Almost a Cowboy (13 page)

He jabbed the doorbell with a finger and waited, thumb hitched in his pocket.

After only a few seconds, a man appeared. When he saw them, his smile faded. “Can I help you?”

Utah couldn’t breathe. Damn, the guy could be Clinton.

Caroline covered Utah’s speech deficiency. “Are you Mr. Davies?”

“Yes.”

“Bennett Davies?”

From inside, a woman’s voice sounded. “Bennett, is that Aurora at the door?”

Utah’s heart convulsed, and his face grew numb.

“No, Mom,” Bennett threw over his shoulder. Then he offered Utah and Caroline a smile. “Sorry, what was it you needed?”

Finding his voice, Utah said, “You’re the son of Hollis Davies.”

The color drained from Bennett’s face, and his dark five o’clock shadow stood out starkly. His upper lip grew stiff. “I haven’t set eyes on that man for many years.”

“Me neither.” Utah looked directly into Bennett’s eyes. “I’m your brother.”

Bennett froze for a long, throbbing heartbeat. Then he started to close the door. Caroline made a noise in her throat, and a woman shouldered past Bennett, keeping him from closing the door.

And leaving Utah suddenly face to face with the woman who’d taken his ma’s place, at least during Pa’s trips through Colorado. She was tall and slender, with pale blonde hair framing an oval face. She still bore the beauty of her youth—looks that must have originally drawn Hollis Davies to her.

Jeezus.

“I’m Hollis’s son.”

She nodded, teeth sunk into her lower lip. “I can see well enough who you are. You look…just like him.”

Bennett pushed past her again, his face fierce. “You are
not my brother
!”

Utah’s mind raced for a way to defuse the situation. Maybe he should have posed as a Jehovah’s Witness or vacuum salesman rather than blurt out his reason for being there.

Again, Caroline came to his rescue. “We’re here because Hollis Davies recently passed away, and there’s something in the will for Bennett. And for…Aurora. Is she your sister?”

Something dark passed Bennett’s face. Did he realize his father might have deposited more siblings across the U.S.? Utah tried to recall the shock and fury he’d felt the day he’d found his pa with the photographs. Bennett was feeling just that.

He looked into his brother’s trademark blue eyes and outstretched a hand. In friendship, in camaraderie, as a peace offering.
You’re my third brother, and I’ll protect your ass too, if need be.

“Aurora is my daughter, yes.” Their mother shot Bennett a look. “It’s Bennett’s birthday, and we’re having a small family celebration.”

Fuck, what bad timing.
Utah scrubbed a hand over his face, and when he let his hand drop, both mother and son were staring at him in shock.

After a beat of silence, his mother spoke again. “I’m sorry to stare. It’s just that…the way you move. Hollis had that very same gesture.”

Utah nodded, aware of the things his father had given him—like gestures and more siblings to deal with. This awkward meeting wasn’t endearing him to the thought of eleven more.

A car engine whined behind them. As one, he and Caroline turned to see a little blue economy car pull into the driveway. Utah’s fingers numbed too as he looked beyond the windshield at the dark-haired waif seated there.

Aurora.

Utah swung back to Bennett. “It’s a might bit easier to explain this to both of you at the same time.”

Bennett’s face closed off, and for the first time, Utah imagined him as a town official. Without a word, he pushed the door wide, turned, and walked inside, leaving them no warmer a welcome than the sight of his back.

In a rush, his mother spoke. “I’m Deirdre. Please come in. There’s plenty of food, and…well, family obviously.”

Caroline raised her brows at Utah, but he remained rooted to the doorstep, watching Aurora climb out of her car. She glanced up and waved, and then dove into the back seat and came out with a huge gift bag and a purse that looked as if it weighed more than her.

Utah’s chest constricted as she bounced up the flagstones. She wore skinny jeans and an oversized T-shirt that accentuated how frail she was. She couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with pixie-short dark hair wisping around her face. Utah saw something of her mother in her features, but damn if she didn’t have the Davies look.

She froze on the sidewalk and narrowed her slanted blue eyes at him. Emotion burned in Utah’s nose.
I have a sister.

“Do I know you? You look so familiar.” She shifted the big gift bag to the other hand.

Utah opened his mouth to speak, and Deirdre interrupted. “Better come in first.”

