Heart of Texas Vol. 2 (20 page)

“Don't you worry,” Cal said, impressed once more with her willingness to fit in. “It's not difficult to learn.”

Since the bowling alley was only a couple of blocks away, they decided to walk. Cal wasn't sure why he tagged along. His intent had been to beg off after dinner and join his friends at Billy D's, the local watering hole. Of course Glen wouldn't be around, and probably not Grady, either. Jimmy Morris and Lyle White house would be shooting the breeze as usual—not that Cal was a big fan of Lyle's. The guy was far too ready to take offense and want to settle things with his fists. Anyway, Cal realized that, when it came right down to it, he was enjoying himself with his brother and Ellie. Doc Texas wasn't bad, either, although he was determined to make sure she realized this wasn't a real date.

The upstairs room of the bowling alley was set up with tables and chairs for the twice-weekly bingo sessions. A concession stand in the back of the room sold cold drinks, popcorn and hot dogs. Lloyd Bonney, a retired rancher who'd moved into town a couple of years ago, called out the numbers from his position at the front.

They purchased three bingo cards each and were heading for a table near the electronic bingo board when Cal saw his parents. He groaned inwardly. It would be just like his mother to read far more into their little foursome than was warranted. Mary Patterson refused to accept that her oldest son wasn't interested in marriage. She kept insisting she wanted grand children and it was his duty to provide them. Cal was convinced Ellie and his brother would be more than happy to handle that task; he only wished she'd stop harassing
him
about it.

“You want to sit by Mom and Dad?” Glen asked after they'd waved to their parents. Cal growled his reply and his brother laughed. “That's what I thought.”

They located some space at one of the long tables, and the two women ended up sitting between the brothers, which was fine, Cal supposed—although to the casual observer it might look as if Jane was
with
him. He wasn't much of a talker and felt grateful that Ellie and Jane carried on a nonstop conversation. Cal shook his head, amused at the way women could chatter. He never did understand how they could have so much to say to each other.

Lloyd flipped a switch and the electronic board lit up. The air machine bounced the light weight balls bearing the bingo letters and corresponding numbers.

Because Jane was new to this, Cal watched her cards for her during the first game, checking to be sure she caught the number on each of them.

“
B
-fifteen,” Lloyd called.

Cal checked his own card and closed off the appropriate box. The other two didn't have fifteen in the
B
row. Once again he glanced over at Jane's row of cards and saw that she'd missed one. He pointed it out to her.

“Oh, thanks,” she said and smiled her appreciation.

A smile. Just a smile, and yet it warmed his heart. He was startled by his reaction. It was so…unexpected. Damn it, something must be wrong with him to take a smile, a simple expression of thanks, and make more of it than was war ranted. Obviously he'd had one too many beers.

The evening wore on, and while Cal didn't have any luck, Glen bingoed once for a twenty-five-dollar purse. The last game was the grand finale, Blackout Bingo, where every number on the card had to be closed in order to win the two-hundred-dollar grand prize.

As he had all evening, Cal glanced over at Jane's cards after he'd checked his own numbers. Other than that one time, she hadn't missed any. Lloyd had called out forty-five numbers or so when he noticed that one of Jane's cards was nearly filled. She had four blank spaces compared to his best one, which showed at least ten. The next two numbers Lloyd called were both on Jane's card.

He could feel her excitement growing. Five numbers later she had only one open space. She needed
O
-sixty-four. Jane closed her eyes, propped her elbows on the table and crossed the fingers on both hands.

Two numbers later Lloyd called, “
O
-sixty-four.”

Together Cal and Jane screamed, “BINGO!”

Cal hadn't meant to yell, but he was damn near as excited as Jane. She leaped to her feet and hugged Ellie and then Cal, as though this two hundred dollars was two hundred thousand.

“Congratulations,” Cal said. He couldn't help being delighted. Jane's excitement was contagious.

