by Renee Roszel
He swore. “Sugar, you really know how to hurt a guy.”
ANNA FUMBLED with the receiver, confused. “Hello?” she said again, rising on an elbow, trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep from her head. It had taken her a long time, but she’d eventually fallen into a deep sleep, and she was having trouble waking up. Something cold touched her lips, and she frowned in bewilderment, then realized what was wrong. She wasn’t at home, or even at the ranch. This was Thad’s place, and the phone she’d grabbed was a fancy brass-and-porcelain thing that sat on the table beside the pull-out couch.
The other party had hung up, and the dial tone was humming in her ear. More than anything she wanted it to have been Dusty calling to tell her the truth. She shook her head. How stupid. Dusty didn’t know she was here. Besides, it was the middle of the night; he’d be in bed now. And, after what she’d said, why would he care if she were alive or dead?
As she started to replace the receiver, she heard another voice. “Uh, he-hello?”
It was Thad, belatedly answering the phone. “Hi, Thad,” she said over the dial tone.
“Huh? Who’s this?”
“It’s Anna, Thad. It’s—”
“Anna?” he asked, sounding punchy, his sinus medication obviously affecting him. “Why are you calling? Where are you?”
“I’m still in the living room,” she explained. “The phone rang and I answered it. Nobody said anything.” Trying to ease her own tension, she kidded, “Must have been one of your other girlfriends. Do you have a rule—if a woman answers, hang up?”
He laughed, sounding more awake. “Yeah, sure. I’m a regular Don Juan.”
She smiled halfheartedly, picturing his striped pajamas. He looked more like a candy cane than a great lover. Then she made a sudden decision. There was no point in putting him off any longer. Thad was such a good guy, and he loved her so much, there was no reason not tell him what he wanted to hear. “Well, Mr. Juan...” The words caught in her throat, and she cleared it nervously. “I thought you’d like to know,” she whispered, “my answer’s yes.”
There was a long pause and all Anna could hear was the drone of the dial tone.
“Are you kidding?” he asked at last, sounding breathless and wide awake.
“I’m serious, Thad. My answer is yes.”
“Well, heck, this calls for a kiss, don’t you think?”
She flushed, not having thought that far ahead. “I guess... but, let’s wait till morning. I mean, I’m not decent. Okay?”
Anna had a feeling Thad wanted to object, but all he said was, “Well, okay. And Anna? I hope you know you’ve made me a happy man.”
She smiled, despite the fact that she didn’t feel like a particularly happy woman. “Th-thank you. Uh, good night... darling.” Hanging up, she lay back on her pillow to stare at the darkened ceiling.
“This is for the best,” she murmured. She was suddenly very, very weary.
“QUIT TREATING ME like a bronc with a busted leg,” Uncle Bud grumbled as Anna brought him his breakfast on a tray. For the past two weeks he’d been recuperating on the second floor of the Elite Hotel, in a room that was connected to hers. Uncle Bud didn’t like being cooped up, but since they hadn’t had fire insurance, there was no telling when they’d get their ranch house rebuilt.
Thad had been wonderful about accommodations, arranging for free rooms on the floor that was being renovated. He’d had some furniture brought in, mismatched and scarred, but serviceable. The dusty rose carpet and mauve curtains with a swirling wave design were at least twenty years old. But Anna didn’t care.
She slid the breakfast tray onto the rickety table that sat before the window. Her uncle was sitting next to it on a straight back chair. The sagging bed was on his other side. “Now, Uncle Bud, you know the doctor said you couldn’t get back on a horse for a while. That bout with pneumonia left you pretty run-down. So relax and enjoy the sunshine.”
He muttered under his breath and loudly snapped open the paper she’d brought. Twisting around on the chair, he placed it on the bed. Anna grimaced when he turned a few pages and came to the society section. Her engagement picture stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Holy Cow.” He smoothed the page lovingly. “You look purtier than a speckled calf in a field of daisies, Punkin.” He glanced up at her, his face creased in a grin. “Never saw me sech a sight since your ma married that wild scalawag—” He stopped himself.
