Armando Returns (Barboza Brothers) (18 page)

Victor shook his head.
“No, you’re waiting for a chance to argue. You’ve been an ass ever since Armando showed up this morning. I thought we were all grown men here, but apparently not. Maybe it wasn’t right for me to bring Isaac. You’re rubbing off on each other.”

Armando snickered.

Seething, Ramon narrowed his eyes at Victor, cleared his throat, then calmly said, “It pisses me off that he came here without telling anyone and it was only to see that bitch who could’ve gotten him killed.”

Before Armando could respond to Ramon
’s comment about Katie, Victor interjected. “Well, you need to get over it. I, for one, am just glad to see my brother.” He glanced at Armando, then turned again to Ramon. “I’m glad to see
both
of you, in fact. So, instead of being an asshole, how ‘bout you just be grateful that we’re all under the same roof. It’s been a while.”

Ramon pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling, angrily mulling over what Victor said.

Armando took a deep breath and quietly said, “Listen guys, I know my actions don’t make a lot of sense right now. Not even to me.” He folded his hands together and stared down at the floor. No way was he telling his brothers about his feelings for Katie. But it was time for a serious talk. “But that’s not the issue here. I found out tonight that the reason I was kept from marrying Katie had something to do with Henry.”

Ramon nodded.
“I’m not surprised.”

“
What, exactly?” Victor asked.

Armando shrugged.
“I don’t know. At the time, Henry just told me to shrug it off and move on. He said Dwayne McCormack didn’t think I was good enough for his daughter. He was just trying to send me a message. All that bullshit.”

In a sad voice, Victor said,
“Yeah, I remember.”

Ramon
’s eyes were fixed on Armando, quietly waiting for him to continue.

“
But according to Katie,” Armando said, “there’s some kind of history with Henry and the McCormack family. She didn’t know what it was, but she heard her parents arguing. Her mom said something about how her dad shouldn’t have made a deal with Henry years ago. She said it was like making a deal with the devil. They wouldn’t talk about it in front of Katie, either. It was all really secretive. In fact, that whole thing is a big family secret for the McCormacks. They never talk about it. They just pretend it never happened.”

Victor
’s brows knitted together. “Huh. All this time I just figured he was prejudiced. Didn’t want her marrying a Hispanic guy.”

Ramon let out a sarcastic chuckle.
“Nah. Last year her sister married a guy named Eric Gomez. I think he’s lived in Texas his whole life but he’s Hispanic, for sure.” He rolled his eyes. “You woulda thought it was the Royal Wedding or some shit. Had the roads blocked off. Signs everywhere. Henry went to it. Said it was really something. Hundreds of guests.”

Armando and Victor looked at each other in disbelief.

“Wait a minute,” Victor said. “Why are you just now mentioning this? The other night we had a little chat and you didn’t say anything about Katie’s sister marrying a Hispanic guy, or Henry going to the wedding…”

Ramon shrugged.
“So? Didn’t figure it mattered. Since when do you care about what happens around here, anyway?”

Gritting his teeth, Armando grunted, then said,
“Okay,
now
I’m pissed. Ten years ago, I got hauled off to jail and left for dead in the desert because I wanted to marry Dwayne McCormack’s daughter. And now I find out Henry, who lied to me all along, was off at the wedding of Dwayne McCormack’s
other
daughter, having a great time like nothing ever happened. That really doesn’t sit well with me.”

Ramon nodded.
“Yep. Henry and Dwayne always acted like nothing ever happened. Hell, I see Dwayne a couple times a year and we just shake hands and keep on goin’.”

Armando
’s jaw dropped. “What the hell, Ramon? You were a real prick to Katie today but you’re friends with her dad?”

“
No.” Ramon scowled. “We’re not friends. It’s just business. The Cattleman’s Association quarterly breakfast. Dwayne knows a bunch of those guys and he’s there keeping up appearances, I guess.” His eyes darted between his brothers’ indignant faces. “What? I got a business to run! I can’t afford to be mean to people. I gotta maintain those relationships.” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave them each a critical stare. “I know for a fact you both do it, too.” He stopped at Victor. “You told me you met Cara at one of those snooty dinners. Same kinda thing.”

Victor nodded and said,
“Except nobody at that dinner ever left my brother for dead in the middle of the desert.”

Armando shook his head at Ramon.
“Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Ramon snorted.
“No.”

Armando said,
“What’s the real reason Henry left eight months ago?”

Leaning forward in his chair, Victor waited for Ramon
’s response.

“
You already know,” Ramon said. “I bought him out of the ranch. He retired.”

Armando quietly studied Ramon
’s face for any twitches of anxiety. A sign that he was lying. But Ramon was perfectly calm and collected.

Still, something didn
’t add up to Armando, and he knew Victor was thinking it too. Ramon always had a bit of a temper, but there was a bitterness inside him that was strange and unfamiliar. Out of the three brothers, Ramon was the only one who had lived at the ranch with Henry all these years. Turnbrook was a small town, and in addition to the quarterly breakfast, Armando knew Ramon must see the McCormacks occasionally. Given Ramon’s temper, and his cold reaction to Katie today, it made no sense that Ramon would have the self-control to be nice to Katie’s family all these years without blowing up at some point.

Victor gave Ramon a thoughtful look.
“Next time Henry calls, keep him on the phone. Tell him we’d all like to speak with him.”

Armando
’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. I’d just
love
to ask him a few questions.”

Hesitantly, Ramon nodded.
“All right. Next time he calls, I’ll let him know. But it could be weeks.”

