Her Heart for the Asking (Book 1 - TEXAS HEARTS) (3 page)

Beau had reconciled himself to that long
ago.  He'd tried to be what his father wanted.  He'd
learned all about ranching with the intent of one day taking over
the family spread with his three brothers.  But it had never
been his dream. 

Beau had the fever for rodeo even before
that first time he'd ridden over the pasture trying to steal a peek
at the Double T when he was ten years old, just to see what his dad
was fussing and fuming about.  He'd never understood his
father's vendetta against Hank Promise, but he understood the fever
for riding a wild bronc.  And with Hank's help, he'd become
one of the best bronc bareback riders on the circuit.

"Yeah, Mandy, Hank said he needed me and I
left everything behind.  I owe him a lot."

Shaking her head, she stared out the window,
averting her gaze.  She had her elbow pressed against the door
and her fist tucked under her chin.  Every so often, a gust of
wind whipped wayward strands of hair that had fallen from her
ponytail around her face and she'd briskly push them away.

Silence dragged on for a few minutes and
Beau contemplated turning the radio on again to drown out his
hammering heart and the vacant sound of tires eating up the miles
of road ahead.  Then Mandy spoke again.

"I can't imagine why my uncle would forgive
you for what you did.  I told him, you know.  Right after
you left, I told him the real reason you'd been hanging around the
Double T.  You must have done some smooth talking to get back
into his good graces."

"Hank doesn't harbor any bad feelings for
what's happened over the years."

She snapped her gaze at him.  "What
makes you so sure?"

"Mandy, it was no secret my father lived and
breathed to make Hank's life miserable.  It wasn't going to
happen, of course, because Hank's not that kind of man.  Dad
had never gotten over the fact that Hank outbid him for the Double
T all those years ago.  He's always wanted that spread as his
own and Hank knew it."

"Uncle Hank bought the Double T fair and
square."

"I know that and you know that.  If my
father wasn't so stubborn, he'd probably see that, too.  But
after all these years, I doubt that will ever happen.  It
would have been a lot better if ol' man Barrows hadn't promised
he'd sell the land to dad before he died.  Once the family and
lawyers got hold of the estate, none of that mattered."

"Then why did Hank ask you to come back when
he knows..."

"Despite what you think, I'm not the
enemy.  If it's good enough for Hank, why can't it be good
enough for you?"

A cold cloud swiftly covered her
features.  "You know it's different," she answered
quietly.

He glanced back at the vacant roadway
ahead.  "Yeah, maybe you're right.  Why didn't you ever
come back?"

"How do you know I didn't?"

"I've been at the Double T for three weeks
now.  Cowboys may not say much, but when they do, they're
direct.  You remember Mitch?  He started working as a
hand the last summer you visited the ranch."

"Vaguely.  Lanky kid with
freckles?"

Beau couldn't help but laugh.  "Well, I
wouldn't exactly call him lanky, but he remembers you quite fondly
and mentioned you hadn't been back.  How come?"

"What do you want this time?" she asked,
ignoring his question.

It was his turned to be confused. 
"What do you mean?"

"You must want something if you're giving up
everything you love, everything you've worked so hard for, just to
come back to Steerage Rock to work as a cowpoke for my uncle. 
Come on now, Beau.  You have a shot at World Champion this
year.  It had to be something big."

His lips curled into a slow grin, earning
him a bigger scowl from Mandy.  "You keeping tabs on me?"

"Never mind.  Forget I asked."

He should, Beau thought.  It wasn't a
good idea to be flattered she'd gone to lengths to find out how
he'd been doing.  And it wasn't his place to reveal to her the
real reason he'd come home from the circuit.  Even if it was
only for a short time.  But something deep inside told him
he'd be repeating the mistakes of the past if he didn't at least
warn her.  He'd kept his mouth shut eight years ago because it
had been the right thing to do.  This was different. 
This time they were talking about Hank's life.

"What made you come back after all this
time?" he asked, figuring if there was even the slightest chance
she knew something, he could unload the rest.  After all,
she'd come running, too.

