Mabel smiled. He reminded her a lot of their courting days. He’d tried to boss her then, too. “Why, whatever do you mean, Edward Gene Baxter?”
“You know what I mean. Leave Cal alone.”
“You don’t want Cal and Jess to marry?”
“I think it would be great As long as it’s their idea and not yours.”
Mabel blinked her eyes, wringing a few tears to affect Ed. “You know Cal is my only child, my pride and joy. I would never do anything to hurt him.”
Since they’d lost several babies after Cal, early in her pregnancies, Ed responded as she’d known he would. His arms came around her and he pulled her against him. “Aw, sweetheart, I know that.”
She rubbed her nose against his neck. “Hmm, you smell good. Maybe we should be late to church,” she whispered, her lips emphasizing her invitation.
He gently swatted her backside. “Behave yourself, woman. I’ve got that activity planned for a leisurely afternoon. Wouldn’t want to have to rush it, would we?”
“Why, Ed, I had no idea. I thought you’d be watching the Cowboys.” Every Sunday, Ed watched his favorite football team.
“They’re playing on Monday night.”
“O-oh! Good for them,” she said before she gave him a kiss of promise for his afternoon plans.
Later, in church, she searched for Jessica. She finally arrived late, dressed in an ultraconservative navy-blue suit, not the kelly-green, formfitting suit with the very short skirt that they’d purchased the day before.
As soon as the service was over, Mabel headed for Jessica. “What’s wrong? Where’s the green suit?”
“It’s not working, Mabel. It only makes Cal work harder to find a husband for me. He’s already prepared a list.”
“He probably made that list before he saw you last evening. He did see you, didn’t he?”
“Yes. And I think he made the list afterward.”
“I can’t believe he—”
“Hi, Mom. Jessica.”
The subject of their discussion stood a couple of feet away.
Mabel stared first at her son’s closed features and then Jessica’s. She took a step toward him. “Aren’t you going to give me a kiss?”
“Sure,” he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. His gaze slid to Jessica and then away. She was staring off into space, as if fascinated by the drifting clouds.
“Well, how about you both come home with us for dinner? I can make—”
“No, I can’t!” Jessica protested, panic in her voice.
“Sorry, I have plans,” Cal said at the same time. He took a deep breath, then added, “I’ve got to talk to Trevor Heywood about something.”
Mabel looked at Jessica sharply as her cheeks flooded with color. Was Trevor one of the ones on the list?
Trying to act nonchalant, she said, “Oh? Are you planning on taking out a loan? Your father and I—”
“Don’t worry, Mom. It’s nothing like that. I’ve got to go. See you. Jess, I’ll give you a call.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, and Jessica seemed relieved.
“Well! Is Trevor’s name on the list?”
“Yes,” Jessica muttered.
Mabel watched as tears filled the child’s eyes. She wanted to hold her and promise that Cal wouldn’t hurt her, but she couldn’t. “Come eat with us, dear. It’ll make you feel better.” Ed would understand about canceling their plans, once she told him about Jessica’s tears.
Jessica blinked her dark lashes several times and tried a smile. It wasn’t very good, but it was better than the tears. “Thanks, Mabel, but I have some things to do this afternoon. I’m going to Dallas tomorrow to complete the sale of the restaurants.”
“Oh, my. Do you need me to go with you?”
“No, I’ll manage. Thank you for offering, though.”
“All right, dear. But I haven’t given up. I want you to know that.”
Jessica didn’t seem thrilled with her promise.
USUALLY CAL SHED the tailored pants and a dress shirt five minutes after getting home from church. Today, he’d kept them on.
Now he crawled out of his truck in front of a large brick home in the best neighborhood in town. Trevor Heywood certainly seemed to be a successful man.
That was important. Cal didn’t want anyone marrying Jessica for her money.
He strode to the door, afraid to wait any longer, knowing he’d prefer getting in his truck and returning home.
Trevor himself answered the door.
“Cal? Come on in,” he boomed, closing the door behind the two of them.
“Are you alone, Trevor? I need to talk to you.”
