The Reluctant Rancher~Badlands (Contemporary Western Romantic Suspense) (6 page)

“With your dad.
He brought me out several times over the years.” She stopped suddenly. “I just couldn’t believe…I mean, when he confessed to Silky Carmichael’s death, I was just…” Her voice trailed off, uncertainly.

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” He had no idea why his dad would have confessed to murder or, for that matter, why he would have taken Jenna riding…but then, he had no idea why his dad did anything.

"I liked Eldon," she said. "I liked that he loved and respected the land. And he knew his business."

E.J.
nodded, emotion uncomfortable in his chest.

"I hate to tell you this, but I expected that you would beat it back to Dallas and put a big old for sale sign on this place."

He snorted, hating that she was echoing his earlier thoughts. "Why would you think that?"

She turned to gaze at him. "I just never figured you loved it here like Eldon." A smile graced her lips. "I'm glad I was wrong."

"Yeah, well..." He wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I'm glad I could surprise you."

When he drove her back to town, they stopped to have lunch at Tiny’s Diner. He sensed she was a little uneasy when all the patrons turned a
round to stare. Some of them raised a hand in greeting, to her, but not to him.

I’ll always be an outsider in this wilderness.
He followed her to a booth and slid in across from her, his back to most of the locals. She slipped out of his jacket and arranged it on the seat beside her.

“Thanks for lending me your jacket, E.J. It’s warm.”

“Keep it,” he said. “It looks better on you than it does on me anyway.”

She dimpled, a flush of color appearing on her cheeks. “I couldn’t do that.”

They ordered and ate while E.J. tried to figure out how to break it to her that he did not have sex with her. “I enjoyed the ride.”

“Me too.”
She hesitated and then blurted out, “Would you like to go to church with me tomorrow?...I mean, not if you don’t want to, but if you do…”

He reached across the table and extended his hand. She placed her hand in his outstretched palm and he lifted it to his lips. “I would be honored to attend church services with you tomorrow, Miss Lewis.”

She appeared to be delighted. The rest of their meal seemed to take on a lighter tone. When they finished, he escorted her to the front, once again running the gamut of stares.

He could almost hear their thoughts.
That nice Jenna Lewis, she had lunch with the murderer’s son.

He did a mental eye roll.
Just wait until I show up with her at church tomorrow. That should make the news.

He caught the eye of another woman as he paid the bill at the register. A dark-haired beauty he seemed to recall meeting in the past, but couldn’t attach a name to. She smiled and he nodded to her, wondering
where their paths had crossed.

~*~

Celeste Pigeon was furious. She had trouble forming a pleasant smile for E.J.'s benefit.
Mustn’t scare away the handsome millionaire.

But damn! Did he have to be in the company of that horsey veterinarian woman?

Celeste regarded Jenna through half-closed eyes. She was dressed differently than her usual, muck-out-the-barn-type garb. The shirt was wrinkled, but had once been pressed. Same for the jeans and her boots were polished.
Oh, my God! Those are the clothes she must have worn last night. She must have spent the night with E.J. Kincaid.

Celeste threw her check on the counter and plunked her Visa card down. If only she had gone to the Eagle’s Hall last night, it might have been her who took the gorgeous man home, but no. She hadn’t wanted to waste her time on the local cowboys when the man who might be her ticket to easy
street was in his mansion. But it hadn’t occurred to her that he might go to a local dance hall on a Friday night.
Well, damn it all to hell!

No matter. She had no intention of letting him get away. She didn’t care if he played with the veterinarian, as long as he paid the bil
ls for one Miss Celeste Pigeon.

She watched through the plate glass window as he helped Jenna into his Jaguar and then climbed in on the driver’s side. Damned if he didn’t lean over to give her a kiss before he started the car.
This is going to be harder than I thought.

~*~

When E.J. dropped Jenna off at her truck, he heard her heave a deep sigh.

“Well, I’m sure everyone in town has seen my truck parked here overnight an
d drawn their own conclusions.”

“And their opinion matters to you?”

She straightened a little. “E.J., I have an education and a professional license, but I’m just a home town girl. I’ve known these people since I was a little girl. Yes, their opinion matters.”

“And now we have to get married? Is that the drill?”
He wondered why that prospect didn’t seem like such a bad deal.

She threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. It just means that everyone knows I spent the night at your place. I’ve gone from that nice Jenna Lewis to being that slutty Jenna Lewis.”

He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Which one woke up in my arms? She’s the one I want to spend time with.”

She rolled her eyes at him.
“It must have been slutty Jenna.”

“I like her better than the other one.” He drew her into his arms and kissed her, felt her melt against him and her soft lips part as he took over her mouth.

She drew away and quirked a smile up at him. “She likes you better too.” She slipped off his jacket and left it on the seat before climbing out and walking toward her truck.

He watched her hips sway with a rhythmic motion he found hypnotic. Who would have thought such a beautiful and sweet woman could be found hi
ding under her tough exterior?

“What time?” he yelled after her.

She turned and smiled. “Church services take place at nine and eleven in the morning. We can go to whichever you prefer.”

“I’ll bet you go to the nine o’clock service,” he said.

“And you would be right, but I don’t mind the later one if it’s easier for you.”

“Jenna, I’m not the playboy you have me pegged for.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Good to know.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight thirty.” He waited until she was inside her truck and had it running. He followed her out of the parking lot and saw her turn toward her home. He felt almost as good as if he had truly enjoyed a wild night of sex with the lovely Jenna. He hadn’t been interested in anyone for a long time…not since his ill-fated courtship of Camryn Carmichael. And that had never led to anything like holding Jenna’s naked body against his the whole night through. There was still that one little problem…
one more little thing the jackass had to fess up to.

