Conall's Legacy (25 page)

Luisa raced into the ranch yard and looked for Rooster. Drake came close behind, his horse moving at a hard trot, threatening to bounce him off the saddle. Luisa glanced to be sure he was all right, and noted his death grip back on the saddle horn.

“Come on! He’s around back,” Luisa called.

At the edge of the bull pen, she slid to a stop.

“Son of a bitch. Fear Factor’s out,” she called. She quickly pulled her rope from the saddle strings.

#

“What the hell are you going to do?” he yelled.

“Leave Charlie at the tie rack and stay close to the fence so you can get up on it.”

“Yeah, but
what
are you doing?” He asked it as he rode to the rail and dismounted. He tied the horse, and ran to the fence.

He watched Luisa circle the bull, who pawed the ground and shook his horns at Rooster. “Luisa?”

“Be quiet before you draw his attention to you.”

She made a loop from her rope and sailed it at the massive beast. Drake breathed a sigh of relief when it settled over the thing’s horns.

Wrong, he thought. The bull took off as she wrapped the rope around her saddle horn. The horse sat back and threw his weight against the bull, but it didn’t faze him. He just proceeded to drag the horse and Luisa across the open space near his pen.

“Run through the pen and close the back gate. That’s how he got out. Then come back out here and stand behind this gate and we’ll run him in,” she said.

Drake did what she told him to, all the while watching Luisa and fearing the bull would get pissed and charge the horse she rode. He couldn’t let that happen. Didn’t bulls go after things that flapped--like capes and shit? He jerked his shirt off and stood in the open entrance to the pen. Drake waved it over his head like a flag.

“Stop that! Have you lost your mind?” she screamed.

The bull swung toward the motion, dropped his head, and pawed dirt so hard it flew back and hit Luisa in the face. When Fear Factor lifted his head, Drake found himself staring into the eyes of a two-thousand-pound, pissed off bull with horns big enough to mount a Caddy on. An instant before the bull charged, Drake turned to run. Too late. The bull rammed right into him, bowling him over and rolling him through the dirt. He hooked him with a horn and threw him into the air, then ran under him and into the pen.

Luisa was off her horse in a heartbeat and ran to yank Drake out of the opening. She slammed the gate while Rooster ran circles around the bull, barking and distracting the infuriated animal.

He rolled in the dirt, crawling and clawing out of the way before the beast could return. When he heard the gate slam, he sat up and shook his head. He was still seeing stars from the collision with the bull’s horn, but he was in one piece with no broken or missing body parts. For that, he was grateful.

Luisa raced to his side. “You idiot! You never wave anything at a bull. Are you hurt?” As she berated him, she ran her hands over his body, looking for injuries.

Adrenalin pumped through his body and the shear terror he’d felt made him loopy. He pulled her into his lap, silencing her yammering with a soul-stealing kiss. When he held her away from him so he could see her face, he laughed.

“Hot damn, I don’t ever want to experience anything like that again. People really get on those things for fun?”

She sat back on her heels, still with murder in her eyes. “They do,” she said dryly. “I could wring your neck for that stunt.”

“I couldn’t let him get you.”

She shoved him. “Damn it, Drake. I know what I’m doing.”

He got a silly-assed grin on his face. “What do you suppose those cowboys do with the excess energy that kind of excitement brings on?” He watched the anger drain out of her.

Luisa wiggled her eyebrows at him. “I don’t know how they take care of it, but I know what we can do.”

She jumped up and pulled him to his feet, leading him toward house.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Several days passed and Luisa was getting a lot of writing done. She’d make her deadline yet, she thought. She smiled at her monitor as her fingers flew across the keyboard. The love she felt for Drake was fueling this story of unconditional love: the love an angel has for the one she guards. Each evening he came to her for a cozy supper for two, quiet conversation, and then lovemaking in her huge antique bed. Then he’d slip from the bed as soon as she slept and go to work in the shed, sleeping a good part of the next day. He had yet to spend an entire night in her arms.

She frowned as her fingers stuttered to a stop. Luisa longed to feel him beside her when she woke in the morning, to plan a future together. One that included a lifetime of peace, quiet, animals, and a family.

The hapless angel on the screen drew her attention and she smiled. Children just like the ones she wrote these stories for. Children she could love and protect. Ones she could raise as her father had raised her. Well, not quite like that, she thought. Things had gone terribly awry for her. Luisa suddenly leaned back against her chair and dropped her hands into her lap. For the first time, she realized they had all done what they had to. Her mother couldn’t face what she believed the ranch was doing to her daughter. Her father couldn’t give up the ranch then anymore than Luisa could now. And Luisa had run with the innocence of a child, not realizing the danger in which she placed herself.

No one was at fault. Life happens. It was that simple. Luisa could forgive herself and her parents for what had happened to her. She could especially forgive her mother for taking her away in the first place. Her emotions jumbled together--joy, peace, disappointment at all she’d missed--tumbled over one another.

Luisa thought of her mother, of the wasted years, of all she would lose now that her mother’s time was short. Her breath caught in a sob. Why had it taken her so long to figure it out? She drew a deep breath into her lungs and sighed, brushing tears from her cheeks. You can’t ever go back, she thought. You can only go forward. If time was short, then she wouldn’t waste one more minute of it. Whatever was between Drake and her would have to wait. She needed her mother and her mother needed her. That had to come first for now.

Luisa reached for the phone and dialed her mother’s house. No answer. She glanced at the clock and thought it odd her mother wasn’t home. She called her mother’s business. The phone was answered quickly.

“Montoya Designs, may I help you?”

“Mrs. Allen-Montoya, please.”

