BRANDED BY A CALLAHAN (11 page)

The door opened and Tighe walked in, grinning at their celebration. “Can I play, too?”

“No, you can’t,” River said. “Go away.”

“I always wondered what girls did when they were alone together. Now I know.” His eyes twinkled. “Please let me join in. It’s probably every man’s fantasy to join in private female games.”

Ana shook her head. “This is a game you can’t play, Tighe. But I’m going upstairs to bed, so you can sit here and try to convince River that you’re just as much fun as I am.”

“I don’t think I can convince her of that,” Tighe said. “Give me the game rules so she doesn’t beat me.”

River and Ana giggled. “Keep my secret,” Ana said to River as she got up from the sofa, and River said, “By all means, it’s just too much fun to watch men stew in their own juice,” and Tighe said, “Hey, you girls can’t hog the playbook.”

“Yes, we can,” Ana said, and went upstairs to think about what she could wear to the elegant Christmas masquerade ball next weekend—if she could get up the courage to watch another woman “win” Dante.

Not a merry occasion at all.

Chapter Eleven

“I’m going with you,” Jace said, climbing in beside Dante as he started his truck not five minutes after he and Ana had said goodbye. Her return to Rancho Diablo still had him poleaxed. Never had he been so glad to see someone—and yet, so destroyed.

“I think I know where you’re going, and you’ll probably need me,” Jace said. “Hey, Earth to Dante? Whatever you’re thinking about, your brain’s puffing smoke out your ears.”

“Fine. You can come with me. Keep your thigh-slapping observations to yourself.” Dante pulled on his gloves. Snow had begun falling, blanketing the ground in white lushness.

“I’m coming along for the ride,” Galen said, opening the door and hopping into the back. “All for one and one for all, as they say.”

“We’re the Three Musketeers now?” Dante said, grousing slightly. “Hurry, before Ash comes. I don’t need the whole gang on this minimission.”

“Ash won’t be attending. She’s too busy making goo-goo eyes at Xav,” Jace said. “And don’t look for Tighe, either. I saw him slinking off to River’s, much good may it do him. One thing I know,” Jace said, “is that my brothers have turned into sad little mice who skitter toward a woman like she’s a piece of cheese.”

“Not me,” said Dante, and Galen laughed.

“You’re the worst by far. Only Jace and I are managing to hold out, ” Galen said. “And frankly I did think Jace was going to manage to pick off River or Ana.”

“Nah,” Jace said, “they’re just my sisters in crime.”

Dante frowned. “Crime?” It would have been a crime indeed if Ana had fallen for Jace. Of course, she hadn’t fallen for Dante, either, so that was cold comfort. Dante headed down the winding lane toward the main road, turning on the defroster as the truck window fogged from the cold meeting his brothers’ hot air.

“Never mind,” Jace said, and Galen laughed, clearly knowing exactly what Jace was babbling about. “Just know that the ladies love a man who is true to himself.”

“Thank you for that sweet nothing.” Dante parked in Storm’s drive. “Right now, I want you to be untrue to yourself by not being annoying when we talk to Storm. I need details about his new purchase.”

“Is it just killing you that the land we thought we were competing for is Storm’s?” Jace got out of the truck, slammed the door.

“No,” Dante said, “because I figured Aunt Fiona was setting us up to start with.”

“She could have been,” Galen said. “But it seems unlikely. Fiona got her other set of nephews married off, but she still played fair. They got land, but more importantly, they’ve got families they adore. Maybe that’s the point.”

It didn’t matter anymore. Ana didn’t seem like she thought of him in any way that portended marriage. Ever since she’d tried on the gown, she’d kept an arm’s length away from him, or more.

Except for the night she’d let him make love to her.

But then she’d left.

It was enough to drive a man crazy. “Let’s not talk about women, they’re a pain in the butt,” Dante said. Just then the door was opened by a gorgeous redhead, and he had to work hard not to stare. Beside him, Galen and Jace had gone still and silent—a first.

“Hi,” she said, and Dante said, “Hello. We’re the Callahans from the ranch over. We’d like to see Storm.”

