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The next morning, Troy slept in. Today was the first time he hadn’t been tending his horses at daylight in weeks. After a long, luxurious shower, he put on sweats and brewed coffee before turning on his cell phone. Sprawled on the sofa in his living room in front of TV, the Fort Worth Star Telegram spread open at his side, he drank coffee while he checked his messages. As usual, he had received multiple texts—two new ones from Dorinda, another one from Jordan Palmer. Curious.
He wanted to read only one. He scrolled past several before he came to one from Sarah: Thank you for inviting us for Christmas.. Jericho’s still thinking about it. SK.
Before he could type in a reply, another text came from her: Do you know about a company called B2B?
An odd question from out of the blue. Though he had no personal experience with that organization, they had sued Drake once and Drake had counter-sued. The organization was made up of rich land-hogs. Some years back, they had made a lowball offer on land in Tarrant County where Drake had applied for building permits. When he turned down the offer, they filed an injunction against his project. Drake’s bevy of lawyers had whipped their asses in court. Troy sat a few minutes, staring at his phone and thinking before he typed in his reply: Yes. Why?
They want to buy Jericho’s ranch.
That couldn’t be good news. Is he going to sell to them?
He doesn’t want to, but he needs to sell to somebody. Things are getting out of control. I’m just asking. Plse don’t mention it.
Just then, as usual, Kate came in without knocking. She carried a plastic Walmart grocery sack.
He quickly typed another message to Sarah: No prob. Gotta go. Talk later.
“Who are you chatting with?” She set the sack on the eating bar that separated the kitchen and dining room.
“A horse owner.” He peeked inside the sack, saw two small packages wrapped in waxed paper and two cans of Dr. Pepper. “What’s this?”
“Lunch.”
He took the packages out of the sack and unwrapped one, found a baloney and cheese sandwich. This wasn’t much different from what he had eaten for the past week, but he had nothing better in his refrigerator and he had to eat something. He suppressed a groan. “Spent all morning slaving over a hot stove, did ya?”
Kate climbed onto a tall stool at the eating bar and popped the tops on the Dr. Pepper cans. “Ever heard that old saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth?”
He found a bag of stale potato chips and joined her on a neighboring stool.
“That was cute last night, you and Pic barking at each other,” she went on. “You should be glad he’s not violent. He must outweigh you by fifty pounds. He could probably turn you into paste.”
In his whole life, Troy had never had a physical fight with either of his older brothers, had never known Pic to fight with anybody. Drake was another story. As a younger man, Drake would have fought a buzz saw.
“Is that what you came to tell me?” he asked sharply and bit into his sandwich.
She made an exaggerated sigh. Her head slowly shook and she picked up a chip. “And after bringing you a gourmet lunch, this is what I get. No respect. What I came to say, Brother, is it’s Christmas. I’ve decorated the whole damn world around here. Can’t we all just get along?”
Troy was in no mood for Kate’s taunting today. “You’re talking about Dorinda. What the hell do they expect? I can’t force that woman to do anything. Just leave it alone. It’s over and done with and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“Hey, I am leaving it alone. But you’re naïve if you think it’s over with. That woman must like what’s in your pants, Brother. Dorinda Fisk? I’m still trying to figure out how you got mixed up with some married woman old enough to be your mother in the first place.”
She popped a whole potato chip into her mouth and scowled. “Oooh, yuck! How old are these chips?”
“What I wanna know is how the hell do you know so much about my business?”
She washed the potato chip down with a big swig of Dr. Pepper and a grimace. “Remind me to never eat at your house.”
She raised a hand and wiggled her fingers. “Little birds and big ears. Haven’t you figured out there ain’t no secrets at horse shows? Everybody knows everything. It’s like they have this big roster on the wall in the office showing who’s fucking who and when.”
Troy wanted to change the subject. He harrumphed. “Speaking of big ears, somebody needs to have a talk with Johnnie Sue, Kate. I was going to say something about it to Pic today. That woman’s got her nose and ears in everything that goes on in that ranch house. Yesterday, she told me something she heard eavesdropping.”
“That’s why I never say anything that amounts to a hill of beans around her,” Kate said. “What do you expect? She’s there from daylight to dark almost every day. Dad and Pic have practically adopted her. Half the time, they treat her like she’s family. They talk about everything that goes on around her, including ranch business. I’ve already told Mandy somebody needs to remind her she’s an employee.”
