Sweet Talking Lawman (16 page)

It had been the hardest thing
he’d ever done, but he’d left his offer to her open.  “I’ll be there,
Mesa, if you change your mind.”

But she hadn’t changed her
mind.  Just like the desperado in her song, she wasn’t willing to let
anyone close enough to alter her feelings.  Until Rance got hurt.  He
still didn’t understand why that had been such a powerful force.  Yes,
she’d always loved her uncle, but Mesa and Jory had made a lot of money and she
could have easily hired people to run the place and even to look after the old
man.

“I heard her singing one
night in Memphis and it changed my life,” Jory’s voice came softly from behind
him.

Rafe jerked around.  He
hadn’t heard anyone enter the barn.  He didn’t say anything.  He
remembered a little about how the two of them had gotten acquainted all those
years ago.

“Every word of the song she
sang that night was the story of my life.  It was like looking at a
picture.  It let me see what a mess I’d made and then she helped me clean
my mess up.  If I hadn’t happened to hear her that night, I’m sure I’d be
dead by now.”

Rafe shrugged.  “You’ve
been good for her, also, Jory.  There was a higher power at work that
night, bringin’ y’all together.”

Jory chuckled softly. 
“You’re probably right, but I’ll never understand why I might have been worth
having her in my life.”

Rafe turned and looked at the
palomino mare in the stall.  He’d been scratching her jaw when Jory spoke
and startled him.  Now the horse stepped back up so he could resume the
scratching.  “We don’t usually deserve the good we get, or the bad. 
Things just are what they are.”

“You know she’s never loved
anyone but you.”  Jory spoke quietly.  “And she knows you would have
never hurt her like she hurt you.  She was just young and scared of
returning to Oak Ridge.”

Rafe shook his head sadly and
shrugged his broad shoulders.  “I’ve never loved anyone else either, but
every time I look at Raale, I feel an ache inside for all of what I
missed.  I don’t know if I can ever get past that.”

Jory stretched out his hand
and gently patted Rafe on one shoulder.  “What will you miss out on, if
you don’t?”

Then he turned and walked
back out to the machine shed.  He’d said the words he’d been wanting to say
to Rafe for the last couple of weeks.  Now, it was almost Raale’s bedtime
and he’d volunteered to make sure she was tucked in.  He knew Rance was
tired too and would probably accompany them to the cabin.  He and the old
cowboy had become friends and he was afraid he’d miss some of the time they’d
spent together when the nurses started taking care of him full time on Monday.

Rafe thought about Jory’s
words.  What
would
he miss if he couldn’t forgive Mesa for not
being honest with him?  He wasn’t sure it mattered because he just
couldn’t find the forgiveness, in him, to give.  He awarded the mare a
final pat and left the barn.

He was almost back to the
shed when he met Jory walking hand in hand with Raale beside Rance in his power
wheelchair.  Raale, of course, had to have a goodnight smooch from her dad
and Rafe was thankful that he’d encountered them.  After the exchange of
affection, he watched as they resumed their trek to the cabin.  In the
background, he could hear Mesa singing
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up
To Be Cowboys.  Slowly he turned and walked back to the machine shed and
found Uci sitting with Jenny in the group that was listening to the song. 
Spur had left his grassy patch and was relaxed next to the chair that had been
provided for Uci’s comfort.

His grandmother watched him
approach, recognizing in his stride the tension she’d come to realize resulted
from being around Mesa.  She hadn’t been surprised once she met Raale that
there had been something between Rafe and the child’s mother when they’d
encountered each other in Branson.  She hadn’t been surprised either, at
his hurt and anger when he learned that Mesa had kept knowledge of their child
from him.  But it was easy to see that there was still some sparks flying
between them.  Even if Rafe didn’t want to acknowledge it, Uci suspected
he was still in love with his daughter’s mother.

He bent his big frame and
settled into a folding chair next to his grandmother’s.  “Are you getting’
tired?” he asked.

She cackled a short laugh,
her umber eyes sparkling with mischief.  “Why?  Are you?”

He shrugged.  “I just
thought if you were, I’d load up and take you on home.  I know you’ve been
going hard since daylight.”

Jenny looked around Uci at
her brother.  “While you were busy in the arena today, Shirley and Uci
went to the big house and had a nap.”

Rafe didn’t acknowledge that
his sister had spoken, even to look at her, but kept his eyes on Uci.  “I
don’t want you pushin’ yourself so hard that you make yourself sick.”

