Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (12 page)

12

Shayne gripped the oh-shit-handle when
Ricky pulled onto a dirt road, swerving to avoid
the plethora of
potholes. Or maybe the goal was to hit them, since it seemed the SUV was eaten by more than it missed. It didn’t take long before he stopped at a fenc
e. H
e
punch
ed a code into the little box and the gate opened slowly.

“
What
,
you got this fancy entry, but
can’t afford to pave the road?”
Shayne asked.

The gate opened and they slowly drove inside.
“
Oh, she can afford it. S
he thinks the dirt’ll keep the riff-raff out.”

“And
yet
here we are.”

He smiled
, putting the car in gear
. “Yep. Here we are.”
He jerked on the handle and opened his door. He walked in front of the car and helped her out. She stomped in the dirt and grinned when Ricky waved at the cloud. “I should have vetoed those damn boots.”

“No way, cowboy.”
She danced around him, kicking up another cloud. He grabbed hold of her arm and tugged her against him, kissing her in a series of quick pecks that turned longer, more intimate. Before she melted all over him, she eased away and looked up into his face. “And I’d love to see you in a pair of boots.”

He shook his head so hard
she was surprised his eyeballs didn’t rattle around in his skull. “No way,
mujer bonita
. No chance.”

“But you already bought me tampons, it couldn’t be worse than that.” She
bit the inside of her cheek
to keep her face as reasonable as her voice. Which only worked long enough for him to shiver.

“We are never going to discuss that.” Another shiver. “Ever.” His hand moved down her arm and wrapped around her hand. “Let’s go.”

The damp smell of earth and manure filled Shayne’s nostrils as they entered the enormous greenhouse. The clear glass cast miniature rainbows on the flowers
, vegetables,
and herbs.
Shayne gasped at the beautiful serenity.

Elena Santiago gasped as well. She put her gloved hand to her chest and smiled. Her big floppy, straw hat drooped down into her face
and she
pushed it away, leaving a
dirty
streak on her cheek. Shayne smiled. Seeing this woman in her element made Shayne recognize a kindred spirit.

Elena waved a small shovel in the air. “Come in. Come in.” She approached them and hugged her son, then embraced Shayne. “What would you like to see first?”

“Whatever you’d like to show me.” Shayne wanted to see it all.

“Well, this is my greenhouse.” She spun in a circle. “The boys built it for me a few years back.
”

“Yep. Still have the scars to prove it.” He turned over his left forearm to show off the lighter stripe. “It was worth it, though. Huh, Mama?”

Adoration shone in her twinkling smile. “Yes,
mijo
.
”
Her gaze wandered over every pane of glass. “
It’s nice to be able to not have to worry about the elements. With this place, I control it myself.”

Shayne tightened her hold on Ricky’s hand. He squeezed back. Yet another reason to love Ricky.
The way he treated his mother, with respect and adoration, endeared him to her. She felt more gravel slip from beneath her feet.

Teresa peeked her head inside. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know you guys were going to be here today.
”
 

Shayne coughed on her snort.

Ricky let his fly free. “I assure you, we didn’t know you’d be here.”

The narrowed slits of her eyes appeared and vanished as did the grimace on her lips. She flashed an evil smile
.

Thankfully, Elena petitioned for Shayne’s attention. “Come over and see my cilantro.”

***

“You grow your own cilantro too?” Shayne plucked at the bright green leaves, pulling off a few and putting them to her nose. “I’ve never been able to get the stupid stuff to live long enough to grow.”

As Mama and Shayne shared secrets of the garden, Teresa put her hand on Ricky’s forearm. A single finger ran over the tattoo he’d foolishly gotten in honor of her. The same one he’d inked over, adding scroll work until all evidence of her disappeared.

“I can still see it.”

He je
rked his arm away and
waited for her to make eye contact before rolling his. “Don’t.”

Her eyelids went all dreamy,
drooping at half-mast
. “We were good together.”

No, they’d been horny teenagers together. “That
‘
were
’
was a long time ago.”

“
It
could—”

“No,
it
can’t.”

Her lips for
med
a slash and she blinked
, her lashes waving like a flag in a hurricane
.
N
ever a good sign.

“’Scuse me.” Ricky walked away before her tears eroded his stone cold. He’d never been able to stand a woman’s tears. Call them his Achilles heel. The few times Shayne’
s cheeks dampened
his damn heart broke. He walked up behind her and put his arms
on her hips
, easing her soft back into his front.
She leaned
against him, but otherwise didn’t
further
acknowledge the contact.
His mother, however, flipped him a wink and lit up like a freakin’ Christmas tree.

***

With Ricky so close, Shayne couldn’t
concentrate. Well, concentrate on anything other than
the hard press of his body against hers, the moist heat of his breath brushing
against her neck, the warmth
radiating from him. She loved the way he always touched her, almost like he couldn’t get enough of her.

Embarrassed and horrified, s
he realized Elena had stopped talking.
She blinked, focusing on Ricky’s mother instead of daydreaming through her.
“I’m sorry, what?” 

Elena’s smirk said she’d noticed Shayne’s lack of attention and didn’t care in the least. She wiped her hands on her apron. “I’ve got a couple calls to return.
Mijo
, can you take over the tour?”