Kate leaned and bumped her shoulder against his. “Don’t change the subject. Now that the jig is up, I wanna know how you came to be screwing around with Dorinda Fisk in the first place.”
Troy gave a great sigh. “This is old news, Kate. Where have you been?”
“But you’ve never told me personally. I’ve never heard your side of this story.”
“If you’ve just gotta know, Drake’s old girlfriend introduced us.”
“Which old girlfriend? He’s had more than one, you know.”
“The one who told the Dallas Morning News they were engaged a long time ago.”
“Oh. My. God. Your girlfriend is friends with Donna Schoonover?” Kate tilted her head back and cackled. “Does Drake know that’s who you’ve been fooling around with?”
“Stop calling her my girlfriend.”
“What should we call her? Troy’s fuckbuddy who’s friends with the alcoholic dingbat who used to be Drake’s fuckbuddy? The one who colluded with Mom to throw a monkey-wrench in Drake marriage?
“You’re one to criticize. Jesus Christ, you slept with that asshole, Jordan Palmer.”
She opened her palms and gave him a wide-eyed glare. “I was a kid. We were engaged. You don’t see me hanging out with him now, do you?”
Troy got to his feet. “Enough, Kate. Are you driving us to the horse barn? My truck’s still hooked to the trailer.”
She sprang from her seat and made an exaggerated bow from the waist. “My chariot awaits. Whenever you’re ready, sir. But after serving me sickening potato chips, don’t expect dancing girls.”
Shaking his head, Troy stalked off to change clothes, leaving his sister to watch TV. Soon they were headed to the horse barn in her blue Wrangler. Everything the girl owned was blue. The temperature had warmed and the sun struggled to break through the clouds.
“Have you talked to Mom?” she asked, expertly gearing down the Wrangler. “Does she know Dandy Lady won?”
“She read it in the paper. She sent me a text. I’m going to her house for supper tonight.”
“You can’t do that. Drake’s coming. He’s supposed to be here by noon. Johnnie Sue and her helper from town are fixing a big picnic dinner and Dad’s grilling steaks for supper. We’re all going to be here to eat.”
Kate disapproved of Troy maintaining a friendship with their mother. Everybody in the family knew that Mom wanted a relationship with her daughter, but nobody seemed to know why Kate wouldn’t give her the time of day. She spouted nonsense about their parents’ marriage falling apart being all Mom’s fault, but Troy saw no reasons for that contention.
He knew little about everything that had happened between his dad and stepmother over the years, but he had seen and heard that Bill Junior had pursued any number of women, including Troy’s own mother. The man’s cheating ways were a commonly known and joked about story, both in Treadway County and around the cutting horse world. Shit like that had to be a strain on a marriage.
Troy’s own birth was a consequence of Bill Junior’s cheating on his wife. Even now, that fact had a profound effect on Troy’s attitude toward marriage. If two people hitched up and brought kids into the world, they ought to be faithful to each other. His attitude conflicted with his behavior and he knew that, but that was life.
He sighed. “She invited me, Kate. She’s leaving for Santa Fe tomorrow. I have to go.”
Kate turned up her nose with a huff. “None of the rest of us were invited for supper with her. Is this your big annual Christmas visit?”
Annoyed by Kate’s sarcasm, Troy cross his arms over his chest. “I don’t think any of us needs an invitation to go visit her, but even if she extended one, would you go?”
She bristled and nailed him with a pinch-mouthed glare. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. But I don’t remember the last time you went to her house.”
Kate tossed her long blond curls over her shoulder. She had one of those hairdos that was a dozen different shades of gold and always looked like she just got out of bed. No doubt she paid some salon a pretty penny to make it look that way. “Well, Mister Smarty Pants, lately, you haven’t been around here enough to know what I do.”
Troy kept his mouth shut, giving her the last word. He hated arguing with his sister and she was too hardheaded to stop. They reached the barn and walked inside. Her demeanor changed when they got to the stall her blue roan filly shared with her mama. Around her horses, especially the foals, Kate became soft and affectionate, hugging and kissing and talking to them with babytalk.
“You know, if you don’t stop talking to the horses like they’re babies, they won’t understand when somebody besides you tries to communicate with them,” Troy said.
“They are babies. My babies. Look at this.” She showed him a ticklish spot under the filly’s chin.
