Lindsay McKenna (27 page)

Groaning, Cat opened the sack and inhaled the scent of cinnamon. The huge rolls were thickly slathered with white frosting, making her mouth water. “I know,” she lamented. “The doctor said it would be at least a week before I can start bending that knee again.”

“And you’ll be getting physical therapy for it,” Talon reminded her, putting the boxes and cans into the cabinets above the sink. He pulled out two iron skillets and put half a pound of bacon in one of them to fry. “Hungry?”

“For you.” Cat saw him cast her a warning look over his shoulder.

“Don’t be a tease.”

“Since when is being honest being a tease?” Incredible happiness threaded through her. Talon was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt that made her salivate. She had run her hands over this man’s body, felt his muscles tighten beneath her fingertips as she’d explored him. She had felt his love for her in so many different ways. Cat knew she’d been given a second chance. No longer was she going to self-censor anything about her feelings toward Talon. Every day was precious. A gift.

Talon took eggs over to the skillet. As he looked at Cat, he noticed her cheeks were flushed. He felt himself hardening with need of her. “Want some breakfast?”

“Coffee?”

Talon moved to the counter and poured her a cup, sliding it into her hands. “Anything else?” A wicked look came to her face.

“You?”

Shaking his head, Talon muttered, “I’m in such a hurt locker. I’m going to count each of those seven days,” he promised her with a growl, returning to the stove.

Laughing, Cat pulled a chunk off the cinnamon roll and savored it. “You look kind of nice in my kitchen. I’d like to wake up every morning and see you in there.”

Talon grinned and broke half-a-dozen eggs into the heated skillet. “My cooking abilities are limited,” he warned her. “However, my ability to love you isn’t.”

Cat sighed and gave him a warm smile. She pulled out a roll and set it on top of the sack. “Want a bite?”

“Of you, yeah.”

She snorted. “Is this going to be the limit of our conversations? That we have to keep a distance and can’t do much about it?”

“Most likely,” Talon murmured, smiling.

She watched him cook up the eggs. Talon placed slices of bread into the toaster and put the butter and strawberry jam on the island in front of her. “You’re really good at multitasking.”

“A SEAL habit,” Talon informed her. He put the eggs on a plate and set them on the island. In no time, he had plates and flatware for them. He found some pink linen napkins in another drawer and added them. “Can you divvy up the eggs?”

Cat nodded and gave him four while she took two. He brought over the bacon in a small plastic bowl lined with paper towels. She took them and he came around the island and sat down next to her.

Zeke came closer, looking up at Cat, thumping his tail.

“Uh-oh,” Cat murmured, picking up a piece of bacon. “I’ve got a beggar over here. What do I do?”

Talon looked around Cat and saw his dog. “A dog always knows who to hit on,” he muttered casually, grinning.

Cat gave him a dark look. “What? You’re saying he thinks I’m easy?”

Talon’s mouth pulled into a full grin. “Something like that. He knows something sweet when he sees it.”

“Well,” Cat pouted, tearing the bacon in two, “he
did
save my life. Don’t you think he deserves some kind of a reward?”

“When you put it that way,” Talon agreed, “yes.”

Zeke daintily took the proffered bacon from Cat’s hand, his eyes glistening with happiness. Cat smiled. “Thank you, Zeke. You saved me. You’re such a good friend to have.” She patted the dog’s broad head.

Zeke quickly finished off the bacon and looked pleadingly up at her again.

“No,” Cat said, “lie down, Zeke,” and she pointed toward the floor.

The dog whined.

“Zeke.” Talon’s voice was firm.

Zeke instantly went over toward the stairs and lay down.

“You’re tough,” Cat said, grinning over at him.

“And you’re such a marshmallow, Ms. Edwin.”

Sliding her hand across his shoulders, she laughed. “But you love me anyway?”

Talon turned and cupped her cheek. “Yes,” he rasped, kissing her lightly on the nose, “I love you anyway.”

Heat moved through Talon as he saw her expression turn somber. No doubt, she was cycling emotionally from nearly dying. He caught her hand, kissed her palm and allowed her to take it back. “I have a feeling you’re not only going to spoil my dog, but you’re going to spoil me, too.”

Cat nodded, her voice strained. “You both saved me. Why wouldn’t I?”

