Almost Home

by India Masters

  Dooley tipped his hat back and scratched his head. “Sure, I can help. Just let me call Maria and let her know I’ll be a while. We was gonna cook dinner together tonight.”

  Haley slipped an arm around Wyatt’s waist. “Why don’t you tell her to bring the kids on up and we can all have supper together? I mixed up some ground beef for burgers last night and there’s some hot dogs in the freezer. Maria and I can whip up some coleslaw or something to go along with it.”

  Dooley grinned and flipped open his phone. “Hey, darlin’. Haley and Wyatt wanna know if you and the kids wanna come up to her place for supper. You gals can gab whilst the youngster and I hook up Haley’s fancy new TV and such.” He nodded and closed the phone. “She’ll be up soon as she hoses the kids down. Let’s get to unloading.”

  Wyatt had never seen Haley laugh so much. Everything delighted her. The children’s antics as they tried to teach Scuzz a new vocabulary that didn’t include cuss words. His and Dooley’s swearing on the porch as they struggled to assemble the console for the new TV and the desk for her office. Every now and again he’d stop to watch her through the screened door as she worked with Maria’s girls to assemble a batch of chocolate chip cookies, teasingly scolding them when they’d sneak a couple of chocolate chips from the bag.

  At last, the console was inside with the new forty-two-inch plasma television sitting proudly atop. Burgers sizzled on the grill while the smell of baking cookies filled the air. Wyatt’s heart filled with joy at the happy chaos surrounding them. It was almost like having a family of his own.

  “All right,” Maria called, clapping her hands. “Everyone wash their hands and take a place at the table. Food’s ready.”

  Hot dogs and burgers, buns, condiments and everything needed to dress them was on the table, along with a big pitcher of sweet tea and bowls filled with potato salad and coleslaw. Snoop dog sat between the two youngest children waiting for something to drop and Wyatt chuckled when one of them sneaked the hound a piece of hot dog.

  “So, Miss Haley,” Carlita said around a huge bit of hot dog. “Can me ’n Ezzie come watch cartoons sometime? I bet SpongeBob would look huge on that TV.”

  “I bet he would too. And of course you can, if your ma and pa say it’s okay. Maybe come Saturday morning?”

  The note of longing in Haley’s voice made Wyatt’s heart clench. He’d bet as a child Haley had never spent much time watching Saturday morning cartoons.

  His uncharitable thoughts about Kent Kilpatrick were becoming downright unchristian.

  Maria nodded. “It’s okay but we’re not going to make a habit of spending Saturday mornings on Haley’s couch. Once a month is all, and only if your grade cards are good.”

  “Sounds like a deal to me,” Haley said. “I’ll see you Saturday morning at eight o’clock sharp. I’ll teach you how to make cinnamon rolls and we’ll veg out for an hour or so.”

  “Whoo-hoo!” Carlita and Ezzie whooped. Which was followed by the inevitable, “Can we come too?” from the older children.

  Before Wyatt knew it, everyone was invited for Saturday morning cartoons. Including him. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d be invited to stay over Friday night.

  While Haley and Maria cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher, Wyatt and Dooley sat down with the operating manuals for the TV and home theater components and began the process of hooking things up. Every now and again, Haley and Maria would giggle and Wyatt knew they were laughing at him and Dooley as they sweated and swore over the manuals.

  “Dang it all, Dooley. You’re looking at the Spanish instructions. You don’t read Spanish do you?”

  “No, but they got pictures of how to hook it up.”

  “Gimme that.” He tried to snatch the manual away from Dooley, who held it out of his reach. Which only made Wyatt try harder to grab the thing from him. It didn’t take long for the good-natured argument to evolve into a wrestling match.

  Haley and Maria waded into the fray. “Boys, boys. Stop that right this minute,” Maria scolded. Quick as a snake, Dooley snatched Maria off her feet. Seeing their parents play fighting, the children shrieked and piled on until they were a writhing mass of tickling and laughter that had Haley laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. Wyatt scooted back to avoid the thrashing feet and pulled Haley down between his legs so he could wrap his arms around her.

