Only Hers (28 page)

“I’m coming back.”

His face chilled her as much as his voice, “There’s nothing for you here.” Moments later he was out the door and striding toward the barn.

Her entire body shaking, Shannon watched Matt leave. He couldn’t have made it any plainer. He didn’t want her, didn’t need her in his life. There was nothing for her to return for. Nothing except the anguish of seeing him every day and knowing he’d never love her as she loved him.

She hurt and it was her own fault. Melanie had tried to warn Shannon, but she refused to listen.

Turning away, she went to her room to pack. She had some pride left. He didn’t have to toss her off the ranch. Snatching up her overnight case, it opened. A can of hair-spray rolled across the room and came to rest below the window. Stomping over, Shannon picked up the aerosol can. Blinking back tears, she looked out the curtained window toward the barn.

A lone figure stood just inside the door. Although the person was in the shadows, the fluttery sensation in the pit of her stomach told her who it was.

Matt.
His utter stillness was unnerving. What was he watching? He seemed to be looking toward . . . Her breath caught, hope blossomed. Tossing the spray can on the bed, she rushed downstairs to Matt’s study, grabbed his binoculars and went around the side of the house.

Trembling hands lifted the glasses. She located Matt, then followed his line of vision. Her room. The tremors of her hands increased as she panned back to him.

He was gone. Slowly, she lowered the binoculars. His face had been in the shadows, but the tautness of his body had been obvious. It was almost as if he were preparing himself to receive an unexpected blow.

And he had been looking at her room.

Going back into the house, she returned the binoculars, went to her room and stared out the window again. What if the idea forming in her head was wrong?

Leaning her head against the pane, Shannon closed
her eyes. She had barely gotten her life back together. Why deliberately open herself up to more heartache? Turning away, she began to pack.

Inside the barn, Matt’s gloved hands clenched into fists. He had been careless. Light glinting off the binoculars had warned him a second too late. She knew he had been watching her window but not the reason why.

If they were both lucky she never would.

“Don’t come back, Shannon. Just don’t come back.”

She wasn’t coming back.

Matt glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was five past eight. If she was going to return, she would be here by now. She wouldn’t be late for work or to help Cleve.

From somewhere in the house he heard the distant hum of the vacuum cleaner. Octavia was getting an early start on her Monday morning house-cleaning. Everything was back to normal. It was almost as if Shannon had never been at the ranch.

Over the weekend, neither Octavia nor Cleve mentioned Shannon’s name. Matt had thought she would have called one of them to let them know she had reached home safely. If she had, they didn’t tell him. But why should they? He had assured them there was nothing between him and Shannon.

But the first night she was gone, it had taken a considerable amount of willpower to keep himself from going into her room to see if she had taken all her things. He had wanted her gone. He just hadn’t known how . . .

His mind searched for a word other than the one hammering against his skull. Empty.

He did not feel empty! It was the quietness that made him so contemplative this morning. With Shannon around
he never had a moment’s peace. He settled more firmly in the ladder-back chair with the comforting assurance that he had figured out what was bothering him.

Suddenly the sound of an engine had him jumping up from the table. Instead of her car a blue-and-white motor home the size of a Greyhound bus pulled up. The tightness in his chest was not from disappointment; he probably needed to cut back on the caffeine.

Opening the kitchen door, Matt went to meet Daniel Falcon and his film crew. As expected, Daniel’s custom-made red lizard boots were the first to hit the ground. Also as expected, he wore a smile on his honey-bronzed face.

Daniel smiled more than anyone Matt knew and meant it less. But when he stopped smiling it was time for the other person to start praying.

“You’re right on time,” Matt said, extending his hand. Daniel caught it in a firm grip and both men grinned.

“If not for the horse trails you call roads, I would have been here sooner,” Daniel said, kicking back his pearl-gray Stetson.

“What’s life without a little challenge?” Matt bantered, and for some odd reason thought of Shannon.

“Why the frown then?” Daniel asked, his black eyes probing.

Matt waved his question aside. Next to his brother Kane, Daniel was one of the most perceptive men Matt ever met. “You want some breakfast or coffee before you and your crew get started?”

