Come Sundown

by Nora Roberts

  right now.”

  “You’re the one who started it.”

  “Maybe, and maybe I didn’t factor in … certain eventualities. I need to think all this over, and while I’m thinking all this over, I need to talk to Chase, as he’s the one who hired me on.”

  “All right. And will your talk with Chase include those certain eventualities?”

  Talk about sticky situations. But a man didn’t bullshit his best friend. “Most likely.”

  “Well, that would be up to you. But I’ll remind you—and him, if it comes to it—I don’t need his permission regarding who I take to bed.”

  Another time, he’d have valued the frankness, but at the moment it only made the thin ledge he balanced on all the shakier.

  “It’s not about permission. Now I need you to…” He gestured toward the door. When she angled her head, lifted her eyebrows, he shoved his hands in his pockets. Hands that really wanted to take hold of her and wipe that smug satisfaction off her face. “Go on, Bo, out, before both my feet are over that edge.”

  “All right. I’d appreciate it if you let me know about the job in the next couple of days.” She opened the door, then stood with the cold swirling in around her and awash in the yard lights that added mystery.

  “I’m going to tell you: Whether or not you take the job, I’m going to have you. I’ve made up my mind about it.”

  The damn ledge started to crumble under his feet. “Keep walking, Bodine.”

  She left him with a laugh he already knew would keep him up half the night. He sat, picked up his beer. He wasn’t sure if he felt like a righteous man or a fool.

  At the moment he didn’t see much daylight between the two.

  * * *

  Stringing out a yes or no struck Callen as cowardly, and since the yes or no would depend, for him, on what Chase had to say, he’d hit that straight on.

  Before sunrise, he found Chase, along with a couple of hands, moving horses from stall to paddock. “Morning, Cal.” Chase gave the sorrel gelding an easy slap on the flank to send him through the open gate. “Getting your rotation up, but I’m holding Beans back today. Looks like an infection in his right eye, so I want the vet to take a look. You all right with Cochise instead?”

  “Sure. Have you got a minute?”

  “Got a couple of them,” Sensing Callen wanted more privacy, Chase walked away from the horse paddock. “We’re castrating calves today.”

  “Can’t say I mind missing it.”

  When Chase figured they’d gone far enough from perked-up ears, he stopped. “Supposed to climb up to the forties today. At least the rest of us won’t freeze our balls off while we turn little bulls into steers.”

  “I could use a shirtsleeves day.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I heard Abe might not be coming back.”

  “Bodine said that’s definite.” Callen’s breath whooshed out in a cloud. “I’d say a heart attack—and a minor one’s not minor to the one having it—is a wake-up call. I guess it shouldn’t surprise anyone they decided to retire.”

  “They’ll be missed. Both’ve been with the resort since before it was one. I’m not going to be surprised if Bodine offered you Abe’s job permanent.”

  “She did.”

  “Are you taking it?”

  “I’m not saying yes or no until I hear what you have to say.”

  “It’s not up to me, Cal.”

  “Oh, horse shit. Where did I go when I knew it was time to come back?” Callen demanded. “You took me on, even fixed up the shack.”

  Accustomed to the flare, Chase met it as he usually did. With equanimity.

  “I’d’ve done that out of friendship, all of us would’ve. But we didn’t need to. You’re an asset, Cal, the best all-around horseman I know, and that includes my own father. He’d say the same. We all know you could’ve gone anywhere.”

  “I didn’t want to go just anywhere. I’ve been there.”

  “So here you are.” Sensing dawn was close, Chase looked up at the sky, watched a few stars gutter out. “I might fight Bo for you, might even win, though God knows she’s a fierce and dirty fighter. Remember that time we had to haul her off Bud Panger? Bud had a year on her, ten pounds, too, easy, and she had him down in the dirt crying for his ma.”

  “I remember. She caught me one on the shin while we were hauling her off Bud. I limped for two days. I’m not going to be a cause of upset between you and Bo.”

  “You wouldn’t be. I might fight her, but the resort’s part of the whole, so it’s all, well, of a piece, isn’t it? Besides all that, it’s what you want here, Cal. As dirty as Bo can fight, she’d say just the same. And I expect she has.”

  “I came here to work for you, Chase.”

  “You came to work for the Bodine Ranch, and the resort’s part of it.”

  The long night shifted toward day, a lessening of dark, a slight rise of wind. Horses whickering, the low of cattle, the boot steps of men already about the day’s work.

  “I love this place.” Callen breathed it in. “I love it nearly as much as you. Leaving it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Had to do it or I’d never have made anything of myself.”

  Knowing his friend, Chase kept his silence, waited for Callen to work through the rest.

