Trouble In Dixie (27 page)

"You're welcome, sugar..." He said then
disconnected and she sat there staring at the phone.

"What did he say?" Karlie asked her
anxiously.

"He and the engineer will be out on Friday
to take a look. He's going to check maps and wells, or something,
and they'll have some information then."

Karlie let out a loud whoop, which had all
the diners looking their way again. Katie felt blood rush to her
face again and shushed her sister, then said, "I don't know how I'm
gonna be able to sleep until then."

After they ate lunch and talked a little
more, Katie left the diner with her mind spinning and her head in
the clouds. As she drove back to the ranch, she rolled down the
window of the truck, and let the wind whip her hair around her
face, then turned up the radio loud, and sang at the top of her
lungs.

By the time Friday came, Katie was a nervous
wreck and the anticipation inside of her was verging on painful to
tolerate. Trying to distract herself, while she waited for Chase to
arrive, she'd cooked herself breakfast, then cleaned up the
kitchen, and moved on to scrub every inch of the bunkhouse to
within an inch of hospital sanitation standards.

The pine cleaner and other disinfectants
she'd used had her head buzzing, and she felt lightheaded. When she
finished, she'd realized using all that stuff pregnant, probably
wasn't such a good idea, so she opened the windows to let some
fresh air in and dissipate the overwhelming odors.

Katie decided to go outside and get some
real fresh air, until Chase and the engineer got there, because the
windows weren't getting rid of the noxious smells fast enough. She
stomped her feet into her old boots, and plopped an old straw
cowboy hat on her head, then walked outside. Her heart did a happy
dance in her chest when she saw a dust cloud coming down the
driveway, as she got to the middle of the yard. Shielding her eyes
with her hand, she squinted trying to make out the vehicle, hoping
it was Chase. She didn't recognize the newer black truck, so that
was a good sign.

When the truck pulled to a stop in front of
the barn, under a tree, she started walking over there. Before she
got there, the doors opened and a black man in jeans and a polo got
out of the passenger side and smiled at her, then reached back
inside. When Chase's blond head appeared over the top of the truck
on the other side, she let out a whoop, then picked up her step,
almost running over there. He looked over at her and grinned his
white, toothpaste commercial, smile, then waved, before he reached
back in the truck as well. They met at the back of the truck, and
he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Hey, sugar," he said then his blue eyes
moved down her body to her toes and back up. When his eyes met hers
again he lifted an eyebrow, and asked, "Pregnant?"

"Yep, twins," she told him with a forced
smile, and smoothed the maternity top over her baby bump.

He shook his head then his eyebrows crashed
together, and he asked, "Cowboy asshole?"

"None other," she said with a huffed
breath.

"You doing okay?" he put his hand on her
shoulder and asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine...it's gonna be tough,
but then so am I," she said with a cocky grin.

"That you are, baby...ok, let's get to it.
The water well guy left the bore open, right?"

"Yeah, he did, it's over here," she said and
led them around the barn. She stood back and watched while they did
their thing, referring to maps and reports they had now and again,
and the engineer took some samples, then they walked off for a few
minutes and talked, looking seriously involved in whatever they
were discussing. Finally, both of them broke out in big grins and
then came back over to her.

Chase put his arm around her shoulders, and
said, "Let's walk back to the truck and talk, darlin'...I need to
get something out of there," then he led her back around the barn
to the truck. She stood back, as he opened the door briefly, then
came back out with a thick sheaf of papers.

"We think your property would be suitable
for a wildcat well to determine the quality of the reservoir under
your property. The other wells around here, and there are quite a
few, have been big producers, we think yours might eventually be
one too, but there aren't any guarantees. The odds are really good
though, that's why we want to do the wildcat. To do that we need to
sign a mineral lease with you...we'll probably write it for five
years. Think that would be something you'd be interested in?" he
asked her seriously.

"Hell, yeah...what does it involve?" she
said breathlessly, trying to process what he'd just told her.

"Well, unfortunately, we'd have to tear down
the barn and bunkhouse...at our expense of course...and clear the
scrub and trees from the area."

"Oh...I live in the bunkhouse," she told him
and gnawed her lip.

"With the signing bonus, I'm thinking of
offering you, you won't have to worry about a place to
live...you'll have more than enough to find some place nice," he
told her.

Her heart rate picked up and her breathing
shallowed, as she repeated, "Signing bonus?"

"Yeah, incentive for you to grant us the
lease...we're really excited about the prospects here, honey...and
I make the decision, so I'm going to make sure you're well taken
care of...make sure nobody takes advantage of you."

She didn't know him from Adam, but for some
reason, she trusted him. "What kind of bonus are we talking about,
and what are the lease terms?"

"Twenty an acre, and we can drill anywhere
we want on your property for exploration of oil or gas. We're only
leasing the sub-surface rights, so what you do on the surface is
your business, as long as it doesn't interfere with our drilling.
If we produce, you'll get a twenty percent royalty on the
production. Both of those numbers are a good bit above the going
rate for other wells in the area."

She gasped and anger poured through her, he
wasn't taking advantage of her, huh? She folded her arms under her
breasts, above her baby bump and said, "Twenty dollars an acre?
Don't you think that's a little cheap?"

He looked over at the engineer who was
standing quietly by the truck with humor in his eyes, and they both
chuckled, then laughed, and before she knew it, they were both bent
over howling.

Her anger ramped up, because they were
laughing at her, so she demanded shortly, "What the hell is so
funny?"

"You are, darlin'..." he said and sucked in
a deep breath then stood up, and finished, slightly short of breath
from laughing, "Twenty
thousand
an acre, sugar...that's what
we're offering you."

