“Spaghetti. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is. Do you get your sauce from a jar?”
“Absolutely not.” He headed for the stove. “Homemade sauce. It’s the only thing I can cook other than what I throw on the grill.”
“Jenna is with my grandmother,” she said as she took a seat at the island. “I didn’t expect to see her.”
“No, I guess I should have warned you.”
She shrugged. “Probably better that you didn’t. Sometimes a surprise attack is best. I wasn’t able to prepare myself to be angry.”
He turned from the stove, spoon in hand. She smiled again, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“You do make a cute chef.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I think.”
“It was a compliment,” she said, her voice trailing off to a softness that had him moving toward her.
“We should eat before we talk.”
She nodded. “Yes, we should. But I don’t know if I can wait. I don’t know how to do this.”
“I know that my dad threatened Iva.” He couldn’t soften the words. It still made him angry.
“Jenna told you?”
“Yeah. The only thing she wouldn’t tell me is what she did.”
She got up and helped herself to a glass of tea from the pitcher on the counter. She stood in the corner of the kitchen, leaning against the cabinet, the glass between her hands. He wanted to move closer. He knew better.
This wasn’t the girl he’d known all those years ago. She was a woman who knew herself, knew what she wanted.
“It was silly girl drama,” she said from her place in the corner of his kitchen. “It hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Just the average gossip about the Donovans and how we bought our clothes secondhand. She said one thing that mattered. She said you had found someone at college who was better for you than I would ever be. Here I was thinking you’d come home over the summer and we’d make plans for the future. I know I was just eighteen, but I loved you, Carson. I wanted to spend my life with you. It broke my heart to think that I could be so easily replaced.”
“You were never replaced, Ruby. There was no one but you. Jenna did that because she was jealous of you. She needed more attention. She was lonely and missing our mom and she took that out on you.”
Her eyes glittered with unshed tears and when he started to move toward her she held up a hand, stopping him. “I would have left anyway.”
The words froze him. “The money? Was it really that important? You had scholarships.”
She brushed a hand across her eyes and shook her head. “I didn’t take the stupid check, Carson. I mean I took it and then I ripped it up. Your dad knew that. He would have known because it never came out of his account.”
The circle of deception amazed him. His dad and his sister had done everything in their power to hurt her.
“Carson, he threatened Iva. I couldn’t let him hurt her. Now, as an adult, I realize he couldn’t have done anything to my grandmother. If he’d tried, people would have rallied around her. But I didn’t know. I just knew that if I left, she’d be safe. My brother would be safe. Now I’m back and they’re the farthest thing from safe. Every single day I worry that something will happen and that Derek will be arrested, charged with these thefts.”
“If he’s innocent, that won’t happen.”
“If?”
He knew he’d messed up by the way her eyes narrowed and the word came out like a hiss.
“He isn’t going to be arrested for crimes he hasn’t committed.” And still it sounded wrong.
The spaghetti sauce was bubbling and he could feel this dinner heading south. He reached to turn off the burner and then he focused on the woman standing in his kitchen, her back straight.
“This is why we won’t work, Carson. Because we’re always going to be the couple that doesn’t fit. My life and yours, we’re worlds apart. Your sister comes home from living a life that included neglecting her child and she’s immediately sheltered, protected and people will forgive her. Because she’s a Thorn.
“Derek is always going to be the suspect in every crime because when he was eighteen he stole something. I’m not going to call it a mistake. It was a crime that he committed and it was wrong. But he should be allowed to change just the same as Jenna is allowed to change.”
“I agree.”
“But...”
He didn’t know what to say. He did know enough about women to know that he probably couldn’t say the right thing at this point.
“Derek and Jenna have both made mistakes. They both deserve forgiveness.” He didn’t mean for the hopeful tone to sneak in to the words, almost as if he was asking her to approve of what he’d just said.
“Yes, they do. I’m done with this town, Carson. I’m done living here where everyone points fingers at the Donovans. I’m the offspring of a man who sold off half his family land in order to fund his rodeo career. I’m the woman who took your daddy’s money to walk away from you. I’m the sister of Derek Donovan, the ex-con.”
“You’re a woman who is strong and takes care of her family.”
The right words. Her features softened.
“Is it enough, Carson? Is it ever going to be enough? Or should we sell off and leave Little Horn? Derek could have a fresh start somewhere else. We could find a town where he isn’t always the suspect.”
“Maybe that isn’t what he wants?” He dished her up a plate of spaghetti as he talked. “Try letting people make their own choices, Ruby. I would have chosen you.”
She took the plate with hands that trembled. “You might have. Or you might have given in to pressure. If I hadn’t left, I think your dad would have found other ways to force us apart.”
“He might have,” he said, fixing his own plate. “But that’s all in the past.”
“Right, but the present isn’t exactly smooth sailing.”
He led her to the dining room. He’d bought flowers, lit candles and managed to make the place appear halfway romantic. He doubted she would notice. She took a seat at one end of the table, leaving him the head of the table. He sat, reaching for her hand to pray.
The gesture must have surprised her. She looked up, her lips slightly parted.
“I’m going to pray, Ruby. And I’m going to remind you that life doesn’t guarantee us smooth sailing.”
