brides for brothers 15 - a randall hero (7 page)

“Yes, that is special. My family is small, but we don’t get along.”

“Harry is a really nice guy,” John said.

“Yes. And you’ll notice he didn’t hang around his family,” Lucy pointed out.

“She’s got a point there, son,” Griff said.

“Oh, look. Emma’s gone to sleep. I’ll go put her in her bed,” Lucy said, getting up at once.

She gently lifted the little girl from Griff’s arms, thanking him for feeding her, and hurried out of the kitchen.

“She’s a cute little thing, isn’t she?” Griff asked to no one in particular.

“I told you she’s a beautiful baby,” John said.

“I wasn’t talking about Emma,” Griff said, looking at his son.

“Oh, you mean Lucy. Yeah, I told you the baby looked like her mother. But Lucy doesn’t think so.”

“And she and Harry come from the same family?”

Camille nodded. “Yes, some women treat their daughters different from their sons.”

“I think we should claim Lucy and Emma for our family. They deserve to be Randalls,” Griff said.

John said, “They’ve got my vote. I don’t think Harry will object, either.”

“I doubt that Harry has any idea of the life Lucy has led. He was six years older than her. He left home to go to college when she was twelve. He probably doesn’t know her very well.”

“That still seems weird, Mom. I mean, didn’t he go back home for holidays and summers?”

“I doubt it. He probably worked while he went to school. I don’t believe he was on scholarship.”

“I forgot that some families aren’t as fortunate we are.”

“True, son,” Griff said. “Not everyone has a trust fund.”

“Or a dad who’s an expert investor to keep it growing.” John grinned at his father.

“Thank you. I’ll take those words to heart, son. We’ll—” He broke off as Lucy came back in. “Did she stay asleep?”

“Yes, Griff, she did. You did a very good job.”

“Good. It was a pleasure, Lucy.”

“You are all so good about Emma. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, but you don’t have to pretend. Babies can be difficult, and I’ll understand if you get irritated by her crying…or anything.”

John and Camille started to protest, but Griff held up his hand. “Lucy, we love babies, all babies. Emma won’t wear us out, and we’re delighted to help you with her.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said. But her eyes filled with tears. A second later she turned and ran from the room.

J
OHN PULLED HIS HORSE
to a halt and shoved back his sleeve to check the time. It was two o’clock. The ladies should be back from the luncheon. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number at the house.

Listening to the unanswered rings, he frowned. Why weren’t they back? Emma needed to sleep in her own crib, and Lucy would be exhausted. After all, she had a baby less than a week ago. His mother should know better than to keep them out so long.

“Hey, John!” one of his cowboys called, drawing his attention. He supposed he should pay attention to what was going on, but he had trouble keeping his mind on cows lately. He was worried about Emma and Lucy.

Fifteen minutes later, he called the house again. Still no answer. He waited another fifteen minutes before he called his mother’s cell phone. When she answered, his first question was, “Why haven’t you brought Lucy and Emma home, Mom? They need their rest.”

“Hello, to you, too, John.”

“Sorry, Mom, but I’m worried about Emma and Lucy.”

“Emma is sleeping peacefully. Lucy is a little tired, but I’m putting her to bed as soon as we get home.”

“When will that be?”

“Probably by three, or maybe three-thirty.”

“I hope she doesn’t overdo it. She’ll have a hard time if she does.”

“Quit fussing, John. I’ll get her in bed as soon as we get home, I promise.”

He could hear laughter in his mother’s voice. “I’m not being difficult, Mom. I’m just worried about them.”

“I know. We’ll be on our way in a few minutes.”

“Good to hear.”

He put his phone away and went back to herding cows. But his mind was on Lucy and Emma. And he was wishing he was at home to wait for them.

Hoping to get in earlier than he’d planned, John pushed the herd a little harder. He could help Lucy with Emma if she needed it. And she would if she didn’t get enough sleep.

At best, she’d only get a couple of hours to nap before it was time to get up for supper. She’d have trouble getting up with Emma later in the night. Maybe he’d stay up a little later to feed Emma her first bottle around midnight.

He could manage staying up that late. He could even set his alarm. Get a couple of hours of sleep and then get up with Emma.

