A Daddy for Dillon

by Stella Bagwell

  But why was she still afraid? Laramie was willing to give up his job and this beautiful home just for her. That alone proved he loved her very much. Wasn’t it time she proved that she loved him just as much?

  Four days ago she’d gone to visit her aunt Oneida, and though she’d desperately wanted to talk with the older woman about her feelings for Laramie and his proposal of marriage, Leyla had kept it all to herself. She didn’t want the woman worrying for any reason. And she especially didn’t want Oneida to fret that her niece was going to get married and forget her.

  Other than Oneida, Leyla had no family to confide in. Oh, if she really wanted, she could get in touch with her mother. But if her father found out, he’d only cause Juanita Chee more grief. She had her sister Zita’s phone number, too. But ever since Leyla had left home, Zita hadn’t made much effort to remain in close contact with her younger sister. In fact, the few times she had talked with Zita, she’d gotten the impression she blamed Leyla for their mother’s misery. And that hurt. For as long as she could remember, Juanita had been miserable. Leyla getting pregnant and leaving home had just been one of many disappointments Juanita had endured in her life.

  But that was in the past, and for four years she’d been strong enough to care for herself and Dillon. She was strong enough to make a life with Laramie and deal with the complications that came with having a family. But would he believe that she’d finally recognized what their love for each other meant to her? She’d been so obstinate he might have already decided she wasn’t worth the trouble.

  “Mommy, let’s go see Tommy. He wants to see us.”

  At the sound of her son’s voice, Leyla glanced up from the cabbage she was chopping to see Dillon standing in the middle of the kitchen floor. The day was very warm, so she’d dressed him in shorts and a T-shirt, but he’d insisted on wearing his boots and hat. For the past fifteen minutes he’d been riding a broom around the room.

  “I’m busy right now,” she told him. Leyla had long ago given up on convincing her son that the cat in the vet barn wasn’t Tommy. She’d actually decided it was probably easier on him to believe his first pet was still living close by. “And Tommy is probably out hunting a mouse to feed to his kittens.”

  Dillon tilted his head to one side. “Then we see Cocoa. I wanna give him a carrot and ride him.”

  “Laramie has to be with you whenever you ride Cocoa. And he’s at work.”

  Dillon galloped his make-believe horse over to his mother. “Let’s go find Larmee. He let me ride Cocoa.”

  Yes, she thought, her heart swelling with emotion, Laramie had patiently and lovingly allowed Dillon to do so many special things. He’d changed her son’s life and, along the way, he’d changed Leyla’s life, too. Waiting to tell him how she felt about him was senseless when her heart was telling her to run to him as fast as her legs could take her.

  Dropping her knife onto the cutting board, she looked down at her son. “Okay, Dillon, let Mommy change her shoes and we’ll go find Laramie.”

  Dillon was squealing with joy just as Sassy hurried into the kitchen with an odd look on her pale face.

  “Leyla, there’s someone out on the front porch who wants to see you. I tried to get him to come into the house, but he refused.”

  Sensing that something was amiss, Leyla’s heart kicked to high gear. “He? What’s his name?”

  “Tanno or something like that? Do you know him, or should I send him away?”

  Shock caused Leyla to grip the edge of the counter. What had happened to send Tanno here? Had someone in her family been hurt or, God forbid, died? “Yes. I know him. He’s my brother.”

  With dazed movements, she wiped her hands on a dish towel, then headed to the front of the house.

  *

  A few years back, Quint had built a separate building to house a staff of secretaries and filing clerks to deal with all the paperwork required to keep a ranch of this magnitude going. As a result Laramie rarely had to deal with paperwork, and his office, which was located at one end of the horse barn, was rarely used, except to meet certain visitors or carry on a private, sit-down phone call.

  As the owner of the ranch, Quint certainly didn’t regard himself as a visitor, but after a quick look around the ranch this afternoon, he’d herded Laramie into the dusty little office and ordered him to sit.

  “Why don’t we go to the house and talk in the study?” Laramie suggested. “I’m sure Leyla would make coffee and she always has some kind of dessert sitting around.”

