Blame It On Texas (13 page)

He’d better remember that she’d left him. She’d
never explained, never said goodbye. And he’d gotten stubborn. And proud. Too proud to go to her and tell her he loved her, that he cared more than he’d said. And after her dad died, she’d left for college and never looked back, not at Beauville and not at the man who wasn’t good enough for her.

He’d never been good enough for her, which rankled. He was a hell of a lot better a man than she’d given him a chance to be. Oh, he’d heard about her fancy career in New York. Read the article in the newspaper a couple of years back that even had a picture of her and one of the characters on the show, a toothy actor with a big head of blond hair who was supposed to be a big star.

Dustin made a concerted effort to keep his mind on the tractor engine and off Kate. It bothered him that he still cared, still felt like an awkward kid when she was around.

But if she ever looked at him like that again, he was going to kiss her.
Really
kiss her.

And damn the consequences.

“S
URE IS NICE HAVING
children around,” Gert declared, leaning back in her chair. “I like the noise.” She watched Elly to make sure she didn’t fall off the kitchen chair, but she needn’t have worried. The little girl knew how to kneel on a chair and lean over a table to eat birthday cake. Being
the youngest in the Bennett family must have taught her a great deal early on. Jennie was ladylike and kept a watchful eye on her younger sister while trying not to stare at Kate, who must look pretty darn glamorous to a five-year-old. Martha had been serious like that, too.

“I hope Emily gets some rest,” Kate said, looking for all the world like an anxious mother.

“Do you plan to have kids?” Gert knew it wasn’t politically correct to ask young women that question, but she thought she could ask her granddaughter just about anything. But then Dustin Jones came to mind and she thought, well, just about anything.

“Of course.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“The right man.” She licked frosting off her fingers and moved the knife off the table.

“I’m glad you’re not one of those women who goes to, you know,” she said, lowering her voice, “one of those banks.”

Kate grinned. “I’d rather have a baby the old-fashioned way.”

“My mom’s having a baby,” Jennie said. “Any day now, she said, and she hopes it’s a boy so we’ll be even. You know, two boys and two girls.” She looked at Kate. “You think my mom’s okay?”

“How about if I call her in a little while and check?” Kate refilled the girl’s glass with milk.
“I’d call her now but she said she wanted to take a nap.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t like naps,” Elly declared, frowning at Gert across the table. “Just babies do.”

Gert nodded. “I hope you’ll bring your new baby sister or brother out here to visit me.” She looked at Kate. “It’s not like you’re going to bring me any babies to hold in the near future. What kind of man are you looking for, anyway?”

Kate shrugged, looking for all the world like one of those television stars she wrote stories for. Such a beautiful girl, who would have beautiful babies. “The right one.”

“You’re not going to find him in New York City,” Gert grumbled. “There’re plenty of fine men right here in town. Right here on this ranch, actually. There’s one walking around out there—probably swearing over that old John Deere—who’d make a fine husband and a fine father.”

“I wonder who that could be.” Kate winked at Jennie, who giggled.

“This place needs kids, needs a family,” Gert sighed, knowing full well Kate wasn’t going to pay any attention to her advice.

“I’m going to take the kids home in a while, then I’ll come back to work on the book. Mom’s going to come back with me and we’ll bring dinner. Is there anything special you’d like?”

I’d like to give you the ranch. I’d like you to come home and take over, with your husband—a nice Texas boy. I’d like to watch a baby or two come into this world and call the Lazy K home.

“There’s still pizza left over from Saturday,” Gert said instead, reaching over to help Elly wipe her face with a “Happy Birthday” napkin. “We could have that. Or you could make one of your meat loaves.”

“Meat loaf it is,” Kate said.

“And we’ll invite Dustin and Danny,” Gert said.

Heck, no one had ever called her a quitter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Y
OU’RE NOT WATCHING
the show today?”

“We’re taped three weeks ahead during the summer, Gran.” The all-too-brief summer break would end with frenzied attempts to complete story lines for the November sweeps, the all-important ratings war. And as soon as she returned, the meetings would begin and the next nine months of the show would be determined. The sponsor wanted something “different and trendy,” while the viewers resisted the new paranormal story line and wrote asking for more romance. Kate found herself wishing she spent more time on her own life instead of the lives of the fictional characters of
Loves of Our Lives.
It simply wasn’t as much fun as it used to be, when she was young and enthusiastic and more than willing to work eighteen hours a day. There had to be something more in her life, she knew, but what? And where?

