Desperado: Deep in the Heart, Book 2 (22 page)

“Sorry you didn’t catch her, Cody,” Pick called. He kept his back turned decisively toward Curvy.

Cody sighed and walked toward his truck. He supposed he should ask what had derailed the codgers for the moment, but his heart ached too much. He couldn’t believe Stormy Nixon had set foot on his ranch without trying to hunt him up.

Stormy gasped as Cody walked past the limousine.

“Is everything all right, ma’am?” the chauffeur asked.

“Fine.” She whipped around to peer out the back window after Cody. He looked strong and sturdy, and wonderfully sexy. There was dirt on the back of his jeans and his boots were worn and dirty, but she didn’t care. Cody Aguillar looked like a miracle to her. “There’s your daddy, baby,” she said, rubbing her stomach.

“Pardon me, ma’am?”

“I’m just talking to myself,” she called to the chauffeur, turning back to watch Cody. He moved with purpose and long-legged grace, and Stormy couldn’t help thinking there was no more fabulous man on earth. Maybe she should have called him to let him know she was in Desperado. Since she wasn’t showing yet, it would have been safe enough. But she would definitely have gotten misty. She seemed to cry at anything these days, which the doctor told her was hormones. Her mother recommended transcendental meditation. Actually, Stormy suspected her recent bouts of teariness had more to do with pining for a certain rancher. Watching him hungrily as the limo left him behind, Stormy suddenly wondered if he’d come looking for her. Mary surely had not called him to mention Stormy’s presence. Pick and Curvy might have, though. Hopefully they wouldn’t do something like that. After all, she and Cody hadn’t exactly advertised their relationship.

No, she thought, turning back around in her seat, he hadn’t been coming to see her. Mary was rehearsing and no doubt her proud uncle wanted to watch. It was ridiculous for Stormy to imagine—hope—that he’d hotfoot it down to the set to see her. Touching the snake teeth she’d had made into an exquisite silver collar necklace on her return to California, she closed her eyes and let the tears slide down her cheeks.

“Yes, Cody. I talked to Stormy,” Annie replied to his carefully, casually worded question.

She turned to him as he sat with a soda in front of him that he couldn’t drink if he had to. Though her kitchen was nearly a second home to him, Cody felt awkward.

“She called to see how I was progressing with my pregnancy, and we chatted about morning sickness and things like that. Why?”

“Just curious.” He glanced at her stomach. “You are feeling okay, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Annie laughed. “Everything seems to have calmed down this fall. Mary’s a changed child, and the nausea passed. I feel positively blossoming.”

She looked it, too. Cody was happy for all of them. “Glad to hear it,” he said, jamming his hat onto his head. “Guess I’ll head back to the house.” He walked outside the house disconsolately.

“Uncle Cody!” Mary called, running to meet him at his truck.

“Hey, ladybug. How’s my film star?”

“Oh, Uncle Cody.” She gave him a peck on the cheek. “I’m not a star. But I’m having lots of fun.”

“And you’re getting your homework done, too?” He gave her a stern look.

“Yes,” she said, laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “I think I’m going to have all A’s this first session.”

“I hope so.” A stray thought struck him and he paused before getting into his truck. “Did you get to see Stormy?”

“Oh, yes!” Her eyes gleamed with happiness. “She said I looked so pretty, and then she came out and talked to me again and gave me a hug before she left. I just love her, Uncle Cody.”

His niece’s eyes shone with a lighthearted delight he’d never seen before. Cody nodded to himself. If Stormy had made this many good changes in Desperado, then so be it. He couldn’t be angry with a woman who’d meant so much to so many people.

“Didn’t you see her, Uncle Cody?” Mary’s eyes gazed at him curiously, almost worriedly.

“Nope. Missed her. I was out in the fields all day.” Briskly, he got into the truck. “Probably catch her next time. Love ya, ladybug.” He started the engine and drove away, his heart crushed by the knowledge that apparently Stormy had made time for everyone in Desperado that she had ever talked to.

Except him.

