Читать книгу The Texas Ranger's Twins - Tina Leonard - Страница 11

“Whew,” Pete said as Dane stomped into the house, “please pardon my brother’s boneheaded manners. Texas doesn’t agree with him, and some days he’s a wee bit moody.” Then he whispered to Cricket, “It passes by noon. On his better days.”

Suzy looked at Pete. “Did I mention Cricket is a deacon in her church?”

Pete blinked. “So she is a chaperone.”

“Yes,” Suzy said, dragging her friend away. “Come on, before you fall under the spell.”

Cricket followed willingly. “I don’t think it was a spell. I’m immune to those. I think it was shock. Not sure I’ve ever seen so much man in one pair of boots.”

“It’s okay,” Suzy said. “The feeling will pass once you realize that they’re bona fide womanizers.”

“Too bad,” Cricket said. “You know who’d be perfect for that lanky one back on the porch?”

Suzy stopped, gathering her girls to her. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Priscilla Perkins.”

Suzy glanced up at Cricket. “The Priscilla Perkins whom you despised on sight because she lured your brother away from his fiancée?”

“That was Thad’s fault,” Cricket said. “He should have had stronger morals. But men and morals are not always secure friends, and heaven knows Priscilla has more than her share of charms.”

Suzy shook her head. “I wouldn’t wish either of these men even on Priscilla Perkins.” Actually, Dane was the kind of man she’d hate to see Priscilla throw her cap at, because he was darling in a sort of hotheaded, sexy way. And he’d kissed her, which she hated to admit had been the hottest kiss she’d ever experienced. But truthfully, Dane was all knotted up and probably had no idea how he’d got that way. Pete seemed like he was meant for wild times and outrageous women—an explosive combination at best.

“Are there any more of them?” Cricket helped Suzy take the girls out back where a patch of sunlight was barely warming the January-cold grass. “The brothers?”

“The youngest, Gabriel, is married and lives close to town. Mr. Morgan was thrilled about the wedding—he’s crazy about Laura and her children. I’ve never met Gabriel, but he’s not as mulish as his brothers, apparently.” Suzy smiled. “And Mr. Morgan mentioned an eldest son whom he never sees, with whom he has a difficult relationship.” She looked at Cricket, sympathy in her eyes as she picked out a ball for the girls to try to roll. “I could tell it hurt him a lot that he and Jack are estranged.”

“How did you meet Mr. Morgan?”

“I was a nurse at the hospital when Mr. Morgan was brought in one day. He has—” she lowered her voice and glanced around to make certain there were no Morgan men around “—some health issues.”

Cricket’s eyes went wide. “His sons don’t know?”

Suzy shook her head. “He doesn’t want them to know. He’s hoping they’ll all come home and want to stay one day.”

“Be a family.”

“At least try.” Suzy looked at her little girls with pleasure. “I can’t argue with the plan. My mother and father certainly have no desire whatsoever to be a family.”

Cricket winced. “I think they regret some of their words—”

“Don’t.” Suzy rose, taking the ball with her. It was now the middle of the afternoon. She needed to put the girls down for a quick nap and start their dinner. “Unlike Mr. Morgan, I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

Cricket’s eyes went wide. “Suzy!”

“Why don’t you bring in your luggage,” Suzy said, unwilling to think about the past. “I plan to enjoy every moment of your time here, so first I’m going to show you to a room, and then put the girls down to nap, and then you and I are going to sit and girl chat.”

A window opened on the second floor. Dane poked his head out, staring down at them. Suzy was pretty sure the lord of the manor’s mood hadn’t improved any by the scowl on his face.

“Can I assume you’ve commandeered the master suite?”

Suzy put her hands on her hips. “You may assume that.”

“And where is Cricket sleeping?”

“In the room next to mine.”

“I can sleep wherever,” Cricket said hurriedly. “Suzy, I don’t want to put anyone out.”

“This place is like a castle. There are plenty of rooms. Let me see what his problem really is.” She returned his scowl. “Why do you care where Cricket sleeps?”

“I don’t. Pete wants to know.”

Suzy looked at Cricket. “It’s all about communication.”

“He just wants to know where he should sleep,” Dane explained. “He didn’t know you were in Pop’s old room.”

“I took the master because it was big enough for me and the girls, and your father said I should since he wasn’t planning on returning any time soon. And besides, there’s a huge lock on the door. He said I’d be safer that way.”

Dane considered that. “Are you saying you’ve spoken to my father recently?”

She nodded. “Yesterday afternoon after you left. I wanted him to know I was accepting the job.”

“You didn’t tell him I was here, did you?”

“I mentioned it,” Suzy said, not sure why it mattered. “Is there a problem?”

“There are problems,” Dane said, “but they’re really not your concern.” He slammed the window down.

Cricket looked at her. “Those boys are a symphony in human frailty.”

Suzy laughed. “I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s go get you settled.”