An unruly cow grabbed his attention and he decided he’d better concentrate on the job at hand. He wouldn’t be able to help anyone if he fell out of the saddle.

“O
H, THERE YOU ARE,
J
OHN,”
Camille said as she heard her son come in. “We thought we’d have to eat dinner without you.”

“Sorry.” So much for his plan to come in early. Now he was even later than usual. “One of the boys got thrown from his horse because of a snake,” he explained.

“Was he hurt?” Griff asked. “And who was it?”

“Jerry. He’s got a new girl and wasn’t concentrating on his job.” John hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as he feared they were. He knew exactly how Jerry felt. It could easily have been him thrown from his horse for all the focus he had today.

“Was he hurt badly?” Camille asked.

“No, he just sprained an ankle when he landed on it. He’ll stay in tomorrow and probably be all right after that.” He turned to see Lucy sitting at the table.

“Hey, Lucy, how are you doing?”

“Feeling lazy. Your mom insisted I take a nap and she didn’t wake me up until a few minutes ago. She even fed Emma her bottle and put her back to bed. I never heard her cry.”

“Good for Mom. I was afraid you would be exhausted by your outing.”

“No, Camille made sure I wasn’t. And we had such a good time. I got to know all of them, especially Patience. They were so nice to me.”

“Good. They’re all great ladies.”

Lucy nodded. “Patience told me how her husband, Jim, saved her from her son’s father. What a story!”

“And you think your story is dull?” John asked.

Lucy blushed. The color looked good on her, he thought. “Well, the man sounded crazy…and mean.”

“He was both of those things,” Griff agreed. “And if the sheriff hadn’t shot him, he might’ve caused Jim and Patience a lot of trouble.”

“Mike seems so nice, though,” Lucy said.

“It wasn’t Mike. It was his uncle. He’s retired now. Mike became sheriff when his uncle retired the first time. Then he came back and Mike was going to go back to Chicago, and Caroline talked her father into finding a way for Mike to stay.” Camille smiled at Lucy. “She already knew she was in love with him.”

“Jake also thought Mike was the better lawman,” Griff added. “It wasn’t just Caro’s feelings that had Jake looking for a way to keep Mike here.”

“Of course, dear, you’re right,” Camille agreed. “But it worked out well for Caro, also.”

“True,” Griff agreed.

“All the stories they told at lunch were so wonderful!” Lucy exclaimed. “Even Jake and B.J.’s story was interesting.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard that one,” John said. “As a matter of fact, I only know the stories of this generation.”

“Oh, you should hear your parents’ story. It was very good, too. Especially when they included your grandfather.”

John sat up straighter. “Granddad? What about him?”

Griff and Camille suddenly seemed engrossed in their dinner. Looking at them, Lucy tried to cover. “I—I’m not sure. I may have the story wrong.”

John stared at her for several seconds before he turned to his parents. “Why is she backing up? What’s going on here?”

Griff looked at his wife. “Camille, I can’t believe you told Lucy that story.”

“I didn’t! Some of the girls got carried away and told it before I could remember to stop them.”

John glared at his parents. “I don’t think it’s fair for Lucy to know the story when I don’t.”

“I think it’s time for dessert,” Camille announced.

“I’ll help you clean up before you serve,” Lucy said, getting up, grateful for the interruption.

“No, Lucy, you need to rest. I’ll help her serve.” Without pausing, John got up and began clearing the table.

“Does that mean he’s forgotten?” Lucy whispered to Griff when the others had left the table.

“I don’t think so,” Griff replied.

“What can we do?”

“You could stop whispering behind my back,” John pointed out from behind them.

Lucy flushed bright red.

“And, no, I haven’t forgotten. We’ll continue the discussion during dessert.” John cleared a platter, not saying anything else.

Lucy stared at Griff. “What do I do?” she mouthed.

“Nothing. It will be all right,” Griff mouthed back.

Camille carried a chocolate cake to the table. “I made Red’s chocolate cake for dessert.”

“Why is this Red’s chocolate cake?” Lucy asked.

“Oh, it’s a special recipe that Red kept to himself for many years. He only decided to give it out last year.” Lucy had met Red earlier that day at the ranch. The older cowboy had made such an impression on her that she wasn’t surprised how much he meant to all the Randalls.