Trevor’s eyebrows rose. He was a pleasant-looking man, but his features were a little soft, round. His handshake was loose, flabby. He always made Cal think of Porky Pig, even though he wasn’t really overweight and he still had hair. Some.
“I hope nothing’s wrong. I mean, one of my customers isn’t in trouble, is he?”
His customers. The man acted as though he owned the bank. Of course, his father did, so maybe he was justified in feeling that way.
“No, of course not. It’s...it’s personal.”
“You got money troubles, Cal?” Trevor asked in surprise as he led the way into a large room expensively furnished with sofas and a big-screen TV.
“No! Not at all.” He certainly didn’t want anyone thinking he was broke, Cal thought.
“Ah.” Trevor waved to one of the sofas. After Cal sat, he took a seat opposite him. “Then what’s the problem?”
“No problem. I, uh, wondered if you’ve been dating anyone lately.”
Trevor stared at him. “Dating?”
“I don’t remember seeing you around town with a lady, and I—”
“Are you insinuating I’m gay?” Trevor asked, rage trembling in his voice.
“Hell, no! You’re not, are you?”
“No, I am not! I date a very nice lady from Lubbock. One has to be careful with his social life when he’s a banker,” the man explained self-righteously.
Cal wanted to spit out the taste those words left in his mouth. But Jessica had said to go ahead. Even so, he had to force himself to continue.
“Look, I’m not handling this conversation right. What I’m trying to say is, do you have any interest in dating Jessica Hoya?”
Chapter Seven
T
revor stared at him, his mouth open.
Cal waited.
“Why?” A speculative look filled Trevor’s beady eyes.
“What do you mean, why? Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because you’ve always warned people away. Has something changed? Have you got her pregnant and you’re looking for someone else to take the fall?”
Cal couldn’t believe the man’s response. He leaped to his feet, his fists clenched “Stand up, you bastard, so I can knock you down!”
“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for wondering. I heard she’s going to make a lot of money on the sale of her restaurants. Is she looking for some preferential treatment? How much? I might be interested in her if she’s—”
Cal couldn’t take any more. He walked out of the house as the man continued to speculate on Jessica’s financial worth.
After roaring through town, he turned back and
went to the house Mac shared with his aunt. He needed help.
Ringing the doorbell, he waited for Florence Gibbons to come to the door.
“Why, Cal, come on in. What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to Mac. Is he in?”
“Sure. He’s stretched out on the couch watching football, like most every other man in town.”
Mac looked up in surprise when he saw his friend. Standing, he shook Cal’s hand and offered him a seat.
“Uh, I need to talk to you, Mac, but I don’t want to interrupt the game.”
“These aren’t teams I care about. Dallas doesn’t play until tomorrow night. How about something to drink?”
“Maybe a soda,” Cal said, his gaze slipping to Florence. He couldn’t talk in front of Mac’s aunt.
“I’ll get you a couple of them,” Florence offered. “Then I’m going upstairs to read. It beats football anyday,” she assured them with a grin.
As soon as Florence left the room, Cal said, “Mac, I’m in trouble.”
“What kind?”
His friend leaned forward, a frown on his face, clearly taking Cal’s words seriously. Which made Cal feel a little better. “It’s that list we made.”
Florence came back into the room with two glasses of soda and a basket of chips from The Old Cantina. “I hope when Jess sells those restaurants they keep making these chips. They’re my favorites. That girl is a real businesswoman, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” both men agreed, but they said nothing else to prolong the conversation.
As soon as Florence disappeared again, Mac asked, “What happened? Did you approach one of them?”
“Yeah. I started with Trevor Heywood.”
Mac grimaced. “Never particularly cared for him. Do you remember in sixth grade when he got in a fight with a girl? And she won!”
Cal laughed. “Yeah. Well, we’re crossing him off the list. I asked him if he wanted to go out with Jessica, and he asked if I’d gotten her pregnant and wanted him to take the fall.” Cal grew angry all over again.
Mac muttered his opinion under his breath, a hurried look over his shoulder to be sure his aunt wasn’t in hearing range.
“Yeah,” Cal agreed. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Okay. So, we still have four candidates, right?”
Cal nodded. “What bothers me, though, is I think I’m going about it the wrong way. I mean, Jessica is bright and beautiful. A success in every sense of the word. Why would a man hesitate?”