The window shot back up. “Now, listen,” Dane said, “did my father tell you about the nice strong lock on the bedroom door before or after you told him I was here?”

She shrugged. “Before. He said he’d feel better knowing the girls and I were tightly locked up since we’re so far out in the country. Why?”

He thought about that, seeming satisfied after a moment. “Just checking.” The window shut again. Suzy looked at Cricket, who shrugged.

“Think you’ll last a year?” Cricket asked. “I’m not sure I could swim in all these undercurrents.”

“I’ll last,” Suzy said. “Swimming’s my only choice.”

“WHAT EXACTLY DOES A DEACON DO?” Dane asked Pete as they did chores in the barn.

“Depends,” Pete said, “marry you, bury you, discuss spiritual stuff with you and so forth. Why? Got a thing for Deacon Cricket?”

“No!” Dane slid a glance at his brother. “Do you?”

Pete sighed. “I would, if I was able. But since I’m not, I don’t torture myself. I’m looking for a peachy blonde.”

Since Suzy probably qualified as a “peachy blonde,” Dane didn’t want more information than that. “So, are you really hanging around here for a while?”

“Sure. What’s better than family?” Pete grinned. “As long as Pop’s not around, that is.”

“Jack planning on showing up?”

“Wouldn’t bet the farm on that ever happening.”

Dane moved some tack to the other end of the barn while he digested his thoughts. “Since you’re the only one who really knows how to find Jack, why don’t you tell him the old man isn’t here and he might as well pay a call on the rest of us slobs? We’ll get Gabriel and Laura out here, let everybody have a grand old time getting to know each other again. Not that I’m suggesting we go overboard to please Pop but, hell, I’m ready to see the king of the rodeo.”

“Nah,” Pete said, “don’t think it would work.”

“Why? Tell Jack to start the New Year off right with a little family, a little—”

“Dane, dude. It’s not going to happen.” Pete shook his head.

“I guess there’s a reason,” Dane said, and his brother nodded.

“Yeah. Jack’s sworn to never set foot on the Morgan ranch again.”

Dane whistled. “No million dollars for him.”

“Jack wouldn’t give a da—”

“Hey, fellows!” Suzy poked her head into the barn. Both men straightened, surprised. “Cricket and I and the girls are going to walk around town.”

“Sounds like a party,” Dane said, realizing he sounded smart-alecky but not meaning it that way. Why did everything he said around Suzy seem to come out stupid?

“It is a party. Toddlers, a deacon and a single mom. Wild girls.”

“Yeah, well,” Dane said, “Pete and I were never much for wild women.”

Everyone in the barn stood still, the fib seeming to take a shape of its own. “I suppose you have underwater land you’d like to sell me, too,” Suzy said, “but what I was really wondering was if you want to accompany us.”

“Sure,” Pete said, dropping what he’d been doing, which was pretty much nothing, in Dane’s opinion. He glanced at Dane. “Nothing pressing around here, right, brother?”

He wanted to go, but at what price to his conscience? Dane knew what his father was up to. Wasn’t it best if he and Suzy stayed well away from each other? She was an innocent party—she really seemed to have no idea what Pop had intended. She claimed Pop was totally innocent.

Dane knew better. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not a going-out kind of guy.”

Pete thumped him on the back. “That’s cool. You stay in, and I’ll make sure the girls and dolls stay warm and cozy and safe. I haven’t seen Union Junction in a long time,” he told Suzy as he walked out of the barn with her. “I’m sure there’s tons of changes I need to catch up on while we give Cricket the grand tour.”

Alone in the barn, Dane grimaced. Pete was unusually friendly, and he couldn’t tell what was up with that. Was his brother flirting with the single mother or the deacon—and did he care? “I don’t care,” he muttered.

“Dane?” Suzy said, glancing in the barn again. “We’re going to get hot chocolate in town. Sure you don’t want to come along?”

What the hell. He did, and he was tired of acting like he didn’t. Hot chocolate was harmless, right? “As long as Pete’s paying,” he said, and went to join the party.

TWO HOURS LATER, DANE was pretty sure hot chocolate was going to be his undoing. Pete flirted outrageously with both women—he apparently saw no reason to acknowledge his brother—and Suzy and Cricket seemed to eat up the attention. Nor could Dane make any strides with the toddlers, Nicole and Sandra, because there was Pete, making suck-up points by helping them cool their hot cocoa, or carrying the girls on his shoulders so that they could better see into shop windows as the group walked down the main street of Union Junction.

Dane didn’t even know why he was out of sorts. Something suspiciously like jealousy ate at his insides, which felt uncomfortably like worms crawling around inside him, fat and cold and slithery.

He wanted to be mad at Pete, but he knew he was really mad at himself. Having gotten off on the wrong foot with Suzy in the very beginning, he didn’t appreciate further distance being made between them, and particularly by his older brother.

