thing, but a long relationship had a hundred percent chance of failing, and Lucky didn’t want any bad blood lingering around that he’d have to face every time he came back to town.

  It took Lucky a couple of seconds to spot Claire. She was holding some kind of chart-looking thing while studying the layout of the living room furniture. “I think we’re going to have to move everything out of this room.”

  Livvy made a sound of agreement, went up another step on that ladder and clicked off some pictures with her camera phone. But there was another guy there
, too, taking pictures—of Riley and one of the horse trainers—and he had a real camera, not just his phone. The man chatting with them had to be a reporter.

  “Well, looky who’s here,” Livvy called out. “Lucky McCord, you look good enough to—”

  But she froze when she saw Cassie. Maybe because Livvy thought they were together. Or maybe she stopped because of the girls. In any case, it probably wasn’t a good idea for Livvy to finish saying what she thought he looked good enough to do.

  “Lucky!” Claire squealed when she saw him. She hurried to him, waving her hands in the air until she reached him, and then she hugged him. “Welcome home.”

  Leave it to Claire to make it feel as if that welcome were marginally true. Riley was getting one in a million with Claire, and Lucky was glad his usual fool of a brother had come to his senses and seen that. Of course, Riley had had to get out of the Air Force to make all this happen, and Lucky still wasn’t sure how he was dealing with that, but once he had Claire wedded, things would all fall into place.

  Riley was definitely the marrying sort. Anna, too. Logan was more in the to-be-determined group. And Lucky fell into the no-way-in-hell category. At least with Riley and Anna, Della and Stella would get those “grandbabies” they were always clamoring about.

  Lucky had to give it to Claire, she didn’t step back or look shocked when her attention landed on the girls. She greeted them, even Mackenzie, and Cassie with the same warm smile she’d given him.

  “Cassie.” Claire hugged her just as Della and Stella had done. She offered her condolences, too. Since Claire had lost her own grandmother only months earlier, Lucky was sure she knew how Cassie must feel.

  “Sorry about all of this,” Claire said. “We’ll be out of your way soon. I hope,” she added when she glanced at Riley. He didn’t exactly look comfortable with whatever the reporter and photographer were saying to him. “It’s his first big interview.”

  But not his last. Lucky knew Riley had gotten sucked into Logan’s hamster wheel of building McCord Cattle Brokers, making it as big as could be.

  “So, when is this wedding again?” Lucky asked. Though he already knew the date. “And am I invited?” he added with his customary wink.

  “Of course, you’re invited. It’s next month, the same day as the Founder’s Day picnic. It’ll be small, informal,” Claire added.

  “Semi-informal,” Livvy corrected. “I talked Claire into doing the princess dress.”

  Claire made a face. “That was a compromise, but I nixed the tiara and the glass slippers.”

  “Nixed for now,” Livvy said. “But there’s plenty of time to change your mind about those. Also about the wand and hair glitter.”

  The look on Claire’s face let Lucky know there’d be no reconsidering those things.

  “You gonna be a princess?” Mia asked Claire.

  “For an hour or so anyway. Want to be a princess, too? You can be a princess flower girl if you want, and wear the tiara. The hair glitter and slippers, as well. Ethan’s going to be a car boy. Instead of rose petals, he’ll be dropping toy cars from a basket.” Claire paused, seemed a little worried. “We’ll have to work on him not throwing them at the guests, though.”

  “I could be a princess?” Mia pressed, sounding in awe and hopeful at the same time.

  “Of course. All of you are invited,” Claire added looking at Cassie and Mackenzie. “And you can be one, too,” she said to Mackenzie.

  “We’re not staying here that long,” Mackenzie grumbled.

  “Oh. Well. I’m sorry to hear that. If you have a change in plans, though, the invitation stands.” Claire sounded genuine about that. “And what about you?” she asked Cassie.

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to miss it. I’ll need to be back at work as soon as we’ve figured everything out with the custody, but I’m sure the wedding will be lovely. I always thought Riley and you would make a great couple.”

  Mackenzie huffed. Why, Lucky didn’t know. Maybe because she’d gone more than a minute without doing it. Sort of like a pressure cooker letting off steam, but in this case Mackenzie was letting off some surliness so that she wouldn’t explode.

  “She’s got stars,” Mia whispered to her sister. She nudged Mackenzie and pointed to Livvy.

  That was Livvy’s cue to pluck one from her hair. It was apparently a stick-on, and she gave it to the little girl. “It’s magic,” Livvy declared. “But it’ll only give you one wish so use it wisely.”

  Mia looked as if she’d just been handed a miracle, one that she’d have to give a lot of thought.

  “I like your shoes,” Mackenzie said to Livvy. And she actually sounded, well, human. Human enough to be envious anyway.

  “These?” Livvy pranced around like a ballerina. “Want to try them on?”

