“Thanks for trusting me with them. I know it isn’t easy under the circumstances.” He gazed at her in a way that made Jody want to forget about moving the steers and corral him instead.
“No sweat,” she managed to say, and turned to follow Gladys.
Callum should find it easy to persuade the Wiltons to grant an interview, since their enterprise would benefit from publicity. Too bad their six-year-old son had school today. He and the twins enjoyed playing together.
All morning as Jody worked, Callum made guest appearances in her thoughts. Whipping up dinner for the boys. Dancing with his arms looped around her. Burying his face in her hair.
She could so easily fall in love with the man again. Heck, she was halfway there already, but she refused to make a fool of herself by running after him to California and getting her heart squashed like a bug on a highway. Life in the fast lane was out of Jody’s league and she knew it.
What she needed was that trip to Paris-a few weeks of enchantment, a chance to reawaken the devil-may-care attitude of her younger days. Then she could return to her familiar world and live contentedly without the things she’d loved and lost, like teaching and, above all, Callum.
At noon, when she rode back to the big house, Jody got an unpleasant surprise. She mopped her forehead with a sleeve as she stared at the battered sedan and Everett Landing Weekly News van parked in front. There was the tractor Freddy had been using this morning, too. What on earth were all these people doing here?
Not just people. Male friends.
Since she had no intention of greeting visitors in her mussed condition, Jody slipped around to the rear of the house, where she entered her office through its exterior door. The office connected to her bedroom, into which masculine voices drifted from the front. She recognized Bo’s, then Freddy’s and finally his brother, Frank’s. They sounded polite and uncertain.
Callum had gathered her suitors together, omitting only Andy, who didn’t count anyway. What colossal nerve! Jody was so steamed at his interference that she nearly stomped into the living room, smelly clothes and all. What steadied her was common sense plus the memory of her mother’s admonitions to act like a lady.
Twenty minutes later, damp from the shower, she marched out wearing a long denim skirt and a ruffled blouse. The three men scrambled to their feet. Callum, who was fixing sandwiches in the kitchen, was already standing.
He’d swapped his jeans and jacket for a silky dark-blue suit that looked casual yet sleek. “Perfect timing,” he said serenely. “Lunch is about to be served.”
“What’s going on?”
“I called a summit meeting.” Callum set a pitcher of lemonade on the table. “We’ll have to eat buffet style. It would be too cramped at the table with five of us. Louise is making macaroni and cheese for the boys at her place, by the way.”
His gift for taking charge had impressed the heck out of Jody in their early days. Now, she wanted to kick him for his arrogance.
“You had no right to invite my friends without asking me,” she said in a low voice. The three guests shifted uncomfortably in their seats. She guessed that they all wished they could disappear, which was probably Callum’s goal.
Bo, who had the advantage of already knowing their shameless host, wore an eager-to-please expression. It wasn’t his fault that his brown slacks and tweed jacket appeared baggy compared to Callum’s stylish outfit.
As for Freddy, his incomplete effort to clean the morning’s mud from his boots and overalls had left him with a kind of sepia tone that did nothing to enhance his short, stocky build. His older brother, Frank, wore a nearly identical outfit, sans dirt and, while several inches taller, he was even stockier.
“I didn’t mean to go behind your back, but you were busy and the idea just struck me,” Callum said with feigned blandness. “I got their phone numbers out of your directory.” He indicated a spiral address book on the counter.
“What do you mean by a summit meeting?” Jody demanded.
“We’ll get to that in a minute.” Callum set out plates of sandwiches on the counter. He’d also fixed celery stuffed with reddish cream cheese. Following her gaze, he explained, “Pimientos. Guys, come and get it!”
Bo rubbed his hands together as he surveyed the spread. “This looks tasty.”
“I did work up an appetite this morning,” Freddy agreed, and took one of the paper plates.
“By the way,” Bo said, “is there any chance I could interview you for my paper? You’re the closest thing to a celebrity we’ve got around here.”
“I’d be honored.” Callum sounded as though he meant it. “Later, all right?”
“Sure thing.”
Soon the men were arrayed around the living room, balancing paper plates and cups as if at a tea party. The only one not noticeably ill at ease, Callum had chosen to eat standing by the mantel. This saved him from having to juggle his food and gave him a commanding advantage over the others, Jody noted with grudging admiration.
When the men were on their second helpings and the sound of chomping had slowed, Callum spoke. “As you probably know, Jody is a finalist in the Mother of the Year contest presented by Family Voyager magazine, which I publish. She and I also were close friends for many years. After reading her entry, I wanted to meet the people who are important to her now.”
“Are you interviewing all the finalists?” Bo asked.
“Well, no,” Callum admitted.
“Then why fly all the way to Texas to see Jody?” In his own polite way, Bo was defending his territory, or what he wished was his territory, Jody surmised.
“I wasn’t sure I should bring this up, and I hope Jody will forgive me, but the truth is, I’m the father of her children,” Callum said.
Freddy choked on a piece of celery until his brother whacked him between the shoulder blades. Bo paled. Oh, great. Although Jody had realized she wouldn’t be able to keep the secret much longer, she hadn’t expected Callum to make a public announcement. Even though he’d begged her pardon, he sure had a lot of nerve!
