The dog won the race. As Tess approached, Shadow had the wit to sit with his prize under his chest, guarded by his forepaws. Tess put her hands on her hips and pretend scolded him, then collapsed on the ground next to the dog and hugged him.
“That gal’s full of life. Make a wonderful mother someday.” Miss Betty had joined him on the breezeway.
“She’s like a kid herself.”
Miss Betty gave him a sharp look. “Don’t think so. Appears to me a grown woman has as much right to fun as a child.” She tilted her head, considering him. “You boys who come back from war forget that freedom to be happy and enjoy life was what you were fightin' for. Freedom to dance with the sunlight on bare skin instead of be forced to wear a sheet over your head and hide inside a house all day, and be a child havin’ children, and the rest. Don’t mean to preach. You know what you saw over in Iraq.”
The old lady eyed Tess approvingly. Tess was now letting the dog lick her face. “If you don’t mind a piece of advice, boy, best not be judgmental about people who haven’t seen every bit of ugliness you have.”
That was telling him. The old lady was right, too. He was getting as sour as JD. Tess was a corker, full of energy and life. He’d love to capture some of her sheer enjoyment in living for himself. Some days it was hard to get up. The bad memories pressed in on him.
“Nothing wrong with being happy,” he said gruffly. “Sorry if I sounded like a killjoy.”
“Well, now, son, that’s better. Come to the kitchen and have a couple cookies. I got chocolate chip today.”
Rolf took a serious look at the housekeeper. Miss Betty always was pleasant, but this was the first time he remembered her ever specifically offering him cookies. She’d made cookies for Tess the other night. Maybe Miss Betty’s cookies meant something about being accepted as a part of the ranch family. He wouldn’t put it past her to know how he felt about Tess, either.
Miss Betty only let him have four cookies, saying she didn’t want him to spoil his dinner an hour from now. Just like his own mother years ago.
Rolf went back to the office to finish up his work. Too bad Tess had questioned the hands about the rustling. She should have heeded her brother’s orders to stay out of it. Not that her ideas were bad, but JD was in charge. His decisions ruled.
***
Still in a good mood because she was about to outwit JD and Rolf, Tess got dressed after her swim and went to check on Paula again. She knocked on the half-open master suite door. At Paula’s answer, she pushed the door fully open.
Paula was lying on a chaise near the window, reading on her tablet. Financial news, no doubt. She wore a loose, flowing dress made of chiffon. If it was a dress. Maybe it was lingerie. The baby made an impressive bump in her body. She appeared comfortable enough, but her face still was drawn and somewhat haggard.
Paula looked up. “What brings you back? I thought you’d be out and about somewhere, kicking butt and taking names.”
Tess threw herself into a slipper chair. “I would have done more if my stupid brother hadn’t ordered Rolf to remove all the vehicles from the garage.”
Paula turned paler, if that was possible. “All of them?”
“The building is empty. Supposedly they’re all overnight at the ranch hands’ compound. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, too.” She leaned forward. “You’d better not have that baby right now.”
Paula got a worried expression on her face.
“Oh, darn. I don’t mean to scare you.” Tess shifted back in the chair, waving one hand to show her lack of concern. “Rolf’s in the office downstairs and I’m sure he has a vehicle hidden somewhere near.” Tess leaned forward again. “Are you afraid the baby will come early? Is something up? Does JD know?”
Paula smiled a sickly smile. “One question at a time, please. I haven’t told JD, but I’ve been feeling some strange stirrings since last night.”
“The baby’s moving? That’s good.” Tess stood. “Why are you worried?”
Paula shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe this is normal.” She left unsaid that she’d lost both her previous pregnancies too early to be able to recognize normal pregnancy sensations of the third trimester.
“Sure, it is. You’ll be fine. I’ll have a new SUV here for my use real soon. Just hang tight for an hour or two, and then I can take you wherever you want to go.”
Paula smiled a wan smile. “I want to go home, to Cheyenne. JD has a thing about wanting this baby to be born on the ranch, but we’re in the middle of nowhere. I want to be in civilization when I’m become the mother of a newborn.”
“Mother.” Tess tried out the word on her tongue. “That’s so amazing. I’m so excited for you. I’ll bet your baby will be super cute.”
“She’d better be. She’ll have to win over a bunch of tough ranchers.”
Tess stopped herself from voicing more complaints about her brother’s high-handedness. Paula was madly in love with JD and couldn’t see beyond pleasing him any way she could.
If only Tess could think of a way to break through to JD. Even if he didn’t love her, she’d settle for him treating her as a valued member of the family. What if he said she couldn’t see their baby once it was born? JD was capable of anything when the meanness had hold of him. When he and Paula were first married, he’d smiled a lot more. Losing two babies had reverted him to some of his nasty ways from when he was stuck in the VA hospital, hating his life and everyone around him.
Tess went down the main staircase and turned down the hall leading to the ranch office. Rolf was inside, sitting at her father’s desk. In the past four years, Baron, JD, and now Rolf had sat at it, but it was still her father’s desk. Always would be.
She confronted him, hands on hips. “Were you the one who came up with the crazy idea of removing all the vehicles?”