“
That’s fine,” Victor said. “We were already thinking of extending our stay for a while. Isaac really likes it here.”

Armando felt happy for the first time in several minutes as he thought of his own reason for sticking around: Katie.
“I was thinking about that too. I could use a long break. Might have to fly out for the day—”

Ramon shot him a wry grin.
“You mean, you wanna stay here in my house? You just drop in out of the blue and expect me to give you a place to stay?”

“
Yep.” Armando sat back in his chair, hands folded over his lap.

Ramon flashed a subtle smile, then produced a deliberate, labored sigh.
“I’m gonna have to put you guys to work, then. You earn your keep in this house. Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “There’s a lotta shit to fix around here. We can start with the potholes out front…”

Victor groaned.
“I’d rather just pay rent if you don’t mind.”

Armando laughed.
“Me too.”

Shrugging, Ramon grinned and said,
“I guess we’ll work something out.” Then his face took on a serious look. “So, what are we gonna do about Dwayne? Henry? Are we all just waiting around for Henry to call? Or are we gonna take action of our own?”

Exasperated at the very mention of their names, Armando inhaled deeply and blew out a heavy breath.
“I don’t know. I don’t wanna waste my energy on revenge.”

They continued for another hour, discussing whether or not they should track down Henry or approach Dwayne. Armando struggled to hide the fact that his thoughts were elsewhere. All he cared about was convincing Katie to choose him over Mitch. Maybe later he
’d care about why they were ripped apart. They could never change the past, and Armando simply wanted Katie in his future.

* * * * *

Yawning, Victor crawled in
to bed beside Cara, who had already turned out the lights.

A few seconds later, in a sleepy whisper, she asked,
“How’d it go downstairs?”

“
Thought you were asleep.” Victor put his arm around Cara’s back as she curled up against him. He kissed her forehead and said, “
So
much family drama. Too heavy for bedtime conversation. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.”

“
Mmm.” Cara nuzzled his chest. “Good. So tired. Mom called when you were down there. That’s enough family drama for me. She’s upset we’re staying for so long. She really misses Isaac.”

“
She and Tom could come down to visit. Stay here at the house.”

“
It’s pretty crowded now, don’t you think?”

Victor yawned.
“Nah. It’s just the three of us, plus Armando. There’s another bedroom downstairs nobody’s using.”

“
Yeah, but the house has probably gotten too crowded for Ramon. I’m afraid we’re overstaying our welcome.”

Victor kissed her forehead again, then said,
“Don’t worry about that. I can tell he’s happy to have company.” Victor knew Ramon would never admit it, but he saw Ramon’s eyes light up when Armando said he wanted to stay. “Also, I was thinking it’d be nice for Ramon to have someone like Patty around. Not that I wanna just bring her down here just so she can work or something—”

Cara inhaled a quiet gasp.
“No, you’re right! I hadn’t thought about it. She’d love that! Having you guys to cook for every night. I’m pretty sure she’ll wanna overhaul the kitchen though. New pots and pans, appliances.” She sat up a little, barely able to see Victor’s eyes in the dark. “Have you seen what he’s using to cook?”

Victor had a moment of laughter. When he calmed down he said,
“It’s settled then. I hope she can get down here, soon. Tell her I’ll pay her. She just can’t tell Ramon about it. When he’s finished working at the end of the day, a good dinner’ll be waiting for him. Patty insisted.” He shrugged. “He gives her grief? I’ll take care of it.”

“
What about when we all leave? He’ll just be alone again.”

“
We’ll worry about that when it happens. For now, I just need to make sure he’s doing better without being obvious about it.”

Cara settled against him with a yawn.
“Sounds good to me. I’ll call her first thing in the morning.”

Victor rubbed her back.
“And I might have a project for Tom, too.”

* * * * *

It was Monday evening. Katie
’s last day off before returning to work, and two days since she saw Armando. She wanted to call him but resisted, at the urging of her sister, Chelsea.

Katie felt it was only right to give Mitch another chance, and tell him about her make-out session with Armando in person. Today she was worried. And not because she was afraid of what Mitch would say.

She was worried about being physical with Mitch tonight.

She had barely thought of him since Armando appeared in her life again. But she was too logical to consider their engagement to be over. After all, they had dated for over a year. Her family loved him. And he bought her a beautiful engagement ring. Certainly she wasn’t flighty enough to forget about him just because the guy she fell in love with as a teenager magically reappeared.

Right?

Sitting on her couch, Katie took another sip of wine to soothe her nerves. Mitch was on his way over. Not long ago she would have looked forward to his visit. She would already have the refrigerator stocked, ready to make him breakfast in the morning.

But now, she waited on pins and needles for someone who may as well have been a stranger.

Katie wore jeans and a nice blouse. Usually she wore something sexy when she was expecting Mitch but it would have made her feel like a fraud tonight. Perhaps her spark for him would reignite naturally. But she was certainly in no mood to seduce him. She spent a few minutes flipping through a scrapbook she made shortly after they got engaged. She stopped to study Mitch in each picture. He was handsome in his own right. Dark blond hair. Blue eyes. Tall. Nice build. All in all, a sexy guy.

At almost seven-thirty, Katie heard a knock at the door. She groaned, set her wine glass on the coffee table, then stood up and shuffled to the door to let him in.

Mitch was mid-yawn when the door opened. With his hand over his mouth, he said,
“Hey baby.”

“
Hey you.” She forced a smile. “Come on in.”

He finished yawning and bent down to give her lips a very quick peck before walking in.

She relaxed a bit. That little kiss wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought it would be.