His Callahan Bride's Baby (Callahan Cowboys) (5 page)

She blinked.
Awkward.
“I heard you’d proposed to Taylor Waters.”

He nodded. “I did. She turned down my suit. So then I thought maybe my neighbor gal might want to accompany me. Sounds like it’s going to be a real nice evening.”

Xav looked as if he was trying to rise to a sitting position, though he wasn’t going to make it. He muttered something, a string of incoherent words, and Ash looked at him with concern. “The less you move, the faster we can get you home, Xav. Your weight is too much on the horse,” she told him. “Try to stay still.”

After a few more twitches, he settled.

She looked back at the other man. “I don’t know what to say, Storm. I wasn’t planning to attend the charity ball.” Of course she was—but she’d been planning to go solo, if she could talk Galen into letting her off post that night.

Xav made more noise, sounding like a pheasant startled from a forest. Of course, he was feverish, so that probably had a lot to do with his sudden flailing. No telling how long he’d been lying out there, bleeding.

He’d do anything to avoid her.

“Let me think about it, although I warn you my brothers will not be happy. But I did want to go, so thank you for the offer,” she told Storm, and Xav fell silent at last.

* * *

“I
THOUGHT
I’
D
COME
BY
to talk to you,” Taylor said to Falcon as she hopped out of her truck. “Unless you were about to leave?”

Fiona and Falcon did look as if they were about to take off somewhere. Taylor knew she should have called first. The thing about Rancho Diablo was that people felt comfortable dropping by whenever and often, and she’d decided to ambush her own nerves and just make herself go face Falcon. Spur of the moment. No phone call to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.

Now Taylor wondered if she’d been a bit too impulsive.

“We were about to leave,” Falcon said, and his aunt nodded enthusiastically. “But you’re welcome to ride with us.”

Fiona turned and stared up at Falcon as if he’d lost his mind.

“You said you’d help me out,” he told her.

“I didn’t say we’d give away the family secrets,” Fiona shot back.

“Maybe another time,” Taylor said, and Falcon and Fiona both said, “No!”

“By all means, come with us,” Fiona said. “We’re just going to take a small joyride on the ranch.”

“More ghost-busting?” Taylor asked brightly. “Falcon’s big on ghosts.” She got into the backseat of the military jeep.

Fiona sent her nephew a droll look. “Our whole family enjoys a good paranormal goose-pimpler.”

The Callahans were legendary for their love of ghost stories and spiritual juju, according to her aunt Nadine. They even let a local woman give ghost-hunting tours on the ranch in the fall. Taylor smiled as they drove, listening to Fiona and Falcon banter. Fiona seemed very fond of her nephew, and just couldn’t help ribbing him. Taylor’s gaze focused on some horses making their slow way in the distance. Ash’s platinum hair caught her eye, but she didn’t recognize the man riding beside her. A third horse followed disconsolately behind the riders. “Who’s that?” she asked, touching Falcon’s shoulder. Through the black T-shirt she could feel muscles, strength—solidness so comforting.

“It’s Ash,” Fiona said. “And Storm.”

“Never a good combination. Let’s go throw a burr into whatever he’s up to. Hope you don’t mind, Taylor.”

“Fine by me.”

They pulled up alongside Ash and Storm, who came to a halt. Falcon cursed and jumped from the jeep. Fiona wasn’t far behind her nephew, and Taylor followed, too, as they hurried to help Xav.

“What happened?” Falcon demanded.

“I found him pretty much unconscious,” Ash said. “He’d dragged himself under a ledge. His horse was standing in the open, or I’d never have spotted him. Xav’s been shot.”

“What were you doing in the canyons?” Falcon demanded, examining Xav. “Help me get him into the jeep,” he told Storm. “You can explain to me later why you always seem to be around when something’s going wrong, Cash.”

The two men lifted Xav from the saddle, gently carrying him to the jeep. “I’m going to run him to the hospital,” Falcon said. “Fiona, I hate to abandon you—”

“I can take care of myself,” she said. “So can Taylor. Hurry!”

Falcon left with Xav strapped in the passenger seat, quiet and pale. Taylor didn’t know what to think about anything that had just happened. It was clear from Ash’s face that she was shaken by Xav’s condition.

“Come on, Fiona,” Storm said. “I’ll give you a lift.”

“Thank you.” Fiona sniffed, then allowed herself to be helped into the saddle behind Storm. “I think my nephew has a very salient point about you being around whenever there’s trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Storm said, and the two of them went off like bristling porcupines.

“Come on,” Ash said to Taylor. “Let’s get back to the ranch before my brothers come yelling at me.”

