Almost a Cowboy (30 page)

Caroline instantly picked Alexandria out of a group of kids kicking a ball around the park. Her shining dark hair set her apart. When her mother called for her, she turned slanting eyes on them.

Utah had spent long minutes talking to Cynthia. Upon meeting her, he’d shown his shock at her age but quickly masked it. Then he and Cynthia had sat on a bench talking about Hollis and the will. And about Alexandria.

But when Caroline overheard Cynthia telling Utah that he was “just like his father,” Utah closed up completely.

“I’ve gotta make a quick call. I’ll be right back.” Cynthia got up and wandered several feet away.

Caroline turned to Utah. His normally animated features were hidden behind a mask. She rested a hand on his forearm and felt the muscles leap. “What she said about you being like your father…it bothers you.”

“Hell, yes.” His tone was barely restrained, and the crease of his jaw worked.

“Maybe she didn’t mean it the way you’re thinking. She knew the good of Hollis, the man who swept her off her feet with his charms.”

Utah swung his gaze toward Caroline. “Maybe.”

“I wouldn’t read more into it. She wasn’t being harsh, in my mind.”

Some of the tension eased from him, though he didn’t say more. Cynthia returned, pocketing her phone. She waved at her daughter. “Come and meet someone.”

Caroline stared at the child, picking apart her features and separating them into mother’s and father’s. Alexandria jogged up to them, long legs too knobby and hair bouncing on her scrawny shoulders.

“What’s up, Mom?”

Utah’s features spasmed as the child came near. Caroline’s heart turned over for him. In the back of her mind, the tape recorder clicked on, and she stowed away every look and word exchanged.

Cynthia took her child’s shoulders and bent a little to look into her eyes. “This man has come to talk to us. Remember how I told you that your father went away?”

“Yes.” Her voice pitched low.

“Well, he went away because he had other kids to take care of.”

Alexandria shot Utah a look.

“It’s true,” he said. “A lot more kids, but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about you and love you. He just knew your mother was best at taking care of you.”

When the child didn’t respond, Utah extended a hand to her. “Will you sit with me on the bench and talk?”

She nodded, and Caroline and Cynthia drew together as the brother and sister took a seat side by side.

“Your father was my father. I’m your brother Utah.”

A private little smile graced Alexandria’s features. “Really? I always wanted a brother. But I’d hoped for a little brother…”

He smiled. “I hope you can live with a big brother for now. Lots of big brothers. And a few big sisters too. You’re going to meet them soon. You and your ma are going to come to my ranch, where we’ll have a big family reunion and get to know each other. Would you like that?”

She nodded, still staring at him unblinkingly. “Are you a cowboy?”

Caroline smiled, seeing Utah through the child’s eyes. Rugged, wearing jeans, boots, belt buckle, and hat. He was the picture of a cowboy printed on a postcard of real life, not some posed model.

Utah pressed his fist to his lips for a moment and then lowered it. “I was almost a football star once. Almost a husband.” He tossed a look at Caroline, and she stopped breathing. “I guess I’m almost a cowboy now. I plan to make myself a real cowboy when I get home to Utah. Would you like to ride a horse when you come?”

“Yes!”

He nodded, eyes shining. “We’ll do that, then. I’ll find you the nicest horse I can.”

Cynthia made a hitching noise in her throat, and Caroline wove an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. Somehow she’d known Utah could handle this meeting with a grace she’d never possessed.

In fact, he was handling Caroline with as much finesse. From the mind-blowing pleasure he’d given her in the shower to his words just now, she felt him creeping through the cracks in her walls again.

Could she handle it this time?

With Gunnison on a plane bound for home and the Virginia kids accounted for, Utah and Caroline got back into the truck and headed for Maryland.

Last stop. Hopefully.
Caroline was still quiet. And when she checked her voice mail, she spent ten minutes wringing her hands about her article.

For a minute, Utah considered driving off route and finding some amusement that might spark a story in her, but he privately thought she just needed to get home.

He felt the pull of home as well. Since talking to Alexandria about horses, he was eager to get some. First he’d need to fix some fencing, but Gunnison might help with that now that they were on better terms. Hell, maybe Clinton would come, and they’d make it a family event.

How many of his other siblings might wish to get involved? For a moment, he thought about striking a relationship with Franklin or Hays over a roll of wire fencing.

Caroline was scribbling again. Her hand moved over her notepad with lightning speed. Then she flipped the page. He opened his mouth to ask if she had an idea but shut it again, not wishing to interrupt her.

The countryside they’d driven through for most of the trip gave way to suburban areas and jam-packed highway. Utah focused on keeping his temper, even when a little hybrid car cut him off.

Catching the other driver’s action, Caroline studied Utah. He stared straight ahead, trying not to indicate how annoyed he was at being bumper-to-bumper with idiot drivers.

She went back to her writing.

After the meeting with Alexandria, Utah had spent some time on Caroline’s laptop, trying to find information on the last four kids. He went over their names—Benson, Chase, Kent, and Eden. All of these were very small communities or counties. His siblings could be in once place or spread out. They might not even be in Maryland anymore. So far, he and Caroline had been lucky in finding everyone near their birthplaces.

Maybe only one Davies has a wandering spirit—Pa.

Utah had uncovered the most information about Benson. He worked as a high school science teacher, and his photo had been located on a school website. He looked clean-cut and clean-shaven with their father’s jawline.

So far he had a slight lead, as a newspaper had written an article about a man named Kent Davies at Fort Meade. Utah pictured a Davies man in uniform, and it fit so well, he didn’t know if he’d ever think of Kent any other way, even if he didn’t turn out to be military.

Chase and Eden were unknowns.

