Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6) (21 page)

She sat there; tempted to back up and go home when she saw Beau striding toward the car.

She opened the door just as he reached her.

“You look lovely tonight,” he said as he helped her out.

“It’s almost dark, Beau. You don’t know how I look.”

He chuckled. “I can tell.”

“Where are the other guests? Am I early?”

He took her arm and led her into the house. If he had ulterior motives, she couldn’t detect them. Yet.

They went straight into the kitchen.

Her eyes widened when she saw the group standing around with glasses of iced tea. And let out a quiet, relieved breath. Going to Rey, she took his hand. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. And congratulations on spotting the rustlers the other night.”

“Wish I could have caught them.”

“You’ve met, Joe?” Beau said. “I don’t think he signed on for this much excitement or this much work.”

Nellie shook his hand. “Beau has told me what a wonderful job you’re doing.”

“Thanks, ma’am. I’ll be real glad when things get back to normal.”

“Donovan says the same thing every day.”

She left him, went to give Lela a quick hug. “You look good. How do you feel?”

“Better. Mr. Beau and Helen spoil me.”

“Impossible.” Helen chuckled. “I have to bribe her every day to rest. And to eat.”

“You’re doing an amazing job. She looks better than the last time I was here.”

Helen beamed.

Beau tapped his glass with a knife and looked at Nellie. “Most of the invited guests couldn’t make it tonight for one reason or another, which doesn’t mean we can’t have a party. So if everybody is as hungry as I am, let’s get seated.”

Nellie went to sit between Lela and Helen, then saw tiny place cards at each place. Hers was next to Beau. He stood there, grinning that fait-accompli grin of his, holding the chair for her.

When everyone was seated, Beau said a quick blessing. Helen got up to serve the meal. Lela started to rise, but Helen put a hand on her shoulder. In minutes, Helen had a plate in front of everyone.

“This looks wonderful, Helen,” Nellie said.

“She’s a good cook,” Rey agreed. “Thanks for preparing our meals during the crisis.”

“My pleasure,” she said, taking her seat again.

Rey and Joe started teasing each other about their cooking, making everyone laugh.

“Rey took on the job of baling the hay. He didn’t know a lick about hay or how to bale, but the job was done in no time,” Beau said with a smile.

“Don’t brag until I’ve finished. Those round bales may end up being square ones, or elliptical ones. Who knows?”

The conversation continued to be lively; the laughter frequent.

Once again, Nellie was having a great time. Beau was a natural. He had the knack to make people comfortable, get them to relax.

By the time Helen served cherry pie with ice cream, Nellie was completely at ease. The two boys reminded her of hers when they were younger. And it was reassuring to see Lela eating and chatting away. Even Helen seemed at home.

Her gaze flew to Beau. She caught him staring at her and blushed.

If the other guests had opted out, he could have called off dinner. Instead, he’d made it a night to remember. Not just for her, but for everyone, especially Rey. What a difference there was between father and son now from the first time she’d seen him here.

When dessert and coffee was over, the boys excused themselves. “We’ll take the midnight to four patrol, Dad.”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll take the last.”

“Thanks for dinner. It was wonderful,” Rey told Helen. He went to Lela, kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he came over to Nellie and shook her hand. “Nice to see you again.”

What a nice, well-mannered young man, Nellie thought as he and his dad exchanged one of those shoulder-slaps men gave each other.

Then Rey and Joe were gone.

Lela started to pick up dishes.

“No, you don’t,” Helen said. “It’s time for you to go to bed.”

“I can help.”

“I’ll help her, Lela. You go on now.” Nellie went to her and gave her a hug. “Take care of yourself.”

“I will. Don’t be a stranger.”

“She won’t,” Beau promised.

Nellie gave him a quick look before she went to the sink. This was one place she was comfortable.

A few minutes later, Beau took a dish out of her hand and put it on the counter. Then he took her arm and led her to the living room.

“Have a seat.”

“I should…”

“You should sit and talk to me.”

“About?”

He shrugged. “Anything. I like the sound of your voice.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She took a seat on the couch. “Then I want to tell you what a nice time I had tonight. But…”

“What?”

