The Texas Rancher's Family

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  He had never envisioned himself as a small-town kind of guy, never mind a small-town-in-West-Texas kind of guy. But he had to admit that Laramie, and the folks who resided here, were growing on him.

  “Do you see my dad anywhere?” Stevie asked, looking around anxiously. “’Cause I can’t find him yet.”

  “I haven’t, but when—” if “—I do I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

  “Thanks, Mac.” Stevie embraced Mac and resumed his place in line.

  And so it went. Erin’s boys spent the entire day scanning the crowds, looking for G.W. By the time the participation ribbons were passed out at two-thirty, both were visibly upset about his absence. Mac couldn’t blame them.

  “Anyone up for some ice cream?” he asked that evening, after a dinner of take-out pizza and salad.

  Sammy shook his head and glanced down at the rainbow of blue, red and green ribbons pinned to his spirit shirt.

  “Nah. No thanks, Mac,” Stevie mumbled.

  “They can’t eat because they’re sad, Daddy,” Heather announced. “Because their daddy didn’t show up today when he was s’posed to.” She looked at the boys, clearly sharing their pain.

  Her face tight with repressed anger, Erin got up to clear the table.

  “Well, maybe it would help to ride your bikes a little before bath time.” Sensing Erin needed some time alone to compose herself, Mac stood. “Come on, everyone. I’ll go with you.”

  As they walked over to the garage, he asked casually, “So what are you guys going to do with your ribbons?”

  They looked at each other, shrugged.

  “I don’t know,” Stevie said.

  “I was going to show my dad,” Sammy reflected sadly.

  “You still can. Next time you see him.” Whenever that was.

  “Nah,” Sammy and Stevie said in tandem, with an acceptance that broke Mac’s heart.

  Sammy kicked at the ground. “He probably wouldn’t care, anyway.”

  Maybe not. But they were just kids. And it wasn’t the kind of situation they should be dealing with.

  Mac gazed fondly at the boys. “Well, I care.”

  “So do I,” Heather declared.

  “And I know your mom is very proud of you,” Mac continued, clapping a congratulatory hand on each boy’s shoulder. “I mean, think about it. You got green ribbons for everything you participated in, red ribbons for every challenge you completed, and blue ribbons for every event where you scored in the highest range. You each came home with ten ribbons. That’s pretty darn impressive if you ask me.”

  Slowly, the boys began to grin.

  “You’re really proud of us?” Sammy asked.

  Mac felt emotion well in his chest. “I really am.” He hugged each boy in turn, then turned to embrace his daughter, too. “And I’m really glad I got to come to your school today and be a part of it.”

  “Next time,” Heather declared, “I want to go there, too.”

  “Go where?” Erin said, coming up behind them.

  Mac could tell from the look on her face that she still seemed to be simmering with anger. “Track and field day at Laramie Elementary,” he explained.

  “No, Daddy,” Heather corrected, “I want to live here. And go to Laramie Elementary School with Sammy and Stevie—not just for one day, but all the time.”

  * * *

  “YOUR LITTLE GIRL REALLY knows what she wants,” Erin told Mac an hour and a half later. Heather hadn’t stopped talking about Texas and public school, and was still going on about it as Erin and Mac tucked all the kids into bed.

  “That she does,” Mac joked as the two of them walked out onto the back porch to enjoy what was left of the sunset.

  Erin sank down on the cushioned swing. “Seriously, thanks for saying whatever it was you said to the boys after dinner. They seemed a lot better.”

  Mac settled beside her, so close their hips and shoulders touched. “I just told them how proud I was of them, what a good job they did.”

  Erin passed on the opportunity to move farther away. “I’m glad you were able to see it.”

  His hand covered hers. “Me, too.”

  A comfortable silence fell as they swung gently back and forth. “Speaking of feeling better, you seem a little less upset,” he noted at last.

  There was, Erin knew, a reason for that. “I called G.W. He didn’t answer, but I left a message on his voice mail, telling him exactly what I thought of his actions.” She sighed. “He probably won’t be too happy with me. But this once, his absence was so hurtful to the kids, I felt I had to do it.”