By noon they’d located Benson at his apartment near the school where he worked.

When the man’s voice projected through the speaker by the locked door, Utah’s throat closed up. Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. Panic struck.

Caroline stepped closer to the speaker. “We’re here to see Benson Davies. Would you mind coming down to talk to us?”

“Are you pimping religion? Because I’m not interested in your literature.”

Utah huffed out a laugh, unfrozen at last. “No, this is about your father.”

His voice sounded strange. “I’ll be right down.”

Caroline touched Utah’s jaw, breaking his stare on the speaker. “He sounds like your father, doesn’t he?”

Utah nodded and clasped her hand, a lifeline in another fathomless sea. As he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, her eyes burned into his.

Benson’s footsteps drumming the floor preceded him. Before he appeared behind the glass door, Utah knew he was big.

Through the glass, their gazes locked. Benson yanked open the door and faced him fully.

“Benson?”

He gave a nod, his stare almost a glare. Was this another slighted family member? Hollis had never seemed like such a jackass. After Utah’s talk with Cynthia, he hated the man.

That wronged woman had also cut Utah to the quick by saying he was just like his pa. The last thing he’d ever wanted to hear was those words. Caroline’s take on it had given him a lot to think about, but those words still cut him. Maybe later, when he gained some distance, he’d be able to see Caroline’s point.

He shook himself and forced himself to speak to Benson. “Are you the son of Hollis Davies?”

“Yes,” he choked.

Utah held out his hand. “I think you can guess who I am.”

“Some relative, that’s for certain. You look just like him.”

“May we come in?” Caroline asked in her tone that would get a serial killer to talk.

Benson’s features rippled. He stepped aside and swept an arm toward the metal stairs. “By all means. Tell me where the bastard’s been hiding all these years.”

They followed him up to the fourth floor and into a small but neat flat. On a side table stood a photo.

Utah strode right for it. He snapped it into his hands. A woman with delicate features and white-blonde hair had her arms around a boy and girl.

“Eden?” he asked without taking his gaze from the picture.

Benson ripped it from his grasp. “Yes. Now who the hell are you?”

Utah doffed his hat and cradled it. “Utah Davies. Your brother. Hollis is dead.”

There didn’t seem to be any point in beating a dead horse. Benson seemed like a man who needed things presented plainly.

At the news, however, Benson pressed his lips together. He turned away from Utah and began to pace. “Good. We haven’t seen the bastard in ten years.”

Utah squirreled this information away with the rest, piecing together Hollis’s memoir.
A Tale of Debauchery.
He fought a rising hysterical groan.

“We’re sorry to come here this way,” Caroline said. “We’re searching for family members to gather for the reading of the will.”

Benson raked his gaze over her in a way that immediately raised Utah’s hackles. He positioned himself in front of her. Caroline’s beauty and straightforward ways drew attention everywhere they went. But he’d be damned if he’d put up with it from his own brother.

He got right to the crux. “We need you to come back to the ranch in Utah. Hollis left something to all of his children.”

“All?” Benson swiped a hand through his hair. “How many? Where the hell are they?”

“Fifteen of us spread out over several states.” God, he was tired of repeating this. He couldn’t wait to find the rest of the family and stop saying it.

The sound of Benson’s teeth grinding reached Utah. His blue eyes shot bullets. “Fucking bastard of a man!”

Utah couldn’t agree more. “I know how you feel.”

Benson looked at him closely and relaxed a fraction. He directed his attention to the photograph in his hands. “My mother’s going to take this badly.”

“I’ll speak with her if you’d like.” Lord knew Utah had enough practice.

“No,” Benson said hastily. “I’ll do it. She needs to hear it from me. Eden too.”

“And Chase and Kent?” Caroline asked hopefully.

The quizzical set of Benson’s brows revealed that he knew nothing of those two brothers.

“I can see you don’t have—”

“Any goddamn idea what you’re talking about,” Benson completed. “No, I don’t. And frankly, I don’t want to know more.”

“I’m sorry you feel this way. I understand if you want to distance yourself from us, but we do need you to come to the ranch.”

He gave a harsh nod. “Fair enough. I suppose you want to meet your
sister
Eden?”

Utah’s stomach clenched. He hated his brother’s belligerent tone. Weariness spread through him, and his shoulders slumped. “I would like that very much, yes. Your mother too, if you think it’s right.”

Benson promptly threw them out of the apartment and told them to wait for him. They could follow him in their vehicle.

Once more sitting behind the wheel, Utah met Caroline’s gaze. “That didn’t go very well.”

She made a quiet noise and placed a cool hand on his arm. It anchored him—stopped the churning sea of his stomach. “It’s painful for everyone.”

“I’m glad you’ve been with me on this trip, baby.”

For a moment her eyes smoldered, and then she dropped her gaze. “Me too.”

“I just wish we could have gotten a story for you. What will happen if you miss the deadline?”

“I have a few starts. I’ll finish once we get home.” Her voice held an odd note. Before he could ask about it, Benson appeared outside the building. He wore an Orioles baseball cap. He looked around the parking area and spotted them.

Without even raising a hand, he strode to his car. The practical sedan fit his teacher profile more than the man’s behavior.

“Benson seems as if he has a dark side.”

Utah jerked at Caroline’s statement. “I was just thinking something along those lines.” When Benson began to drive out of the parking area, Utah followed.

“Eden doesn’t look much younger than him. In that picture, she looked to be about two years younger.”

“Yes.” He firmed his mouth. So far his sisters had been open to him parachuting into their lives. Would Eden wear the same steely mask as her brother? What had Hollis done to those kids and their mother? What
hadn’t
he done
for
them?

Utah was about to find out.

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