Texas Fire

by Gerry Bartlett

  “You keep throwing around Spanish words and I’ll think you’re finally trying with the language thing.” She fell off of him and lay back to stare at the sky again. “Look, the lights are back.” She laughed. “Do you think the aliens watched us?”

  “If they did, they learned something.”

  Megan laughed. “So did I, lover.”

  Rowdy dug in his jeans and for the box that held what he’d bought at the craft show. “I have a surprise for you. I told you I did, didn’t I?”

  “I thought coming out here was it.” Megan sat up, her shawl wrapped around her shoulders. “A present?” She took the box. “What have you done?”

  “Don’t panic. Are you thinking this is a proposal?” Rowdy watched her closely. What did that expression mean? He couldn’t read her.

  “Well, is it?” She grinned. “Would it kill you to make an honest woman out of me?”

  “You already are an honest woman.” Rowdy relaxed. “I have no doubt about that.” Uh-oh. Her face fell. What had he said? “Open the damn box.”

  She pulled off the lid. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” She pulled out the silver bracelet with the intricately carved cactus dangling from it. Small flowers centered with turquoise and coral stones bloomed on the stems.

  “It’s a souvenir of our time together.” Rowdy waited while she clasped it around her wrist. “I’ll never forget taking those cactus spines out of your butt. You still have a small scar where the biggest one got you.”

  Tears filled her eyes, then she launched herself at him. “I love you, Rowdy. You’re too good for me.” She sobbed against his bare chest.

  “What the hell?” He didn’t know how to take this. On the one hand, she’d said she loved him. He wanted to pick her up and dance with her around the hilltop. On the other, she was crying as if her heart was breaking. “Megan! Talk to me, baby.”

  “Don’t call me baby. It’s too sweet. I don’t deserve it.” She leaned back and wiped her streaming eyes with the back of her hand.

  “Where is this coming from? I know I didn’t say it first, but can’t you tell? I love you, too.” Rowdy fell back when she jumped up and almost hit him in the chin with her foot. She grabbed her clothes and headed for the truck. “For fuck’s sake, what did I do wrong?”

  “Shut up, Rowdy. You’re only making this harder for me.” She crammed her feet into her sandals, clearly not thinking straight since she dropped her shawl on a cactus. She pulled her top over her head. “Shit.” She shook out the shawl, then opened the door and threw it in the truck.

  “Don’t just sit there! Get dressed and drive us home!” This was a screech like he’d rarely heard from her. It was as if Megan was in a panic.

  “Fine. Whatever you want. I will not call you ‘baby,’ and I sure as hell won’t throw out an ‘I love you’ if that’s the reaction I’m going to get.” Rowdy pulled on his jeans, then got his shirt over his head, though it was backward on the first try and he had to do it again. He grabbed his jacket, stuffed his feet in his shoes, and snagged the blanket, giving it a good shake in case a tarantula wanted to ride home with them. There were a few other things he picked up, then he stalked over to the truck.

  “I will never understand women. Never in a million years.” He slammed the door and started the engine. “You just sit there, Megan Calhoun, and don’t say a fucking word. Not while I’m driving. But when we get back to the RV, I want an explanation for your behavior.” Rowdy wheeled out of his parking spot and down the track to the highway. He was pissed. All his planning, a beautiful night, and it had somehow gone to shit. And, to top it off, Megan was over there against her door sniffling.

  “I’m sorry, Rowdy.” She said it quietly.

  “Don’t want to hear it. I said save it for when we get back. You will not go straight to bed. You will not refuse to explain. No bullshit. So, sit there and think. Pretending to fall asleep won’t fly, either.” He took a breath, relieved that it didn’t come out rough or watery. “I know why I’m not good enough for you. Anyone with half a brain knows that. I decided to get over it and have faith we could figure things out together. But when you look at me and say you don’t deserve me? Well, that’s going to require an explanation. So, get ready.” He punched on sports talk radio. Football. At least he understood the rules of that game.

