by SUE FINEMAN
She looked over at Tommy Ray. “You promised to give him over to me if I’d give you what’s left of this after I paid my bills. I know you wouldn’t go back on your promise in front of all these good people.”
Tommy Ray gave her a look meant to wither, but she stared him down and continued. “I owe Skeeter ten. I owe Greg more because of the equipment he had to rent, and the boat, and so forth. His wife flew us across country and took care of Brady, and I’m mighty grateful to them both. They get twenty-five.”
Tommy Ray grabbed her arm, but his deputy and Greg stepped between them and he let go. Fury flashed in his eyes, but Callie knew he didn’t dare mess with her with all these people watching.
“The statue in the town square needs to be cleaned, and I know there’s no money for that in the town budget. The gazebo needs to be replaced, too. Since the park is named after my ancestor, I figure that’s my expense, so I’m giving seven of these to the town to clean the statue and spruce up the park in the town square.”
She caught Bo’s eye and spoke from her heart. “Bo Gregory took me and Brady in and gave us a place to sleep when we arrived in a strange city with no money. He took care of us even though he was in pain from his arm and the only income he had was from his disability from the Marines. I owe him my life, and my son’s life, but all I have left is...”
Mr. Butler said, “Ten.”
She scanned the faces of the others in the room, of nearly thirty of her friends and neighbors. “I’m sorry I don’t have more to share with you.”
“What about you, Callie?” asked Albert.
“I have the ranch back. Tommy Ray has taken everything else away from me, including my son, but he promised to give Brady back to me.”
She turned to Tommy Ray. “I’ll have my son now. Where is he?”
“You didn’t give me spit. The deal is off.”
“Listen, everyone.” Bo held up the tape recorder and pushed the play button. By the time the phone conversation Callie had with Tommy Ray was half over, angry townspeople surrounded Tommy Ray, and Greg had removed the sheriff’s gun.
“Where’s my son, Tommy Ray? What did you do with Brady?”
Tommy Ray raised his hand to slap her, and Greg grabbed it. He twisted Tommy Ray’s hand behind him and slapped handcuffs on him. Dave Montgomery flashed his FBI badge under Tommy Ray’s nose. “You’re under arrest, sheriff.”
Dave read him his rights and then asked, “Where’s the kid?”
Tommy Ray didn’t answer. Instead, he glared at Callie. “I’ll get you for this, bitch.”
“Not this time, Tommy Ray. I want my son.”
“Go to hell.”
<>
Bo pushed through to stand with Callie. “We’ll find him, Callie. Someone in this town must know where he is.”
“We’ll all look,” said Albert.
“I’ll get the telephone tree at church started,” Rev. Bickley said on his way out of the bank.
Callie looked up at Bo and spoke quietly. “Someone told Tommy Ray about the hospital in San Antonio. You don’t ‘spose Mary Bickley—”
“We’ll start there.”
While Dave and one of Tommy Ray’s deputies took him to the jailhouse, Greg drove Callie and Bo to the church. Mary Bickley and her family lived right next door. No one answered the door at the house, so they walked to the church, where they found Rev. Bickley on the phone in his office. He finished his call and hung up.
“Where’s your wife?” Bo asked.
He consulted a big calendar on the wall by his desk. “She doesn’t have anything scheduled for today.” He looked from Bo to Greg and Callie. “You think she’d know how to find Brady?”
“Yes, sir, she might,” said Callie. “Did you tell anyone that I was with Bo at the hospital in San Antonio?”
“No, of course not.”
“Somebody did,” said Bo. “Tommy Ray knew right where to find us, and only a few people knew where we were—my brother, Stan Houser, and the four people who visited Callie while I was in surgery.”
He shook his head. “Mary wouldn’t—”
“I can’t believe it was Albert and his wife,” said Callie.
“Bo and Callie, search the church,” said Greg. “Rev. Bickley, would you let me have a look around your house?”
“Of course. The boys should be home from soccer practice any minute, and Mary is always home by then.”
