A Cowboy Comes Home

Three

Mandy couldn’t help but stare at the tall, elegant, brunette woman standing on the porch of the Terrell ranch house. She wore a chic, textured, taupe jacket, with black piping along the neck, lapels and faux pockets. It had a matching, straight skirt, and the ensemble was layered over a black, lace camisole. Her black, leather pumps were high heeled, closed toed with an open weave along the outsides.

Her earrings were large-a woven, copper geometric pattern that dangled beneath short, stylishly cut hair. Her makeup was subtle, coral lips, soft thick lashes, sculpted brows and dusky shadow that set off her dark, hazel eyes. She held a black, rhinestone purse tucked under one arm, and a leather briefcase in the opposite hand.

How she’d made it to the porch dust-free was beyond Mandy.

“Can I help you with something?” Mandy belatedly asked.

“I’m looking for Caleb Terrell.” The woman’s voice was crisp and businesslike.

“I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment.”

The woman’s lips compressed in obvious impatience.

“Was he expecting you?” Mandy asked, confused and curious in equal measure.

“ I was expecting him. Two days ago in Chicago.” The woman clearly had a close enough relationship with Caleb that she had expectations, and she was free to express frustration if he didn’t meet them.

A girlfriend? A lover? He’d said he had none, but evidence to the contrary was standing right here in front of Mandy.

“Would you like to come in?” she offered, remembering her manners, telling herself Caleb’s personal life was none of her business. “He should be back anytime.”

Sure, he’d made a couple of flirtatious allusions in their conversations. But they were harmless. He hadn’t even kissed her. She certainly hadn’t taken any of it seriously.

The woman smiled, transforming her face, and she held out a slim, perfectly manicured hand. “Forgive me. I’m Danielle Marin.”

Mandy hesitated only a brief second before holding out her own, blunt-nailed, tanned and slightly callused hand.

She couldn’t help but wish she was wearing something other than a plain, blue cotton blouse and faded jeans. There was some eyelet detail on the collar, and at least she didn’t have manure on her boots. Then again, she’d been sweating in the barn all morning, and her casual ponytail was certainly the worse for wear.

“Mandy Jacobs,” she introduced herself. “I’m, uh. I’ve been helping out on the ranch.”

“I’m sure Caleb appreciates that.” Danielle waved a hand in the air as she stepped into the house. “I have to say, this whole situation borders on the ridiculous.”

Mandy closed the door behind them. She couldn’t disagree. “Once we find Reed, things will smooth out.”

“Any progress on that?” Danielle asked, setting her purse on the side table in the entryway and parking her briefcase beneath. “Caleb told me you were spearheading the effort.”

Mandy didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t want to share details with a stranger, but she couldn’t very well ask about Danielle’s relationship with Caleb without being rude.

Danielle strolled her way into the great room, gazing at the high ceiling and the banks of windows overlooking the river. “I assume you’ve already checked his usual hotels.”

Mandy followed. “Reed never traveled much. But I have checked hotels, hospitals and with the police as far away as Fort Collins.”

“Car-rental agencies?”

“He took a ranch truck.”

Danielle nodded. “Have you tried checking his credit-card activity?”

Mandy tried to figure out if Danielle was joking. Judging by her expression, she was serious.

“I wouldn’t know how to do that,” Mandy said slowly. Was she even allowed to do that? It sounded like it might be illegal.

“It’s not a service we could provide, but I do have some contacts…” Danielle let the offer hang.

Mandy didn’t know what to say. Was Danielle suggesting she could help Mandy break the law?

The front door opened, and a pair of boots sounded in the entryway. Mandy took a couple of steps back and crooked her head to confirm it was Caleb. Thank goodness.

He gazed quizzically at her expression as he strode down the short hall. Then, at the living-room entrance, he halted in his tracks. “Danielle?”

“Yes,” Danielle answered shortly as she moved in on him.

“What on earth are you doing in Colorado?”

“What on earth are you still doing in Colorado?”

“I told you it was going to take a few days.”

“That was a few days ago.”

“ Two days ago.”

“Do you want this to work or not?”