  “Forget that. She’s the reason I wanted to talk to you out here. I don’t want to take a chance on her overhearing us.”

  Suspicious now, Laramie eased down in a chair that afforded him a view to the east. If not for a long feed barn standing in the way, he could have seen the rear of the ranch house and the fenced backyard where Dillon often played.

  “Why would you want to talk about Leyla? Has she done something wrong? Gone over her grocery budget?”

  “Not hardly. She doesn’t even use what we allot her for each week. What does she feed you anyway—bologna or ramen noodles?”

  “No! She cooks wonderful things.” He patted his flat midsection. “I’m surprised I haven’t gained weight.”

  Quint leveled a serious look at him. “Well, I don’t have any complaints about the job Leyla’s doing.”

  Laramie’s mind began to go in all sorts of directions. “Then you’re wanting to tell me about Jim. But Leyla’s already told me that he got his cast off. So Reena must be packing to come home. Is that it?”

  Rolling his eyes toward the ceiling, Quint shook his head. “Quite the contrary. I don’t think Reena will ever return here to the Chaparral. At least, not as cook.”

  Caught by Quint’s remark, Laramie leaned toward the other man. “What the hell is the matter with Reena? This has been her home for longer than I’ve been alive.”

  “Nothing is wrong. Except that she’s in love with my grandfather and he with her.”

  Stunned, Laramie stared at the man who was his boss and also like his brother. “Are you kidding me?”

  Quint shook his head. “Not hardly.”

  “But Reena and Abe have known each other for many years! Why now? All of a sudden?”

  Shrugging, Quint said, “Maura believes it’s because this is the first time they’ve ever been thrown together in the same house for an extended length of time. I guess it gave them the chance to—well, grow close. Hell, we both know how much Abe loves women. If he’d not been so chained to Grandmother’s ghost, he would have probably remarried years ago. Reena is a lovely woman. And Grandfather—”

  “Is a charmer,” Laramie finished for him. “Is this romance of theirs bothering you? Is that why you’re telling me?”

  With his hat resting in his lap, Quint raked both hands through his hair. “At first I was worried, but I can see how happy he is.” His gaze settled back on Laramie’s face. “I’m telling you all this because I expect them to get married and—”

  “Married! Abe?”

  “What the hell am I talking for?” Quint impatiently barked the question. “Apparently you aren’t listening.”

  “I hear you. But I thought this was all about them just having a romance—a relationship.”

  Quint scowled at him. “Grandfather is an honorable man. And so are you.”

  Quint’s remark had Laramie gaping at him. “Me? What are you bringing me up for?”

  “Because I think you’re in love with Leyla. And this change in Reena’s plans will ultimately affect her. Do you think she’ll stay on? Have you asked her?”

  A sick feeling swam in Laramie’s stomach, and from the way Quint was looking at him, he figured his swarthy skin must have gone pale. “I’ve asked her to marry me. But she’s pretty much turned me down. I—”

  Laramie’s words were halted by a loud knock on the door followed by Sassy’s gasping voice.

  “Laramie? Are you in there?”

  Before either man could ope
n the door, the maid jerked it open and burst into the room.

  Quint, nearest to the door, jumped to his feet and grabbed her arm to steady her. “Sassy! What’s going on?”

  She looked frantically to Laramie. Sensing the worse, he quickly shot to his feet.

  “You need to come to the house! Quick!”

  “What’s wrong?” Laramie demanded.

  “Has someone been hurt?” Quint added.

  The violent shake of Sassy’s head sent her red curls flying. “No. Not hurt. But I’m afraid that something is going to happen. Leyla’s brother is here. I’m afraid he’s going to force her and Dillon to leave with him! I overheard him telling Leyla to go pack her bags. Hurry! You’ve got to get to the house and stop them!” she pleaded.

  Leyla’s brother! Except for her aunt and her sisters, Laramie didn’t think she’d been in contact with any of her family for a long time. In fact, the few remarks she’d made about her brother hadn’t exactly been complimentary. He couldn’t imagine her inviting him to the ranch. What would her brother be doing here?

