by Linda Conrad
He scrunched up his mouth and rolled his eyes. "I guess I made a big mistake. I was so anxious to make a fresh start and come back to the old family homestead that I hired the first nanny I could find who would agree to leave Fort Worth.
"The woman hadn't learned to like Kaydie yet, as she'd only been with us a couple of days. So when she got a good look at the place in the sunlight, she threw her hands up and claimed the cabin was falling down and not safe."
"She left you and the baby alone here?" Bella was stunned. What kind of woman would do such a thing?
"Yeah. I told her to go. There's absolutely nothing the matter with this old place. I think it looks great. If I can manage to get some temporary help with the baby, I'll do just fine here."
An hour later Cal was still wondering who this absolutely beautiful and sensual woman was and why the heck she'd apparently been wandering around on the Gentry Ranch alone. It just didn't add up.
She'd been busy, giving Kaydie some of the children's Tylenol after the bath. Then she'd dressed the baby up in soft nightclothes, still too busy to adequately answer his questions. But she seemed to know exactly what she was doing with a sick baby, so he shut up and let her attend to things.
Cal peeked into the little room off the kitchen that he'd planned to make into the nanny's bedroom and where he'd set up Kaydie's things last night. Bella bent over the crib, laying a soft baby blanket lightly across Kaydie's feet.
After she'd finished, she sat down on the single bed by the baby's portable crib, watching Kaydie sleep as the dim shadows of twilight darkened the room.
"Is she better?" he whispered.
Bella got up and crept toward him as he stood in the doorway. "Sí. The fever has subsided."
He backed away to let her come into the kitchen.
The minute she'd partially closed the door behind her, Bella drew a deep breath. "I think perhaps Kaydie's father also needs his sleep. You look as though it's been a very rough day, señor. I noticed the bed in the baby's room. You'd better sleep there tonight in case she needs you."
She sighed and tried to stifle an obvious yawn. "If I may be permitted some water for my journey and perhaps a few directions to the border, I should be on my way."
"You're leaving?" That thought hadn't occurred to him.
In fact, Cal had been quite relieved to think she would be here all night in case Kaydie awoke in trouble. And besides, they still needed to talk. He wanted to find out all about her. He wanted to talk to her. Tomorrow. When he could get a better grip on things.
Couldn't she see he and Kaydie needed help? But more than that, couldn't she feel the same draw he felt when he looked at her? There was something … something…
Well, maybe it was just lust, but it felt deeper, more fundamental somehow. Cal was not about to let her out of here until he had a chance to explore what was happening between them.
Tired and irritable, he knew he couldn't cope with Kaydie any more tonight, either. Tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, everything would seem easier and clearer.
"You cannot leave tonight. You'll sleep here," he commanded. "I'll bring your things."
* * *
Two
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"Me perdona?" Bella questioned Cal's words in a deliberately hushed voice because she didn't want to wake the baby.
But she also narrowed her eyes at the demanding and arrogant gringo. Perhaps her English was rustier than she'd thought. Certainly, he had not just commanded her to sleep with him.
Because she was so tired, Bella felt sure her ears had played tricks on her. He'd simply meant that she spend the night, nothing more sinister than that. Obviously her hunger was playing games with her mind.
Still, she knew an order when she heard one. Whether he'd been demanding that she sleep with him or ordering her to spend the night for safety's sake, he was in for a fight.
She lifted her chin in defiance, but her empty stomach betrayed her. Its rumbling complaint could be heard throughout the house. She folded her arms across her waist and tightly held herself together in the middle.
If she remained still, maybe Cal would ignore the noisy reminder that she hadn't eaten. He might even help her to be on her way. She was still worried that the men who chased her would be closing in, so she needed to leave this cabin and find a place to hide soon—before her presence put the baby and her injured father in grave danger.
But no such luck. He'd definitely heard her stomach's grumble. It would've been hard to ignore. The stern and commanding expression on his face melted into a cocky but utterly disarming smile. The jaunty ladies' man was back. Even with his disability, he gave the impression of being strong and virile—yet still tender and giving.
"You are pardoned, sugar. But it's not hard to tell you're hungry. Where are my manners?" He took her elbow with his free hand and gingerly guided them both back into the kitchen. "Let me get you something to eat. And I'll make us some coffee."
Bella allowed him to lead her back to the kitchen table. To tell the truth, the weakness from hunger had already begun to show up in her lack of stamina and the silly wanderings of her mind. But she was grateful for his charity. She knew she wouldn't have lasted much longer.
She'd decided to accept his hospitality, but also made the decision that he would not make demands on her just because she was a woman alone in the wilderness. If she chose to stay for the night, it would be because she wanted a safe place to sleep—not because he'd insisted.
All these months on the open range, working with families of migrants, had taught her to watch out for herself. She would not be coerced by force—or by charm.
But goodness, when he smiled and that warm glow in his eyes focused on her, the attractive and tempting Cal Gentry was certainly a joy to behold. Not only did he look good enough to eat, his scent drove her to distraction. And his voice washed over her like rich Mexican chocolate. Dark, deep and sensual.
