Almost Twilight (23 page)

“Did
I tell you I loved you?”

“Yes,
you did. But I like hearing it anyway.”

Her
throat tightened with emotion, making it hard to speak. His tender gaze had
pierced her very soul.

A
grimace suddenly flashed across his face. “But I’m never going to let you on a
jet with my brother again, and least of all with that slimy oil tycoon Baylor. Max
and I have known him for years.”

She
eased out a giggle. “Your brother was only trying to help.”

“Yeah,
Max and his help I can do without.” 

“What
about your father?”

“Forget
about him. He’s latched onto Max now.” 

He
gave her that dimpled Clearbrook smile again, lowering his lips to hers. “I
love you, Candy. Please don’t ever leave me again. We’ll get married whenever
you say. And in the meantime, I’ll give you the best wooing a Clearbrook can. That
okay with you?”

Candy
blinked back tears of happiness. “Gall dang it, Rafe. Stop blabbering and kiss
this filly of yours till death do you part.”

A
rumble of laughter poured out of his chest. “Ah sweetheart, I’ll love you till
death do us part and forever.”

“Me
too, Dr. Rafe Clearbrook. Till death do us part and forever.”

A
month later at the Clearbrook house, Fritz whacked Max’s boot with his walking
stick.

Max growled
as he clapped his black Stetson against his thigh, turned his back on his
father, and walked into the hall. “Don’t want to hear it!”

“I’m
giving you full warning. Something I never did for Rafe or Tanner.”

Max
whirled around, his blue eyes blazing a fiery path toward his father. “You
better not be thinking what I think your thinking,” he said in a warning voice.

Once
again, Fritz thwacked his mountain cane against Max’s boot. “Oh, I’m thinking
it, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Nothing short of dying that is.”

“Then
you better take out a life insurance policy on me.”

“I
don’t need your money, life insurance or not. I got enough of my own. And that
ranch of yours is nothing compared to a fine woman!”

“I
love my ranch!”

“Horses
don’t keep you warm on a cold winter night!”

“I’m
not going there, Dad. This conversation is finished. I have a rodeo I’m heading
to.”

“Rodeo?
Those buckle bunnies will cause you nothing but pain. I should know. When I met
your mother, I knew she was the one. You’ll know too. It’s in the Clearbrook
blood. Why even my great ancestors, from the Duke of Elbourne, knew—”

“Oh,
give me a break. The Duke? I don’t know why you bring up our family tree all
the time! You obviously are not talking about what I want out of life! This
conversation is a one way street, and I am not part of it!” Max marched out of
the house, slamming the door behind him.

Fuming,
Fritz marched after him. “Oh, you’re part of it! Look here, Rafe and Candy are
coming up the road to show us the ring he got for her. They decided on a date
for the wedding too. It’s going to be soon. Just like your wedding.”

“Don’t
want to hear it!” Max hopped in his truck, gunning his engine just as Candy and
Rafe pulled up in the Porsche.

Max
nodded and squealed out of the driveway in a huff.

Candy’s
eyes widened as she exited the car. “What’s wrong?”

Fritz
shrugged. “Girl trouble, I think.”

Rafe
laughed. “More like father trouble, I think.”

Candy
was showing Fritz her engagement ring when a minute later, Max’s truck came to
a screeching halt in front of Tanner’s driveway.

Rafe
grinned. “I believe he wants to have the last word. He must have done a quick
U-turn.”

Candy
slipped her hand in Rafe’s. “Don’t tease him. He needs his space.”

“Space?”
Fritz put in. “That boy of mine has more acres than he needs!”

 Max
rolled down the window. “I can see that ring sparkling from here, sugar. Looks
like Rafe did good. I hear you have a date for the wedding. Good for you. As
for you, Dad, I just want to make one thing clear before I head out of town.”

Fritz
walked a little closer. “What’s that?”

Rafe
and Candy couldn’t help but look at each other and roll their eyes.

Max
tilted his Stetson low over his brows. “You’re never going to see me
hitched...ever.” 

Fritz
grinned. “Now, that’s where you’re wrong, Maximilian. Dead, gall dang it, wrong.
I ain’t got duke’s blood in my veins for nothing!”

Max
ground his teeth. “And I ain’t got duke’s blood in my veins for nothing
either!” And with that he was gone.

Fritz
smiled as he turned to Rafe and Candy. “We got him.”

Rafe
lifted a brow. “
We
got him?”

“Sure,
we got him tied into so many knots, even that rope of his couldn’t do better.
Now, all I have to do is find the right girl. That may take more planning than
it took for both you and Tanner. She needs to be smarter than Max, that’s for
sure. Hey, where are you two going?”

Rafe
and Candy jumped back into the Porsche.

“We’re
going on a date,” Candy said, smiling. “Just wanted to show you the ring.”

Fritz
waved as the Porsche pulled away. He looked up at the sky and frowned. “Two
down, Lord, and one to go. I don’t ask for much, but if you could send a little
help my way for my youngest, it would be greatly appreciated...That boy is
gonna need all the help he can get, because, to tell you the truth, I ain’t got
any idea what decent, self-respecting girl will take that ornery cowboy, ranch
or not!”

Almost Dawn

Excerpt, Copyright © Teresa McCarthy,
2012

All rights reserved

The
noise outside Annie Nelson’s bedroom window was nothing, she assured herself.
Nothing at all.

Get
a grip, Annie. Clearbrook Valley is a nice, little Colorado town. It’s not a
big city like Chicago.