Kate looked out the window and saw Danny and John heading their way. “Here come the boys.
They’re going to want their share of cake and milk, or maybe sandwiches.”

“Such good children. We’ll give them all lunch before you take them home,” Gran said, looking as content as could be in her easy chair, a stack of old newspaper clippings on her lap. The girls sat nearby on the couch, a pile of Kate’s childhood books stacked in between them. Elly was almost horizontal, her eyelids half-closed as her sister pretended to read a story aloud. “I should call Elizabeth, too, and see how she’s holding up.”

“I can’t believe she hasn’t had that baby yet and made you a great-grandmother.” Kate scribbled the ingredients for meat loaf on a piece of scrap paper. She could bake potatoes and pick up a fruit salad from the deli section of the supermarket. Gran would want green beans. “Maybe we should ask them for dinner, too.”

“Call them,” Gert said. “See what’s going on out there. We can have ourselves a little party.”

“Sure.” It was better than Dustin as the only adult male at the dinner table. She really should grow up, Kate mused. She should get over her hopeless attraction to denim-clad men in cowboy boots. She should get over the undeniable sexual pull she felt every time she was within ten feet of Dustin Jones.

“Honey, do you see yourself living here someday?”

“Maybe,” Kate said, looking out the window again. “After I’ve saved enough money.”

“Having extra money is a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but it won’t buy happiness, never will,” she declared. “This is a good place to raise children. Edwin and I did just fine. We didn’t have much, but we managed.”

“Your family was rich.” She’d heard her grandmother’s stories of growing up in the middle of a proud and prosperous ranching family, one of the oldest in the county if not the state, but Gert had been quiet about her first marriage. “What happened?”

“I was disinherited after I eloped with Hal,” she said. “It was quite a scandal at the time. And my father wasn’t the easiest man to get along with. He never got over my marrying that man, but my mother helped me out from time to time without my father knowing. Even after Hal died of influenza one winter, my father wouldn’t let me in the house.”

“That’s terrible, Gran. What did you do?”

The woman smiled. “Oh, you’ll know soon enough, when I get to that chapter.”

“By the way,” Kate said. “I thought I’d teach you how to use the computer. Don’t frown at me like that. You can learn how to turn it on and turn it off and open your own file.”

“I’d rather talk while you type. It’s faster that
way and, after all, I’m ninety years old and not getting any younger.” She set the clippings aside and struggled to her feet. “I’ll help you with lunch, and then later we’ll go back to storytelling. Katie Couric isn’t getting any younger either.”

“Okay.” She turned back to the window. Dustin had joined the boys and had stopped walking to listen to something John had to say. Danny still had that shy grin on his face, an expression that tugged at her heart. The boy was too quiet, though, with secrets behind that shy smile and those dark eyes. “I found out Danny hasn’t always lived with his father.”

“No. I think Dustin is real new to fatherhood, but he does it well.” She stood beside Kate at the window and looked out. “He’s a fine-looking man,” she said. “A girl could do worse.”

“If a girl was looking,” Kate amended.

“You’re looking,” her grandmother declared. “At
him.
”

Yes, she was. And looking was safe enough.

Safer than touching. Or standing too close. Or, heaven forbid, kissing. She might as well be eighteen again, because she felt as awkward and curious as she had nine years ago. “You’d better start watching what you say. He’s heading here with the boys.”

“Good,” her grandmother said. “We’ll ask
them for supper and you can show him what a good cook you are.”

“I’m not auditioning for him, Gran.”

“It’s a start.” The old woman ignored her. “Make a fresh pot of coffee, Kate. And let’s see what the man wants.”

T
HE MAN WANTED
K
ATE
, of course. Simple biology, Gert figured. Mix the two of them together often enough and something would happen—such as Kate staying in Texas, and Dustin taking over the ranch permanently. Kate would be a good mother to that little boy. Heaven only knew where that “Lisa” woman was. Gert had asked a few questions, put two and two together. A few years ago a Lisa Jones had rented a garage apartment from the cousin of one of the ladies from church. She’d owed some rent, and the cousin had once commented that Lisa was “bad news all around.”