Talon put his fork down and turned on the stool, cupping her face. “Babe, you saved my life first. Remember? And I’m going to take the rest of my life and spoil you rotten. Okay?”

Tears stung Cat’s eyes. She heard the barely held emotions in his voice. “Okay, can we agree we’ll do our best to spoil one another so long as we live?”

He leaned down and brushed her mouth, feeling her warmth, the lushness that was only her. “You got it,” he whispered against her lips.

* * *

C
AT
WAS
RESTING
on the couch in the early afternoon when her cell phone rang. She picked it up from the coffee table and answered it.

“Cat?”

“Hey, Miss Gus. How are you?”

“I should be asking
you
that!”

Cat grinned and slowly sat up, maneuvering her knee into a comfortable position. “I’m fine. Happy to be alive. Happy to have Talon here with me. Life doesn’t get much better than that.”

“That’s true. Listen, I just got done talkin’ with Sandy. Val, Griff and me want to go up to visit her tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock. Do you think you and Talon can make it? Are you able to walk at all?”

“Sure, we can make it. What’s up?”

“Oh, not much,” Gus hedged. “But it’ll give us a chance to not only see Sandy, but to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m okay. I was never so grateful as yesterday when Zeke charged that grizzly that was coming after me.”

“Talon told us about it. That dog’s a real hero, but so is Talon. And you should be proud of yourself, Cat. You escaped and ran. Good for you!”

Wryly, Cat muttered, “Yeah, but in escaping, I took that hill the wrong way and screwed up my knee but good.”

“Val was talkin’ with Jordana today. They met over at the grocery store earlier. She said that you’re on six weeks’ medical leave from the fire department because of it?”

“Yeah,” Cat said glumly. “I’ll go crazy not working.”

“Well, Jordana said that in a week, you’ll be up to doing light ranch work. Are you interested? Work for us full-time for the next five weeks? It’ll keep you busy and out of trouble.”

Laughing, Cat said, “I’d love to, Miss Gus. Count me in. It will give me something to look forward to.”

“Well,” Gus said, “I’ve got a very special project in mind and I think it’s a perfect fit for you. Won’t cause you a lot of knee pain or anything. How about we talk more tomorrow when we visit Sandy?”

“Great,” Cat said, relieved. “Whatever it is, I can do.”

“Oh, I know. You’re a real handy gal to have around. By any chance do you feel like comin’ out here for dinner tonight? We really miss you and Talon. I’m makin’ my world-famous spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve already made the French bread and it’s risin’ right now. There’ll be plenty for the two of you.”

Cat felt such love for Gus. “Talon’s out in the garage. Can I call you back and let you know? I love your spaghetti and, besides that, it will get him out of making me dinner tonight.”

Gus laughed heartily. “I’ll betcha he’ll be more than ready to run you down here for dinner, then.”

“I think so,” Cat said, “but I’ll call you back in about ten minutes.”

“Sounds good. Oh, did I tell you? My strawberries are ripe? I’m makin’ strawberry shortcake for dessert.”

Groaning, Cat muttered, “Well, even if Talon doesn’t want to come, I’ll be there one way or another!”

Cat sat on the couch after the call, feeling such hope. There was soft music playing from the radio in the corner and Zeke was lying at her feet. Every time she moved, his head would pop up like the guard dog he was. She petted him. “Strawberry shortcake, Zeke. I’m hungry already.” She slowly stood, carefully putting weight on her injured knee. The brace was state-of-art and allowed Cat to walk without much of a limp as she headed to the side door that led to the garage. Zeke got up and followed at her side. “I don’t know if Talon wants to bring you down there or not. You’ll probably be expecting Miss Gus to feed you a meatball or something....”

She smiled and the dog barked softly as if he understood.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

B
Y
THE
TIME
Cat arrived with Talon at his mother’s house at one o’clock the next day, everyone was waiting for them. Val and Griff had come out to meet them once they parked, wanting to know if she needed help. Cat wasn’t used to this kind of concern and care from so many and used Talon’s hand to move slowly to Sandy’s apartment. The sun was high overhead. It was a perfect day.

Once inside, Sandy, who had been sitting in one of the two overstuffed chairs, got up and came to greet Cat.

“How are you doing?” she asked, giving Cat a gentle hug of hello.

