Kat Attalla Special Edition (51 page)

Kate tipped her head and grinned. "All right."

Chloe let out a hoot and clapped her hands. "Hot dog. My dad owes me a dollar. He bet you wouldn't come."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Jake Callahan would be mighty surprised by her in the next few weeks. "Let's go collect your money."

She stepped out the back door and followed Chloe towards the road. Halfway across, the young girl grabbed her arm. "Stand here and watch for cars."

"What?"

Chloe pointed to the gate where the cows had lined up. "They have to cross the road to get to the barn. Hold up your hands if you see any cars coming."

"Oh. Okay." She took to the task with enthusiasm until the first cow came up behind her. Without warning something snapped. The large animals surrounded her before she had time to react, reminding her of how the fans used to swarm for autographs. Her bodyguards weren't there to keep her safe. "Chloe?"

"Don't worry. They won't hurt you."

Kate didn't register the words. Her mind drifted back to another time and place. Crowds represented danger. She still had a two-year-old scar on her side-a souvenir from a deranged fan that had slashed her with a knife. She had received fifteen stitches and more press coverage than she ever wanted.

* * * *

"Leave her," Jake said, grabbing hold of his brother's arm. "Where's your sense of humor?"

Trevor squared his jaw and grunted. "She's scared to death. It's not funny."

Jake lifted his shoulders. "She wanted to live here. She's gotta learn."

"And they say I'm the rotten one? I don't know what's gotten into you lately. You're so determined to prove you're right about her, you'll do anything. You even used your daughter's excitement to trick her into helping you."

Jake pulled back his hand. "That's a cheap shot, Trev."

"You're damn right. But you're the one pulling it."

Jake grudgingly conceded the point. He had used his daughter, although not consciously. "All right. I'll go help her."

He wove his way through the herd towards Kate. He called out to her, but the clacking of the hoofs as the cows passed by drowned out his words. She probably wouldn't have heard him anyway. Her eyes scanned the area with more intensity than Sherlock Holmes searching for clues. What was she looking for?

He touched her shoulder, and she jumped. "They're just cows. They don't bite."

"I'm fine," she snarled. She apparently refused to admit any fear. She didn't fool him. Other than her eyes, not one part of her body twitched.

He hooked his arm through hers. "Walk with them and they go quicker. They're very surefooted for such large animals. They won't step on your toes."

"I'll wait until they pass."

"Come on, Kate," Trevor yelled out. "He doesn't think you can do it. Prove him wrong, for the sake of womankind."

Trevor's words snapped her out of her stupor. Sparks of gold danced in her eyes, opened wide with anger. She pinched the fabric of his shirtsleeve between two fingers and raised his arm from hers. "You're a jerk."

He grinned proudly. "Yeah. I know. But you already signed the lease. That's another thing you're just gonna have to get used to. Do you want me to carry you?"

"Not even if both my legs were broken." She watched the way Chloe maneuvered between the animals, and followed the girl's lead.

His stare remained riveted to the delicate sway of her slim hips disappearing into the crowd. She didn't show the slightest hesitation. He got the impression that the animals hadn't frightened her, but something far more troublesome.

Why should he worry about it? He had enough on his mind already. Bad enough that he had to put up with her living there for the next year, but he didn't have to get involved in her personal life, too.

He continued his chores but his thoughts remained on Kate. He didn't want another woman underfoot. He’d done fine raising Chloe on his own. He tried his best to be a good father, although a few people had hoped to disprove that. He and Chloe didn't need anybody.

At least, he didn't. Chloe was another matter. She'd been chatting nonstop to Kate for the last ten minutes. Lately he couldn't get three full sentences out of his daughter.

As the cows began to file in, Chloe led Kate down the center of the barn to get her out of the way. "They walk in all by themselves. That's the new calf over there." She pointed to one corner and then to another. "And that's her mama by herself over there. She has to be milked by hand. The rest get hooked up to those machines behind Dad. Four at a time. It goes fast."

"Chloe. Come up for air, and feed the animals. I'd like to finish in this century," Jake scolded. "And you, Kate, better watch out for the bull."

Kate tipped her head back and laughed. "The only bull in here is the line you're feeding me, Mr. Callahan. Unless you'd like me to believe that you planned on milking the bull, too."

"You tell him, darlin'." Trevor grinned. "Come with me, Kate. I've got the perfect job for you. The calves that are going to be sold have to be bottle-fed."

"Chloe is supposed to . . ." Jake began, and noticed the smile fade from Kate's face. "Never mind."

Jake set the first machine in place and glanced across the barn to make sure his unwanted guest didn't get herself in any trouble. She crouched down next to the small calf, holding the oversize feeding bottle up for it to suckle. She treated the calf like a baby, humming softly and talking gibberish to it. Didn't she realize that in a few weeks that animal would be veal steak?

Her tender care giving left him aching to trade places with the calf. Mustering all his self-control, he tore his gaze away. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught his brother's smirk, and groaned. Son of a bitch! Trevor had done it to him again. At times his wild, self-centered twin had too much perception for his own good.

Chloe apparently inherited the same intuition. She drew up alongside him and smiled in a knowing way. "She sure is pretty, ain't she, Dad?"

"Isn't she," he corrected.

"She says I'm pretty, too."

He dropped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "I've told you that, and so has your uncle."

"It's not the same when your daddy says you're pretty. And Uncle Trevor's idea of pretty is a big chest and no brains."