Taylor took a hand up from Ash into the saddle. “Xav will be all right, Ash.”

“I know.”

Her voice was tight. Taylor could tell Ash was really worried. Xav hadn’t looked all that good, sort of pale and obviously in pain.

“So what’s going on with you and my brother?” Ash asked suddenly. “I thought the two of you were supposed to avoid one another until December.”

“Falcon seems pretty good at bending the rules just enough to stay this side of honest.”

Ash snorted. “Living outside the rules is pretty much a Callahan family trait. Serves us very well at times. The thing is, I don’t know if my big brother’s what you need in your life, Taylor.”

Ash took off for the house, letting her horse run, soon galloping past Fiona and Storm. Taylor hung on, not sure what Ashlyn’s words had meant—and not sure if they were friendly or not.

Chapter Five

Ash and Taylor slid off the horse as soon as they reached Rancho Diablo. “Galen!” Ash yelled at the top of her lungs. “Galen!”

Galen, Tighe and Dante came out of the barn closest to the house. “What?” Galen asked.

“Get to the hospital quick. Xav’s been shot. Falcon took him there in the jeep.”

Galen looked at Taylor and his sister. “Shot?”

“Yes. Would you hurry?” Ash’s voice was desperate.

“I’m going.” Galen glanced back just once. “You weren’t in the canyons, were you?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Ash snapped, and Galen disappeared.

Taylor thought it was a good time for her to disappear, too. Ash clearly wanted to tear out to the hospital, and she didn’t want to be in the way. “When Fiona gets here, I’ll catch a ride home with her. You go on,” she told her.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Ash said. “Don’t go slinking off just yet. You and I are going to take a small drive. You know how to shoot, don’t you?”

Taylor blinked. “Yes. Aren’t you going to the hospital?”

“Not quite yet. We’re going back to the canyons before anything’s covered over. I want to find out who shot Xav. Wait until I get his horse some TLC, and then we’ll head off.”

Ash led the horses to the barn while Taylor stared after her. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to get caught up in Callahan issues.

Just then, Fiona and Storm rode up and Taylor helped Fiona slide down off the horse.

“Thanks for the ride,” Fiona said.

“My pleasure,” Storm replied.

“You’re like some kind of funky genie, Storm,” Ash said, appearing at Taylor’s side. “You’re always around when something’s amiss. Just like Aunt Fiona said.”

“Perhaps I was a bit harsh,” Fiona said. “Storm has been very helpful.”

Taylor thought Falcon’s sister looked as if she wanted to debate the comment. But Ash clearly had other things on her mind.

“Are you going to the hospital, Fiona?” Ash asked.

“I’m going to get Burke, and then I’m off. Thanks again, Storm.” Fiona went inside the house.

Storm tipped his hat to them and turned his horse.

“I’m watching you, Storm,” Ash said. “Even if I accept your invitation, it doesn’t mean we’re going to suddenly be great friends.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said mildly, and cantered away.

“I probably ought to get to Banger’s,” Taylor said.

“Do you have a shift?” Ash demanded. “Need to check on your mom?”

“No.” Taylor didn’t have anything pressing. All she’d planned to do was ghost-bust with Falcon, which in retrospect seemed like a bad idea. The only ghosts around here were the ones in Falcon’s head. “I have a date—”

“Good,” Ash said, interrupting her. “You can cover me. Come on,” she said, climbing into the jeep.

“If I’m going to cover you,” Taylor said, “you can explain what you meant about your brother not being what I need in my life.”

Ash started the ignition. “There’s a small gun in that box,” she said, pointing to the jeep floor. “It’s basically a pop gun, it’ll give you a chance to create a diversion. As for my brother, all I’m saying is that Falcon’s very bright. Very courageous. Thinks too much. Really, it’s his only fault.” She sounded very cheerful about Falcon’s list of defects. Her platinum hair blew in the breeze, her curls dancing. “A little out there. I know he proposed to you. That’s what I mean. Very odd, right? While you,” she said, glancing over at Taylor, “strike me as being a bit more pragmatic. Conventional.”

“Are you saying I’m too boring for Falcon?”

Ash drove a bit faster, flying over ruts in the rough ground. “Yes.”

“So you’re trying to talk me out of accepting his proposal.”

“No. I’m just saying opposites attract, but likes stay together.”

“Just so long as it’s not personal or anything. Or your opinion isn’t based on that ranch all of you want so badly. I mean, you wouldn’t be trying to knock your brother out of the competition, would you?”

