White Pines Summer

by Sherryl Woods

  “Hey, boy, what brings you by?” he said when he got off the phone.

  “Looking for Cody, actually, but it’s a pleasure to find you up and back in the middle of things.”

  Harlan grinned. “Doubt Cody would agree with you. He says I’m in here messing up his filing system.”

  Hank studied the haphazard arrangement of papers, a good number of which had tumbled, helter-skelter onto the floor. “System?” he asked doubtfully.

  “My point exactly. The place is a gosh-darned mess. He says all the important stuff is in that danged computer of his anyway. Besides, he claims he’s got more-important fish to fry these days.” He gave Hank a canny look. “Any idea what he could mean by that?”

  Hank’s spirits sank. Unfortunately, he suspected he knew exactly what was on Cody’s mind and it answered the very question he’d come to ask.

  “You do know something, don’t you?” Harlan said, immediately picking up on Hank’s reaction. “What is it?”

  “I can’t be sure.”

  “Then try the guesswork out on me. I’m looking for something I can wrestle with to keep my mind active. The newspapers just get me riled up.”

  “I’m not sure I should.”

  Harlan glowered. “Don’t you start treating me like an invalid, too. I’ve had about all I can take of people tiptoeing around me like the least little thing will send me into a relapse. If there’s something going on around here, I need to know about it. Until they put me in the ground, White Pines is still my ranch.”

  Hank understood his frustration. He also understood that even though Harlan had turned the day-to-day operations over to Cody, it was his heart and soul that had taken the run-down family home and turned it into a thriving cattle operation. Harlan Adams had given Hank an example to live by when he’d bought the dilapidated operation up the road.

  “Okay, I can only tell you about what’s been happening at my place.” He elaborated on several incidents.

  Harlan’s gaze narrowed. “And you think the same sort of thing’s been going on around here?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. In fact, that’s why I came by this morning. I wanted to talk to Cody about it. See if he wanted to go in with me on hiring an investigator to check things out.”

  “When exactly did these incidents start?”

  “A couple of months back.”

  Harlan’s expression turned pensive. “Around the time you and Lizzy started getting serious,” he said thoughtfully.

  Hank started at the connection the old man was drawing. “What the hell are you saying?”

  “Just that the timing is downright fascinating, don’t you think?”

  “There’s no connection,” Hank insisted. “There can’t be. The timing’s pure coincidence.”

  “We’ll see,” Harlan said enigmatically. “You get that private investigator on the job and then send him over to have a chat with me. I don’t want to start tossing around accusations without any evidence, but I damned well want him to start looking in the right direction.”

  Harlan didn’t have to say any more. To his deep regret, Hank was suddenly able to follow his unspoken logic. He knew exactly who was implicated—that sleazy oilman who’d been trying his damnedest to seduce Lizzy at that party.

  But why? Why would Brian Lane resort to making mischief? Most of the incidents could be dismissed as no more than childish revenge, he supposed, but there had to be more. He met Harlan’s gaze directly.

  “What do you know about Brian that I don’t?” he demanded.

  “Enough to know that he’s a fool, and a fool with money and a sick soul is dangerous.”

  “Is this about Lizzy, then?”

  “Maybe,” Harlan conceded, then surprised Hank by adding, “Maybe not.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “It could be about the land,” Harlan said. “My hunch is that he saw her as a means to get the land around here. You’ve gotten in his way.”

  Hank was about to ask about why an oilman would want ranch land, but the answer hit him squarely between the eyes. “Oil,” he said softly.

  Harlan nodded.

  “But if there’s oil here, doesn’t he know that Jordan would never let it fall into a competitor’s hands?”

  “He knows that this land is off limits for anyone exploring for oil, even my own son. I haven’t spent my whole life building this into a proud cattle empire only to see it pockmarked with a bunch of oil rigs. But if my land is rich with crude, then yours probably is, too. If Brian can drive you off and get Lizzy to marry him, he’ll have his foot in the door at both places and he’s the kind who’ll kick it clean down to get what he wants.”

  “If he tries getting his blasted toe through the door, I’ll cut the damned thing off for him,” Hank said fiercely. “That land is mine and so is Lizzy.”

  He stopped pacing and noted that Harlan was grinning.

  “About time you made yourself clear on that point,” the old man said. “I was beginning to wonder if I’d pegged you wrong.”

  Hank shot him a rueful look. “I’m not the problem, sir. It’s your daughter. Unfortunately, she has a mind of her own and a timetable that would drive a teetotaler to drink.”

  “Then I guess you’d best get busy persuading her that timetables don’t mean a danged thing, unless they’re for trains or airlines. Human beings ought to be flexible.”

  “With all due respect, sir, she’s an Adams. If the woman’s stubborn, she got it from you.”

  Harlan began to chuckle. “Yes, I suppose she did. Well, you’ve never struck me as the sort of man to give up just because there’s a little roadblock in his path. Or am I wrong?”

