A Cowboy Firefighter For Christmas (Smokin' Hot Cowboys 1) (12 page)

“Texas Timber.” Trey groaned as he clenched his jaws so as not to say something he’d regret later, but just hearing the name made his gut burn with frustration and irritation.

“I just wondered if they were still pestering you,” Slade said.

“When
don’t
I hear from that company?”

“Aren’t they the Christmas tree folks?” Misty leaned forward with an interested look on her face.

Trey stopped his thoughts and gazed at her. He’d fast come to expect to see her blond hair, green eyes, and pink lips. Felt right, too. When push came to shove, she wasn’t part of the community, much less his own family. Not to mention, there was still the matter of what she was holding back. He hadn’t forgotten it, even if he’d been trying hard at every turn to reason it away. Not that his body gave a hoot about anything except getting close to her.

“Yes, they are.” Slade nodded at Misty in agreement. “Texas Timber wants to buy Wildcat Ranch’s old-growth section of the Cross Timbers. But Trey and his folks put paid to that idea.”

“We’re trying to,” Trey added. “Just wish we could get them to listen to reason.”

“I can’t imagine that tangled mess would make good Christmas trees.” Misty quirked her eyebrows in confusion.

“Native exotic wood.” Trey didn’t want to get into it, but there was no stopping Slade once he’d set off down a trail like a bloodhound.

“Worth its weight in gold, I guess,” Slade said. “It’s supposed to be used for all sorts of inlay on furniture and the like.”

“Trey, you don’t want to sell?” Misty asked. “Couldn’t you use the extra funds to enlarge cattle or buffalo herds? That type of thing.”

“Not only no, but hell no.” Trey paused, considering the bigger ramifications of the ongoing issue. “It’s like the Red River’s water we talked about. We’re up against a tide that’s set on obliterating our Texas heritage.”

“Sometimes feels like we’ve got a choice of becoming Disneyland or Neutral-land. Don’t much care for those options,” Slade said. “’Course, I’m not a big fan of the state’s idea of Six Flags Over Texas. At least the Comanche Nation and the Caddo Confederacy flags oughta be waving over Texas, too. This is our homeland. You’d think we could get as much respect as those who weren’t even from here.”

“Don’t get him started on the flags.” Trey shook his head, knowing his cousin was right but not wanting to get sidetracked down that impossible lane.

“Every time I go from Texas to Oklahoma and back again, I see those six flags waving pretty as you please high above the Texas Visitors Center.” Slade stomped his boot in disgust. “I’d write a letter in protest if I thought it’d do any good.”

“The State of Texas should consult historians and get their facts and flags straight,” Misty said with sympathy.

“Thanks.” Slade gave her a warm smile.

“I do know Dallas is fast losing its heritage,” Misty added. “They’re tearing down and rebuilding all the time.”

“Guess they call it progress,” Trey said thoughtfully, “or a moneymaker.”

Misty nodded in agreement. “At least San Antonio retains its heritage. And Fort Worth, too.”

“Tourists pay their bills.” Trey picked up his tea and took a drink. “And it’s a good thing folks are still interested in seeing the Old West. Helps pay our bills here, too.”

“Isn’t there other land or trees that’d be just as good for Texas Timber?” Misty asked.

“They’d buy out Wildcat Ranch—the whole kit and caboodle—if we’d sell.” Trey set down his tea. “But this is family land. There’s no price big enough to buy our heritage.”

“Texas Timber got a toehold in Wildcat Bluff County when Bert sold acreage to them,” Slade explained.

“At least Texas Timber didn’t cut down old growth,” Trey said. “They turned pasture into Christmas tree farms. Pine and cedar grow fast, so there’s a good profit to be made in turnover.”

“They’re not bad neighbors,” Slade admitted, adjusting his stance. “And they keep up their roads just fine.”

“All true.” Trey rubbed at the condensation on his glass.

“Then I don’t understand the issue. You sell or you don’t sell.” Misty stared at Trey with a confused look in her green eyes.

Chairs scraped across the wood floor as a table of diners stood up and headed for the cash register.