Rolf looked uncomfortable, but he put up a good front. “They’re being serviced. They’ll be back tomorrow.”
She raised an eyebrow and slanted a skeptical look at him. “Oh, really? Something tells me you and JD have an encounter planned for the rustlers tonight.”
Rolf didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. He looked guilty as charged.
“I’m disappointed in you,” she said. “You know this is stupid, but you went along with it, endangering Paula in the process. What if she needs instant medical assistance? Twenty minutes to locate someone to find a vehicle and bring it over here, then another twenty to take her back to the compound to the air strip and put her safely into transport. Too long to wait. It could mean the difference between life and death for her and her baby.”
Rolf’s facial expression froze. “You’re exaggerating.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Why don’t you men listen to us women? Paula’s not talking specifics, but she’s feeling unsettled. Something’s up with the baby. Not right this second, maybe, but soon.”
“JD’s orders—”
“You’re not in the military anymore. Even if you were, ‘I was only following orders’ has been discredited as an excuse worldwide.”
She leaned over the desk, looking him straight in the eye. “Tell me. Are you set up to catch the rustlers tonight?”
Rolf said nothing. He looked uncomfortable but determined.
She straightened. “You say you care about me, but you won’t tell me what’s going on. Your loyalty is to my brother, not me.”
She whirled away. “I need a drink.”
An hour later, two vehicles arrived at the ranch. One was her new, rugged SUV. Cherry red. Tess had been sitting on the front porch with a bottle, waiting. She carefully walked down the steps and over to the lead vehicle. The dealer’s emissary hopped out. “Elizabeth Selkirk?”
“That’s me. Nice-looking vehicle,” she said, admiring the headlight guards and the other parts of the rugged pack she’d ordered.
“We had to do some searching to find the options you wanted
factory installed. Sorry for the delay.” He handed her a stack of papers. “It’s all yours once you sign here, here, and here.”
They were done in five minutes. The salesman handed her the keys, thanked her for her business, and took off in the follow car. Tess eyed her new vehicle with satisfaction, hands on hips. No one on this ranch had the authority to mess with her personal vehicle. Or the keys. JD and Rolf would have to deal.
She hopped in and drove up and down the ranch driveway, getting the hang of her new SUV. She made a point of driving back and forth in front of the ranch office, so Rolf could see her. She knew he was hiding in there. She made plenty of engine noise screeching around, too. Did a few figure eights for fun in the bare area between the house and the stable.
He finally came out of the office to stare at her.
She brought the SUV to a screeching stop right in front of him, creating a cloud of dust. After it passed, she rolled down the window. “Like my new wheels? Just bought ’em this afternoon.” She smirked at him.
“I’m impressed. I expected you to shoot the locks off all the garage doors, not purchase a brand new vehicle.”
“And it’s loaded, too. Nice, huh?”
“Do me a favor, Tess.”
“What?”
“Park it where JD won’t see it.” He turned and went back into the ranch office.
Score one for her. She grinned as she drove her SUV behind the stables, where it wouldn’t be casually noticed. After she’d done that, she locked it, something no one ever did on the ranch. She put the keys in her jeans pocket and slowly walked back to the ranch house. She had a feeling Rolf wasn’t planning to rat her out. Maybe he was finally coming over to her side.
Chapter 13
Rolf didn’t risk emerging from his office again until Miss Betty called him for dinner. Before she went upstairs to take Paula a tray, Miss Betty told Rolf and Tess to sit at the kitchen table and dig in. Tess wandered in carrying a tall glass of something.
“Why are you eating here again?” Tess asked. “Don’t you have your own cabin?”
“JD and I have been hoist in plans. I had a lot to arrange.”
“Such as?”
Rolf shook his head. “JD doesn’t want you to know.”
Tess looked at the door to the hall. “He’s upstairs checking on Paula. You can tell me.”
“You are not to be involved. It’s too dangerous.”
Showing her exasperation, she said, “This is my ranch, too. I have a right to know what’s going on. In fact, I have information you probably don’t know.”
He brushed that aside. “If you care so much, why do you live in California?”
She played with the lemon slice in her tall glass. Was it iced tea, or something stronger?
“I was born and raised here,” she said. “I know this ranch better than anyone.”
“JD’s an experienced leader. You should trust his judgment.”
“Really?” She pointed upstairs. “JD has such a good grasp of what’s best for the big picture that he dragged his sick wife out here just to pamper him. You should ask yourself if all his decisions make sense.”
Rolf tilted his head. “What makes you think you could do better?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Unlike both my brothers, I tagged along after my dad for years and years. He let me because he never took my interest seriously. In college, I signed up for business classes. I was working on a degree in ranch management until JD got sent home injured and my parents yanked me out of college.”
“Why didn’t you go back to school? Why did you go to Hollywood instead?”
She sighed. “You didn’t live through JD being so horrible and bitter over his wounds for months and months. It was awful. When he finally left the hospital, I needed to recover from all the abuse he’d heaped on me.”
“War does things to men.” He ought to know. “Not that I’m justifying him being rotten to you.”
Her expression softened and she put her hand on his. “I’m sorry about your pain.”