~*~

Jenna retrieved her truck and drove through the town. She still couldn’t believe her behavior the previous evening. The sensation of lying against E.J.’s powerful torso and being snuggled in his strong embrace was still with her. So much of her life had been spent alone. Somehow, she liked having the attention of one man who was both challenging and charming at the same time.

She had been looking for a man with an education…a man worthy of commitment.
But surely I can’t have totally changed my mind about him in less than twenty-four hours? Did I fall under the spell of those mesmerizing blue eyes? Was it the flash of dimples in his grin? Or the body…the hard, muscled body that seduced me?

She sighed.
No, it was the tequila
. No matter how gorgeous, she was sure she wouldn’t have fallen into the dangerous current that was E.J. Kincaid without the assistance of some liquid courage.

The sad thing is that she couldn’t remember
her seduction by E.J. or how she succumbed to his many charms. And he seemed to remember it all in detail. He’d grinned and called her a wild woman. She pressed her lips together.
Good to know I have some hidden talents.

She headed out of town to the ten acres she called home. Not a big spread by any means, but enough for her and her three horses. She grew enough silage to feed the horses most years. And that was all she needed. Her barn still had some bales of hay from the previous year and her field would produce lots of feed for them by the time it was harv
ested.

She smiled to think that E.J. was willing to take her to church. This simple life was important to her. She was a part of this community…
an important part. And tomorrow she would take E.J. to church.

As she turned into her driveway and pulled close to the house, she was hit with a strange thought. She had wanted a boyfriend. Did she have one now? Was
E.J. Kincaid husband material?

She got out of the truck and her black and white Australian shepherd, Rufus, ran out from under the porch to greet her.

“Hey, boy! How’s my good boy?” She squatted down to scruffle his ears. “Sorry I didn’t come home last night. I spent the night with my boyfriend.” She grinned and went to feed the dog.

~*~

“So, you’re going anyway? No matter how I feel about it?”

It was the middle of the afternoon and Breck had come home from his drive around the Ryan ranch with his father. It was a Saturday ritual the two had perform
ed since Breck was a young boy.

Cami had only seen four patients that morning, after which she and Reba had driven out to examine an elderly couple in their home. The man was on Coumadin and ne
eded his INR checked regularly.

When they returned to the clinic, she and Reba had inventoried the medical supplies and placed an online order, while Loretta filed medical records and sent a request for payment to a big insurance company
. All in all, a satisfying day.

Now, she gazed up at her husband who looked like a storm cloud. She understood how Breck felt about Eldon Kincaid and had witnessed some of their confrontations. She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice. “I was hoping you would go with me. It could be a nice drive. You know, get out of town and spend some quality time together.”

He expelled a guttural noise from the back of his throat. This noise expressed far better than words that he was totally disgusted with her reasoning. “And all this for the cold-blooded reptile who murdered Silky? I would think you wouldn’t spit on him if he was on fire.”

She tilted her head to one side. “You’re wrong. I would definitely spit on h
im, even if he wasn’t on fire.”

He shook his head, grinning in spite of his annoyance. “Cami, I swear! You could drive a man to
drinkin’ straight whiskey.”

“Not a temperate man like yourself. Just go with me,” she said. “We can make a good day of it.”

“I’ll go, but I’m not happy about you spending any time with Eldon Kincaid. I can’t imagine why he wants to talk to you. Or why you would agree to it. After all, he tried to kill you too.”

She heaved a huge sigh, her shoulders lifting and falling with the effort. “Trust me, I remember.” She was happy to have won a small battle…totally unable to fathom why Eldon would want to see her, but considering the conditions surrounding his confession, she was too curious to deny him. At any rate, she was glad her husband would be nearby to back her up.

Breck turned to gather the pile of mail on the credenza in the entryway. He tore open the envelopes and separated the enclosures into several piles.

She went to the kitchen to begin making dinner, a task she was still not very good at. She had thought herself an adequate cook back in Houston, but realized that most of her menus were built around food she had picked up on the way home from the hospital where she had completed her residency and internship. Where, she had thought to complete a fellowship in immunology and advance
her career in medical research.

But that was before she had met Breckenridge T. Ryan. Before she had returned to the town of Langston in the Texas Panhandle for her Aunt Silky’s funeral and before she had begun to suspect her aunt had been murdered. It was before the enigmatic Breck had changed her life plan by making her fall in love with him, with the town and its people and with the dream her aunt had set forth for h
er.

Now, preparing an edible meal for her husband was high on her list of priorities. Breck would have had no problem cooking a great meal for her, but it was a point of pride with Cami that she would be able to produce simple fare for their evening meal. That was
, she reasoned, part of being a country wife. This was what all the other wives in the area did, so she had decided it was her duty as well. When she informed Breck of her intentions, he had scoffed.

“Well, all those other wives aren’t working full time as doctors. They don’t get called out in the middle of the night to deliver babies and provide medical care to the elderly shut-ins.” He had insisted that he was more than happy to pitch in with the cooking and cleaning, but she refused his help.

Now, she stared into the freezer, sorry that she had forgotten to take something out to thaw earlier. She sighed and went to the pantry. A box of macaroni and cheese met her eye. She found a recipe on the back that only required a can of tuna and another of mushroom soup. “Got it.” After a short time she was able to call Breck to the table.