  “I admire the resort. I admire the hell out of what you all have built there. That Bodine/Longbow vision, it’s an awesome, admirable thing. I know I could be an asset to you here on the ranch, I know you could depend on me to pull my weight here, and maybe take some weight off you and Sam. At the resort…”

  He took another minute, gathered his thoughts. “I think I might be able to add to the vision. I can see ways to do that, to contribute to that.”

  “Then that’s what you ought to do. To my ear that’s what you want, and what’s holding you off is feeling obligation here. There’s no need for that. If we need you for something over here, we’ll work that out, too. And don’t feel bad we’re likely going to have to hire two in the next month to replace you.”

  Most of the stress lodged at the back of Callen’s neck loosened. “Three’d be better.”

  “You’re not that damn good. Work it out with Bo, give me a few hours here like you have been until we start hiring on, and we’re square.”

  “Yeah.” The stress punched right back again. “About Bodine.” Callen shifted, looked east, waiting for the sun to rise. “I—we—” he corrected, as last night cemented the mutual. “We have a thing going on.” He rubbed the chin he hadn’t bothered to shave that morning. “An intense sort of thing.”

  “What thing?”

  Callen glanced over, saw the mild and puzzled interest. “You’ve always been obtuse when it comes to the romantic and sexual dynamics of people, Longbow. A block of wood buried in cement obtuse.”

  “I’ve got more to think about than the…”

  And it struck him, Callen saw, like that block of wood—right between the eyes.

  “What?”

  “We’ve got a mutual interest and attraction going on, me and Bo.”

  “What?” Chase repeated, taking a step back as if his body had just reacted to that strike. “You—you’ve—with my sister?”

  “Not yet, but only due to my heroic restraint so far, and hearing, in my head, you say ‘my sister’ in just that way.”

  “You never looked twice at her,” Chase began, then reevaluated. “Did you?”

  “Christ almighty, Chase, she was still a kid when I left. Mostly a kid.” An itch worked into the stress. “Maybe I looked twice, a couple times. But only because, hell, she’s always been pretty, and I guess she was starting to blossom some right about the time I left. I never did anything about it. Never thought of doing anything about it. But she’s not a kid now. And she’s…”

  Brother to brother, Callen reminded himself. Even if a sister stood between them. “She’s smart. Always was, but, man, she’s honed that to a sharp edge. The way she runs that place? She’s smar
t and crafty, and she has a way of seeing to it that everybody who works there does good work, and stays happy doing it. That’s some talent there. I admire that.”

  “So you’ve got this thing due to her brain and her managerial skills.”

  It wasn’t often Chase laid on sarcasm, but when he did it had some serious weight.

  “They’re part of the package. She’s beautiful.” Callen let out a sigh. “I don’t know when she went from really pretty to beautiful, and maybe if I’d been around the whole time it wouldn’t have hit me like a lightning bolt. I’ve got feelings for her—I’m not altogether sure where they’re going, but it’s clear enough we’re going to find out. I couldn’t do that behind your back, or without telling you right out.”

  “You’re standing here, telling me right out, you’re planning to have sex with my sister.”

  “I’m going to put it this way. It’s not a small embarrassment to me to admit, due to not going behind your back and the job offer, I had to tell her to get out of the shack last night. She packs a punch.”

  “She hit you?”

  Callen laughed, laughed until he had to bend over to brace his hands on his thighs. “There’s that obtuse again. How do you ever manage to get laid?”

  “Kiss my ass, Mister Hollywood. And be careful talking about getting laid and my sister in the same conversation.”

  Heaving out a breath, Callen pushed up again. “She left, telling me whether I took the job or not, she intended to follow-through on … the personal area. I guess I can fight her off if you feel strongly against it. I think she’d probably take me down, but I could put up a fight.”

  Chase stared hard at the hills, the mountains, just coming into silhouette relief as day waited to bloom. “This isn’t a conversation I expected to have when I got up this morning.”

  “I’ve got the advantage, as I spent most of the night thinking about this conversation. When I wasn’t thinking about her. She knew I would, too. Crafty. Didn’t I say that? She’s a crafty sort of woman. I like it.”

  Chase stood, mulling, weighing, struggling a little as the first shimmers of red rose up over the eastern peaks. “She’s a grown woman who makes her own choices. If that choice is … I’d just as soon not go into that detail inside my head. I’m going to say I love you like a brother, and there are times when Rory devils me enough I like you more than the brother my parents gave me. I trust you with my life, not one instant’s hesitation on that. I’m telling you: If you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass. And I’ll kick it harder than Bo kicked Bud’s.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Understanding each other, they stood a moment longer, and as the cock began to crow, watched the sun rise red into a purple sky.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Not to avoid Bodine so much as the temptation of her, Callen rode to work well before her. On his own, in the quiet, he finished doing the tack inventory, drafted up a memo of what he felt needed replacing, what he believed could be repaired.