  Mackenzie hesitated. Nodded. But then shook her head, probably because she sounded interested, which would have been equal in her mind to committing manslaughter. “No thanks.”

  Livvy made a suit-yourself sound. “I buy them online, and I’ll give you the website.” She plucked another gold star from her hair. She offered it to Mackenzie, but the girl only shook her head.

  “I don’t believe in magic,” Mackenzie declared.

  “Too bad. Because magic’s how I got these.” Livvy glanced down at her massive boobs. Then at Mackenzie’s rather flat chest.

  Mackenzie didn’t take the gold star, so Livvy stuck it in the girl’s spiky black hair. Livvy looked at Cassie next. No offer of a gold star, but she did extend her hand for Cassie to shake.

  “I’m Livvy Larimer, and I’ve seen you on TV,” she said. “All those hot celebrities. Would love to get you drunk and see what kind of secrets you’d share.”

  “No secrets,” Cassie assured her. Now Cassie’s gaze drifted to Lucky. Perhaps she was implying that extended to Lucky himself, but Livvy didn’t seem to be buying it. Livvy gave him a thumbs-up, apparently approving of a choice that Livvy thought he’d made. A choice to get in Cassie’s pants.

  Cassie glanced down at Livvy’s shoes. “Though I would like the website for those.”

  “Sure. Of course. I’ll email the link to Lucky and he can give it to you.”

  Great. Now he was involved in the fuck-me-heels buying loop. A loop and link he’d never share with Cassie.

  Thankfully, Della saved the day. “I’ll show the girls to their rooms,” she offered.

  “We’ll go with you,” Lucky said at the same time Cassie said, “I’ll go, too.”

  Mackenzie rolled her eyes because she no doubt knew this was about the running-away thing, and she took both her and Mia’s suitcases from him. “You can’t babysit me all the time,” Mackenzie grumbled, and she made it sound like a threat.

  Lucky made a mental note to make sure someone did indeed watch her 24/7.

  “You can spend some more time with your family and friend,” Cassie said to him. “I’ll go up with Della and the girls. I need to make a phone call anyway, and maybe I can do that in the guest room.”

  All of that sounded, well, like something a visitor might say, but there was something wrong. Something other than the obvious. But Lucky couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  While Della led the three of them—Mia, Mackenzie and Cassie—up the stairs, Lucky was about to say goodbye to Claire and Livvy and head toward his own room just off the hall. But he didn’t get far because someone else called out his name.

  Riley.

  His brother stepped away from the others and went to him. Livvy and Claire must have realized a brother talk was about to happen because they suddenly got very busy with a discussion of where to move the furniture. Riveting stuff, apparently, judging from the speed at which the women moved away from him.

  “Am I about to get lectured?” Lucky asked Riley right off.

 
“Not by me. Maybe by Della or Stella, though. By now they’ve probably figured out this doesn’t mean you’re settling down and moving back home.”

  Probably. Of course, the pair would just come up with another dream of marrying him off. Hard to do that, though, whenever they went by his bed and saw the saddle he kept there. Lucky didn’t actually use the saddle, didn’t bring his lovers to the house, either. For that matter, he didn’t sleep in the bed much at all but he liked to keep the saddle there as a reminder to Della and Stella that he wasn’t into conventionality.

  “You don’t seem surprised by any of this,” Lucky said.

  Riley shrugged. “When I heard Dixie Mae had left you a letter, I figured something was up. I was thinking you were getting the cats, though. Word around town is that she had a dozen or more.”

  “Just six. And no, Mason-Dixon got those.” Lucky was the one shrugging now. “Cassie might end up with them, though, before the dust settles.”

  Which made him wonder why Dixie Mae had left them to her son in the first place. Certainly she must have known he wouldn’t keep them. Maybe this was like leaving a nickel tip to a bad waiter? Mason-Dixon would know she hadn’t forgotten him but had simply not been pleased with the sour direction their relationship had taken. Still, it was a crappy thing to do.

  The photographer walked closer, his attention on his camera, and he held up one of the screenshots for Riley to see.

  “I think that’s the photo we’ll use for the magazine,” the photographer said. “We can put you side by side with the shots that we’ve already taken of your brother. That’ll be the cover.”

  “Cover?” And yeah, Lucky put some smart-ass attitude on that.

  It earned him a jab on the arm from Riley’s elbow. “It’s good for business.” And he nodded to the photographer. “Thanks.”

  “Are you okay with all of this?” Lucky asked him when the photographer stepped away. Both the reporter and he started packing up to leave.

  “Yes. I am. Surprised?

  “A little.” A lot. Just months ago Riley had feared that working the family business would make him ordinary. That he would be selling out, even. Clearly, that had changed. “Having Claire has probably made things a little sweeter.”