Bella knew he was in pain, she could see the fine lines of it around his eyes, but he still seemed to need to be the host. "I can do this myself," she told him. "I'm a good cook. Just sit and tell me where things are."
"No, thanks. You're my guest, and you helped with the baby. I can handle it." Trying to keep the slight irritation out of his voice, Cal took the water pitcher from the refrigerator and showed Bella where the drinking glasses were kept.
Exceedingly grateful that the kitchen in this cabin was compact and efficient, he knew his disjointed movements might be slow, but he figured he could get the job done with everything so easily accessible. And maybe, with a little coffee, he'd be able to think clearly enough to ask a couple of his questions.
While he brewed coffee, she drank two big glasses of water, then sat down quietly at the tiny table with the yellow-checked plastic cover. He wondered who she really was and what she might have been going through before she showed up at his door. She looked half-starved and exhausted, but her natural beauty and her passion for life shone brilliantly through bright, clear eyes.
"Will you tell me now how you came to be at our door this afternoon, Bella?" He struck a casual pose as he continued fixing her coffee and a sandwich. "What's a practical nurse doing alone on Gentry ranchland?"
When she turned her deep-set, brown eyes to stare up at him, their depths seemed to contain more mysteries than answers. "I did not realize I was on your ranch, señor. I have been walking for slightly less than two days, searching for a safe way back across the border to my home."
"The Mexican border? You're a long way from any normal crossing point here." Cal tried to ignore the inexplicable tug in his gut whenever he looked at her. "In fact, we're about 250 miles from Lake Amistad, and that's as close as the Rio Grande comes to the ranch. You're really lost, aren't you?"
She heaved a huge sigh. "Sí, I suppose I am. That was the reason I decided to risk stopping here. I was out of choices."
"But how did you get onto the Gentry Ranch? What are you doing walking across the range alone?" The
questions poured from his mouth. "And how did you come across the border in the first place?" He set the sandwich he'd made down on the table in front of her and reached above the counter for a couple of coffee mugs for them both.
Before she answered any of his questions, she daintily picked up the turkey sandwich and took a bite. Her eyes closed as she swallowed the food, and the passionate expression on her face looked as if this was the best meal she'd ever eaten. Cal knew his cooking abilities left a lot to be desired and the sandwich fixings had been rather plain in the first place. It was just lunch meat on wheat bread—not ambrosia of the gods.
"How long has it been since you last ate anything?" he inquired.
Bella quickly swallowed two more bites before she answered. "I will answer all your questions, but this is the first food I've eaten in two days. May I finish first?"
"Two days?" The woman was truly starving to death.
Cal wondered if he would be so polite and quiet if he hadn't had anything to eat in forty-eight hours. He took a bowl of fruit off the counter. Placing the apples and bananas on the table in front of her, he sat down and waited, encouraging her to finish every last bite of sandwich.
After she'd washed down the sandwich with the coffee, Bella sighed once more. "Thank you, Cal." She eyed the fruit, but folded her hands in her lap. "I believe it might make me sick to eat too much after such a long time. I will try a banana later … if the sandwich settles well."
She seemed so poised and unhurried. He reached for an apple himself, suddenly feeling ravenous. Man, if it was him who hadn't eaten in that long, he'd be grabbing and stuffing by this time. Just who was this woman, anyway?
Bella took one more sip of coffee as he bit into his apple. "There," she said. "I think I can talk now. I appreciate your hospitality."
He swallowed and reached for her hand with his free one. "It's nothing, Bella. I would've fed you earlier if I'd known. You should've told me."
She shook her head. "The baby came first. It was only right."
Bella looked down at their joined hands. The glow of heat she'd felt when he touched her had been a surprise. She'd thought herself immune to such feelings of lust after all this time on the open range, away from temptation.
"Now then, where to begin?" She considered pulling her hand from under his, but decided to leave it where it was for the moment. "This is the first time that I have actually crossed into your country illegally. I did not realize how far into Texas we'd come."
She knew her words had taken him aback when he quietly removed his hand and took another bite of apple. Bella wondered what he'd say when he learned she was running from such dire circumstances.
"Perhaps I should begin at the beginning and tell you why I have been working in the Mexican countryside near your borders," she said, sighed and then continued. "Several years ago my church in Mexico decided to start a … how do you say it … 'missionary outreach.' Is that not right? Anyway, many of our poorer countrymen take huge risks to come to your country. Unfortunately, too many of them also die for their trouble. We wanted to … I wanted to … make a difference for a few."
"So you … did what? Went on a hunger strike?" Cal interrupted.
There was that arrogant tone again, even through the disarming grin. The man just oozed sex appeal in his trendy designer jeans and blue-striped western shirt. And his new clothes covered a broad chest narrowing down to perfect slim hips, too. But he couldn't manage to keep his demanding, rich-man's ways hidden for long.
Judging by the look of his expensive clothes and the smug sexual way he stared at her, he appeared to be a man used to getting his own way. She had no doubt that the women around him fawned over him, spoiling him and making him cocksure of himself where it came to the opposite sex.