  “No, sir, you are not wrong,” Hank said with grim determination. “Call the caterers, because there’s going to be a wedding right here at White Pines before the summer’s out, and that’s a promise.”

  * * *

  Lizzy dreaded going home. She hated the thought of facing her family. Not that they would judge her. She knew better than that. But they would have a thing or two to say about what ought to happen next. She was relieved when Hank said he would drive over and meet her flight in Dallas. Not that he didn’t have his own opinions about the future, but she’d already dealt with him. So far she’d managed to stand up to him just fine.

  Of course, he was getting impatient. She’d heard it in his voice the past few times they’d talked. If she didn’t give in to his way of thinking soon, he’d be as formidable to deal with as Luke, Jordan, Cody and her father combined.

  She spotted him the second she walked off the plane. He was lounging against a railing in the gate area, his booted feet crossed at the ankles, his jeans a snug fit over those long legs and narrow hips, a Stetson pulled low over his brow. There were other men similarly dressed in the waiting area, but nobody on earth personified the cowboy mystique the way this man did. Lizzy could see it in the way every woman who walked past gave him a second look. She wanted to throttle every one of them.

  “Okay, cowboy, you can stop posing now,” she said. “And don’t tell me you weren’t aware of the impression you were making.”

  He regarded her with innocent blue eyes. “Impression?”

  “On the ladies. You had them ogling.”

  “You sound just a smidge jealous, darlin’.”

  “Do not.”

  “Do, too,” he said, and swept her into a hug and spun her around. He delivered a long, breath-stealing kiss that wiped away every single trace of envy in her body. He stood back and regarded her, his expression smug. “Feel better now?”

  “You can’t get out of this with a piddly old kiss,” she retorted.

  “You call that kiss piddly?” he said with pure masculine indignation.

  She studied him thoughtfully. “Can you do better?”

  He grinned then. “Not i
n public. Any better and I’d get us arrested.”

  “Big talk, cowboy.”

  His expression sobered. “Ah, darlin’, it is good to have you home again.” He held her at arm’s length.

  “Hank, what on earth are you doing?”

  “Surveying.”

  “I’m not a piece of land you’re thinking of buying,” she protested.

  “No, you’re the mother of my baby. I want to see if it shows.” He turned her sideways. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “You’re still downright skinny. Haven’t you been eating properly? You can’t starve yourself to death. The baby needs sustenance.” He held his hand a few inches from her waist. “I expected you to be out to here by now.”

  Lizzy rolled her eyes. “If this is the way you’re going to be for the next few months, I’m getting on a plane back to Miami right this second.”

  Hank glowered. “Over my dead body.”

  “Well, then, stop fussing.” But even as she uttered the warning, some small part of her blossomed at the concern in his voice and at the possessive way his gaze slid over her. She had always been loved, always been surrounded by people who cared heart and soul for her well-being, but this was different. This was what it felt like to be cherished. How could she turn her back on this?

  “Hank?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does anyone at home suspect?”

  “Not as far as I know.”

  “How are we going to tell them?”

  “That’s up to you. More to the point, what are we going to tell them?” He turned to study her intently. “Are we going to tell them about the baby? Or are we just going to tell them that we can’t wait any longer and we’re getting married?”

  Lizzy sighed. “I’ve been over this and over it. I’m still no closer to knowing what’s right than I was when you left Miami.”

  Hank’s expression turned resigned. “Then I guess we take it one day at a time for now.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lizzy said. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

  “No,” he agreed. “And in a few more weeks, it won’t be good enough, not for me and not for anyone in your family. They’re going to want answers, Lizzy. We all are.”

  “Don’t you think I want answers, too?” she retorted heatedly. “This isn’t exactly a picnic for me, either. I’m just trying to do what’s right, Hank, not just for the baby, but for all of us. And I think you can forget having much time before we have to fill my parents in. They’re going to figure out something’s up by suppertime. They always do.”

  He slammed the palm of his hand against the steering wheel. “I’ll tell you what’s right, dammit. The parents of this baby ought to be married. That’s what’s right.”

  “Not if we’ll be divorced within a year,” she flung right back.

  There was a hard, unyielding look in Hank’s eyes when he met her gaze. “You’ve got that right. Because once you and I are married, darlin’, it’s going to be for keeps.”

  Lizzy trembled under the fire in his eyes. That kind of commitment was something she’d dreamed of all her life. It was the kind of commitment that bound her parents together, the kind she wanted as an example for her own children. And it was what she wanted with Hank, a happily-ever-after, till-death-do-us-part commitment. Just not yet, her head screamed. She needed a few more years to finish her medical training.

  But fate wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter, it seemed. There was a baby on the way now, and he or she sure as hell wasn’t going to wait around for her to finish med school, an internship and a residency before putting in an appearance, not unless she pulled off a pregnancy for the record books.

  It would be so easy to say yes to Hank, to simply give in and claim his love and his support, but then what? How long would it be before the resentment kicked in and the little fights over nothing began to eat away at their love?

  Hank glanced over. “Lizzy? Are you feeling okay?”