  “It’s like a game of Twister gone horribly wrong,” he commented. When she threw him a questioning look, he shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’ve never played Twister.”

  Haley shook her head. “Nope, never have.”

  “It’s fun watching kids play but when grownups play? Baby girl, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

  * * * * *

  Conner Kilpatrick stood as his father strutted into the visiting area. Prison hadn’t seemed to hurt Kent Kilpatrick near as Conner could tell. Fact was, the old man looked better than he had before he’d been locked up. Of course, it’d been nine years since the old man had been out drinking and whoring. Three meals a day hadn’t hurt him none either.

  “Howdy son,” Kent said, enfolding Conner in a quick embrace. “You’re looking good.”

  That was a bald-faced lie if Conner ever heard one. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten a home-cooked meal, and he’d spent the bulk of the money Haley had thrown at him on booze.

  “How you doing, Pa?”

  Kent sat down. “Doing good, son. Made parole. Won’t be long before they spring me from this joint.” He looked around. “Where’s your sister? You were supposed to bring her.”

  Conner cleared his throat. “She left. Picked up her mail from Austin and took off. Came back for her stock a while back, tossed a wad of money in my face and said she was done with us.”

  Kent Kilpatrick’s eyes narrowed. “Did she now? And you didn’t ask where she’d been, where she was going?”

  “Sure I asked, but she wouldn’t say. Had some cowboy with a fancy rig drive her out to the house. They loaded up the horses and took off.”

  Kent tapped the tabletop. “Is that right? Anybody you knew?”

  Conner shook his head. “Never seen him before. License plate bracket said Kimble County.”

  Kent smiled, something moving behind his eyes that Conner couldn’t quite put a finger on, but his voice remained deceptively casual.

  “Guess the old bitch died and left her place to Haley.”

  “What old bitch?”

  “Y’all’s Aunt Jack. Your momma’s sister. Had herself a good-sized spread outside Junction. Few thousand acres. Some oil. Couple gas wells. Prime hill country land.”

  The grin his father sent his way sent a chill down Conner’s spine. Whatever it was that made his pa smile like that didn’t bode well for Haley. ‘Course, the way she’d treated her only brother, Conner figured whatever their daddy had planned, she had it coming. Still, he couldn’t help feeling a little unnerved.

  “I expect you’d best mosey on over to Junction and tell your sister to be expecting us when they cut me loose from here.”

  Conner barely contained a grimace. Considering what had passed between him and his sister, it didn’t seem likely he’d be greeted with open arms.

  “She ain’t gonna like that, Pa. Made herself pretty clear. She don’t want nothing to do with either one of us.”

  His pa’s mouth tightened as his jaw clenched, giving his face the look of a hardened criminal off a wanted poster. “Well, it don’t much matter what she wants. I’m her pa and she’ll do what I say. Just like always.”

  Conner wasn’t so sure about that. “She’s changed, Pa.”

  Kent barked a harsh laugh. “That may be, boy, but she’ll just have to change back. I’m her daddy and I want what’s coming to me. I been waiting half my life for that old bitch to die and leave us the ranch. Your sister might not like it but she knows better than to buck me. Now you do as I say, boy, and go see your sister. I’ll call you soon to see what she had to say.”

  Co
nner nodded. “Yes sir.”

  An inmate sauntered over to their table and Kent introduced them. “This here’s Rafe Winslow. He’s in for a parole violation but he’s getting out next week. I told him he could stay at that sorry excuse for a ranch your sister rented. You need some help with her, he’s your man.” Kent reached over and plucked a pack of smokes from Conner’s pocket. Lighting one up, he inhaled deeply, then sat back in his chair, smiling. When he exhaled the smoke through his nostrils, Conner could have sworn he smelled sulfur.

  Chapter Six

  Haley yawned as she forked another pile of manure into a wheelbarrow. Man she was tired. She and Wyatt had stayed up late setting up her office equipment. It had been past two in the morning before he’d finally left for home. Six o’clock came extra early on less than four hours sleep and she’d been working side by side with Dooley all morning. She straightened and stretched, groaning when her back cracked in protest. Lifting the handles on the wheelbarrow, she muscled the last of the manure out to the pile, rinsed the barrow and fork and stowed them.

