McKettricks of Texas: Garrett (24 page)

He was a black man.

And to some folks, that still mattered.

Perceptive, Brent sighed. “Come on, Chudley,” he said.

Chudley looked down at Minnie, who waited in silence. “You got your purse with you?” he demanded.

“You see any
purse
in my hand, Chudley Wilkes? My purse is up there to the house, where I left it when you dragged me away from my Sunday afternoon TV movie to watch this here old trailer go up in smoke!”

“Well, we've got to get it, then,” Chudley insisted, though he did allow Brent and one of the volunteer firemen to help him down off the high seat of that tractor. “I'll be needin' my Medicare card, and it's in your wallet, Minnie, and your wallet is
in your purse!
”

“You been into it for beer money, that's how you know what's in my
wallet,
you mangy old hoot owl!” Minnie retorted, bristling.

Julie began to fear for Minnie's blood pressure, as well as Chudley's.

“Let's just head on over to the clinic,” Brent interjected reasonably. “Folks know you in Blue River, Chudley. You can give them your Medicare number later.”

“That trailer had a good ten years left in it,” Chudley complained, though he allowed Brent to steer him toward the squad car. The fire was out by then, and the volunteers were stowing the hoses and putting away shovels and picks.

The structure was a total loss, that was plain to see.

“Nobody got hurt,” Brent told him. “That's what's important here.”

Chudley shook his head as he stooped to plunk himself
down in the passenger seat of the police car. Brent stood by patiently, holding open the door.

“That's easy for you to say,” Chudley growled in response. “You didn't lose a perfectly good trailer.”

Once again, Brent sighed, loudly this time, and with a visible motion of his broad shoulders. “Now, Chudley, you know damn well,” Julie heard him tell the old man, “that trailer ought to have been condemned years ago.”

Minnie had tarried there by the tractor, frowning as though she might be debating whether she wanted to accompany her husband to the clinic or not. When she made a move in that direction, though, Brent quickly opened the back door.

She had long since resigned herself to life with Chudley Wilkes—everyone in Blue River knew that.

Julie, watching the scene, started when she felt Paige's elbow nudge her lightly in the side. “Ready to call it a day?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Julie said.

Paige drove her back to the cottage, so Julie could fetch Harry and lock up. She wanted to see Calvin, hold him in her arms, ruffle his hair and kiss the top of his head.

Of course, she'd have to disguise her affection as a tickle attack—as young as he was, Calvin was already reticent about getting hugs and kisses.

“Thanks for letting Calvin visit over the weekend,” Julie told her sister, when Paige pulled up in front of the converted Victorian mansion where she rented an apartment. Conveniently, Paige's place was right across the street from Julie's cottage. “He always has such a good time with you.”

Paige nodded, but there was something vague about her smile, and her eyes were watchful. “We didn't talk about
it while we were packing dishes,” she said, “but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear all about last night's big date.”

Julie blushed. Looked away. Made herself look back. “It was—a date,” she replied.

“It was more than a date,” Paige insisted good-naturedly. “But we can talk about it tomorrow, after the school day is over, while we're packing up your kitchen.”

Julie shook her head. “The tryouts start at three-fifteen—for the musical, I mean. I'll be busy at school until at least seven o'clock.”

“What about Calvin?” Paige asked, pulling her purse and the blood pressure gizmo from the back seat of her car.

“He'll be with Libby and Tate,” Julie said, feeling unaccountably guilty.

Paige nodded. The impish light in her dark eyes had faded, though, and her expression was pensive. “This unexpected move—I know it's stressful—” She stopped and made another start. “What I mean is, there's a lot going on, what with Gordon turning up out of nowhere and your having to stage a musical at school now instead of in the spring, when you'd planned, and then Libby's wedding—”

Julie chuckled, rounded the back of the car and gave her sister a hug. “I'm really, truly all right, so don't be a fussbudget.”