She
grasped the quilted coverlet and glanced at the clock as she turned a wary gaze
toward the second story window of the Clearbrook guest bedroom. A cool winter
breeze drifted into the room, sending the lace curtains fluttering against the
cedar chest beneath the sill.

Her
eyes narrowed on the last fingers of moonlight shimmering along the floor, then
she shook her head, dropping it against her pillow with a sigh. It was half
past four in the morning. She had a few more hours of sleep. Why worry about a
little noise?

She
shifted her gaze back to the window, barely able to see past the curtains where
the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains pierced the stillness of the nighttime
sky.

Okay,
she admitted it. She was a paranoid city girl, and a female with her background
always equated loud, unexpected noises outside her bedroom with danger.

Not
to mention a city girl never left her window open at night unless she was on
the tenth floor or had a screw floating around in her head. No doubt, it was
just a car radio or a neighbor from one of the other homes on the posh Colorado
street.

After
all, she was in a strange town, and noises like that were probably normal.

Normal?
What was that anymore?

She
closed her eyes, trying not to think about what had gone wrong in her life the
past few months. She realized that leaving Chicago and coming to Clearbrook
Valley had been an impulsive move, but she had no where else to go, and no
where else to hide until she straightened out her life. So, for the next few
weeks, she would be the guest of her best friend, Hannah Clearbrook.

Hannah,
pregnant with triplets, once thought to be twins, was asleep down the hall and
had been married over a year to Tanner Clearbrook, one of the richest men in
Colorado. Tanner had lost his first wife to an illness a few years ago and was
out of town on business.

The
only other people staying in the Clearbrook mansion tonight were Jeremy,
Hannah’s nine-year-old stepson, and Fritz, Hannah’s father-in-law, a silver
haired, blue-eyed, sweet man in his early sixties, who had been the one to
insist Annie leave her window open at night for the fresh mountain air. 

Annie
enjoyed the fatherly attention Fritz Clearbrook showered upon her. The older
man was a widower. She had heard that his early life had been pretty hard -
losing a mother at ten, running away from home, joining the rodeo. But his
difficult childhood didn’t seem to affect him now. Or at least she thought it
didn’t.

However,
she did wonder if Fritz exaggerated the twang in his speech to make himself
stand out from the crowd. Annie had to admit, Fritz’s country accent only added
to his charm.

But
Fritz or not, her city gut was becoming obsessive, telling her to close that window
before a furry, little beast climbed inside and decided to make its home at the
foot of her bed, or worse, cuddled beneath her covers. It was cold out there,
and some creature might find this bedroom rather inviting. 

There
were a lot of strange creatures out west that could fit through that eight inch
gap. When Fritz had unlocked the window and opened it to let in the fresh
mountain air, she hadn’t thought about it too much, well, because she hadn’t
wanted to think about anything but sleep.

Besides,
with all her covers, the coldness in the room felt rather invigorating. Not to
mention, she had made it through most the night with the window open.

She
scanned the area one more time and switched her gaze back to the window. Moonlight
illuminated her room with a host of dancing shadows. If she had any sense left
in that city head of hers, she’d jump from her bed and lock that window tight.

No,
she wasn’t about to do that. Not now at any rate. She was a twenty-five-year
old woman, not some skittish schoolgirl. She was determined to change her life
one small step at a time. Leaving the window open was a turn in the right direction.
It was something she never had done, and she had handled it quite well...most
of the night.

Anyway,
she enjoyed the cold air whipping around her room, clearing her senses, her
mind, and especially her heart.

She
lowered her lids and burrowed deeper into her covers when a sudden whack
outside her window snapped her eyes to attention.
That
was not her
imagination!

Her
French manicured nails dug into her quilt with a death grip, and for a second,
her body wouldn’t budge. The moonlight was pretty before all this. Now, it was just
plain spooky.

She
tilted her head toward the window and thought about bats. But it was too cold
for them, wasn’t it? She had asked Fritz about screens for the windows, but
they had been taken off to be washed, and no one had replaced them. It was just
her luck the screens for the entire house were still sitting in the garage.

She
was wide awake now, and her determined gaze wandered around the shadows,
settling on a long, snake-like object resting on the cedar chest below the
sill. She gulped. She could have sworn whatever
it
was, wasn’t there
when she’d hopped into bed last night or when she had made that trip to the
bathroom.

It
was the outline of a sock, she told herself, or maybe the belt to her robe. It
couldn’t be a snake. It was too cold. Wasn’t it?

Please
God, she prayed, let it be a bird or something silly like that.

She
released her grip on the quilt, placing a hand to her heaving chest, letting
her fingers walk up the open neck of her flannel nightgown.

A
succession of raucous thumps hit her ears, and her hand froze in mid-air.
Okay...maybe a bird did hit the side of the house? Or maybe a flock of geese?
Her imagination started whirling out of control. But something was still
outside!

She
drew in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves, when all at once the scent
of horses and hay filled the air.

Her
heart banged against her ears.

Hold
yourself together, Annie. It’s probably just a cat. But cats don’t smell like
horses! Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. This is Colorado, not Chicago.

She
worried her bottom lip and looked at the cedar chest. Had that sock just moved?

Her
eyes widened. It seemed to go taut against the window, as if it were hooked onto
something, reminding her of some Navy Seal show she had just watched. The Seals
had anchored a rope inside a room, climbed the outside wall of a factory and
vaulted through the window!

Settle
down, Annie. Just settle down and look at this calmly.

There
is no Navy Seal outside! And this is not a factory!

Okay,
breathe.

There
was a reasonable explanation for this. That sock, or twine, or whatever, was
already there when she had come into the room. Her eyes were playing tricks on
her. There was no way she was going to wake the entire household!