“You?” Bo said. “I thought…” His voice trailed off. Guiltily, Jody remembered mentioning that nonsense to him about the alleged rodeo Romeo. That had been several years ago, before there was any suggestion of Bo’s courting her.
It wasn’t as if she’d owed anyone an explanation. Still, she wished he hadn’t found out in such a blunt manner.
“Where’ve you been, huh?” Freddy demanded. “Where’ve you been all these years?”
“I should have come sooner. A lot sooner,” Callum began.
“I didn’t tell him he was a father.” Jody knew the fault was largely hers. “I didn’t even mention that I’d had children.”
She winced at Bo’s expression of disappointment. “Didn’t you think he had a right to know?”
“We’ve all made mistakes,” Callum interjected. “Well, maybe not you personally, but Jody and I are working this out together.”
“I knew you two used to date, but it always seemed kind of casual,” Bo admitted. “I didn’t know there was any more to it.”
“There wasn’t,” Jody said. “Just that once.”
“So you’re not getting married?” Freddy persisted.
His brother fixed him with a quelling look. “That’s none of our business.”
“You like her, too! She ought to go to one of us.” Realizing he’d overstepped his bounds, the hired hand said, “I mean, ’stead of some guy who hasn’t been around since gosh knows when. We’re the ones who understand about ranching. At least, Frank and I do. We’re more her type.”
“I guess you didn’t read her contest entry on the Web site,” Bo said. “I have to say, that was a clever literary reference to Penelope, although I hope you don’t feel like I’ve been pressuring you, Jody.”
She wished a herd of cattle would stampede through the living room and sweep her away. She’d never considered how her friends would react if they read what she’d written. “I was using po
etic license,” she said. “I just wanted to go to Paris with the kids. I’m sorry, Bo.”
“From what Jody tells me, you’ve been a good friend,” Callum said diplomatically.
“He stood up for me when some of the townspeople said the school ought to fire me because I was a single mother,” she said.
To her relief, Bo smiled. “I understood what you were doing, Jody.”
“Who’s Penelope?” Freddy asked. “Don’t tell me they’ve got a new waitress at the Downtown Café! I was just getting used to Evelyn. In fact, she’s kind of pretty.”
“She sure is.” Frank looked at Callum. “Her folks moved to town a year or so ago.” Already, Jody gathered, the brothers were turning their attentions elsewhere.
“Why did you really want to meet us?” Bo asked. “I don’t mean any offense, but some people might say you were meddling in Jody’s personal business.”
“Those people would be right,” Callum answered honestly. “I intend to interfere as much as I can because, no matter how things look, I really care about her and I’m hoping she’ll forgive me. As for what else I’m hoping, I think I’ve shot my mouth off enough for one afternoon.”
“You can say that again,” Jody muttered.
“Fair enough,” Bo said. “At least we know where we stand.” The other two men nodded reluctantly.
“It strikes me that it’s time for dessert. Does anybody like apple pie?” Callum said.
As it turned out, everybody did.
He fetched the dessert from a sideboard, doling out five pieces with enough left for the boys. It was delicious, of course. Jody had stocked her freezer with her favorite brand of pies from a sale two weeks earlier.
“Tell me about publishing a magazine,” Bo said. “I’ll get started researching my own article, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” Callum stood at the mantel, radiating confidence. “I got the idea of starting Family Voyager six years ago. People said I’d never make any money at it, but I figured the key was to make it entertaining and adventuresome and original.”
He regaled them with stories of how he’d stumbled and brazened his way to success. Callum made them all laugh, even the Fallon brothers, with anecdotes at his own expense. His sparkle eclipsed the modest living room.
Jody felt herself yielding to his charm. She wasn’t sure what, if anything, he’d accomplished by confronting her friends, but he’d succeeded in a different way.
Until today, she had almost convinced herself that liking could grow into love if she gave Bo a chance. After seeing him in Callum’s company, however, she knew it was hopeless. Maybe she couldn’t have the man she wanted, but she could never love anyone else, either.
Now she had to decide what to do about that.
CHAPTER FOUR
F OR THE SPACE of several minutes as he cleaned the kitchen, Callum allowed himself to wonder how he dared try to take over Jody’s life. It was true, as Freddy had said, that he hadn’t been here when she needed him. It was also true that he couldn’t move back to Texas and she refused to consider California.
Nevertheless, if there was anything his experience with the magazine had taught Callum, it was to keep his eye on the goal and not worry too much about obstacles. They had a way of disappearing when he forged ahead. At the very least, he intended to play an active role in raising his sons and at best he intended to play an even more active role in Jody’s future.
“Bo’s a nice guy.” In her denim skirt and a blouse that made no secret of her curves, Jody radiated appeal. “He’s not as flashy as you but he lives nearby.”
Her words reminded Callum uncomfortably of what Ben had said about needing a daddy who lived in the area. Since he didn’t think Jody was in the mood for a serious discussion at the moment, he answered lightly, “I’ll bet he can’t play the trumpet. You and I used to be pretty good together. Do you still play?”
