Читать книгу Cowboy For Keeps - Brenda Mott - Страница 11

CADE DROVE HIS FATHER home, unable to get Reno out of his head. Not to mention the way Austin Pritchard had looked at her. The man rubbed him the wrong way. Always had, even though they’d worked together only a short while before Cade quit the sheriff’s department. Austin was cocky, and he’d had what women called fast hands. Back in the day, on more than one occasion, Cade had seen him get grabby with the ladies after a couple beers in the bar. And the guy had had an eye for Reno years ago, even though he was only a year younger than Cade himself.

Jackass.

“I enjoyed that,” Matt said. “Thanks, son.”

Cade focused on the road. He knew how hard it was for his dad to admit his limitations. Putting up with Austin was well worth the effort if the outing gave Matt even a few moments’ pleasure. “Glad to have your company, Dad.”

Matthew harrumphed. “If your mother had her way, I’d be in some damn hospital lying flat on my back, waiting to die.”

“Don’t you think you’re being hard on her?” Cade asked. He hated the rift that seemed to grow between his parents with each passing day. Estelle couldn’t hide her anger that the man she loved and had been married to for nearly forty years had smoked his way closer to his grave. “Be patient, Dad. Mom only wants what’s best for you.”

“In her own way, I suppose she does. But it’s not my way.”

Stubborn old cowboy. Yet, like it or not, Cade could relate.

“Sam’s thinking about camping out near the watering hole,” he said, changing the subject. “Keep a closer eye on the mustangs that way. I might go with him, if you and Mom can spare me for a little while.”

“Those horses are gonna find someplace else to water if you spook them,” Matt said, “not to mention the poachers aren’t likely to return to the same spot, when they know you saw them there.”

“It’s a place to start. I’ll take Jet up there with me, and one of your packhorses, if that’s okay. Sam will be on horseback. Maybe the herd will be curious enough about the geldings to stick around for a bit. If not, then I guess Sam will ride after them wherever they go. I’d sure like to help him,” he repeated. Actually, helping catch the poachers had a great deal to do with Reno. Cade owed her. If he could in some small way make up for the past, maybe he’d sleep better at night, and God knew she loved those mustangs.

He couldn’t be gone on a long stakeout, since he’d come here to help his parents with the Diamond L. If only he could clone himself…

“Do what you want,” Matt said. “Your mom and I don’t expect you to spend every waking minute with us. But she’s got a Fourth of July barbecue planned for tomorrow. It’s something she’s been doing the past several years. She’s got all the neighbors coming, and she’ll be disappointed if you’re not there.”

Cade’s hands went cold. A barbecue? His mother had never mentioned it to him. Shit. That meant he’d have to face all their neighbors in one fell swoop. Neighbors who knew he’d killed Sonny. Some had thought him a hero, others not so much, not after the way he’d left Reno. Either way, he wasn’t ready for this. He didn’t want to be the center of attention.

It’s just a barbecue. Get a grip.

“What time?”

“Five-thirty, thereabouts. After the rodeo.”

“All right. But I think I’ll still camp out tonight.” Riding always put him in a better frame of mind. Maybe he’d feel calmer, more up to facing people afterward. “I’ll let Mom know I’ll be back in plenty of time to help set things up.”

“Guess that’ll work.”

“Is Reno invited?” The question slipped off his tongue before Cade could stop it.

“I reckon. She’s a neighbor, ain’t she?” In Eagle’s Nest, anyone living in the county was considered a neighbor. “Sure wish I could camp out with you,” Matt said, his breathing labored. He looked ready for a nap.

“So do I,” Cade said.

As a kid, how many miles had he covered with his dad over the years, riding herd, fixing fence? Enough to stretch coast to coast and then some, he’d wager. He grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “Coming back early will work out all right, anyway. I can’t leave you alone too long with Mom distracted. You’re bound to sneak a smoke, or maybe try to move the cows by yourself.” Cade and Heath—the one ranch hand they had left—were planning to drive the cows and calves to new pasture in the next few days.

“Humph. I wish,” his dad grumbled. “Your mother would have my hide tanned into saddle leather, just so she could ride my back even after I’m gone.”