Mandy scooted toward the kitchen, determined to get away from the private conversation. One thing was sure, if Caleb kept flirting with other women, his relationship with Danielle was definitely not going to work out.

“We have to be in Sao Paulo by the sixteenth,” Danielle’s voice carried to the kitchen. “We’ve made a commitment. There’s no cancellation insurance on this kind of deal, Caleb.”

“Have I done something to make you think I’m stupid?” Caleb asked.

Mandy wasn’t proud of it, but her feet came to a halt the moment she was around the corner in the kitchen, intense curiosity keeping her tuned to what was happening in the living room.

“You mean, other than moving to Colorado?” Danielle asked.

“I haven’t moved to Colorado.”

There was a moment of silence, and Mandy found herself straining to hear.

“You have to come back, Caleb.”

“I can’t leave yet.”

“You said you were going to sell.”

“I am going to sell.”

Mandy was forced to bite back a protest. For years, she’d fantasized about the two brothers reconciling, and they were so close right now. Whatever hard feelings were between them, she was confident they loved each other. And they were the only family each of them had.

“You can look at offers just as easily from Chicago,” said Danielle.

“And who runs the ranch until then?”

“What about that Mandy woman?”

“She’s doing me a favor just by being here.” There was another pause. “Mandy?” Caleb called. “Where did you go?”

“Kitchen,” she responded, quickly busying herself at the counter. “You two want coffee?”

“You don’t need to make us coffee,” Caleb called back.

“It’s no problem.”

She heard him approach.

Then his footfalls crossed the kitchen, his voice lowering as he arrived behind her. “You don’t need to make us coffee.”

She didn’t turn around. “You and your girlfriend should sit down and-”

“My girlfriend? ”

“Talk this out,” Mandy finished. “But, can I say, I really hope you’ll give it some time before you sell, Caleb, because I know Reed-”

Caleb wrapped a big hand around her upper arm and turned her to face him. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Then what was she doing here? Why were they making plans for a vacation in Brazil?

“She’s my financial lawyer.”

“Sure.” Whatever. It didn’t mean they weren’t romantically involved.

He lowered his voice further. “And why did your mind immediately go to a romance?”

“Because she’s gorgeous,” Mandy offered, counting on her finger. “Because she’s here. Because she just told you if you didn’t come back to Chicago, things weren’t going to work out between you.”

Caleb’s voice lowered to a hiss. “And what exactly do you think I’ve been doing with you?”

She was slow to answer, because she really wasn’t sure what the heck he’d been doing with her. “A harmless flirtation. I assumed you didn’t mean it the way-”

“I did.”

“I’d love some coffee,” came Danielle’s sultry voice from the kitchen doorway.

“Coming up.” Mandy quickly turned away from Caleb.

“She thinks you and I are dating,” he said to Danielle in a clear voice.

Danielle’s response was a melodic laugh. “Like I’d get you to sit still long enough for a date.”

“See?” Caleb finished before backing off.

“I’m setting up a corporation for him in Brazil,” Danielle explained. “Do you by any chance have an internet connection? A scanner?”

“In the office,” Caleb answered. “Up the stairs, first door on the right.”

When Mandy turned around, two stoneware mugs of coffee in her hand, Danielle was gone.

Caleb was standing in front of the table in the breakfast nook. “I’m not dating her.”

“Got that.” Mandy took a determined step forward, ignoring the undercurrents from their rather intimate conversation. “Brazil?”

“It’s a huge, emerging market.”

She set the two mugs down on the table. “Are you, like a billionaire?”

“I’ve never stopped to do the math.”

“But you might be.” No wonder he could give up the ranch without a second thought. He wasn’t quite the philanthropist he made himself out to be.

“The net worth of a corporation is irrelevant. All the money’s tied up in the business. Even if you did want to know the value, you’d spend months wading your way through payables, receivables, inventory, assets and debts to find an answer. And by the time you found it, the answer would have changed.”

“But you don’t need the money from the ranch,” was really Mandy’s point.

Caleb drew a sigh. “I’m giving the money to Reed because he earned it.” Caleb’s hand tightened around the back of one of the chairs. “Boy, did he earn it.”