“Mostly I play piano these days.” She indicated an upright in the living room. “How about you?”
“As a matter of fact, I joined a quartet. We jam at a jazz club once a month,” he said.
Jody regarded him with interest. Callum doubted she had any idea how cute she looked. He nearly forgot what they’d been discussing until she said, “Want to jam with me?”
“Now? Sure!”
She left and returned with a trumpet case. “I give it a whirl every now and then, so it’s in good condition.”
Callum unsnapped the case and hefted the instrument, admiring its silvery sheen. “Didn’t you used to play the clarinet, too?”
“I gave it up,” she said.
“Why? The band needed clarinets.” He recalled the bandleader complaining about the dearth.
Jody shot him a sideways glance. “You idiot.”
“Excuse me?”
“I started in the marching band on clarinet and switched to trumpet so I could be in your section.”
That was news to him. “You did? Why?”
“So you’d notice me.” She bit her lip, apparently embarrassed by the admission.
“Wow, I’m flattered.” Callum had figured it was just great luck when Jody started marching alongside him. “How did you happen to notice me?”
“How could I help it?” she said. “You were the golden boy of Everett County Regional High. I shouldn’t tell you this since you’ve got a big enough ego already.”
“Golden boy?” Callum refused to take offense at the comment about his ego. “I was simply one of the guys.”
“That was your greatest asset,” she said. “You weren’t stuck on yourself.”
“You just said I have an ego!”
“That isn’t precisely right.” She took a seat on the piano bench. “What you have is a self-assurance that I envy. I’ve always been more of a shrinking violet.”
“Is that anything like a wallflower?” Callum deadpanned. “In any case, you’re neither. You could teach assertiveness classes in your sleep.” He stopped talking while adjusting the trumpet mouthpiece.
“Only when I’m defending someone or something I care about,” Jody said. “Now are we going to jam or not?”
“You’re calling the shots,” he said.
After a couple of false starts, they launched into some old favorites. “Tijuana Taxi” and “The Lonely Bull” segued into “Hello, Dolly” and “Mack the Knife.” They were completely in synch by the time they tackled, and more or less conquered, “The Flight of the Bumblebee.”
When they were finished, Callum set down the trumpet. “My lips are going numb.”
“We can’t have that.” Jody gazed up at him from the piano bench, the angle of her face and neck alluring. He cupped her chin with one hand.
“Care to help them heal?” Without waiting for an answer, he brushed a kiss across her full mouth and couldn’t resist its sweetness. Sinking onto the seat beside her, Callum caught Jody’s shoulders. She leaned toward him.
He kissed her again, lingeringly, his eyes drifting shut as the contact linked them in a hundred ways.
It came as a shock when Jody drew away. “What’s wrong?” Callum asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “I just got an idea.”
SHE KNEW that if she gave herself time to think, she would change her mind or lose her courage. It was an outrageous idea, worthy of some stunt Callum himself might pull. But she had to take action before the kiss dissolved the last of her willpower.
As they jammed, Jody’s spirits had soared with every note. She could never return to the way things had been before he arrived, she realized. He’d stirred up too many emotions.
Yet she had to cut off his courtship, or pseudo-courtship, or whatever it was. Callum was too mercurial to be the man she needed, and she was too much herself to fit into his high-flying existence in California. At the same time, she didn’t want to deprive the boys of their father.
When he kissed her, Jody’s soul had ignited in a pure blue flame. No other man would ever be enough for her. Any chance at
the marriage she’d always dreamed of had been ruined.
That was when the solution had hit her. It solved almost everything, including the fact that, subconsciously, she’d been waiting five years to hear words Callum would never speak. So she decided to say them herself.
“Let’s get married,” she said.
He stared at her blankly. For once in his life, Callum Fox was speechless.
“I can be the respectable Mrs. Fox and you can give the boys your name,” Jody went on. “When they start school, they’ll be able to look any bully in the face and say, ‘I do so have a father.”’
“Of course they do.” He clearly had no quarrel with that point.
“You can fly home to L.A. and tell your friends anything you like,” Jody went on. “I don’t care how you act as long as you don’t create a scandal that reaches Everett Landing. You can visit me every now and then. As far as anybody else is concerned, we’ll have a long-distance marriage.”
“What about as far as we’re concerned?” Callum asked.
“If we try to act like a real man and wife, we’ll end up hating each other.” She’d resigned herself to that fact long ago. “You’ll try to argue me into giving up the ranch and I’ll get jealous if you escort other women to movie premieres.”
“Why would I escort other women if I’m married?” He was sitting so close, she could have buried her nose in his neck.
Jody held herself rigidly straight. “Because it’s going to be a marriage of convenience.”
Callum ran one hand through his hair. “I thought those only existed in Victorian novels.”
“Not true,” Jody said. “You’ve heard of green card marriages, haven’t you?”
“Neither of us is a foreign citizen.” He appeared to be taking her seriously, at least, or maybe he was in shock.
“There’s a rancher on the outskirts of town who married a widow because they were both lonely,” Jody added, seeking ammunition. “Of course, we’d be doing the opposite, getting married and living apart, but it will take care of our problems.”
“How’s that?”
Paris or Bust! Page 13
