Crazy Little Thing Called Love (5 page)

He’d never have stayed away from Fate or the
ranch long term. He knew that. It was home and his heart was here
but he’d grown restless with the same routine and needed something
else, something more. So he’d turned to the house. Carving it up,
making it new, making it his, helped settle some of his demons and
most days he felt lighter than he had in years. Or he would if his
brothers would get off his back about expanding the ranch and
buying up land.

The thud of flip-flips on the tile floor
announced his mother coming back, “Sorry, Devin just wanted to be
sure you made it back to town okay.”

Zach nodded but refrained from pointing out
his brother could have called him just as easily.

“He mentioned everyone at the Quick Mart is
already gossiping about how Bluebell Carter stopped in to fill up
some fancy sports car looking like she just walked out of the pages
of a magazine.”

“I told you she was pretty.” He shrugged.

“Actually you didn’t say anything of the
like…” She slipped back into her chair, “Anyway, Devin mentioned
they were laughing about how she used to dress a little crazy back
in high school which I’d forgotten. That girl used to show up to
church on Sunday with stripes of color in her hair, blue, pink,
green once I think… no idea what her Daddy was thinking letting her
get away with that.”

Zach grinned at his mother as well as the
image she was painting. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how
Devin remembered Bluebell and he didn’t. Wasn’t she closer to
Riley’s age? He wouldn’t ask because he didn’t really care. Even
still, he couldn’t stop thinking about what that pure blonde hair
would have looked like with a strip of pink to match her sexy high
heels.

“So,” Zach cleared his throat and turned the
conversation back to a safer topic, “You were saying something
about the renovations.”

“Yes dear, thank you.” Reba nodded as she
fluffed her ponytail, “The thing is I wanted you to know that I
think you’re doing a wonderful job with the renovations. I know
you’ve always enjoyed construction, working with your hands and
building things. I swear, when you were a little boy we couldn’t
get the building blocks away from you.”

“Thanks Mom.”

“I want you to be happy honey so it’s nice to
see you enjoying your work. To be completely honest, I think you
missed your calling.”

“I don’t know about that.” He lied.

He had missed it. He’d missed it every single
day of his life from the minute the phone call came that his father
was on his way to the hospital. He wasn’t sure it was necessarily
construction he’d have gone into but he’d never had the opportunity
to find out.

“I do. It’s clear that you’ve found something
to do that makes you happy.”

Zach’s eyes narrowed, “But? I can tell
there’s about to be a but coming up soon.”

His mother smiled softly, “But, I hate to see
the ranch suffer.”

“It’s not…”

“I hate to see your relationship with your
brothers suffer Zachary.” She cut him off, “Now let me finish, I
know you’re not excited about the ranch anymore. This was never
your dream, I know that but it’s your duty to make sure the Triple
Star remains a strong business. Your brothers want to look at
expanding and you owe them to at least consider it.”

He could feel his frustration bubble below
the surface. His hands knotted into fists but he held them firm at
his side. He had a hell of a temper when he let it out. His
brothers liked to say he had anger issues. Truth was, he did but
he’d been controlling it for thirty-six years and he wasn’t about
to blow now.

If anybody was owed something in the West
family it was him. He’d given up his life to make sure this place
didn’t die along with his father. He’d given up college to make
sure Devin finished high school and Riley had a shot of going to
Tech. He’d given up his dreams so his brothers could have a shot at
living theirs.

He didn’t resent them for it. He wanted the
best for them and he’d tried like hell to give it to them but at
some point what he wanted had to count too.

“Just say you’ll think about it.” His
mother’s voice broke through his frustrations.

He clenched and unclenched his jaw. He needed
some air. He needed to get out of the house and away from the land
for a little while. If he could get away he’d be able to suck it up
like he always did and be logical. Right now he wasn’t feeling very
logical.

“Yeah, fine, I’ll think about it.” He
nodded.

