The Reluctant Rancher~Badlands (Contemporary Western Romantic Suspense) (2 page)

~*~

The receptionist looked up when he stopped by the desk. “That was short and sweet.”

“Yeah, well, charge me for an office visit," he said.

“But Mr. Kincaid, the doctor hasn’t brought your chart yet. I don’t know what the charges will be. “

“She’s not going to want to charge me, but do i
t anyway. I always pay my way.”

“But...”

“Never mind,” he said and threw a large bill on the countertop.

He left a sputtering receptionist in his wake and a couple of surprised lookin
g patients in the waiting room.

When he got to his car, he climbed inside and turned on the motor. He listened to the quiet thrum of the high performance engine as it came to life. He revved the motor once. Lately, it seemed that this vehicle was the only thing he had power over. He sat for a moment reflecting on how he had come to be in this god-forsaken part of Texas in the first place. He had planned on making it back to Dallas as soon as he could, but he had not planned on his father being arrested for murder. The fact that Eldon Kincaid had confessed to the murder of Silky Carmichael had also astounded him. He knew that his dad was ruthless when it came to business and wasn’t above some dirty dealings when it was a matter of getting what he wanted, but he hadn’t thought his father’s hunger for land would result in the murder of an elderly woman. Lately, all Eldon seemed to want had been to acquire more and more of this
flat, ugly north Texas terrain.

After E.J.’s mother died, and he graduated from the university, he had been coerced to join his father in his huge land and cattle busines
s here at the end of the earth.

He put the Jaguar in reverse and pulled out of the clinic parking lot. He couldn’t fathom why his dad wanted to talk to Cami, and he seriously doubted that she would agree to make the trek to the prison with him, but he had to try anyway. If Eldon hadn’t been incarcerated, E.J. would be in Dallas right now, but he had to stand by his father and take over his business for him. E.J. had no idea what the future held. He hoped that Eldon’s life sentence would be shortened and he could earn an early release for good behavior. E.J. wanted to hire the best lawyers to defend him, but Eldon had signed a confession and agreed to a plea deal. The confession was another event that was totally unlike Eldon Kincaid. He couldn’t imagine tha
t his dad would just roll over.

When E.J. drove through the town of Langston, he tried to find something to redeem this community in his opinion. It was
just a small jerkwater town. There were three restaurants and five churches, two banks and a few civic organizations. The Agri-Business Council meetings were attended by most of the area residents and the county agents were local celebrities. Not his idea of a fun place.
Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles
. This was where Eldon had been a young landman and had acquired his first land holdings, which he expanded exponentially. Whatever had lured Eldon to return to this area totally escaped E.J. . .
The sooner I can make it back to civilization, the better.

He picked up speed when he cleared the city limits. The whine of the high-performance engine always gave him a thrill. And today he needed a thrill. He hoped that no Texas Highway Patrolmen were in the area because he was suffering from the need for speed. He put the car through its paces, smoothly going through the gears as he shifted from brake to clutch. He opened it up on the flat highway and pressed his foot on the accelerator.
One hundred ten miles per hour and climbing. Up ahead he saw a horse trailer being towed by a pickup truck.
No other traffic. No problem
. He pressed harder on the gas and swerved around the truck and trailer. He felt a sense of euphoria well up in his chest as he left the other vehicle in his wake.

He slowed and veered through the fancy gate his father had erected at the entrance to the Kincaid estate. He drove to the end of the road and killed the engine in front of the pretentious southern-style mansion his father built as a monument to himself. The sooner he could get rid of this place and move back to Dallas, the sooner he could pick up the threads of his life. He got out of the car and slammed the door. But he had to hang in here and keep his dad’s business enterprise going. It wasn’t fair when Eldon had spent his entire life building this empire to give to his only son, even though the only son had an entirely different plan.

He had taken a couple of steps up the broad granite stairs when the pick-up truck towing the horse trailer he had passed on the highway pulled up to the house. He turned back to the house when he heard the truck door slam.

“You jackass!”

He turned to see the local veterinarian advancing on him. In fact, she was stomping mad. “Are you speaking to me?”

“You moro
n!”

“And good morning to you, too, Jenna.
I would ask what blew up your skirt, except or course, you don’t own any.”

“Of course I own skirts and dresses, you jackass. I do go to church every Sunday, unlike some total heathens who never set foot inside a house of God.”

E.J. lifted one side of his mouth in a smirk. He patted himself on the chest. “Ah. You must be referring to me.” He raised his eyebrows and stood smiling down at her. “I assure you that I attended church with my mother every Sunday for as long as she was able, but it was a civilized church with an organist and choir that actually stayed on tune.”

Jenna crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. “Probably one of those fancy-
smancy places I see on television.”

“Yes, I do believe the services were televised.”

She snorted again, as though the idea of televised church services was the work of the devil.

“And to what do I owe the
pleasure of your visit today?”

“I was on my way here to
start inoculating your herd when you tried to run me off the highway.”

“He gazed down at her quizzically. “Inoculate the herd? And what do they need inoculating against?
Measles?” He chuckled a little at his own joke, but she was having none of it.

She rolled her eyes and made for the truck. “Where is Leon, your foreman? I need to talk to someone with brain matter between his ears.”

E.J. shrugged as she slammed the door and drove off toward the barns and out-buildings.

