Rancher's Remorse (Culpepper Cowboys Book 2)

by Merry Farmer

  “Y-you do?” Faith’s voice shot up. She darted a look behind her at the computer screen, then swooped down to pick up her sketch pad. She closed it and hugged it to her chest.

  “Oh, yeah.” Cooper took his time approaching her. He reached for the top button of his shirt, flicking it open. “And believe me, I’ve got babies on my mind too.”

  “Babies.” She whispered the word. Her face pinched.

  For a split second, Cooper wondered if she was upset about something. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but little Cooper was making a strong case that the best way to ease her skittish nerves was to give her something to moan about.

  “You know what the best part of babies are?” He reached her and plucked the sketchbook out of her hands, setting it on the desk.

  “Their fingers and toes?”

  Cooper laughed, low and seductive. She was adorable, and she was all his. He snaked his arms around her, lowering his hands to her backside and tugging her closer.

  “The best part about babies is making them,” he murmured, then leaned in for a kiss.

  As soon as their lips met, Faith let out a long groan. The sensible part at the back of Cooper’s head flashed him a warning that something was wrong. He was about to ask what when she brushed her arms across his sides and pulled him closer. He loved the way she pressed her fingertips into his muscles. It made muscles worth having. The way she dragged those fingers up his spine to tempt him closer was so good he shivered. Her mouth was eager on his, too, her tongue downright wicked.

  Wait, had she been upset about something when he started this dance? And hadn’t she tried to tell him something that morning before he left?

  “How do you feel about making love in the afternoon,” she whispered, grinding her hips against his.

  Thought?

  Nope.

  “I like it.”

  He lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Nothing mattered but getting her to the bedroom and between the sheets as fast as possible.

  5

  The big day came just over a week later. Cooper didn’t even know it was going to be a big day until a gigantic truck pulled up in front of his house.

  “What the heck is that?” he asked, peering out the window as finished off his Saturday ham sandwich. It had been a tiny stretch to change his routine so that he could go home and eat lunch with Faith, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

  At the moment, though, he wondered if he would regret it. A truck that big had “Schedule Disruption” written all over it. Just because it was the weekend didn’t mean the ranch was taking a break. He turned his left wrist to check his watch. 12:43. Seventeen minutes until he absolutely had to be back at work. They were vaccinating the younger part of the herd today and he doubted Angus could hold the heifers still on his own long enough for Doc O’Donnell to administer the shots.

  “It’s my kiln.”

  Faith leapt up out of her seat across the table from him, her eyes brighter than Cooper had seen them since they’d married—well, except for when they were bright with ecstasy. Which, lucky for him, was a couple times a day. He shoved thoughts of syringes and cow’s asses out of his head and jumped up after her.

  “Exactly how big is your kiln?” he asked as he followed Faith out through the front door onto the porch. He moved to check his watch, gritted his teeth, and forced himself to think of his wife, not his schedule.

  “It’s a standard size, about four feet high, maybe three feet across.” Faith stepped down from the porch and started across the drive to where the driver was climbing out of the truck cabin.

  Cooper let out a low whistle. For some reason, he’d imagined a kiln being something like a glorified Crock-Pot. He started for the truck, glancing over his shoulder at the freestanding workshop he’d told Faith she could use. She might need more room.

  He and Faith weren’t the only ones to notice the truck’s arrival. Within minutes, Faith’s sisters were rushing across the grass from the direction of Chris’s house to converge on the scene. Linda must have noticed the commotion as well, and started across the lawn from her house. She reached the delivery truck where Faith stood first.

  “Good golly, look at the size of that,” Linda exclaimed, a hand to her chest, as the driver and his assistant threw open the truck’s back door.

  There it was, or at least what Cooper assumed was the kiln. Frankly, it looked like some space-age witch’s cauldron, wrapped in plastic with wooden supports nailed around it. Like it was going to blow or something. The delivery guys backed a small forklift out of the truck, then used that to bring the kiln out.