After a quick search, Bo and Callie met Greg by the car. Greg was on the phone with Dave. “Expand the search to include Mary Bickley. We think Tommy Ray may have left Brady with her.”
They piled in the car and Greg drove away. “Where does Albert live?”
Callie gave him directions to a ranch on the other side of town. “I know Albert doesn’t have him, and his wife is just the nicest lady you’d ever want to meet. I can’t believe they’d have him. Albert hates Tommy Ray.”
Greg drove up to the house, and a plump lady with a big smile walked out to the porch to meet them. Bo jumped out of the backseat. “We’re sorry to bother you, but we’re looking for Brady Caldwell.”
“I know. Albert called just a minute ago. He said he’d be late for supper because he’s helping search for the boy.”
“I hate to ask you this, but did you tell anyone about Callie being with me at the hospital in San Antonio? Someone told Tommy Ray.”
“Oh, no. She didn’t do that, did she?”
“Who? Mary Bickley?”
She nodded. “Mary thinks the sheriff can do no wrong.”
“If Tommy Ray left Brady with her, where would we find them?”
Greg called from the car. “Bo, Rev. Bickley just called. Brady is at his house.”
Bo thanked Albert’s wife and got back in the car. “So Mary had him all along?”
“When I get finished with her, she’ll never touch my son again,” said Callie.
She could be fierce when it came to Brady. Bo leaned forward. “Callie, what are you going to do to Mary?”
“I don’t rightly know yet, but when we get to her house, stay out of my way.”
At the pastor’s house, Callie jumped out of the car before Greg could set the brake, and Bo was right behind her. “Hold up there, Calamity Jane.”
Without knocking, she opened the door and rushed into the house to scoop her little boy into her arms.
Callie looked up and asked the pastor, “Where is she?”
“At the jailhouse. The FBI took her away a couple minutes ago.”
Brady looked up at Bo and grinned. He had tear streaks down his face and a handprint bruised into his arm. “Who grabbed your arm, Brady?”
“Daddy. He made me stay behind the seat in his pickup for two whole days and nights. I could only get out at gas stations, when he took me to the bathroom, then he left me with Miz Bickley, and she hit me when I tried to run away.”
From the fire flashing in Callie’s eyes, she wanted to tear that bitch apart, and Bo didn’t blame her.
A door slammed in the back of the house and two kids walked in. “What’s for dinner?” one of them asked.
“I’ll order a pizza,” said the reverend.
“Where’s Mom?” asked the other boy.
Nobody answered.
Callie looked her son over. “Did Daddy give you anything to eat?”
“I had two hamburgers and cokes.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Greg scooped the kid up in his arms. “What do you say we pick up Aunt Neen and go get something to eat?”
“Okay.”
Chapter Thirteen
Callie gave Brady a bath and tucked him into his own bed that night. She looked up to see Bo standing in the doorway, watching her with Brady.
“Will you read me a story, Mama?”
“Why don’t we make one up?” Bo walked to the bed and sat on the side. “Once upon a time there was a boy named Prince Brady, who...” Bo looked at Callie. “...who lived on a ranch with beautif
ul horses.”
“And a big sister named Katie?”
“And a big sister named Princess Katie.”
Callie put her hand on Bo’s shoulder. “And when the prince grew up big enough, he had his very own horse, named...”
“Stormy,” said Brady.
“Nice name,” said Bo. “She must be black or gray.”
“Black, and he’s a boy horse, not a girl, and he’s big and shiny, and he loves me.”
Callie sighed deeply. “Mama always said my Prince Charming would ride in on a white horse. I dreamed about that from the time I was Katie’s age.”
“We don’t have a white horse, Mama.”
“We don’t have a black one either, honey, but maybe someday we will.” And maybe someday her prince really would ride in on a white horse.
Callie kissed Brady goodnight and turned out the light. She wandered back to the living room with Bo, avoiding the bedroom she’d shared with Tommy Ray. Bo said Greg bought a new bed and that was nice of him, but it was still the same room, a place of wide-awake nightmares.