“I know. I really do know that. I keep thinking that God has some greater plan for all of this. For the doubts, for Derek, for our community. How do we get through this if we lose sight of what is important, our faith and our community, and start to tear each other apart with suspicion and accusation?”
“I think the community has to be reminded of that.” He lifted the hand he held and kissed it. And then he prayed.
They were taking their first bites when his cell phone rang. It was Lucy. He shook his head, not wanting to answer but knowing he had to.
“This can’t be good.”
“Who is it?” Ruby asked as he lifted the phone to his ear.
“Lucy,” he said.
She went a little pale and pushed away her plate. He listened as Lucy filled him in on what was going on, and then he ended the call and set his phone on the table.
“This isn’t good, is it?” Ruby asked.
“The McKay place got hit again. This is the second time this month.”
“Great.”
“Let’s take a drive over there,” Carson suggested. “After we eat.”
“As if I can eat another bite.”
Carson had to agree. “I guess you aren’t going to comment on the flowers and the candlelight?”
She smiled at that, reaching to touch a rose in the bouquet at the center of the table. “They are beautiful. You had Bobbi Ann do this, didn’t you?”
“A guy who wears a Kiss The Cook apron has a few skills other than cooking.”
She stood, picked up his plate and stacked it on hers. “I think I should leave the room while I can.”
&
nbsp; “You’re hard on a man’s self-esteem.”
“Maybe I’m here to keep you from thinking too highly of yourself,” she teased.
He took the plates from her hands and set them in the sink. And then, before she could think twice, because he didn’t want her to think, he pulled her close. Her lips parted and he took advantage, covering her mouth with his. She felt good in his arms. She felt right.
She was wrong. The present wasn’t such a terrible place to be.
But it was a complicated place. He brushed his lips over hers, kissed her slow and steady, holding her close. And then he eased away from her.
“We should go,” she reminded in a soft voice that made him want to never leave. He kept his hands on her waist, wanting to pull her to him again.
“We should definitely go,” he admitted. “But we’re not finished, Ruby.”
She didn’t agree. Instead, she found her purse and headed for the front door. He knew the reason for her hurry. She was afraid that Derek would be accused. Byron McKay had it out for the younger man. He’d always had it out for the Donovans. It had something to do with a girl in high school. That’s what Carson’s dad had once told him. Byron McKay and Earl Donovan had both wanted the same girl. Earl had gotten her.
That girl had been Derek and Ruby’s mom. He would have thought it would make Byron a little kinder to them. Maybe they reminded him too much of what he’d lost.
He could understand how he’d feel. He knew how it had felt to lose Ruby. He knew how he felt when she talked about leaving town.
* * *
Blue lights flashed through the night sky. Ruby clasped her hands in her lap as Carson drove his truck through the gate and up the driveway of the McKay ranch. The place was huge. Sprawling. The house was enormous. The acreage was vast. The outbuildings were larger than some department stores.
How did someone with this much even know that he’d lost something? Byron could lose his family on this place for days and not realize he was alone.
“My mom dated him, you know,” she spoke into the silent cab of the truck.
“Yeah, my dad told me.”
“She said it was better to be church-mouse poor with a man who loved her than to live like royalty with a man who would have made her miserable.”
“Wise woman,” he said as he pulled to a stop behind a state trooper’s car.
“Yes, she was.” Ruby got out of the truck and the two of them walked up to the big barn.
They couldn’t miss Byron. He stood in front of Lucy waving his hands as he roared about being hit twice and how she should do her job. Ruby figured that kind of response wouldn’t make Lucy want to keep his place safe from thieves.
“So would it be safe to assume that the thief isn’t too fond of Byron McKay,” she whispered to Carson.
He laughed at that. “I’d say that makes about half the county suspects.”
Byron spotted them. “Where’s that brother of yours?”
Lucy put a hand on his arm. “Byron, we’re here to investigate, and it won’t help anyone if you start pointing fingers.”
“I’ve lost thousands of dollars in machinery and tack. I’m not going to let you mess up this investigation because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.” He took a few steps and was face-to-face with Ruby.
She tried to stand a little taller and ignored Carson next to her, because this wasn’t his fight. “Byron, my brother is out on a date.”
“And you think he couldn’t talk that little girl into covering for him?” Byron slammed the words out, his anger fueling his voice to a decibel Ruby wouldn’t have believed possible.
She purposefully kept her voice soft, making him lean in to listen. “I’m sure she does like him, but just because they are dating doesn’t mean she’d stoop to criminal activity to protect him. I’m not sure how insulting everyone in the county is going to catch a thief. Byron, the only thing you’re doing is destroying a community that has always stayed together. How will Little Horn survive if everyone starts accusing and back-biting?”
“That isn’t really my concern, little girl.” He spat the words.
Ruby wiped her cheek and looked him in the eye. “I’m not your little girl.”
“No, you aren’t.”
Lucy stepped between them. “Ruby, have you seen Derek this evening?”
At that Ruby groaned. “So you are accusing him?”
Lucy expression softened. “No, but I have to ask. He was seen walking down the highway about two hours ago.”