“Much better,” Cat assured her. She released Talon’s hand and watched as the woman hugged her son. It did Cat’s heart good to see the look of love on both their faces. Family was everything. For a moment, her heart grieved because her own family had been so much less than what she saw shared between Sandy and Talon. She turned to find Miss Gus sitting in a chair.

“Hey, Miss Gus. How are you?” Cat slowly walked over and smiled at the silver-haired woman. She was all dressed up in a bright red short-sleeved blouse with ruffles around the neck. Usually, Miss Gus was in rancher mode with work clothes. She had on a pair of white slacks, too.

“I’m fine, Cat.” Gus reached up and squeezed her hand, staring at the brace on her knee. “We were glad you three could come to dinner last night. How’s the knee today?”

“I’m doing better,” Cat joked. “The brace really helps me be able to walk. Hate those crutches they gave me.” Cat saw a beat-up leather briefcase leaning against the chair where Gus sat.

“Well, it all turned out okay. Have a seat,” Gus said, pointing at the couch. “I want you, Sandy and Talon to sit over there.”

Cat grinned and nodded. Miss Gus, being the elder, had the say. “Sitting sounds good,” she said.

“Grab a cookie there,” Gus said, pointing at the tray of cookies on the coffee table next to the couch. “Val is makin’ us coffee.”

Cat was happy to sit down. She chose the end of the couch where she could rest her knee against the arm and keep it out of the way of people walking. Ordinarily, Cat would be up, in the kitchen, helping Val, who was setting a bunch of mugs on a tray and filling them with fresh, hot coffee. The noise and laughter in the room warmed her as nothing else could. Griff was slapping Talon on the shoulder. They were joking and laughing about something. Sandy was looking much healthier. She went over to help Val in the small kitchen. The window curtains were all drawn aside, allowing in lots of light and slats of sun. It made Cat feel good that Sandy was coming back so strongly after the chemo treatment.

Talon leaned down and kissed Miss Gus on her fuzzy crown of silver hair. Cat grinned as she saw Gus blush. Talon scooped up some cookies and Miss Gus told him to sit at the other end of the small couch, leaving room for Sandy to sit between them.

“Want one?” Talon asked, handing Cat a cookie before he sat down.

She grinned and took it. “Thanks.” He gave her that look that made her go weak with need. He’d taken off his black baseball cap and set it on the lamp table next to where he sat down.

The air was festive and Cat saw Miss Gus watching the proceedings. She always reminded Cat of a hawk sitting high on a tree watching the land that she flew over. Miss Gus had a sparkle in her eyes today and Cat sensed something was going on but wasn’t sure what it was.

Val brought over the tray and set it down on the coffee table. She handed Miss Gus the first mug, then as Sandy sat down on the couch, she handed her the next one.

“Coffee, Sandy?” Cat asked, grinning. She used to drink coffee but, with chemo treatment, it hadn’t tasted good to her any longer.

Sandy nodded. “First cup, Cat.” She held it up. “Progress.”

Laughing, Cat said, “For sure. That’s great!” Val handed Cat her cup and Cat thanked her.

Griff and Val brought two wooden chairs from the table and sat down on either side of Miss Gus. Soon, everyone was settled in a more or less circle of chairs and the couch.

“Well,” Miss Gus said, “I gotta tell all of you, this is a day to celebrate. Cat, we’re glad to have you among us. You gave us all a scare the other day.”

Cat felt heat crawl up her neck. “I’m glad to be here, too, Miss Gus.” And she looked down the couch toward Talon, who had a serious look on his face. “Thanks to Talon and Zeke, I’m sitting here with all of you.”

Gus snorted. “Good thing! I had a surprise I was gonna spring on Sandy, here, and when we heard what happened to you, I held off.”

Cat grinned over at the elder. “I love surprises.” She looked at Sandy. “Did you know about this?”

Sandy shrugged. “No. Nothing.”

Gus chortled and hauled the beat-up, scarred leather briefcase and set it in her lap. “That’s what a surprise is supposed to be! A surprise.”

Val leaned over and helped Gus get the straps loosened so the briefcase could be opened. Gus pushed the top back and thanked her granddaughter.

“Now,” Gus said, peering intently at Sandy, “this has been a surprise that’s taken a lot of twists and turns. We had last-minute upsets with Cat being kidnapped. Just thank the good Lord that things worked out all right,” and she gave a nod to Talon.

