Blame it on Texas (10 page)

When Megan's jaw dropped, he realized he'd spoken out loud. "The last thing Dad needs is to spend money increasing the size of a herd he can't manage anymore. That bunch of cows out there will eventually be sold off. You and Jake will just be wasting your time and Dad's money."

Megan put her fisted hands on her hips and, when her chin came up, he knew he was in for an argument. "In the first place, it won't be a waste of my time because it will be good practice. And I don't see how it can be wasting your dad's money when it isn't going to cost him a dime. Not to mention the fact that a pregnant cow will bring more money at the sale."

"Why wouldn't Jake charge him? That stuff doesn't come cheap. I can't believe my Dad would accept charity, either."

"It's not charity, just good business. Jake will get twenty-five percent of the new calves that are born, in payment for the insemination. Not to mention the fact that he's a nice man who seems to be very interested in your sister."

That brought his attention back to Megan. "Carol?"

"Do you have any other sisters I don't know about? Of course, Carol. What, you don't think she's attractive enough for a handsome man like Jake?"

Megan thought Jake was handsome? For some reason, that irritated him, even though she'd just said the man was interested in Carol. Not in her. "No, it's not that. They have a history, one I thought had blown over a long time ago. I've had hopes that she'd find someone in Austin, a businessman who could provide her with the finer things in life."

Megan threw up her hands in disgust. The look she shot him would have made a lesser man cringe, but he set his jaw, knowing he was right. His sister deserved better than a rancher. A West Texas rancher at that.

"You're hopeless. You have some kind of mental block against seeing how wonderful life out here can be. I hope you're happy in your glass tower when you get back to Dallas. But it's a pretty bleak life when you have nothing to show for your effort except dollars in the bank." With that, she turned her back, snatched up the wine coolers, and stormed back to the living room.

***

For the rest of the evening, Megan made an effort to ignore Logan and concentrated on keeping an eye on Charlie. When his eyelids began to droop, she enlisted Jake's help to get him back to his bed. Logan followed them to Charlie's room, then politely but stiffly told Jake he could handle getting Charlie ready for bed.

Jake shrugged and returned to the party while Logan silently got Charlie into his pajamas and settled for the night. Megan came back in and kissed Charlie's cheek, then tried to squeeze past Logan without brushing against him as she left again.

Logan turned off the light and followed her out, closing the door behind them. When Megan started to walk away, he caught her arm and turned her to face him. "I'm sorry. I've been acting like an ass tonight."

She lifted her chin, determined not to weaken over one softly spoken apology. "Yes, you have." He blinked and she had to stifle a chuckle. He obviously hadn't expected her to agree with him. "Logan, Carol is a grown woman. She's old enough to decide who she wants to be with, where she wants to live, and how she wants to live her life."

"I know, but..."

"No buts. She loves you. She's always looked up to you. Don't make her choose between you and whoever she falls in love with."

A crease appeared between his furrowed brows. "I wouldn't do that."

"You might not mean to, but if you show your disapproval every time she gets interested in a man you don't think is suitable, you're forcing her to make a choice." She started to reach out to touch him, but his stiff posture made her keep her hand at her side. "Please try not to interfere between her and Jake."

CHAPTER SEVEN

It was midnight and way past Katie's bedtime by the time the last guest left. Logan tucked his daughter in and kissed her good night, then went back to his office. He tried to work on the game he was designing, but he was too restless to settle down.

He shoved his chair back and pushed one hand through his hair. He knew Megan was right about Carol and Jake, but he didn't want his sister to settle for a life of hardship when she didn't have to. She could marry a businessman just as easily as she could a rancher. And her life would be a damned sight better if she did.

It was obvious he wasn't going to get any work done tonight. He stood up and stretched, then went into the kitchen and took a beer from the refrigerator. The house was quiet, the lights out. Everyone else had gone to bed.

He left the lights off and went out the back door without locking it, not heading anywhere in particular. Deciding he needed to work off his frustration, he headed for the barn. Blue got up to tag along, but Logan told him to stay, then went back and put him in the house so he wouldn't follow him.

The stall where Black Bertha had delivered her calf sat empty. They'd been moved outside to the large pen so Big Mac, as Katie had named him, could take a day to get his sea legs and Bertha could have time to recover before they were returned to the herd. Megan wanted to keep and eye on both of them for at least twenty-four hours. Logan shook his head. Megan had fallen hard for the calf, with his big brown eyes and a star in the middle of his forehead.

Vets couldn't afford to invest emotionally in the animals they treated. That was a sure fire way to get her heart broken. But she'd waved away his concerns and said that her love of animals was the reason for her career choice and if she quit falling in love with them, she might as well quit her profession.

Women. They let themselves get too emotionally involved in everything, and ended up hurt time after time.

Logan grabbed a pitchfork and started mucking out the stall, piling the blood stained hay in a corner until he could dispose of it. Then he used a power washer to clean the floor before putting clean hay in the stall. He hoped the physical labor would make him tired enough to finally be able to sleep.