  Unless heartsick counted, she was fine. “I’m okay,” she said wearily.

  “I don’t want you worrying about telling your family by yourself,” he said. “Whether it’s today or a couple of weeks from now, I’ll be right there beside you. I want them to know I’m accepting my responsibility.”

  She grinned halfheartedly at that. “Hank, there would never be a doubt in their minds about that. I’m the one they’re going to want to shake some sense into.”

  “I won’t let them do that, either,” he promised. “Look, honey, I know this isn’t easy. If it were, I’d have dragged you in front of a preacher by now. But there is a solution. We just have to find it.”

  “Unless you’ve got one up your sleeve, we’re out of luck,” she said. “We’re only a few miles from White Pines, and one look at my face and Mother and Daddy are going to know something’s wrong.”

  He regarded her with obvious astonishment. “Then you intend to tell them straight out?”

  She shrugged. “I might as well. It won’t take them long to guess, anyway.”

  Hank nodded. “Then I’ll be right there, too.”

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Well, I am and that’s final.”

  “Okay, if you insist, but I hope you’ve got your running shoes on, because you might have to make a quick getaway.”

  “Darlin’, one thing you should know about me by now, I never, ever run from a little trouble.”

  “How about from a whole passel of loaded shotguns?”

  Hank paled a bit at that, but his jaw squared and his expression remained resolute. “Not even then.”

  Oddly enough, now that he’d said it, Lizzy knew that was exactly what she’d been counting on all along. With Hank by her side, she could face anything, even her parents’ disappointment and displeasure.

  What she wasn’t prepared for was finding the whole household in total chaos.

  14

  “There’s a fire at Hank’s place,” Lizzy’s mother shouted, waving them down as Lizzy and Hank drove up in front of White Pines. “Hank, you’d better get over there right away.”

  Hank stared at her as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what she was saying. Lizzy jumped in to fill the heavy, shocked silence.

  “What happened?” she asked. “Does anyone know yet?”

  “Pete says it started in the barn and flared up quick. As dry as the weather’s been, they’re afraid it could spread to the house,” her father explained, his expression filled with sympathy. “Cody and Jordan are on the way, along with Justin and Harlan Patrick and all the men we can spare. Luke’s sending whoever he can from his ranch. I’ve got a helicopter going over to pick them up.”

  He reached out and squeezed Hank’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son. It doesn’t look good, but everyone will do what they can. If your place can be saved, we’ll do it, and if it can’t be, then you can count on all of us to help you rebuild it.”

  “Oh, my God,” Lizzy murmured watching the look of desperation spread over Hank’s face. She knew what the ranch meant to him and she wasn’t about to let him face this alone. “I’m coming with you.”

  That got his attention. “No way,” Hank said, his jaw set stubbornly. “Get out of the truck, Lizzy. You’re staying here.”

  She stayed right where she was. “No, if someone’s injured, I can help.”

  “She has a point,” her mother said quietly. “I’ll come, too.”

  Hank sent Lizzy a pleading look. “But the baby...” he whispered. “If anything happens to the baby, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  Oblivious to the shocked looks being exchanged by her parents, Lizzy covered Hank’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel with her hand. “It will be okay. I promise we won’t get in any danger. Now, stop wasting time and let’s go.”

  “I’m coming,
too,” her father declared, already moving off toward his pickup.

  “Absolutely not,” Lizzy and her mother protested in unison.

  “I’ll stay back with Lizzy,” he said, his gaze on his wife steady. “In case she needs me.”

  “But—” Hank began.

  “Just go, dammit. This fire’s not going to sit still while we hang around here arguing,” her father said, already climbing into his own truck with Janet right on his heels.

  Hank threw his truck into gear and took off toward home. In the distance, gray smoke was billowing over the horizon. “I swear to God if that low-down son of a bitch had anything to do with this, he will pay.”

  As the implication of his words registered, Lizzy stared at him in shock. “You think this fire was deliberately set?”

  “I’d bet on it,” he said, his expression grim. “Too many things have happened lately for this to be a coincidence.”

  “But who would do such a thing?” she demanded. Her gaze narrowed as she studied his grim expression. “You think you know that, too, don’t you?”

  His silence was confirmation enough. His admission that this wasn’t the first suspicious incident made her uneasy. Could this be tied in with Hank’s accident a few weeks earlier? And how many more little accidents had happened that she knew nothing about?

  “Who, Hank? Who’s in back of this?”

  “Let’s just say it’s someone who doesn’t know when to quit.”

  By then, it was too late to try to pry answers out of him. He pulled his truck to a stop upwind of the fire in an area that looked for the moment, anyway, to be safe enough. Though smoke was still billowing, it appeared that so far the worst of the blaze had been contained to the barn.

  “Lizzy, promise me you won’t come any closer,” Hank insisted. “And at the first sign that the wind is shifting, you will take the truck and go back to White Pines.”

  She could see how torn he was about leaving her at all. “Go,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just get first-aid supplies from the house and come right back here. If anyone’s injured, direct them this way.”