Diamond in the Rough (Diamond J #2) (14 page)

Aidan nodded and looked at the calf with her huge eyes and heaving sides. She was scared. Her ears swiveled back and forth, quickly, taking in everything around her. “Good idea. Think she’ll be warm enough out here tonight?”

Beau nodded. “I expect so. It’s a warm summer night. Good thing this didn’t happen a couple of months ago.” He rolled the stall door open just wide enough for them to squeeze through.

After Aidan slipped out of the stall, the bottle tucked under his arm, he rolled the door shut and glanced in at the calf. He wasn’t sure why he felt so responsible for the little critter, but he did. It brought back memories of being a kid, dragging home every stray kitten and puppy he ran across.

His smile faded as he remembered his father scoffing at him. Calling him a softie. Calling him Amy.

That’s why he hadn’t been home since his mother died nearly a decade ago. If he ever had a son, a boy like Toby, he would be a better father. He blinked as he realized for the first time in his adult life, he could see himself as a father.

With a smile, Aidan fell into step beside Beau and walked toward the big house and stepped through the side door. Aidan flipped on the light above the sink as Beau said goodnight and strolled down the hall.

Aidan opened the refrigerator and stared at the half empty jug of milk. He pulled the jug out and examined it in the low light. Vitamin D milk. He was fairly certain that was the same thing as whole milk. He shrugged, poured the milk into a large Pyrex measuring cup then put it in the microwave. As he watched the cup spin as the machine whirred to life, he thought about the calf.

And Gina. He couldn’t wait to tell her about the baby in the barn. Any excuse to see her again would do. A little thrill coursed through him at the thought of being near her again.

The microwave timer beeped and he quickly opened the door to stop the sound before he woke anyone in the house up. He touched the milk, then poured the milk in the bottle and hurried back out to the barn.

He slipped into the stall and knelt next to the quivering calf. Poor thing wasn’t cold. She was scared. Wanted her mama, most likely. Missed the herd. He held out the bottle and offered her the nipple. After a few false starts, she nursed greedily, sucking and bumping and slurping. He grinned as he watched her drink. Not as good as mama’s milk, but it would do in a pinch.

Thoughts shuffled through his brain. Gina. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. What would she think of him doing this? Would she understand? Think he was soft, like his father did, or be impressed?

The calf bumped against the bottle, reminding him of the rustlers. They were the worst kind of criminals, dealing in live animals. He worried about the treatment the herd would receive. The only thing that gave him hope was that the animals wouldn’t be of value if they didn’t make it to the sale barn or butcher’s. Maybe that would be enough incentive for the thieves to take care of the cattle.

His stomach churned as he thought of the poor animals packed in a cattle hauler. It bothered him enough when he and the boys had to haul cattle from the Diamond J in the stock trailer, and he knew they took every precaution to make sure the animals were cared for properly.

The calf bumped him hard again, drawing him back to the stall. She slurped at the empty bottle. All done. He stroked the calf’s soft black fur for a few minutes, hesitant to leave her alone. Finally, fatigue took over as she dropped to her knees and lowered herself into the thick straw. He pushed himself to his feet and slipped out the door. He could fit in a few hours of sleep before she was ready to eat again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The Barbecue

The day of the barbecue dawned bright and warm, a perfect summer day. Memorial Day weekend was always sweet, since it marked the beginning of summer, but this year it was more sweet than usual. Things had settled into a nice rhythm at the Diamond J over the past year. The passing of Jonathan Jameson, the founder of the Diamond J had been hard on everyone, but his daughter had proven herself - and won Beau's heart.

Aidan leaned against the back doorway of the barn and watched Beth standing at the corner of the deck. She’d grown into quite the rancher, smart with the horses and fair with the employees.

The night she learned she’d won her father’s challenge, just a few weeks ago, Beau admitted his feelings for her. The memory of that night brought a smile to Aidan’s lips. He’d been proud of his own contribution to Beth’s success. It had been so much fun, the way Charlotte rounded everyone up. The crew had been unanimous in their support of the old man’s daughter.

His eyes swept the crowd already gathered in the yard, looking for Gina. It was still early, but he was anxious to see her. He glanced across the yard at Beau, working the big barbecue grill (actually a barrel that they had jerry-rigged into a barbecue grill), and had to suppress a grin when Beth whipped Beau’s cowboy hat off and stuck a chef’s hat on his head. Instead of reacting with anger or embarrassment, he took it in stride, with a big grin, totally hamming it up.

He let her get away with things that no one else could even come close to getting away with. He even wore the red and white checkered apron that proclaimed in blazing red letters “Caution – Man Cooking” with little fire extinguishers all over it that she’d given him for Christmas.

He stood at the side of the yard on a little hillock, so he could have a full view of the picnickers. While looking for Gina, he noticed Katie, the neighbor's daughter, sitting in a metal chair with the ice cream freezer between her feet. She was bent over, turning the crank, her pony-tail falling to one side of her face and nearly touching the ice. He walked over to her.

Aidan asked, “Home for the summer?”