Skeeter had been sleeping in the spare bedroom, but he insisted on sleeping in the barn that night. Callie knew he did it to give them some privacy, and she appreciated that. Skeeter was a considerate man, and she felt fortunate to have him working for her here on the ranch.
“Greg said he changed the sheets on the new bed before he left,” said Bo.
“Oh, that was nice of him. The house looks pretty good for a change. Tommy Ray is a such a slob.”
“So was Greg, until Neen reformed him. If he throws something down, she makes him pick it up.” Bo leaned down to whisper, “I think she tells him no sex unless he picks up after himself.”
Her lips tugged into a little smile. She draped her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Bo always made her feel better about herself, but she had mixed feelings about living in this house. She’d spent a happy childhood here, but remembering the things Tommy Ray did to her and Brady, the pain and humiliation and heartache of living with a brutal man, brought an ache to her spirit. She didn’t realize she was crying until her tears soaked through Bo’s shirt.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“Tommy Ray did awful things to me in the dark.”
Bo threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. “Then we’ll leave a light on, or we can pull the mattress out here and—”
“No, it’s all right.” She wiped her eyes. “I’ll be all right in the bedroom as long as I don’t have to be in there with Tommy Ray.”
“Honey, if I have my way, you’ll never have to be anywhere with Tommy Ray again. Would you rather go back to Tacoma?”
“Not really.” She looked up at him. “What about you?”
Bo hesitated before answering. “Callie, I have things I need to do there, and I’m not sure I belong here. I don’t know anything about ranching, and I’m not sure I can handle the work.”
“What you’re really saying is that you don’t want to be here with me, in the house I lived in with my husband.” She couldn’t blame him for feeling that way.
Bo sat on the sofa and reached for her hand. “Callie, it isn’t you or Tommy Ray. It’s the house.” The old house needed to be replaced. There was so much mold he could smell it, and it gave him a headache.
She stepped back. “I don’t want to be here either, but I don’t have enough money to start a business and build a new house, too.”
“You had money and gave it all away.” He’d have money if and when he and Greg sold the business, but did he want sink it all into a new house in the middle of nowhere?
He stretched his bad arm along the back of the sofa and winced at the stiffness. If he didn’t get back to his therapy soon, it wouldn’t heal right.
She sat on the other end of the sofa and turned to face him. Easing his arm off the back of the sofa, she began to massage it. “Tell me if I hurt you and I’ll stop.”
As her fingers and thumbs worked around his wrist and up his arm, she said, “That gold represented eight years of my life, Bo. Eight years of living with a man who didn’t even like me, let alone love me. Until I found you, all I could think about was keeping away from Tommy Ray, protecting my son, and trying to make it through one more day.”
She hit a sore spot and Bo hollered. “Ow!”
Callie eased back, but didn’t stop massaging. “Sorry. Granny used to say if it didn’t hurt a little it wasn’t helping, but I don’t want to make it worse.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“Now that I have the ranch back, I can start planning my life instead of just surviving. I want to build a new house someday, but first I have to find a way to bring in some income. Raising horses is fine, but it takes time before you make any money, and we need to pay the bills and eat in the meantime.”
“You said your father leased out the grazing lands.”
She nodded and stretched his arm. “And Mama raised chickens. We sold several dozen eggs a day to the local markets, but Tommy Ray didn’t like the noise the chickens made, so he sold them and tore down the hen house. My grandfather used to raise cattle. It pays better, but that’s such hard work.”
“What do you want to do, Callie? Besides raise horses, I mean.”
“Well, I was thinking about the old cabin site on the river, about making it a campsite, with a shelter and an outhouse or two. It needs a new well, too. If we buy enough saddle horses, we could take a few people out on the weekends and let them go exploring for gold, fish in the river, or just relax. I ‘spose we could bring them in by boat, too.”
“You could make this a fancy dude ranch, build a big house or a lodge where people could stay a week or two.”
