Crazy Little Thing Called Love (28 page)

Something was buzzing. It was like that
moment in a movie where there was a loud explosion and all you
could hear was ringing in your ears and the muffled drone of
reality somewhere in the distance. It was like waking up to find
your entire life had been a lie. Like finding out right was left
and up was down.

“What?” She managed to shake her head through
the fog.

“I hate cattle. I hate everything about them,
the way they smell and how stupid they are. The only good steer is
a dead steer in the form of a steak on my plate if you ask me.”

He still looked like her daddy. He had the
same dark eyes and wrinkles from squinting in the bright Texas sun.
He had the same scowl she’d seen a million times but he’d lost his
mind. He was talking crazy.

“Daddy, you’re a cattle rancher. You’ve been
a cattle rancher since you were just a kid.”

“I damn sure have, and let me tell you one
thing. If I’d never taken that summer job working this God forsaken
ranch I wouldn’t have met your mama and my life would have turned
out a lot differently.”

Her entire world spiraled out of control,
“But mama…”

“Was the best thing that ever happened to me?
No use trying to deny that but I wish sometimes she hadn’t been a
Montgomery. I wouldn’t have been a cattle rancher if there’d been
anything else to be and still love that woman.”

As it turned out, down was up and left was
right. Her father hated ranching? He’d only done it because her
mother was one in a long line of Montgomery’s and Montgomery’s were
ranchers? How could that even be possible?

“What…” She had to clear her throat but she
wanted him to keep talking so she asked, “What would you have done
if you weren’t a rancher Daddy?”

He scowled at her the same way he always did
when she asked a question he didn’t want to answer. She wouldn’t
have been surprised if he simply changed the subject like he always
did when things got complicated. He’d been more open in the past
five minutes than he’d been with her in twenty-eight years so she
was shocked when he shrugged.

“A mechanic probably.”

She had no idea what she’d been expecting him
to say but that hadn’t been it. Her father the mechanic? It was a
strange image to try to create. Her father in short sleeves with a
name patch on his chest instead of in a cowboy hat was just too
odd.

“I always liked working on cars, tinkering
with them, figuring out what makes them run. I like fast cars. I
used to have a 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda and that baby purred. There was
nothing better than being in that car, one arm around your mama as
we drove around the back roads. I’d have given anything to get in
that car and just keep right on driving forever with her next to
me.”

She listened to him talk about his old car
and this part of him she’d never known existed. His voice was
whimsical almost, like inside his head he was picturing it all over
again, living his dream. She didn’t recognize him but for the first
time in her life, she felt a real connection to the man that was
her father.

“I like fast cars too Daddy.”

“I know girl, I like to think you got that
from me.” His voice returned to the normal scratchiness, “You also
got your wanderlust from me too. I just never got to take advantage
of mine to go and see the world and meet new people and be whatever
I wanted to be. I got roots instead. You got wings.”

“Daddy I…”

“No, let me finish. You said the other day I
never told you I was proud of you and I’m sorrier for that than
you’ll ever know. I know you got a good life and that’s all I ever
wanted for you. I didn’t want you to be held down by the weight of
the ranch and everything that went along with it.”

Her bottom lip was trembling so she bit it
and sucked back the tears. What was he doing? His words were going
to tear her apart. He never talked like that. He didn’t talk
feelings and emotions or dreams.

“Daddy it’s possible to have roots and wings.
The ranch is my roots, it’s my home. You’re my home.” She said the
words and realized for the first time in a really long time she
meant it.

Fate was her home. Montgomery Oaks was her
home. Her father was her home. She’d spent years running around
looking for what’d been in front of her the whole time. She
couldn’t find a home anywhere else because she already had one. It
had just taken coming back to this place and facing the idea of
losing her father, losing everything to make her see it.

“I tried to do right by your mama, I kept her
ranch running, made sure it was a success, tried to raise you up
like she’d have wanted but I know I messed up a lot along the way.”
He frowned.