  “I don’t know about you, Dooley, but I could go for a cup of coffee right about now.”

  Dooley leaned his pitchfork against the side of the stall. “Reckon I could too.”

  The two walked side by side to the house, going around back to scrape their boots and enter the kitchen. Haley flipped the switch on the coffee pot, grinning at Dooley’s raised eyebrow.

  “Figured you didn’t get much more sleep than I did last night, so had a pot ready to go.”

  Dooley took off his hat and scratched his head. “Wyatt stayed late, did he?”

  Haley pulled a couple of clean mugs from the cabinet. “Yeah, but we got the office equipment set up and he emailed his friend about setting up a web page for me. I sure hope I don’t screw anything up. I ain’t so good with computers.”

  Dooley chuckled. “Aw hell, Wyatt can teach ya.”

  Haley poured them each a cup of coffee and sat down across from him. “So he claims but I ain’t all that confident in my abilities.”

  Dooley blew across the top of his cup. “You got to stop selling yourself short, gal. Way I figure it, ain’t nothing you can’t do if you got a mind to. You got yourself out from under that brother of yours. Got yourself a good start on building a business. Hell, I ain’t never seen nobody that’s got a way with horses like you. I reckon you’ll learn what you need to and do just fine.”

  Haley grinned and raised her cup in a toast. “From your mouth to God’s ears.” She took a sip of the strong brew and sighed. “The mares feet look to be coming along fine. Lolly seems to have gotten used to the pads.”

  “Yup. She’s a good horse.” He drank more coffee. “Noticed Molly’s a little restless this morning. May be she’s ready to drop soon.”

  Haley nodded. “Probably ought to have Ben check her.”

  Dooley nodded. “Figured I’d see if you wanted me to call him. I’ll check her off and on through the night too. The foal’s gonna be pretty big. We may need him or we may not. Best to keep him on speed dial.”

  “Go on and give him a call. I gotta get cleaned up before that woman shows up to start building my website.” She lifted the collar of her t-shirt to her nose and sniffed. “I smell like a goat.”

  “Mucking out six stalls will do that. I ain’t so sweet smelling myself.” He drained the last of his coffee and rinsed his cup. He turned and smiled. “Well, back to it. I’ll call Doc and see if he can get out here today.”

  * * * * *

  After a long shower, Haley made a salad for lunch and settled down on the porch to eat, Snoop by her side. In the sunroom on the back of the house, Scuzz squawked out the lyrics to It’s A Small World, courtesy of the Dooley’s youngest children, liberally punctuated by the foulest curse words known to man.

  Haley smiled happily as she munched on crispy butter lettuce and succulent tomatoes. She still didn’t quite trust that her life had changed so much for the better. For more years than she could remember, her happiness had never been a priority to the people in her life. Now she had this ranch, more money in the bank than she’d ever dreamed possible, and she was on the way to seeing her dream of breeding and training barrel horses come true. On top of that, she had her first real girlfriends in Maria Dooley and Traci Owens.

  Then there was Wyatt. He’d come to mean more to her than she’d ever imagined he could the first time she’d laid eyes on him. She’d taken him for a cowboy Casanova but it seemed like she’d been wrong. She didn’t quite trust her judgment on that either, though. She was honest enough with herself to admit she didn’t know jack shit about men. Had never had a boyfriend. Had barely ever been kissed before. And while she knew the mechanics of sex, she’d never actually had sex. How pathetic was that? Thinking about what had passed between them in the truck yesterday, she fanned herself with her hand. He’d had her shirt up and her bra pulled down, his mouth on her breasts. And she’d liked it. Had wanted it. More’s the pity. Just went to prove even the most cautious woman could act the fool.

  Haley was just finishing her salad and tea when a plume of dust rose in the distance. Before long, a battered red truck bounced into the yard and stopped next to the barn. Haley stood, setting her dishes on the bench and went to greet her guest.

  The woman emerging from the truck was definitely not what she expected. Well into her forties, she was short with wild gray-streaked hair that spread around her face and shoulders like a halo. Dressed in a gauzy yellow skirt that touched the tips of her boots, she wore a wife-beater under a tan leather vest. This was the Webmaster Wyatt had recommended? The woman looked like Kathy Bates on crack.