Anna’s breath caught painfully. They both knew he’d been about to say “Abe.” Uncle Bud cleared his throat. “Well, anywho, you’re the spittin’ image of your purty ma.”
“Thanks, Uncle Bud,” she said, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
“Who cares if that baby grub gets cold? Ain’t enough there to put a speck o’ gristle on these old bones.”
“The doctor said with your blood pressure, you need to watch your salt and cholesterol,” Anna cajoled, lifting the metal cover from his breakfast of oatmeal, dry wheat toast, orange juice and decaffeinated coffee.
“That quack don’t know no more about my innards than a hog knows about a ruffled dress. That dratted stuff keeps me emptier’n a gutted steer.”
She shook her head at him. “You’ve just got cabin fever. That’s your problem.”
He squinted up at her. “Yeah? Well, I ain’t seen you singing no praises to the city lights. You been lookin’ awful poorly for a gal about to get hitched.” He inclined his head, his features scrunching in worried compassion. “You got somethin’ gnawin’ at you, Punkin?”
She shook her head. She hadn’t brought up Dusty’s name since she’d left the ranch and didn’t want to talk about him. It was bad enough that he was never really far from her thoughts. “I’m fine,” she said with a counterfeit grin that didn’t last long. “I guess I’m just suffering from cabin fever, too.”
He grunted, eyeing her speculatively. “You goin’ back out to Euby Hobbs’s place to work with their cuttin’ stock today?”
She managed a genuine grin. “Sure. We’ve got to earn the money to rebuild our place, don’t we?”
“Shoot, ’cept for them goats at Mr. Dare’s house, Hobbs is boardin’ all our livestock. We’re doing nothin’ but comin’ out even. Where’s the money gonna come from for the house?”
Anna took hold of her braid and started to flip the end back and forth. “Don’t worry, Uncle Bud. We’ll get you that house.”
He ran a bony hand through his snowy curls and coughed. “With me out there trainin’, too, we’d earn the money twice as fast.”
She smiled encouragingly. “When you can walk all the way across this room without the cane, then we’ll see.”
Clearly irritated, he glared at his breakfast, then shakily poured himself a cup of coffee. “You’re a good niece, Punkin,” he said, taking a sip. “More’n I can say for your no ’count brother. Where do you figure he’s been holdin’ up?”
She lost her smile and turned away. “I wish I knew.” Wanting to change the subject, she said as lightheartedly as she could, “Tell you what—tomorrow we’ll pack a picnic, and you can sit under a tree while I work the horses. That’ll give you the chance to yell at me and tell me what I’m doing wrong. What do you say?”
He dropped the spoonful of oatmeal he’d had halfway to his lips and it fell back in the bowl with a loud clank. “Yahoo!”
She grinned, despite her nagging worries. Where was the money going to come from to rebuild their home? Her uncle would die if he had to stay cooped up here much longer. And to be perfectly honest, Anna was afraid she would, too.
Her gaze went to her picture, smiling up from the newspaper as if she didn’t have a care in the world. If only that were true. For she’d grown to hate this hotel and its closed-in, airless world. The past two weeks had slid by in a dreary daze. She’d gone through the preparations for the wedding like a zombie, putting all doubts about what she was doing from her mind. She knew she should be walking on air. B
ut deep in her heart she also knew there was something missing from her relationship with Thad. Something essential.
Glancing at her left hand, she listlessly twisted the diamond solitaire that glittered there, but felt no happiness at what it represented. And she knew why. She hadn’t seen or heard from Dusty since she’d left the ranch—not that she was surprised. Still, her thoughts constantly strayed to him. She had a feeling Thad could tell things weren’t right between them, and she blamed herself for that.
Thad was as attentive as ever. He didn’t deserve half a wife. But she’d told him yes. The engagement had been officially announced and the invitations were at the printers. She twisted the ring again. What was she going to do?
“You gonna get that, Punkin?” asked her uncle, drawing her from her worries.