“If everyone else canceled, you could have called and put dinner off for another day.”

“I could have.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I wanted to see you.”

He sat next to her. Close. She edged toward the arm of the sofa, but she was already there.

“Are you going to kiss me again?”

“Is it all right with you?”

She wanted to say no, get up, walk to her car, and go back to the ranch where it was safe. Instead, she found herself saying, “It’s fine with me.”

The kiss made her breath catch—made her heart beat like a trip hammer. All of a sudden she was light-headed. Her whole body came alive with desire as his strong hands pulled her close and his mouth met hers. Seconds later, nothing else mattered.

Not the fact that Helen was in the kitchen and could walk in any minute—not that her family would be aghast if they saw her—not that there was a rustler out there with an evil eye on Beau’s ranch.

All she could do was feel Beau’s lips, his tongue as it danced with hers.

Her heart pounding a mile a minute, she sank into the kiss.

Chapter Twenty-One

Something crashed to the floor in the kitchen. Nellie pulled away as if cold water had been thrown in her face.

Beau tried to pull her back and resume the kiss, but she put a hand on his chest and shook her head. “What are we doing?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m falling in love.”

“Don’t say that.” She jumped to her feet. She had to get away. Now.

He took her hand, pulled her back down to the sofa. She looked at him in panic.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You did.”

“Not what I intended. There’s something here I haven’t felt in thirty years. I want to pursue it.”

“I don’t.” Understatement. Her head was reeling from his kiss—reeling from being so near him. This had to stop.

She stood. “Dinner was lovely,” she said stiffly and walked toward the door.

“I’ll walk you to the car.”

“There’s no need.”

“Yes. There is,” he said, taking her hand.

There was no way to pull away without causing a scene, so they went through the kitchen where Helen was finishing up. “You can stay the night, Helen. No reason to drive into town this late,” he said.

“I don’t mind.”

“Up to you, but the sitting room in Lela’s apartment has a couch that makes a bed. Lela wouldn’t mind at all.”

“All right. I think I’ll take you up on the offer. That way, I’ll be here early enough to make breakfast for you and the boys.”

“They’ll love that.”

They were at the door. Nellie tried to pull away and let herself out, but he kept a hand on her arm. She couldn’t wait to get in her car. That way she wouldn’t see his face or feel his touch. That way, her heart wouldn’t beat so erratic in her chest it felt dangerous.

But Beau wasn’t going to just let her leave.

At her car, he took her hand when she went to open the door and pulled her into his arms. “I meant what I said, Nell.”

His arms were around her, his lips only inches away. Her mouth lifted to his of its own accord. This wasn’t what she’d planned.

His mouth closed on hers and she lost herself in a whirl of feeling. Desire. Hunger. Delight.

Gasping, she pulled away, opened the car door and fell inside, her legs too wobbly to hold her another minute. “Gotta go,” she mumbled.

“Nell,” he called after her. But she didn’t listen. Wouldn’t.

Ignoring him, she started the motor. As she drove down the winding drive to the road, she rolled down her window to let the cool night air wash over her body. Still she felt hot. Boiling in fact.

As she turned into the familiar gate at the ranch, her heartbeat slowed. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her window back up, and drove slowly to the house. It wouldn’t do for the family to see her like this.

The house was quiet. She went through the kitchen and to the stairs. At the door to her room, footsteps came her way.

“You’re home,” Donovan said. “I’m glad.”

“Go to sleep, Don. You have guard duty tonight.”

“I’m up, so I just as well make a pot of coffee and get started.”

“You work too hard. You can’t keep this up.”

“Have to until the rustlers are caught.”

She opened the door to her room and slipped inside. Thank goodness, the hallway was dimly lit. Donovan hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. She went to her bed, turned on the lamp, and went to the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror couldn’t be her. That woman’s eyes were wide and excited, her mouth red and swollen. And her hair! Good grief, her hair. She put a hand to her head, tried to smooth the tangles.

Who was this woman who stared back at her?

It certainly wasn’t sane and sensible Nellie Callahan. That Nellie wouldn’t fall into another man’s arms like an over-sexed teen.

