Cowboy Trouble (The McCord Brothers 1.5) (7 page)

Until Natalie heard the two sounds.

Sounds that she didn’t want to hear.

First, there was a knock at the door. A very loud one. In fact, it wasn’t a knock at all but more like a bang. That put a stop to their kissing. So did the voices that followed the banging.

“Natalie, we need to talk right now,” her father called out.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

“Yes, we have to talk,” Marcus piped up.

Both of them. Great. Natalie repeated a few more of those
craps
while she scrambled out of bed and hurried to dress. Rico got up as well, but not at the same breakneck speed she was moving. However, he was cursing under his breath.

Another bang on the door. Another shout from her father. Another plea from Marcus.

And then Natalie heard something that brought her breakneck pace to a full halt. Another voice. One that she certainly hadn’t expected to hear.

“Natalie? Can I please come in?” the woman said.

Oh, God.

It was her mother.

* * *

“I
S
THAT
WHO
I think it is?” Rico asked. He, too, was in scramble mode now, trying to get dressed.

Natalie nodded. Even though Rico had only talked to her mother a couple of times, he obviously remembered her voice.

“What’s your mother doing here?” he added.

She had no idea. Well, she did have an idea, actually. A bad one. Her father had brought her here to make sure that Natalie didn’t do something
he
would regret. Like stay married to a ranch hand.

“Give me a second,” Natalie called out so that her father would hopefully stop pounding on the door. The sound was going right through her, and her nerves were already raw enough as it was.

She had to squeeze back into the Skinnies because it was the only way her skirt would fit, and despite the franticness of their situation, Rico looked at her while she shimmied them on.

“Yeah, you should burn those things,” he said, frowning.

Natalie would, and buy bigger clothes, but she hoped for now that she didn’t pop out of the Skinnies like a container of canned biscuits that had given way to the pressure.

Even though the seconds were just ticking by, and her father was still pounding on the door, Natalie took a moment to check herself in the dresser mirror. And she nearly screamed. She looked as if she’d been having sex for hours.

Crap
.

Rico didn’t do a mirror stop, and that was why he reached the door before she did. That was not good but he was too darn fast, and he threw open the door before she could get there.

And there they were.

Her father’s face was so close to the door that Rico and he practically bumped noses. Marcus stood to her father’s left while her mother stood to his right. Marcus and her father were both obviously in a snit and were glaring, but her mother gave a polite smile.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” her father snapped. “I’ve been calling you all afternoon.”

“Sorry, but I forgot that I’d turned it off.” It was true, but he wouldn’t believe that.

Rico stepped to the side, motioned them to come on in, and they did, one by one. Her father and Marcus kept their attention nailed to her while tossing a few glares at Rico. Her mother looked around the way a prospective buyer might.

“Thank you for inviting us into your home, Rico,” her mother said, clearly remembering her manners. Unlike her father.

“You were supposed to be back in Austin,” he snarled. “And you damn sure weren’t supposed to be...doing whatever the hell it was you were doing with him.”

“Sex,” Natalie provided. No use even attempting to hide it. Rico looked as post-orgasmic as she did.

Apparently, neither her father nor Marcus were pleased with her truthful answer, though, because they were having some kind of scowling contest. At the moment her father was winning.

“You have such a lovely home,” her mother added.

“Thank you,” Rico told her. “Would you like to sit down? Or I can fix you some coffee.”

“That would be nice,” her mother answered at the same moment her father said, “We don’t want to sit down, and we damn sure don’t want any coffee. I want Natalie to come with us now. I’ve already arranged for someone to pick up her car from the McCord Ranch.”

But her mother ignored him, went into the living room and sat on the sofa. Again, as if this were a social call. Since things were about to get even uglier than they already were, Natalie went to her, took hold of her hand while Rico flipped on the automatic coffeemaker.

“Mom, are you all right? Is it okay for you to be here?”

“You mean because I should be in my special place.” Her mother smiled just a little, and it seemed slightly different from the smile at the door. “I can leave anytime I want, but it’s just easier there, you know?”

Yes, Natalie did know. Easier because her mother was sheltered from things that would upset her. Like this situation with Rico. But her mother didn’t seem upset.