Competition had never been his downfall before. But he had to admit that his relationships with men were lacking in the trust area. He didn’t trust Pop, and he’d made the mistake of trusting his former partner, Kenny, and lost his shirt for that. Worst of all, Jack was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he needed a good example of how a man should act around a woman with two children, but to Dane’s mind, the chivalrous thing to do was to keep distance between them. They had no future because he was retiring young to Mexico where it was warm all year round, not like Union Junction. He was certain a bad example to follow was Pete’s, acting as if he was some kind of woman magnet, irresistible to the opposite sex.

What really dug at him was how much all four girls seemed to enjoy the attention. I’m sulking, he realized. An old habit of being the third son. No wonder I hate Texas. I really hate being third in a family of dysfunctional freaks.

Okay, that was harsh. The Morgans weren’t freaks; they just had more than their share of cautionary tales. So what? A man bucked up and took it.

He could take it. Couldn’t he?

And besides, it was all none of his business. Pete could do what he liked, and so could Suzy. He sighed to himself, deciding he was as much fun as a holey sock. Pete, with his older, hard-won maturity, would seem more impressive to a woman who craved some sort of adventure in her life.

Of course, if Suzy wanted adventure, then he was Mr. Adventure in the amazing flesh. “Before I went into law enforcement,” he said, “I thought I’d probably have to stay in the military forever to stay out of trouble.”

Suzy and Cricket paused in their walking to look at him. Pete frowned, not liking the limelight being off him all of a sudden.

“We were an indulgent group of boys,” Dane said. “I wanted to be just like Jack when I grew up. I couldn’t, so I did crazy stuff like canoeing through Mexico and parachuting out in California until I realized I had to grow up. The military changed me, and then being a Ranger gave me purpose in life.”

Suzy smiled at him. “No wonder you seem so ready to settle down.”

Dane felt his bravado slip. “Settle down?”

Cricket nodded. “Suzy and I have decided we’ve never seen a man so ready to marry and start a family.”

Pete was grinning like mad. Dane perked up under the women’s admiring eyes, though his courage wanted to take a major hike. “I plan on settling down in Mexico next year, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh. Mexico?” Suzy said, sounding surprised, and maybe unpleasantly so.

“Cost of living’s great,” he explained. “I figure if Pop can live in France and all over the world, I should at least be able to park my boots in a border country.”

“I guess so,” Suzy said.

Cricket nodded. “It makes sense.”

They turned their attention back to Pete, who was grinning at him like a stupid hyena. The three of them, along with the tiny toddlers, one of which was held by Pete and one by Cricket, continued walking along the sidewalk. There wasn’t enough room for him, unless he wanted to walk in the street, which he didn’t, because that would feel as if he wasn’t part of the group—a mere hanger-on pedestrian. Didn’t Pete have some secret agent-spy stuff he needed to attend to? Dane wondered sourly.

Some chaperone Cricket was turning out to be—more like the fairy matchmaker. Suzy was supposed to be his responsibility, according to Pop’s instructions—those very same instructions he’d cursorily read last June and then shuffled onto an intermediate, he recalled. And then he’d headed off for six months, keeping himself well away from the mother and her twins. Thwarting Pop was great, but he didn’t like Pete weaseling in on his assignment.

He let himself think up the most impressive thing he could possibly hope to say to a group like this.

“Let’s go to the rodeo tomorrow,” he suggested, and with Pete gesturing No to him, it was like a comet he could latch on to with joy. “Anybody up for watching cowboys get thrown in Lonely Hearts Station?”

“That sounds like so much fun!” Suzy exclaimed. Cricket nodded enthusiastically, but Pete’s lips turned down in a tight frown.

Dane clapped him on the back. “Remember when you wanted to grow up to be a rodeo clown?”

“At least one of us has achieved clown status,” Pete said.

“We’d best get back,” Suzy said, “the girls are starting to get a little fussy. And we want to be well rested for the rodeo tomorrow.”

“What’s the problem?” Dane asked Pete under his breath. “It’s just harmless fun.” Of course, that’s what he’d thought about tonight’s outing, and look where it had gotten him: showboating into another outing with Suzy.

Not with Suzy—with the group, he told the mocking voice chiding him.

“If you’re smart,” Pete said as the ladies walked ahead of them, “you’ll figure out what you’re going to do to cure the case of hots scorching your brain.”

“What do you mean?” Dane demanded, but Pete just shook his head.

“Knucklehead,” Dane said as Pete galloped off with Sandra on his shoulders, “you just want every woman for yourself.”

He understood himself well enough to know that the family closeness and brotherly harmony his father dreamed of wasn’t going to happen if he and Pete hit a rough patch because of a woman.

The best thing he could do was to forget about Suzy and her twins altogether.

“At least I still have Mexico,” he muttered, and then wondered why the idea of palm trees in January didn’t seem quite as exciting as it once had.