The Texan's Cowgirl Bride (Texas Rodeo Barons)

by Trish Milburn - The Texan's Cowgirl Bride (Texas Rodeo Barons)

  It was no wonder Lizzie was surprised by Savannah’s appearance considering Savannah rarely darkened the door of the oil company’s headquarters. Like Jet and Carly, she had little interest in the energy side of the family business.

  Savannah crossed her arms. “Convince me you’re not hungry, and I’ll leave.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “I know. Chris says all you do is eat.”

  Shock registered on Lizzie’s face. “He does not.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “If he said that, he’s going to wish he never had.”

  Savannah couldn’t help but laugh, which was a minor miracle considering what had propelled her here in the first place. “Okay, so maybe I made that up. I don’t think Chris would ever be stupid enough to think that, let alone say it. But I’ve seen you eat recently. You can put away an impressive amount of food.”

  “Just for that, you’re paying for lunch.”

  “Really? You’re the company bigwig now.”

  “And you’re the one teasing the pregnant lady.” Lizzie disappeared into her office but was back a moment later with her purse. Now that her pregnancy was out in the open, she’d gone shopping for maternity clothes. But she made even those look stylish. “Come on. I feel as if I could eat an entire cow.”

  They didn’t go far, just down the block to one of Lizzie’s favorite restaurants. When they’d placed their orders, Lizzie leaned back and pinned Savannah with a questioning look.

  “So why are you really here?”

  “What’s with the interrogation?”

  “Because you are somewhere other than on a horse or behind the counter of the store.”

  “I just wanted to get away for a bit, spend some time with my sister before motherhood and marriage gobble you up.”

  “Dad’s still being a pain, huh?”

  Savannah shrugged. “I can manage Dad. Avoidance works well, I’ve found. Though if he were to heal overnight and suddenly go back to work, I wouldn’t object.”

  Lizzie held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, no more looking for ulterior motives.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lizzie grabbed a slice of toasted sourdough bread from the basket and dipped it in olive oil. “Heard you took quite a tumble the other night. Frank Owens in Accounting was at the rodeo and said he was surprised you were able to walk out of there on your own.”

  “So that’s who called Dad?”

  Lizzie shrugged. “He didn’t say, but I wouldn’t be surprised. He always has had his lips firmly attached to Dad’s behind.”

  Savannah snorted just as she was taking a drink of water. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks as she tried to cover up her gaffe with her cloth napkin. “Warn a girl next time, would ya?”

  Lizzie gave her an evil grin.

  They talked some about Lizzie and Chris’s plans for the baby’s nursery, and it was obvious from how Lizzie’s face lit up every time she said Chris’s name that she was in love with him. It was great to see, but Savannah found it hard to imagine opening up that much to someone. When you loved another person, they held the power to hurt you. She had to look no further than her father for that.

  One wife had walked out on him, and another had died. Though Savannah cared a lot for Julieta, she had to wonder if her dad was crazy for marrying a third time. Was being in love really worth all that pain? She liked things over which she had control. Still, she couldn’t deny the happiness her sister had found with Chris.

  “I’m happy for you,” Savannah said. And maybe even a little envious, despite her best intentions. Her thoughts drifted to Travis, and she wondered what he was doing right in that moment, if he’d thought of her any since they’d parted company. But why would he?

  “Thanks,” Lizzie said. “I guess you’re next up.”

  “Lord, you sound like Abby.”

  “And let me guess—she has some long, lanky cowboy picked out for you.”

  “No, actually. I happened to bump into Travis Shepard at the rodeo, and she suddenly thinks we’re destined to be together.”

  “Why does she think that?”

  Savannah shrugged. “I don’t know. All I did was talk to him for a few minutes.” She didn’t mention the fact that he’d taken her to the hospital, waited for her, gotten her dinner and escorted her back to Abby’s trailer. But who was keeping track? Like he’d said, that’s what old friends were for.

  “Well, there could be worse pairings. I saw Travis several months ago while he was eating dinner with Rita and her husband. Travis wouldn’t be difficult to look at every day.”

  “We barely know each other anymore. And what is it with you? You’ve never been Mary Matchmaker before.”

  “What can I say? Being in love is a wonderful feeling. Is it a bad thing to wish it for my sister, as well?”

  Thankfully, their meals arrived then, and Savannah was able to steer her sister to different topics. But despite being hungry, Savannah couldn’t force down more than half her grilled salmon and mushroom risotto, and she loved risotto. She waited until Lizzie, who was eating for two, had finished before she ventured into the real reason for the lunch while trying to hide that fact from her sister.

  “Since you got pregnant, has it made you think about Mom?”

  Lizzie paused in wiping her mouth. “What brought that up?”

  “Nothing. I just had a dream about her the other night.”

  Lizzie placed her napkin slowly atop her empty plate. “Yeah, I started thinking about her when I found out. I still worry some about being like her, but knowing Chris will be right there beside me helps.” Lizzie paused and picked at the edge of the napkin. “I was sad for a bit that my child wouldn’t know his or her grandmother, but then I realized that Julieta will fill that role just fine.”