"Mom said uncle Hank hasn't been
himself.  It's been a while since I've come out for a
visit.  She thought it would help lift his spirits some. 
Although I can't imagine how."

"I think she's right."

Mandy stared at him for a long moment, much
like she used to do years ago when she was deciding whether to tell
him a secret or keep it to herself.  Back then, she'd always
end up climbing right across the cab, turning his head and kissing
him right while he was driving.  He'd end up swerving across
the road recklessly until his heart stopped pounding and she
settled next to him in the middle of the seat. 

His heart pumped furiously now just with the
memory, and he felt himself grow hard.  Those were foolishly
wild times for them when all he cared about was having Mandy Morgan
in his arms as he rode from one local rodeo to the next. 
Recklessly passionate times they'd shared.

But this time, she wasn't climbing across
the seat to saddle up next to him.  This time Mandy just
stared with suspicion flooding her expression.  Her voice was
grave as she spoke.  "What aren't you telling me, Beau
Gentry?"

He hesitated.  In a few hours, she was
going to hear the truth anyway.  What did it matter if he was
the one to tell her?  The least he could do was warn
her.  Give her time to come to grips before she saw her
uncle.

"It's Hank's heart," he said quickly.

The small gasp that escaped her lips had his
chest constricting.  He longed to reach across the seat and
touch her.  To give her an ounce of comfort for the fear she
must be feeling.  But he knew comfort from him was probably
the last thing she'd accept.

"Hank's always been healthy as a horse."

"I know."

"H-how bad?"

He swallowed as he glanced at her.  Her
eyes had filled with moisture, but her tears remained unshed. 
"He needs surgery very soon or he won't make it."

"Oh, God."  She buried her face in her
hands.  "Why didn't anyone tell me?  Why didn't Uncle
Hank or Aunt Corrine...or my mother tell me?"

"Does it matter?  You know now."

"When is he going in for surgery?"

"That's just it, he's not."

"What?  You just said he needed surgery
or he'll...die."

"I suspect that may be why your mother urged
you to come for a visit.  To talk some sense into him. 
He has this foolish idea that he'll go when the Good Lord says it's
his time.  He wants nothing to do with bypass."

"But that's ridiculous.  People have
bypass surgery all the time and live normal, healthy lives for
years afterwards.  Why would he risk his life this way?"

"I'm not sure, but no matter what anyone
tries to tell him, he insists he's not going under the knife. 
Maybe he'll listen to you."

Determination flared up in her tear-filled
eyes.  "You'd better believe he will.  I can't believe
he's being this foolish."

"I'll probably get my hide chewed out when
we get back to the Double T for me telling you like this, but at
least it won't be a shock when you finally get there."

The sound of the truck's tires rolling down
the highway filled the air between them.  Mandy stared
vacantly out the window as the breeze blew the tendrils of hair
framing her face about in a wild fury.

"Have you tried talking to him?" she asked
quietly after a few moments had passed. 

Beau nodded.  "I tell you, he's not
listening to anyone."

They rode the rest of the way in
silence.  They didn't talk, they didn't listen to the radio,
and Beau didn't whistle.  Oh, he was anxious as hell all
right.  Just being with Mandy had him on edge, ready to jump
out of his skin more than any wild bronc ever
could.  

But he knew Mandy needed to be with her
thoughts.  Needed time to come to grips with what she'd face
before they made it back to the Double T.  Coming home had a
way of doing that to you.  But then, the Double T had never
really been Mandy Morgan's true home.

* * *

Mandy gazed at the long stretch of road
ahead, the rolling pastures of grazing cattle, and endless fields
of corn on both sides of the road.  Uncle Hank was sick. 
Good Lord, he had the biggest heart of any man she knew and now his
heart was failing him. 

She should have known that.  Beau
Gentry shouldn't have been the one to tell her something so
important.

Guilt consumed her for not staying in touch
with him and Aunt Corrine more.  The last time she'd seen them
was when she'd graduated from college.  They'd come up to
Boston to attend her graduation from Boston University, but had
only stayed on a day more before returning to Texas.  Mandy
had been anxious to get on with the graduation celebration with her
friends from school before she had to go back to Philadelphia and
start the job at her father's advertising firm.

