by Jayne Castle
Priorities.
Until three this morning Matt had assumed he would have to work at figuring out if he even had any. Now he knew he did.
Brad was waiting for him in Houston. Matt moved away from the window, frowning into the darkness. Brad was his reason for going to Texas. But there was someone else in Texas. Someone who ran a shop with a stuffed bull in the window. What would Sabrina say if he looked her up before he headed back to Mexico?
***
“Tacky, Alex. Very tacky.” Sabrina eyed her assistant with misgivings as he sauntered into work one minute after nine. Alex Kyle had strong feelings about having to be at work on time. He asserted his independence by consistently being one minute late. Sabrina accepted his small rebellion because he was incredibly good at selling brass cowboy-boot paperweights and silver belt buckles. And because she completely understood his need to assert himself against her power as his boss. She’d done it often enough with bosses in the past.
“You don’t like the outfit?” Alex contrived to look hurt. He glanced down at the skin-tight leather jeans, leather vest, and high-heeled cowboy boots he was wearing. A watermelon-colored Western-style yoked shirt embroidered with sequins at the cuffs completed the eye-opening ensemble. “I only did it for the sake of business, Sabrina.”
“Uh huh.” She gave him a skeptical glance as she unsealed a forty-pound box labeled GENUINE INSTANT TEXAS PANHANDLE CHILI. The chili was specially formulated for her shop by a firm in New Jersey. “You did it because you found out the Association of Gay Writers of Western Fiction is holding its annual convention in the hotel.”
“Like I said, business.” Alex smiled blithely as he removed the white Stetson with the lizard-skin hatband and sailed it adeptly toward the left horn of the bull in the window. Beneath the hat his hair was cut with a razor-sharp precision that cost him a small fortune every other week. His carefully styled mustache was equally perfect.
In fact, Sabrina had often thought, just about every inch of Alex was perfect. He worked out three times a week at a health spa to maintain that degree of well-molded grace, and he had an eye for expensive clothes. Alex was good for business. Little old ladies from Indiana thought he was just about the cutest thing to come down the pike in forty years. Small children thought he was the embodiment of a television cowboy. Young women fantasized about saving him, and a surprisingly large number of males dropped in to buy Genuine Texas Panhandle Chili and fantasize, too.
“Good Lord, are you wearing that tin necklace again today?” Alex demanded, narrowing his bedroom-dark eyes as he studied the piece of jewelry around Sabrina’s neck.
“To each his own,” Sabrina said, eyeing his sequins. “There’s something about this necklace that appeals to me.” Sabrina began stacking packages of chili on a shelf.
“I can’t imagine what it is. The thing’s turning green. You’d better be careful or it will start eating away your skin.”
“At that point I’ll throw it in the garbage,” she promised.
“You must have had one heck of a good time in Acapulco a month ago. It’s not normal to be so hung up on a souvenir. Especially when you’re in the business yourself.”
“Maybe that’s the appeal of this thing,” Sabrina observed, fingering the necklace briefly. “Professional admiration. The guy who sold it to me was a consummate souvenir salesman. I actually thought I was getting genuine silver. Isn’t that fantastic? You’ve got to admire that kind of skill, Alex.”
“You’ve got a point. Any word from Oregon?”
“Not yet. Can’t be long now, though. Nolan skipped his Sunday-evening phone call last night, so I have hopes that things have gotten serious.”
“I don’t see you as an aunt,” Alex mused as he dusted the glass case full of ashtrays embossed with little oil-well designs.
“Well, I’m the only one the kid’s going to get from his father’s side of the family. Actually, I envision myself as the relative who always sends books for Christmas.”
“I had one of those,” Alex nodded. “Aunt Milly. She always sent a classic on my birthday and at Christmas. I don’t think my mother has ever forgiven her for sending Little Women one year.”
“I thought I’d start with Nancy Drew.”
“Even if the baby’s a boy?”
“Especially if the kid’s a boy.”
