Andy remained silent for a few moments as he chugged down a portion of his beer. At the opposite end of the room, a tall lanky woman with a braid hanging down her back kept feeding the jukebox. The slow, mournful ballads did little to help Liam’s somber mood. Plus the music kept reminding him of the night he’d taken Kitty out dining and dancing to celebrate Awesome Joe’s win. She’d felt so warm and natural in his arms, so right. He’d enjoyed that night more than he could remember enjoying anything. But later, after they’d made love, she’d turned quiet, almost distant and he’d lain there wondering what she was thinking, feeling. He’d even wanted to ask her those things. But he’d been afraid to put the questions into words. Afraid he might learn he was nothing more than a bed partner to her, the man who just happened to sow the seed in her fertile womb.
Just what do you want, Liam? For Kitty to love you madly, deeply, like she’s never loved any other man?
No! He didn’t want her love! That would make him feel too caught. Too committed. He didn’t want love to be between them. The emotion was fragile and risky, just like life itself. He didn’t want to take the chance of experiencing that much passion again and then having it ripped away from him.
Andy’s voice suddenly interrupted Liam’s torn thoughts. “Right after Mr. Cartwright died I heard that Desert End was going to be sold. When Kitty showed up here with the horses I figured the story wasn’t true.”
Liam looked at him. “Who told you such a thing?”
“I think Clint told me. He heard it from someone out at Sunland Park when we were there this past winter.”
Frowning, Liam said flatly, “Well, whoever said such a thing didn’t know what they were talking about. Will wouldn’t have left instructions for the ranch to be sold. It and the horses belong to Kitty and she damned sure wouldn’t sell.”
“Yeah. I suspected it was only gossip. You can hear anything around the track and most of it is a bunch of bull.”
Families always behave differently at home than in public.
Kitty’s words suddenly drifted through Liam’s mind and now he wondered exactly what she’d meant by that. Had Willard Cartwright been a different man than the one he’d presented to the public, to Liam? If so, maybe there was a grain of truth to the gossip Andy and Clint had heard. But no. He couldn’t believe that Will would be so mean to sell his daughter’s home and livelihood out from under her. It didn’t make any sense.
“You’re right about that. You can always hear rumors around the barn,” Liam said. After throwing a few bills on the countertop to take care of his and Andy’s beer, he rose to his feet and slapped a hand against the young man’s back. “See you in the morning.”
“Yeah. Four-thirty,” Andy replied. “And don’t let me catch you being late.”
Liam chuckled. “Have you ever?”
A wry grin twisted Andy’s lean face. “No. But I keep trying.”
*
Later that night, some thirty miles northeast of El Paso, Kitty was sitting in the back courtyard and staring up at the endless sky dotted with stars. She’d always loved this quiet spot where the landscaping made it feel as though she was sitting out in the desert, while being completely surrounded by the secure walls of her home. That’s why she’d chosen to have her wedding in this exact spot. But tonight the urge to weep had been lingering just beneath the surface of her emotions and she wasn’t exactly sure what was tearing at her the most. Being away from Liam or worrying that Desert End would soon be taken away from her.
“Here you are! I’ve been looking all through the house for you.”
The voice came from behind her and Kitty turned her head to see Natalie, her racing manager and longtime friend striding toward her.
The petite brunette looked significantly younger than her thirty-six years, while her beauty always turned male heads. Kitty had often asked the woman why she’d never married. But Natalie always insisted her job was far more interesting than a man.
“I wanted to sit outside a few minutes before I went to bed,” Kitty explained.
Natalie sank into a wicker lawn chair angled to the left of Kitty’s. “You didn’t eat very much for dinner this evening. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m okay. Just trying not to overdo it on the calories. I don’t want to give the doctor a shock tomorrow morning when he looks at my weight.”
Natalie chuckled. “You look just right, honey. Even with the belly.”