“She’s on her meds,” her father quickly provided. “A larger dose than usual because I thought she would need it.”

Rico frowned, and after he came out of the kitchen, his hands went on his hips. “You overmedicated your wife all so you could bring her here to guilt-trip Natalie into coming home.”

It wasn’t a question. Not in Natalie’s mind, either. That was exactly what her father had done, and it was lowdown and dirty. Still, she didn’t want her mother to have to pay the price for her father’s manipulation tactics.

Natalie kissed her mother’s cheek. “It’s really good to see you, but I’ll be by Sunday for my usual visit. I’d love for us to have a long chat then.”

“Of course.” So polite. But Natalie didn’t know how much was real and how much was the medication.

“Mom, do you understand what’s going on between Rico and me?” Natalie asked.

“Sex,” her mother provided in a whisper, repeating Natalie’s answer that she’d given to her father. “I’m old and on meds, but I do remember sex.” Another smile. “Sometimes, it helps clear the head. Sometimes not. Which was it for you?”

“Both.” It was the truth, and Rico made a sound of agreement.

Strange, but this was the first time she and her mother had discussed sex in any way, fashion or form. And it was in front of a room full of men. Men who, judging from their scowls, weren’t in a sex-talking mood.

Natalie stood and looked at Marcus next. “Could you go ahead and take my mother to the car? I need to say some things to my dad.”

Marcus shook his head. “But you and I need to talk, too.”

“No, we don’t. I’m not marrying you, not ever. So there, that’s done.”

Marcus opened his mouth, no doubt to argue.

Natalie nipped that in the bud. “It’s over. Now go.”

She checked to make sure this wasn’t sending her mother into a tailspin. It wasn’t. Her mother had gone to the window next to the fireplace. There were security lights out there by the creek, and despite the rain, the view was still incredible.

“Mom, why don’t you go with Marcus?” Natalie asked her.

Her mother nodded, stayed a moment to continue looking before she finally came back toward them. She stopped, though, when she spotted the divorce papers on the counter. Natalie tried to take them from her, but it was too late. Her mother was already reading them.

“It’s true? You really aren’t divorced?” she asked.

Natalie wasn’t sure how much her father had told her, so she tried to keep things simple. “The courthouse clerk messed up the original paperwork. I’m sorry,” she added, only because she should be adding something.

“Your father will fix this,” her mother said like gospel, and then she turned to Rico. “Thank you for having me in your home.”

God, it cut at Natalie to see her like this. Of course, the alternative would have been for her mother to be having a freak-out episode. Thankfully, the only suicide attempt she’d had was twelve years ago, and Natalie wanted to keep it that way.

Rico nodded, managed a “You’re welcome.” Her mother lingered a moment longer in the kitchen and went with Marcus so he could take hold of her hand.

Later, Natalie would need to apologize to Marcus for being so abrupt with him. Or maybe not. He might take her apology as an opening to try to renew their relationship.

“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” Natalie said to her father the moment her mother was out of earshot.

“You gave me no choice.”

“Choice?” Rico repeated. Oh, no. This was going to get ugly. “You’re trying to manipulate Natalie, the way you’ve always done.”

“I’m trying to protect my wife. You don’t know what she’s been through—”

“I told him,” Natalie interrupted.

Her father snapped back his shoulders. Clearly surprised. Probably because she didn’t discuss her mother with just anyone. Of course, she didn’t just marry and have sex with anyone, either. Rico was, well, special.

That didn’t change things, though.

Her mother was perhaps still teetering on the brink of another suicide attempt, and Natalie had to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Dad, wait in the car,” Natalie insisted. “Please,” she added. “I just need to talk to Rico for a couple of seconds.”

Rico didn’t say a word. Neither did her father, but he knew that he had won.

And Rico knew that he’d lost.

Other than her weight, things hadn’t changed in the past twelve years, and they wouldn’t.

Her father walked out, not in that same angry way as when he’d stormed in, and he left Rico and her standing there. Staring at each other. Natalie had no idea what the right words were to say to him because there was no way to fix this.