“Got to get back to work,” Slade said. “I’ll be back with your grub.”

Trey watched his cousin walk away. He didn’t want to talk about Texas Timber. He didn’t even want to think about the outfit. But maybe setting out the situation to a stranger would make the whole thing make more sense. Besides, Misty had a good head on her shoulders.

“Texas Timber?” Misty nudged in a soft voice.

“If Texas Timber would take no for an answer, I’d say fine and dandy. They’d move on. I’d move on.”

“Why won’t they accept your answer?”

“They think everything’s for sale, I guess, including Wildcat Ranch.”

“Maybe they’re used to getting their way.”

“No doubt.” He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “They keep upping the deal like money makes a difference.”

“It does to most folks.”

“I figured at some point they’d give up and go away.”

“They aren’t?”

“Things took a turn for the worse.” He looked out over Main Street, but didn’t really see it. “Not long ago, problems started cropping up on the ranch. Cut fence and loose cattle here and there. We can handle that, but it adds to workloads and endangers animals.”

“I can see that’d be a bad problem.”

“And fire. You helped me tame that grass fire, but it almost got away. And it’s not the first one we caught in the nick of time. But if this keeps up, one of these days we won’t catch the fire and we won’t find the cut fence till way too late to save lives and property.”

“You think this has something to do with Texas Timber?”

“Well, yeah.” He felt his frustration edge upward. Hadn’t she been listening to him? “Who else stands to gain?”

“That guy whose house just burned down?”

“Not Bert Holloway’s land or property.”

“Maybe he wants to buy it. You said several of his properties have burned down.”

“Sure, Bert’d snap it up cheap. That works when somebody’s susceptible after a string of bad luck. So, I guess you’re right. I can’t completely cross him off my list of suspects.”

“What about somebody else?”

“Texas Timber stands out.”

“I can see why, but I wouldn’t rule out some other culprit.” She tapped her knuckles on the tabletop for emphasis. “I mean, what does Texas Timber stand to gain if they burn down the very thing they’re trying to buy?”

“Yeah, I’ve thought of that too, but the fires haven’t been near the Cross Timbers area.” He took a big slug of tea to cool down. “One thing is for sure, with this heat and drought, the ranch is vulnerable.”

“I’m sorry. Bet you hardly have time to enjoy the Christmas season.”

He reached across the table and squeezed her fingers. “I’m not gonna let this deal ruin Christmas.”

“Good.” She clasped his hand in return. “Why don’t you let me help? I’ve got some time on my hands.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. You’re here to enjoy yourself and that’s what you ought to do.”

“Remember, I’m your Christmas angel.”

“How could I forget?” He felt the soft warmness of her hand and wanted to kiss each fingertip like he’d done at Twin Oaks. Truth be told, he wanted to do a whole lot more than that. But he was in public. Folks were blabbermouths, and he didn’t want to embarrass her or cause talk.

“Come on, say you’ll let me help or at least use me as a sounding board.”

He gave her hand a final squeeze, then let go and leaned back in his chair. He wished he could completely trust her, but he did feel better telling her about his situation. One way or another, Texas Timber would eventually get the message and take a flying leap into the nearest lake. “How about I take you to Christmas in the Country on Saturday?”

“What’s that about?”

“It’s fun. Lots of folks will be in Old Town for the festivities.”

“I won’t need to dress up in old-time clothes, will I?”

“If you’ve got jeans, a shirt, and boots, you’ll be fine.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Shop. You wouldn’t pass up a chance for that type of fun, would you?”

She laughed and her green eyes sparkled. “But I won’t know what to buy. Maybe you’d better help me.”

He threw up his hands, joining her laughter. “Now we’re getting into dangerous territory.”

“I thought we were already there.”

Something in the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes alerted him to the fact they’d changed from talking about shopping to talking about what was building between them. They were headed into deeper water. And he was about ready to take the plunge.

He cleared his throat, figuring he’d better get them back on track. “I’ll be working events part of the time, but we could have fun.”

