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Authors: Judy Christenberry

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BOOK: Cowboy Come Home
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“Come on, Griff, right back in bed. You’ve had a busy morning and you need to sleep until lunch.”

“That’s all I do is sleep,” he grumbled, his gaze raking her curves. Suddenly, he was hungry for her touch, for those kisses that he couldn’t forget, for what he couldn’t have.

Pete helped lower him to the mattress. Then Camille tucked the covers around him. “Do you need anything else?”

He caught Pete’s grin and ignored it. “No, nothing.”

Camille brushed his still-damp hair off his forehead. “Then get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Uh, when Jake comes for lunch, could you ask him to come see me?”

Pete and Camille exchanged a look. Then Pete spoke. “Jake’s not in a very good mood right now, Griff. Maybe I could help you?”

“No. I need to see Jake.”

“Okay. We’ll pass on the message.”

They left the room, leaving Griffin alone. And that was something he was going to have to get used to all over again. ’Cause he’d rather leave and be alone than ruin what his cousins had going here.

 

JAKE CAME IN FOR LUNCH, but B.J. hadn’t returned home. Pete, Janie and Camille had discussed the early-morning brouhaha with Megan and Chad, and they all watched Jake as if he were a lion with a wounded paw.

He still appeared to be in a foul mood. Finally, Pete said, “Uh, Jake, Griff asked if you’d stop by his room after you eat. Seems he needs to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” Jake muttered.

“Is something wrong?” Megan asked. “Isn’t he feeling better?”

“Yes,” Camille said hesitantly. “I think something happened this morning to upset him.”

Several pairs of eyes gazed in Jake’s direction.

“What was it?” Megan innocently asked.

Jake stood up and threw down his napkin. “Damn it, everyone needs to mind his own business!”

The entire table seemed shocked by Jake’s words. It appeared he was disgruntled with a lot of things this morning. Finally, he said, “I apologize. It’s been a difficult morning. But I shouldn’t take it out on you. Now, what does Griff want to talk to me about?”

Pete shrugged his shoulders. “He didn’t say.”

“Camille?”

Reluctantly, she said, “I think he overheard you and B.J. this morning. He seemed disturbed. But, Jake, he doesn’t have much energy. He shouldn’t be upset.”

“Yes, Mother Hen. I’ll be careful. Should I take some lunch up to him?”

“I was going to feed him as soon as we finish. He’s still asleep right now, as far as I know.”

“Okay, after you feed him, I’ll stop by and have a chat. About something,” Jake said to Camille, his voice rough.

She nodded in agreement and hurriedly finished her lunch. Then she filled a plate for Griffin and, with a secret smile, added a glass of milk to the tray.

When she reached Griffin’s room, she entered to discover Griffin still asleep. She set the tray on the lamp table by the bed and touched Griffin’s shoulder.

“Griffs? Are you ready for lunch?”

Slowly, his eyes opened, and he gave Camille such a sweet smile she almost wished she could join him in the bed. “I’ve brought your lunch.”

Shaking himself completely awake, he ignored the food. “Where’s Jake?”

“He said he’d stop by for a chat after you eat lunch.”

“I need to talk to Jake.”

“You need to keep your strength up.
Then
you can talk to Jake.” She figured she had a career as an army sergeant when she left the ranch.

“Is B.J. here?” he asked after taking his first bite.

“No, she went out on a call.”

“It’s like I said, Cammy. But I didn’t mean it,” he said, his voice anguished.

“What are you talking about?” Camille asked, hoping she was wrong in what she suspected.

“I’m talking about B.J. and Jake’s argument It’s my fault.”

“Don’t be silly. Married couples argue. It couldn’t be your fault.”

He dismissed her words. “I couldn’t overhear everything, but they were discussing the size of the family. And my name came up several times. I think my staying here has put a strain on everyone. I knew I shouldn’t have. I’m leaving as soon as I get mobile again.”

“Griff, that’s ridiculous. Your being here has been a help, not a complication. You must’ve misunderstood.” She certainly hoped he had. “If that were true, then they wouldn’t want me here, either. And they’ve been completely welcoming.”

“Look, Camille, you’ve got stars in your eyes about life here. It’s not a fairy tale. People aren’t always happy. And I’m right about married couples. Sometimes it just doesn’t last. But I’m not going to do anything to ruin Jake’s marriage if I can help it. And I can.”

