by Janet Dailey
A jab from Jasper’s elbow jerked Sky’s attention back to the seep. There, strolling out of the scrub within easy range, was a big Tom turkey with his harem of three hens.
Jasper raised the shotgun. Too late Sky remembered that his weapon fired a heftier load than the gun the old man had lost; and when fired, it packed a nasty recoil. They should have taken a few practice shots back at the house so Jasper would know what to expect. Now the birds were here, and it was too late to speak up without spoiling the shot.
Sky had made up his mind to keep quiet when he noticed something. Jasper had the gun stock braced against his shoulder, near the spot where he’d been wounded. The kick from the shotgun would not only hurt, but it might damage healing flesh.
“Stop,” he said softly, putting a hand on Jasper’s arm. But he was too late. Jasper’s finger was already tightening on the trigger. The shotgun roared, the recoil from the blast punching him back against the seat. His yelp of pain was followed by a string of curses as the turkeys scattered, unharmed, into the air.
“Tarnation, that hurt.” He clutched at his shoulder.
“Sorry, I should’ve warned you,” Sky said. “I forgot how hard that gun can kick. Are you okay?”
“I’ll live. And so will the damned turkeys, no thanks to—” He went silent, a blank look stealing across his face.
“Jasper, are you all right?”
The old cowboy managed to nod. His mouth worked as he tried to form his thoughts into words. “It’s that burnt gunpowder smell . . . and the shot, and the pain in my shoulder. Lord, Sky, I remember it all, clear as day! I remember what I saw out here!”
“Calm down and think.” Sky’s own pulse was racing. “You saw the man who shot you.”
“Plain as I see you,” Jasper said. “Tall, thin, long, black hair. Only it wasn’t a man. It was a woman.”
“You’re sure?”
“I may be an old duffer, but I know a female when I see one. She had on a black shirt that showed her figure some, and she had a scar on her face.”
“Think.” Sky forced himself to speak calmly. “When she shot you, could it have been an accident? Could she have been trying to shoot over your head and warn you off?”
Jasper shook his head. “No way in hell. She was lookin’ right down that barrel at me. Woulda hit me in the heart if I hadn’t gone over a little dip. I swear it, Sky. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that woman meant to kill me!”
The gunshot had spooked every bird within a half mile of the seep. “I’m afraid hunting’s over for the day,” Sky said. “We’ll go again soon, I promise. But right now I want to get back and tell Will and Beau what you saw.”
“I’d rather be goin’ back with a turkey if it’s all the same to you.” Jasper was still sour about the missed shot. He muttered and grumbled all the way back to the house.
Beau and Will were eating breakfast when they arrived. “Pull up a chair and join us,” Will said. “There’s plenty.”
While Sky and Jasper washed up, Bernice piled two plates with bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns and set them on the table. Sky could only hope that a good breakfast would improve Jasper’s mood. As they ate, he filled Beau and Will in on what had happened and how the old cowboy had regained his memory of the shooting. Jasper chimed in to add details and answer questions. Sky could tell he was enjoying the attention.
“So it was Marie all along, and not Coy who did the shooting.” Will summed up what he’d heard.
“And I’m willing to bet she killed her brother so he wouldn’t talk,” Beau said.
“That, and to frame Nigel so she could clear him and have Stella in her debt,” Sky added. “Marie’s a clever woman.”
“And colder than a rattlesnake,” Will said. “After hearing this, I can imagine she’s capable of anything.”
Sky put down his fork. “Beau, I know you wanted to give Marie more time in the hope of building a solid case and trapping Stella. But we’ve got photos of her boot prints at the seep and we’ve got Jasper as a witness to his own shooting. If nothing else, that should be enough to put her behind bars for attempted murder.” He glanced toward Jasper. “Our friend here deserves justice for what she did to him. I say we call the sheriff, tell him what we know, and have him arrest her.”
“That gets my vote,” Will said. “The sooner that woman’s locked up, the better. Go ahead, Beau. Call him.”