“Oh good… thank you. I knew you’d see reason
if…” The relief on her face was too much and he snapped.

“Yeah, I’ll think about it, and while I’m
thinking about it, I’m also going to think long and hard about
selling my stake in the ranch to Devin and Riley. They want it so
bad; they can divide it between them and leave me the hell
alone.”

Her sharp intake of breath and the panicked
look in her eye nearly stopped him but he didn’t feel like being
reprimanded like a little kid. He shoved his chair back from the
table and stomped to the front door. He grabbed his keys off the
table where he’d tossed them not more than a half hour ago and
jerked the door open.

“Zachary Ellis West, you stop right
there.”

He snorted but didn’t turn around, “I’m not
ten years old. I’m going for a drive.”

“Zach.”

“I just need some air. I’m sorry for yelling.
Thank you for dinner, lock up when you leave.” He started to open
the door and push through but her next words made him falter.

“Just tell me you didn’t mean that. You don’t
really want to be rid of the ranch do you? To be rid of us?”

He groaned and rubbed the now full fledged
headache behind his forehead as he muttered, “I don’t know. I
honestly don’t know some days.”

He barely heard the sound of his boots
against the wood porch slats. He didn’t hear the sound of the
screen door slamming shut behind him. He vaguely registered
climbing into the big Ford and hearing the motor roar before he
slammed it into drive and peeled away. What he did register was the
little figure on the porch staring after him with that hurt
expression in the green eyes that looked so much like his own.

“Damn it.” He punched the steering wheel and
cursed.

He hadn’t meant to hurt her. Leaving was
meant to keep that from happening. Sometimes his life just made him
claustrophobic. He just needed to get some fresh air and some space
and then he’d be able to suck it up and go back and apologize.

He hadn’t meant it, of course not. He loved
his mother and his brothers and that stupid ranch. It was his life
and he liked his life most days. He just wanted them to see there
was more to him. His wanted there to be more to him and there were
only two things that ever helped him calm down when he was this far
gone. He needed an ice cold Shiner and a really good distraction
from his life.

What had she been thinking? Flirting with
Zachary West had been a terrible idea. It was reckless and
impulsive and when had being those things ever turned out well for
her? Never, the answer was never!

No doubt this too would come back to bite her
in the ass. Her last impulsive decision had been the car that left
her stranded on the side of the road. The one before that was
dating that sorry SOB who stole money out of her purse but had been
really, insanely good-looking.

Impulsive decisions concerning good-looking
men did not a good southern lady make… or something like that.

And Zach West couldn’t get away fast enough
once she told him her name. No doubt he’d tell somebody about the
crazy Carter girl who’d accused him of being a serial killer and
then hit on him on a highway in the middle of nowhere. That was
bound to get the whole town talking.

Blue finished filling up the Audi at the
Quick Mart and then headed back out the other side of town towards
the ranch. A few minutes later she turned down the long driveway
under the high overhead gate with Montgomery Oaks Ranch emblazed in
dark wrought iron.

She shouldn’t have flirted with him. She
definitely shouldn’t have asked him to take her for a ride. Oh that
was good for her ego since he’d turned her down before he even knew
who she was.

The sun was beginning to set as she sent up a
cloud of dust and headed towards the big ranch house that sprawled
over a mile off the main highway. On either side of her barbed wire
fences kept in cattle and horses though she saw very few since it
was probably feeding time. In the distance the house loomed larger
and the other buildings, the bunkhouse, the barn and stables came
into focus.

What did she really know about Zachary West
anyway? He was good-looking. He was older than her even if she
couldn’t remember just how much older. He had two younger brothers.
The middle son, Devin if she remembered correctly though she wasn’t
certain she did, had been a few years older than her but the
youngest, Riley, had been in her grade in school. She remembered a
very pretty, very popular athlete but she couldn’t remember ever
reacting to that particular West so insanely thank God.