The phone rang just as Sabrina was crushing the chili carton and stuffing it into the storage room at the back of the shop.
“What do you want to bet that’s Nolan?” she asked excitedly, grabbing for the phone. “Hello? I knew it was going to be you. Is this the big announcement?”
“It’s a boy!” Nolan’s paternal excitement was audible through his normal banker’s reserve. “Healthy and huge. Mary’s just fine, says to tell you hello. We’ve all decided you ought to try it yourself sometime.”
Sabrina ignored the last remark. It was constitutionally impossible for one of the men in her family to talk to her on any subject without throwing in a word of advice on what she should be doing with her life. “If you’re going to name him Nolan Bennet the Second, I’ll lodge a severe protest.”
Nolan laughed. “I wouldn’t inflict that on my own kid. James Bennet Chase. How does that sound?”
“Like a banker.”
She could almost see Nolan nodding, pleased. “We thought it had a nice ring.”
“When is Mary going home from the hospital?”
“Tomorrow. Which brings me to the next point. When are you coming out to see your new nephew?”
Sabrina hesitated a fraction of an instant. “Soon. Sometime this summer, I hope.” Deliberately she kept the answer vague.
“We’ll be expecting you,” Nolan said bluntly. “Dad is looking forward to having you out for a visit, too.”
“Yes, Nolan, I’m aware of that.”
“How about the end of June?”
“That’s three weeks from now!” Sabrina protested.
“Texas is terrible in the summer. You’ll enjoy getting out of there. Oregon is perfect right now. You could spend some time at the cabin.”
“I’ll see, Nolan.”
“After Texas the woods up here are going to look great,” Nolan assured her with an older brother’s certainty. “We’ll plan on the end of June.”
“I’ll let you know, Nolan,” Sabrina said firmly. “I have a business to run, remember?”
“You have an assistant,” Nolan reminded her carelessly. No one in the Chase family had considered running a souvenir stand exactly a profession. Ergo, it didn’t require from others the respect a profession demanded.
“I’ll see how it goes.” Sabrina realized she was beginning to grit her teeth, and she began to inhale with the slow, rhythmic breaths she’d learned in a quickie meditation class. “Are you calling from the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Put Mary on the line.”
A moment later her sister-in-law took the phone, her voice glowing with tired satisfaction. “It’s fantastic, Sabrina. You can’t possibly imagine what it’s like until you’ve had one of your own! It’s got to be the greatest thrill in the world.”
“You know me, Mary. The original coward.”
“Nonsense,” Mary said breezily. “It didn’t hurt at all.”
“Hah!” Sabrina said good-naturedly. “That’s a myth put around by new mothers who want to con another woman into going through the same thing.”
“Trust me.” Mary laughed, and handed the phone back to her husband.
“Congratulations, Nolan,” Sabrina said sincerely.
“Thanks, Sabrina. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I know. Next Sunday night at six.” Nolan always called precisely at six on Sunday evenings. Just before the weekend rates changed. Her father, on the other hand, preferred Saturday mornings. Jeffrey usually opted for alternate Wednesday nights. All three of them tended to get upset when she didn’t happen to be at home to receive the calls.
Sabrina hung up the ph
one, still practicing her breathing exercise, and then relaxed. She grinned across the distance of the shop at an expectant Alex. “Find me the biggest, fattest, handsomest stuffed armadillo we have in stock!”
“I thought you were going to be the aunt who always sent books.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to be the eccentric relative in the family. Might as well prepare the kid for the facts of life in the Chase clan.”
“Boy or girl?” Alex started digging through a heap of stuffed armadillos.
“I didn’t know those armadillos were sexed.”
Alex threw her a derisive glance. “I meant the kid.”
“Oh, big, healthy, bouncing baby boy. A little future banker. James Bennet Chase. Doesn’t that have a nice professional ring to it?”
“I can see it on the chairman of the board’s door now. Going out to see the kid?”