  Mac slanted her a glance. “Do you think he’ll get the message?”

  “I wish he would, but...he probably won’t. When he does show up he’ll be full of excuses, saying he tried his hardest to be here for them, but work got in the way, yada yada yada.”

  Mac tightened his hand around hers. “How will the boys react if and when that happens?”

  Erin closed her eyes. “I’m sure they’ll forgive him, because G.W. will try to buy them off with an elaborate gift of some sort. Whatever it is, it will be over the top, he’ll be all smiles, and their hearts will be mended once again.” Erin shifted so she could look at Mac’s face. “But I don’t want to talk about my ex-husband. I want to talk about you and your heroics today. You surprised everyone, Mac, by showing up at field day.”

  “Even me.”

  Perplexed, she wrinkled her brow.

  “It’s not the kind of thing I usually do.”

  She could believe that. The man who’d come to Texas a few weeks ago was a business-suit-and-briefcase kind of guy. Slowly, inevitably, as he’d continued to hang out in their casual, close-knit community, all that had changed.

  Determined to be honest, she let him know about the gossip currently making the rounds. “Half the people think you volunteered today to further establish yourself as a good guy and up your popularity with the residents. They figure that if the ranch folks of Laramie are more inclined to support the wind farm, then your proposal will be a shoo-in with the county. After all, the commissioners always vote the way the majority of the constituents want.”

  “And the other half?”

  “Think you were doing it to score points with me.”

  Erin couldn’t believe she had blurted that out. Since she had, she watched for his reaction.

  His face remained maddeningly implacable.

  Mac searched her eyes. “And what do you think?”

  Erin thought about it, then said, “I think you did it for the kids.”

  “Hmm.”

  “So which is it?” she insisted playfully, when he offered nothing more.

  He shrugged and continued holding her hand. “Would you believe all three?”

  “You’re going to have to explain that one.”

  His smile widened. “I am a good guy. I don’t mind people knowing that. Volunteering today gave me a chance to get to know a lot of the other parents in the community better.”

  Erin inhaled the clean, just-showered scent of him. “And you needed to do that because...”

  He looked at her a long moment. “I’m thinking maybe Heather needs something other than city life. Maybe it’s time I sold our apartment in the city and started looking for a small, suburban town for us to live in. I think she—we—might be happier.”

  “And the other reasons?” Erin probed, aware how right it felt, sitting with him like this, after the kids were all in bed.

  Mac sobered. “I wanted Sammy and Stevie to feel supported. If their dad wasn’t going to be there—and your brothers, who usually stand in for him in some way, couldn’t, either—I wanted to be there for the boys.”

  Gratitude mixed with something stronger. “And you were,” Erin stated with heartfelt sincerity. “And you did a great, great job with them.”

  “Thanks.”

  He smiled and tightened his clasp on her hand. Which made Erin wonder. “What about the part about you hitting on me?”
/>   Mischief glimmered in his vibrant blue eyes. “Oh, that was true. It was definitely true.”

  Erin playfully slapped his shoulder.

  He caught that hand, too. “Hey. I didn’t mean literally hitting on each other. I meant hitting on each other...like this....” He used his grip to pull her onto his lap.

  “Mac.” Her body throbbing, Erin splayed her hands on his chest. She could feel his arousal beneath the denim of his pants.

  He settled her more comfortably and threaded his hands through the hair at her nape. “I wanted you to see me as this big studly guy in a too-loose field-day T-shirt,” he continued with mock seriousness.

  Her nipples beading beneath her shirt, she looked down her nose at him. “The shirt wasn’t all that loose.”

  His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on.” Erin scoffed, wanting to kiss him so badly she could taste him. “I don’t have to spell it out for you.”

  His thumb rubbed her lower lip. “I’m afraid you do.”

  She exhaled sharply. “That T-shirt did great things for you—you and your powerful shoulders.”

  “Powerful, hmm?” He traced her upper lip, as well.