She smiled at all three of them, and Dante thought there was a reason men fancied redheads. Slender and athletic, and with cute freckles across a tiny nose, big blue eyes twinkling at them, Dante thought he and his brothers probably looked like The Three Stooges as they gawked.

“I’m so sorry, but Uncle’s not in. I’ll tell him you came by.”

Dante nodded. “Thank you.” He backed off the porch, his shell-shocked brothers following him silently. They got into the truck and Dante watched as the redhead closed the front door. The porch lights threw a glow onto the snow blanketing the house and Dante blew on his hands, wondering when his brothers were going to find their tongues and ask him why he hadn’t left a stern message for her to deliver to her uncle.

“That was certainly a surprise,” Dante said.

“Yeah,” Jace said. “I know you think women are a pain in the butt, yet it didn’t look like your butt was hurting you just then, Dante. I know mine wasn’t. I was concentrating on a part of me that suddenly felt
good
.” He sighed dramatically. “I didn’t know angels had hair like fire,” Jace said, waxing poetic and annoying.

“I didn’t know Storm knew any angels,” Galen said. “When she said he was her uncle, all I could think was lucky son of a—”

“You guys are fogging up the windows again,” Dante said. “We’re never going to get home unless you quit breathing so hard. You act like you’ve never seen a woman.”

“Not one like that,” Jace said.

“Definitely not,” Galen agreed. “Wish you’d asked her name.”

“Or her marital status, boyfriend status, anything,” Jace said.

“Pardon me for not inquiring after her bra size, what side of the bed she prefers and whether she’d ever be interested in going out with a pair of my slow-witted brothers.” Dante drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove. “I don’t like it. The whole thing smells.”

“Why?” Galen asked.

Dante headed down the road toward Rancho Diablo. “I don’t get the reasoning behind tying Xav and Ash up.”

“All these attacks are designed to run us off the ranch,” Galen said. “Scare us, bring us down. Break up the family, make us look over our shoulder constantly. They want the land, the oil wells, the rumored silver mine that the town’s been gossiping about for years, and the fabled Diablo mustangs no one’s ever seen but us. You think Storm was behind the attempted kidnapping? Is that why we’re here?”

“Xav said seven guys jumped them.” Dante’s uneasiness grew. “They have to be Wolf’s men. But Storm bought the land north of us across the canyons, so now we’re surrounded on two sides. The bad guys had to have crossed over Storm’s land. He should have lookouts. Remember that he was worried about people camping on his land not that long ago.”

“Yeah.” Galen pondered that. “Whatever you decide, man, we’re with you.”

“Whatever I decide?” Dante glanced at his brother.

“You’re the one with the clarity right now. You seem to be working on a theory,” Galen said.

“It isn’t coming together,” Dante said. “It’s right there but I can’t see all of it.”

“All I can see are those sweet lips on that redhead,” Jace enthused from the backseat. “Sweet as a strawberry.”

“She bothered me,” Dante said. “There was something I just couldn’t put my finger on about that lady.” Maybe it had been the beautiful face, or the fact that she was related to Storm, whom he trusted about as far as he could throw him.

“I don’t know. Suspicion clouds the mind,” Jace said. “You’ve just been really ornery ever since Ana turned you down flat.”

Dante’s lips creased for a moment. “And how do you know she turned me down flat?”

“Everyone knows,” Galen said. “You went around like a bear for weeks after she left. You were telegraphing like crazy. Now she’s back and you act like you don’t want to talk to her. If I was Ana, I’d be mad.”

“Mad?” Dante pulled into the yard, switched off the truck. “About what?”

“You’re the one with the clarity these days. Figure it out.” Jace slapped him on the back. “Good luck, bro.”

“Don’t forget the meeting, sunshine,” Galen said, shutting the truck door.

Dante had nothing else to say to the two wisenheimers. Maybe he was a little crusty these days, but they weren’t shining examples of personality, either, so he didn’t care.

They were right about one thing: Ana
had
turned him down flat.