  “Don’t panic, Sassy,” he said to the maid, then looked over to Quint. “I gotta go.”

  *

  At the house, Leyla stood facing her brother and wondered why the urge to laugh kept running through her like the intermittent volt of an electric line. There was nothing funny about Tanno arriving on the ranch and ordering her to go pack her bags. And it was hardly amusing to hear that her father now claimed he’d forgiven her and wanted her to come home. They both knew that the only reason George Chee would want her back in the house was to work and help pay the bills while he made excuses to stay home and drink beer.

  “How did you know where to find me?” Leyla asked while Dillon stood silently at her side, clutching the folds of her skirt.

  The tall young man with dark brown hair and chiseled features stared impatiently at his sister and nephew. Tanno had never been judgmental of Leyla. But he’d also never been supportive. He mostly kept to himself and tried to avoid riling their father’s temper. She supposed he was here today only because George had forced him to make the trip.

  “Mom called Aunt Oneida and asked her,” he answered. “Why? Were you trying to keep your whereabouts a secret?”

  On the reservation, Oneida hadn’t had telephone service of any kind. But there was a telephone in Oneida’s room in the nursing home.

  “No. It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I’ve been smothered with doting, concerned family these past few years,” she said dryly.

  In defense of the Chee family, Tanno said, “We all thought of you and wondered how you were doing. Especially Mom.”

  Leyla suddenly felt very sad. Not for herself, but for her mother. Leyla had somehow found the courage to move on. Juanita never would. “Yes,” Leyla said mockingly, “she was wondering so much she traveled down here to her daughter and only grandchild to make sure we were okay.”

  Clearly stunned by her outspokenness, Tanno stared at her. Leyla suddenly realized just how much she’d changed, how different a person she was compared to the frightened girl who had climbed onto a bus in Farmington with little more than a small duffel bag filled with personal items and a few dollars in her pocket.

  “None of that matters anymore,” Tanno said. “Dad wants you home now. You will be welcome. Everything will be as it used to be.”

  Groaning with frustration, she said, “Oh, Tanno, why would I want to go back to the way it used to be? Why can’t you just speak the truth of the matter? Dad wants money, doesn’t he? He wants me home so that he can order me to hand over my wages to him.”

  A shamed look came over his face. “Well, he can’t pay the bills. And Mom can’t keep up. I try to help, but I’m saving to go to college. Zita and Tawnee moved out a few weeks ago. They rented an apartment together in town.”

  “Oh, I see now. Income has gone down in the Chee household so Dad sent you to drag me back home.”

  Tanno appeared totally bewildered. “Dad will always be the same, Leyla. I thought you’d want to come home for Mom’s sake.”

  As Leyla faced her brother it dawned on her that she couldn’t expect her brother to see things as she could now. Since she’d left her home on the Navajo reservation, she’d had to fight to survive. And during that battle, she’d changed and learned and matured into a woman. She was so different from the girl who’d once made a bad choice. She was strong. She was capable. And from this day forward she was never going to look back.

  “Mom is a good woman and I love her very much. But I can’t live my life to pay for her mistakes or Dad’s laziness. I won’t be going back to the res with you.”

  Her brother scrubbed a hand over his face as though to wake himself from a dream. “But what will I tell the family? Do you plan to ever see them again?”

  She let out a long breath as everything inside her came together and settled peacefully in the middle of her heart. “I will bring Dillon up for a visit soon and let them see their grandchild. From there, I’ll have to see how things go,” she told him. “But as for mine and Dillon’s future, I’m getting married to a man I love very much and our home will always be here on the Chaparral with him.”

  “Leyla!”

  The sound of Laramie’s voice had Leyla spinning around to see him striding quickly toward her and Dillon. And the look of amazement on his face told her he’d overheard the last few words she’d spoken to Tanno. What was he thinking, feeling? she wondered. Was he going to tell Tanno that the wedding was off? That she’d waited too long to come to her senses?

  Her heart was racing so badly she could hardly speak. “Laramie! What are you doing here?”