Resting her head against the back of the chair, Kitty said, “You’re not a very good liar, Nattie. Whenever I look in the mirror I see drab skin and tired circles beneath my eyes. But I guess that goes along with being pregnant.”
“Being pregnant isn’t the problem. It’s your job.” Shaking her head with disgust, Natalie swiped a hand through her thick black hair. “If I’d had any clue that your father had put such a ridiculous stipulation in his will I would have contested his sanity. Really!”
Kitty sighed. Other than her brother, Natalie was the only person who knew about the conditions that Willard had made clear in his will. She’d not wanted to explain any of it to Clayton or Bella. She didn’t want any of the Desert End employees worrying about their job security if she could possibly avoid it. And God willing, they’d never have to hear about this enormous test that her father had put upon her shoulders.
“You sound like Owen now. Please don’t tell me you’re starting to think I need to get out of the business.”
“Not in the least,” Natalie replied then blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m angry that Will has done this to you.”
“Well, to be fair, before Dad died, he didn’t have any idea that I was pregnant. Especially with Liam’s child. If he had—well, I just don’t think he would’ve put such a test on me.”
“Is that what you’re calling it? A test?”
“What else?” Kitty countered. “Maybe he wanted me to be sure that training was the vocation I really wanted for the rest of my life? And let’s face it, he’d poured his sweat into building this place, his reputation on the track. He didn’t want me screwing it all up.”
“Or maybe he wanted to still have control over you even after he was gone,” Natalie said with undisguised sarcasm. “Kitty, the man was wonderful in so many ways. Yet he could be so infuriating. By all rights you should hate him for what he’s doing to you.”
A wan smile crossed Kitty’s face. “I can’t. In spite of his faults I loved him.”
Natalie’s sigh was tinged with regret. “Yes. So did I.”
“It’s too late to change anything now. I simply have to do my best and pray it’s enough.”
Natalie snorted. “Your best! Damn it all, Will was a good trainer, but even he never won the Hollywood Oaks! Why would he expect you to do more? It was mean and barbaric of him to do such a thing to his daughter!”
“Well, if you’re worried about your job, don’t be. You’re an excellent racing manager. There’re plenty of trainers who’d love to hire you.”
“Maybe so. But Desert End is my home. I don’t want to uproot any more than you do.”
Uproot? Kitty couldn’t think about roots, period. The lifelong ties she had to Desert End were so fragile at the moment they were barely hanging together. And even if they did, she was married now. She didn’t know where Liam wanted to set down roots or if he ever would. He didn’t talk to her about long-term issues. His conversations about the future always seemed to stop once the baby was born.
“Well, who knows, if Owen does wind up with the place he might sell it to another horse breeder or trainer and you wouldn’t have to leave.”
Her features tight, Natalie scooted to the edge of her chair. “As far as I’m concerned, Owen is a bastard—that’s all I have to say about him. And don’t worry about me for one second, Kitty. This isn’t about me. It’s about you and this ranch.” She waved a hand around her head. “Sure, it’s beautiful and I love living here, working here. But it’s not worth you killing yourself over or putting the baby’s
health in danger. Just remember that.”
“I’m not about to do that, Natalie. If things get too much for me to handle, Clayton will pick up the load.”
“Sure. If he’s around. What are you going to do if he has to stay away for an extended length of time?”
“He won’t,” Kitty said with more confidence than she was feeling. “He’ll be back as soon as his father is out of danger. In the meantime, Liam will help.”
From the corner of her eye, Natalie studied her keenly. “You still haven’t told Liam about the will?”
Bending her head, Kitty sighed. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Natalie demanded. “He needs to know. You’re his wife!”
“Desert End has nothing to do with him. Besides, it’s too complicated. With the baby and everything. I have a feeling— No, I’m quite certain he’s going to be upset.”
Natalie’s short laugh was incredulous. “Who wouldn’t be upset?”