“How did you bring up the subject with Trevor?” Mac asked, studying his friend.
“Bring up the subject?” Cal asked, confusion in his voice. “I just asked if he wanted to go out with her.”
“Hmm. I think we need more strategy. Let me call Tuck and Spence. We’re going to have to do some planning before we run out of guys to approach.”
An hour later the four men were gathered at the game table at one end of the den with a sheet of
paper in front of them. Various ideas had been discussed, but nothing satisfactory had popped into their heads.
“I got it!” Tuck exclaimed.
“Well, it better be an improvement over your last idea,” Cal muttered. Tuck had decided they should mail out announcements that Jessica was “uninvolved and looking.”
“It is. I’ve cut down a lot of mesquite trees, and I’m going to burn them.”
Spence frowned. “So what? We do that every year.”
“Yeah, but if we call it a celebration of Jessica’s sale of her restaurants, use the fire to cook a lot of steaks, and invite all the candidates, we can encourage them to, uh, hang around with Jess. Then it will seem natural-like.”
Cal looked at all three of his friends, studying their reactions while he thought about Tuck’s idea. Then he smiled. “You know, Tuck, I think you’ve got something there.” He wrote down the idea on the paper. “It’ll be casual, fun and innocent. No one will suspect.”
“And we can invite Alex to the celebration, to make everyone believe that’s the only reason,” Tuck added, his gaze twinkling with excitement.
“We’ll have to invite a lot of other people, too,” Spence said. “Like at your party, Cal. Just so no one will suspect.”
“Of course. Mom will help us,” Cal said. “Especially when I tell her it’s for Jess.”
Tuck grinned. “I suspect all our mothers will pitch in since they’re so anxious for us to marry. It might
be best not to tell them we’re trying to marry off Jessica. Let them think we’re getting into the spirit of the competition.”
TUESDAY NIGHT, Florence Gibbons brought up the subject of the cookout.
“Anyone have any idea what’s going on? It’s not like these boys to plan a social event.”
“It’s at Tuck’s place,” Edith Hauk reminded them. “I assumed it was his idea.”
Ruth Langford, Tuck’s mother, looked guardedly at her friends. “I don’t know. He’s not talking to me, other than to ask that I help with the food.”
“I’m helping with the steaks,” Florence said.
“I’m in charge of desserts,” Mabel said with a serene smile.
Florence eyed her friend closely. “I think you know more than you’re saying.”
“The party is to celebrate Jessica’s sale of her restaurants. Didn’t they tell you?”
“Yes,” Ruth admitted. “But Tuck’s all excited-like, as if he has plans. Not like that party at your house, Mabel. Even though he left with two women, I knew he wasn’t interested.”
Florence’s brow lifted. “You mean he’s interested in someone now? Who’s invited?”
“Everyone from the invitation list of my party, plus any other singles in town, and, of course, Jess’s attorney, that pretty blond lady.”
Edith frowned. “Even Spence seems more interested. Lately, he’d been a little quiet. I’ve been worried about him. But with this party in the works, he’s perked up a little.”
They picked up their cards and arranged them, the conversation languishing. Then Mabel asked, after bidding one diamond, “How’s your plan coming along, Florence?”
Her friend glared at her. “Not well. I can’t stir up any interest in Mac for remarrying.”
Mabel smiled but kept her gaze on her cards.
“Mabel? Mabel Baxter, what are you thinking?” Florence demanded.
“I’m thinking I’m going to win,” she said demurely. Then she smiled at her three friends. “At bridge, of course.”
The other three groaned.
IT WAS TUCK WHO’D CALLED Jessica to tell her about the celebration they were planning. She’d been reluctant to agree to the party.
Truth to tell, she wasn’t feeling too happy about her decision. The sale had brought her millions, which properly invested, would provide for the rest of her life. She should’ve been over the stars. Instead, she felt useless.
Alex had counseled her to take some time to decide what she wanted to do with her life. She was still young. She could start another business, travel, take classes at university.
Or stay home and be lonesome.
So far she’d opted for the last choice.