He couldn’t keep from chuckling. “She’s gonna grow into a beautiful horse, Kate.”
Just like that, the tension between them vanished. Love of horses was an unbreakable bond they had in common. Next, they checked on Dandy Little Lady and Troy was reminded again he had his sister to thank for the fine animal Lady was.
Pic called and reported that Drake and his family had arrived. Kate drove them to the ranch house. They were in time to help Pic and Drake and his—
Whoa!
“My God, you’re pregnant,” Kate said to Drake’s wife.
“Katie!” Dad said.
“What? All I did was state the obvious.” She latched onto Will immediately and gave him a rubber horse.
Troy hadn’t seen Drake and his wife since branding back in June. Nobody had told him that Drake’s wife was not only pregnant again, but damn near ready to drop. Back in June, Shannon wasn’t pregnant. Then again, maybe she was because now Troy guessed her to be at least seven, maybe eight months.
Apparently, nobody else in the family knew it either because everybody was staring at her and humming and hawing.
Troy and Smoky helped Drake unload armloads of equipment and food for Will and for Shannon’s...er, dog?
Uh-oh.
Shannon’s dog looked like a snowball. Snow-white, she had a red ribbon around a little top knot and toenails painted red. Pic’s cow dogs, Frissy and Fancy, had already spotted the new dog and loped over, setting up a barking frenzy, dancing around Drake’s wife and the trembling little dog cowering in her arms.
The dog held a mythical spot in Drake and his wife’s marriage. The story was that Drake had rescued the dog from euthanasia at the pound in Fort Worth and given her to Shannon as a gift when he proposed.
While Pic reined in his dogs, Troy stepped over to Shannon. “Here, let me take her off your hands.”
She eagerly handed over the pint-sized pooch and smiled up at him nervously. “Thank you so much. Her name’s Prissy.”
As Troy tucked Prissy under his arm, Shannon drew a deep breath, pushed a sheaf of red curls behind her ear and removed her sunglasses. She was one gorgeous babe. Her hair, obviously thick and naturally curly, was the color of old pennies and behind those bug-eye sunglasses, she had clear, unquestionably green eyes. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember seeing her when she wasn’t pregnant, but she probably had a rockin’ body. Drake knew how to pick ’em. Nobody had ever seen him with a plain woman.
As far back as Troy could remember, a dog had never been allowed to come into the house, even one the size of a houseshoe. He waited for somebody to say something critical, but nobody did, so he carried Prissy inside.
***
RELIEVED OF BUNDLES and bags and Prissy, Shannon drew a deep breath. Her back was killing her. The ninety-four-mile ride, even in a comfortable backseat, had taken its toll. In the back of her mind, she wondered again about the wisdom of traveling to a location so far from her obstetrician and the nearest real hospital. Though her due date was the middle of February, she feared Colum James wouldn’t wait that long.
Drake came to her side. “Okay, sweetheart?”
“Just a little breathless.”
She let him usher her inside with a hand on the small of her back. Mandy, wearing a cute Christmas apron with a big Santa face, met her in the utility room, arms open for a hug. “Merry Christmas, Sister.”
Shannon returned the hug. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Mandy.”
“Come on into the dining room. Johnnie Sue and her posse have got dinner all ready.”
The men shed their coats and hung them on the steer horn coat rack on the wall beside the back door. Mandy took Shannon’s, put it on a hanger and hung it in the closet.
On the long buffet in the formal dining room, Johnnie Sue had laid out a picnic dinner like no other—a dozen kinds of cold cuts and cheeses, sliced roast beef, vegetables and fruits, thick rolls, two different kinds of wine and a fancy holiday dessert. Plus, all of the trimmings for a fancy picnic. Everyone filled plates and gathered around the table in the lavishly festive room. Bill Junior stood, made a toast and they all dug into the food.
Shannon began to relax. The holiday spirit prevailed all around. She had left home tied in knots, viewing the coming week as an ordeal. The closer they had gotten to the Double-Barrel, the more tense she had become. It wasn’t that she disliked Drake’s family, but she never knew what to expect from them. Sometimes they were cordial and happy. Other times, they were all on the peck and quarreling with each other.