  “You must be Haley.”

  The woman’s voice had a deep, velvety quality that probably drove men to distraction. Haley was immediately mesmerized.

  “Uh…yes ma’am.”

  The woman snorted. “Save your ma’ams for the preacher’s wife, honey. My name’s Merinda Hale but most folks call me Meri. Not after that hobbit fellow, though I am short. Feet ain’t hairy though. Wyatt says you need a web page built for your business?”

  Haley blinked and gave her head a shake. Goodness, the woman spoke fast. Hobbit fellow? Hairy feet? What the hell? Then she remembered a trailer for a movie about wizards and short people that lived in some far-off country. “I…yes ma— Uh, Merinda.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Haley Kilpatrick.”

  The woman grasped her hand, placing another on top of it. “Damned if you aren’t the spitting image of your momma.”

  Haley’s jaw dropped. “You knew my momma?”

  “I did.” The woman hooked her arm around Haley’s and guided her toward the house. “We were best friends in high school. I was with her the day she met your daddy at the rodeo in Austin. What a sorry day that was.” She cut a wary glance toward Haley.

  “No denying that, I reckon,” Haley agreed. “My daddy’s a trial on his best days and he don’t have many of them. I…what was she like? I don’t remember much about her. I remember the way she smelled and this song she used to hum real soft and pretty.” Climbing the steps to the porch, Haley opened the screen door. “After you. Can I get you anything? I made a fresh pitcher of sweet tea this morning.”

  “All the Pretty Horses.” Merinda settled herself on a stool at the kitchen island. “That was probably the song. It was her favorite. Tea would be nice, honey.” She waited until Haley joined her then said, “Your momma was a ray of sunshine, child. As pretty on the inside as she was on the outside. It grieved me that your pa took her away from everything she knew and loved. Once she found out who he really was, it was too late. She was pregnant with you and bound and determined to make it work. Broke your auntie’s heart when he took her away. Never even got a look at you.”

  Haley nodded. What could she say? She didn’t need to confirm to this woman that her daddy was an asshole. He’d worked hard all his life to prove it all by himself.

  “So.” Merinda patted her hand. “Wyatt filled me in on th
e type of business you’re starting up. We should probably start out by taking some pictures of you and the stock.”

  “Okay. Should I change clothes?”

  The Webmaster studied her for a moment. “Maybe a more prosperous pair of jeans, but not too new. How do you normally dress when you’re working with the horses?”

  “Jeans, maybe a tank top. My old Resistol. Barn boots.”

  “Perfect. Go on and change into that. And braid your hair. We don’t want somebody’s wife thinking you’re too sexy to let her husband work with you.”

  Haley snorted. “Not much chance of that happening.”

  Merinda snorted right back. “Looked in the mirror lately, honey? You are a good-looking woman. If you weren’t straight, I’d take a run at you myself.”

  “Oh lord,” Haley muttered and trotted off to change her clothes. She was back in a just a few minutes and feeling curious. “What’s it like being gay in Texas?”

  Merinda laughed merrily. “It’s interesting, honey.” She stood and gestured to the door. “Let’s get us some pictures of those horses. Wyatt tells me you’ve got some prime stock. Champions. That right?”

  Haley fell into step beside her as they crossed the yard. “Yes. My stud, Geronimo, is a five-time Pegasus Stakes winner. And my pregnant mare, Austin’s Texas Tornado, is a three-year-old champion. She’s due to foal any time. Plus, I have eight other mares, four from championship lines.”

  Merinda took a deep breath when they entered the barn. “I love that barn smell, don’t you?”

  Haley chuckled. “I do, though there’s plenty who’d think we were crazy for it. There’s just something about the smell of horse, hay and manure.”

  As they walked down the wide aisle of the barn, horses’ heads appeared over the stall doors. Whinnies and nickers greeted them. Haley acknowledged each animal with a thorough ear scratching. One by one, she led them out for pictures, posed and candid shots. Merinda took a series of photos of Haley working with Geronimo, then several of Haley and numerous shots of the ranch proper.