“No.” She shook her head, “Don’t say
that.”

“Look, Bluebell, we never talked about it but
you’re the last of the Montgomery’s, at least until you decide to
have a family of your own. The ranch will fall to you when I’m
gone. We should have talked about it before…”

“No.” She interrupted him. She didn’t want to
do this now, not now, not when he was finally talking to her.

She couldn’t talk about what happened next,
what happened when he was gone. All this time she’d been trying to
get him to tell her what happened next and now that he’d opened up
to her she couldn’t stand the idea. She didn’t want to think about
it.

“I thought I had more time.”

“We still have time. It’s okay Daddy. We
don’t have to do this now.”

“I just want you to know that I’ve set it up
so the ranch is taken care of. It doesn’t have to be a weight
pulling you down. You don’t have to worry about it and you don’t
have to move back. All you have to do is live your life.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. You’ll understand all of it.” He
squeezed her hand.

The rare display of emotion and the gesture
were enough that a couple of tears escaped and trailed down her
cheek. She wiped them away and ducked her head. She squeezed his
hand and then released him.

“Sorry Daddy.” She wiped at her cheeks, “I
know how you hate crying.”

“I hate seeing you in pain sweet girl. You’re
a strong one. Don’t you ever forget you’re a Montgomery and a
Carter. You got the best of both of us in there.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” He cleared his throat and scowled,
“Now, go get Arlene and tell her I want my lunch. She should have
brought it up hours ago.”

She managed a small smile. Figured. Her daddy
opened up, talked to her, and then he shut it all back down. Things
between them had never been easy but for the first time she
understood just a little bit of the man behind the grouchy father
that had raised her.

She headed downstairs to do as he asked and
wiped at her cheeks again. It was like a flashlight going on in a
room that’d always been dark. It didn’t fix everything, didn’t fill
up the years of loneliness but things were a little clearer than
they’d been before.

Her father hadn’t always been the rough,
distant man she knew him to be. He’d had dreams once and he’d given
them up to be with his beautiful love but then he’d lost her too
soon. He’d done his best with the things she left behind, the ranch
and their daughter. He’d made his mistakes but he was just a man
that’d been a little lost. Lost just like her.

After she talked to Arlene she text Zach. She
hated that more than anything she wanted to call him, wanted to go
see him and tell him about the stunning revelations her father had
laid on her. She knew that wasn’t what they had though so she text
him instead and asked for a rain check on their plans for the
evening. She needed to spend some more time with her daddy.

Zach turned off the engine of the Impala.
After riding around with Bluebell the other day he hadn’t bothered
to take it into town and fill it back up with gas. Since she’d
canceled their plans for the night he figured he had some time to
kill and had taken her into town, got her washed and detailed and
serviced. It still hadn’t taken his mind off the pretty blond
that’d wound him up with sexy text messages and then bailed on him.
Frustrating to say the least.

He’d make her pay for it the next time he saw
her though. That was enough to keep him in a good mood. He might
even spank her for real. She’d been up for sex in the back room of
a hardware store, in the backseat of the Impala down by the river
and with her boots on. He wondered if she’d be up for letting him
spank her perfectly shaped ass.

Lost in his fantasy it took him a second to
realize she was standing in front of him. The door to the barn was
open and Bluebell was standing in the entryway. She must have just
walked up because he hadn’t seen her car when he circled the Impala
and backed it into the space inside the barn. He slipped from the
front seat with a grin.

“If you changed your mind, you should have
worn your heels.” He joked as he noticed her feet were bare. Maybe
she’d left them in the car? It wouldn’t have been easy to walk out
to the barn in stilettos.

“I needed to get out of the house.” She
blinked and shrugged one shoulder.

He furrowed his brow. She looked different.
Her blonde hair was around her shoulders. She was wearing a pink
tank top and blue jeans. She didn’t look bad, just different.