Talon said, “Zeke did the hard work, Miss Gus.”

“Yes, that dog is mighty special,” Gus agreed. Her hands were shaky and she peered down into the briefcase, hunting through the sheaves of paper.

“Gus? The originals are in this one,” Val said, pointing to it.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

Gus pulled out a lot of paper. Val took the briefcase off her lap and set it next to her chair. Settling the papers in her lap, Gus looked over at Sandy. “Now, you know your ranch, the Triple H, has gone through five owners since you were forced to sell it. Right?”

Sandy became serious. “Yes, that’s right, Gus.”

“Well, what you didn’t know is that I’ve had my eye on your ranch for a long time. Every time it came up for sale, I wanted to get a chance to put a bid in on it. Four of those times, I found out too late it was for sale.”

Gus looked around at the intent expressions on the faces of her loved ones. “The last time, the owner came to me, telling me he was gonna sell it and move back East. He was tired of playin’ cowboy.”

The group laughed.

Gus smiled like a wolf. “I asked him what he wanted for it. And it was way too much. I went over to check it out and I told him I’d buy it, but at a lower price.”

Sandy gasped, her eyes widening. “You bought it, Miss Gus?”

Holding up her thin hand, Gus said, “Now, Sandy, let me finish tellin’ the story, will you?”

Sandy smiled and looked over at Talon. His whole focus was on Miss Gus. “Fair enough,” she murmured with a smile.

“Now, what I’m gonna tell you is private.” She placed her hands over the pile of papers in her lap. “For most my life, I moved from Jackson Hole over to Cheyenne. I met and married my husband, who inherited his father’s five-thousand-acre cattle ranch. We worked hard, expanded it and by the time he’d died, our ranch had fifty thousand acres to it. Between us, we had one of the best ranches in Wyoming. Might not have been the largest, but it was one of the most productive.” Gus gave Val a warm look.

“I moved back to the Bar H when Val was sixteen. My daughter, Cheryl, had married Buck, who was an abuser. When I realized what was goin’ on, I sold the ranch and came home to protect my daughter and granddaughter from the likes of him.”

Val reached out, sliding her hand along Gus’s small shoulder. “You were like a fierce mama wolf. My father never laid a hand on us from the moment you moved back into the house with us.”

Gus nodded, her thin, reedy voice cracking. “Yes, that’s right.”

Val smiled at her grandmother. “But you gave up so much to come and protect us, Gus, when we couldn’t even protect ourselves. You sold a ranch that you and your husband had worked so many decades to expand and make a prime business model.”

Griff nodded and shared a look with his wife, Val. “Gus, you sacrificed your entire way of life to be with Val and her mother. There’s not many people I know who walk away from their life to do that.”

Gus snorted. “Oh, stop! I wanted to do it.” She patted Val’s arm. “I’ve never regretted a moment of that decision.” Looking at the three people on the couch, she said, “Bottom line was when I came back to the Bar H, I had a lot of money in the bank from the sale of our ranch. Griff here has an MBA from Harvard and he’s been helpin’ me to invest it wisely and make more money.” She patted his cheek. “And so when the Triple H came up for sale again, I asked him to go over and deduce just what it was worth. The ranch was goin’ downhill because the owners, past and present, didn’t know how to be ranchers. When Griff came back with a bottom line, I had him drive me over to the guy who wanted to sell it. Griff went through the list of why the ranch wasn’t worth what he thought it was.”

Gus grinned, a sparkle in her eyes that she shared with Griff. “Now, I always thought I was a real horse trader, but you know what? Griff here is brutal when it comes to bargaining. And when he bargains, he’s got his facts straight and in order.” She rubbed her hands and cackled. “By the time Griff gave the owner the presentation, the guy agreed on the sum that I wanted to pay for it, not what he’d asked for originally.” Gus beamed at Griff. “I’ve got one heck of a horse trader for a son-in-law!” She patted Griff’s broad shoulder.

Griff blushed.