Well, it didn’t take a college graduate to understand that little Danny hadn’t lived the kind of life anyone would want for a child. Somehow he’d ended up with Dustin, which certainly was the right place for the boy. Just like the ranch was the right place for Kate. She shouldn’t waste her life on those slick city men, with their expensive suits and cologne. Gert even heard that men in the city got manicures, just like women. She’d never heard anything quite so silly in all her life.

She and Kate fed the little boys—to her disappointment Dustin hadn’t joined them—and now Kate was off to town again, the Bennett children and Danny tucked into her car. Dustin would come for supper—Gert would see to it he couldn’t refuse—and all Gert would have to do was prevent Martha and her opinions from ruining a budding romance. Jake and Elizabeth could be the perfect example of happiness. Gert knew her granddaughter; she wanted children and she loved the ranch. All Kate needed was a little push in the right direction.

“D
ON’T PUSH
,” J
AKE
hollered. “Pant.”

Elizabeth glared at him. “I’m having minor—I repeat,
minor
—contractions, Jake. I am not pushing or panting or getting ready to deliver this baby on your grandmother’s kitchen table, so please sit down and eat your meat loaf. It could be a while before you get another home-cooked meal this good.”

“Thank goodness you’re not in pain,” Martha said. “Should we be timing them?”

“Not yet,” Elizabeth said, picking up her fork and looking for all the world as if she intended to finish her supper. “I’m sure my husband will tell me when I’m ready.” She laughed. She was about to have a baby and she was laughing. Kate was impressed.

“Can I get you anything?” Kate lifted the iced tea pitcher. “Something cold to drink?”

“We have beer,” Gert added. “If you feel the need.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I think I’ll stick with the tea. Please don’t look so worried. This could be false labor, you know. I’ve heard it happens.”

“Whatever it is,” Jake said, looking very pale, “we’re going to the hospital to check it out.”

“After dessert,” his wife said. “And only if we need to.”

Dustin and Jake exchanged worried looks, and Kate didn’t feel so confident either. The remark about delivering the baby on Gran’s kitchen table suddenly wasn’t so funny. Elizabeth had a mind of her own, but there was no sense taking any risks.

“Dessert coming right up,” Kate announced, standing to clear the table. Dustin rose to help, even though there was still food on his plate. Martha’s eyebrows rose as the cowboy lifted her empty plate from in front of her.

“Excuse me,” he said, then looked across the table at Kate and gave her one of his quick, rare smiles.

“Why, thank you,” Martha said, flustered. “I can help, too.”

“Stay there, Mom,” Kate told her. “The coffee’s ready and I’ll serve the last of the birthday cake.”

“There’s still cake?” Gert frowned. “You’d think we’d have eaten it all by now.”

“This is the last night,” Kate promised. “Tomorrow we’ll have apple pie at the Steak Barn.”

“I love cake,” Danny said. “’Specially this kind.”

“You can have my piece, too,” Gert told him. “I think I’m just about caked out.”

“Ooh,” Elizabeth inhaled, as her worried husband leaned closer.

“Another one?” She nodded, and Jake grew even more pale. He looked over to Dustin, who returned to the table with coffee mugs.

“We’d better go,” was all he said, and Dustin nodded, banging the mugs on the table as he set them down.

“I’ll drive you,” he told Jake.

“Danny can stay here with me,” Gert piped up, which made the little boy smile again.

“Take my car,” Kate said. “She might be more comfortable in the Lincoln than in a truck.”

Elizabeth allowed herself to be helped to her feet as soon as the contraction was over. “I’m sorry to miss dessert,” she said, “but I wouldn’t mind having this baby finally arrive. Kate? Come with us?”

“What?” Her first panicked thought was how on earth was she going to deliver a baby in the back seat of the Lincoln? She set the dessert plates
on the table before she dropped them on the floor. “Are you sure?”

“I think I could use some female companionship right now.” In other words, she didn’t want to be alone with two frowning ranchers.