“Maybe
knock
is a harsh word. Beat my brothers competitively, of course. But if you’re crazy about Falcon, then far be it from me to dissuade you from accepting him.” She seemed pretty blithe. “They’re so protective of me that I feel it’s my duty to be protective of them in return.”

Taylor grinned. “Sure you do.”

“We’d be sisters, you know.” Ash halted the jeep near the bunkhouse that had recently been completed near the canyons. “I hope you’re as good a shot as I’ve heard. Wolf’s buddy is still complaining that you shot his toe off. We hear about these things at Rancho Diablo.”

“It wasn’t his toe.” Taylor put the binocs to her eyes and scanned the seemingly endless landscape. “It was barely the tip of his boot. If I’d wanted his toe, I’d have hit it.”

“You know,” Ash said thoughtfully, “Falcon was a decent sniper in the military.”

“Decent?” Taylor put the binocs down and looked at her.

“Decent as in has his share of decorations.” Ash looked proud of her brother despite her modesty. “He probably likes a woman who could handle a weapon.”

“I think you’ve already put me off your brother.” Taylor got down from the jeep. “Let’s go see what we can scare up.”

Ash followed. “Let’s go to the overhang where I found Xav.”

Taylor scanned the ground, seeing dried blood, footprints and a spent shell casing. “There’s that bit of information you wanted.”

Ash looked down. “That makes no sense. Can I pick it up with my hands, or should I use something in case of fingerprints?”

“I’d say if the bullet matches the casing, then that’s information enough for the police to trace the gun owner, if the bullets were bought locally.”

“But if it’s not a registered rifle,” Ash said, “better be safe than sorry.” She grabbed the cap she kept in the car to keep the sun off her face, and scooped up the evidence.

Taylor didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but there was certainly something fishy about all this. “Let’s get to the hospital. Give me the cap and I’ll hang on to it while you drive. We don’t want anything to happen to the—”

They both jumped when Wolf walked up to them. “Hello, ladies.”

Taylor slapped the cap on her head, feeling the bullet casing rest against her scalp.

“You’re trespassing, Uncle,” Ash said. “Again, damn it. Seems to be a recurring problem you have. Maybe you need one of those shock collars that people use on their dogs when they won’t stay in the yard. Only this collar would be to keep you off Callahan land.”

He smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. “Well, this is the lady who’s so handy with a gun. My buddy Rhine has part of his toe missing thanks to you.”

Taylor kept silent.

“What do you want, Uncle?” Ash demanded.

“I lost something around here. Wonder if you’ve seen it?” He glanced around the area, his gaze passing over the dried blood as if it was of no importance. Which told Taylor everything she needed to know.

“I’m late for my evening of cattle driving,” she told Ash. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer. You and your uncle will have to excuse me.”

“Hang on, doll face. I’m not done talking to you.”

“You are,” Falcon said, coming up behind his uncle. “Doll face is late for her date, like she said.”

Taylor thought Falcon was probably everything Ash claimed: stealthy, dangerous, ominous. Fully a match for any situation.

Wolf smiled at her. “Looks like we’ll have to talk another time, Miss Waters, Diablo’s own resident princess.”

So he’d checked up on her, knew who she was. A slight tingle of fear ran over her. “Whatever.”

“Say hello to your aunt and your mother for me,” Wolf said as she departed, Ash not far behind.

“That’s enough,” Falcon said. “You’re a broken record, Uncle. Let’s send you on your way home.”

Falcon watched his uncle mount his horse and gallop off. Then he walked back toward the women, and the first thing Taylor thought was how handsome he was, how strong and sexy.

Her second thought was that judging by the look in his navy eyes, he was not happy. Annoyed, even.

With
her
.

“How’s Xav?” Ash asked, her voice eager.

“I’ll tell you everything when we get back to the ranch,” Falcon said, “and out of the canyons. Again.”

“Oh.” His sister sounded a bit despondent. Taylor guessed it wasn’t the time to bring up the spent shell. Whatever was bugging Falcon didn’t seem as if it might be assuaged by talking about
evidence
.

“You ride my horse,” Falcon told his sister. “I’ll drive the jeep. I have something I want to discuss with Taylor. In private.”

“Okay. I want to go check on Xav. I guess I’ll take my cap back from you, if you don’t need it, Taylor.” Ash shot her a sympathetic glance that clearly said
You’re in hot water.
“I’ve got some other lighter caps in my room you can borrow if you need one that isn’t heavy as
lead
.”

Clearly, Ashlyn was trying to help her out of the tight spot she was apparently in with her brother. Taylor slipped the cap off, capturing the shell, and handed it to Ash, who gave her a wry look.