“I’m not talking about my father’s edict. Well, it’s a cinch Liam would be shocked about it. But he’s going to…I’m afraid he’s going to misconstrue the whole reason I married him. He’s going to think I’d planned on using him as a trainer to make sure Black Dahlia saves the day.”
“Bah!” Natalie waved a dismissive hand through the air. “You can fix that problem easily enough. You can tell him the truth—why you really married him.”
Kitty stared in disbelief at the other woman. “I can’t! He doesn’t want to hear that I love him. Love doesn’t have anything to do with our relationship—our marriage.”
“It does where you’re concerned.”
Like the grip of a hand, pain squeezed Kitty’s heart. “Yes. But that doesn’t matter. We’ve not been married that long. I don’t want to stir things up. Especially before the baby gets here.”
Natalie released a disgusted groan. “Let’s see if I have all of this straight. You don’t want to tell him about your father’s will because he’ll be upset. And you don’t want him to know you love him because that would displease him. What can you talk to the man about? How did you two ever make a baby together?”
Kitty’s cheeks burned. “Making a baby doesn’t require talking.”
“So it doesn’t,” Natalie shot back at her. “But I think you’d better start doing a lot of it and fast. Or this whole thing is going to blow up in your face. The race is coming. The baby is coming. He needs to understand just how much your home means to you. How much he means to you.”
Lifting her head, Kitty looked at her friend. “Look, Natalie, the man still loves the wife he lost, the wife he chose to have in his life. Because of the baby I was thrust upon him. He’ll never see me in the same way he saw her.”
“I wouldn’t want him to. He needs to see you as the wonderful woman that you are. Not as a substitute for a ghost.”
Pressing her fingertips against her forehead, Kitty slowly shook her head. “Natalie, I appreciate your concern. But you’ve never been married.”
“And seeing the misery you’re in, I’m not sure I’d ever want to be.”
Kitty didn’t make any sort of reply to that and after a moment, Natalie said, “All this worrying can’t be good for you. I’m concerned about you, Kitty. Between the physical work and the mental torture you’re going through I…”
A footstep sounded behind them and the remainder of Natalie’s words trailed away as both women looked around to see Kitty’s brother striding toward them. In jeans, khaki uniform shirt and a tan Stetson he looked every inch a Texas lawman and just as formidable. Kitty could only wonder what he was doing here on the ranch since he rarely showed his face on the property, even when she and Willard had been at home.
“Good evening, ladies. Care if I join you?”
Her lips a tight line, Natalie quickly rose to her feet. “Sorry, but you’ll have to excuse me. I’m suddenly feeling queasy.”
Kitty watched as her brother shot a sly grin at the other woman.
“What’s the matter? Eat your own cooking tonight?”
Natalie sneered at him. “Why don’t you go arrest somebody? That is what you do best, isn’t it?”
His chuckle was just arrogant enough to make Kitty look away and Natalie stomp off.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” he called after the manager. “I’m pretty good at a few other things.”
“Was that necessary?” Kitty asked her brother as he eased his lanky frame into the chair Natalie had vacated. “She already thinks you’re an ogre. Why do you go out of your way to make matters worse?”
“Because it amuses me to see her get so het up. Especially when she’s wrong.”
Kitty looked at him curiously. “About you being an ogre?”
He grimaced. “About a lot of things.”
Kitty didn’t press for an explanation. Whatever the rift was between him and Natalie was their business. She had plenty of her own problems to deal with without barrowing more.
“So what brings you out to the ranch tonight?” she asked. “You’re not working?”
“I just finished up. Had to transfer a prisoner to El Paso County jail. I heard this morning that you were going to be home. So I thought I’d drop by and see how you’re doing.”
He sounded sincere enough, but with Owen she could never be quite sure. Even though there were ten years between their ages and their personalities were quite different, they’d always been close as siblings. Even so, Owen was a guy who was hard to read. Oftentimes, he could say one thing and mean another.
“Don’t you mean you stopped by to see if I was cracking and about to collapse?”