“He’s with Alyssa Meadows. She picked him up at five this afternoon. I don’t know where they went after that.”
“I need to talk to him,” Lucy said, her gaze darting from Ruby to Carson. “It’s just procedure.”
“Right. I understand.” Ruby let out a sigh. She hated this. She hated that her brother was a suspect. She hated the tiny seed of doubt that had been planted in her own mind. Because she’d seen him leave with Alyssa. They’d been on their way to her parents’ place for dinner and then to the movies.
“I’ll have him come in tomorrow.” Lucy turned back to her officer and the state officer that were on scene. “Let’s see what we can find. Remember to look for tire tracks, and we’ll see if we can’t put the same vehicle at all of our robberies.”
Ruby backed away from the scene. She backed away from Carson, who had stopped to talk to one of the officers. Tom Horton, a local rancher and not someone Ruby had ever known well, stepped up to talk to the group. He was one of the men involved in the newly formed league investigation committee.
Out of nowhere the McKay twins appeared. They stood back a little behind their dad. As Ruby waited for Carson they shot her twin looks of sympathy. She smiled at the boys, sorry for them because they had to listen to their dad run down everyone in their community. When he started in on Betsy McKay, cousin to the boys, Gareth and Winston stepped forward. She couldn’t hear them but she knew they were defending the girl, who now seemed to be on the list of suspects.
Ruby thought that if the suspects included everyone in the county who had a problem with Byron McKay, the list would be long and complicated.
“Ready to go?” Carson appeared at her side. For a moment she was glad to have him there. He stood at her side, sheltering her, making her feel less alone in this chaotic scene.
Until Tom Horton spoke to Lucy, just a short distance away, telling her that Carson agreed that she should bring Derek Donovan in for questioning.
“I’m walking home.” She turned to leave.
Carson caught her by the arm. “Do not walk away from me.”
“Do not tell me what to do. I’m walking.” She yanked her arm free. She had to keep walking because tears were streaming down her cheeks and she didn’t want him to see her cry.
“Ruby, he has to answer the questions or no one will ever believe he’s innocent.” Carson caught up with her. He walked next to her, still talking. “He was seen walking down the road. That makes him a suspect.”
She held a hand up. “I can’t talk about this right now. I just want to leave. I want to leave this ranch and this town.”
“Now you’re being—”
“Emotional, yes, I know. I had forgotten how it felt to be here, to be a Donovan. For the past eight years I’ve been an employee for the state of Oklahoma, in a community where people respected me and respected my position.”
“People respect you here.”
She shook her head. “I’m going home, Carson.”
“Let me drive you.” He put a hand on hers and led her to the truck. “At least let me take you home.”
She closed her eyes briefly and nodded. “I’m so tired of this. I’m tired of fighting for...”
“For us?”
“I don’t know. I’m tired of fighting everything. I’m fighting to save a ranch. Fighting to save my grandmother and my brother. I’m just tired, Carson. I’m really tired. And I don’t have enough energy for anything else.”
He b
rushed a hand down her cheek, smudging the tears with his thumb. “You’re beautiful.”
She opened the truck door and climbed in, the weariness making her ache deep down, all the way to her heart. She’d counted on him. Maybe that was wrong, but she’d wanted him to defend Derek. She’d wanted him to be more, do more.
And maybe that wasn’t fair, but it was the truth. She needed him. At her side.
But she couldn’t have him. Not right now. Not with the entire town being pulled apart. Not now, when she wondered if they would even be able to keep this ranch and stay in Little Horn.
“I might need to sell the ranch to pay for lawyers,” she admitted. “If that happens, will you buy it?”
“Of course I will. And you can stay in the house. Iva should be able to stay in her home.”
Yes, Iva should. She wanted this all to go away. She didn’t want to feel like a coward, always running from the court of public speculation.
She wanted to stay in this town with this man. And she wanted life to be easy.
That wouldn’t happen. The grown-up side of her knew that life was never easy and that faith grew from tribulation. But part of her wanted to stomp her feet and yell, “Enough!”
Chapter Fifteen
“You can leave.” Ruby hadn’t meant to speak so harshly to Jenna. After all, this time it wasn’t her fault. “I’m sorry. I’m home and thank you for staying with Gran.”
“Gran can thank Jenna herself,” Iva said, stepping into the living room with her walker. “The girl helped me get cleaned up. We put clean sheets on my bed. She’s a keeper, Ruby.”
Ruby briefly closed her eyes and nodded. When she looked up, Jenna and Gran were both watching her. “What?”
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked, handing her a glass of water. “He didn’t poison you with his cooking, did he? He never could cook more than meat on the grill.”
“I’m just tired. There was another incident tonight. The McKay place again.”
“Again?” Iva headed for her chair, easing down with jerking movements that unsettled Ruby and had Jenna hurrying to the older woman’s side.
“Yes, again. Gran, we need to talk.” Ruby stood in the center of the tiny living room where she’d spent the best years of her life. The best. Broke as they’d been, even with those who thought they were a little bit too good for the Donovans, it had been good here.
A Reunion for the Rancher (Lone Star Cowboy League 1) Page 15