She stared at the television, watching another mindless sitcom. The doorbell surprised her.
She opened the front door to Cal.
She hadn’t seen him since Sunday after church when he’d indicated he was going to start working
on finding her a husband. Was he here to tell her he’d succeeded?
“Hi, baby. Can I come in for a minute?”
“Of course.” She stood back, allowing room for his big frame to pass, then followed him in to where she’d been watching television. He settled on the sofa and she took the big chair next to it. It was safer than sitting beside him.
“What’s up?”
“I thought I’d better tell you—Are you okay? You seem a little sad.”
She pressed her lips together and looked away. Finally she said, “It’s hard to adjust to the sale. I don’t have anything to do.”
He awkwardly patted her shoulder. “I guess it’s a big change for you. You’ve been running in every direction the last few years.”
She nodded, blinking back tears. Sympathy from Cal unmanned her.
“That’s okay. We’ve got plans for you.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Mac, Spence, and Tuck are helping me.”
“Do what?”
“Find you a husband. Don’t you remember? We talked about it on Saturday and—”
“And you told me you were going to visit with Trevor Heywood on Sunday. So, when do I walk down the aisle?”
She watched in surprise as Cal’s cheeks reddened.
“Never with Trevor!” he growled.
“You made a rhyme,” she joked, feeling a little lighter hearted. Maybe no one would be interested in
her and she wouldn’t have to make the decision to leave her love for Cal behind and make a new life.
“Yeah, well, that guy’s a joke. Stay away from him.”
“Okay.”
He frowned at her. “That was easy. Aren’t you going to argue or ask questions?”
“Nope. I wasn’t interested in Trevor, anyway. I never liked him in school, either.”
Cal’s sensual lips widened in a broad smile, making her catch her breath. “Me, neither.”
She returned his smile, her spirits rising because Cal was here.
He leaned toward her and she thought he was going to kiss her again. Her heartbeat doubled and her eyes widened. She wanted him to kiss her, to touch her. She wanted him to lose control, to show that at least they had one thing in common.
Even though she knew sex wouldn’t solve her problem.
He sat back abruptly and cleared his throat. “Well, that leaves four men. On our list,” he added, as if he thought she wasn’t following the conversation.
“Yes,” she agreed, licking her dry lips.
He cleared his throat again. “I have to tell you that I didn’t handle Trevor well. So, I’m glad you’re not disappointed.”
“No, I’m not disappointed.”
Relieved, actually.
“Anyway, I know Tuck called you about the celebration Friday night.”
“Yes, it’s so sweet of him to want to celebrate the sale.”
Cal looked embarrassed. “Baby, it’s a setup for the other four men.”
She stared at him, her eyes widening as she took in what he was saying. “You mean... we’re not celebrating the sale?”
“Of course we are, but...but it’s a good excuse to let you mingle with these guys. Not so awkward.”
She clenched her jaw. She’d been pleased that her friends cared about her success. It was the only glimmer of good news she’d had since she returned from Dallas. Now, that, too, was gone. It was just a marriage trap—for a marriage she didn’t want. It was Cal trying to make sure he wasn’t forced into marrying her.
“I see,” she finally said with no emotion. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it.”
“What? But you already told Tuck you’d be there!”
“But I don’t want to come. I don’t want to trick anyone into—”
“We’re not tricking anyone!” Cal roared, rising. “We’re giving you an opportunity to spend some time with potential husbands. That’s all.”
She sighed. Why was life so complicated? “Sit down, Cal. There’s no need to get upset.”
“If you’re not coming to the party, there is,” he returned, sinking back onto the sofa.
“Fine. I’ll come. But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want you to find me a husband.”
“You don’t want to get married?”
“Yes! Yes, I want to get married, but...but I’ll find my own husband.”
“But, baby, it’s dangerous out there. And now that
you’ve got all that money, you have to be even more careful. There are men who will wine and dine you just to get their hands on it.”
A thought suddenly struck her. “Is that why you’ve never married? Because you were afraid you’d be married for your money?” Strangely enough, that idea had never occurred to her. Probably because Cal didn’t act like a rich man. But she knew he, and his parents, because of the oil discoveries twenty years ago, were wealthy.