“All right. I’ll call him.” Beau stood, resistance showing in the tight set of his jaw. His expression was one Sky had come to recognize. It wasn’t the decision to call Abner that rankled him. It was taking Will’s constant orders. With the tension and worry brought on by the drought, both brothers were close to the snapping point. Sky could only hope the family—his family—could survive the blowup that was building like thunderheads before a summer storm.
Beau walked out onto the back porch to make the call. Sky could hear his voice through the screen door, but Sky couldn’t make out what he was saying. Minutes later Beau walked back into the house, an impatient scowl on his face.
“I got Abner on his cell phone,” he said. “He’s at a law enforcement conference in Austin, won’t be back till Monday.”
“Can’t he just have his deputies make the arrest?” Sky asked.
Beau shook his head. “I told him what we’d learned and what we suspected. But Abner wants to handle this business in person. With the election coming up, you can guess why. As long as Marie doesn’t know we’re on to her, he doesn’t think it’ll hurt to wait a few more days.”
“Abner’s a fool,” Will said. “Anything could happen between now and the time he gets back.”
“Tell that to Abner.” Beau shrugged and sat down to finish his breakfast. “Why don’t you call him? Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.”
Will didn’t answer. The air between the two brothers crackled with tension. Sky didn’t like it, but he knew better than to interfere. Trying to calm the pair would only make things worse.
And he had his own share of worries. He’d lost all sympathy for Marie. But there were other concerns—the horses that needed training, the evacuation plans in case of fire....
And there was Lauren. Lauren most of all.
On Friday afternoon Sky, who’d been working sixteen-hour days with the horses, took some needed time off to pick up Lauren at the hospital and stay with her. Will had invited her to recover at the ranch, but she asked Sky to pass on her thanks and insisted she’d rest better at home.
“That’s fine,” Will told Sky over the phone. “But let her know she’s expected here for Sunday dinner. The girl might as well know what she’ll be in for if she decides to stick around.”
Now where had that come from? Sky wondered as the phone call ended. He’d tried to hide his plan to propose to Lauren, but if Will could read him so easily, the secret must be out.
Lauren’s cracked ribs were still painful, the gash on her head stitched and bandaged with surgical tape. Sky had hoped she’d have the good sense to lie down and nap, but he should’ve known better. She spent most of the time going over the details of Monday’s funeral—the program for the modest service, the grave in the family plot, which Sky planned to dig with the small backhoe borrowed from the Rimrock, the condition of the house and yard, and the catered buffet to be served after the burial. And she hadn’t forgotten Storm Cloud. She wasn’t well enough to ride, but she’d visited his stall to groom him and feed him a carrot.
Although flowers and cards were already pouring in, the gathering at the graveside wouldn’t be a large one. Most of the senders, including the governor and the Texas congressional delegation, had sent sympathies and regrets. With an election coming up, nobody wanted to be seen or photographed at Garn Prescott’s funeral. His campaign staff would likely be at the service in Lubbock, and some of the syndicate crew would drop by the house to pay their respects and sample the buffet. But it was sad to discover how few true friends the man had.
Bernice had sent over
some lasagna and salad for supper. As the twilight deepened outside, Sky took the warmed casserole dish out of the oven and set two places at the dining room table and Lauren found another bottle of vintage wine in the cabinet.
Sky had yet to tell her the story of his parents. He’d meant to do it this afternoon, but the right moment hadn’t come. As he helped Lauren with her chair, he realized there might never be a better time than now.
But how could he begin? He gazed at the lovely, impassive face in the photo above the table, as if silently asking for help.
“She was very beautiful, wasn’t she?” Lauren said.
“She was my mother, Lauren.”
Lauren smiled. “I’d already guessed as much. You look so much like her, that dark coloring and those high cheekbones. But where did you get those deep blue eyes? That’s what I’d like to know.”