The Montgomery Oaks Ranch sprawled as far as
the eye could see. It wasn’t the largest family-owned working
cattle ranch in Texas but it definitely wasn’t the smallest. It had
been in the Montgomery family for over a hundred years and each
generation had added to the acreage and wealth. And someday it
would be all hers. That thought was enough to make her shiver
despite the heat.

Her father had inherited the ranch with her
mother’s death. He never had a son, a source of great
disappointment for him to be sure. Since he never remarried nor had
more children, Blue was his sole heir. They’d never talked about
what would happen when it came time for the next generation and
she’d never asked. All she’d wanted was to get away from this cold,
empty place when she was a teenager and despite their relationship
her father had seemed to understand that need.

It was possible her father had no intentions
of leaving her Montgomery Oaks. He could break it up, divide it
among the hands that worked it, sell it off. It was his to do with
as he chose probably. She had no idea how the lineage worked since
he wasn’t technically a Montgomery but it’d never really mattered
to her. She used to dream he’d sell it off, give her some
inheritance money and she’d be free to live her life without the
guilt of not staying in Texas. Seeing the house come into view now,
the familiar twist of emotions left her unsure how she’d feel about
that now.

Blue parked the Audi in the circle driveway,
grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and headed up the front
walk. The main house was classically designed with a wide front
porch complete with white pillars and a second floor balcony. It
stretched out in a low sprawling design in both directions and
formed a U shape in the back that looked out over the horizon. The
hedges were freshly trimmed and the white paint looked newly
updated, otherwise, it was as much home as it had been the day
she’d packed up and left.

The swamp of emotions wasn’t new. Guilt,
apprehension, worry, love, longing, they were all there just like
they were every time she came back to Texas. They were always
there, just waiting for her to come home.

The big double oak doors were unlocked so she
let herself inside. The familiar scent of wood and leather was the
first thing she noticed. The second was that nobody seemed to be
around. Some things never changed.

She crossed down the hallway, through the
large family room and back towards the kitchen. The worn-in brown
leather sofas were in the same place. The same landscape paintings
were on the walls. In the kitchen, the sink still dripped one
solemn drop every thirty seconds just as it had for decades.

When she was a little girl, there would have
been a cook here in the kitchen and a maid somewhere else in the
house cleaning up. She’d never gone without female companionship,
her father had seen to that. She had three meals a day prepared by
Arlene Evans and her daughter Alice had made her bed, done her
laundry and played dolls with her.

Years ago she heard Alice married and moved
to Ft. Worth. Arlene was still employed by her father to cook for
him and the ranch hands and had taken over some of the household
chores as well. Blue set off to find her and wasn’t surprised when
she heard a crash come from the pantry.

Arlene was picking up an assortment of dented
cans when she rounded the corner. The older woman was in her
sixties now, her dark hair starting to pepper with gray. Her curves
had always overpowered her petite frame and her sense of style
hadn’t changed. She was donning a pair of purple wranglers with a
fluttering pink top meant for women half her age.

Blue grinned, “Hey there.”

Arlene squealed and dropped the cans all over
again, “Oh sweet baby Jesus… don’t you do that to an old lady
Bluebell Montgomery Carter. You bout gave me a heart attack!”

Blue’s heart warmed in her chest. This woman
had helped raise her. She was the closest thing to a mother she’d
had since she was five years old and it was good to see her. She
hadn’t realized she missed more than just her father all this time
and tears warmed the back of her lids before she could stamp them
down.

“Sorry.”

“Oh my… look at you. Come give me a hug.”
Arlene was already enveloping her in a tight squeeze.

She worked to keep the tears back and hugged
the other woman. With her height and the added heels, Arlene’s face
got buried in her chest but she didn’t seem to mind and held her
for a good long minute. Blue didn’t mind either.

“It’s good to see you.”

“Oh it’s good to see you too Bluebell.”
Arlene held her at arms length and did a quick scan from head to
toe before focusing back on her face, “My, my, if you don’t look
more and more like your mama all the time.”