“Then don’t sell the ranch.”

“I can’t stay here and run it.”

Mandy tried to stay detached, but her passion came through in the pleading note of her voice. “Reed doesn’t want the money. He wants the ranch.”

“Then, where is he?”

“He’s sulking.”

Caleb gave a cold laugh. “At least you’ve got that right. He’s off somewhere, licking his wounds, mired in the certain and self-righteous anger that I’m about to cheat him out of his inheritance. Nice.”

“Reed doesn’t trust easily.”

“You think?”

“And you’ve been gone a long time.”

“When I left, I begged him to come with me.”

“Well, he didn’t. And you have a choice here. You can make things better or you can make them worse.”

“No. Reed had a choice here.” Caleb’s voice was implacable. “He could have stayed.”

“He’ll be back.”

Caleb shook his head. “I don’t think so. And he’ll be better off with the money, anyway. He can go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants. He’ll be free of this place forever.”

“If he wanted to be free,” she offered reasonably, “he’d have left with you in the first place.”

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you want him back here so badly?”

Mandy wasn’t sure how to answer the question. What she wanted was for Caleb and Reed to reconcile. She wanted the ranch to stay in the Terrell family for Reed’s children, for Sasha’s grandchildren. Reed had sacrificed ten years to protect his heritage. Caleb had no business pulling it out from under him.

Caleb watched the last of the dozen pieces of paper disappear into the ranch house office fax machine. The machine emitted a series of beeps and buzzes that indicated the pages were successfully reaching the Lyndon real-estate office.

“You did it, didn’t you?” Mandy’s accusing voice came from the office doorway. It was full dark, and the ranch yard lights outside the window mingled with the glow of the desk lamp and the stream of illumination from the upstairs hallway. Danielle had retired to the guest room half an hour ago. Caleb thought Mandy had already left.

“The Terrell Cattle Company is officially for sale,” he replied, swiping the pages from the cache tray and straightening them into a neat pile.

“You’re making a mistake,” said Mandy.

“It’s my mistake to make.”

She moved into the room. “Did you ever stop to wonder why he did it?”

“Reed or Wilton?”

“Your father.”

Caleb nodded. “I did. For about thirty-six hours straight. I called Reed half a dozen times after I left my lawyer’s office that day. I thought he might have some answers. But he didn’t call back. And eventually his voice-mail box was full and I knew it was hopeless.”

“Danielle’s office?”

“Different lawyer.”

“Oh.”

Caleb set down the papers and turned to prop himself against the lip of the desk. “I guessed maybe Reed and the old man had a fight, and leaving me the ranch was Wilton’s revenge.”

“They had about a thousand fights.”

Caleb gave a cold chuckle. “Wilton fought with me, too. A guy couldn’t do anything right when it came to my old man. If you piled the manure to the right, he wanted it to the left. You used the plastic manure fork, you should have used the metal one. You started brushing from the front of the horse, you should have started from the back-” He stopped himself. Just talking about it made his stomach churn. How the hell Reed had put up with it for ten extra years was beyond Caleb. The guy deserved a medal.

“My theory,” said Mandy, moving farther into the dimly lit room, “is that once you were gone, he forgot you were such a failure.” An ironic smile took the sting out of her words.

“While Reed was still here to keep screwing up over and over again?”

“Got a better theory?”

“He found my corporation thanks to Google and decided I was worth a damn?” Even as he said the words, Caleb knew it was impossible. He’d spent the better part of his adult life warning himself not to look for his father’s approval. There was nothing down that road but bitter disappointment.

Mandy perched herself on the inset, cushioned window seat. She was silhouetted now by the lights from the yard. “You have to know you are worth a damn.”

“You’re too kind.”

“Reed’s worth a damn, too.”

“No argument from me.”

She tucked her feet up onto the wide, bench seat, and he noticed she was wearing whimsical sky-blue-and-pale-pink, mottled socks. It surprised him. Made her seem softer somehow, more vulnerable.

“I don’t understand why you’re in such a rush to sell,” she said.

“That’s because you live in the Lyndon Valley and not in Chicago.”

“Rash decisions are compulsory in Chicago?”