"Yup." She turned her head and looked up at him, then blew a piece of hair out of her face. She raised her eyebrows and said, “Finished finals up earlier this month.”

"Junior year?"

She grinned. "A senior now. Technically." A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face, dripped and landed on the wooden deck.

He glanced around, spotted a few concrete blocks stacked up beside the house. He grabbed a block in each hand, then walked back up the steps. He sat them down in front of Katie and the ice cream freezer.

She looked up at him, her eyebrows pinching together to form a frown. She asked, “What’s that for?”

He grinned at her and asked, “Your back hurting?”

She grinned back and said, “Uh, yeah. Duh!”

“Try this.” He squatted down and wrapped his arms around the ice cream freezer and lifted it. A light dawned on her face and she scrambled out of her seat and pulled the two concrete blocks into place in front of her.

“Okay!” She pointed. “You can put it down.”

As he lowered the ice cream freezer with a grunt, she helped guide it into place, so it settled in perfectly on top of the concrete blocks. She sat back down, then turned the crank. She declared, “Perfect! Thank you!”

He grinned at her and motioned with his hand. “Anytime, Katie. Need me to do anything?”

“Yeah.” She nodded in the direction of the side table beside her. “Could you add a little salt to the ice?”

“Sure.” He picked up the bag of rock salt. He lifted the towel off the top of the freezer, tilted the bag and shook a little bit of salt in a circle around the metal freezer. “Want me to take over for a while?”

“Nah.” She shook her head, then blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m good for now. Besides, don’t you need to be looking for the gal that runs the scrapbook store?” She winked at him and grinned.

Warmth spread up his cheeks at the mention of Gina.
“How'd you know about---" He stopped himself. "Never mind. Just holler if you need help.” He nodded to her, then looked around the group and spotted Charlotte moving among the crowd.

She was carrying a tray laden with bottles of dark brown bottles, most likely beer. He walked down the steps off the deck and onto the lawn, then headed out with an idea to intercept Charlotte and relieve her of one of those frosty beers. As he walked, his eyes swept the group for Gina’s auburn ponytail.

He wove through clumps of people from town and loose knots of rodeo cowboys, most proudly displaying their big belt buckles. He nodded to those who he knew, clapped a few guys on their backs in greeting, heading in Charlotte’s general direction, all the while scanning the crowd.

It was already hot, especially for late May, probably nearing 90 already and the humidity was probably about the same, and a cold beer would slide down the throat awful easy.

He felt a tug on his shirtsleeve and his heart flipped, hoping it was Gina. He smiled and turned to find a stocky cowboy, one of the team ropers that bought one of the Diamond J mares late last summer. “Hey, Marty, how’s it going?” He held out his hand and the other man shook it heartily.

The cowboy’s wide face broke into a crooked grin, “Hey, Aidan! It’s goin’ good! How’re you, man?” He was a few inches shorter than Aidan, built like a bulldog, wide and muscular.

“Good, good. How’s the mare working out for you?” Aidan asked.

The man's grin widened. “She’s a peach, she is! Works great. It’s like she anticipates what I need her to do. Great disposition.” He hooked his thumbs in his front pockets.

Aidan matched Marty’s grin. “Cali’s definitely a good horse. Glad she’s working out for you.” He’d liked the cowboy as soon as he’d met him, impressed with the man’s gentle way with the horses he’d looked at.

Marty’s grin faded to a smile and he shook his head, “She’s more than just workin’ out. Thanks to her we been in the running for the money in every rodeo we’ve done. Poor old Ghost had gotten old enough, he couldn’t keep up. He deserved to take it easy in the pasture for a while. Been team ropin’ now for nigh on eight years with Scotty Busch, and Ghost was with me well before me and Scotty hooked up.”

“That’s longer than you’ve ever stayed with a woman!” Aidan said, as he clapped the other cowboy on the shoulder. The two men had a good laugh, then Aidan continued, “I saw you and Scotty ropin’ at the rodeo down in Joplin last July. You two work together real well.”

Marty nodded and said, “That we do, that we do. And me an’ Scotty work together pretty good, too.” He winked.

Aidan laughed and said, “You and Scotty’ve been ropin’ together a long time. You
should
work together well.”

Marty said, “You know, Scotty’s real impressed with Cali and his gelding, Buck, is gettin’ up in years. Gonna need a new horse soon, and he’d like to be able to get started training a young horse now that could take over for Buck in a year or so.”

Aidan nodded his head over his shoulder in the direction of the back pasture. “Come take a look at our two year olds. We got them in this pasture right here.”

Marty looked over Aidan’s shoulder toward the pasture and nodded, “Yeah, I got time. Let’s see what ya got.”

Aidan turned on his heel and ran smack into a little boy. He blinked at the sudden impact and exclaimed, “I’m so sorry! You okay?”

“I’m okay.” The little boy looked up at him, eyes big and round, then said in a small voice, “I'm tough, remember?”

Recognition dawned on Aidan as he noticed the Band-Aid on the kid's chin. “It's Toby, right?” Aidan looked around. The boy was adrift in a sea of people. “Where's your mom?”

