“Heath, I’d like for you to meet Skye Blue.” Noah almost said, ‘my girlfriend’, but her last response made him realize he still had some work to do on that front. “Skye, this is my cousin, Heath McCoy.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Heath took her hand. “Why don’t you two come in and we’ll talk over lunch. I’ve asked the chef to fix us some redfish topped with a garlic-butter crawfish sauce that will have you licking your lips till next Sunday.”
Noah put his arm around her and they followed Heath into the lobby of the hotel. Natural stone and cedar log walls gave the room a rich, yet rustic feel. “Your place is very nice, Heath. I love the way it smells.” Skye couldn’t help but share how she felt.
“Thanks, we’ve worked hard here to provide a place not only for family vacations, but also conferences or family reunions. We want people to feel at home. I’ve almost got a family trained to take over, so I can get back to the ranch. It’s a lot easier to herd cows than it is people.”
Heath McCoy was big, sure of himself, yet seemed to have a good sense of humor. Skye decided she liked him.
“What brings you two up this way?” He directed them to a table with a beautiful view of the lake and ordered drinks.
Noah held out her chair. “We took a little vacation, more of a camping trip. We stayed at a cabin north of Enchanted Rock.”
“Beautiful country. If you have time, I’d like to take you out to Highlands and let you see our little spread. It’s not as big as Tebow, but we’re proud of it.”
Skye got the notion that Heath was being modest.
“That sounds wonderful, but we have to get back this afternoon, I’ve got a few things to do which can’t wait. But thank you, I’d like a rain-check.” Noah sipped his drink and reached into his pocket. “This is the main reason we came.” He placed the thumb drive on the table. “I found this in an old cave up on the Llano River. It belonged to Dalton Smith.”
“Damn, do you think there’s anything on there that could help Philip?” He took off his hat and sat it in the vacant chair.
“I can’t be sure, but there are papers, deeds, photographs, maps...all kinds of stuff.”
Skye was nibbling at a salad a waitress had brought, but she only had one free hand, because Noah had confiscated the other one and had captured it under one of his own big hands, rubbing the top of it absently with his thumb.
“We need to get it into Zane Saucier’s hands, pronto.” Heath picked up the drive and looked at it, as if it could tell him secrets.
“I’ve called him and if it’s okay with you, he’s meeting me at the ranch this afternoon to pick it up, I thought that would save you some time.”
“Good plan.” Heath let out a sigh. “You know, I’d rather something like this have happened to me than to one of my brothers. Philip won’t even kill a spider. He’s got the best heart I know.”
Over the next hour, Heath regaled Noah and Skye with stories about his family. “I’m glad you two came up this way. Despite the crowds here, I was getting lonely...for family, you know? My brothers are always gallivanting off somewhere. Sometimes, it’s hard for me to keep up with everybody.”
Noah finished his meal and pushed his plate back. “I understand what you’re saying. We all were in a few days ago. Jessie had the baby.”
“Really? A boy or a girl?”
“A boy, but he’s going to have to have surgery.” Noah explained the procedure. “It’s hard for anyone to go through such an ordeal, but for a newborn…I feel so sorry for them. I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, if there’s anything we can do, just let us know. How about Aron? Any news?”
Noah shook his head. “No. No news. Isaac just got back from checking out a lead, but we’re still waiting for a miracle.”
“Yea, miracles are hard to come by sometimes. I’m worried about Philip. You’ll never know what it did to me when that cop walked up and started reading him his rights, handcuffing him. It happened out of the blue.”
“How’s he holding up?” Noah asked.
“Philip is out on bail, so he’s staying close to home. He won’t be going out on any more archaeological digs until this hellish trial is over. Tennessee is up in Wyoming helping search for a convict who escaped and they think he’s hiding somewhere in Yellowstone National Park. Can you believe that? And Jaxson is down in Mexico on a tour of some ranches to see if we can find some good breeding stock for Highlands.”