“May I?” Utah croaked, reaching for the gift bag.

“Oh yeah. Thanks!” She passed it off to him, and their fingers brushed on the rope handle.

Deirdre stared at him too closely. He met her gaze and found tears swimming in her eyes. She stepped back to usher her daughter and Caroline inside, leaving Utah alone with her for a moment.

“You look so much like him. I knew about you, you know.”

•●•

Caroline drifted through the rooms of Bennett’s house, drinking in the surroundings. The décor was modern and minimalistic—sleek leather sofa, simple wooden coffee table with an angular base. Two hot rod magazines lay on it. The open kitchen and dining space was filled with light and stainless appliances. One wall had an enormous abstract canvas. Upon closer inspection, Caroline made out Bennett’s signature.

The man stood against the counter, staring out the window over the sink. The lines of his back were definitely sculpted by Davies genes. Broad shoulders, long back, and an ass you could bounce quarters off.

Only difference was he wore khaki shorts instead of Wranglers. He turned and looked right at her.

She read shock on his handsome features. He swiped his fingers through his short-cropped hair. Give him two months on the Davies ranch and plop a hat on his head, and he’d be Clinton.

“I’m Caroline Wilks.” She held out a hand, and he moved forward to shake it. The softness of his fingers stunned her—she was so accustomed to a calloused man.

“And him?” He flicked his jaw toward the front of the house, where Deirdre, Utah, and Aurora were now coming inside.

For a split second, Caroline hesitated to tell him Utah’s name. Part of her felt the information needed to come from him, but maybe it was best not to wallop Bennett with everything at once.

“Utah Davies.”

“Utah…”

Aurora strode up to Bennett and threw her arms around his neck. “Happy birthday, bro! Sorry I was a little late. The professor wouldn’t shut up today, droning on and on about molecular properties and blah blah.” She rolled her eyes at Caroline, who found herself smiling at the little beauty.

If I marry Utah, she’d be my sister-in-law.

Caroline shook off the thought and pivoted to look at Utah. He looked shell-shocked, the depths of his eyes revealing confusion and even pain.

She crossed the room and planted herself beside him. When she threaded her fingers with his, he made a sound in his throat.

Aurora positioned herself beside her brother, and Deirdre stared between all four of them. “Who are your guests?” Aurora asked.

Utah and Bennett’s gazes clashed. Instant tension hog-tied the room.

“My name’s Utah. I’ve come here to talk to you both about something that isn’t exactly easy. I know it’s a birthday celebration, and if you’d prefer for us to come back tomorrow—”

“No. Get it over with.” Bennett folded his arms, his jaw set.

Caroline shivered. If he and Utah got into a tangle like Utah and Gunnison had before leaving home… She glanced around for breakables.

“Shall we sit? Have drinks?” Deirdre drifted to the refrigerator and started pulling out water, wine, and beer.

“Beer,” Utah said at the same time as Bennett.

Caroline’s heart leaped, and Aurora said, “What the…?”

“Help me, Rory.” Deirdre motioned to the glasses.

Aurora threw odd glances at them but obeyed. They all moved stiffly to the dining area, which was set with a tablecloth and simple modern place settings. Deirdre had probably come in and done this for her son’s celebration.

When they took chairs, Bennett seated at the head and looking imposing as hell, Caroline held her breath.

Would Utah spit it out? Or draw it out? God, the tension rolling off him was raising the hair on her arms. She rubbed them and waited.

He leaned his elbows on the table and looked between Bennett and Aurora. “I’m the son of Hollis Davies.”

Aurora’s jaw dropped.

Utah gave her a short nod. “Your father. My father.” He included Bennett in his gaze.
“Our father.”

“What?” Aurora whispered.

Deirdre directed a blonde lock behind her ear.

“Did you know about this?” Bennett’s voice was hard, and his mother flinched.

She dropped her gaze. “I knew about Utah, yes.”

“And my brothers?” Utah asked.

Deirdre’s green eyes flared wide. “Nooo.”

“Brothers?” Bennett slapped the tabletop, and the cutlery jingled. “There are more?”

“Just hear Utah out,” Caroline said.

Utah sent her a grateful look and then pressed his fingertips together, creating a cage. “Hollis Davies must have passed through here driving truck, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Deirdre said.