Paige smiled, and her eyes glistened with moisture. “‘Fussbudget,'” she repeated. “I haven't heard that word in years. Not since before Grammy died.”

After their mother had abandoned the family, their paternal grandmother had done her best to fill in the emotional gaps, but Grammy's health had already been failing, and she simply hadn't had the energy to deal with young children for any length of time.

Julie felt a pang of loss, remembering Grammy, a sweet, well-meaning woman, fragile as a bird. She'd kept her little house down the street from theirs impeccably tidy, Elisabeth Remington had, and baked cookies for them whenever she was feeling well enough.

“Maybe
I'm
the one who should be asking if something is wrong,” Julie said, resting her hands on Paige's shoulders. “What's up, Paige?”

Paige looked away, looked back. Bit her lower lip.

“Tell me,” Julie said firmly.

“I thought it was such a good idea to change jobs,” Paige confessed. “I'm so tired of commuting. The renovations on the house are coming along well—we could all move in there, Julie, you and Calvin and me—even though we'd have to rough it for a while—”

Julie, taller than her sister, bent her knees to look more directly into Paige's face. “Wait,” she said. “Hold it. Let's get back to how you
thought
it was a good idea to work at the clinic here in town instead of driving fifty miles each way, but now—what? You don't think that anymore?”

“But now Austin McKettrick is back,” Paige said. She tried for another smile, but it was spoiled by the bleak expression in her eyes.

“Oh,” Julie said.

“Yeah,” Paige agreed ruefully.
“Oh.”

“I didn't realize you knew Austin was home.”

Across the street, inside the cottage, Harry began to bark his come-and-get-me bark.

“Word gets around,” Paige said.

Julie nodded. “But it's more than that, right?”

Paige sighed. “I seem to have radar, as far as Austin's concerned. If he gets within fifty miles of me, I can feel it.”

“You still care about him, then?” Julie asked, miserable on her sister's behalf.

Austin was charming and he was handsome and he was sexy as hell. He was also a wild man, a renegade. He was all wrong for practical Paige, the nurse, the devoted aunt and sister, the career woman who secretly yearned for a home and a family.

Oh, yes, Austin was all wrong for Paige.

As wrong as
Garrett
was for
her.

Julie closed her eyes for a moment. Drew a deep breath.

“No,” Paige said, “I
don't
still care for Austin. It's just that—well—I don't particularly want to run into him in the supermarket and at the dry cleaner's—”

A corner of Julie's mouth kicked up in a grin. “I doubt if Austin does much of the grocery shopping or hangs around the cleaner's a lot, Paige.”

Pain moved in Paige's exquisitely beautiful face. “With Libby marrying Tate, and now you getting involved with Garrett—Austin and I are bound to be thrown together more often than either of us wants. Julie,
what
am I going to do?”

Julie's face heated, and a protest rose in her throat, but she was more concerned about her sister's feelings than setting Paige straight by pointing out that she most definitely
was not
“involved” with Garrett.

She was just—well—
having sex
with him.

“It's true that things could get awkward,” she said moderately, “now that Libby and Tate are getting married, but Austin doesn't spend all that much time on the Silver Spur, let alone in Blue River, does he?”

Paige took a half step back. Tugged the strap of her purse up over one shoulder and tucked the blood pressure gear under one elbow. She was already in retreat, Julie
knew, though she was trying to be subtle about it. “You're right,” she said, too quickly. “I don't know why I'm so worried about bumping into Austin. The man wants to avoid me as much as
I
want to avoid
him.
”

Julie wasn't so sure about that. She also wasn't fool enough to say so. Harry was barking, and she needed to go home to Calvin, prepare herself to get through the week to come.

“Call me,” she told Paige, in parting.

Half an hour later, she and Harry arrived in the driveway of the main ranch house on the Silver Spur.

Calvin waved at her from his high perch on Garrett's shoulders as they came through the open doorway of the barn.

Harry, beside himself with joy, demanded to be released from the car, and by the time Julie had gotten out herself, opened the rear door and lifted the beagle to the ground, Calvin and Garrett were standing next to her.