“I’m glad we came,” Skye spoke up. “Meeting any of Noah’s family is a pleasure and it’s very heartening to see how close you are to your own family.”
Heath motioned for a waitress to bring over a dessert tray. “You know, we need to get together soon.”
Any other time, Noah would have issued a direct invitation, but he had his own issues to work out before he felt comfortable planning a dinner party. “I’ll talk to the girls when I get home and see what’s on the calendar. Joseph and Cady are getting married during the Christmas holidays. I know you won’t want to miss seeing The Stallion’s getting roped and tied.”
Heath made sure they all got a big slice of chocolate cake. “You’re right. I want to see that with my own two eyes. Do you know what’s funny?”
“Dang, this is good.” Noah sighed. He glanced over at Skye and saw a bit of chocolate on her lip. He tenderly wiped it off. “What’s funny?”
Heath watched amused. “Don’t laugh at Joseph. I’d say this pretty young lady has you wrapped pretty tight. Am I right?” Skye blushed. “No, what I was going to say was that long before we found out we were related, I knew of Joseph and Aron and Jacob. Aron from his art, Joseph was always on the sports channel and all three of them played for the Longhorns.”
“So did Isaac and I, but we weren’t the stars the others were.” He scraped the last bit of chocolate off of his plate.
“I bet you were just as good a player as any of the others.” Skye couldn’t help but defend him.
“You’d better hang on to this one.” Heath gestured to Skye.
“You’re right.” Noah touched Skye’s hair with a small caress. “I intend to.”
***
The drive home was peaceful. Skye spotted several deer on the side of the road and they stopped in Wimberley so she could buy some mums for the porch of the cabin. During their quiet times, he had rehearsed what he was going to say to the family about what he’d discovered in the attic. But first, he needed to deal with Zane. The only thing he hated was that Skye would be going back to her routine and he to his. He was fast becoming addicted to her presence. “What’s you plans?” He couldn’t help but ask.
Skye didn’t really know what he was getting at. “Uh, well. I’m going to go home and wash my hair, catch up on my classes and go see Jessie and the baby. But mostly I want to process what all has been going on these last couple of days.” Their gazes locked and held, causing Noah to swerve a bit. “Watch the road, baby.” She cautioned.
Her endearment made him smile. “Process, huh? Well, I guess I have to do the same thing. I’m going to meet with Zane and then I have to talk to my brothers about something fairly important. But when I get through with that…I’m going to have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
He turned off on Ranch Road and slowed down a bit. Taking her hand, he made his point. “I’m going to be missing you. You’re addictive. I don’t know if I can sleep without you.”
Wow. Skye wasn’t expecting this. Should she? What was best for her? What was best for Noah? Damn! Them being together wasn’t hurting anyone. Yea, she’d probably end up getting her heart broken, but walking away from Noah at any point was going to hurt. Hell, she decided to take a risk. “Well, if someone was to sneak over to my house around bedtime, I might be persuaded to let them in.”
“Sneak?” He was teasing,
he’d do whatever it took.
“Hey, we’re both adults. Drive up and honk your horn, I don’t care.”
He grinned at her, turning down the road toward the hunting cabin. “That’s more like it.”
When he parked, she started to open her door. “Hey, stay put. Just because we’re home doesn’t mean I want to stop being a gentleman.” He got out and came around to open the door, holding her hand as she stood.
“Thank you.” Lord, everything about this man was perfect!
Gathering her backpack and gear, he helped her inside, leaving her with a kiss at her door. “I’ll bring dinner and I’ll try to be here by eight. Okay?”
“Sounds good.” Skye hugged him hard. “I’ll keep the front porch light on for you.”
He winked at her as he left. “You better.”
***
Zane had been driving up at Tebow when Noah pulled through the gate. “Good timing.” It always made him smile to see his friend behind the wheel of a car. “Did Sherwood retire when you got your sight back?”
“He and Rachel take care of me and Presley, but I like to drive. I missed it.”