“I’d love to go. Just let me know when and where.”

“Great.” He thought about the hayride. Too bad the weather wasn’t cooperating for snuggles under quilts. He’d just have to make do another way. He figured he could be creative if it meant getting close to Misty.

“Here you go!” Slade stepped up with a large tray balanced on the palm of one hand held high in the air. He set the tray on a nearby table, and then quickly arranged their orders in front of them.

“Thanks,” Misty said. “Everything looks wonderful.”

“Let me know how that chili suits your belly.” Slade waggled his eyebrows. “That alone will tell me plenty about you.”

“If it’s too hot, she can share my food.” Trey tilted his head toward the kitchen, hoping his cousin would get the message to vamoose.

“I doubt it’ll be too much for me.” Misty picked up her spoon, dipped it in the big bowl of chili, and glanced up at Trey. “I like it hot.”

“Enjoy.” Slade winked at Trey as he turned to leave. “Got work to do before the slave drivers get back. See you later.”

“Nice meeting you,” Misty said.

“Likewise.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Trey saw his cousin walk away, but his focus stayed on Misty as she raised a spoonful of dark red chili to her pale pink lips. The sight of her about to spoon that chili into her open mouth set off his own personal heat wave. “I like it hot, too.”

Misty looked deep into Trey’s eyes, which had gone dark with desire. She felt the heat between them grow, causing a deep, damp burn in her sensitive core. She crossed her legs in an effort to relieve the itch and bumped him with the toe of her shoe.

He grinned, revealing white teeth in a predatory smile.

“Excuse me.” She set down her spoon filled with chili without taking a bite and picked up her iced tea. She took a big slug and backed off her heat a bit.

“Kick me any time you want.”

“I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Sure you don’t want to play footsie under the table? I’m game.”

“I want to try my chili.” She crossed her feet at her ankles and tucked them under her chair. She didn’t know how almost every encounter with Trey turned sexual, but there was no denying that it did exactly that.

She quickly spooned a bite of Slade’s chili into her mouth. Wow. She felt her eyes water as the chili seared her palate, then her throat, and all the way down to her stomach. Delicious. Not just hot, but a symphony of pepper flavors.

“You like?” Trey pointed at the bowl of chili.

“Yum. Slade’s a chili genius.”

Trey chuckled. “Don’t let him hear you say that or he’ll get a big head.”

“He deserves it.” She took another bite, savored the taste, and swallowed the chili. “How’s your sandwich?”

“Good like always.”

She nodded but her mind had taken a detour. She imagined herself in the role of Lady Justice—a blindfolded woman holding out a scale—with chili balanced on one side and Trey on the other. Which was hotter? Misty’s mouth burned with one, but her entire body burned with the other. No doubt, the scale tipped to Trey as the hottest of the hot.

And that fact just made her job harder now that she knew he had a beef with Texas Timber. Of all the bad luck with a guy, this was it.

She felt trapped in the middle. As far as she knew, Texas Timber was an upstanding company. Otherwise, Cindi Lou would never have recommended them and she wouldn’t have accepted the job. But now? Could Texas Timber be using her not as a troubleshooter, but to get information that would ease their way into a buyout of Wildcat Ranch? Yet, that didn’t make a lot of sense. A Texas Timber Christmas tree farm had burned before it could be harvested for the season. She’d seen the terrible aftermath with her own eyes. And she’d actually been there for a grass fire and a house fire.

If she set aside her attraction to Trey so she could think clearly, where did this new information leave her?

One:
Local fires, including the one on the tree farm, were a natural by-product of the heat wave and drought. But that didn’t explain the cut or loosened fence, if that was an actual fact.

Two:
A local guy named Bert was behind the house fires to make money. But that didn’t explain the tree farm fire or grass fires or cut fence.

Three:
An unknown person, or maybe persons, was setting the fires, or some of the fires, for unknown reasons, as well as messing with fences. But that had no basis in fact.

Four:
Trey was igniting grass fires and cutting fence that he could catch without too much harm in order to up the price on Wildcat Ranch by scaring Texas Timber with possible loss of the timber they most wanted to buy. But that didn’t explain the Christmas tree farm fire or house fires.

