Crazy Little Thing Called Love (6 page)

Yeah if only she had the grace and charm and
manners to go along with it. She’d never live up to the impossible
standards Liza Beth Montgomery Carter had left behind. She never
had and she’d stopped trying a long time ago.

“Thank you.” She said instead.

“We’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She admitted, not missing
the fact Arlene had used the plural and she hadn’t. “Where’s Daddy
at?”

“Last I saw him he was in the bunkhouse with
the rest of the guys eating dinner.”

“Of course he is.”

He always ate dinner with the ranch hands out
there. Even when she was a little girl, if she’d wanted to eat with
him she’d have to carry her plate out there. She’d known it even
before she’d bothered to call. Oh speaking of calls…

“Arlene, I left a message on the machine
earlier. Have you checked it recently?”

“I didn’t hear the machine ring. I must have
been out serving dinner.” Arlene shook her head, “Did you need
something?”

“Nah, I’ll just erase it and then I’ll go say
hi to Daddy.”

“Go right ahead. I’ll bring you out some
fresh tea.”

“Thanks.”

Blue went back into the living room where the
machine was blinking and hit play. Her voice came through with the
message and she grinned at the memory of the look on Zachary West’s
face when she’d accused him of being an ax murderer. Priceless.

She hit delete and put the man out of her
mind. The only man she could deal with right now was her father.
Lord knew she’d need all her strength for that one.

Letting herself out the back door she headed
across the walkway that led to the bunkhouse. The smaller white
house matched the main house and sat fifty yards outside the
backyard. When she was a little girl several of the younger ranch
hands had lived in the house and she had memories of them showing
her how to play a harmonica or whittle wood with a knife. Most of
the hands these days lived in town and commuted the few miles out
to the ranch but they still used it for meals.

Her father had always seemed more at home in
the bunkhouse than he did the main house. Maybe it was his blood,
being around the rough and rowdy hands, the hard-working men who he
shared so much in common with. Working the land, loving the land,
it was in his nature.

Raising a little girl had never been in his
nature. He’d done the best he could. She knew that and she loved
him for it. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt when she thought of
the dance recitals and games he’d missed over the years because the
ranch came first.

The bunkhouse door was open and the noise
coming from inside spoke of a rowdy conversation about the Aggies
chance at beating the Longhorns in the fall. Male laughter, ribbing
and cursing greeted her ears. She smiled unconsciously. In a way,
those were the sounds of her childhood.

The racket came to an abrupt end as she
stepped through the door and she immediately regretted dressing for
the dinner before her drive. Her dress and heels were out of place
here. She knew the stares didn’t come from the group of men
gathered at the long table so much out of appreciation as
curiosity.

A few of the men she recognized immediately.
Bobby Pickens had worked the ranch since before she was born and
his sons, Billy and Rusty sat nearby. They were a few years older
than her but they’d grown up together so they smiled and stood to
greet her. She waved but shook her head that they should stay
sitting and finish their meal. Manners were for the main house,
this was the bunk and it was completely unnecessary.

She found her father’s face at the head of
the table as usual but he hadn’t seen her yet. As always he was
dressed in a ragged denim shirt, worn blue jeans and dirt caked
boots. His cowboy hat was on the table and his shoulders were
slumped over his plate, his head down as he ate his meal of brisket
and beans.

Her stomach knotted instinctively. It was
always the same. She was an adult. She was twenty-eight years old
and she had a successful job and life but whenever she was in her
father’s presence she suddenly felt like that same unsure little
girl she used to be. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Hey Daddy.”

“There you are. We’s waiting on you. Where
you been sweet girl?” He looked up and she met the dark eyes that
looked nothing like her own for the first time.

A slim smile worked at his sun-tanned cheeks
as he pushed himself to his feet and her breath caught in her
chest. Her father was still young. She’d been born when he was in
his mid-twenties, younger than she was now even. He was only in his
fifties but unlike the last time she’d seen him when he’d seemed
spry for his age he looked a decade older now.