One dimple winked in Daniel’s cheek. “Now you’re talking.” He glanced around at the two men approaching. “Matt Taggart, meet Carter Simmons and Price Lofton, my cameraman and historian.”

“Where’s the woman? I thought you hired a woman to keep a daily record,” Matt said after shaking the men’s hands.

Daniel’s smile slipped to half-wattage. “She found she didn’t like riding around the countryside as much as she thought.”

“Meaning she discovered you’re slippery even in a motor home,” Matt said, laughing.

Carter and Price joined in.

“I don’t notice
you
getting any closer to the altar,” Daniel said teasingly.

Matt’s smile died. “Nor will I ever.”

Daniel arched a brow. “Never is a long time, friend.”

“For some things, it’s not long enough.”

“Men, wait over there and I’ll be with you in a minute,” Daniel told the two men, then to Matt, “I thought you were through with the past.”

Matt’s face went blank. “I thought I taught you in Albuquerque to stay out of my business.”

Crossing his arms over a chest as wide and muscular as Matt’s, Daniel’s smile was part taunt, part teasing. “A pity Kane had to intervene.”

“Saved you from getting another broken nose,” Matt said without heat.

“My nose has never been broken.” He fingered the slight rise on the bridge of his elegant nose. “Nor have I met the man who can accomplish that feat.”

Matt’s smile grew slow and menacing. “We’ll have to see about that once the filming’s over.”

Daniel’s smile finally disappeared. “It’s probably none of my business, but who the hell left you spoiling for a fight?”

His friend’s statement was so on target, it caught Matt off guard and without a comeback. He and Daniel had half-heartedly thrown a few punches when they first met, but it was more roughhousing than anything else. Kane had ended it before it began. Matt couldn’t even remember why or how it started.

“Your men are waiting,” Matt finally said.

“I’d let them wait if I thought it would do any good.”

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my housekeeper.” Matt started for the house.

Daniel fell into step beside him. “That’s why I like you, Matt. You’re nearly as stubborn as I am.”

They had gone only a few feet before the sound of a car caused both men to turn. A Cadillac convertible came to a screeching halt behind the small truck attached to the motor home.

Shannon jumped out on the driver’s side, started for the front door, saw Matt and ran to him. She stopped a short distance away.

“Sorry, I’m late. I know I told you I’d be on time, but Mr. Hodges saw me when I passed and he waved me down. He had hurt his finger fixing his car and he wanted to know if I thought it was broken.” She took a breath. “It wasn’t, but I splinted it for him. I’m already dressed so as soon as you tell me what to do, I’ll be on my horse and gone.”

Joy.

Matt felt it in every fiber of his being. She had come back. Dressed in gently worn jeans, a chambray shirt with the collar turned up, new boots, and a hat with a daisy on the brim, Shannon looked more ready to go gardening than mend fences.

Her face danced with so many emotions he couldn’t catch them all. Excitement, embarrassment, yearning. A gentle breeze brought to him the subtle scent of her perfume and he couldn’t help inhaling deeper. The same breeze teased a lock of her silky hair.

Absently, she brushed it away from her cheek, her gaze still fixed on his. A wariness had entered her brown eyes, but her eyes still clung to him. Shannon had grit, just like Cleve said.

She was also wreaking havoc with his life.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Matt?”

Matt glanced around at Daniel, but his friend was looking at Shannon with a smile that made most females over six lose reason and follow him around like lost puppy dogs.

Matt jerked his gaze to Shannon. To his pleased amazement, she wasn’t looking at Daniel any differently than she had Matt’s hands when she first met them.

“Shannon Johnson, Daniel Falcon.”

“My pleasure, Shannon,” Daniel said, grasping Shannon’s hand in his. “I hope it’s all right to call you Shannon.”

“Hello. Only if I can call you Daniel.”

“That will do for starters,” Daniel said easily, still holding Shannon’s hand.

She blinked, then laughed and pulled her hand free. “You’re certainly not shy.”

“But I’m very gentle,” Daniel’s deep voice dipped. “I’ll let you pet me if you want.”

“If you two are finished acting like teenagers, we have work to do,” Matt barked.

One corner of Daniel’s sensual mouth lifted. “Aren’t we grouchy this morning. I wonder why?”