Incredibly, she’d opened the way. Sky let the words flow, repeating everything Jasper had told him—his mother’s affair with Bull Tyler, how she’d left Texas when she learned she was pregnant, and how Ferg Prescott, Lauren’s own grandfather, had blackmailed Bull out of that canyon land. He told it all from awkward beginning to painful end, how his aunt and uncle had stolen the money Bull sent, and how his mother had died, leaving her son to grow up in a family of abusers and criminals. He told her how he’d run away at fifteen and come to the Rimrock, where the father who never acknowledged him in life had taken him in, given him work, and willed him his own piece of land.
When he’d finished, Sky waited in silence, half expecting her to be repelled by the sordid story—and by him, the illegitimate son of her grandfather’s servant.
At last she spoke. “So Will and Beau don’t know you’re their brother.”
“If Bull had wanted them to know, I figure he wouldn’t have deeded your grandpa that land. They won’t hear it from me—and not from you, either, I trust, now that you know.”
“Of course not. . . .” Her voice broke on the last word. Tears glimmered in her copper-flecked eyes. “Oh, Sky!”
Lauren rose, walked around to his chair, slid onto his lap, and circled him with her arms. She held him tightly, pressing his face into the warm hollow between her breasts. For a long time they stayed like that, both of them trembling. Sky breathed in her sweet, musky aroma, filling his senses. She smelled like love, he thought.
He could ask her to marry him now. But no, he wanted to do it right, after she’d healed and after he’d had the chance to buy her a ring. The whole schmaltzy knee-on-the-ground thing—he’d always thought it looked silly, but he wanted to do it all.
Some things were worth taking time.
CHAPTER 18
Lauren gazed around the Tylers’ Sunday dinner table, grateful for the good people who’d done their best to make her feel welcome here. Her eyes lingered briefly on each face. Will, at the head of the table, seemed to have aged since she’d met him. The creases had deepened at the corners of his eyes, and his dark brown hair was showing strands of gray. Worry over the drought was taking its toll on the boss of the Rimrock.
Beau, her first friend on the ranch, sat next to Natalie. With their wedding coming up and a baby on the way, he had every reason to be happy. But today he was uncharacteristically quiet, his expression uneasy, as if he were waiting for a bomb to explode.
Jasper was glancing from brother to brother, clearly sensing trouble. Bernice, who’d labored all morning to prepare a delicious pot roast with all the trimmings, simply looked tired.
Tori sat on Will’s right, her lovely eyes casting concerned looks in his direction. What had happened between these two people who seemed to care so deeply for each other? Even though Tori had become her friend, Lauren suspected she would never know the full story.
“But I want to stay here!” Erin was pouting. Her parents had agreed that she should go home with her mother until drought conditions improved at the ranch and Will had more time to be with her. The real reason—the danger of a terrible wildfire—hadn’t been mentioned in her hearing. No one wanted to frighten the girl.
“What if something happens to Tesoro? What if he doesn’t remember me when I come back?”
“He’ll be fine.” Will’s gruff manner showed the strain he was under. “Stop arguing, Erin. It’s time you learned that you can’t always have your way.”
“I have a suggestion.” It was Natalie who spoke. “If somebody would bring Tesoro and his mother into town, they could stay in my corral behind the clinic. Erin could even help out around the place to pay for their board. I really could use her. With the baby coming, I don’t have the energy I used to.”
Erin’s blue eyes lit. “Oh, I’d love that! Please say yes, Daddy! Sky could haul them to Natalie’s place in the trailer.”
“The horses will be fine where they are. And Sky can’t spare the time right now.” Will was clearly running out of patience.
Sitting next to Sky, Lauren sensed the tension at the table. Will was Sky’s boss. But Sky was partial to Erin and to those horses. Would he speak up? But why wonder? She should have known he would.
“No, listen, Will, it’s a good idea,” he said. “Think about it. The mare and foal would be fine, Erin would be happy, and Natalie would have the help she needs. It wouldn’t take me an hour to load those horses, drive them to Natalie’s, and come back here.”
“And I wouldn’t be stuck with a complaining daughter,” Tori said. “I agree, Will, it’s the perfect solution. I’ll take Erin home with me today, and Sky can bring the horses when he has time.”