“So,” Gus said, “that leads us to these papers.” She picked them up in her hands. “Sandy, I saw you give up everything that meant anything to you. We were all aware, because you were our ranch neighbor, that you’d lost two husbands that you loved. And with Talon gone and in black ops, you were on your own with the cancer. I know we all pitched in to help you, but darlin’ girl, I saw the light of life go outta your eyes when you had to sell your home to pay off those damnable medical bills.” She slapped her hand on her knee. “It made me angry that if a person got sick, they had to sell their home to pay the damned bills. That isn’t right. You and Bradley had always been good neighbors to my daughter, Cheryl, and my granddaughter, Val. I wanted to do something to thank you for being the kindhearted person you’ve always been.”

She gave the papers to Griff. “Give ’em copies?”

Nodding, Griff took the papers and handed a stapled group to Sandy and to Talon. Lastly, he leaned across and handed the last group to Cat.

Sandy frowned, looking at the papers. “Gus...this is a deed....”

“Yep, sure is, Sandy.” She gave her a huge grin, looked at Val and Griff and then focused on her. “I’ve bought the Triple H back for you, Sandy. For you and your son, Talon. Now, before you say anything, I have just one request. The Triple H is five hundred acres of prime grazing land for cattle. I’d like you to agree to
lease
me two hundred acres that I could run our herd on each summer for the next twenty years. After that, the lease expires. What do you say?”

Sandy stared down at the deed in her hands. The top paper had her name and Talon’s name on it. Tears came to her eyes and she looked up at Gus, who was frowning and staring at her with great seriousness in her wrinkled expression. “Miss Gus...this...this is a shock....”

Talon rapidly read the first page of the deed. His heart thudded in his chest. Lifting his chin, he stared at the elder. “You really did this?”

“Sandy, the ranch is yours again,” Gus said gently. “You have your home back.” And then she looked over at Talon. “And your son has his family’s ranch back, as it should be, to be passed on to him and his family.” She smiled over at Cat. “And it wasn’t lost on me that Talon and Cat are more than likely to get married sooner rather than later. So, Cat has a family ranch to marry into. She never had much of a life as a child. Not even what I’d call a halfway decent family. Now she has everything back that was taken from her when she was so young.”

Cat felt tears jam into her eyes. Miss Gus’s stern face blurred for a moment. She heard Sandy sob and press her hands to her face, weeping. Talon leaned over, sliding his arm around his mother, drawing her into his arms, holding her, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

“Miss Gus, you really are a guardian angel,” Talon rasped. “Thank you....”

“Humph, I ain’t no angel, Talon Holt!” She waggled her finger at him. “Now, you’re a hired wrangler on our ranch and you need to keep workin’ for us to make money to get your ranch back on its feet.” She turned to Cat. “And you, young lady, you got a fork in the road starin’ at you. I know you love Talon, and I betcha there’s a marriage comin’ soon. Val, Griff and I thought you might like a little weddin’ present that was money instead of goods.”

Val pulled out a check from the briefcase and stood up, leaning across the coffee table and handing it to Cat. “Gus didn’t know you were going to hurt your knee. She felt this check for a hundred thousand dollars would be like a dowry for you and Talon. A little something to help get the Triple H back on its feet.”

Gasping, Cat took the check. She gave Gus a look of disbelief and then turned, looking over at Talon. He seemed utterly stunned.

“That’s a nice dowry,” Talon finally admitted, his voice thick and unsteady. “Thank you, Miss Gus.”

“Have ya asked her to marry you yet, Talon?”

“Er...no, ma’am, I haven’t.” Talon grinned a little at the feisty old woman. “But it’s going to happen very shortly.”

“Better,” Gus mumbled, eyeing him. “You two were meant for each other. Even a blind fool could see that.”

Cat wiped her eyes, staring down at the check. “Miss Gus...this is just too much....”

“Well,” Gus said, “look at it this way. I talked to Jordana McPherson. She’s a doctor. And she told me yesterday that it would be doubtful you’d ever be able to do firefighting again with that kind of knee injury. The way I look at it, Cat, you have some choices starin’ you in the face. You can either remain in the fire department as a paramedic, which may or may not be good for that knee of yours. Or—” and she raised her eyebrows “—with that money, you could choose to get married to Talon here, stay at the ranch and not only be part owner, but be a full-time wrangler. Jordana said that being a wrangler was a lot less stressful on that knee of yours. And—” she wriggled her silver brows “—she also hinted that if you wanted a part-time job at the hospital, they have an opening for someone who’s a paramedic.”