Noah handed him the thumb drive. “I hope this helps Philip.”
“I’ll look at it carefully. Thanks. This was a piece of luck.”
“Fate, I hope.” Noah was about to ask a favor, one he hoped was written in the stars. “Have you filled that social services position you were advertising for?”
“Not yet.” Zane shook his head. “Got someone in mind for me to look at?”
“Long as you don’t look too close.” Noah chuckled.
“It wouldn’t be Skye, would it?” Zane had been thinking about Lance’s sister ever since he heard what she was studying. They had spoken a few times. Heck, he even remembered zipping up her dress the day of Aron’s wedding.
“It would.” Noah dragged his hand through his hair, ruffling it. “I don’t aim to ask special favors, but I’d appreciate if you would talk to her. She’s smart, well-spoken, determined, punctual…”
Zane laughed. “Punctual? This is truly a hard sell.” At Noah’s expression, he held up his hand. “You don’t have to say another thing. Consider it done. If you think she’s a hard-worker and smart, she must be amazing. Because you crack the whip with the best of them.”
Noah grinned. He was changing. Zane meant slave-driver, as in a hard-working, non-compromising boss. But all Noah could think of was an image of Skye in black leather, tied with her arms over her head. Damn, he’d have to try that.
They talked for a few more minutes before Zane left, promising to call Skye and to let Noah know what he found out on Dalton Smith. Petting Lady, who met him on the porch, Noah walked in and Wham!
“Thank God, you’re home!” Avery ran and gave Noah a hug, almost knocking him down. “I’ve been in a mess!”
Noah laughed. “What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s my royalties! They say something is wrong with my tax information and I’m afraid I’m not gonna get paid for my book sales!”
“Did you contact the publisher?”
“Yes, but they started talking about W’s and EIN’s and 1040’s and I asked Isaac but he’s useless.” Then she put her hand over her mouth and looked around. “Only on banking and tax stuff. Don’t tell him I said so. He does have his other talents.” She grinned broadly.
“TMI, Avery, TMI.” He threw his duffle on the ground. “Come into the office and I’ll fix it. We must make sure your saucy romances continue to please millions of readers.”
“That’s right.” Avery was serious as a heart attack. In a few moments, he’d found the problem and fixed it. “It’s that DBA, your penname, Sable Hunter. When you use a pseudonym, you have to make sure and check the right box. Since Sable doesn’t exist, they couldn’t find IRS info on her.”
“Makes sense. Thank you. I owe you one.” She bounced off, happy once again. “I’ll get you a signed copy of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”
“Thank you.” He smiled. “I could always use more trouble.” He shook his head.
The front door slammed and he heard voices. “Noah!” It was Joseph. “Where are you?”
“In here.” He walked toward the door. “One of our cattle trucks has rolled over. The driver’s hurt, but not critical. Some of the cattle are bunged up. What do we do?”
“Let me make some phone calls. Hold on.” Noah grabbed the rolodex and phoned Lance, the highway patrol, and the insurance company. After asking Joseph a few more questions he directed another truck to the scene and a vet to meet Lance to ascertain what damage had been done.”
Joseph poured himself a drink. “Thanks, damn. I’m glad you were here. I didn’t know where in the hell to start. What would we do without you?”
“Oh, you’d survive.”
“I wouldn’t want to.”
Noah bit the bullet. Taking a deep breath he got up and walked to the couch. The big oak desk seemed like Aron’s domain, he always felt like an intruder when he sat there. “I need to talk to all of you. Where’s Isaac?”
“Heck if I know. At Hardbodies, probably.” He flipped open his phone and pressed a button. In a few minutes he spoke. “Badass, what’s your 20?” He grinned. “Really? Levi has more balls than most, that’s for sure.” He looked at Noah. “When can you get away? Noah wants to talk to us about something. Yea, he’s home. Fine. Oh, one of the cattle trucks had a wreck, but Noah fixed everything. Okay.” Joseph hung up. “He’ll be here within the hour.”