  “Where do you think she might be now?”

  Lizzie shook her head. “No idea. You’d have to ask Dad.”

  Savannah wanted to do that about as much as she wanted to ride a bull with a hornet’s nest tied to its tail. They’d all learned long ago that the topic of their mother was one best left alone.

  Lizzie’s forehead wrinkled as she stared at Savannah. “What is this really about?”

  Savannah grasped for a plausible answer. “Guess I was just thinking about the past after seeing Travis. I found myself wondering how he got beyond losing Corinne.” In reality, she didn’t think he had.

  “It’s not the same thing. Corinne had no choice in her leaving her loved ones behind. Mom did.”

  Savannah could tell by the strained tone of Lizzie’s voice that the memories hurt her sister, and she was suddenly sorry for dredging them up. After the scare Lizzie had endured when she’d started spotting early in her pregnancy, she didn’t need anything to stress her out. There had to be another way to find the information Savannah needed. She let the subject drop, but it left an awkwardness hanging between her and Lizzie.

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to run,” Lizzie said as she stood. “I’ve got a conference call in a few minutes.”

  Savannah stood and hugged her sister. “Sorry if I ruined lunch.”

  “You didn’t.”

  Savannah wasn’t so sure as she watched her sister walk toward the exit, her shoulders tense.

  After paying the bill, Savannah followed in her sister’s wake, walking slowly down the sidewalk toward where she’d parked. Even though people passed by her going both directions, business people, tourists, shoppers, she couldn’t recall ever feeling so alone. It was an odd feeling for someone who’d often found comfort in solitude, but then it had always been on her terms, in familiar surroundings. A solo ride or getting lost in baking or crafting was a nice reprieve sometimes. Now, the weight of all she hid, of the unknown, hung inside he
r. She yearned for some lessening of the pressure.

  But telling anyone in her family about her fears wouldn’t help. In fact, she had no doubt that they would smother her with caring, with questions, with the inability to give her space when she needed it. What they couldn’t give her were the answers she needed. No one could except the one family member who was no longer a part of her life.

  She slid into her truck and leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling. How did you find a person who obviously didn’t want to be found?

  Travis’s smiling face materialized in her mind, causing her to jerk upright. Could he be the answer to her problem? She’d never been much of a believer in any fate other than what a person made for herself, but what were the odds she’d cross paths with a private investigator, one she knew, right when she needed help finding her mother?

  She grabbed her phone and did a search for Travis’s P.I. firm. When she found the number, all she could do was stare at it. Did she really want to do this? Couldn’t she just wait and find out about her condition once the test results were back? Finding out her family history wasn’t going to change the end result one way or another.

  But that wasn’t all that was going on, was it?

  She might have been telling herself for the past two days that the reason she needed to find Delia Baron was medical, but that wasn’t the only reason. After years of keeping her feelings about her mom buried so deep she’d forgotten they even existed, that stupid lump in her breast had brought them surging to the surface. She needed to find her mother and ask the one question that really mattered.

  Why did you leave us?

  Chapter Four

  Savannah chickened out. Part of her wasn’t sure she wanted to know where her mother was, why she’d up and abandoned her family with no explanation beyond a short note saying she needed to be alone. So instead of calling Travis, she went home and buried herself in the familiar comfort of baking. She’d seen a recipe for peach cake online and already had several ideas of how to adjust it to make it uniquely her own.

  Gina had the afternoon off, so Savannah was alone in the store. She had HGTV playing on the TV and was in the midst of pouring cake batter into pans when the front door opened. She was about to call out that she’d be with the customer in a moment when she noticed it was her dad being pushed in his wheelchair by Juan, one of the farmhands.

  When Juan shot Savannah an apologetic look, her stomach sank. Her frustration wasn’t helped by the file folder sitting on her father’s lap. She broke eye contact and took a deep breath as she finished scraping the batter into the pans, then rinsing the bowls in the large sink.

  Juan parked her dad at one of the small tables then made himself scarce.

  “Can I get you something, Dad?”

  “No, I’m good. But we do need to talk about the store.”

  This so wasn’t what she needed today. For a moment, she wished she hadn’t made the decision to cut back on her racing. And she hated feeling that way because she loved her dad. At heart he was a good guy, but he had trouble believing anyone else could run a business as well as he could. Lizzie had already been down this road with him before he finally acknowledged that Baron Energies was in good hands while he healed.

  She didn’t rush to his side, which no doubt annoyed him. Instead, she took the time to put the cakes in the oven, set the timer, and pour both her father and herself sodas before slipping onto a chair opposite him.

  “I know the store has been your pet project, but we have to look at financial feasibility, and the store just isn’t cutting it.”

  “We’re doing fine.” Of course, “fine” wasn’t anywhere near good enough for Brock Baron.

  “Really? You don’t seem to be overrun with customers.”