His cheeks were sunken, almost gaunt. His
brown hair had peppered with gray early in life but now it was so
short it was hard to tell the color. He’d always been a tall, thin
man. He’d never packed on the weight or the beer gut some of the
other men she knew had but his jeans seemed oddly loose and his big
buckle overshadowed him. For the first time in her life she looked
at him and didn’t see a giant, she just saw a man and that
terrified her.

She wanted to ask what was wrong. What had
happened since she’d been home last? Was he sick? But she knew he
wouldn’t appreciate any of those questions in front of his hands
and so she steeled her defenses, sucked it up and put on her best
gracious daughter face instead.

“I had some car trouble. A flat out near the
city limit. Sorry I’m late.”

She hugged him, closed her eyes and breathed
him in. He smelled the same as he had when she was a little girl,
like dirt and outdoors and Texas. He gave her one firm squeeze and
released her. There was no such thing as holding on to her
father.

“You get it fixed wearing that?” He looked at
her skeptically and her cheeks heated red.

“No Daddy. A man from town was passing by and
stopped to help me.”

“Lucky you didn’t get abducted.”

She tried to contain an eye roll. She’d been
safe. She’d called in the information, or at least she’d started
to. She sighed instead.

“I got his information and left it on the
answering machine in case something happened to me.” A half-truth,
not quite a lie though he didn’t seem appeased.

“The world ain’t what it used to be, you need
to be more careful. It ain’t safe on the roads for a woman to be
talking to men these days. You got a gun or something you’re
carrying?”

In a strange way, it was his way of asking if
she was protected. It warmed her heart. Still, she didn’t need a
gun to deal with Zach West, a gallon of water to pour over her head
to cool off maybe but not a gun.

“He lives in Fate. I recognized his name. It
was one of the West boys, Zachary.”

“West.” He harrumphed but didn’t continue,
“You hungry?”

“Not really.”

“You should eat something. You look skinny as
a bean pole.” He was already grabbing a plate and putting some
extra meat on it so she simply sat in an empty seat next to him and
took it.

“You’re one to talk. You look like you forgot
what food is.” She gave him a pointed look so he’d know she hadn’t
missed his change in appearance.

“I’m getting old Bluebell.” He shrugged as if
that was all the answer she’d need and continued to stack too much
food on her plate.

The tightness in her chest nearly strangled
her as she watched him. Something was wrong and he hadn’t told her,
wasn’t going to tell her what it was. Fear was a lead ball in her
stomach.

What if it wasn’t just getting older? What if
he was sick? Dying? What would she do if she lost him too?

“West’s a good guy. It was nice of him to
stop and help ya but you could have called. One of us would have
been happy to come get ya.”

Blue gave Billy Pickens a smile of gratitude
not just for offering his assistance but for taking her mind off
her worries for a second. She couldn’t think of losing her father.
She wouldn’t.

But what if she did? What about the Oaks? She
didn’t know a thing about running a ranch this size, or any size
for that matter. Being a girl, her father had never taught her more
than the basics.

And she’d been gone ten years.

A dark, traitorous part of her soul screamed
at her to get back in the Audi and head for the border. Get out
before she got trapped here with the man who’d never wanted her by
his side to start with. She wished she’d never driven back into
town, never seen her father looking so frail, never known so she
wouldn’t have to face the truth. This might be home but she hadn’t
felt like she belonged here in a long time.

“I went to school with his brother Devin. His
other brother Riley was your age right?” Rusty Pickens added.

“Yeah, I remember him but not the other two
really.” She shrugged.

She wasn’t sure how that was even possible
considering how good looking the one on the side of the road had
turned out to be. She vaguely remembered Riley West but as hard as
she tried she had zero memories of the eldest West son from when
she was a girl. Still, the way her body had reacted to those soft
green eyes looking down at her told her all she needed to know. She
needed to steer clear until Sunday and then get the heck back out
of town.