Somehow, her flesh touching his felt like a healing balm. And more. He tensed at the rush of desire. His whole body was suddenly on alert.
“Anyway,” she said, withdrawing her hand, “acting is fun and absorbing. When I play a character, I can say things I don’t have the courage to say in real life.”
“But living alone in California with nothing to do makes you miserable, so you drink.” He sat back in his chair, trying to forget what his unruly body wanted from her just now. “Hollywood isn’t helping you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Living here and not being allowed to have a say would be worse.”
“So you’d be happy and magically stop drinking if you had a job to do?”
She nodded. “If it’s the right job. Everybody needs to be useful according to their abilities.”
Her words echoed what the honkytonk lady, Nellie, had said last night. A shame Tess wanted what the Selkirk men didn’t intend to give her. It wasn’t Rolf’s place to tell her she hoped in vain.
Their discussion ended when JD arrived in the kitchen. He sat down and announced, “After we catch the rustlers, I’m going back to Cheyenne with Paula and staying there until the baby is born.”
Tess exchanged a look with Rolf. “That’s at least three months.”
JD got a grim look on his face. “Maybe a lot less.”
“She won’t lose this baby,” she said, trying to be positive.
Obviously not convinced, JD held up one hand in midair to end the topic. He speared a large piece of ham from a platter. “Talk about something else.”
“Okay. What’s the plan for catching the rustlers?” she asked.
“None of your business,” said her brother, not even looking at her.
“Come on, give.”
JD glared at her. “Why don’t you just take a bottle and go to your room? Stay out of our way.”
Tess drew a sharp breath. The hurt showed on her face, not that JD appeared to care. Rolf cursed inwardly. JD really liked to twist the knife in his sister. It wasn’t right.
“I only want to help,” she said, in a small voice. “I discovered something today—”
“Not interested. The rustling doesn’t concern you.”
Rolf waited for her indignant reply, but it never came. Once again, JD intimidated her face to face. She took a long sip of her beverage, whatever it was. At this painful moment, she probably wished it was booze. Maybe it was.
Rolf didn’t want to argue with JD’s orders in front of Tess. A leader’s authority should never be questioned publicly. Rolf shook his head slightly at her as a hint to belt up.
She pressed her lips together, obviously fighting for composure. Then she shrugged. She rose from the table and took her plate to the sink. “See you later.”
JD looked up, startled. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business,” she said.
***
Tess stalked out of the kitchen while the men still were asking her what she intended to do next. Two men she cared a lot for, but they both were too pigheaded to deal her in.
She walked outside and inhaled a big breath of fresh air, listening to the sounds of approaching night. She was alone under the vast Wyoming sky. Birds sang their final chorus. Insects were revving up for their hours of clicking, chirping, and rasping. Cattle lowed. If only she could find a way to stay here, she’d be in heaven.
She jumped into her new SUV and drove over to spend the early part of the evening with Baron and Addie. Maybe Addie would feed her, too. JD’s meanness had soured Tess on dinner at the ranch house.
While Tess ate, Baron was full of talk about the dinosaur bones he was hoping to find more of. He praised Tess again for her prowess in climbing the rock face, saving him time. “I want to finish this phase before next month,” he said, casting a side glance at Addie.
Something was up. Tess asked, “What’s next month?”
Addie grinned. “Big news. We’re
going to Australia. He’s got a geology gig in the outback, and I’m planning to save a few Ozzie horses.”
“That’s great,” Tess said. “You’ll come back here when it’s over, right?”
Baron shrugged. “Maybe not.”
Her eyes widened. He was really going to return to his former career? Travel the world the way he had before JD got blown up in Iraq?
They discussed whether Baron would do a series of geology contract gigs or plunge into full-time work with just one company. Baron wasn’t committing himself to either path yet. But he also didn’t talk about coming back to live at the ranch. He made no secret of wanting to escape the burden of providing ranch management backup during JD’s frequent absences.
JD would be the only one left to run the ranch, but he planned to leave also, to be in the city with Paula. JD would need Tess’s help, and soon, no matter what he claimed. Tess hugged herself. Her turn was coming at last.
A little later, Addie showed Tess all her horses, and they picked out a dark-colored mare for the night’s adventure.
“You promise to walk her, not race her? To follow the tracks?” Addie asked yet again.
Tess held up a hand. “Barrel racer’s honor. We’ll take a very leisurely ride over to the old shack the Shepherds called a cabin. It’s nowhere near as nice as our line cabin that burned down.”
At the unhappy look on Addie’s face, Tess impulsively touched her arm. “You’re not still blaming yourself for that, are you? Best thing that ever happened here. Knocked some sense into Baron. Even made me stop drinking for a few months.”
Addie relaxed into a smile. “The drinking will end when you decide you’ve had enough.”
Tess’s mouth quirked. “I haven’t had enough, not by a long shot. I’m still incredibly thirsty sometimes.”
Addie shook her head, but let it pass. “You’ll have the horse home safely in a couple hours?”
“Absolutely.” Tess was simply doing a little exploring tonight, she assured her sister-in-law.
Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3) Page 13