She jerked around, frowning in confusion. Then she heard it. The phone was ringing. With a lethargic heaviness in her limbs, she moved to the night table on the other side of the bed and lifted the receiver. “Hello?”
“Annie, kid? Is that you?”
Anna lowered herself shakily to the mattress. “Steven...” she whispered, hardly daring to believe her ears.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“YEAH, IT’S ME, your long-lost brother,” Steven said with a tense chuckle. “Wanted to sorta fill you and Uncle Bud in on what I’m up to these days.”
Anna clutched the phone for dear life. “It’s about time. Where in heaven’s name are you? Where’ve you been? Uncle Bud and I have been worried sick!”
There was such a lengthy pause on the line Anna feared her brother might have hung up. “Steven? Are you there?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m here. I just don’t understand why you don’t know.” He paused again and cleared his throat. “Look, I’m in the hotel lobby. Maybe I could come up?”
Anna gasped. “Of course! Come right up.”
“Thanks, kid,” he said, then hung up.
Anna ran to the elevator and threw herself into his arms when the doors opened. Grabbing his hand, she tugged him along. “Come on. Uncle Bud’s a little weak, but he’s crazy to see you.”
Once in Bud’s room, Steven sat hunched on the other chair, his elbows on his knees. Anna noticed that he was dressed well. His shirt was pressed, his jeans were new and his boots shined. He held his straw hat between his knees, uneasily fingering the curled brim. He didn’t make eye contact, just stared at the floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t call,” he muttered. “But I thought you knew where I was.”
“Now, how would we know that, boy?” Bud asked, hobbling over to lower himself on the bed near Steven’s chair. He reached out and squeezed his nephew’s shoulder.
Steven glanced up, his brows knit in consternation. Anna’s heart went out to him. He looked ten pounds thinner. Though he was a good-looking blond with bedroom-blue eyes and a muscular stature that girls admired, he seemed fragile, vulnerable. “I can’t figure it,” he said morosely. “Didn’t Dusty tell you?”
“Tell us what?” Anna whispered, every bit as bewildered as Steven sounded. “I haven’t seen him for two weeks, not since I found out he had the carving back. He refused to tell me anything about that, so I left.”
“Oh, er, right,” Steven mumbled guiltily. His gaze drifted back to the floor. “That was before.”
“Before? Before what?” Anna asked, joining her uncle on the edge of the bed. “Steven, you’re not making any sense.”
“I’m sorry, kid. Maybe I’d better start at the beginning.”
“Maybe you better, boy,” Bud agreed. “You put your sister and me through a lot o’ worry.”
Steven grimaced. “Well, first of all, you know I stole the carving and ran off to try to sell it.”
“Yes, we know all about that,” Anna murmured.
“Okay. When I finally got the word Dusty wouldn’t press charges if I returned the carving, I’d already found out no one would take a chance on buying it—just like you told me. So it wasn’t doing me any good. I figured, if I sent it back, it’d save our ranch and me some jail time. But I begged Dusty not to tell you, ’cause the guys who were after me had threatened to kill me, and I didn’t want you to worry about that, too.”
“Threatened to—” Anna’s voice caught “—kill you?”
“Yeah.” He ran a fist across his nose. “When you owe these guys fifty thousand dollars, they get riled if you run out on ’em. Real riled. Anyway, I wrote a note to Dusty and stuck it in the box with the carving, begging him not to tell you about everything.”
“Oh, Steven!” Anna cried, feeling the blood drain from her face.
“See, Anna, I knew you’d get hysterical. That’s why I begged Dusty not to say anything till I got the money. I figured if it got around that I didn’t have the carving anymore, they’d know I didn’t have a way to pay them their money, and I’d be a dead man.”
She shook her head. “So, that’s why he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Huh?” Steven looked confused.
Tears welled in her eyes as she recalled the awful names she’d called Dusty. Forcing her mind back to the present, she said, “S-so, what’s happening, Steven? What about the... the guys you owe money to?”
He slouched back in his chair, looking weary. “See—after the ranch burned, Dusty figured it might be arson. You know, that they were trying to scare me into paying. So he asked the cops to check it out. When they told him there was evidence the fire was deliberately set, he knew I was telling the truth. So Dusty hired a private detective to find the guys who were looking for me.”