Cade couldn’t help but laugh. “She loves you.”

“I know.” Matt reached into his shirt pocket and fished out the single cigarette he kept there. He put it in his mouth and rolled it from side to side. “Man, I miss these confounded things.”

Cade grunted. “Why do you torment yourself that way?”

“Sometimes a little torment is worth it,” Matt said. “Kind of like you and Reno.” To Cade’s surprise, a twinkle lit his father’s eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He snorted. “Any fool can see you still care about her.”

“It’s not like you think,” Cade said. “She never thought about me that way, anyhow.”

“That was then, this is now.”

“Whatever,” Cade said. “I owe her, and that’s that.”

“You didn’t make Carlina swallow those pills,” Matt said. “Sonny Sanchez did that, as sure as if he’d shoved ’em down her throat.” He lowered his voice. “When are you going to stop tormenting yourself, son?” He slipped the cigarette back into his shirt pocket and took out a snuff can. “Tell your mother, and I’ll tan your hide.”

Cade bit his lip.

Not about the chewing tobacco, but against the guilt he still couldn’t shake.

If he hadn’t shot Sonny, Carlina Sanchez never would have overdosed.

And Reno would’ve had the mother she’d needed.

RENO CLEANED UP the kitchen, washing the plastic tumblers and sun tea jar. While the clean container filled again beneath the running tap, she reached in the cupboard for tea bags, and noticed the note Wynonna had scribbled on the dry erase board fastened to the fridge: “BBQ—Diamond L—5:30 Sun.”

She’d nearly forgotten.

The Lantanas had been putting on an annual Fourth of July barbecue ever since the summer Cade left. Reno wondered if the tradition had started out of guilt or remorse. After all, he hadn’t gone under pleasant circumstances. And while a lot of townspeople thought of him as a hero, there were those who weren’t so sure.

No matter her own personal feelings, Reno had sympathized with Cade’s parents, Estelle in particular. How hard it must seem to be the mother—a mother in a small town—of a man who’d had to shoot and kill someone. Even if your son was a deputy sheriff. Even if the man he shot was a pedophile and a killer.

And even if Sonny Sanchez was the only father Reno had ever known.

Reno raised one eyebrow. The note hadn’t been on the fridge earlier.

“Ah, you noticed,” Wynonna said from behind her. “I, uh, forgot to remind you before.”

“No problem.” She turned off the faucet, straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin and knew she wasn’t fooling Wy any more than she was fooling herself. “I’ve gone to Estelle’s barbecue for the past nine years. Why shouldn’t I go this year?”

“Exactly.” Wynonna nodded, relief spreading over her features.

Reno’s shoulders slumped. “Who am I kidding, Wy? I can’t go this year.”

Wynonna busied herself drying the tumblers Reno had stacked in the dish drainer. “And why not?”

“You know why.”

“It’ll be fun. You’re going to stand there and tell me you’d let a man—even Cade Lantana—stop you from going?”

Reno pulled the tea bags from their individual wrappers and placed them in the jar. “I think you know the answer to that.”

“You have to go. It would be rude if you don’t attend.”

She didn’t want to socialize with Cade. The mustangs were one thing, but…

But she was still pissed at him—her big brother—for leaving her.

“Estelle went to a lot of hard work,” Wynonna said. “I’ve been helping her here and there.”

Since Wynonna often went on a baking spree, Reno hadn’t really thought much of it when she’d noticed the extra homemade desserts stored in the refrigerator. She was about to protest when the phone rang, making her jump.

“Hello?”

“Hi yourself, gorgeous.”

“Austin. What are you up to?”

“About six-one.” He laughed.

Reno couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ha. You ought to get your own stage act.”

“Maybe I will. You want to be my assistant?”

“Nope. I have an aversion to being sawed in half.”

“That’s a magician’s assistant, not a comedian’s.”

“Comedians don’t have assistants.”

“Darn. Do they have dates?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they prefer raisins.”

He laughed again. “Oh, that’s bad. But not bad enough to keep me from asking you out.”

“Is that right?” Reno wrapped the kitchen phone cord around her index finger. “Where to? If it’s Red Lobster, I’m there.” There was one in Grand Junction—worth the eighty-five-mile drive.