“I hope they both fall for women who understand the thrill of the chase and give my boneheaded brothers a good long slippery one, where there’s lots of crow to be eaten at every bend in the road,” he muttered, and the winter wind carried his words to the dark velvet skies as he walked into the house.

* * *

A
LL
MEETINGS
THAT
WERE
serious and private were held
in the upstairs
library of the seven-chimneyed house. Besides Fiona’s kitchen, this was Dante’s favorite part of the enormous, Tudor-style house that Jeremiah Callahan had built. Jeremiah’s dream home, according to Burke, who labeled himself something of a historian on the house and its grounds. The place was very comfortable, despite its enormous size, and Dante felt instinctively that Jeremiah and Molly would never have left it, nor, more important, deserted their six sons, unless the danger had been extreme.

His own parents, Carlos and Julia, had followed in Jeremiah’s and Molly’s footsteps. Fighting the good fight was in their blood. Dante knew all the Callahans came by their instinct to protect their own from those who had gone before. Running Bear had spent years trying to keep his family safe—how heartbreaking it must be that the evil chasing the Callahans was overseen by Running Bear’s own son, Wolf, on behalf of the cartel. His brothers, Jeremiah and Carlos, had been warriors, yet Wolf had gone over to the bad side. How did that happen in families?

Dante appropriated a leather chair for himself and waited for Galen to begin the meeting. His mind drifted to Ana. Had she come back because of the children? She wasn’t taking her old job back, and she was leaving after Christmas. This had his radar up as much as anything. Why would she come back here for the holidays?

He gazed at the many windows of the library, darkened by the night, admiring the electric candles Fiona had set in every window and the beribboned wreaths hanging above them. When he and his siblings had grown up in the tribe, they’d celebrated the holidays differently. He liked this way, too. But sometimes he was homesick. None of them could ever go home again, because Running Bear had set them on a mission to keep Carlos and Julia, and Jeremiah and Molly, safe. There could be no tracks to the past.

He understood family and the longing for home. But Ana had returned and, frankly, his holiday season would be a bit brighter because of it.

It would be even better if she’d show up in his bed again, with a little Christmas surprise for him. He sighed, lost in the fantasy, until Galen cleared his throat loudly. His brothers and sister stared at him in astonishment.

“What?” Dante asked.

“Brother, you muttered something,” Ash said, “which sounded distinctly like ‘Christmas kisses.’”

“I thought he said, ‘Ana kisses,’” Jace said, shaking his head.

“I just thought he was drooling.” Tighe peered at him. “Hello? You okay in there?”

“I’m fine,” Dante said. “I didn’t say anything. Or drool.” He’d been lost in a lusty fantasy, certainly, but he’d been keeping those under his hat for months. “Proceed with the meeting.”

“You sure?” Galen hesitated. “Because if you’re not feeling well, if you have things you need to attend to—”

“I don’t.” Dante felt himself becoming grouchier by the second. “You guys all have such vivid imaginations.”

Ash laid her head against his shoulder. “Leave him alone. He’s allowed to hallucinate on occasion.”

Galen shook his head. “All right, the first topic—”

“Excuse me,” Burke said, entering the room. “I hate to disturb the meeting, but the new bodyguard is downstairs.”

“Can’t it wait until after?” Galen asked. “It’s like catching birds to get all this crew assembled and paying attention.”

“Ms. Kendall said Sloan told her that the new bodyguard was to be introduced immediately, so there were no new faces at the ranch that no one recognized,” Burke said.

“That’s right,” Sloan said, rising to his feet. “It’ll only take a second. We can’t afford to have anybody on the ranch that we don’t know, and I want to make certain Kendall engaged a bodyguard that we’re all happy with. Including my boys and River.”

Dante thought that was wise. They couldn’t be too cautious. They filed down the stairs, grouping into the family room.

“This is Miss Sawyer Cash,” Burke said, slipping from the room.

Dante stared at the gorgeous redheaded bombshell standing next to Kendall, who gazed around at everyone with a delighted smiled on her face. “Guys, I’d like you to meet the new bodyguard for the twins. Sawyer, these are the Callahans. I’ll let them introduce themselves.”