  “And your rippling pecs and washboard abs.” It was all she could do not to moan when his thumb slipped inside her mouth, to stroke there.

  He looked pointedly down at her chest. “Your T-shirt molded to you, too.” His eyes caressed what she wished his fingers would, moving slowly over her curves. “It showcased your trim waist and your gorgeous breasts.” He lingered there, then ran his free hand down her hip to her thigh. “I was turned on all day.”

  He was still turned on, judging by the heat and strength of his arousal. However, mischief prompted her to differ. “No, you weren’t.”

  Mac used his hand to press her closer against him. “Yeah. I was.”

  Lord, how she wanted him! Erin gulped, wishing they could make love right now, right here. “Maybe you are,” she whispered back.

  That was all it took for him to pull her all the way into his arms and deliver a long, hot kiss erotic enough to make her whimper. “Mac...” Erin quivered with need. “We can’t go inside. The kids are all sleeping. Nicholas is studying. The twins and Gavin could be home at any minute.”

  As if on cue, a car pulled into the lane leading up to the ranch house.

  By the time Bridget and Bess got out, Erin was out of the swing and sitting opposite Mac in a chair. She’d plucked her shirt away from the telltale evidence on her chest. He’d done the same with his pants. Fortunately, it had gotten a whole lot darker since they had come out here. Although nothing, Erin decided, could hide that glint in his eyes. The look that said he wanted to make her his as soon as possible.

  The twins smiled at them, as if sensing how happy it made her to be with Mac.

  “What are you two doing out here?” Bridget asked, all-innocence.

  Erin gestured airily. “Just relaxing a little. Talking.”

  “And thinking about checking out the band at the Lone Star Dance Hall,” Mac said.

  Erin glanced at him in surprise. “It’s not a live band during the week,” she felt obliged to point out. “Just a DJ. And they close at eleven, not 1:00 a.m., as they do on the weekends.”

  “Makes sense, it being a weeknight and all.”

  Bess nodded in approval. “It sounds fun.”

  “Heaven only knows how long it’s been since you kicked up your heels like that, sis,” Bridget agreed.

  “Years,” Erin said drily. To the point that she felt almost too old and matronly to even consider it.

  “Well then, go!” Bridget said.

  Bess volunteered, “We’ll watch the kids.”

  Erin turned to Mac, hardly able to believe he’d opened up this can of worms. “You really want to go Texas two-stepping? Now?” she asked, aghast.

  Mac stood. “You bet I do.”

  * * *

  THERE WERE MANY REASONS why they shouldn’t go to the dance hall. Erin went over them as Mac drove to town. Primary among them was the fact that if she did actually go on a date with him she might lose all common sense and do something really foolish—like fall head over heels in love with him.

  “Aren’t you worried this is going to complicate matters?” she asked. “We’re in the midst of a business deal. Or one you’re attempting to make with my family, in any case.” She still hadn’t decided what she was going to do. Although she knew what the rest of them wanted.

  He slanted her an indulgent glance. “It’s customary for the sales exec to take the client out for a meal or entertainment in the midst of big deals.”

  Mmm-hmm. He was trying to seduce her and win her over to the wind farm idea.

  “And exactly how many clients have you danced with?”

  Comically, he clapped a hand to his heart. “You’re going to dance with me? I thought we were just going to have a beer and listen to the music.”

  Erin told herself not to succumb to his charm. Not when her heart was on the line. “Answer the question, cowboy.”

  “None,” he admitted with total sobriety.

  Erin breathed a secret sigh of relief. “Then why me?” she asked as the scenery whizzed by.

  He scoffed. “You know why.”

  She did and she didn’t. Erin knitted her hands together in her lap. “I need you to spell it out for me.”

  His lips thinned. “You’ve had a rough few years. As, I might add, have I.”

  “So it’s a mutual pity party?”

  Mac rolled his eyes. “More like the opposite.” Without warning, he steered the SUV onto the shoulder, put the vehicle in Park, released his seat belt and took her in his arms. He smoothed the hair from her face, his voice as tender as the expression on his face. “The only things I’ve had in my life the past couple of years are my work and my kid. That’s all I’ve wanted. And I know you understand that.”