“Sorry to disappoint you. I was thinking more along the lines of a barbecue—the one at the Diamond L, to be exact.”

The Lantanas’ barbecue…shit.

Reno cupped the phone with one hand, turning her back on Wynonna, who pretended to be busy putting the dishes in the cupboard.

“You’re going?”

“Of course. I always do.”

“Well, yeah, but I thought…”

“That Cade would keep me away? Not hardly. He may think he’s a big bad BLM agent, but this isn’t Idaho.”

Reno rolled her eyes. “Austin, you don’t have to play macho to me. I’m not impressed and you know it.”

“I’m wounded.” She could picture him clutching his chest, and she had to smile. “Don’t tell me Cade’s scared you off going?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think someone had a crush on someone else a long time ago. And I also think I know a pretty woman who got her heart stomped on when that coward left.”

“Don’t call him that.”

“Hey, take it easy. I’m just quoting your grandpa Mel.”

Reno’s chest burned. “Leave my grandfather out of this,” she snapped.

“He should be a man. Stand up for what he did. He wasn’t wrong.”

Maybe not in shooting Sonny. But Cade had been wrong to leave her. That had broken her heart and angered Grandpa Mel. Reno often wondered if the shooting and her mother’s suicide had contributed to her grandfather’s decline in health, and ultimately the back-to-back strokes that had killed him.

“And, no,” Reno said, “I don’t plan on letting Cade Lantana get to me.”

“Does that mean you’ll go to the barbecue with me then?”

Why not? She enjoyed Austin’s company, had even slept with him recently and had found him sexually stimulating, though she wasn’t sure she was ready to do it again. They’d both agreed to back off and take things more slowly, though at times Austin was bad about keeping his hands to himself.

And she sure wasn’t about to let Cade dictate where she could and couldn’t go. Her earlier reservations slipped away as a feeling of spite and power replaced them.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ll go with you. It’ll be fun.”

“Good.” She could hear the smile in Austin’s voice. “I look forward to it. And don’t forget, the first dance is mine.”

“Depends on whether or not Matthew Mc-Conaughey shows up this year.”

Austin guffawed. “Pick you up at five?”

“See you then.” Reno hung up the phone and faced Wynonna, who stood with hands clasped like an eager child.

“So you’re going?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Excellent. Go look in your room. I made something for you for the barbecue, and I don’t mean fudge brownies.”

Reno stood with elbows akimbo. “Wynonna Left Hand Bull.”

“You’ll like it.” The older woman’s cheeks dimpled. “And so will Austin. Or maybe Cade.”

Reno frowned, but set the sun tea jar out on the porch, then went upstairs to her room. On the bed was a gift box tied with ribbon. She lifted the lid, pushed the tissue paper aside and gasped.

Wynonna was right. She loved it. Of stonewashed denim, the skirt was hand stitched with intricate beadwork and embroidery along one side—of horses and Native American symbols. And on the opposite side, over the slit pocket, was Reno’s Indian name Grandpa Mel had lovingly christened her with: Swift Horse.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror on her closet door, Reno held the skirt against her waist. It hung to midcalf, and would look stunning with her black, Western dress boots.

“Do you like it?” Wynonna asked from the doorway.

“I love it.” Reno gave the older woman a hug. “Thank you so much. But you shouldn’t fuss over me this way.”

“It’s my job to fuss,” Wy said. “Besides, you’ll look wonderful in it, especially if you wear it with your lavender blouse.”

What would Reno have done without Wynonna all these years? Bless her big, kind heart.

Busy with the ranch, Reno had rare occasion to get gussied up. She wasn’t one for anything too fancy, but it was fun to put on a nice skirt and a little makeup once in a while. She smiled into the mirror. Wynonna was obviously still trying to play matchmaker, one way or another. But at any rate, the skirt meant so much, lovingly sewn by Wy’s own hands. The woman could sew even better than she could cook, and that was saying a lot.

Reno definitely planned to skip tomorrow’s rodeo. Instead, she’d spend the day riding, keeping watch over the herd once her morning chores were done. But it might be fun to get out for the evening. Even if it meant being around Cade.