“Don’t be nasty, Kitty. That’s my field.” He settled back in his chair and crossed his boots at his ankles. “So how is my little niece or nephew doing?”
She patted her growing belly. “I go to the doctor in the morning. But so far, so good.”
“If the doctor has any sense, he’ll tell you to stay home and away from those damned horses.”
“I don’t want to hear it, Owen,” she said firmly. “Pregnant women do all sorts of physical jobs and do them well with no ill effects. I should be no exception.”
“Damn it, Kitty. I’m not trying to be mean or vengeful. I love you.”
She blew out a heavy sigh. “Your attitude has nothing to do with the baby or loving me. You never wanted me to follow Dad into the field of horse racing. Now that I’m going to become a mother you think that gives you more cause to berate and dictate to me. Well, listen to this news flash. I intend to do this job for the rest of my life. No matter how short or long that happens to be!”
His nostrils flaring, he shot her a disgusted look. “I suppose now that you have Liam at your beck and call, you think you have the Oaks in the bag. Well, even he loses races, my dear sister.”
It was just like Owen to be hateful in the name of love. At times he was so much like their father it amazed her.
Tight-lipped, she wasted no time in correcting him. “Liam isn’t training Black Dahlia, I am. And just in case you’re interested, she’s training at top form right now. So don’t start counting this ranch as yours yet.”
Lifting his hat, he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. When he looked at her again, his features had softened, but his voice hadn’t. “Oh, sis, it’s not this ranch I’m wanting. I want things to be different for you. But I can see that you’re not going to change. You’re just like Dad. Dead set on living your life at the track or the barn. I was hoping this baby would change you. But that was before I learned it was Liam’s. With him as a father, the poor thing will probably grow up sleeping in a feed tub or worse.”
Kitty momentarily closed her eyes and fought to hang on to her patience. “Just what is it that you want from me, Owen? I don’t try to tell you what your job should be. Or who you should marry—not that any woman would or could put up with you,” she added drily while piercing him with a pointed look. “Why do you have to be so much like Dad? I’m not stupid. I can make my own choices in li
fe without you doing them for me.”
“You’re making your choices with your heart instead of your head, Kitty. That’s foolish.”
“How would you know?” she shot back at him. “You’ve never tried it.”
He scowled at her. “If you do lose that race, Kitty, I will see that Dad’s wishes are carried out. And if you think my resolve on the matter will weaken, then you’re in for a surprise.”
Not in the mood to listen to another word, Kitty rose to her feet. “I wouldn’t dream of thinking that your heart would ever soften, Owen. But listen to this. I am going to win that race. And you’re going to see that I didn’t just tag along after Dad in order to travel the country. I did it so that I could become a top trainer. And I’m going to prove my capabilities—not only to you, but to Liam and everyone else. And just so you’ll know exactly how much I trust you, someone is guarding Black Dahlia at all times.”
Owen’s dark eyes narrowed to slits. “Do you honestly think I would harm an animal just to prove my point?”
“Uh, let me think about that for a second.” She tapped a finger dumbly against the side of her head. “Yes, I do. Anyone that would threaten to take his sister’s home away from her would stop at nothing.”
“I’m not trying to take anything away from you,” he retorted. “Whether you lose it or not is entirely in your hands.”
“Oh, sure. And you’re hoping that I fail in the Oaks,” she drawled sarcastically. Stepping away from the group of lawn furniture, she started toward the house and her brother followed close on her heels.
“Not exactly,” he replied. “But if I thought for a minute that it would make you open your eyes and become a real wife and mother, then yes, I’m hoping you fail.”
Whirling on him, she gasped with outrage. “A real wife and mother! You make me sick, Owen. Really sick!”
She jerked open the door and stepped inside a large kitchen. Since Coral and the rest of the house staff had already retired for the evening, the room was empty and Kitty was thankful. She didn’t want any Desert End employees hearing cross words being exchanged between the Cartwright siblings. Especially when the argument could affect their jobs.
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