He moved across the room and took the opposite end of the bench, angling his body toward her and bracing his back against the wall, deciding there was no reason not to give her an explanation. “I’ve had two weeks to think about it.”

“Reed had ten years.”

“In many ways, so did I.”

Mandy shifted her position, smoothing her loose hair back from her face. His gaze hungrily followed her motion.

“Did you ever wish you’d stayed?”

He hesitated at the unsettling question, not sure how to answer. Back then, he’d second-guessed himself for months, even years, over leaving Reed. But it all came down to Wilton. “He killed my mother,” Caleb said softly. “I couldn’t reward him for that.”

“She died of pneumonia.”

“Because it was left untreated. Because she was terrified of telling him she was sick. Because he would have berated and belittled her for her weakness. Terrells are not weak.”

“I never thought you were.”

“I’m not,” he spat, before he realized it wasn’t Mandy he was angry with.

She tossed back her hair. “Reed wasn’t weak. Yet, he stayed.”

“He squared it in his head somehow.”

Reed claimed he wanted to protect his mother’s heritage, since half the ranch had belonged to her family. Which, looking back, was obviously the reason Wilton had married her. The man was incapable of love.

“She was twenty years younger than him,” Caleb remembered. “Did you know that?”

“I knew she was younger. I didn’t know by how much. I remember thinking she was beautiful.” Mandy’s voice became introspective. “I remember wishing I could be that beautiful.”

Caleb couldn’t hold back his opinion. “You are that beautiful.”

Mandy laughed. “No, I’m not.” She held out her hands. “Calluses. I have calluses. Danielle has a perfect French manicure, and I have calluses.” She peered at her small hands. “I think there might even be dirt under my fingernails.”

“Danielle has never had to clean tack.”

“No kidding.”

“I mean, she lives a completely different life than you do.”

Mandy’s face twisted into a grimace. “She goes to parties and I shovel manure?”

“Her world is all about image. Yours is all about practicality.”

“I’m just a sturdy, little workhorse, aren’t I?”

“Are you wallowing in self-pity, Mandy Jacobs?”

She went silent, her glare speaking for her.

Caleb moved inches closer, fighting a grin of amusement. “Are you by any chance jealous of Danielle?”

Mandy tossed back her hair in defiance. “Jealous of a stunningly beautiful, elegant, intelligent, successful lawyer, who’s flying off to Rio-”

“Sao Paulo,” Caleb corrected, enjoying the flash of emotion that appeared deep within Mandy’s green eyes.

“They’re both in Brazil.”

“It’s a big country. One’s a beach resort, the other’s full of skyscrapers, banks and boardrooms.” He fought the urge to reach out and touch her. “But I’d take you to Rio if that’s where you wanted to go.”

She cocked her head sideways. “You’d take me to Rio?”

“I would.” He dared stroke an index finger across the back of her hand. “We’d dress up, and go dancing at a real club and have blender drinks on the beach. You could even get a manicure if you’d like.”

“Are you flirting with me?”

He met her gaze full on. “Absolutely.”

“You have women like Danielle in your life, and yet you’re flirting with me?”

“I am.”

“Why?”

Caleb debated for a moment before answering. But then he reminded himself he was in Colorado. People were forthright around here. And he owed Mandy no less than she was giving him.

“Because you’re real,” he told her. “You’re not some plastic package, constructed to appeal to a man’s anthropological triggers. When you laugh, it’s because you’re happy. When you argue, it’s because you have a point to make. And when your eyes smolder, it’s because you’re attracted to me, not because you’ve spent days and weeks practicing the exact, right look to make a man think you’re interested in him.”

“I’m not interested in you.”

“But you are.” He smoothed a stray lock of her hair and tucked it behind one ear. “That’s what’s so amazing about you. Your body language doesn’t lie.”

“And if my body language slaps you across the face?”

“I hope it’ll be because I’ve done something to deserve it.” Because, then the slap would be worth it.

“You’re impossible.” But her voice had gone bedroom husky. Her pupils were dilated, and her dark pink lips were softened, slightly parted.

“It’s not me you’re fighting,” he told her.