  “Guys, stay back from it,” Faith warned her sisters, her forehead creased with concern. “I don’t want you to…to get hurt.”

  “Faith, it’s not even plugged in.” Hope made a face.

  “Yeah, it’s wrapped up,” Chastity added.

  “How much does that thing weigh?” Cooper strode to stand by Faith’s side.

  Faith could hardly stand still. She clasped her hands together and brought them to her mouth before answering, “A lot. It’s not just the metal casing or the electric. The inside is lined with ceramic fiber, which can sustain the high levels of heat needed to fire pieces in the—Oh! My bisque fired work is here too!”

  She left him standing there with his mouth half open in confusion as she skipped up to the back of the truck. Hope, Joy, and Chastity met her there. The four of them put their heads together and started whispering as they peered into the back of the truck. Chastity got up the nerve to hoist herself into the truck. She disappeared, coming back a few minutes later with a large box. Judging by the strain on her face, it was heavy.

  She set the box down, and the four sisters descended on it like locusts devouring crops.

  “What the heck are they doing?” Cooper muttered.

  “I can’t wait to see what’s in that box,” Linda answered.

  Cooper blinked, not realizing his mom had come to stand by his side. “Do you know what’s going on with them?”

  Linda gave a noncommittal shrug. “They’re serious about their hobbies, that’s for sure. I saw one of Faith’s dolls, and Hope has been making the most darling clothes for them. And the way Chastity clicks away with those knitting needles of hers is astounding. Have you seen the things that Joy can make with plastic? Amazing.”

  Cooper would have found it a lot more amazing if he didn’t have a forklift on his grass. He peeked at his watch. 12:53. His heart began to race.

  Linda put a hand on his arm. “Don’t you go clock-watching when all this is going on. Let your brothers do their jobs for once. You’re not losing money by helping your wife.”

  “Ma, I am letting the guys do their jobs, but I have a job too. It’s—”

  He stopped, doing a double-take as the girls lifted something out of the box they were pouring over. He only got a split-second look, but he could have sworn it was a foot. A very small foot.

  “What the—”

  The back of his neck itched as he swayed into motion, marching up to the truck. When he was a few yards away, Joy cleared her throat. The sisters all jumped and whipped around to face him. No, what they did was form a wall between him and the box so that he couldn’t see what was in it. In fact, Chastity slid the box back into the truck.

  “Is there something going on here I should know about?” he asked.

  Hope, Joy, and Chastity looked right at Faith. Faith turned an appealing shade of red, her eyes going big and round. She worked her mouth as if chewing on her words before spitting them out. The tingling feeling at the back of Cooper’s neck shot down his spine, a reverse of the way she liked to trail her fingers up his back when they were horizontal in every way.

  She was up to something. His sweet, sexy wife was definitely up to something.

  “It’s…just…uh…” Faith swallowed.

  Hope elbowed her in the ribs.

  “It’s just my sculptures,” Faith burst out. “That
’s all. You know you can’t fire wet clay right after sculpting it. You have to let it dry for a while and then bisque fire it on a different setting before you glaze it. Then comes the final firing. I’m just happy that most of the bisque fired pieces I’d been working on before moving out here are intact and ready to be glazed, that’s all.”

  Hope shook her head. Joy huffed in frustration. Chastity merely crossed her arms and stared at her sister.

  Okay, so Faith was hiding something from him, and the others knew about it. So what could Faith be up to that her sisters would disapprove of but be interested in? How did this kiln and all the boxes in the back of the truck—and holy cow, there were more of them than he would ever have dreamed of—be part of that. He didn’t think Faith could possibly be into anything illegal. Not with her parents, not with her sisters knowing what it was too. Could she?

  He crossed his arms and looked hard at Faith. She broke into a tremulous smile. Well, the best he could do was be patient, love her, keep an eye out, and with any luck, she’d spill the beans.

  He just hoped that spill wouldn’t make a mess.