  By mid-morning he’d sent Easy down to the center with a pair of horses for Maddie and a lesson. Along with Ben, he’d saddled up four more mounts for a trail ride, ordered supplies—with a copy for the boss—and confirmed more bookings.

  A fine, bright day for riding, he thought, as the forties might even nudge at fifty degrees by afternoon. He imagined the snow sculptures that had held up well so far would show some sags by the end of the day.

  “Hey there, cowboy.”

  He straightened up from checking a hoof, smiled at Cora. “Ma’am. Good morning, Miss Fancy.”

  “I heard you’re helping Abe out,” Miss Fancy said, tipping up the bold bright green brim of her pinch front Stetson to study him.

  “I’m always glad to help.”

  “He’s a good man. You were a half-bad boy, Callen. I always had a weakness for half-bad boys. From my vantage point you need a few more miles on you to make a man, but I think you’ll do.”

  “Ma’s feeling feisty this morning. We haven’t had a day like this since November, and the pair of us want to take advantage. Can you spare us a couple horses for an hour or two?”

  “As long as you want. Miss Fancy, do you still favor that bay mare? The one you named Della.”

  “How in the world did you remember such a thing?”

  “I never forget a beautiful woman or a good horse.”

  She gave him a smile that struck a perfect balance between flirtation and indulgence. Hardly a wonder he was crazy about her.

  “It happens she’s in the paddock here today. If you want her, I’ll bring her in, saddle her.”

  “I’d be glad to have Della, and I can still saddle my own horse.”

  “I’m sure of it, but I’d appreciate you letting me do that for you. You’ve been using Wrangler in the ring, Nana, but that’s where he is right now, doing a lesson.”

  “Let’s see who else you have.”

  They walked over, and when Cora made her choice, Callen led the bay mare and a chestnut gelding from one paddock to another.

  A hand on her hip, her denim jacket—with its emblazoned peace sign—unbuttoned, Miss Fancy eyed him while he saddled the mare.

  “You’ve got good hands, boy. I set considerable store in a man’s hands. I’m surprised I haven’t heard about you using them on a two-legged female.”

  “Ma.” Cora rolled her eyes as she saddled the gelding.

  “If I can’t devil a boy whose backside I swatted when he was three, who can I devil? You’ve got good hands and a handsome face,” Miss Fancy added. “You ought to have your eyes on a woman.”

  “As they keep roaming your way, are you offering, Miss Fancy?”

  She let out a hoot. “It’s a damn shame you were born fifty—oh, hell, sixty years too late.”

  “But I’m an old soul.”

  She laughed again, patted his cheek. “I always did have that soft spot for you.”

  “Miss Fancy.” He took her hand, kissed it. “I’ve been in love with you all my life.”

  “A safe thing for a man to say to a woman pushing toward ninety.” But this time she kissed his cheek. “Don’t you go insulting me by getting a mounting block. You just give me a boost up.”

  He basketed his hands, and marveled how smoothly she swung into the saddle. If he lived to pushing toward ninety, he hoped he could do the same.

  “Come on, Della, let’s see how we feel today.”

  While Cora checked the cinches on her saddle, Miss Fancy turned Della, turned a walk to a trot, a trot to a canter in the paddock.

  “She was raring to get out today.” Cora adjusted her hat over her short crop of salt-and-pepper hair. “The winters are getting longer for her. A day like today is a gift. No, I’ve got it,” she said when he formed another basket. “We’ll have them back in a couple hours. I’m raring myself. It’s been a while since we rode around the property.”

  “You enjoy it. Ah, I hope you don’t take this wrong, but do you have a phone on you?”

  Little silver dangles glinted in her ears as she smiled down at him. “Both of us do, and I appreciate you worrying about us. Are you and Della ready, Ma?”

  “Born ready in every life I’ve led.”

  “I got the gate.” Callen crossed the sandy soil of the paddock, held it open.

  The women rode through, a sedate walk. Then Miss Fancy looked back, sent him a wink. And leaped into a gallop.

  “That’s all right,” he mumbled. “I didn’t need that year of my life.”

  He watched them, admired them, then went back to work.

  When it was close enough to quitting time, he left Ben and Carol covering and rode over to Bodine Town, leading Leo.

  He tethered both horses before striding into the building, giving the front desk a wave, continuing back to Bodine’s office.

  She sat at her desk, phone to her ear, scrolling through something on her computer. “Yes, I have that. Of course you can, Cheryl. We do have our own gardens, greenhouses, and … It’s absolutely
up to you. Yes, we’re thrilled to have you. We’re already billing it on our website and our brochures, and will