“The summoning has begun,” Sabrina replied with a groan. “Every Saturday morning, Sunday evening, and alternate-Wednesday-night phone-call I get from here on will contain another request to hit the Oregon trail. The thing is, I really would like to see the little future banker. It’s just that I know as soon as I get there I’m going to have to defend my own childless, husbandless state.”
“It gets hard, doesn’t it?” Alex selected a plump armadillo from the pile and brought it over to the counter. His beautiful dark eyes held commiseration. “How do you think it’s been for me?”
Sabrina grinned. “I’m sure you could always find yourself a husband if you tried.”
Alex threw the armadillo at her just as the front door opened. The first wave of the daily stream of tourists, visitors, and shoppers had hit the huge, glass-domed mall. Sabrina put aside the armadillo to be wrapped later and turned around to sell some Lone Star Extra Spicy Barbecue Sauce.
She wondered briefly what it would be like to hold her own small, cuddly baby in her arms. But the momentary image came and went without eliciting any lasting regrets. Not every woman was cut out to be a mother, and Sabrina had long ago accepted her own lack of interest in motherhood. It was a pity her family hadn’t accepted it, too. It would make things so much easier. The Chase men were beginning to panic, she knew. They had started the day she had turned twenty-nine. A month ago when she had turned thirty, grim determination had set in. The pressure would be on now to get her out to Oregon. Secretly everyone would be convinced that when she held James Bennet in her arms, her maternal instincts would finally surge to the fore.
Sabrina knew differently. She was cut out to be an eccentric aunt, not a mother. A baby would not satisfy the sense of restlessness that had always disturbed her —even more acutely since she had returned from Mexico.
***
The bull in the window was complete in every anatomical detail, Matt noted as he stood outside in the covered mall gazing into the shop. And the guy behind the counter wearing the tight leather pants appeared equally anatomically correct. Sabrina’s employee? Or more than just an employee? Matt closed one hand slowly and then opened each finger in a deliberate stretching action that was supposed to loosen the muscles.
“Why do we have to stop here?” Brad complained. He had been complaining ever since Matt had explained that they weren’t going straight back to Mexico.
Matt turned to glance at his sullen-faced son, meeting hazel eyes that matched his own. He was getting used to the way the kid dressed. The clothing was straight out of an Army-Navy surplus store, from the camouflage fatigues to the combat boots. Those boots, Matt knew, must be hotter than hell. Not that Brad would make any comment to that effect. At thirteen the impression was more important than personal comfort.
“I told you I want to see someone. If you’d rather not meet her, you’re free to go browse in that record shop we passed. I’ll meet you in half an hour in front of the hamburger place at the other end of the mall.”
He kept his voice calm and steady, refusing to let the boy detect any impatience. Matt didn’t know much about handling kids, but he knew something about commanding men. He figured there were probably some similarities in approach. If not, he and Brad were going to be in for some rough times this summer.
“Got any quarters?” Brad asked with exaggerated weariness.
“Why?”
“There’s an arcade a few doors down. I’ll go blow some time there while you try to make it with the broad.”
Matt took one step toward his son. “The lady is a friend of mine. You will treat her with respect,” he said very softly. “Is that understood?”
Brad stared at him resentfully. “I don’t see why you have to get so freaked about the whole thing.”
“I asked you if you understood,” Matt cut in coldly.
“I understand. See you in half an hour,” Brad muttered, and turned to stalk down the glass-domed aisle without waiting for the quarters.
Matt watched him go, not sure he liked the Texas accent his son seemed to have acquired in the past couple of years. Then he swung around to push open the shop door. TTT, read the sign overhead. Underneath, the words spelled out what the three capital T’s stood for: TACKY TEXAS TEMPTATIONS. It figured Sabrina would be up front about the kind of stuff she was selling, Matt thought wryly. She seemed determined to let the world know exactly where she stood. What worried him was wondering where he would stand with her.