  “Hey, where do you want this?” One of the delivery guys called from behind them.

  Everyone turned. The forklift had carried the kiln further up the driveway, almost all the way to the workshop. Cooper gave Faith a last smile and a nod before heading up toward the workshop.

  “We’ll put it in here. I didn’t realize it was going to be so big, otherwise I would have taken time to clear out more space.”

  He checked his watch. 1:01. Damnation, his schedule was shot to sunshine. The itching feeling that this whole delivery had filled him with got worse. It was all he could do not to ditch them all and go back to work, but he had other responsibilities now too. Responsibilities to his wife, to the possibility of their future family. Something was wrong. Faith was hiding something. He would have to figure out what it was soon.

  Faith cringed as Cooper turned his back and strode up to help the delivery guys. Her face pinched even more when Hope smacked her arm.

  “You haven’t told him,” she whispered.

  “Not telling your husband about your business is stupid, Faith,” Joy added.

  “I don’t see what the big deal is,” Chastity added, her tone far more flippant as she jumped down from the truck.

  “Tell him what?” Linda was standing close enough to overhear the entire interaction. Her lips twitched with amusement and motherly knowing.

  Once again, all three of her sisters turned to Faith, brows raised and arms crossed in expectation.

  Even though Faith’s skin crawled as the memory of her mother’s lectures, her daddy’s disapproving grunts at any extracurricular endeavors, and the tragic consequences she’d brought on herself assailed her, there was something about Linda that begged for a confession.

  She ground her teeth, shifted her weight, held her breath…and then let it all go with a sigh. “Come take a look.”

  Linda grinned from ear to ear and hopped over to join them. “I feel like I’ve just been invited to join some exclusive girls’ club,” she chuckled.

  “Yeah, well, you kind of have,” Faith answered.

  When Linda reached them, the girls closed ranks at the back of the truck. Chastity slid the opened box back out to the edge so that Linda could see. Faith opened the lid, reached in, and took out a perfectly sculpted porcelain baby doll leg.

  Linda gasped and smacked a hand to her heart. A second later, she narrowed her eyes, squinted, and took the leg when Faith handed it to her. “Good heavens, it’s so realistic!”

  “Aside from not being glazed or fired yet,” Faith said.

  Linda turned chalky-white leg over, touching each of the sculpted baby toes. “It’s amazing. And you did this?” She glanced up to Faith.

  Faith nodded. Her sisters beamed with pride.

  “Ever heard of ‘That’s My Baby’ handmade doll company?” Joy said.

  Linda continued to stare at the leg for a moment, mouth open. Then she blinked and stood straighter. “You know, I have. I’ve got a friend over in Haskell who collects dolls. She says her ‘That’s My Baby’ is the gem of her collection.” A second wave of recognition splashed over her, and she jerked straighter. “Wait, ‘That’s My Baby’ is you?”

  Faith nodded, holding out her hand to accept the porcelain leg back.

  Linda burst into laughter. “Oh my word. I never imagined that I’d have a famous daughter-in-law. All my daughters-in-law are so industrious and special.”

  “I’m not famous,” Faith rushed to assure her, even as she blushed at the compliment. “It was just supposed to be a hobby.”

  “But she’s really good at it,” Chastity added.

  “I’ll say.” Linda stopped laughing with a frown. “Cooper doesn’t know about this, does he?”

  “How was I supposed to tell him?” Faith argued, in spite of the fact that her heart was shrinking with guilt and shame inside of her. How was she supposed to tell him about the consequences her business had wrought on her, and by extension on them?

  “By telling him?” Linda teased. She must have seen the strain and misery on Faith’s face. She stepped forward to hug her. “Oh, honey, what’s got you so scared? Cooper will be happy his wife has a talent like this.”

  A hug from Linda was as good as sunshine on a balmy day as far as Faith was concerned. She loved her parents, but they didn’t give the kind of affection that Linda gave so freely. That affection made it easy for her to say, “Our parents never approved of, well, just about anything we did. I know I shouldn’t be scared, but if you beat a dog enough times, they’ll cringe if you so much as go near them.”