  She did.

  Mac inhaled. “Then I come here...” He paused to look deep into her eyes. “And Heather and I start spending time with you and your family—and I realize how much more there is to life than what I’ve allowed myself.” He brushed a kiss across Erin’s temple, another on her cheek. “I want to have fun tonight.” He gave her an extra squeeze, then kissed her sweetly once again. “And I want to have it with you.”

  * * *

  IT WAS NEARLY TEN by the time they walked into the Lone Star Dance Hall, to the foot-tapping strains of “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You.”

  Her smile faded.

  Mac followed the direction of Erin’s gaze and saw her ex-husband seated at a table with three other gentlemen. To G.W.’s left were two county commissioners Mac had yet to get totally on board with his plan. Seated to his right was Erin’s well-to-do neighbor—a single guy from Dallas who used his small, two-hundred-acre ranch as a tax shelter and weekend retreat. Drinks in front of them, they were all huddled in conversation.

  “I don’t believe it,” Erin fumed.

  Mac didn’t, either. Talk about a worst-case scenario. Grasping her elbow, he leaned down to murmur in her ear, “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

  The music ended.

  One of G.W.’s tablemates elbowed him and nodded in their direction.

  G.W. turned, made eye contact with Erin and rose.

  Mac bit down on a curse as her ex ambled over.

  Erin’s fury intensified. “I can’t believe you’re here in Laramie!”

  G.W. shrugged. “I got in a couple of hours ago.”

  She looked as if she wanted to deck him. “Just after field day ended,” she pointed out.

  He looked unconcerned. “The boys will understand why I wasn’t there.”

  Erin threw up her hands in dismay. “You broke their hearts, G.W.! Again!”

  He shook his head in wordless disagreement. Pushed on. “Have you given any more thought to Horizon Oil Company’s offer?”

  Erin glared. “No.”

  G.W.’s jaw tightened. �
�If you care at all about the financial future of our sons, you’ll think about it,” he advised. “’Cause you’re still Horizon Oil’s first choice, but it’s not going to stay that way for long, honey. You can expect to see our formal offer tomorrow, after which you’ll have five days to think about it. That’s it. Then it’s gone...and we’ll give it to your neighbor to the south, who, by the way, is more than receptive.”

  G.W. tipped his hat and walked back to the table, where it seemed the party was already breaking up. Members of the group said hello to Erin and Mac as they passed on their way through the front door.

  “Did you have any idea they were going to be here?” Erin asked.

  Mac shook his head, taking in her miserable expression. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I had.”

  “Well, great.” Erin sighed. “They sure threw a wrench into our evening.”

  “Not unless we let them,” Mac retorted. Determined to recoup their earlier high spirits, he slid his hand under her elbow and led her toward the crowded bar. “Two Shiner Bock beers on draft,” he told the bartender.

  Erin angled her chin at him. “I thought you wanted to go.”

  “Not anymore.” As their eyes met, chemistry sizzled between them. “We came here to enjoy ourselves tonight. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  * * *

  MAC WAS RIGHT, Erin thought, as the two of them clinked mugs. She couldn’t change what had happened earlier in the day. She could, however, control how the rest of her evening went.

  She put her lips to the frosted rim and took a sip of the cold, invigorating beer. It went down smooth and easy. And damn if it didn’t feel good to be standing here, face-to-face with one of the most handsome men she had ever met. “You going to show me a good time, cowboy?” she asked with a sassy grin.

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Did you ever have any doubts?”

  They downed the rest of their beers, then headed for the dance floor. Together, they two-stepped their way around the floor to the beat of an old Kenny Chesney song. Swayed together to a Miranda Lambert ballad. And boogied to The Calling’s “Wherever You Will Go.”

  There was no need to talk. No need to do anything but dance. By the time the DJ called the last song, Erin felt lighter and happier than she had in a long, long time. Together, she and Mac headed out to the parking lot.