Mary watched her uncle leave in dismay. He looked old suddenly, and somehow worn. Well, maybe not old exactly, but certainly tuckered out. The strangest expression had come over his face when she’d told him that Stormy had hugged her goodbye. Mary swallowed, remembering that, once upon a time, she had thought Stormy only liked her because of Uncle Cody. She’d even thought that she couldn’t trust Stormy if she was going to be best friends with her uncle. Mary had been so frightened of being left out, like she was sometimes at school.

Well, not so much anymore. Now that she was in a movie, she had more friends than ever. She got invited to all kinds of parties where even the parents asked her lots of questions that made her feel important. Like, how did you get the part, and do you know anyone I could call to see if there might be a part for my kid? Yes, she had lots of friends now.

Sadly, she looked at her feet. Of course, Stormy had done her best to help Mary out. All her newfound friends she owed to Stormy.

But poor Uncle hadn’t gotten to see Stormy. And he hadn’t looked very happy about it. Sadness filled Mary’s heart. Stormy could have called Uncle if she’d wanted to. And Stormy could have made an appointment to see him, if she’d wanted to.

Suddenly, Mary knew why Uncle looked so lost. He had wanted to see Stormy. But Stormy, for some reason, hadn’t made time for him. She’d made time for Mary, though.

Once that would have made Mary feel like a princess. Now she just felt sorry for Uncle. All her life her uncle had been there for her. She’d always been his ladybug. Even when she was mean and bad, her uncle loved her. Anytime she needed him he rushed to her side for whatever he could do to help.

She felt small and selfish for being jealous of him before. She was going to have a new baby in the house to love and care for, but Uncle was all alone in his big, empty ranch house. Mary sank onto the top step of the porch and put her face in her hands.
Poor Uncle Cody.
He liked Stormy too. He needed her friendship.

But there was nothing Mary could do to help him. Though he had ridden in like a handsome knight to rescue her many times, she couldn’t do that for him. She couldn’t make Stormy like him if she didn’t.

Sloan allowed three days to pass after he’d heard Stormy’d been in town. When he still hadn’t heard word one from the stoic rancher, he decided it was time to put in a surprise appearance. A do-drop-in of sorts, to surreptitiously check up on the ol’ desperado.

He was in a shed skinning rattlesnakes. Sloan sighed and took a seat on a busted chair. “You’ve been out of sight lately.”

“Yeah.” Cody didn’t look up, but he nodded. Sloan scratched at his chin and looked his buddy over. Maybe eight or ten pounds of weight loss, which could be blamed on Carmen being gone, but he thought there was more to it than that. Cody was a damn fine cook. He could rustle up his own grub.

Weight loss and a taciturn expression could point to a rancher suffering the pangs of love.

He leaned back and examined his hat. “Heard from Stormy?”

“No. Hadn’t figured I would.”

“Heard she was in town,” Sloan probed.

Cody shrugged. “Free country.”

“It is that.” He thought for a few moments. “Ever considered calling her?”

“Not really. Don’t have her number.”

“Well, hell, Cody! Call information, for the love of Sam!” Surely the big man didn’t expect him to fall for such a weenie excuse. If that was the only reason he hadn’t gotten in contact with Stormy, then he didn’t really want to.

“I did. She’s unlisted.”

“Oh.” Sloan thought that over for a second. “Did you try calling that studio?”

“Yeah. They put me on hold for about twenty minutes, so I called back. Then they put me on hold for another twenty minutes, and I gave up. Either they don’t know who she is, or she doesn’t work there, or they have the most screwed-up phone system in California. Must be all those earthquakes scrambling people’s brains.”

Sloan pushed out his lips thoughtfully. “Do Mary or Annie have her phone number?”

“Don’t think so. She said she’d write them, but never has, best as I can tell.”

“Well, you just might have to waltz down to the film shoot and ask some nosy questions. If you have to, ask Pick and Curvy to ferret it out for you.”

Cody looked up. “Are the codgers speaking to each other yet?”