There was a hesitation and Luisa swore she heard a sob on the line. “I’m ... I’m sorry. Ms. Montoya isn’t in today. May I take a message?”

Terror grasped Luisa by the throat. “Where is she?”

“I’m sorry I can’t say. May I take a message?” the receptionist repeated.

“No thank you.” Panicked, Luisa didn’t think to tell her who she was until she’d hung up. She quickly dialed Cindy. When she answered, Luisa blurted, “Have you heard from Mother?”

“No. What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s time for me to go out there and spend time with her. I’ll call you back when I’ve made plans.”

She slammed down the receiver and turned to save the file she’d just worked in. Luisa made mental notes. She’d have to get Manuel to come and stay to take care of the animals, make a flight reservation, and go to LA. Fear swelled out of her belly, along her throat and threatened to choke her. What was she thinking? It was dangerous out there, wasn’t it? Luisa chewed on the inside of her lip and twisted her fingers together.

Damn it. There’s no other way. She can’t come here. Get a grip and get on with it before you change your mind
.

She grabbed the phone and called Manuel, making arrangements to be away as long as needed. She’d tell Drake they’d have to coast for a bit until things were settled for Marie and her. She had to focus on that right now. Luisa prayed he would understand as she understood his need to protect Rebecca. If not, so be it. There were some things a woman just had to take care of, and family was one of them.

Luisa reached for the phone to call the airlines. The phone rang before her fingers could close over the receiver, startling her and making her jump. Her heart raced as her stomach pitched. Something told her this was not a call she wanted to take.

She carefully lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Ms. Montoya?”

It was a man she didn’t recognize. “Yes?”

“I’m Mr. Lancaster. I represent your mother, Marie Allen- Montoya--”

“What’s happened? Is she all right?” Panic hit her right between the eyes. She wrapped the phone cord around her fingers tight enough to cut into her flesh.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Montoya, but she asked me to call and tell you it’s time.”

“Oh, no.” Luisa slumped onto her office chair. “It’s too soon. Please, can’t something be done?”

“I’m sorry. The doctors have said there is nothing else. Marie asks that you come to her as soon as you can. She is in the hospital. She believes her ... death will not be long in coming. Can you do that? Do you want me to come for you in the company jet?”

Fear gave way to resolve. The thoughts raced around her mind as Luisa thought about getting to Marie’s side before it was too late. “Yes. Thank you. That would be faster than my trying to get a flight out of Tucson. You can fly straight to Sierra Vista, and I’ll meet you there.”

“When can you be ready?”

Luisa looked at the wall clock. Manuel would be there soon. “Two hours?”

“Right. I’ll get the jet on its way. I’m not sure how long the flight is. I’ll call you back with a time. And Ms. Montoya ...?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

The line went dead with a click. So swift, so final, she thought. Just like the impending death of her mother.

A second sob caught in her throat, and she buried her face in her hands as she gave way to tears for all that she’d found too late, and all that she’d lost and could never regain. When the torrent eased, Luisa wiped her face with her hands and ran them down her jeans. She stood to go and pack but the weakness in her legs had her dropping back onto the chair.

#

Drake walked in and found Luisa slumped in a chair, “Luisa?”

She raised her face to him with tear streaked cheeks.

He started toward her. “My God, what happened? Your mother?”

Luisa shook her head. “Not yet, but it’s time. I have to go. Her attorney is sending the company plane for me.”

“I’m so sorry.” He gently pulled her from the chair and gathered her trembling body in his arms. Drake rocked back and forth, comforting, supporting. Flashes of Conall’s funeral flashed in his mind’s eye. He saw Conall’s weeping parents and children, Rebecca’s determined strength, and his fellow officers, black arm-bands in place for a fallen officer. The weight of that event caught him now and sent him reeling in spite of his concern for Luisa.

Forcing aside his own reminders of grief, Drake set her away so he could look at her. “What about the animals? Can someone come on short notice to take care of them?”

“Manuel will be here tonight and will stay as long as I need him.”

Drake led her to the kitchen and gently urged her onto a chair before pouring two cups of coffee. He set hers down and sat across from her, stretching his free hand across to twine his fingers with hers. “Take a minute to settle. You’ll fair better for it.”

“Thanks.”

She shook her head after she sipped the hot, dark liquid. “I was writing and things were going well. Then the next thing I knew I realized what it all meant and I knew I had to go to her. I tried to call her and couldn’t find her at home or work. Cindy hadn’t heard from her. I was making plans to go out there when the attorney called.”

“Is your mother in the hospital?”

“She is. The attorney told me. I had already called my hired man and asked him to come and.”

Drake searched her face, looking for signs of the stress he was sure she attempted to hide from him. “How are you? How do you feel about this trip?”

She pulled her hand free and jumped to her feet. “Like I’d better get moving before I can talk myself out of it. I have to go. I have no choice.” She carried her cup to the sink and threw what was left of her coffee down the drain. Slowly, she turned back to Drake. “I’ve never asked this before, but I’m asking now. I need you, Drake. Will you go with me to LA? I don’t know if I can get through it alone. I need a friend right now.”

He rose and strode to her, gathering her once more in his arms. He kissed her temple, the touch as light as a rose petal. “Of course, I will. You throw some things together and I’ll do the same. Do you know when the jet will be here?”

“He’s going to call me back.”

“All right. Call Cindy. Tell her we’re leaving.”

He held her away, and surveyed her features. Her face was pale as desert sand. She looked fragile somehow. He wondered at her determination to see this through and knew instinctively it could go either way. She’d come away from the city this time either better for the experience or ready for Cindy to commit her for treatment. His heart broke at the latter prospect. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being in pain. Drake pulled her close for a quick hug.