She pulled on her pj’s and turned out the lamp. Before she slipped under the covers, she went to the window and lifted the curtain. Donovan, thermos of coffee in hand, was striding to the barn. Midway, he stopped and looked up at her window. Though she knew he couldn’t see her, Nellie stepped back. What was he thinking? That his mother was getting involved with a man? Or simply that she was being neighborly?

Nellie dropped the curtain and went to sit on the edge of the bed. She was afraid her relationship with Beau Chandler had passed the neighborly stage a while back. She had no idea how to handle the situation.

One minute she wanted to run for the hills, the next fall into his arms.

She must be having a late mid-life crisis.

****

Beau’s patrol ended at six, every second of which his thoughts centered on Nell. He wasn’t falling in love. Hell, he
was
in love. And Nell balked at the thought.

Somehow, he had to convince her it wasn’t a catastrophe to fall in love at their age, but a blessing. Except he didn’t know how to go about it. He needed to talk to someone. But who? Donovan was a friend, but he was also Nell’s oldest. He just might flip out if he thought Beau had thoughts of love and marriage. Because that’s what Beau wanted. Marriage. He wanted Nell with him for the rest of their days.

In all his years of bachelorhood, no other woman had evoked such thoughts.

An hour later, he was showered and changed and sitting in Dugan’s office, a mug of coffee in hand. “Anything?”

“Nothing.”

“What about Gordon? Are you keeping an eye on him?” All of a sudden, Beau was tired. Tired of pulling night duty, tired of being afraid his herd was going to be stolen. He wanted closure.

An episode from years back slammed into his head. The time he paid double for a business that tanked six-months later. Was buying the ranch going to turn out like that fiasco? He was younger then and able to recoup his losses. He was too old and too tired to do the same now.

Dugan shuffled some papers. “Ran a report on him.” He found what he was looking for and handed it to Beau. “The man has worked for a dozen ranches over the last few years. Evidently, he can’t hold a job.”

“Sounds like Gordon.”

“I checked further. None of the ranches he worked at were ever hit by rustlers.”

Beau put the paper down. “Guess that means he’s just a loser.”

“Unless he’s angry enough to turn on you.”

“I’m sure he was when I fired his ass. But the rustling started before that.”

Beau looked at Nell’s youngest son. Dugan had dark red hair and green eyes. All the kids had that red in their hair except Donovan. He must have been the only one to take after his dad. Dugan looked at Beau with a smile on his face. Would that smile be there if he knew Beau wanted to take his mom to bed, make passionate love, ask her to marry him?

He doubted it. Dugan would probably reach for the gun on his hip.

Beau stood. “Guess I’d better leave you to your work. What do you hear from Murdock?”

“He’s busy. There’s more rustling than ever going on now.”

Beau put his Stetson on. “Do you expect him back anytime soon?” He hadn’t been too forthcoming when he’d canceled his dinner invite.

“Sure. But I don’t know when.” He paused. “Are you going to Molly’s?”

“Thought I’d go home and get a little shut-eye.”

“Maybe you should.”

Beau paused at the door. “Something I should know?”

Dugan laughed. “Just stop and get a decent cup of coffee. You’ll see.”

Beau shrugged. He’d rather go home and hit the sack, but what the heck. A few more minutes wouldn’t matter.

He walked the short distance. When he walked through the door, the place was packed. He didn’t remember Molly’s ever having so many customers. The same group that usually grabbed their breakfast on their way to work was here. But this morning, there were faces he hadn’t seen before.

Spotting a fellow rancher, he headed for his booth.

“‘Morning, Beau. Grab a seat,” Frank Hudson said.

“Glad to.” Beau looked around. “What’s with the place today? Are there more customers than usual or did I come at the wrong time?”

Frank guffawed. “As if you don’t know.”

What did that mean? The rustlers weren’t in jail. He couldn’t think of anything else to draw so many into Molly’s at this time of day. “Okay. What’s up?”

Amy came over, poured him a cup of coffee. “Anything else?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He waved her off. She seemed relieved as she made her way around the diner, re-filling cups.