In fact, it would be fun to watch him squirm when she walked through the door with Austin.

“Perfect. And I’ve got just the right earrings, too.”

Eat your heart out, Cade Lantana.

“MAYBE WE OUGHT TO ROLL up the windows to keep from messing your hair.” Austin sat behind the wheel of his Dodge Ram, looking sexy in a black Western shirt, gray cowboy hat and boots.

Reno had left her long hair loose. She loved the way the wind felt, blowing across her face. Almost like flying along on Plenty Coups. She would never understand why people rode in a closed-up, air-conditioned vehicle.

“It’ll comb out,” she said. “It’s too hot to shut the windows, and you know I hate air-conditioning.”

He laughed. “You’re an original, Reno, that’s for sure.” He eyed her before focusing on the road again. “You ought to dress up more often.”

“You’re pretty hot yourself, cowboy.”

At the Diamond L, the driveway was already filling. Reno felt a wave of nostalgia as Austin found a parking spot, and Wynonna—who’d insisted on driving herself—pulled in behind them. So little had changed over the years, it was like stepping back in time.

As she and Austin strode up the walkway with Wynonna, carrying Wy’s covered desserts, Reno recalled the time she’d ridden her palomino mare to the Diamond L, where Cade was in the arena honing his bronc-busting on a practice horse—a rangy Appaloosa that bucked like nobody’s business.

“Hey, kid,” he’d said, dusting off the seat of his pants after his intended eight-second ride ended prematurely. “What’d you do, ride that pony all the way over here just to watch me?”

“I ride my horse everywhere. Five miles is nothing.”

Back then, at fifteen years old, she’d often ridden from sunup to sundown. Still, Reno would’ve ridden five hundred miles to get the attention of the cowboy she looked up to….

“Hi,” Cade said as he opened the front door now. He frowned when he saw Austin beside her.

For a moment, a reply stuck in Reno’s throat. She’d half expected to look up and see Cade on a bronc. Not to mention she’d figured Estelle would answer the door.

Damn. His boots made him seem even taller than six foot two. He wore a black cowboy hat, not the beat-up, everyday Resistol he’d had on yesterday, but one that looked as if it carried more than a few Xs inside the brim. The more Xs, the better the quality of a cowboy hat, and the higher the price. Cade had always had a thing for an expensive hat and boots.

He wore a maroon Western shirt, with metallic thread and pearl snaps, and his new jeans fit as if someone had poured him into them, like melted chocolate into a mold.

This was the man who’d abandoned her.

And she was with Austin.

With a brief greeting, she brushed past Cade as he held the door, then trailed behind Wynonna as Estelle called to them from the kitchen.

The spacious room had been painted a pale eggshell since last year. The ice-blue, granite countertops were covered with containers of food and stacks of heavy-duty paper plates and disposable flatware.

“Just set those anywhere,” Estelle said after greeting them, nodding toward Wynonna’s pans of fudge brownies and pecan pie. “We’re going to do a buffet-style food line, then eat outside. The guys have got picnic tables set up.”

“What can we do to help?” Reno asked.

“Not a thing,” Estelle said. “Go on outside and relax. Help yourselves to a cold drink.”

“This way, ladies.” Ignoring Austin, Cade gestured toward the sliding doors to the patio. When Reno passed through the screen door, she got a good whiff of the cologne he wore.

Instead of turning her on, it only irritated her. How dare he come home and act as if nothing had happened? Austin smacked her playfully on the butt as they stepped onto the deck, and she took his hand, diverting him, as they walked outside.

“There’s beer, pop and bottled water,” Cade said, frowning as his gaze fell on their clasped hands. He indicated two large stock tanks filled with ice, between the patio and the rows of picnic tables arranged in the yard beneath a huge canvas tent.

“Now you’re talking,” Austin said. “Can I get you a beer, Reno?”

“Sounds perfect,” she said. She’d intended to have a pop. She caught herself just in time to keep from wiping her sweaty hands on the denim skirt. Not wearing blue jeans. But damn, her stomach felt queasy with resentment she’d thought long buried. She shouldn’t have come here.