  Chapter 16

  Megan dragged herself out of the truck when Rowdy stopped in front of Raylene’s trailer. She needed some time and a walk to the RV. When Lucky bounded up beside her, she reached down and took his leash.

  “Lucky and I will meet you there.” She kept walking.

  “You bet you will.” Rowdy still sounded furious, but he drove slowly past them when Lucky stopped to water a light pole.

  “You probably should have spent the night with Butch and Raylene, Lucky. It’s going to be no fun in our place.” Megan sniffed. She knew crying was a weapon she could use. Maybe not for forgiveness, but at least he might soften a little. She sighed. Oh, who was she kidding? He shouldn’t forgive or forget that she’d known since the day they’d left Houston that her family had wronged his. Better for her to just tell him now than for him to find out from someone else first.

  The letters had gone out to the injured parties more than a week ago. Had his mother thought it was a hoax and tossed it? It wouldn’t surprise her. Who would believe in a sudden windfall from an oil company for mineral rights lost long ago?

  Megan arrived at their RV and opened the door. Lucky waited impatiently for her to take off his leash, then went searching for Rowdy. The dog barked and Megan followed the sound to their bedroom. Rowdy was lying on his back, petting Lucky and waiting for her. He’d left on his clothes but kicked off his shoes. He still looked impossibly good to her, and he’d said he loved her tonight. Tears filled her eyes as she turned away.

  “Where are you going?” He didn’t yell, just asked the question.

  “I want a bottle of water. And I’m putting Lucky to bed. Come on, boy.” She slapped her thigh and Lucky followed her. She refilled his water bowl, then sat on the bed in the extra bedroom. They had a ritual at night. She put his favorite toy in the bed and they played a little tug-of-war with it. Then she kissed him on the head and told him good night before she turned off the light and closed the door.

  She decided to hang up her outfit in the hall closet and put on her robe. No matter where this conversation went, she needed to be comfortable. The white looked like it needed to be hand-washed, but not tonight. When she started to take off the top, she realized she didn’t have her silver belt.

  “Rowdy! I must have left my belt on that hill.” She tried to remember exactly what she’d done when they’d left. No, she hadn’t picked it up. “That was a signed piece by an artist. It cost a bundle.”

  “I’m sure. So I picked it up. It’s still in the truck. In the backseat with the blanket. You need it tonight?” He stood in the bedroom doorway.

  “No. I just had a moment of panic, that’s all.” She pulled off her top and dropped her skirt, turning away from him to slip on her robe. Then she carefully hung up the two pieces.

  “Not surprising you forgot it. You freaked out there at the end.” He sat at the dinette table. “Grab your water and sit down here. Let’s talk.”

  Megan pulled a cold bottle out of the fridge and sat across from him. “I’m sorry about that. The panic.”

  “So I’m waiting for an explanation.” He looked over at the cabinet, when a phone buzzed. “It’s my old phone. I left it here since we rarely have decent reception in this area. Let me see who this is.”

  “Don’t.” She grabbed the phone and looked at the screen. “Oh, it’s your mother. Isn’t it kind of late for her to call?”

  “Yes, it is. So I should take this. Give me my phone, Megan.” Rowdy held out his hand.

  “You can call her back after we talk.” Megan dropped the phone into her lap. “It will be better that way.”

  “Hand me the fucking phone. My mother has had cancer. I
t might be about a relapse.” He got up and came around the table. “Don’t make me take it.”

  “Cancer! I didn’t know. Of course.” Megan almost threw it at him. Now she felt even worse. What if life-sustaining treatments hadn’t been available when his mother had needed them because she and Rowdy couldn’t afford it? Not only was her father a swindler, but he could have very well caused people to die from neglect or inadequate care. Oh, the repercussions of what Conrad Calhoun had done didn’t bear thinking about. She dropped her head into her hands, then looked up again. She had to see how he reacted to what his mother told him.

  “Mom, you’re up late.” Rowdy sat across from her again. “What’s up? How are you feeling?” He listened and finally smiled. “Oh, that’s good. You scared me, calling so late.”