  Linda tsked and held her tighter. “Faith, you’re no dog. You’re a brilliant and beautiful woman. I know my son thinks so too.”

  “And so do we,” Hope added. She threw her arms around Linda and Faith, Joy did a moment later, and Chastity jumped down from the truck to make the group hug complete.

  Faith was near tears. “I know it’s silly, but I need to work my way up to telling Cooper. Because…because of the consequences of being near that kiln all the time.”

  Linda wasn’t the only one who looked confused.

  “What about being near the kiln all the time?” Hope asked.

  Faith sent her a pitiful look. “All that electricity, you know. And…and Mama was sure there was radiation.”

  Her sisters looked confused. Then Chastity snorted. “Radiation? Kilns don’t have radiation.”

  “Didn’t Mama say something stupid like that right before you had the kiln taken out of the basement and put in the secret workshop?” Joy frowned.

  A flash of anger zipped through Faith. “Thanks for blurting that one out.”

  “Whoops.” At least Joy had the good sense to look ashamed. “Sorry.”

  “What’s this?” Linda asked, glancing between the sisters.

  For once, all of them clammed up. Hope, Joy, and Chastity looked to Faith like it was her story to tell. And yet, with Linda watching her so thoughtfully, with such kindness and love in her eyes, Faith was loathe to disappoint the woman.

  “I have a medical condition,” Faith whispered. “Because of prolonged exposure to the kiln. It means I can’t—”

  “Faith?” Cooper’s call from the workshop door rescued her from having to confess her deepest shame to the woman who had shown her so much kindness. “Where do you want this thing to go?”

  “Sorry.” Faith whispered her apology to Linda and broke away, rushing across the lawn.

  Behind her, she heard Linda say, “I’ve never heard anything about kilns being medically dangerous, unless you burn yourself with one.”

  The comment didn’t settle right with Faith, but she had other things to worry about. She jogged up to the workshop’s huge door—like a garage door—and ducked inside. “What do you need?”

  The delivery guys had brought the kiln into the workshop, but they had yet to set it down. Cooper was busy moving
piles of boxes. A bench with a circular saw that didn’t look like it was used often stood in front of the bank of outlets in the wall.

  “How much space are you going to need to work in?” Cooper asked. “I mean, the kiln is one thing, but I saw a lot of boxes in the back of that truck too.”

  It hit Faith right then, as she pivoted on the spot to survey the workspace. This was real. This was really happening. Yes, she still had a lot to explain to Cooper about what her sculptures actually were, but he would let her do her work. He was giving her something her parents never could. So why was it so hard just to come out and tell him about That’s My Baby?

  Because it would break her in two if everyone was wrong and he didn’t approve. Ruining her own health wasn’t enough of a motivation to get her to stop before, but she would respect her husband and give up the one thing that made her feel like she was worth something if he asked.

  “Well, I need space for the kiln, obviously.” She dove into work, well aware that her cheeks were flame red. “And I need a staging area.”

  “Staging area?” Cooper put down the boxes in his arms and gave her a curious look.

  “For getting the bab—” She cleared her throat. “For getting everything ready. Dressing and packaging.”

  “Mmm hmm. What else?”

  She eyed Cooper sideways. Was that suspicion in his eyes? Disapproval?

  “Storage,” she went on in a rush. “Storage for clay and stuffing and clothes and things.” She strode across the room to where a mostly empty, new-looking wire shelf unit rested against the wall. “Somewhere to put cradles.”

  She winced even before she finished saying it.

  “Cradles?” Cooper rolled his shoulders and frowned just enough for Faith to see the gears in his mind working.

  “I make dolls, remember?”

  Confess, confess, confess.

  “Oh. Duh.” His shoulders loosened and he let out a laughing breath. “Of course. I bet you need room for your sewing machine too.”