“Have fun,” Ash said.

“Thanks. Troublemaker.”

Ash laughed, and Taylor went to face Falcon.

* * *

“H
ERE
’
S
THE
THING
,”
Falcon said, leading Taylor to a private place in the main house where they could talk, which for the moment happened to be the basement. Taylor’s eyes were huge, taking in Fiona’s stocks of canned vegetables and fruits, and the myriad boxes of her much loved, carefully labeled seasonal ornaments. “I don’t want you letting my sister drag you into stuff.”

“Falcon, I know you’re worried, but it was no big deal. It wasn’t Ash’s fault.”

“Taking you to the canyons wasn’t her fault?”

“Okay, that was, but nothing else.” Taylor put on an innocent face he suspected was meant to diffuse his focus. It nearly worked, too.

“What nothing else?”

“Whatever you’re mad about.”

“I’m not mad, Taylor. I’m concerned. I feel responsible for you.”

She blinked. “Don’t.”

“If something happened to you, your mother and Jillian would question my ability to protect you.”

“That’s what this is all about. Your sense of macho is disturbed.”

“My sense of macho is
never
disturbed.” He wondered how he could explain to this darling woman that he was required by man law to protect her. “There’s a lot going on at this ranch you don’t understand.”

“I bet.” She looked at the long, narrow strip of packed dirt near the wall. The spot always reminded Falcon of a coffin. The dirt floor had apparently always bugged Jonas Callahan, but it was there due to foundational issues or something. Jonas had had the new two-story bunkhouse near the canyons built with a perfectly-floored basement.

No room for secrets.

“You’re missing part of your floor,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of strange, isn’t it? Looks like a coffin might be buried there.”

Falcon felt as if a goose had walked over his grave. “Apparently Uncle Jeremiah built this place with a few holes.”

“Seven chimneys, and he left holes in the basement floor?” She looked at Falcon. “You Callahans don’t do a thing to diminish the legend, do you?”

“We’re talking about you, not me, beautiful. No more canyons. No more letting Ash lure you into her adventures. I’m tame compared to my sister.”

“I wouldn’t have suspected you of being a bore, Falcon.” Taylor went over to the gash in the floor and moved some dirt aside with her boot. He watched her carefully, pretty sure she was trying to tweak him, and succeeding mightily. Telling her to quit messing around would get her suspicions up, and she seemed to have a strong dose of Miss Marple in her.

“Maybe this is a grave,” Taylor said, glancing at him with a teasing smile. “There’s wood underneath the dirt. Are you hiding vampires in your basement, Falcon? Is that why Callahans are known to be fond of ghost hunts and stories?”

Well, she was getting close on a lot of levels. She was just too cute and too witty for her own good—a ball of mischievous intent.

There was only one way to stop her sudden fixation with the floor she was rapidly uncovering. He hated to do it—surely it was bending the rules—but a man had to do what a man had to do, and besides, if anybody was born to be a rule buster, surely it was him.

He pulled the busy Miss-Marple-in-the-making into his arms, kissing her until she gasped with surprise and pulled back.

“Falcon!” She stared at him. “What are you doing?”

“Breaking the rules?” He went back to kissing her, and this time she didn’t pull away.

In fact, she kissed him back, pretty enthusiastically, he thought.

His blood screamed with desire. She felt so good in his arms, everything he’d ever dreamed of and more. All those long months of staring at her in the bar, fantasizing, wishing, knowing it was all so impossible...

Impossible was in his arms, suddenly hot and surely possible.

Forbidden fruit was the best—no doubt about that.

He ran his palms over Taylor’s lush backside—my God, it was the stuff of dreams—and she moaned, pressing up against him with those generous breasts he’d tried many a time to stop surreptitiously checking out. She was just so much woman, an hourglass-shape of delight, and thankfully, she’d forgotten all about the basement floor and seemed focused on him.

Her hands were just as busy as his. It was as if she couldn’t get enough of him, which made Falcon hotter than the fire in the stone circle in the canyons. He was going to take her to that circle one day, show her the setting of stones, one for each Chacon Callahan sibling. And he was going to make love to her right there, in the home of his spirit.

She reached for his belt buckle, shocking him when she undid it with deft, eager fingers—and it hit him that all his lucky stars were falling out of the sky on him, blessing him with something he’d never, ever had the courage to imagine.

He was going to make love to the best girl in Diablo—right here, right now—right next to Rancho Diablo’s buried treasure.

It wasn’t breaking the rules if no one ever found out.