“This doesn’t make sense, Griff!” she argued.

“A lot of things don’t make sense. But B.J. must be fed up with me hanging around, and Jake’s refusing to throw me out. Just because you want to believe everything will always be happy doesn’t make it that way. You’ve got to face reality some time!”

Camille resented the scorn in his voice. He thought she was a Pollyanna, only seeing the good in everyone? Maybe she was once, but not after her fiancé absconded with her money.

She knew better than to believe in everyone.

But the Randalls...? She could believe in the Randalls for her entire life, and she knew she’d be right.

“Believe what you want, Griffin Randall. You’re wrong, though. BJ. doesn’t mind if you stay, and you’re not the cause of their argument. And furthermore, they won’t break up. B.J. and Jake Randall will be happy and married long after you’ve gone, and don’t you forget it!”

She stomped from the room and slammed the door behind her.

 

CAMILLE WAS CLEANING UP after lunch when Jake came back downstairs. She said nothing, but she couldn’t help looking at his expression, hoping to discover what had happened in Griff’s bedroom.

“Camille, did you talk to Griff?” Jake asked, coming to a stop beside her at the sink.

“Um, yes.” She didn’t know how much to admit.

“He’s got some damn fool notion that he’s not welcome here anymore.” Jake rubbed the back of his neck. “Did anyone say anything to him to make him think that?”

“He didn’t explain?”

Jake shook his head no. “Explain what?”

Camille almost groaned aloud. Great. Now she had to explain. “He heard you and BJ. arguing this morning,” she said, keeping her gaze on the glass she was rinsing. “He thought he heard his name mentioned, along with—with something about a bigger family.”

Finally, she looked at Jake’s red face. “He thought he’d worn out his welcome.”

“Damn!” Jake muttered, his hands on his hips.

Camille frowned at him. “It’s not true, is it?”

“That he’s worn out his welcome? Of course not. But I couldn’t convince him a few minutes ago. Of course, I didn’t know then why he thought he should go.”

“Can you get B.J. to tell him she wasn’t talking about him? That she doesn’t mind him staying?” Camille asked.

If anything, Jake’s face got redder. “Uh, I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re talking to each other right now.” He sighed. “Don’t worry. We’ve got some time before he’ll be strong enough to leave. He was pretty worn-out by the time I got up there.”

Guilt filled Camille. “Oh. Um, had he eaten his lunch?”

“No, not much. I thought you were going to feed him.”

“I’ll go check on him,” she said, hoping to end the conversation before Jake asked any more questions. She wiped her hands and headed for the stairs.

“You tell him he’s not going anywhere, you hear?” Jake called behind her.

Camille wished she believed that.

 

EVERYONE SURREPTITIOUSLY watched Jake and B.J. at dinner that evening. Though B.J. usually sat on Jake’s right, tonight Toby took that place, with his mother next to him.

“Back at work already, B.J.?” Chad asked, before Megan elbowed him in his ribs.

“Yes.” B.J. didn’t offer any explanation.

“How’s Griff doing?” Pete asked, and everyone but Camille relaxed.

“He’s weak.”

“We’re going to have to think of a way to thank him for helping with the kids,” Megan said. “After all, he wouldn’t be sick if he hadn’t stayed and helped out.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Megan wasn’t finished. “I really hate for him to leave. He fits in so well here.”

Camille immediately looked at B.J., but she said nothing.

Jake leaned back in his chair. “I’m hoping to convince him to stay. He’s changed a lot since that first day. I think he’ll be happy here.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Camille debated what to say. Finally, she took a chance. “He doesn’t think everyone feels that way.”

Chapter Thirteen

T
hose words got everyone’s attention. “What are you talking about?” Pete demanded.

Several others asked the same thing.

Camille stared at Jake and B.J.

Jake shook his head. “You shouldn’t have said anything, Camille. I said I’d work it out.”

There was another uproar of questions, and Jake held up his hand. “Look, it’s a misunderstanding, that’s all.”

To Camille’s surprise, it was BJ. who pressed for an explanation. “I think you should tell us what Camille is talking about.”

Jake glared at his wife and said nothing.

Camille jumped in. “He’s talking about your argument this morning. Griff overheard some of it, and he got the impression he’d outstayed his welcome.”