***

Megan sat straight up in the bed, awakened from a deep sleep by a noise she couldn't identify. Then she heard it again. A deep, guttural growl. A coyote? No, they howled, didn't they? When it happened again, she shoved the covers back and slipped her shorts on under her long t-shirt, then slid her feet into her tennis shoes.

Before she reached her bedroom door, she heard ferocious barking, then the sound of glass shattering. She took off running. Charlie's room was next to hers, so she stopped to check on him first. His eyes were open wide with fear. "Katie," he said in that strange, twisted language of his.

"It'll be okay. I'm going to check on her now."

Nancy and Jean met her in the hall.

"What's going on?" they both asked at once. Jean looked scared, Nancy more curious than frightened.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Would you two stay with Charlie? He's worried about Katie."

They nodded and went into his room and closed the door, so Megan went to Katie's room. Where was Logan? Surely he'd heard the ruckus?

Carol was in Katie's room, on the phone. She waved at Megan to be quiet. "Jake, please, can you come over here? We've had a break in, and I can't find Katie. I don't know where Logan is. Please hurry."

She put the phone down. "Katie's gone. She's not in here, or in the bathroom. I'm going to check the rest of the house."

As they left the room, they heard more barking, farther away this time, a yelp, and the sound of an engine starting up. They ran for the front door and saw a car pulling away at the end of the driveway. "Oh my God." Carol slumped against the doorway, one hand on her chest.

Megan looked over and saw the shattered window, blood on the glass and on the porch. "Blue must have been in the house and went through the window. He's bleeding badly. We've got to find Katie, and I've got to find Blue, too, or he'll bleed to death."

Carol looked down at her nightgown. "Let me grab something to cover up with. Jake will be here any minute. He and I will go after Katie, you can find Blue."

"Okay, but hurry. We don't have much time." Megan ran to Charlie's room and sent Nancy to find Logan and had Jean call the Sheriff. Then she grabbed a bath towel from the linen closet.

Two minutes later they met Jake in the driveway. Carol jumped into the truck and they sped down the road in the direction the car had gone. Megan got in her car to follow Blue's trail of blood.

She drove slowly, her door open so she wouldn't lose sight of the dark puddles he'd left behind. At the rate he was bleeding, he wouldn't be able to go too far.

A mile down the road she found him, collapsed by the side of the road. She stopped the car and got out, approaching him carefully. He was a working dog, and she was still somewhat of a stranger. There was a strong possibility he might see her as a threat and try to attack her. But when she knelt beside him, he looked up with pain-filled eyes, wagged his tail once, and laid his head back on the ground.

Megan turned on her flashlight and looked to see where he was hurt. Only the swelling of his right paw and the matting of blood clued her in to his injury. She quickly opened the first aid kit she kept in the car, took out a stocking she carried in case of just this kind of situation, and wrapped it around his snout to muzzle him. 

"Sorry boy. I know that's not comfortable, but it's necessary." He growled when she picked up his paw but the hose held his mouth closed. She took some gauze and tape from the first aid kit and made a pad to slow the bleeding. Then she wrapped the tape around it to hold it in place, picked Blue up, and put him in the car.

"Hang on, boy. We're going to finally meet the vet."

***

Logan had just finished cleaning out the stall where Big Mac had made his entrance into the world when he heard a woman screaming his name. He dropped the hayfork and ran for the house, twisting his ankle in a gopher hole in his rush. He met Nancy halfway across the pasture. She was still screaming his name as she ran in the dark, barefoot.

She screamed again when he ran up to her. "Oh, it's you. Thank God." She collapsed against him, her chest heaving from exertion. "Katie, Megan went…"

Logan grabbed her shoulders and set her back a step. "What's happened? What about Katie?"

Nancy gulped in air and tried again. "She's gone. Kidnapped. Megan went…"

"Where? Megan went where?"

"After Blue. He's hurt."

Logan didn't wait to hear any more. He grabbed Nancy's hand and ran for the house, dragging her along behind him, afraid if he didn't hold onto her there would be one more female lost. Damn Megan. How could she go after the dog when his daughter was in danger? 

"Hey, that hurts!" Nancy yanked her hand back and rubbed it.

Logan hadn't even realized he'd clenched his fists, pinching Nancy's hand in the process. He didn't slow down, just glanced over his shoulder. "Sorry. You need to keep up so you don't get lost in the dark."

"I'm trying, Cowboy, I'm trying."

Logan's heart lodged in his throat when he saw the blood and the glass scattered across the front porch. Was that Blue's blood, or Katie's? He turned to Nancy, who was pale and shaking in the light of the porch. "Where is everyone? Are Dad and Carol all right?"

"Jean's with your dad. He's okay, just very worried. Carol went with Jake to try to chase down the car they thought belonged to the kidnapper. Megan went after Blue. I haven't heard anything yet." She put a hand on his arm. "It will be okay, Logan. They'll find Katie. And Megan will take care of Blue."

Damn it. Why hadn't he been in the house, working at his computer like he always was? Why hadn't he been here to take care of his family? Thank God he'd put Blue in the house. If anyone could track her down, he could.

No, dammit, not if he was hurt. If he'd left the dog outside, Blue would have torn apart whoever took Katie before they ever got to her.