She didn’t answer. Her breathing grew deeper while a pink flush stained her cheeks.

He moved the last couple of inches. Then he dared to bracket her face with his hands. Her skin was smooth, warm and soft against his palms. His pulse jumped, desire igniting a buzz deep in his belly.

He bent his head forward, his lips parting in anticipation of her taste. He hadn’t even kissed her yet, and desire was turning his bloodstream into a tsunami.

She sucked in a quick breath, her jade-green eyes fluttering closed.

Caleb could tell stop signals from go signals, and this was definitely a go. Her head tilted sideways, as she leaned into his palm. He crossed the final inches, her sweet breath puffing against his face in the split second before his lips touched hers.

Desire exploded in his chest. He’d meant it to be a gentle kiss, but raw passion pushed him forward.

He’d known it would be good, guessed she would taste like ambrosia, but nothing had prepared him for the rush of raw lust that made his arms wrap around her and his entire body harden to steel.

He opened his mouth, deepening the kiss. She whimpered in surrender, giving him access, her small tongue parrying with his, while his broad palm stroked its way from her waist to her hip, to the curve at the side of her breast.

He shifted his body, pulling her into his lap, never breaking the kiss as her soft, pert behind settled against him. He raked the satin of her hair out of the way, his fingertips convulsing against her scalp. Her small hands clung to his shoulders, hanging on tight, while her rounded breasts pressed erotically against his chest.

He wanted to rip off her clothes, push her back on the seat, or down on the floor, and ravage her body until neither of them could see straight. He knew he couldn’t do that, knew he was losing control, knew he had to drag them back to reality before their passion got completely out of control.

But then her hot hands slid the length of his chest, and he put sanity on hold. She freed the buttons of his cotton shirt, her palms searing into his bare skin.

His hand closed over her breast, feeling its weight through the fabric of her shirt and the lace of her bra. He kissed her harder, deeper, settling her more firmly on the heat of his need. Her kisses trailed to his chest, over his pecs, across one flat nipple, and he groaned in reaction.

“We can’t,” he whispered harshly, even as he buried his face in her fragrant hair and prayed she’d keep going.

She stilled, her breath cooling a damp spot on his bare skin.

They were both silent for a long moment, while Caleb tried unsuccessfully to bring his emotions under control.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, lips grazing his skin.

“Are you kidding me?” he breathed. He forced himself to draw back, tipping up her chin and gazing into her passion-clouded eyes. “I have never-”

The cell phone in her jeans pocket buzzed, startling them both.

“-ever,” he continued, trying to hold her gaze, reluctant to let the moment go.

The cell phone buzzed again.

“Fortuitous?” she asked, seeming to regain her equilibrium.

“Not the word I would have used.” He sighed.

She shifted off his lap, slipping her hand into her jeans pocket to retrieve the cell phone.

“Abigail,” she announced while she pressed the talk button. “Hey, Abby.”

Caleb couldn’t believe she could sound so normal. He sure wasn’t that capable of turning on a dime like that. Desire was still pulsing its way through his extremities. It was going to be long minutes before he would be able to do anything more than breathe.

“When?” Mandy asked into the phone, her voice going guttural.

Her gaze locked on to Caleb’s, fear shooting through her irises. “I don’t-”

She swayed on her feet, and he instantly leaped to his, holding her steady.

“Where?” she asked hoarsely, bracing herself by grasping his arm. “Yes. Of course.” She nodded reflexively. “Yes.”

She was silent for another moment, her hand squeezing his arm in a vice grip. “Right now,” she told her sister. “I’ll be there. Bye.” Her tone was whispered as she lowered the phone.

“What?” Caleb prompted, his stomach clenching hard. Something had obviously gone terribly wrong.

“My dad,” she managed, blinking back twin pools of gathering tears. “They think it was a stroke.”

“Is he…” Caleb couldn’t finish the sentence.

“The medical airlift is on its way.”

“How bad?”

“Numbness, speech problems, confusion.” She broke away from Caleb’s hold. “I have to get home.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“No, I can-”

“I’ll drive you.” There wasn’t a chance in hell he was letting her speed down the dark, dirt ranch road all alone.