Apparently, Rico knew that, too.

“Goodbye, Natalie,” he said. Rico brushed a kiss on her cheek and walked her to the door.

Natalie managed to hold back the first tear until she made it outside.

CHAPTER SEVEN

R
ICO
CURSED
THE
heat and the long-assed day he’d just had, which included going through a mountain of paperwork and tracking down some calves that’d gotten through a fence that Shane should have fixed. That resulted in more cursing—aimed at Shane that time.

Of course, Rico had to admit he’d been cursing a lot lately, so just about anything and anybody set him off. Now he had to go home, where there’d no doubt be more opportunities to dole out some
damns
,
hells
and worse swearwords. Because there’d be memories of Natalie everywhere.

Of her naked.

Of the sex they’d had.

Memories of her walking out, too.

Those memories were the very reason he’d been staying at the bunkhouse at the ranch for the past three nights. In fact, he’d left right after Natalie had, and he hadn’t gone back. Until now. But he was tired of being under one roof with a dozen snoring men, because that was also causing its own share of cursing.

Thankfully, he’d left some lights on, so he didn’t have to curse the darkness, too. He pulled off his boots and shirt on the porch. No sense carrying that stench inside. Once they’d aired out a bit, then he would clean them. He’d have to do the same to his house.

Or not.

He frowned when he didn’t see a mess in the kitchen. There should have been scrambled eggs, toast and leftover margaritas—the things he’d fixed for Natalie. But the only “mess” on the counter was the divorce papers. Someone had obviously cleaned, and he doubted there were fairy-maids or neat-freak burglars who’d do that.

“Mom?” he called out though his mother never just showed up unannounced. Even if she had, she certainly wouldn’t have cleaned.

Rico glanced around for a note from a neighbor or one of the townsfolk who’d heard about his second breakup with Natalie. No note, but he heard the sound of footsteps coming from his bedroom. The door was open, and the room was dark, so it took him a moment to see anything. When he did, Rico thought maybe every drop of air had vanished from the planet.

Because it was Natalie.

And she was naked. Well, almost. She was wearing just a barely there lace bra and panties. He pinched himself to make sure this wasn’t some sort of hallucination. Or a ghost. If it was, the ghost was wearing Natalie’s perfume.

“We seem to communicate better when I’m not dressed,” she said, as if that explained everything. It explained nothing, but Rico was so spellbound by the view that he didn’t point out the flaw in her comment.

“Uh, how did you get in?” All in all, it was a really dumb thing to ask her, especially when he had more important questions on his mind.

Like
Why are you here?

Or
Why are you practically naked?

And
How soon are we having sex?

That last mental question latched on to what was left of his brain and held on.

“The door was unlocked. I parked in the back because I wanted to surprise you,” she answered.

Mission accomplished. He was so surprised, it was a wonder he hadn’t dropped to the floor.

“I’ve been here since this morning,” Natalie continued. She came closer. What she didn’t do was smile, and he could tell her nerves were there just beneath the surface. He was feeling some nerves, too. And confusion.

Lots of confusion.

“I burned the Skinnies,” Natalie added before he could get his mouth working. “I also made sure Marcus knows that it’s a no-go with him.”

That sounded, well, good, but Rico still didn’t know where this was leading. “Why exactly are you here?”

She didn’t answer. Not with words anyway. Natalie hooked her arm around him and kissed him. Not a wimpy kiss, either. This was the real deal. French and everything.

“Things are so good between us when kissing and nudity are involved,” she said.

Yeah, they were, and Rico hoped he didn’t get booted out of the man club for saying this: “But we can’t stay naked and kiss forever.”

She looked at him as if she might challenge that and then sighed. “Should I put on some clothes, then?”

“No.” He probably should have given that some thought, but what the hell—he wouldn’t change his mind even with thought and plenty of talk. He really did like having a half-naked Natalie pressed against him. In fact, the only thing that would have made it better was for him to take off that bra and panties. First, though, he really did need some answers.

“What about your father?” Rico asked.

Since Natalie was only a couple of inches from him, he saw her flinch a little. Then she kissed him again, and the flinch, the question and what shred of common sense he had left flew right out the window. When she pulled back this time, Rico was ready to haul her off to bed.