“Two hundred dollars,” she breathed, as if this was more than she'd seen in her entire life. Lloyd person ally counted out the money, placing the bills in her hand.

Clutching them in her fist, Jane wildly hugged Ellie again.

Ellie laughed. “I told you that you'd like this game.”

“I
love
this game.” Jane pressed the money to her heart. “I'm gonna buy me a real Texas outfit. You want to come along and make sure I get what I need?”

“You're on,” Ellie replied as Jane tucked the money into her purse.

Afterward Cal and Glen stopped and greeted their parents.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend Jane Dickinson,” Ellie said, saving Cal the embarrassment of introducing her and then explaining that technically she wasn't his date. He was grateful that Ellie had taken the initiative; otherwise his parents might get the wrong idea. His mother didn't need any encouragement to match him up.

“Good to see you dating again,” his father said, blind siding him.

He'd expected his mother to comment on Jane's being with him, but not his father. “This isn't a date,” Cal felt obliged to correct him, and not entirely for his dad's sake, either. It saved Jane the need to correct his father's assumption.

“Congratulations on your win, Jane,” Mary said. It was easy to read what his mother was thinking—from the look in her eyes, she was already envisioning grand children.

After exchanging pleasantries and saying goodbye to his parents, they walked back to the Chili Pepper where they'd left their vehicles. Glen opened the truck door for Ellie and helped her in.

“I had a wonderful time,” Jane said, her blue eyes bright with pleasure. “My best since moving here. Thanks so much for including me.”

“How're you getting home?” Glen asked when he apparently realized she hadn't come in a car.

“I walked. It's only a few blocks.”

“Would you like a ride?” he asked. Cal probably would have offered but was pleased that his brother had done it first. If Glen hadn't, he'd be obliged, and he didn't want her to think he was seeking out her company.

“I appreciate the offer, but I feel like walking. Thank you, though.”

Glen climbed into his truck and backed out of the parking space as Ellie waved farewell.

Cal opened his pickup door, prepared to leave himself. “Sure you don't want a ride?” he said, trying not to sound reluctant.

“Positive. Good night, and thanks for dinner. That was really sweet of you.”

Cal stood waiting by the open door until Jane had crossed the main inter section. Only then did he climb into his truck and start the engine. Checking the rearview mirror for traffic, he caught sight of Jane ambling down the street. He sighed, silently cursing himself. He didn't feel right leaving her to walk home on her own. She might not be his date or even his friend, but damn it all, he felt responsible for her safety. Especially when she was walking around with her bingo winnings in her purse. Promise didn't have a crime problem, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Cal cut the engine and climbed out of his truck, then raced after her.

She glanced up at him in surprise when he reached her. “I'll walk you home,” he said gruffly, matching his steps to hers.

She blinked as if she wasn't sure what to say. “Thank you.”

He shoved his fingers into the small pockets at the top of his jeans. They walked in silence, neither of them making an effort to talk. Two blocks off Main Street, Cal was glad he'd decided to escort her home. The street light on Fourth Avenue had burned out, and the sidewalk was darker than a bowl of black bean soup.

“Perhaps you'd better give me your arm,” Cal suggested halfway down the block.

She did, and he tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. Oddly, he
enjoyed
doing this small thing for her.

“That's something you and Ellie and Glen forgot to mention,” Jane said suddenly.

“What's that?”

“The men in Texas are real gentlemen.”

“My momma didn't raise no Bubbas,” Cal said, joking, and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh, and Cal had done more of that in the past few hours than he had in months.

“Listen,” he said impulsively as they neared the small house behind the health clinic, “are you serious about learning to ride?”

“Very much so.”

“All right, then I'll teach you.”

“You will?”

Cal wasn't sure what had prompted the offer, but since he'd blurted it out, he couldn't very well back down now.

The light from her porch illuminated her face. She looked like the original California girl with her short sun-bleached hair and eyes as blue as the Pacific. Already Cal was calling himself a damned fool and he hadn't even given Jane her first lesson. Maybe someone should offer to give
him
a lesson—on how to keep his stupid mouth shut.