“Good, let me call Jacob. I need to check on Jessie and the baby anyway. Any word?” He glanced at Joseph before he hit the button. “And what was that about Levi?”
“Levi asked Pawnee out again.” They both smiled, knowing Pawnee was more than most men could handle. But they had more pressing matters to think about. “Jessie was released and the baby was moved to a private room, so they’ve been camping out down there. They won’t let us relieve them very often. Of course, who can blame them? I know if it was Cady and one of my babies. I would be there as much as possible.”
Noah held up a finger. “Jacob. How’s Bowie Travis?” He leaned forward. “What did the doctor say?” Noah looked at Joseph. “That’s great. No, a month’s not long at all, not if he’ll be okay. That’s wonderful.” Closing his eyes, Noah swallowed hard. “If you can, I need to talk to you. Face to face. Yea, please. Well, Joseph is here and Isaac will be here in a while. Will Jessie be all right? Oh, she is? Well, good. Thanks.” He hung up.
“What’s going on?”
“The doctor says BT is improving. Skye has gone over to check on them.” That made Noah happy. He enjoyed Skye acting like one of the family. “They’ve found a specialist to do the operation and if they can get it scheduled in time, taking into account recovery, Jacob and family may be home for Christmas.”
Joseph slapped his leg. “Good. Looks like we have a lot to look forward to for the holidays.”
Noah agreed. “So, what kind of wedding are you planning? A church affair or are you going to elope like Jacob? It will be too cold for an outside wedding.” ‘Like Aron and Libby’s’ went unsaid.
“Cady wants to get married here in the house with just family present.” He leaned forward, forearms on his knees and bowed his head. “And whatever Cady wants, Cady will get. I’m worried about her, Noah.”
“What’s wrong?”
“She says nothing, but I catch her holding her right side. You do realize that after I could walk, I still limped on my right side and there was a lot of pain. She took it from me. God, she couldn’t walk for weeks. I’m so afraid something is wrong. I just can’t get it off my mind. And the babies...I worry about them.”
“Joseph, Cady loves you. She died for you—literally. I can promise you, she doesn’t regret a thing.” He got up and put a hand on his broth
er’s shoulder. “Just concentrate on making her happy. This would be the best Christmas ever… if…” He stopped.
“If Aron would come home.” Isaac stood in the door. “I’ve got bad news.”
***
When Jacob arrived, the brothers were in a heated discussion.
“This isn’t proof enough for me.” Joseph was adamant.
“I agree. But we’ve got to check this out.” Isaac held two photos in his hand.
“What in the name of God is going on? If you don’t lower your voices, you won’t have to tell Libby nothing. You know how sound travels in this damn house.” Jacob shut the door.
“A fishing vessel off the coast of Cancun pulled up their nets and found this.” Noah watched Isaac slowly hand the photograph to Jacob. Jacob’s hand shook as he took it. “It’s part of a wet suit and a snorkeling mask. The lycra suit is shredded and there appears to be some blood and...uh...bone caught in the seam of the mask .”
“Why do we think it’s Aron’s?”
“Well, the brand of the gear matches the description on file at the dive shop where Aron rented their equipment.” Noah explained
Jacob sat down heavily. “God Almighty.”
“What are we going to do?” Joseph leaned on the desk.
“I’m not doing a damn thing till that bone is tested.” Jacob was emphatic.
“I’ll take care of it. I’ll call Vance, get him to arrange the test.” Isaac picked up the phone and stepped over toward the door so he could hear.
While he was talking, Jacob asked. “Is this why you called me home?”
Noah shook his head. “No.”
“More good news?”
“I don’t know.” He waited for Isaac to finish.
Isaac walked back over. “Vance is going to accompany the evidence to a lab and get it tested in Cancun. He’ll let us know. There’s some question whether the blood will be viable, but the bone can be tested for DNA.”
Skye Blue (Hell Yeah!) Page 15