But no bed. Instead, Natalie held out her hand, putting it right in his face. Since it blocked the view he really wanted—of her and that skimpy underwear—Rico nearly pushed it aside.

Until he saw the ring on her finger. A ring that he recognized because he’d given it to her the night they’d eloped. Unless she’d managed to buy an identical one.

“You found it?” he asked.

Natalie shook her head. “My mother had it all this time, and when I visited her this morning, she told me she’d left it on the counter the night she was here.”

Now it was Rico’s turn to shake his head. “Why did she have it? Better yet, why did she leave it?”

“She took it that day when I went home to tell them we’d eloped. Remember, I went alone.”

Only because Natalie had insisted on that. Rico hadn’t thought it was a good idea for her to do it solo. And he’d been right. Things had gone to hell after that.

“Anyway, after I told my parents we were married, my dad had a blowup, my mother retreated to her bedroom, and I went out to ride my horse so I could clear my head. I left the engagement and wedding rings on my dresser because I was afraid of losing them. When I got back, my mother had taken the overdose of sleeping pills. She’d taken the wedding ring, too.”

Rico hoped just talking about this didn’t bring back all the painful memories for Natalie. But then the bad memories, like the good ones, would always be there. There was nothing she could do about that.

“Why did your mother take the wedding band?” he asked. Because this still didn’t make sense.

Natalie lifted her shoulder, which created some fascinating movement in the lace bra. It was distracting. And damn interesting. But Rico tried not to notice it because this conversation was important. Well, maybe it was. And maybe it wouldn’t ever be possible to understand the mind of a mentally ill woman.

“My mom said that whole day is foggy, but she was afraid my father would throw the rings away. Which he might have done if he’d spotted them.” She drew in a long breath, and it caused her breasts to move again. “As for why she only took the wedding band and not both, we might never know.”

Rico thought he might have an idea. “Maybe it was her way of saving the more important of the two rings for you.” If so, it’d worked. “Except she didn’t try to save herself.”

Natalie made a sound of agreement. “But our elopement didn’t have as much to do with what happened as I thought. She said she just gave in to the depression. That’s why she wants to stay where she is, but by keeping the ring, that was her way of saying, it’s okay.”

“But it’s not okay with your father,” Rico reminded her.

She shrugged again. “No, but he’s like the Skinnies. He’s holding me in and not in a good way. If I keep letting him do that, I might pop. Also not in a good way,” she added. Then she added a sly smile.

Despite the serious chat, the air was still zinging between them, and yeah, it felt as if something might pop. Something felt right, though, too. Rico was still in the cautiously optimistic department when he kissed her. As always, Natalie tasted like all the sweet things in his life rolled into one. That taste hummed right through him.

Until he remembered that he should add a reminder to all this. Hard to do, though, because he had to wait for her to finish giving him her own kiss.

“We might still suck at this,” he said with his mouth against hers.

“Probably. Some of the time anyway. I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be, though. I don’t think anyone can avoid total suckage.”

She was right. This wasn’t all sex and kisses, but it was a nice part of it. Nice holding her, too. And looking at her. Hell, there were a lot of nice parts.

“I need to thank the county clerk,” she continued. “Her screwup was the best thing that could have happened because it brought me back to you.”

It had, and Rico wanted to add his thanks for that. However, there was one more issue to be worked out. “You live and work in Austin, over an hour away from the ranch.”

“I can work from home most days, commute on the others.” Obviously, she’d given this some thought. She kissed him, which always made everything better.

Rico had one other point of possible contention. “My boots will always have cow shit on them.”

She gave him a serious look. Then smiled. “Good. It’s exactly where I prefer cow shit to be.”

It was the right answer. The right woman, too. If he hadn’t known that twenty minutes ago, he certainly knew it now. Of course, another kiss helped with that reminder. A nudge of her body against his did the trick, too.

That left Rico with just one last thing to ask. “Natalie, do you want to stay married to me?”

Her smile widened, and she caught on to his belt and yanked him to her. “I do.”

* * * * *