The blood drained from Katie's head and she
swayed on her feet, as a buzzing started in her ears. Her knees
felt like they wouldn't support her anymore, and she heard Chase
shout, "Fuck," as if in a tunnel, and she felt herself falling.

Katie heard someone talking to her softly,
and felt fingers brushing over her face, then she opened her eyes
and met the familiar blue eyes of Chase Rhodes, and smiled.

He huffed out a breath, then looked up at
the ceiling, and whispered, "Thank, God," then squeezed her tight.
That's when she realized she was draped over his lap, and he had
her in his arms. "My damned cell phone doesn't get reception out
here, or I would have called an ambulance...and what the hell are
you doing out here without a land line?" he asked her gruffly.

She swallowed and said, "They're supposed to
install it today," she told him and tried to sit up, but he held
her tight, "You just relax for a second...you scared the shit out
of us," he said and looked up at the engineer who was standing over
them with a worried expression on his face.

A knock sounded at the bunkhouse door, and
she tried again to get up, but Chase held her, "Get that will you
Sonny?" he said then looked back down at her.

The man nodded then walked to the door and
opened it, then stood back. Katie looked over to the door and saw
Tommy standing there, backlit by the bright sun outside, looking
like a furious avenging angel. When his eyes met hers, his were
filled with so much anger and hurt, she flinched. Every muscle in
his chest and shoulders was tensed, and his hands were fisted at
his sides.

She pushed up off of Chase's lap and ran
over to him, "Tommy!" she yelled and felt tears burning her eyes.
Katie put her hands on his chest, then slid them up to his neck,
and tried to lean up to kiss him, but he just stood there stock
still, and looked down at her, his eyes burning through her soul.
Tommy didn't wrap his arms around her, or embrace her at all. After
a minute, he reached up and pulled her arms from around his neck,
then took a step back.

"I was coming to check on you, because I was
worried...looks like you're in good
hands
though, so I'll be
heading out," he said in a gravelly, almost feral voice she didn't
even recognize. "Now, I know why you haven't called me," he said in
a low choked whisper, then spun around and headed outside.

"
No!
" Katie yelled and followed after
him. She grabbed his arm, and dug in her heels, "Listen to me,
Tommy...it's not what you think!"

"It never is, Katie," he said flatly, and
stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"Chase made me an offer, and I passed
out...he brought me in the house, and held me, until I came
around...please don't leave, I love you."

"An offer, huh?" he said sarcastically, then
added angrily, "Must've been better than mine," before he pulled
his arm from her grasp and started walking again.

She ran after him again, and tripped then
wound up face first in the dirt. Chase yelled her name, then ran
out of the doorway where he and Sonny had been standing, and he
picked her up in his arms then yelled at Tommy, who'd just reached
his truck, "You don't deserve her asshole!" then Chase screeched
incredulously, "
How the hell can you treat her like this
?!?"
before adding furiously, "She's fucking pregnant with your
babies!"

Katie looked at Tommy and their eyes met
over the top of the truck, then he shook his head, and got into the
truck, then peeled out of her yard. When she saw his tail lights,
the adrenaline, anxiety, and stress she'd been under for the last
few weeks finally hit her and she broke down with a hoarse sob.
Tears flowed down her cheeks like a waterfall, and her breathing
came in short gasps. Sonny, the engineer, made some excuse about
going to check the well, and took off jogging toward the barn.

Chase hugged her to him, and kissed her
forehead, then took her back inside the bunkhouse, where he sat
down on the couch and rocked her, until the emotional storm inside
of her settled. He leaned back from her a little and plucked
another tissue from the box on the end table and dabbed her face
with hit, then handed it to her. She blew her nose noisily, then
sighed. "He always comes around at the most inopportune times and
misinterprets things," she said in a nasally voice.

"He's an asshole," Chase said gruffly, then
kissed her temple.

She shook her head and wiped her nose again,
"He's really not...he just has a lot going on right now, and I
didn't have a phone, so I couldn't call him."

"You love him?" Chase asked
incredulously.

"Yeah, I do...and I've got to fix this," she
said, then looked into his eyes again. "Let's talk about the lease,
and get the paperwork done," she told him, then pushed up off his
lap.

"We can do that another day, you're too
upset," Chase said standing too.

"No, I'm not...I want to do it now...need to
do it," she told him then walked toward the big picnic-style table
in the kitchen, then sat down.

Chase stood there for a second studying her
with his hands on his hips, then he huffed out a breath, and told
her, "I dropped the papers in the yard, I'll go get them. Be right
back," then he stalked to the front door and walked out.

God, she thought, she really could have gone
for Chase Rhodes, big time, if Tommy Tucker didn't own her heart.
He was kind and considerate, and almost too good looking...but he
wasn't her rough, big-hearted, handsome cowboy. Katie was going to
get this deal done, then she was going to Amarillo to fix things
with Tommy...fix them so they could be together. Being away from
him for these three weeks made her realize she couldn't live
without him. She'd marry him, or do whatever he wanted her to do,
but she had to be with him, and they'd work out the rest.

Chase came back inside a minute later with
his arms full of maps, and his hands clutching the paperwork he'd
had earlier, and Sonny stepped in behind him and gave her a
hesitant smile. He looked freaked out over the scene and her
outburst earlier, so she said, "I'm sorry for all the drama,
Sonny."

His smile brightened a little, and he said,
"No problem, Miss Upton," then sat down at the table beside Chase,
and added, "I'm just glad you're feeling better now...you need to
be in a good frame of mind to sign what's probably to be a
multi-million dollar deal for you."