“Won’t be necessary for me,” Dante said, but before he could say
we’ve already met and I don’t like this,
Jace stumbled forward, pushing Galen out of his way.

“How do you do?” he said to the woman they’d met just thirty minutes ago on Storm Cash’s porch. Uncle Storm’s niece was going to be living on Rancho Diablo, privy to Callahan secrets and precious children?

Dante backed away. Nothing good could come of this. Not one thing, especially if his brothers were thinking with something other than their pea-size brains.

Chapter Twelve

The next day dawned colder than ever, and Ana decided the only way to warm up was to go help Fiona string Christmas lights over the corral rails. She loved days like this at Rancho Diablo, when the ranch was wrapped in a cozy blanket of white twinkling snow.

Fiona smiled as Ana came to join her. “Good morning! You’re up early! Did you sleep well?”

“Like a baby. And speaking of babies, the boys sleep through the night now, like angels. They’re growing so fast.” Ana felt a little wistful about everything she was going to miss as the boys grew into young men.

“Children do grow up fast.” Fiona smiled at her. “You’re coming to the Christmas ball, aren’t you? I simply won’t allow you to say no! The decorations my committee have begun putting up are simply fabulous this year!”

Ana smiled at Fiona’s enthusiasm. “Of course I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Good.” Fiona handed her a roll of white lights. “Twine those over the rails. Burke will come by later and put the whole thing together. If I tried to manage the electrical, I’d have this place wired for disaster.” She got out some wreaths and began situating them along the fence. “This year I plan to outdo myself. I hope you brought a lovely gown for the party!” Stopping, she turned to look at Ana. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You probably don’t want to talk about beautiful gowns.”

“It’s fine.” Ana didn’t like to think about the one that had not been “magic” on her, but that was over now, in the past. “I won’t be wearing fancy dress to the masquerade ball, Fiona. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’d figured as much,” Fiona said. “We didn’t give you much time to prepare. It can be difficult to find the just-right outfit!”

Dante walked up, handed Fiona and Ana both a cup of hot cocoa. “Good morning, ladies.”

“Hi.” Ana felt breathless in Dante’s presence. He smiled at her and her heart melted despite the cold. She loved his smile and his dark hair and the way she always felt happy when he was around.

“Hi,” he said. “Want to ride into town?”

Ana blinked. “Sure. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” He glanced at Fiona. “Do you mind if I borrow her?”

“Not a bit,” Fiona said cheerfully. “Thanks for the cocoa, favored nephew, though please don’t tell your brothers I identify you as such.”

He kissed her cheek. “All your secrets are safe with me, Aunt.”

She rapped him with a decorative candy cane and then tucked it into the corral lights. “I have no secrets. I’m an open book. Speaking of books, I tap you to read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ to the little ones on Christmas Eve.”

“Be happy to.” Dante tipped his hat and nodded to Ana to go with him.

Ana followed Dante to his truck, and he opened the door for her and said, “I was hoping I’d run in to you.”

She waited until he got in the truck and started it. “You know where I’m staying if something’s on your mind.”

“I didn’t know anything was on my mind, exactly, until I met Sawyer last night.” He glanced at her, then steered the truck down to the main road. “What did you think of her?”

“It’s not my business to think anything,” Ana hedged. “Kendall hired her, and she’s experienced with hiring people all around the world. Sawyer must have the qualifications Kendall wants.”

“I just don’t like it.” Dante shook his head. “There’s just something fundamentally wrong to my mind in having our neighbor’s niece working for us.”

“Maybe you could mention your concerns to Kendall.”

“For now, I’ll just ask you to keep an eye on her, if you don’t mind.”

Ana blinked. “Dante, I don’t want to. I’m training her to take my position. I don’t want to think anything of her except for her capabilities. It’s my job to protect the little boys, not to dissect the new girl.” She shook her head. “I trust Kendall’s judgment.”

He nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t realize how awkward it would be for you.”

“Why do you dislike Storm so much?”