  Savannah held back the snappish retort that almost flew past her lips. Instead, she calmly said, “We had an entire bus full of people in here about an hour ago. I completely sold out of peach turnovers and pies.”

  “That’s all well and good, but we’re a farm. We should be selling our products directly to food companies.”

  “We already do that, Dad, and you know it. We’re doing quite well in that area.”

  “Which just proves my point that we should direct all the products that direction.”

  “I don’t think we’re quite at the point of throwing up the white flag just yet. The store’s offerings are growing every day. In fact, I just put some new cakes in the oven. I’ll even bring you one later.”

  “You’re not hearing me. The store is not a wise investment.”

  Savannah’s hold on her frustration slipped. “Well, I think you’re wrong.”

  Shock registered on her father’s face. He wasn’t used to people disagreeing with him. Before he could say anything, she pressed forward.

  “Dad, you trust Lizzie to keep things running well at the office. I’m a grown woman, too. Trust me to know what I’m doing here.”

  She could tell he didn’t like being contradicted, and in that moment she wondered if her mom’s leaving hadn’t had anything to do with her children at all. Had Brock driven his wife away with his unyielding ways?

  “Dad, do you know where Mom is?”

  He jerked as if she’d slapped him. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “Curiosity. You never say anything about her, and I was so young that I don’t remember a lot.”

  “All you need to remember is that your mother couldn’t be bothered to stay and take care of her family.”

  “But why?”

  “Don’t know and don’t care. Now drop it.”

  Anger welled up inside Savannah, threatening to choke her. The man before her might be her father, but she wasn’t a child anymore and didn’t appreciate being treated like one. But she held her tongue. Instead, she stood and walked to the door. When she opened it, she spotted Juan leaning against the fender of one of the farm’s trucks.

  “Juan, my dad is ready to leave now.”

  She didn’t make eye contact with her father as she headed back toward the kitchen. But she didn’t stop there. She took the stairs up to her apartment and resisted the urge to slam the door behind her. Rather, she leaned against it and listened until she heard the truck engine outside drive away.

  Frustrated with every turn her life had taken the past few days, she slammed the side of her fist back against the door as she let out a growl. With a shake of her head, she crossed the main room of her apartment and stared out the window toward the rows of peach trees in the distance. She loved this ranch, loved her father, the rest of her family, but right now she felt alone and adrift. She wanted answers, and if her father wasn’t willing to give them to her, she would turn to someone who could.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Travis Shepard’s number.

  * * *

  TRAVIS FINISHED TYPING the last paragraph of his report, wrapping up a fraud investigation for an art dealer. Though it had been a good-paying gig, he wasn’t sorry to have it behind him. Fitting in with the art world muckety-mucks had required his best acting abilities to date.

  He heard Blossom, his office manager, answer the phone in the next room. He hit Send on the report and closed the file on his computer as Blossom, the sister of an army buddy, went through her normal speech.

  “Hold, please,” she said. “Fresh meat, line one.”

  “I really hope no one but me ever hears you say that,” he said.

  “Give me some credit.”

  He laughed a little as he picked up the phone and hit the button for line one. “Travis Shepard.”

  When he didn’t hear any response, he glanced at the phone to see if he’d punched the right button.

  “Um, Travis, it’s Savannah Baron.”

  Of all the people who could have been on the other end of the call, Savann
ah was near the bottom, right above the president and Kate Upton.

  “Hey, good to hear from you. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I fell off a horse.”

  He smiled. “Makes sense.”

  “It could have been worse. Listen, do you have any time in your schedule to meet up for a drink later today?”

  The only thing more surprising than Savannah calling him was her asking him out for a drink. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Sure, he’d thought of her a lot since seeing her Friday night. He’d even reached for the phone a couple of times, almost calling her to see how she was doing. He kept thinking about their high school years when he’d had a big crush on her and had fumbled every lame attempt to let her know it.

  But that was a long time ago. He wasn’t that awkward boy anymore, but he also wasn’t interested in dating. Of course, he was likely getting ahead of himself. Savannah hadn’t given him any sign she was attracted to him anyway. And he’d been the one to suggest they catch up sometime.

  “Sure. Want to meet at the Longhorn?” The Longhorn Saloon had been around well before either of them had been old enough to drink.

  “No. I’m actually coming into the city, so maybe somewhere near your office.”

  Something sounded off to his trained ear, as if she didn’t want to be seen with him. But considering how her father had tracked her down via Travis’s phone, he didn’t really blame her. He doubted any of the Baron siblings made a single move that Brock Baron didn’t know about. Travis sent up a quick thank-you that his parents had always been the trusting sort.

  “Okay. How about Mack’s? It’s only a couple of miles from here. I can text you the address.”

  “Sounds good. Is about six too late?”

  He laughed a little. “There is no such thing as regular hours in this line of work, so six is fine.”

  When he hung up, he leaned back in his chair. Once again, his thoughts drifted to a decade before, to when he’d sat in class and sneaked glances at Savannah across the room. She always had an intensity about her, as if she were concentrating hard on something.