  Megan sagged in her seat. At least illness hadn’t been the problem.

  “You have? I’m sorry. This phone is almost useless out here. I got a new number now. A satellite phone.” He paused. “Yes, finally. You have something to write with? Here goes.” He rattled off the number. “You can always reach me on it.”

  Megan knew this was the call she’d been dreading. She decided she didn’t want to sit here for it after all. She walked into the bathroom and took a shower, even washed her hair. That should give Rowdy plenty of time to hear about the evildoings of Calhoun Petroleum and Conrad Calhoun. She could only pray that he’d give the monster’s daughter a chance to explain how they were trying to make things right for them.

  But would they really be able to follow through on the promise implied in that letter? The last word from Cassidy hadn’t sounded good. The company was being reorganized, and most debts were being paid. But the big looming debt was the compensation owed to the people whom Conrad had defrauded early in his career. She had no idea how many wells had been drilled on the land owned by Rowdy’s family or if they’d been profitable. But even if only a few came in successfully, with penalties and interest . . . The numbers had to be significant.

  Megan blew her hair dry, then put on her robe again. She couldn’t stay in the tiny, steamy bathroom another minute. She felt sick, and it wasn’t just because she couldn’t breathe in the enclosed space. She threw open the bathroom door.

  “Megan, you finally through hiding in there? Sit down.” Rowdy’s phone lay on the table. When she hesitated, he slammed his fist next to it. “I said sit the fuck down!”

  “What did your mother have to say?” She picked up her water and then couldn’t manage to open the top. He grabbed it, unscrewed the cap, and thrust it into her hand. He kept staring at her as she took a swallow and almost choked. “Well?”

  “Are you seriously going to sit there and pretend you don’t know why she called? She got a letter, Megan, from Calhoun Petroleum.” His laugh was bitter. “Signed by Cassidy herself as acting chief financial officer.” He stared down at his phone. “Isn’t that a kick in the nuts?”

  “Rowdy. You know this all happened before Cassidy, me, all of the kids were born. We didn’t—”

  “I know that.” He met her gaze. “Don’t you dare fucking cry, Megan Calhoun. I don’t blame you for something your lying, stealing father did. But I sure as hell hate the fact that you knew about this and didn’t say word one to me this whole trip.” His lips were tight, like he was holding in a lot more words that he knew would wound her. “You did know, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” She closed her eyes, hating the way he was looking at her. No, too cowardly. She met his gaze head-on. “We were sworn to secrecy. But I know that’s no excuse!” She didn’t dare reach for his fist, lying there on the table, but God, she wanted to touch him. “Cassidy’s still trying to figure out how to pay what we owe. It’s . . . it’s a lot.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t give a flying fuck if it sends you and your high-living family to the poorhouse.” This time he was the one who looked away. “You have any idea what that money could have meant to my family? Thirty long years Calhoun has been using mineral rights that belonged to first my grandmother, and now to my mom.” When he finally turned back to face her, his eyes were actually bright with tears he would never shed. “My grandma had Alzheimer’s, Megan. So your daddy tricked her into signing away her rights when she was incompetent. She would sit on her front porch and watch your father’s company drilling wells. Used to say it was too bad they were messing up her pasture. But she never could remember how or when she gave someone permission to do it.”

  “I’m learning that my father was ambitious. Too much so. It made him greedy and dishonest in the early days of the company. It’s why Cassidy’s mother cut her off from her father. Made him sign away his parental rights when they divorced.” Megan took another drink of water, her throat tight with emotion.

  “No wonder Cass’s mother never remarried, with an asshole like that for a husband. But Liz should have turned Conrad in, reported what he did to the authorities back then. Tried to make things right.” He just kept staring at that phone. “Shit. She’s almost as guilty as he was, keeping Cass to herself and letting that man go on about his lying, cheating business for thirty years.”

  “I don’t know why Elizabeth Calhoun chose to behave the way she did.” Megan could have told him what a wonderful dad her father had been when he hadn’t been off working to build his huge company. He certainly hadn’t let his kids see his unethical side. Instead he’d provided them with a lavish lifestyle. Using tainted money.