B.J. stared at Camille and then turned her anger to her husband. “And you let him think that? That I didn’t want him here?”

Jake, without regard to his audience, fired back. “Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to have a heartto-heart with him about our problems.”

Deathly silence centered on the table.

Then Pete, with a casual, offhand approach that fooled no one, said, “You guys having problems?”

“I’m not discussing it with you, either,” Jake assured everyone.

“I don’t see why not. According to you, it affects all of them, too,” B.J. said coolly.

“B.J.,” Jake said, a warning in his voice.

His wife, however, was no wimp, and would not back off because her husband was upset. She looked at the other women at the table. “The problem is I want to have another baby, like Anna.”

Shock ran through the group. Jake, family-man Jake, the man who’d always promoted the idea of family, didn’t want to have another child?

Camille leaned forward, wanting to be sure she was correct in her assessment. “You don’t want another child, Jake?”

Toby answered before Jake could. “I do! I want a brother.”

Jake ignored him. “This is a personal argument. It has nothing to do with the rest of you.”

“Yes, it does. You told me it would put too much work on everyone,” B.J. retorted. “You said I was asking everyone else to raise my children.”

After a shocked silence, there was a jumble of responses, most from the women, assuring BJ. that was not true.

It was Toby, however, who quietened everyone. With a panicky look on his little face, he tugged on Jake’s sleeve. “Are you and Mom angry with each other? Are you going to get a divorce?”

“A divorce? What made you think that?” Jake demanded, his brows furrowed.

“One of my friends at school, Eric, his parents argued, and then his daddy left.” Toby’s bottom lip trembled. “I told him it couldn’t happen to us ’cause you loved each other.”

BJ. bowed her head. Camille suspected it was to hide the sudden tears that filled her eyes.

Jake leaned over and hugged Toby. “You’re exactly right, Toby. Your mom and I aren’t going to get a divorce.”

“Then why are you arguing?”

Jake looked from Toby down the length of the table, at all the waiting faces. With a sigh, he clasped his hands over his plate and said, “Look, I shouldn’t have to discuss this in front of all of you, but—but it’s not that I don’t want another child. It’s that I want BJ. healthy and happy. And she’s working ten or twelve hours a day. She doesn’t have time for another child, much less the energy and stamina another pregnancy would require. She’s not that young, you know.”

“Man, no wonder you had an argument,” Pete said with a whistle. “Even I know better than to tell a woman she’s getting old.”

Chad chuckled, but no one else even smiled.

“Jake’s not going to give up his work for us to have another child,” BJ. explained. “I don’t think it’s fair that he asks me to do so. I worked hard and long to become a vet.”

“I’m willing to cut back my hours to help take care of the kids,” Jake returned. “But I can’t be the one pregnant. And you know when the baby is little, you’re going to worry about him or her. I can’t stop that, either.”

B.J. fired back, and several of the ladies added argument, but it was Chad who halted the battle. “I have an idea,” he said loudly. Then he said it again. Gradually, silence fell.

“Nothing you can say—” Jake began.

“Wait and see. I was visiting with Glen Davis on the other side of the county in Rawhide yesterday.”

Before he could continue, Jake interrupted. “I don’t care who you talked to. This problem is about B.J. and me.”

Chad continued as if Jake hadn’t spoken. “His son is finishing veterinarian school in January.”

Now he had everyone’s attention.

“Glen wants his son close to home, but he figured B.J. had this area covered, and he wouldn’t want his son in competition with a good friend.” Chad smiled at B.J. “Why not offer the guy a partnership and cut back on your hours? By the time you have the baby and are ready to go back to work, there should be enough business for the two of you.”

Camille held her breath, waiting for the couple’s response.

Their gazes met over Toby’s anxious face. Then Jake abruptly stood. “B.J. and I are going to go upstairs to talk.”

He took her arm as she stood, and they headed for the door. Just before he left the room, he looked back over his shoulder. “Thanks, little brother. I owe you one.”

 

GRIFF HEARD the slight tap on his door and both hoped and feared it was Camille returning to feed him dinner. He felt very unsettled, what with his concern about being on the ranch and his mixed feelings about Camille. “Come in.”

When Jake appeared, Griff let out a sigh. “Hi, Jake.”

BOOK: Cowboy Come Home
4.21Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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