“No. As far as they’re concerned, they’re not even in the same county together.”

Cody sighed. “I may have to do something about that.”

“You got troubles enough of your own. Besides, how do you get two old men to talk to each other when they plainly don’t want to?”

“There are ways.” He finished up and washed his hands. “Do you know that crazy woman stole a set of snake teeth off my dresser?”

“Er—” Sloan hesitated. “Dresser, as in your bedroom?”

A flush spread up his buddy’s neck. “Only one I’ve got.”

Well,
now
they were getting somewhere. Being a sheriff had taught him to listen to everything a person said to catch the nuances, and he’d just caught him a helluva nuance. “You never said you’d—”

“I don’t have to.” Cody glared at him. “That’s between me and the lady. All you’re supposed to focus on is that she stole my teeth.”

“Jeez. Some women want wedding rings. Trust Stormy to be unique.” He crossed his arms on a sigh. “Well, you’re going to have to hire Curvy and Pick to do your dirty work, then. She feels something for you if she took your teeth, and you’re going to have to hunt her up this time. You’re going to have to get off this damn ranch and get your hide to California if you want her, earthquakes and airplanes and all. I know it scares you outta your gourd, but you’re going to have to do it.”

“I’m not scared,” Cody growled at him. “I’m not chasing after a female who’s not interested in me, and who’s not cut out to be a part of my life anyway. Think about it. Can you really imagine that upside-down woman being happy on a ranch?”

“Nope.” Sloan shook his head.

“Well, then.”

“She’d be happy on your ranch, though, and that’s what you gotta get through your thick skull.” Sloan ambled out of the shed. “When you quit being a chicken-skinned coward, you might get up the gumption to ask around down at the set. Somebody knows some way you can get ahold of her.”

“Thanks, pal. Don’t forget to leave your business card for the next time I need advice from Dr. Lovelorn,” Cody grumbled.

Sloan shrugged it off and headed to his truck. It was up to Cody to figure out whether Stormy was just a minor storm in his blood he could wait out until it passed—or a raging, twisting tornado with an aftermath he might not ever get over.

Jonathan sighed as he sent another glance toward Stormy’s stomach. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m not doing anything yet.” She walked to a window and stared out at the freeway below. “The baby seems kind of happy to be doing its own thing.”

“You didn’t want to tell the cowboy?”

She shook her head. “It didn’t feel like the right thing to do. He wasn’t that wild about me.”

“Hm. Wild enough to get you pregnant.”

“As I said, he tried to be very conscientious about that. He’s very concerned about becoming a father.” Stormy laughed softly. “He’s got a little niece that keeps him turned inside out, and quite frankly, he sees himself as too lucky to be staying a bachelor.”

“Oh, gawd. One of those self-proclaimed forever-single men.” Jonathan yawned. “Well, no doubt a baby would throw a kink into his life.” He considered her long and thoughtfully. “Stormy, we should just get married.”

She frowned at him. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Yeah, you did. It would solve this problem for you. And it wouldn’t change my life in any way. But you’d have a name for your baby.”

Stormy stared at the man who had known her father for years, the man who kept her employed when no one else wanted to give her a job. Jonathan was a handsome, older man, near the same age as her father. He’d been involved in a long-running affair with a woman who was never going to divorce her husband. The situation suited everyone involved. She knew what direction his thoughts were taking. They would get married, he would continue to see his lady love, and she would have the security of a large, well-tended house and the finances to care for her child. In time, her heart would heal, and she would be free to pursue other relationships if she chose.

Stormy sighed. “It’s a sweet offer, Jonathan. I appreciate it. I’ll have to think about it.”

“We could do it quickly. A few papers would need to be drawn up, but otherwise, it’s basically a trip to Las Vegas.” He smiled at her benevolently.

She lowered her eyes and went to sit down. All the energy was slowly draining out of her. “You’re a good man, Jonathan.”
Of course, I wouldn’t want my baby growing up the way I did, with its best clothes coming from thrift shops and being afraid to buy an occasional new toy in case I lost my job.