“No real reason to I suppose, they quit
extracurricular’s to help out at the Triple Star when their dad
passed away. Zach took over and helped raise his brothers even sent
Riley to college over at…”

“This is the table boys, not gossip hour at
the knitting club.” Lyle Carter cut them off with a scowl, “And I
don’t want to hear about any West’s while I’m trying to eat.”

“Yes sir.” The men said in unison though they
gave Blue a knowing grin that she managed to half-heartedly
return.

Maybe the family feud wasn’t as forgotten as
she’d liked to believe. Then again, her father being in a grumpy
mood wasn’t breaking news. Sometimes just the wind blowing could
make him scowl.

“Good to see you Blue.”

“Be seeing you around. Excuse us.”

“Bye guys.” She waved as they excused
themselves, tossed the remains of their dinner aside and
disappeared out the back door. Several more of the hands did the
same.

“What’re ya up to while you’re here?”

“I have the rehearsal dinner in a little
while then Molly’s wedding is tomorrow.” She took one look at his
drawn face and tried to muster some excitement, “I’ll have free
time tomorrow morning. We should do something, maybe go shoot some
skeet.”

Trying to think of the last time she’d done
something fun with her father she came up empty. Lyle Carter didn’t
know how to have fun. He knew how to work from the moment the sun
rose to the moment it set. That’s just the way he was. Still, she
had memories of him teaching her to shoot so she figured he must
have enjoyed it enough to show her.

“Can’t. We got a stud coming in from Fort
Worth to breed with Lucy. It’ll be hard work so I got to be
there.”

She didn’t even bother to get annoyed. It
wasn’t a surprise. The ranch always came first. It didn’t matter
that Bobby or any one of the other dozens of employees at
Montgomery Oaks could oversee the breeding. It didn’t matter that
his only daughter had driven in from Colorado for the first time in
years and wanted to spend time with him. Some things never changed
and she just had to suck it up and keep moving.

“Would you want to go to the wedding with
me?”

“I hate those damn things sweet girl.” He
shook his head, “I’d have to leave the ranch early to get cleaned
up and I don’t even have a good suit. You go and send Molly my best
wishes.”

“Okay.” She sipped the glass of sweet tea in
front of her and tried not to pout.

There was no point getting emotional. It
wouldn’t change anything. When she was younger she’d have screamed
and yelled and cried. She’d have told him that he wasn’t getting
any younger and maybe just maybe it might be worth it to miss this
one breeding to spend some time with his daughter. Now, she sipped
her ice tea and tried to think of something else, anything
else.

“We’ll have breakfast together Sunday before
you head back. I’ll ask Arlene to make your favorite, scrambled
eggs and bacon.”

Her favorite had always been French toast but
she bit her tongue and nodded. At least he’d offered to have a meal
with her. That was something.

She felt like all her life she’d been
clinging to these crumbs as proof her father loved her. The little
things meant so much because he’d never bothered with the big ones.
She’d always taken what she could get no matter how small.

“There are a few things I want to talk about
with you before you head out.”

She was so focused on his offer of breakfast
she nearly missed what came next. She stopped and stared across the
table at her father. His dark eyes looked tired for possibly the
first time in her life.

“Talk? About what?” She swallowed past the
knot in her throat.

Her father didn’t talk to anyone least of all
to her. To say he was a man of few words would have been generous.
She could probably count on one hand the times he’d told her to sit
down because he needed to talk to her.

She’d gotten the birds and the bee’s speech
from Arlene. Bobby had taught her how to drive a car. When she got
a speeding ticket or detention he’d always shaken his head, told
her she knew better and not to let it happen again. The only
serious talks she could remember in her life were the “Suck it up
cowgirl, don’t cry” ones she got each and every time she’d been
emotional enough to let loose a round of tears in front of him.

“Just some ranch stuff, nothing
important.”

Obviously it was important. He’d never asked
to talk business with her. She had no idea how the ranch operated.
He’d always handled everything himself and he’d never involved her.
Sitting down to talk about it, bringing it up wasn’t just
important, it was monumental.