“Just seems like when funky things happen, he’s not far away. Maybe I’m just normally suspicious. I don’t know.” Dante shrugged. “I talked to Sheriff Cartwright in town, and one thing he mentioned is that Storm’s been dating Lulu Feinstrom in town. Maybe he’s too busy to cause trouble.”

“I love Lulu’s blackberry pies. And she makes the best watermelon daiquiris.”

“Yes, she’s a nice lady.”

“But you’ve always relied on hunches,” Ana said.

“I believe in the power of intuition.”

She did, too. “Maybe you could talk to Kendall. Ask her if she knew that Sawyer was Storm’s niece when she hired her.”

“She had to. Moreover, Sloan had to be on board.”

That was true. Still, Dante’s unease made Ana uncomfortable, because of the twins. “Kendall wouldn’t hire anyone who would endanger the boys.”

“I know. Forget I said anything. Let’s concentrate on things we can control. Like Fiona’s shindig. You’re coming, right?”

She nodded. “I’m looking forward to supporting Fiona’s ball. And I wish you the best of luck as the main course.”

“Yeah, well. Anything for charity.” They pulled in front of the bridal gown shop and Dante parked the truck. “If I take you in here with me, will you burst into flame one foot past the door?”

She looked at him. “I hope not. Have you heard rumors to the contrary?”

“Just checking.”

She got out and followed him. “Are you cross-dressing to play your part for the masquerade ball?”

He shook his head. “Fiona thought you might need a dress. This is the place for costume ball glory, or so I’m told.”

She stopped in her tracks. “I don’t need a dress.”

He gazed down at her. “Fiona says—”

“Fiona is trying to be nice, and you are, too, but I’m just going to wear a church dress. I’ll be fine.”

Dante’s navy eyes were filled with indecision. “Listen, I don’t know so much about ladies and dresses, but it seems like since prehistoric times when humans put on fig leaves, the lady wanted hers to be the prettiest in the forest.”

She started to walk back toward the truck. “I appreciate that Fiona has sent you on a mission, but I’m perfectly comfortable with what I’ve got.”

“You’ve got a mask? We could just pick up a mask—”

“Dante. I’m fine.” She’d grab one when he wasn’t around. She wished Fiona hadn’t sent Dante to do this. “I’m sure you have more important things to do than shop, so why don’t we head back?”

“Not so fast. I never come to town without making a stop at the Books’n’Bingo.”

“How you don’t gain weight, I’ll never know.” Ana decided she could at least be gracious and humor him on his cookie hunt.

“I don’t gain weight because I’m too busy chasing nephews and bad guys, and sometimes my aunt Fiona sends me on wild-goose chases. She underestimated your stubborn side.” He stopped, and after a moment, gazed down at her. “Listen, I want you to do something for me. If I give you a couple hundred bucks, will you secretly buy me?”

“At the auction?” She laughed a bit uncomfortably. “Dante, don’t ask me. Please.” It would be so embarrassing later, when she told him her secret. She didn’t want any part of the auction. She planned to attend the ball, and when the charity bit began, she was heading home. “I’m not planning to stay for the auction.”

He led her to the teashop. They stood under the bright awning, and as the sun twinkled off the glass windows on the main street, Ana thought her heart was breaking just like glass dropped on the ground.

“Ana, I’m trying to avoid an awkward night with a woman I don’t know. You buy me, I’m off the hook. You have no idea how nervous I am about being the grab bag on Saturday night.”

“You mean the grand prize.” She giggled in spite of the delicacy of the situation. “I thought men liked variety. Change of pace and all that. Fresh game.”

He sighed. “We do. When we control it.”

“Whoever buys you will be most appreciative, I’m sure.”

“You don’t understand. I’m picky about women. Some might almost say to a fault.” He really did look worried. “What if she laughs too loud? What if she doesn’t like country-and-western music? What if she’s looking for more than I want to give?”

“Eek,” Ana said. “Can we skip details like that?”

“I’m talking about
dessert,
” he said, sounding a bit desperate. “Something past a quick dinner.”