After everyone finished eating, Drake stood and tinged the edge of his glass with a spoon for attention. He announced that his second child would be born the middle of February and his name was Colum James. Bill Junior stood and made an emotional toast to his son and to Shannon. Congratulations came from all around the table, but Shannon’s cheeks still warmed. Without a doubt, all of them were thinking about the fact that Will was barely a year old.
Drake next announced that his wife had bought him the San Gabriel vineyard and winery as a gift, so now he was in the wine business. Another toast.
His last announcement was that before leaving home this morning, he had heard from one of the owners of Redstone Partners. One of the Double-Barrel’s security team members, Chris Taylor, had left the ranch.
A murmur rose from around the table. Sitting across from Mandy, Shannon couldn’t miss seeing her jaw drop and a frown across her brow. Pic leaned into her and spoke in a low voice. “Did he say anything to you about this?”
“N—no,” she answered, equally low.
“Why’s he leaving?” Kate asked Drake.
“Bored with the slow pace, wanted to see some more action. Things like that,” Drake answered. “He’s already gone. His boss and I agreed there’s no reason to replace him permanently until after Christmas, so we’ve got a new man who’s temporary.”
Another murmur traveled around the table.
“I’m not feeling well,” Mandy said all at once, ducking her chin and pressing her palm against her throat.
“What is it, baby?” Pic asked.
“I don’t know. I think I need to lie down.” She stood, scooted her chair back and quickstepped out of the dining room.
All eyes followed her. “What’s wrong with her?” Kate asked Pic.
“She’s been coming down with something for a couple of days,” Pic said. “Probably something she caught at school. There’s always some kind of bug going around at that schoolhouse.”
In a pig’s eye. Shannon had seen her sister-in-law’s reaction to the news that Chris Taylor had left the ranch. Could Pic be that dense? Since Chris had been Mandy’s personal bodyguard even before she and Pic got married no doubt Mandy was good friends with him.
Thoughts of Mandy and Chris halted when Bill Junior lifted Will from his highchair and declared he was taking him to the barn to show him the horses. Shannon caught Drake’s eyes and pleaded with him.
When Drake did nothing, she spoke up. “I think he’s too young for that, Mr. Lockhart. Maybe next year.”
Drake left his chair, stepped behind her and gave her shoulders a squeeze. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll go with them.” He plucked Will from his dad’s arm. “Let me put some warm clothes on him, Dad.” To Will, he said, “Hey, tough guy, let’s go get you dressed for outdoors.” He started for the bedroom, carrying the one-year-old.
Shannon got to her feet and followed him. In the bedroom, before she could say a word, Drake said, “I saw that look in your eye. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of him.”
Shannon jammed her fists against her hips. “He’s a baby, forgodsake. Why does he need to look at horses?”
Drake sat Will on the bed. “Where’s his coat?”
She heaved a huge sigh. She couldn’t stop this. Like a dutiful little wife and mother, she went to the closet for her baby’s warm coat and handed it to Drake. He stuffed Will’s chubby arms into it with the one-year-old’s full cooperation. Will never resisted his father the way he did her and the nanny.
Drake propped him on his arm, looped his other arm around Shannon’s shoulder, drew her close and kissed her temple. “Sweetheart, listen to me. Someday he’ll own part of this ranch. He’s got to learn about the animals, the sooner the better. My God, what if he grew up afraid of them? Think about that.”
Shannon’s jaw clenched again. Hell. Just hell. Sharing a kid with a man on a ranch was hard. “Well, it looks to me like his learning could wait a little longer.” She zipped up his thick little coat and straightened it, then kissed his cheek and straightened his hair. “There’s just ... just a lot for him to get into here around here that could hurt him.”
Drake gave one of his indulgent smiles and kissed her. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”
He walked out of the bedroom and started up the hall toward the living area. She followed. Prissy trotted closed on their heels, her tiny painted toenails clicking on the tile floor. Worried, no doubt, about Will.
“Tell Prissy he’s going to have a good time,” Drake called back over his shoulder as he delivered Will to Bill Junior. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
Her eyes burned with unshed tears as she watched her husband, Pic, Troy, Kate and Bill Junior with Will propped on his arm, walk out the back door. Prissy looked up at her anxiously, a tiny growl escaping her throat. “Hush, Prissy. He’s okay.”
She shouldn’t be upset. Of course, Drake would take care of their son. He adored him. And dammit, they all adored horses. How long would it be before Drake had Will sitting on one’s back?