One more reason he needed to get back to civilization. Where women were women, and looked like women and smelled like women and talked like women. He cast one last glance at the
pick-up truck that was obscured by a cloud of dust.
Silly female
. He turned and climbed the stairs and entered the mansion that he supposed would one day be his.

~*~

Celeste Pigeon strolled out of the doctor’s clinic, walked to her car and climbed inside. She had witnessed the scene when E.J. Kincaid tossed a hundred-dollar bill at Loretta, the doctor’s receptionist and departed.

Celeste
had a little stir of lust when the tall, handsome man first emerged from the examination room.
He’s such a babe. And rich as all get-out.

H
is daddy was so filthy rich he owned a big hunk of land with lots of cattle on it. Celeste grinned as she slammed the door and started her car. Perhaps she could think of some reason to call on the gorgeous bachelor. Perhaps she could find a way to at least get his attention. First, he had to notice her, and then she could win his heart and then she could be Mrs. E.J. Kincaid and live in the big mansion with the stately columns on the porch. It looked as she had always imagined Tara would look, at least if Tara was located in north Texas. She pulled out of the parking lot and into the street. She could imagine herself driving his Jaguar. Maybe he would buy her a matching Jag in a different color. Maybe white, or baby blue to match her eyes…

Celeste drove to her house and pulled into the driveway. She turned off the motor and sat gazing at her small home. The single car garage at the end of her drive yawned open since the door was somehow off track and she couldn’t get it to close. She sighed and climbed out. Her yard
needed to be mowed and edged and the shrubs trimmed back. Perhaps, if she played her cards right, she might be able to hit the lottery with the handsome prince at the end of her rainbow.

She followed the front walk and climbed the steps to her door. No way
she was going to be able to make the needed home repairs on her salary…but maybe she wouldn’t have to.

She walked inside and gazed around at her house. She tried so hard to keep it looking like a page out of
Country Home
magazine. Her lace curtains and the chintz slipcovers could be featured on the glossy magazine pages. And she had a collection of pink Depression glass and pink and white transfer ware that would rival any major collector. She sighed.

Why hadn’t she been born under that lucky star? Why had she married
big Randall Conway, the lineman on the high school football team? He had told her he was going places and would take her with him. But the only place he had taken her was to the tavern over in Greenville, which was his favorite watering hole. They had purchased this small place as their “starter” home just before Randall enlisted. After his hitch in the Army and tour of duty, he had returned home a slightly different man. Maybe it wasn’t so much that he had changed, but rather, that she had. She had used the intervening years to further her education and graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with a degree in elementary education and a teacher’s certificate. When he’d come back, Randall had been in no hurry to find a job. He’d spent his days watching sports on television and drinking beer. Soon, she realized she had made a terrible mistake and that, no matter how much she wished it, Randall Conway was never going to be anything more than Randall Conway.

She’d hired Breckenridge T. Ryan to represent her in a divorce action. And all she got for her troubles was this small property. Well, it was something anyway. She had thought that she might be able to snag Breck, but they hadn’t dated since high school and when Cami Carmichael, her snarky little doctor came to town, well Celeste was out of luck because Breck was over t
he moon for Cami at first sight.

Now
, she decided it was time to set her sights a little higher. She might wind up snagging a big old cowboy with lots of ranch land and a southern-style mansion instead. And if it didn’t work out, she might be able to trade up for the mansion with her next divorce.

~*~

CHAPTER TWO

Cami finished with her last patient and peeled out of her white lab coat with her name embroidered on the left side of the chest.
The crisply starched jacket still said Camryn Carmichael, M.D. and the name of the hospital where she had performed her residency, but this was because she had only been married a couple of months and the coat was still serviceable.

Although her great aunt had scads of money and property and had provided for Cami’s education, it was
a no frills ride. She had learned to live frugally without expectations of more than she needed. When she inherited the sprawling ranch complete with horses, cattle, cowboys and miles of grassland and pastures under tillage, she had been less than enthusiastic.

Only her conviction that her aunt had been murdered had kept her in Langston, Texas. But that was before Breckenridge T. Ryan wooed her with his many charms. He had managed to work his way into her heart in spite of the fact that she had a fiancé waiting for her in Houston, as well as the promise of a fellowship to do medical rese
arch, which had been her dream.

She had fallen in love, not only with Breck, but also with the small town and its inhabitants. She was content with her practice and felt a great sense of responsibility to the townsfolk and those
living in the outlying area. They depended on her for their well-being. Since she began to practice in town, old Doc Parker had ostensibly retired and was enjoying his passion for fly-fishing. But he still came in half a day every week to keep up with some of his long-time and very devoted patients.

Cami closed the door to her office and went to the front reception area where Reba, her nurse was conversing with Loretta. They seemed to be in deep conversation. When Cami stepped into view, both women stopped talking abruptly. Loretta busied herself with shuffling papers and Reba stepped back, folded her ar
ms across her chest and sighed.

“Am I interrupting something?” Cami asked.

“No—No, we were just…” Loretta began.

“Oh, heck.
You caught us.” Reba shrugged. “We were gossiping about E.J. Kincaid and his father…Just wondering if the kid was going to carry on in his dad’s footsteps and change into a land-grabbing bastard…or if there was a chance he might turn out to be an asset to the community.” She heaved another huge sigh. “I’m thinking that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. E.J. is a big, good-looking peacock like his dad.”

Loretta looked up from her papers, her face flushed. “But that just doesn’t make any sense. There are plenty of good kids from bad families and I think we should give him
the benefit of the doubt.”