The boy shrugged. “Dunno.”

Aidan and Marty traded a look, and Marty shrugged. He muttered, “I ain’t never seen him before.”

"I know his mom." Aidan said, then squatted on his heels and squinted at the boy, eye level with him. “I bet your mom is worried about you. How's your chin?”

“Fine,” declared the boy proudly. “Mom says I'm gonna have a scar.”

Aidan smiled at the boy’s demeanor. He was cute, for a kid -- and he was all boy. He'd begged to ride the "steer" like a real cowboy at his birthday party.

A woman’s voice cut through the murmur of voices, high pitched and frantic. “Toby! Toby!”

Aidan put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and stood up, searching the crowd for Gina. He spotted her thick auburn ponytail moved through the crowd like a bobber on the lake. He felt a little thrill at the sight of her and waved his hand in the air, then shouted, “Toby’s over here!”

She stood on her tip-toes to see over the crowd. Several heads swiveled toward his deep voice. Their eyes met and hers widened in recognition. She hurried toward him, pushing through the crowd, her chest tight with worry. She should have been watching her son more closely. As soon as she reached easy shouting distance – close enough that he could hear her with her voice raised, but not quite at a shout, she asked, “You found Toby?” Her eyebrows rose.

He nodded and pointed down.

She reached them and immediately bent down to hug Toby. “I told you to stay right beside me!” Her heart still pounded in her chest from the rush of losing him in the crowd.

“I tried, but I wanted to follow the kitty!” He explained. He started to point then looked around and shrugged, “The kitty’s gone.”

She raised up and glanced at Aidan, “I’m sorry.” He’d been so nice to include them in the event. “I hope Toby didn’t get in the way or anything. He was right beside me and then--” Her voice trailed off.

He spread his hands apart, palm up and said, “Nothing to be sorry about. I’m easily distracted, too. Glad to see you made it.”

She looked up at him, her eyes still bright from the rush of losing her child momentarily in the crowd. “Thank you again for inviting us.” She felt a tingle of excitement at seeing him again.

He glanced behind her, “Did you bring a friend?”

She shook her head no, but Toby was the one who answered, “Mom didn't know if this was a date or not.”

They both looked down at him then back at each other. Her cheeks heated. Aidan raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side, “So, is this a date?”

She frowned at him, then tilted her head and squinted up at him, “No.” She raised her hand to shade her eyes.

Marty elbowed Aidan in the ribs and said, “Aren’t ya gonna introduce me to the pretty young lady?”

Aidan blinked quickly and stammered for a moment, then said, “Yeah, sure. Marty, this is, uh, Gina, uh, Gina from the scrapbook store in town. And Gina, this is Marty.”

Gina stuck out her hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Marty.”

Marty took her hand and shook it slowly, holding her hand longer than he should have, as he drawled out, “And it’s very nice to meet you, Gina from the scrapbook store in town.”

Aidan frowned at the cowboy and said, “You can let go now, Marty.”

Gina withdrew her hand and let it rest on Toby’s shoulder, “I hope Toby didn't interrupt anything or get in the way.”

Toby swiveled his head and looked up at her, and said, “They’re real live cowboys, Mom!” He pointed to their dusty boots as proof.

Marty jerked his head toward the horses in the back pasture and said, “We was just gonna go look at some of the two year olds. Want to join us?”

Toby piped up and protested, “I’m too old to play with two year olds!”

Aidan bent down, his hands on his knees, and said, “You can’t really play with these two year olds anyway. They’ve got four legs and a tail!”

Toby’s eyes widened and he said incredulously, “Really?”

Marty shifted so he stood next to Gina, then said, “They’re horses. Wanna go look at ‘em?”

Toby nodded, his eyes bright with excitement. The four walked toward the back pasture. Gina glanced over and saw Toby wrap his little fingers around Aidan’s index finger. Aidan glanced at her, then looked at Marty on the other side of her. Marty inclined his head toward her, talking about the importance of bloodlines and early training in rodeo horses.

As they walked, Aidan kept glancing at her, then at Toby, whose little legs pumped in order to keep up with the adults’ longer strides. Aidan had a bemused expression on his face. He opened his hand and Toby pressed his palm against Aidan’s, then wrapped his fingers around Aidan’s hand. His little fingers didn’t reach all the way around, and Aidan’s hand swallowed the boy’s hand.

He looked over Toby’s head at her. A man like that, showing his softer side, was sexy as all get out. The cowboy, with his black Stetson, long hair curling over his collar, and five o’clock shadow, made her go weak in the knees.

She felt her strappy sun dress swing around her legs as her hips swayed back and forth and hoped he noticed. The top — Midge’s idea — was fitted, snug around her breasts, cut just low enough to highlight her generous cleavage. As they walked, she saw him steal a glance at her chest and quickly ducked her head, embarrassed. When she raised her head, he met her gaze and those electric blue eyes sizzled with heat. Her mouth went dry and her lips parted slightly.