“You knew about me, so you probably knew he lived in Utah. He lived there with my ma for forty-seven years before she died. And there he raised me and my two brothers, Clinton and Gunnison.”

Bennett shoved away from the table, and Deirdre squawked at the news. Aurora continued to sit, eyes wide.

“That son of a bitch!” Bennett pointed at his mother. “I told you after he never came back he was up to no good!”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Utah asked.

“When I was fifteen,” Aurora said in an uneven voice full of tears.

Utah bobbed his head. “I’m sorry to hear it. That was…three years ago?”

“Five.”

So she was twenty. She looked younger, but it might be the way she wore her innocence.

“Look, I’ll come right out and say this. Hollis Davies wasn’t what any of us believed. You’re shocked to find out he had a wife and another family. Well, we aren’t the only families apparently.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Bennett roared, pulse throbbing in his throat.

Deirdre waved a hand at her son. “Your language.”

“No, fuck that! This guy romps in here and tells us he’s our brother, that there are
more of us
?”

“It’s true,” Caroline said quietly.

Bennett started to pace, and she half expected Utah to jump up and pace with him. “How many?” he shot out.

Utah glanced at Deirdre. Her face was mottled, and tears streaked her cheeks. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there are families in Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. At least, by our guess.”

A collective gasp sucked all the air out of the room. Caroline felt its charge and waited for someone to light the fuse. But in the end, Bennett dropped into his chair, shoulders slumped and hands dangling toward the floor.

“My God,” he said.

“I’m sorry for it. Sorry I had to tell you and break your view of your father.”

“He did that himself years ago when he left for what he called a ‘long haul’ and never came back.”

“I’m sorry he did that too.”

Caroline looked to Deirdre and laid a hand over the woman’s where it rested on the table. “Were you…married?”

She shook her head, lips pressed tight. “He never offered, though I didn’t need it. I was happy with what we had.”

“What was that?” Curiosity wove through Utah’s question.

She met his gaze, hers swimming. “When he passed through every month, we shared very good times. I got pregnant with Bennett pretty quickly, and Rory came later.”

“How old are you?” Utah asked his brother.

“Twenty-seven.”

Utah blew out a breath. One year younger than he was. Before Clinton was even a speck on the horizon, Deirdre had brought Bennett into the world. Caroline stared at Utah, wishing she could hear what must be going on in his mind.

God, this was a nightmare.

“I’m twenty-eight in case you’re wonderin’. My brothers are twenty-six and twenty-three.”

“Just how many kids are we talking about?” Aurora asked.

Utah held her stare. “Fifteen of us total.”

“Holy Jesus!” Bennett exploded out of his seat again, and Deirdre began to cry in earnest. Aurora got up to comfort her, and Caroline followed. They took her into the kitchen and plied her with tissues and cold glasses of water. Caroline’s chest constricted with empathy for the woman. Deirdre said she knew about Utah, but to discover the man she’d obviously loved had been
that
unfaithful…

In the other room, Utah’s and Bennett’s voices blended into one big rumble. Caroline heard a crash and ran back in, expecting to find they’d cleared the table with their bodies and were beating the hell out of each other.

But Bennett stood at the head of the table, his beer glass shattered in the corner. Utah stood too, watching him with readiness.

Caroline shrank back and blocked the entry so Aurora couldn’t get involved. “Don’t try to get between them. I’ve seen Davies men brawl before.”

“Hell, I’m not gonna hit him,” Bennett said. “I just had to break something before my chest blew up.”

Aurora slipped in and hugged her brother. Then she did something that made Utah’s face crumple—she walked up and put her arms around him.

Caroline, Bennett, and Deirdre watched the exchange. Utah bowed his head over hers. “No matter how I found out, I can’t be sorry I have a sister.”

Deirdre issued another sob, and Caroline’s eyes spilled over too. Bennett pinched the bridge of his nose in a way she’d seen Gunnison do. God, these men were all tangled up.

After that, Deirdre took a turn hugging Utah and then Caroline. And they passed Aurora between them. Only Bennett stood alone, face impassive now.

“Well, this is a celebration. Let’s get the food out of the oven,” Deirdre said, tears vanished and a genuine smile in place. She ushered Aurora ahead of her.