 

S
AVANNAH
S
MITH HAD MADE
the appointment to see Dr. Jane Dickinson Tuesday morning. She hadn't been feeling well the past few weeks and thought it was time for a general checkup. Besides, she had her suspicions.

In the past half year her life had under gone a number of drastic changes. First and foremost, she'd met Laredo; they'd fallen in love and were now married. About the time Laredo had come into her life, her brother Richard had reappeared after a six-year absence. Thanks to her influence, Grady had allowed Richard to stay at the ranch, which was more than charitable of him, seeing as their brother had stolen from them—and that Grady's inclination had been to turn him away. Apparently she'd still had some lessons to learn regarding Richard. Painful ones.

Savannah had desperately wanted to believe he'd changed, but then, so had Grady. Against his better judgment, her brother had given Richard opportunity after opportunity to prove himself. In the end, when he disappeared with Grady's truck, it was exactly what she'd learned to expect. Only this time he didn't steal only from them; he'd also charged thousands of dollars' worth of goods and services in town. It was a matter of pride and principle to Grady that those bills be paid.

The merchants in Promise had accepted the charges because of the Westons' good name, and Grady wouldn't let Richard disgrace it or ruin a hundred years of excellent credit. The money had come out of the profits from selling off the herd; it was money that could have been spent in other ways, money that would have benefited the Weston ranch, the Yellow Rose.

Savannah's bout of ill health had started shortly after Richard's sudden departure. She'd done her best to hide it from her husband, but Laredo knew something was wrong because he'd
been the one to suggest she make the appointment. Sitting in the examination room now, Savannah silently prayed that the diagnosis was what she suspected.

The door to the examination room opened and Dr. Dick in son walked in. It was a bit un settling to have a doctor younger than she was. Particulary after all those years of seeing old Doc Cummings.

“Hello,” Dr. Dickinson said, smiling. She held out her hand and Savannah shook it. This must be a big-city thing, she thought, because generally women in rural Texas didn't shake hands.

“I'm pleased to meet you,” Savannah answered. This was their first actual meeting, although they'd seen each other at various events.

The physician sat down on the chair across from her. “You haven't been feeling well?”

Savannah nodded. “My stomach's been queasy, usually in the morning and often late in the afternoon, too.”

“Any other symptoms?”

“I'm so tired lately. The other night it was all I could do to stay up past eight, which is ridiculous.”

The doctor made a notation on her chart. “Anything else?”

“Well…yes. My period's two weeks late.”

This information was written on the chart, as well. “I understand you were recently married.”

Savannah nodded. “In June.”

“Are you using any form of birth control?”

Savannah found such talk excruciatingly embarrassing. “Uh, usually,” she answered, blushing hotly.

“I'd like to do a urine test,” the doctor said.

“Okay. So do you think I might be pregnant?”

Dr. Dickinson's answering smile was warm. “You're showing all the symptoms.”

Savannah let out a deep breath as that confirmation settled over her. Pregnant. So soon? She'd known it was the likely reason for her nausea and tiredness—not to mention the missed period. But…pregnant? Somehow, it didn't seem possible, and yet she supposed it was inevitable considering their haphazard methods of birth control.

After a brief physical examination Savannah provided a urine sample. Waiting for the test results seemed to take forever when in reality it was only minutes. Savannah's emotions ran the entire spectrum. She felt mostly an over whelming sense of joy—a joy so deep and profound it was difficult not to leap up and shout with it. Simultaneously she was aware that the timing could hardly be worse. She and Laredo had spent much of the summer drawing up plans for their own home. Every penny they'd managed to pull together had gone into the project. Now wasn't exactly the ideal time to announce she was going to have a baby.

The door opened and the doctor returned. “Congratulations, Savannah. You're going to be a mother.”

Savannah's hands flew to her mouth and tears welled in her eyes.