Will scowled at the faces around the table. “Looks like I’m outvoted. If this keeps up I won’t have any say around here.”
“How soon can you bring Tesoro and Lupita, Sky?” Erin was all sunshine now.
Sky glanced at Lauren before he spoke. “The funeral for Lauren’s father is tomorrow. I won’t have time to move the horses till it’s over. But I’ll shoot for the end of the day, or the day after. How’s that?”
“Fine.” Erin gave him a grin. Lauren reached for his hand under the table. She’d learned that Sky had a quiet way of making things go smoothly, seeing what needed to be done, and doing it with a minimum of fuss. He’d been a godsend since her release from the hospital, helping her plan the funeral and get the house ready for the gathering afterward. Still in pain and needing a lot of rest, she could never have managed on her own.
Two nights ago when he’d told her his story and they’d held each other, she’d known—as if she’d ever doubted it—that Sky Fletcher was the love of her life and that no force on earth could stop her from marrying him.
The only trouble was, Sky hadn’t asked her.
The idea that he was Bull Tyler’s son was still sinking in. Glancing at his secret half brothers, Lauren could see traces of resemblance—Will’s cobalt eyes; Beau’s stubborn, slightly cleft chin. The bloodline and the land Bull had left him might have made a difference to her father. But to her he was just plain Sky, the man she loved.
“Bernice,” Will demanded. “How about some of that apple pie I smelled baking earlier?”
“I’ll get it.” Tori spoke before Bernice could rise off her chair. “Come on, Erin, you can clear and serve.”
Erin followed her mother into the kitchen and was soon scampering back and forth, taking the dinner plates and returning with saucers of homemade apple pie, each one topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. What a blessed child she was, Lauren thought—happy, secure, and surrounded by love every minute of her life. Lauren could only dream of raising her own children with the same kind of love, in a home on the land she’d seen with Sky. But what if she was jumping too far ahead? What if she was planning a future that could vanish like virga, the phantom rain that fell from the clouds but never reached the thirsty ground?
Tori and Erin had just sat down with their desserts when Beau tapped his glass for attention. Sliding back his chair, he rose. “I have an announcement to make,” he said.
“You goin’ to tell us it’
s twins?” Jasper’s attempt at a joke fell flat. Beau wasn’t smiling. And Natalie’s expression appeared more worried than happy.
“I hope you’re going to tell us you’ve set a wedding date.” Tori spoke into the awkward silence.
“That’s part of it, yes,” Beau said. “We’re getting married the fifteenth of August.”
A smatter of applause went around the table. Will’s eyes narrowed. “Congratulations. Now tell us the rest.”
“I was getting to that,” Beau said. “After the wedding, Natalie and I are leaving. We’re moving to DC.”
Will’s features froze. His color deepened. “The devil you are,” he snapped.
“Hear me out, Will.” Beau stood his ground. “I said I’d give ranch life a try. But things haven’t worked out between you and me, and it’ll be even more of a trial to keep you happy after Natalie and I get married and the baby comes. Natalie’s found a young vet, a family man, who’ll lease her house and clinic and take over her practice. And I’ve accepted an offer from the DEA. I get my old job back at a higher salary starting September first.”
There was dead silence around the table. Will’s taut voice broke it. “You know the terms of Dad’s will. If you leave, your share of the ranch drops to twenty-five percent.”
“I’m aware of that,” Beau said. “And I’ll get along fine on whatever’s left to me. Believe me, twenty-five percent of this place isn’t worth my sanity, or my family’s future.”
“What about Natalie?” Will argued. “She’s built up her practice here.”
Beau’s hand moved to Natalie’s shoulder. “We’ve talked about this. There are plenty of animals around DC, including horses. When Natalie’s ready, she’ll have no trouble finding work. Meanwhile, she can focus on resting, getting ready for the baby, and being a mother.”
Will was silent, but Lauren could sense the explosion building. Erin was close to tears. Lauren knew Will’s daughter had been excited about having her new little cousin close by. Tori looked stricken. Surely Natalie would have shared this news ahead of time, but it didn’t appear that way.