  By now he’d reached her side, but before he could answer her question Dillon let out a whoop of joy and latched a possessive hold on Laramie’s leg.

  With a protective hand on Dillon’s head, he glanced at Leyla, then settled a curious gaze on Tanno. “Sassy came to my office and told me you had company. I thought you might want me to meet him.”

  Leyla stiffly inclined her head toward her brother. “Laramie, this is my brother, Tanno Chee.”

  Laramie extended a hand to the younger man. “Laramie Jones,” he introduced himself. “Nice to meet you.”

  Leyla could see that the sight of Laramie had knocked Tanno for a loop, which made her wonder if her brother had doubted her talk about getting married.

  As he shook Laramie’s hand, he asked, “Are you the man my sister is going to marry?”

  Laramie’s gaze settled on Leyla’s face and the look she saw in his eyes filled her heart with such joy that tears stung her eyes.

  “I am,” he said.

  Clearly bewildered, Tanno asked, “And you live here? At this house?”

  “That’s right. I’m the manager of this ranch.”

  Tanno looked at his sister, then back to Laramie as though he didn’t know what to say or think. At that moment Leyla realized how much she loved her brother and how much she hoped his life would soon change for the better.

  “So you won’t need to worry about your sister, Mr. Chee. I plan to take very good care of her.”

  As he said the last words his arm came around the back of her waist and she smiled up at him, her heart overflowing with happiness. “And Dillon and I are planning to be very happy,” she added.

  With his fingers tightening on her side, Laramie glanced at the other man. “Would you like to come in?” he invited. “You probably need a break. We’ll have refreshments and you can get acquainted with your nephew.”

  Tanno’s focus dropped to Dillon, and Leyla could see a wistful sort of smile briefly touch her brother’s lips. “Thank you, Mr. Jones. Maybe next time.”

  “I hope there will be a next time, Tanno. Leyla and I will always welcome you here. Please remember that.”

  Tanno nodded awkwardly. “I’ll remember. Right now I’d better be going.”

  Her throat tight with emotion, Leyla stepped forward and placed a kiss on her brother’s cheek. They�
�d never been a physically affectionate family, so her act caught him completely off-guard, but she hoped that as he traveled back to the reservation he would think about it and everything she’d said to him.

  “Goodbye, Tanno.”

  Tanno gave them all one last glance before he left the porch and climbed into his old truck. It wasn’t until they’d waved him off that Laramie turned his complete attention to Leyla.

  “You did really mean that, didn’t you? When you told Tanno you were going to marry me and make your home here?”

  Moving closer, she slipped her arms around his waist. “Every word,” she murmured.

  His gentle gaze slipped over her face. “What made you change your mind? Seeing Tanno?”

  She lifted fingers to his cheek. “No. Believe it or not, just before he showed up I was about to come find you and tell you that I’ve been foolish and miserable. You offered to give up everything for me, Laramie. I can give up everything for you, too. Because I love you.”

  Bending his head he gave her a kiss full of promises. “You’ll see, Leyla. We’re not going to give up anything. We’re going to gain everything.”

  Apparently tired of waiting on the adults to take notice of him, Dillon suddenly began to tug on the leg of Laramie’s jeans. “Larmee! Larmee! I wanna go ride Cocoa!”

  Leyla and Laramie looked down at him and began to laugh.

  “Just wait until we have two or three more children to go with Dillon,” Leyla warned with a smile. “You’ll need a whole string of ponies to keep them all happy.”

  Love put a husky note to his voice. “I can’t wait,” he said, then with his arm around Leyla’s waist and his hand wrapped firmly on Dillon’s shoulder, Laramie guided his family into their home.

  Epilogue

  A month later, Laramie and Leyla were married in a simple but beautiful ceremony in the same little church where Diego had taken baby Laramie to be christened and, later as a child, to worship. Afterward, they’d celebrated with an outdoor reception at the Chaparral. All the ranch hands, along with friends and neighbors, had attended. On that special day, Leyla had truly felt as though she had become a part of the Chaparral.