“We've been feeding the horses!” Calvin crowed.

Julie's first impulse, whenever Calvin was around any animal other than Harry or Tate and Libby's three dogs, was to worry that the dander might trigger an asthma or allergy attack in her son. Seeing the delight on Calvin's somewhat grubby face, she caught the knee-jerk protest before it could leave her mouth.

Feeling oddly shy, in light of the deliciously scandalous things she and Garrett had done together the night before, Julie managed to avoid the man's gaze, for the moment, at least.

“You were?” she smiled. “You were feeding horses? Calvin Remington, I am
impressed.
”

The happiness in the child's small, earnest face was sweet to see, but it also sent tiny cracks splintering through
Julie's heart. Calvin
was
thrilled that he'd helped with grown-up chores, but simply being in Garrett's presence mattered more.

It was natural, she supposed, for a little boy, especially one raised without a father, to look up to a man like Garrett McKettrick.

But what if Calvin was growing attached to him?

Garrett reached up, removed his hat and set it on Calvin's head with unerring accuracy. Julie felt Garrett's gaze on her face and made herself meet it.

She saw a pensive expression in his eyes, along with gentle humor and a kind of—well—patience, a willingness to wait, that moved her in a way she wouldn't have anticipated. His face was badly bruised, as if he'd been in a fight, and Julie instinctively skirted the topic. She would ask about it later.

Harry, a dog wanting his boy, bounded around them, yipping cheerfully.

Garrett grinned and set Calvin on the ground. Still wearing Garrett's hat, Calvin giggled as Harry leaped up to lick his face and sent the both of them tumbling in the grass.

Julie's sinuses burned, and she had to blink a couple of times.

Garrett rested a hand lightly against the small of her back, urging her toward the house.

“I have to put the car away,” she said.

“I'll do that later,” Garrett responded.

A noise coming from the direction of the service road down by the gates made all of them turn to look.

A flatbed truck came into view, pulling half of a double-wide mobile home.

Julie watched it for a few moments, putting two and two
together in her stress-and-sex-addled brain, and turned her eyes back to Garrett. The motion was quick and sure, like the needle of a compass swinging toward true north.

“Brent called,” Garrett explained, sounding almost shy. “He said there was a fire in town, and it left a family with no place to live.”

Before Julie could respond, Calvin tugged at the sleeve of her coat, thus commanding her attention. “Esperanza roasted two whole chickens for supper,” he said. “And that's a lot of food, so Libby and Tate and Audrey and Ava are coming over to eat with us.”

The way her child said the word
us
made Julie's throat go tight again.

Inside, the big kitchen was warm and glowing with welcoming light, and the atmosphere was savory with the aroma of Esperanza's roast chickens. A poignant sense of gratitude struck Julie in that moment, but it was bittersweet.

Was she getting too comfortable in this temporary place? With this very temporary man?

Suddenly aware that her clothes and hair must smell like smoke, Julie excused herself to take a quick shower and change her clothes.

When she returned from the guest apartment, perhaps twenty minutes later, Libby and Tate had arrived with the twins, and Austin, looking spiffy in clean jeans and a pale blue T-shirt, was setting the table for a crowd.

Julie took a moment to savor the scene, a happy family—or a
mostly
happy one, anyway—gathered to share a meal on a chilly fall evening. If Paige had been there, she thought, it would have been perfect.

A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, lightening her mood. Well, maybe not perfect, she thought.

Could any space contain
both
Austin McKettrick
and
Paige Remington without bursting into flames?

Garrett bumped her lightly from behind, stopping just short of wrapping his arms around her waist—or that was the feeling she had, anyway. Maybe it was her imagination.

Or some serious wishful thinking.

“What?” he asked, after shifting to stand beside her.

Calvin was still wearing Garrett's hat, making sure Audrey and Ava noticed it.

Don't,
Julie pleaded silently, watching her son.
Don't care too much.