“And cook for an army every morning and every night? No, thank you, sir. I don’t mind cooking for my family, but I can’t imagine cooking and cleaning up after a whole bunch of people every day. Somebody will have to help Skeeter with the horses, and we can’t afford to hire anyone for a while, so that someone will have to be me. I don’t mind work—shoot, I’ve been working since I was Brady’s age—but I can’t cook at the same time.”
After she finished with his arm, he stretched out on the sofa and pulled her on top of him. “Callie, when you own a business, you have to hire people to help you, and if you’re going to dream, you need to dream big.”
“I ‘spose,” she said on a sigh, “but after spending the past few years just trying to survive, I forgot how to dream.”
She nuzzled into his neck and he kissed her cheek, and as she turned her face toward his, his lips brushed hers. Callie lifted her head to gaze into his eyes. “Kiss me, Callie,” he whispered. “Kiss me, honey. I need you tonight.”
“Not as much as I need you.” She kissed him lightly and he slipped his hand under her shirt to free her breast and worry her nipple. As he deepened the kiss, she kissed him back, a lusty, open-mouth kiss that told him in no uncertain terms that she wanted the same thing he did. The intimacy they’d shared brought them closer, although their relationship wasn’t just about sex. It was about caring and trust. And love.
He unhooked her bra and pushed it out of his way, and she moved so he could use his mouth. “Take your clothes off, Callie.”
“Not here, Bo. Brady might wake up.”
He pulled her shirt down to cover her bare breasts and they walked to the bedroom together, turning out the lights on the way. She closed the bedroom door while he turned a light on.
She looked around. “Oh, it looks different in here. Greg didn’t just buy a new bed, he moved things around.”
Bo had something else on his mind as he turned down the bed and yanked his clothes off. He couldn’t wait much longer for her. Pulling his last condom out of his pocket, he rolled it on and lay on the bed. Callie tossed her clothes in the corner and stood before him stark naked and absolutely beautiful. She had a slender, almost delicate frame, round breasts, a thatch of black curls below her belly, and the most gorgeous vio
let eyes he’d ever seen. At that moment, those eyes were filled with love, and he knew he’d never love any woman like he loved this sweet Texas lady. “Callie,” he whispered, and she came to him, kneeling on the bed, straddling his hips.
He couldn’t imagine a life without her. He ran his hands over her silky skin from her shoulders to her breasts, down her ribs and over her hips to grab her behind, and she slid over him, taking him deep inside her, possessing him with her body.
As they made love in the bedroom she’d once shared with her brutal husband, Bo knew he didn’t want to live anywhere without her. She’d become a part of him, the most precious, essential part.
<>
Early the next morning, Bo woke to the ringing of a telephone. Blinking his eyes open, he reached for Callie, but she wasn’t there. Bo pulled on his jeans and walked out to the kitchen, where Callie stood holding the kitchen phone, a dazed look on her face. She handed the receiver to him.
“Bo, this is Neen. Greg wanted me to call and tell you that Tommy Ray escaped last night. The deputy guarding him fell asleep and when he woke up this morning, the cell door was open and Tommy Ray was gone.”
“Aw, shit.”
“Greg and Dave are on their way over there now.”
Callie put her hand on Bo’s arm and pointed out the window at Greg’s rental car coming up the driveway.
Bo finish dressing, and as he came out of the bedroom, he glanced in Brady’s room. The kid was all tangled up in his polo shirt. Bo pulled it off the kid, straightened it, and started over. “What you have here is one of those kid-eating polo shirts. I had a shirt like this when I was your age. Always got twisted up on me.”
“Skeeter is gonna let me help in the barn today.”
“He is?”
“Yeah.”
Brady obviously loved the ranch as much as Callie did, but Bo would never feel comfortable in the house Callie had lived in with her husband. At least he didn’t have to sleep in the same bed.
The house was as clean as it would ever be, but no one could clean all the mold out of it. The wallpaper was old and ugly, and the house only had one dingy little bathroom. Skeeter said the wiring was original and there was no insulation in the walls or attic. The house must be at least seventy years old. It hadn’t been maintained, and it wasn’t safe or healthy to live in.