Without waiting for a response, she tugged off her gloves and shoved them into the pocket of her apron. She headed out the door. Shayne watched, her smile fading when she saw Teresa
leaning against one of the large wooden tables
.
Her
grin looked like a grimace. Maybe she needed some more fiber in her diet. Thanks to that thought Shayne donned a genuinely pleasant expression.

“Hi
,
Teresa. How are you?”

The kill-‘em-with-kindness approach worked like a charm. All smugness seeped out of
Teresa
, seemingly replaced by twitchy anxious energy. She fidgeted like a toddler sitting on a box with the family cat in it. “Fine, thanks.”

Ricky stepped between them, blocking the other woman from Shayne’s view. He winked the kudos he couldn’t politely voice.

Teresa didn’t take long to recover. She cleared her throat. “Can you give me a hand getting some fertilizer out of the truck?”

“Sure thing.”
Chivalrous to a fa
ul
t, Ricky headed for the door. Teresa made sure to toss a victorious smile at Shayne before flouncing out the door he held open. He didn’t act as though he noticed she’d flounced by, he only had eyes for Shayne. “You comin’,
mujer bonita
?”

When she didn’t answer right away
,
he put his hand out and beckoned her with a wiggle of his fingertips. “Come on. Maybe we can get lost for a little while in the cornfield.”

His wink
liquefi
ed her heart. She
smil
ed and went to him.

With her hand held firmly in his, they walked to the truck. Shayne could have found her way blindfolded. No maps. No guide needed. Tendrils of stench invaded her nose, grabbing hold of her sinuses, coating her lungs. She tried to breathe through her mouth, but the foul smell solidified into an even fouler taste. She rubbed her tongue against her teeth to scour her taste buds.

Steer manure, whether it came out of a stall or a big white bag from
Wal-Mart
, was still shit.

Ricky let go of her hand and jerked on the release for the tailgate. It dropped with a
ka-thunk!
Six bags, stacked in two rows of three, waited at the end of the bed to be unloaded. He looked around, his brows creasing. “Where’s the wheelbarrow?”

“Flat tire.” Teresa shrugged. “
Eddie
said he’d fix it, but hasn’t yet.”

Ricky clamped his eyes shut and breat
h
ed deep. “I’ll go pick up a new tire.”

“You don’t have to.
Eddie
said he’d be by this afternoon to take care of it.”

“Yeah,
Eddie
says a lot of things.”

“It would be really great to get it moved so I don’t have to haul it around in the back of the truck for another week.”

“A
week
?” He shook his head.

“It’s really not a big deal, Ricky.”
Teresa
sidled up to him and Shayne’s blood heated to a rolling boil.

The innocent act didn’t fool her for one second. That little snake knew exactly what she’d done. Shayne would bet every last dime she had—which amounted to about a dollar-fifty—that this wasn’t the first time the brothers had been pitted against one another.

He took off his hat and plowed his fingers through his black hair. His muscles flexed under the weight of the twenty pound bag of crap. He didn’t even grunt when the bag came to rest on his shoulder. He lifted another one
and put it on his other shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Teresa hugged a bag to her chest and took off after him. “I asked for your help, not for you to do it for me.”

Refusing to be outdone, Shayne grabbed a bag and fol
lowed them. He stopped at the edge of the cornfield. “Where to?”

“The shed.”

The answer meant nothing to Shayne, but Ricky nodded. Teresa led the way, Ricky on her heels. The stalks of corn stretched up trying to beat his six-feet.

Not only did her load stink, it seemed to gain weight with every step. She shifted it, getting a better grip. Ricky
apparently had the same issue. H
is bags did a controlled hop-skip-and-jump on his massive shoulders. The muscles in his back and biceps flexed under his shirt and all thought flew right out of her head. She couldn’t think, couldn’t tear her eyes away from the magnificent sight.

Her foot landed funny in one of the trenches. Her ankle twisted, refused to support her and the extra twenty
pounds of weight
. Forget slow motion, between her cringe and her curse, she went down. Hard.

Broken corn stalks offered no buffer against the hard, uneven ground. All the air rushed out of her lungs. The extra weight on her chest made it impossible to suck any back in. She rolled to her side. Or rather tried. In reality, she felt like a turtle stuck on
its back, her arms and legs flapp
ing in the breeze.

Forever past. The twinkling sparks popping behind her closed eyelids started to dim. Her right leg started to go numb. She counted her heartbeats. Between one and the next, the weight off her chest disappeared.

She sucked in a breath, gasping better than a large-mouthed bass. She blinked. Ricky’s worried expression crowded her.

“Are you okay,
a
mor
?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She reached up to rub hair out of her face. Man, her elbow was stiff.

“Oh,
Shayne
.” He clutched her arm and examined her elbow. “Stay right here. I’m gonna grab the first-aid kit.”
Not missing a beat, he snatched up the bag of manure in one hand and took off on a jog.

Shayne closed her eyes for a second, then sat up to rub at her sore ankle. She’d really banged herself up. Even her fingernails hurt.

“Are you always so graceful?”

Perfect!

“Do you realize the damage you’ve caused?” Teresa waved a hand over Shayne’s current resting place. “These are done now. No good. Ruined. They’ll not produce anything.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, sorry doesn’t produce corn.” She crossed her arms and huffed. “What the hell were
you
doing anyway?”