Timing (256 page)

Timing

119

I WOKE up bro

r ken. Sl

S eeping on a chair in Rand’s

’ den had been a bad

idea, but it was where I had falle

l n asleep watchin

i g television. I felt all

of my twenty-eight

h years

r , and even though I was in pain, when I told

that to R

and’s unc

n le Ty

T le

l r

e ,

r he laughe

h d at me.

“We’l

’ l talk

k aga

g in when you’re se

s ve

v nty

t -five,” he told me, pouring

coffee for both of us.

The look I shot him ma

m de him laugh, as did my

m comme

m nt that I

was in real pain.

“Dri

r nk the coffee, and I’l

’ l make you some

m breakfast. You can

come down to the barn

r with me and watc

t h Chase

s and Pete help delive

v r

r

a calf.

f You eve

v r seen a c

ow get born?

n ”

“No sir,” I shook my

m head, not sure

r if

f it

t was something I wanted

to see after all.

“Well, come

m on then, i

t a

in’t somethin’ y

ou’l

’ l wa

w nn

n a miss.”

Walking in my jeans and T-shirt

r beside the older man, liste

t ning to

him talk, shiveri

r ng in the early

l morning air and wishing the whole time

that I hadn’t ditched my dress-shirt, I felt better. Just moving was

uncurl

r ing my

m spine, and I

I found the fa

f ct tha

h t I was not expecte

t d to

speak comforting.

No one had come

m looki

k ng for me. Charlotte

t had fo

f rgone the

h

tra

r ditional sepa

p ra

r ti

t on between bride and groom the night before the

wedding, and she and Ben had st

s ayed up

p la

l te ta

t lkin

i g. I went

t up onc

n e to

120

Mary Calmes

see if he had left but heard whispered voices through the door. I didn’t

want to intrude.

Rand was gone. He wasn’t in his bedroom, the house, or

anywhere I could find. Worst of all was that he obviously hadn’t

needed me. It was sobering. Hot sweaty sex on a major appliance had

not translated to Rand wanting me spooned around him in the night. I

was hoping for the caveman scene, the one where he came and found

me, threw me over his shoulder and carried me upstairs to his bed. That

I had been seemingly forgotten was devastating. I wanted to run away

instead of facing him, embarrassed about being so needy.

The iron grip on my bicep brought me from my thoughts.

“You all right there?”

“Yes sir.” I smiled at him.

As I followed the older man, I looked around at the ranch. The

two-story house we had just come from really was beautiful, and even

the stables and the bunkhouse where the six ranch hands ate and slept

had a homey appeal. Veering left toward the barn, I was stopped

instantly with a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

“Where are you goin’?” the older man asked me.

I tipped my head toward the wooden structure. “To the barn.”

“Nothin’ in there that’ll give birth. That’s where we keep the

tractor and such.”

The man enjoyed teasing me, and so I fell back into step beside

him, realizing as we walked that his hand was still on my shoulder. It

was nice, and I felt the tension that had been hanging on from the night

before start to drain away.

I WAS dozing when I heard my name. Lifting my head, I saw Rand

standing at the edge of the porch scowling at me. I just waited.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

No greeting, just straight to the inquisition. “Nice,” I muttered,

closing my eyes.

Timing

121

“Stef!” he barked at me.

“Resting,” I said, since it should have been very obvious that I

was well on my way to drifting off into a coma.

“Charlotte’s been lookin’ for you for hours.”

I grunted, letting my head fall back.

“Goddammit, Stef, what––”

“Why are you yellin’?” I heard Uncle Tyler yell himself from the

house, followed by the harsh, protesting squeak of the screen door as it

was opened. “That boy done real well this mornin’. You got no cause to

be fussin’ at him, Rand Holloway.”

“Why is he wet?”

“I hadda hose him off ’fore I let him walk up here to the house.

He was a mess.”

“Why?” Rand asked, and I heard him cross the porch, heard the

sharp strike of his boots on the wood.

“Well, I went down to the barn this mornin’ ’cause Chase called

and said that we was due for a calf and––”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I told Pete to––”

“Pete never showed.”

The silence stretched so long my body started to get heavy.

“What?” Rand finally said, his voice low and ominous.

“That’s right, bossman; Pete forgot to show up again. I already

done called Mac, and even though it ain’t my place no more––I ain’t

foreman––Mac did exactly what I woulda and fired that useless boy the

second he got back from his whorin’ around.”

“Shit,” Rand groaned.

“Shit is right; you’re a terrible judge of men, Rand Holloway. Let

Mac do the hirin’ from now on.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

122

Mary Calmes

“Well of course I’m right, I’m always right, but that don’t make

no never mind. Pete’s gone, but Chase says he’s got himself a cousin

needs a job, so––”

“What does any of this have to do with Stef?”

I didn’t mind him talking about me like I wasn’t there since I

didn’t want to talk to him anyway. I was nothing to him after all; he

hadn’t even bothered to look for me when he went to bed. I was of no

consequence to him.

“Well, once I got to the barn and found out it was just me and

Chase, I needed Stef to help. I ain’t a young man no more, Rand, I can’t

pull no calf, I ain’t got the back.”

“Shit, why didn’t someone call me?”

“Like I was sayin’, there weren’t no time, that calf was comin’,

and when we realized that it needed to be turned and… well, you know

how it goes.”

“And?”

“And Stef did real fine, and both mama and baby are doin’ real

good.”

“You saved them both?”

“Yessir we did, just an old man and a green cowboy and… what

is it again, Stef?”

“An acquisitions manager.”

“What he said.”

“So Stef did what, the pulling?”

“Yes, he did.”

The hand on my shoulder made me open my eyes and look up. I

was rewarded with a smile on the face of the man staring down at me.

Crap. Just looking up at Rand Holloway made my stomach twist

into a knot. Whatever I told myself, the truth was that I wanted him to

care because I wanted to matter to him. I needed to know that he had

missed having me beside him, close to his heart.

“Got covered in blood and all kinds of shit, didn’t you?”

Timing

123

I groaned. The miracle of life was beautiful and disgusting all at

the same time. “He’s really cute, Rand,” I told him, smiling slightly.

“You should go see him. I named him Phil.”

He looked pained. “I’m sorry?”