She wasn't quite sure what he was doing in this cabin that looked a little shabby around the edges, though he'd said it was temporary. But she knew he lived on a big Texas ranch and could afford a nanny for his child. Bella wondered if she should bother explaining anything to this demanding and probably extremely rich charmer.
Since he was her host, she decided to try. "No. For four years the church has sent teams to our border," she began again. "We camp out, eventually finding small bands of migrants heading north. We take them health care and a rudimentary knowledge of how to remain safe during their journey through the wilderness."
"Do you try to talk them out of coming here?" he asked.
Bella shook her head. "It would do no good. Poverty drives them from their homes and spurs them to seek a better way in this land of plenty. Nothing we could say would change their desperation." She wondered whether he would listen to the whole story. "My job is to bring them a little medicine, though I cannot carry everything they need. We talk to them about sanitation, about regulating their body temperatures and staying hydrated." Taking a last sip of coffee, she eyed the fruit bowl.
"That all sounds very noble of you," Cal commented dryly.
She glared at him. "What we do, we do for our countrymen and their families … and for God. Not for glory."
As annoying as his remarks might be, she was glad he'd asked. She'd sort of lost track of the point of it all. Telling him reminded her of the reasons she took this challenge in the first place—to save lives.
Cal took one last bite of apple and spoke after he swallowed. "Yes, well, that doesn't tell me why you're here alone in Texas. Did you decide to come across with some migrants this time?" he asked at last.
He loved the way her eyes sparked as she talked. The fire and enthusiasm for what she was doing flashed out of every pore. She had to be exhausted and near collapse, but she seemed determined to make him understand. He discovered it aroused him no end to simply listen and watch.
He'd slept with a number of women in his youth, but he'd never seen this much pure passion packed into one gorgeous body. Cal experienced a demanding desire to capture that passion. But he also badly needed her help with Kaydie. So he decided to go slow and eventually charm his way into her arms.
"I usually travel with one or two other church members," she told him. "On this particular journey, two of us had been working with one of the bigger migrant groups … Armando with the single men, and I was with the families that had mothers and babies along." Bella rose, refilled her glass.
"Three nights ago the dangerous men who'd promised to take the whole group across the border showed up at the camp." She took a sip and returned to her seat. "Your U.S. law enforcement uses the term coyotes for the hombres who guide migrants across for money. The name suits most of them and certainly described these men."
Cal began to wonder exactly what details her story might entail. A look of terror had flitted across her eyes as she spoke of the coyotes.
"You look tired, Bella." He swallowed back the flash of anger over the treatment he'd imagined she'd suffered at the hands of the human smugglers. "Why don't you finish telling me this tomorrow?" He wasn't sure he could take hearing the details of what had happened to her.
She shook her head. "I will finish now, por favor." Bella blinked once and shivered. "The men who were to act as coyotes for our band of migrants seemed particularly bad. Rough, drunken and violent. Armando and I talked the women and children into staying inside Mexico and trying to find another way to cross. The single men wanted to go ahead.
"The coyotes were displeased with Armando and me for interfering with their plans … and for warning the single men not to turn over all their money until they'd arrived safely at their destination."
Wiping a hand across her weary eyes, Bella suddenly looked vulnerable and small. "A coyote shot Armando. Killed him instantly. One of the single migrant men hid me under a tarp in the bed of a covered truck … or I would be dead, too."
Cal reached for her, but she shirked away from his touch. "My God, Bella. This sounds incredible. How did you survive? What did you do?"
"I kept perfectly still while the coyotes herded the rest of the migrants into the trucks. It
was so hot in there and we had so little air, breathing was difficult. The first time they stopped the trucks to provide for some human comfort must've been nearly twelve hours later."
Bella closed her eyes, apparently remembering the horror. "Some of the migrants feared that if the coyotes spotted me they might try to assault me and perhaps kill us all. One kind man gave me a little water that he'd hidden and then helped me escape into the night.
"I had no idea how far we had come before I got away … or where I might be headed. But I was panicked that the coyotes would come looking for me. They know the Texas range … and they want me dead." She took a breath and swallowed. "I waited until daylight and then traveled south, hoping to run into something recognizable sooner or later."
Cal stood. He felt like punching something, but there was nothing to hit. So he pitched his apple core into the garbage can and limped to the sink. Her story had disturbed him more than he liked to think.
"How did you manage to get through the Gentry Ranch fence?" he grumbled over his shoulder.
"Well, I most certainly did not cut any wires to come here, Señor Gentry," she retorted smartly. "The trucks stopped on a dirt road in the dark of night and out in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea how we arrived at that spot, considering that I was buried under a dozen men in the dark trying not to breathe too loudly. I saw no signs of civilization when I snuck away.
"At daybreak, I walked south. I came across cattle and sheep and took water from stock tanks, but I saw no one's fence. The smoke from the chimney of this cabin was the first thing I saw that looked like civilization."
Upon hearing the obvious annoyance in her words, Cal had swung to watch her face. "I didn't mean to accuse you of trespassing, sugar." He hoped he could take the darts from her gaze with an explanation. "But my older brother, Cinco, will have a fit when he hears of this. He prides himself on the security surrounding Gentry Ranch."