“Why?” Anna asked, running her hand over her eyes. She was strangely dizzy. There was just too much information for her to take in.
“I found out later that Dusty bought my marker.”
“I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
Uncle Bud patted her knee. “It means Mr. Dare paid the fifty thousand, and now Steve owes it to him. That right, boy?”
Steven nodded, and Anna whispered incredulously. “Steven owes Dusty?”
“Yeah,” Steven admitted. “Anyway, Dusty’s PI found me hiding out in Texas. He told me the jerks were off my back and that Dusty bought my debt. All I had to do was get myself into Gamblers Anonymous, get a job and start paying him back outa my salary. I’m working outside Dallas at the Silver Q. Seems their trainer just quit.” He shrugged. “Dusty called ’em ten days ago to tell ’em I was in town. Told ’em that I was in GA, but that I was a good worker. ’Course I have to stay in GA, or the job’s history. I’ve been working there a week, and they like me fine. I’ve been going to GA meetings most evenings, and I’m feeling pretty good about everything.” He allowed himself a small grin. “Just wanted to come up and say I’m sorry in person.” He stood, still fidgeting with his hat.
Anna jumped up to hug him, unable to hold back her tears of happiness. “Oh, Steven, I’m so relieved. The Silver Q’s top-notch. You’ll do fine.”
He put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. “I’m gonna work hard, and I owe one heck of a lot to Dusty—getting my hide outa trouble the way he did.” When Anna released him, he shook his head ruefully. “It’s my fault about the ranch, too, but I’ll pay you back for that someday.... How are you two making out?”
“We’ll be fine,” Bud said, squeezing his nephew’s hand. “We all will.”
They shared a smile. In the quiet moment, a thought struck Anna. “How’d you find out where we were?”
“Dusty told me you were staying here.”
She was confused. “How did he know?”
Steven laughed. “Seems like that guy knows everything. Look, kid—” his features went serious “—I owe Dusty a ton of money. But as soon as I can, I’ll start sending some up to help you both.”
Anna wiped a tear from her cheek. “You know, Steven, you seem... different. I really think you’re telling me the truth.”
“I’m being as straight as a shotgun barrel, kid.” He sniffed, and Anna was startled to see tears glimmering in his eyes. “I’d
better go. Gotta get back to Dallas. They only gave me the one day off.”
“Okay.” She hugged him tightly. “I love you.”
And then he was gone. She went to sit beside her uncle and took his hand. Neither of them spoke.
“Why, Punkin,” her uncle said finally, lifting his gnarled old hand to stroke her hair, “you’re cryin’.”
“Oh, Uncle Bud,” she moaned, “I’ve been so wrong about Dusty. Even that day when he dropped me off at the hospital and didn’t come in, I though he was cold-hearted. Now I know he was going to talk to the police about the fire.”
Uncle Bud studied her face. “Maybe I shouldn’t stick my big nose into your life, but I been feeling for some time that you got some business with that man you need to work out.”
BY THE TIME Anna returned to the hotel after training Euby’s horses, she’d had all day to think about what Steven had told her and what her uncle had said. She finally had to face the fact that she’d been in love with Dusty from the first minute she’d set eyes on him.
But she was sure Dusty didn’t want her in his life. He’d had nothing to do with her since she’d left his ranch. Unfortunately that fact didn’t make her love him any less.
This afternoon she’d tried to figure out a way to stop. But she’d failed. Although her mother’s advice had been wise and Thad was very kind, she couldn’t help the way she felt. She knew there was only one fair thing to do. She had to break the news to Thad that she couldn’t marry him, and she had to do it soon. He deserved a wife who would love him completely.
She approached Thad’s suite feeling fairly calm, considering what she was about to do. Twisting her engagement ring around and around, she finally tugged it off. Making a fist around it, she knocked on Thad’s door. He’d said he’d be going over some redecorating estimates tonight, but she had to interrupt. This was too important to put off.