The guy in the leather pants was busy at the counter, so Matt stood just inside the doorway and glanced around with a surprisingly strong sense of curiosity. He took in the rows of bumper stickers advocating various Texas oddities, the ashtrays, manuals on how to talk like a genuine Texan, and assorted trinkets. He was idly examining a teapot painted with a scene of the Alamo when Sabrina emerged from a back room.
She didn’t see him at first, her attention on a customer who was selecting a package of chili makings. The first thing Matt realized was that she was wearing the fake silver necklace. It seemed to be turning green in places.
The rest of her outfit consisted of a pair of designer jeans and a turquoise silk western shirt. The leather belt at her waist was heavily ornamented with turquoise and silver; real silver, unlike the necklace. Her hair was in the familiar loose knot on top of her head and her feet were shod in high-heeled sandals. She looked a little outrageous, a little eccentric, and totally wonderful.
Matt stood unnoticed in the center of the shop, aware of the sudden, urgent ache in his lower body, and hoped no one would notice any relationship between his anatomical features and that of the bull in the window. In that instant Sabrina turned her head and saw him.
The moment she realized he was standing in the middle of her shop the odd sense of restlessness and unresolved emotions that had been bothering Sabrina since she had returned from Mexico suddenly flickered into focus.
“Matt!”
His mouth twisted with faint, sardonic humor. “The green in that necklace doesn’t quite go with the color of your shirt.”
Automatically her fingers lifted to toy with the edge of the deteriorating piece of jewelry. Her eyes never left his face. “I keep it around as a reminder that I have a long way to go in this business. The guy who sold this to me could teach me a few things.”
“How about the guy who tried to keep you from buying it?”
“He tried to teach me a few things, too. Matt, what on earth are you doing here?”
“Priorities.”
“What priorities?”
“I came to Texas to pick up my son. I’ve got him for the summer and, from the looks of things, maybe a lot longer.”
Sabrina tilted her head to one side. “That’s a priority, all right. An unexpected change in your lifestyle?”
“Very. It’s a long story. Will you have dinner with me and the kid tonight?”
“How long will you be in town?”
“I don’t know. That’s something I have to think about. There are a lot of things I’m having to think about these days. Dinner, Sabrina?”
She looked at him and smile
d. “Why not? We can celebrate another milestone in my life.”
His eyes narrowed warily. “The last time we did that I managed to turn the occasion into a disaster. What’s the event this time?”
She grinned. “I became an aunt today. Where are you staying, Matt?”
“A motel a few blocks from here.” He gave her the name.
“That’s not far from my apartment.”
“Give me the directions and I’ll pick you up later,” he said urgently.
Obediently she turned to walk across to the glass-topped counter. Picking up a pen and a piece of paper, she jotted down a small map and handed it to him. She was aware that Matt was surreptitiously studying Alex as she did so. Alex, on the other hand, was ignoring the newcomer, concentrating on serving two very handsome young men who had just wandered into the shop. Beside her she felt Matt studying the transaction taking place at the counter and then relax in some indiscernible way.
“Here you go,” she said brightly, handing him the slip of paper.
He took it and stood looking down at her for a silent moment as though he were trying to make up his mind about something.
“It’s good to see you again, Sabrina,” Matt finally said.
Sabrina sensed a hundred unspoken messages flowing between them, messages she wasn’t able to interpret. “Yes.” Another heartbeat of silence. And then she gave in to the overwhelming urge to touch him. “Yes,” she whispered again, and stood on tiptoe to brush her mouth lightly against his. “It’s good to see you again, too, Matt.”
He sucked in a fierce breath, hazel eyes gleaming, but he made no move to prolong the small kiss of greeting. His hand closed too tightly around the scrap of paper with her address on it, crumpling it. “I’ll pick you up at six thirty. I’ll have Brad with me.”
“Brad?”
“The kid.”
“Ah, yes. The priority that brought you to Texas.”
“But not the one that’s keeping me here in Dallas.” He looked down at the crushed paper in his palm and carefully smoothed it. “We’ll have to go someplace that serves hamburgers. It’s all Brad eats, apparently.”