"Chloe!" Jake hadn't realized that she noticed such things yet. Then again, in the past year she'd become somewhat withdrawn. He never knew what was going through her mind.

"Well. It's true, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it isn't polite to mention it. He's family. We have to overlook his flaws."

"Flaws?" Trevor complained. "I thought it was one of my qualities. And don't you be worrying, Chloe. One day soon, the boys are gonna start to notice you."

Her forced smile held an underlying trace of sadness. "Sure. As soon as I can find one dumb enough to take on the Crazy Callahan Brothers."

Chloe's innocent remark resurfaced some of Jake's old doubts. As a family, they'd always been outcasts. Having a father in prison, serving his second sentence for armed robbery didn't make it easier. That kind of family history doesn’t endear one to small-town people. He heard the little snickers when he passed by, and the guilty whispers when he entered a room.

Perhaps he should have picked up and left with Chloe years ago, but the farm was the only thing they had. One day it would be hers. He refused to trade away her birthright because of a few narrow-minded fools.

As a child, Chloe didn't seem to mind that she didn't fit in. She kept a distance from her classmates and didn't form any deep friendships. He hadn't planned on her growing up and needing more than just her father or uncle to talk to.

* * * *

Chloe slipped out from under his arm and scooted away. "Kate. Do you want to see the loft?"

Kate noted Jake's scowl and decided against it. He had every right to be annoyed. She should stay out of the way and let them go about their business. "Maybe tomorrow. You have work to finish, and I didn't start to unpack yet."

Chloe's disappointment spread across her heart-shaped face. "Oh, sure."

Kate could still remember what it felt like to find a new friend. Even though she would be there for a year, everything was immediate to a teenager. She tweaked the tip of Chloe's nose to raise a smile. "If you feel like talking after dinner, you'll find me on the porch swing watching the sun set."

"No, you won't," Jake said.

Kate frowned. Were there now rules on where she could sit? "Why?"

"The swing faces east. The sun sets in the west. At least in
New Mexico
it does. Might be different where you come from." He delivered his sarcasm with the right amount of sweetness to make it sound sincere to his daughter.

"I come from the same planet as you, Mr. Callahan."

"Perhaps," Jake agreed. "But a different world."

“That's just geography.”

"And economics," he countered.

She could argue, but she wouldn't change the way he viewed her. She hadn't been born into wealth. She earned a living the same as him. Right or wrong, the people who fed the country got paid less than the ones who entertained it. Someday that would change, but not in her lifetime.

Rather than getting into another disagreement, she tipped her head and conceded the point. She waved to Chloe and jumped from the raised platform of the barn to the ground below. She had just crossed the road when Trevor caught up to her. He hooked her arm through his and escorted her to her porch.

"I want to apologize about Jake."

She dismissed the request. "Why? Identical twins share a lot of things, but blame isn't one of them."

"He isn't usually like this."

She raised her head proudly and beamed. "Then I guess I can consider myself privileged to receive such royal treatment." Kate refused to let Jake Callahan ruin such an exciting day for her.

"You don't understand."

"Oh, Trevor. It really isn't important."

"Yeah, it is, Kate. You're gonna hear a lot of things in town about our family. Most of it rotten. Half of it true."

"Am I safe at night?" He nodded. "Then who cares what people say? I know what that feels like. You don't have to defend your family to me."

"I feel like I do. I owe Jake a lot. Renting my house to you only paid back the money. I could never pay back the rest. It's only because of Jake that I'm not in jail right now."

She drew her brows together skeptically. "What did you do? Say 'boo' to a kitten?"

"No. I knocked over a liquor store. At least, I happened to be in the car when a crazy ex-friend of mine decided to. The police charged me with being an accomplice even though I had no idea the guy was gonna do something so stupid. Jake used every bit of savings he had to hire a good lawyer and get me off. And that was only the last in a long line of times my brother has bailed me out. He had enough problems with his ex-wife walking' out and leaving him with a small child. I haven't made his life any easier."

Kate didn't know what to say. She truly didn't care if Jake picked on her. She enjoyed the verbal sparring. Too many people had yessed her to death because of her fame. Jake might not like her, but at least his feelings were directed at her, personally.

"He'll come around. Someday," she said with a touch more optimism than she felt.

"I hope it's before he drives you away from here."

She smiled. "He's not going to make me go anywhere. I am going to insinuate myself into this place with such subtlety that people are going to swear I was born here."

"Not unless you lose that
New York
accent and trade in your imported sports car for a pickup truck. Preferably American-made."

Trevor may have been teasing her, but he made a good point. How inconspicuous would she be riding through town in a car that cost more than most of the houses in the area? "And where would I do that?"

"I was kidding."

"I'm not."

"You'd have to go to
Clovis
to do that. But don't buy yourself a truck, even a small one, until you've had some practice driving it."

"Maybe you could drive it back from the city, and I'll keep to the back roads for a while. If you have time."

He didn't appear to be angry, but she couldn't say he looked overjoyed either. The idea crossed her mind to offer him money, but she ultimately decided that might offend him.

"I'll arrange something and get back to you tomorrow."

Kate shook her head. She took her sabbatical because she’d wanted to live like a normal person with no special treatment. That meant doing things for herself. "It's not necessary. I shouldn't have even asked."

"I'm glad you did, Kate. Salesmen will take advantage of a woman alone buying a car or truck. Don't worry. It's not a problem," he assured her.

Kate cringed. Experience had taught her that when someone said, "Don't worry," she’d better start.