  “She was better off not knowing him.” Rowdy scowled and flexed his fingers. “Sorry if that hurts your feelings.”

  “No, I get it.” He was upset. She couldn’t blame him for lashing out. “But didn’t you or your mom ever look into who owned the mineral rights on your grandmother’s land?” Megan didn’t want to make him mad, but she’d learned that much in her research. People had to take care of themselves when it came to land ownership and what did or didn’t belong to them.

  “I was a kid, Megan. Mom had her hands full with her mother losing her mind. It started small with missing papers, paranoia, then she didn’t know us anymore. Mom finally had to put Grandma into a nursing home and it wasn’t a good one. We didn’t have money, so we had little choice, even after we sold the land where Grandma had lived most of her life. The nursing home was state-funded and the care was for shit. I spent many hours after school there with Mom making sure Grandma was clean and fed. The staff meant well, but the people were overworked and really didn’t have time to see to all the patients under their care.”

  Megan had nothing to say. She couldn’t imagine spending her childhood in that situation. But she did remember seeing her mother in a mental hospital when Missy’d had one of her bad spells. It had left scars she’d carry forever. And that was despite the fact that her mother had always received the most expensive care available in a private facility.

  “I still worry that my mom or me will end up like Grandma, losing our minds someday. It’s a special kind of hell.” He shook his head. “But I’m getting sidetracked. This is about you and me.”

  “Is there? A you and me?” Megan held her breath.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out here.” He finally reached across the table and Megan put her hand in his. “I can’t blame you for what your father did. And I’d met you what—twice?—before that day in Houston when we headed out of town. I understand why you wouldn’t break your family’s trust by telling me what your father had done then.”

  “I couldn’t. But as I got to know you, it ate at me. Keeping this secret.” She held on tight. “I don’t know how much money we’re talking about, Rowdy, or if there will be any money when all is said and done.” She bowed her head, the shame of admitting that weighing her down.

  “I’ve always made my own way, Megan. I’ll survive no matter what. But having financial security would mean a lot to my mother. She’s worked hard all her life with little to show for it. I’d like to see her able to retire and take it easy.” He let go of her hand and leaned back. “I told her we
need our own lawyer. To fight for what’s owed us.”

  “That’s a good idea. Since we’re clearly on opposite sides of this, maybe we should change the subject.” Megan stood, really ready to talk about something else. “I didn’t get to tell you what I found out about Clint Stephens.” She grabbed the papers she’d brought home with her from the job site and laid them on the table. “I wouldn’t bother you with this now if it wasn’t important. You need to do something about it, probably tomorrow.”

  “What is it?” He picked up the pages. “More of your research, obviously.”

  “Yes. Clint is from Virginia City, Nevada. Does that ring any bells with you?” She pulled the last page from the pile.

  “It’s a mining town. Site of a big silver find back in the eighteen hundreds.” He scanned the pages, then dropped them back on the table. “Just give me the bottom line.”

  “Well, the major discovery of silver found in Virginia City was called the Comstock Lode. Seems our supervisor named his own little company Comstock.”

  “No kidding.” Rowdy frowned. “Clint Stephens is the person who sold Dr. Wallace her place? And kept the mineral rights?”

  “That’s correct.” Megan handed him the last page. “Look when he bought it. It was right about the time my dad started buying up land in this area. I don’t know whether Clint was acquainted with the geologist or just got lucky. Maybe he heard gossip on the job site where he was working for Calhoun Petroleum at the time, but Clint had inside information.”

  “He sure as hell did.” Rowdy scanned the page. “Which is why it’s against company policy for an employee to work on a project where he has a financial interest.” He threw it on the table. “I’ll be damned. No wonder Clint is all about speed. In a big fucking hurry to bring in those wells. And he went ape shit nuts when you admitted you’d told Wallace we wouldn’t drill any more wells on that property. That represents a huge loss of income to the mineral rights holder.”