“I’m glad you came by then,” He watched her
closely; “I thought you couldn’t make it because you were spending
time with your dad?”

“I was.” She nodded, blinked, nodded again,
“I was going to stay with him but then… then he went to sleep.”

“Okay.” Something was definitely wrong and he
took a cautious step towards her, “Bluebell? Did something
happen?”

“My daddy went to sleep and he stopped
breathing.” She lifted her brows, lowered them and shook her head
like it didn’t make any sense, “He died.”

His stomach turned. That’s the look he hadn’t
been able to place. Shock. He’d seen it on the face of his mother
when they told her his dad was gone. He’d never, ever, wanted to
see that look again on anyone, that lost, deer in the headlights,
how did this happen and what do I do now look. And now Bluebell had
that look.

“I’m sorry to hear that. He was a good man.”
He moved towards her slowly, cautiously, like she was a spooked
animal.

“I um…” she licked her lips, shrugged,
blinked, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come I just… I couldn’t be
there and I got in my car and I just started driving and… I’m
sorry.”

He grabbed her wrist just as she turned to
leave, “Hold on.”

“Okay.” She nodded and didn’t try to fight
him when he turned her back to face him.

“Blue?” He took her chin and forced her eyes
up from his chest. “You can stay. It’s okay.”

“I’m okay. Really.” She shook her head, “I
should go.”

She wasn’t hysterical but she definitely
wasn’t okay. She shouldn’t be driving. How she’d gotten to his
ranch in this state was scary. She could have wrecked, could have
ended up God knows where. She’d come to him and now he wasn’t
letting her get back in the car.

“Is somebody at the house to deal with…” he
had no idea what the correct way to phrase that type of question
was so he let it hang in the air.

“Bobby. Bobby and Arlene and I think Rusty
was there. There were a lot of people and the ambulance was loud
but then they shut off the sirens and… it was quiet, too quiet.”
She mumbled, “I had to get out of there.”

“Okay. That’s okay.” He nodded, “Did you tell
them where you were going?”

She shook her head. He’d figured as much. She
was in shock. She’d probably simply walked away, gotten in her car
and left. She wasn’t even wearing shoes.

“Let’s go in the house. I’ll call and let
them know so they don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

He took her hand and gently tugged her after
him as he started towards the house. She fell into step beside him.
Her hands were cold, probably from the shock. He glanced over out
of the corner of his eye. She was pale and her blue eyes were as
big as saucers. They were dry though and for that he was thankful.
He could deal with a lot of things but crying women was not one of
them. He hated feeling helpless and that’s how he always felt when
confronted with tears.

He got her into the house and pushed her down
into one of the kitchen chairs. He called the ranch house and a
woman answered on the fifth ring. He explained who he was and that
Bluebell was with him and the relief that came through the line
told him they’d already noticed she was missing. When the woman
started sobbing he promised to take care of Bluebell and get her
home as soon as she was calm.

He glanced at the shell of the beautiful
blonde staring a hole into the wall. Technically she looked calm
but he knew beneath the surface she was anything but. She was
falling apart but she was trying damn hard to hold it together.

“Arlene said she’d handle things until you
get back.” He told her when he hung up.

She blinked, nodded and remained silent. Zach
opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He opened it and
slid it in front of her as he sat down in a chair beside her.

“Drink this.”

She picked it up, took a long drink and put
it back down, “Thank you.”

Silence stretched in the room for a long
minute. He wasn’t sure what to say or do in a situation like this.
Her father had been sick but his death had still come out of
nowhere for her. He went to sleep, never woke up. It happened as
quickly as his father’s heart attack all those years ago. He hadn’t
known what to do then either. He felt helpless.

“Blue?” He prompted when she remained
quiet.

“I’m not sleeping with anybody but you. You
know, in case you were wondering. I don’t know if you are and I
guess it’s not really my business but…” She shrugged, “Just fyi I
guess.”