She stared at him, trying not to laugh. “I think for a couple hundred bucks, a lady expects more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Dante. At least steak, salad and vegetables, and then some chocolate mouse or chocolate pecan pie.”

He looked alarmed. “I could be stuck for three hours with a woman I have nothing in common with, and you could save me by taking my money and buying me.”

“That’s rigging the game, which is very unfair.” Ana shook her head. “There are over a hundred women coming to Diablo for the fun, and you want to sandbag the contest. It’s not sporting.”

“You’d feel differently if you were the grand prize.” He looked positively depressed at the notion. “Never mind. I didn’t say that. Don’t tell my aunt what I asked you.”

“There’s an elementary school roof on the line. You have to be a lively grand prize. Don’t let your family down.” She pushed the door open and walked into the store. “Be brave.”

“I don’t think you’re paying attention.” He followed her into the teashop and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Rumor has it that three women have pooled their funds, and they intend to share me.”

“A fate worse than death?” She considered the treats in the pie case. The cupcakes looked fabulous, and the wreath and snowman shaped cookies caught her eye. “Some men would be flattered.”

“I’m not. Sheriff Cartwright told me that every bed-and-breakfast in town is booked, and every restaurant has been booked solid with reservations since last week.”

“Aren’t you happy your aunt is such a trooper for Diablo?” She looked at him curiously. “Just think of all the children who will appreciate your suffering.” She patted him on the arm. “I’ll take one of those cupcakes with the stars on top, please, Mavis,” she said with a smile, and pulled out her wallet.

“I’ve got it,” Dante said gruffly. “We cover all expenses at Rancho Diablo for our bodyguards.”

She put her wallet back in her bag. “All right. Thank you.”

Mavis smiled at both of them. “It’s so good you came in today. We just had our two-hundredth ticket purchased for the auction, Dante!”

He looked at Ana as if to say
help!
“That’s wonderful, Mavis.”

“It’s so lovely that you’re back in town. Do you have a costume, Ana?” Mavis asked kindly, and Corinne came over with a freshly baked tray of cookies to set out.

“All the ladies in town are so excited about their costumes,” Corinne told Ana. “Fiona has decided to award prizes for the top three ladies and the guys.” She smiled at Dante. “I bet you win.”

Ana could practically feel Dante radiating discomfort. “Who chooses the costume winners?”

Nadine came over with a teapot and a grin. “Fiona has decided that three large barrels will be put out for the ladies, and three for the guys. Everyone will drop in a dime for the person they think has the best costume! The fullest barrel wins.”

“My aunt’s ideas on how to generate funds is boundless.”

“I think it’s wonderful. Who chooses the initial three finalists?” Ana asked.

“Well, let’s see,” Mavis said. “We hadn’t thought that far. You do it, dear. You’re an out-of-towner now, you’ll be fairest. Don’t you think, ladies?”

Her friends nodded enthusiastically.

“All right,” Ana said. “I’d love to help.” It would keep her out of the way, keep her from focusing on the ladies chatting up Dante.

They beamed at her. “We knew we could count on you. Though please don’t choose this handsome devil just because he’s sweet on you,” Corinne said, and the ladies went on to helping the next customers in line.

Ana glanced at Dante. He got busy grabbing napkins and some other items from the tea tray and headed over to a table. She followed him, hardly knowing what to say. Dante wasn’t sweet on her. He’d not called her once when she was in Buffalo Gap. He hadn’t paid her much attention since she’d been back, unless his aunt sent him or they ran into each other by accident.

“Anyway,” Ana said, sitting down at the table to join him, “what makes you think a couple hundred bucks will be required to secure your auction? I’ll probably have plenty left over.”

He glanced up. “You’ll do it?”

“I’ll rescue you, Dante. I have to take pity on a man who’s as awkward around women as you are, I suppose,” she teased.

“I’ll take you out for a dinner you won’t forget,” he promised, sounding relieved and grateful, and Ana thought,
Wonderful, because I’m eating for two these days, and we really seem to be fancying sweet stuff
.

Dante might not be sweet on her, but she sure was on him.