She’d spoken on the phone with Aunt Corrine
and Uncle Hank every few months since then.  She loved Uncle
Hank like family, even though she knew he and Aunt Corrine weren't
actual blood relations, but rather just close family friends.

The front gate of the Double T, named after
a particularly favorite horse from the rodeo circuit called Double
Trouble, came into view.  Mandy recalled the first time she'd
come to Texas when she was only nine years old.  Her mother
had accompanied her and stayed for a few days, although it was
evident being on a cattle ranch was the last place her mother
wanted to be.  Before that, Uncle Hank and Aunt Corrine would
always come to Philadelphia to visit. 

Her parents thought it was time to broaden
Mandy's horizon, let her know a different kind of life than the one
she'd led in Philadelphia.  But she was just a kid and what
did she know about horizons or cattle ranches or cities other than
being with people she loved and felt safe with? 

Her mother stayed a few days that first
visit and then told her she'd be spending the summer with Uncle
Hank and Aunt Corrine all by herself.  Mandy had wrapped her
arms around her mother's neck, refusing to let her leave Mandy
behind in Texas.  But her mother told her she had to
stay. 
I'm not asking.
  Like always, Mandy had no
choice.

She'd spent every summer after that until
she was sixteen.  Until Beau broke her heart and destroyed
what dreams she’d dared to dream.

Mandy always knew when it was time for a
visit to Texas.  Her parents would fight endlessly for weeks
on end.  Dad would work long hours and snap at everyone for
every little thing.  Suring that time her parents shared the
same house, but not together in any way that mattered. 
There’d always been a divide. 

But when Mandy would return from those
summer vacations in Texas, she saw the positive change in their
marriage.  They'd hold hands and sneak kisses in the kitchen
when they thought she wasn't looking. 

As she got older and began to understand the
workings of a relationship between a man and a woman, Mandy began
to view her summer trips to Texas as time for her parents to
rebuild whatever was breaking down in their marriage.  She
stopped resenting them for sending her away and even began looking
forward to her summers at the Double T.

Mandy closed her eyes and tried to squash
the foreboding feeling building up inside her.  She glanced at
Beau, who had surprised her by giving her some "space" during the
long ride to collect herself.

He'd surprised her by asking why she hadn't
returned to Texas.  He'd known and said as much at the
airport.  But she hadn't answered him.  Why hadn't
she?  She could have told him that she was busy going to
college, making a career for herself.  It was true to a
certain point.  She didn't have to tell him that the real
reason was that she feared running into him again.  After all,
his family did own the adjoining spread, and if she spent any time
outside the Double T, there was a strong possibility she'd bump
into him if he’d been home from the road. 

Or she could have simply told Beau that
she'd moved on with her life just as easily as he had when he rode
out of Texas without her.  Looking at him now, feeling the
dull ache in her heart build with each passing second, she knew
that wasn't true.  Beau would see right through any attempt to
state otherwise.

Nerves brewed in her stomach as they pulled
into the driveway of the Double T Ranch.  Things hadn't
changed much since the last time she’d been there.  The
outbuildings that had once seemed so enormous to Mandy as a child
looked smaller, fragile even, and in need of some repair.  The
two-story farmhouse had some peeling paint on the front porch
soffits.  But other than that, it looked as inviting as it
always had with its brick walkway, and hanging flower baskets
lining the wrap-around porch.  The wicker rocking chairs that
had once filled the front porch had been replaced by a wide porch
swing and a wooden glider built for two.

Before the truck rolled to a stop in front
of the main house Uncle Hank had thrown open the screen door and
planted himself on the top porch step, holding his arms wide open
for her.  His smile was so bright, it made her chest ache.

Mandy couldn't help herself.  With the
weight of tears burning her eyes, she bolted from the cab and
launched herself up the porch steps into Hank's arms.  Hank
folded her into a tight embrace and kissed her forehead.