Five:
Texas Timber was involved in the sabotage of Wildcat Ranch and their own tree farms to scare Trey into selling before he lost everything valuable. But that didn’t explain the house fires or what would be the company’s unusual willingness to lose major revenue.

She felt like scratching her head. None of the facts added up. But at least she had some facts now. Nothing fit together to make a cohesive whole. She was missing something, or a whole lot of somethings, so she simply needed more information. Hedy would be a good source. And Misty’d get back on her computer when she returned to Twin Oaks. She hoped she could find a way to put Trey in the plus column of her investigation instead of the negative—or questionable—column.

All in all, she had five possibilities, but none of them were particularly viable. She’d start the process of elimination and follow leads. She wasn’t back to square one, but she wasn’t much closer to closing her troubleshooting job and getting home by Christmas.

With her mind still on her problems, she shoveled a big bite of chili into her mouth and swallowed hard. She felt the chili go the wrong way and blaze a trail downward. She grabbed her tea and chugged the last of it, but her throat still felt on fire. She coughed, patting her chest as if that’d help, while tears blurred her vision.

“Here, drink mine.”

“Thanks.” She felt Trey thrust his glass into her hand. She gratefully took several swallows and felt a little better. She realized they’d shared the tea almost lip to lip. She quickly thrust the glass back into his hands, wondering if she’d left lipstick on his glass.

“Looks like you left a little for me.” He turned the glass so the pink telltale image of her lips faced him, and then he put his own mouth to that spot and drank the last of his tea. He set down the glass and smiled at her. “Sweeter than before.”

She couldn’t keep from chuckling at his audacity. “You’re nothing but trouble.”

“I do my best.” He grinned, joining her laughter. “Come on.” As he rose to his feet, he took money out of his billfold and tossed it on the table.

“I’ll have to owe you for lunch. My purse is in my car.”

“Lunch is on me.” Trey gave her a meaningful look. “My Granny’d give me what-for if I let a lady pay for her own meal.”

“But, Trey—”

“Not another word or you’ll be impugning my cowboy manners.”

“Guess I wouldn’t want to do that.” She smiled at his feigned—or she thought it was feigned—affront. “I’ll do something nice for you in return.”

“Now there’s a happy thought.” He smiled, then cast a quick glance around the café. “We better get out of here. If Slade thinks you can’t handle his chili, you’ll never hear the last of it.”

“I swallowed wrong.”

“No matter.”

She stood up, still taking deep breaths to relieve the heat. Slade’s five-alarm chili would be with her for some time.

“Bet you can hardly see with your eyes on fire.” Trey grasped her around the waist and led her toward the front door.

“Won’t Slade expect us to say good-bye?”

“I’ll let him know his chili made you sick as a dog and he’d better not make any more.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Trey opened the front door, causing the bells to jingle, and then hurried her outside. “He probably put extra jalapeños or worse yet habaneros in your chili just to test your stomach.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s Slade we’re talking about. He rides bulls, or he used to ride them. What’s a little five-alarm chili to him?”

“I guess not much.” She inhaled deeply, feeling the burn lessen as chills replaced the heat.

“Anyway, he likes to test his own limits and everybody else’s limits, too.”

“Still, please don’t insult him. He makes excellent chili.”

Trey chuckled, tugging her closer. “I doubt anybody could insult him.”

“True enough.”

“Seriously, are you okay now?” He reached up and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for lunch. And everything.”

“My pleasure.” He glanced at the street, then back at her. “Gotta go. You need anything else, let me know.”

“Will do.”

She watched as he got into his pickup and started the engine. What a hunk of a guy. She sighed, wanting so much more from him, knowing she shouldn’t want it, and yet wondering if she could resist. He was making no secret of his desire for her, but that knowledge simply added to her dilemma.

He lowered his window and held up a hand in good-bye as he drove away down Main Street.

She waved in response before she resolutely turned away. Now she must get back to the business at hand.