“Nice try, girls,” John said as he sat down. “But I’m not distracted. Okay, Dad. Tell the story of how you and Mom met and what Granddad had to do with it.”

Griff took a bite of chocolate cake and chewed it. Then he looked at John. “I thought we’d told you about me finding my family. Camille was staying with Megan for a few days and that’s how we met.”

“Yeah, and what did Granddad have to do with it?”

“Not much.”

John looked at Lucy, who was keeping her gaze on her cake.

“I don’t think that’s really fair, Griff,” Camille said. She looked at her son. “Your father didn’t know who his father was because his mother had never told him. She had lied to him about…things.”

“What things? I don’t remember you mentioning my grandmother,” John said, turning to stare at his father.

“My mother had an affair and ran away pregnant at seventeen,” Griff said. He squared his jaw. “She told me a lot of lies and taught me to hate the man who fathered me. I came here to bury her, as she requested. That’s how I found my family. And they wouldn’t let me go. You know how Jake is. Well, I look a lot like them. He kept insisting I stay. And then there was Camille.”

“But how does Granddad figure in?”

“He’d tried to get in touch with Griff’s mother, but she refused to let him see his son. When he heard that Griff was here, he came to Jake and asked him if he could tell Griff. Jake said he would when the time was right. But Granddad couldn’t wait. He showed up at an…inconvenient time and insisted on being introduced.”

John turned to his father. “That must’ve been awkward.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all you’ve got to say?” John asked.

“We worked things out. By the time you came along, Granddad was part of the family.”

“And he left you his ranch.”

“Yeah.”

“So why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t want to embarrass your grandfather. He was ashamed of having had an affair with a seventeen-year-old. Why should I make him feel ashamed all over again?”

“I suppose you’re right,” John said, slowly eating his cake.

Lucy sent a hesitant smile to him. “It’s a wonderful family, John.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re lucky to be a part of it.”

“Now you’re part of it, too, Lucy.”

“Not really. But thank you for the thought.”

Chapter Six

That night, Lucy heard her baby cry and she struggled out of bed. She couldn’t let Emma cry—and she might wake up the rest of the family.

No! Lucy admonished herself. They weren’t part of the family. She and Emma were on their own. Or at least they would be on their own. She hurried on to get her child, even though she’d stopped her wailing. When she reached Emma’s little room, she came to an abrupt stop at the sight before her.

There stood John with Emma in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“I’m going to get Emma’s bottle. Go back to bed.”

“But, John, you have to get up early in the morning. Here, give me Emma. I’ll go fix her bottle.”

“Nope. I’m feeding Emma right now. You can get up at four when she’ll be up again.”

“No! I’m not supposed to make your life harder by coming here. I’ll take Emma and go away if it’s going to make things more difficult.”

John bent down and kissed Lucy’s cheek. “Go to bed now, Lucy, or I’ll wake up Mom and she can tell you.”

“No, you can’t do that!”

“Then go to bed and get up at four. Emma will wake you up.”

She stifled a yawn. “Okay, but just this once.”

“Sure.”

J
OHN CUDDLED
E
MMA
against his chest as he fixed her bottle. “You know, sweetheart, feeding you during the night isn’t so bad a job, even if I do miss some sleep.”

He screwed the nipple on her bottle and moved into the den to settle in the rocking chair. “Okay, little girl, here you go.”

He watched her suck down her milk as he slowly rocked back and forth. She was so little, though he thought she’d already grown since her birth. It didn’t take her long to finish. John eased her up on his shoulder and rubbed her back until she burped.

Then he gently patted her back until he could hear her breathing deepening and he knew she was asleep. He got up from the rocker and carried her back to her crib, where he covered her with her blanket.

As tired as he was, he stood there, smiling down at the baby, thinking how beautiful she was. A true miracle.

He’d always thought he’d have kids of his own by now. He’d figured he’d have married young. Why not? He had a good job, he could take care of a wife and family, even build a new house for a future wife. He’d dated more than his share of local girls, even considered asking one of them to marry him. But in the end, he couldn’t quite bring himself to commit, not when he’d yet to find the kind of love his parents shared.