Matt damned the dentist’s drill and gritted his teeth. He hadn’t kept his hands off Shannon for Falcon to get her.

Grabbing her arm, he started for the kitchen. “Come on. Octavia will probably be thrilled to see you’re back.”

“I’m glad somebody will,” she muttered.

“Shannon, you missed our lesson this morning.”

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Cleve, hands on hips, scowling. Grinning, she ran and hugged him.

He patted her shoulder awkwardly. “That’s enough of that.”

“You didn’t forget me,” she said.

“You’ve only been gone a weekend,” Cleve said, eyeing her critically.

“I missed you, too.” She turned to the other three ranch hands behind him and gave them all a hug. “I missed all of you.”

The back screen door opened, then banged shut. Octavia joined the happy group as fast as her legs would cover the distance. Her arms went around Shannon’s waist. She let out a holler and kept grinning.

Daniel leaned over and whispered to Matt, “Where’s your hug?”

If looks could kill, Daniel would have keeled over on the spot. His pitiful attempt to smother his amusement set
Matt’s teeth on edge. By the time Shannon left he wouldn’t have to worry about a dentist’s drill because he wouldn’t have a tooth in his head.

“You eat anything, child?” Octavia asked.

“No. They didn’t serve anything on my flight and I didn’t have time to stop,” she said.

“Then come on inside,” Octavia urged.

Warily, Shannon glanced at Matt. “It’s after eight.”

The hands, Cleve, and Octavia all turned in unison and glared at Matt. Yep. Toothless as a baby. “Since we’re off schedule anyway, you might as well,” Matt said and winced at the callousness of his words.

Daniel joined the others in glaring at his friend. “She’d eat if we had to wait all day.”

“Shannon works for me, not you,” Matt said.

“If you refuse to let her eat, perhaps she’d like a change of employment,” Daniel said, his brown eyes narrowed.

“Thank you for your concern, Daniel, but not eating was my fault,” Shannon explained. “I overslept, but Matt took it upon himself to bring something out to me.”

“I don’t need you to defend me,” Matt snapped. How did she know he had brought her some food? One glance at a smirking Octavia and he had his answer.

“Matt, if you’re gonna get anything done today, you need to let this child and your guests eat breakfast,” Octavia said in a placating tone. “It wouldn’t hurt to introduce everyone either.”

Calling Daniel’s crew over, Matt did just that. By the time hands had been shook all around, his temper had cooled considerably. “Cleve and Griff have the horses ready to leave in ten minutes. Does that meet with everyone’s approval?”

Daniel was the only one brave enough to say yes.

Grabbing Shannon’s arm, Matt went into the kitchen. Octavia, Daniel, and his two men followed. Daniel removed his hat.

Shannon gasped. A cascade of salt-and-pepper hair fell over his shoulders and down his back.

“Lord a mercy,” Octavia breathed.

Daniel smiled his killer smile. His men exchanged long-suffering looks as if they’d been through this before.

Matt’s jaw tightened. He had forgotten about Daniel’s secret weapon.

Although he was only thirty-two it was lightly streaked with silver. His African-American mother had given him just enough curl in his hair to make it interesting. His Creek father had given him the pride to wear it stylishly cut in front and offer apologies to no one. In the summer months when he was traveling and doing African-American western heritage research, he usually let his incredible hair grow long.

“Your hair is beautiful,” Shannon said. “You must create quite a stir.”

Daniel took a seat beside Shannon. “Depends on who’s in the room with me.”

Octavia hooted and set a plate in front of Shannon. “A sweet-talking devil if I ever heard one. You watch this one, Shannon child. Slippery as they come.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on to Daniel.”

“So, tell me Shannon. What leads a beautiful woman like you racing back to work on a ranch?” Daniel asked mildly.

“It’s a long story.” She glanced sideways at Matt.

Thanking Octavia for the cup of coffee, Daniel leaned his muscular frame closer. “I’ve got time. Carter. Price. Finish your coffee and check to make sure everything is ready.”

The two men were gone in seconds. It was all Matt could do to stop himself from telling Daniel he had seven minutes. Then, he heard Shannon repeating the same story she had to the church congregation. She ended by saying she had a week of vacation left.