“Didn’t you hear what your
sister just said?” Uci chortled, her wrinkled face smiling up at him.

“I’m not speaking to or
hearing anything my sister has to say, at least, not until I hear an apology
from her.  Family doesn’t keep the kind of secrets she kept from me,” he
replied, his voice stilted and angry.

Jenny stood up and came
around her grandmother, her temper flashing angrily.  “Damn your hard
head, Rafter Storm Horse,” she started, but Russ appeared from behind her and
wrapped her in his big arms from behind, raining kisses against the back of her
head.  Jenny always loved to watch fights on television and had taken
boxing lessons at a local gym.  Her trainer had liked her determination
and had arranged for her go a round or two with a female boxer who was passing
through town and needed a sparring partner.  Jenny didn’t fight like a
woman and he knew that under the right circumstances, she wouldn’t hesitate to
sail into the middle of a brawl, gender of the brawlers, notwithstanding.

“Easy, darlin’,” he spoke
softly into his wife’s ear.  “This is not the place for you to whup his
ass.  You should just wait until he comes to the barn for a load of
hay.”  Laughter sparkled in his eyes when he said the last statement looking
steadily at his brother-in-law.

Rafe had stood up as Jenny
shot out of her chair, remembering her penchant to start swinging her fists,
and now he glowered at Russ.  “Don’t condone what she did to me, Russ,” he
said.  “She was wrong and you know it.”

Russ grinned at his
brother-in-law, his arms tightening to keep hold of Jenny, who only put up a
token struggle.  “Hell, I didn’t say she was right.  I just know when
she gets fired up she can whip my ass and I can whip yours.  I’m just
lookin’ out for you, tryin’ to save you from public embarrassment.”

Rafe chuckled dryly. 
“You’re just anxious to keep her from getting arrested for starting a brawl.”

Jenny wiggled out of Russ’s
arms.  “And he’s right!  I can whip your ass!”

Rafe didn’t look at
her.  Instead he held out his hand to Uci.  “I’d like to dance with
you, if you feel like it.”

She smiled and stood up,
taking his hand before she turned and looked at her granddaughter.  “It
might be a good idea to think about what he said.  Family should always be
able to trust each other.”

On the dance floor, Rafe led
his grandmother in a slow dance, moving her around the floor with grace, his
face glowing with pleasure.  “Thank you for speaking up for me,” he said
softly.

“You are right.  Jenny
was wrong to agree to keep Raale a secret.  She should have encouraged
Mesa to tell you the truth, from the beginning.  But you need to find a
little forgiveness in your heart.”  She patted his chest with the hand
that rested there.  “Maybe a lot of forgiveness,” she said, casting a
pointed look at Mesa.  “I hate seeing you so unhappy about all this. 
It’s going to have an effect on that child sooner or later.”

He shrugged.  “I
certainly don’t want that, but I don’t know what to do about it.  Mesa
took five years of my child’s life from me.  How do I forgive that?”

Uci let her head rest against
his broad shoulder.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  You must do
what your heart tells you to do.”

When the music ended, he
spotted Mesa walking off the dance floor with Hal Cartwright, one of the
younger hands that worked for her, and he easily recognized the surge of anger
that swept through him for what it was.  He had no right to feel
possessive of Mesa, but the jealousy was there and there wasn’t one damn thing
he could do about it.

He avoided the dance floor
except for another dance with Uci a little later, but he didn’t miss the fact
that Mesa danced every dance.  He remembered that she’d always loved to
dance, and he struggled with the desire to lead her around the floor just to
have an excuse to hold her in his arms.  Instead he sat at the edge of the
darkness and his anger grew each time she danced with someone else.

Finally he leaned over Uci’s
chair.  “I’m gonna load the horses and go home.  Do you wanna go with
me?” he asked softly.

She shook her head
negatively.  “No.  I’m going to spend the night at Jenny’s
house.  Russ’s mom and I are going to church together in the
morning.  It’s a Senior Breakfast Sunday.  I’ve already got clothes
there.”

He nodded and kissed her on
the cheek.  “Love you.”

She nodded and patted his
stubbly chin.  “I expect to see you there, too, at least for the main
service.”

He nodded.  “Barring any
emergency at work.”

In the barn he slipped
halters on Dollar and the sorrel gelding and had turned to lead them down the
aisle when he saw Mesa striding toward him.  He stopped and both horses
followed suit.

“You’re leaving?” she asked
as she ceased her steps in front of him.

He nodded but didn’t answer
verbally.

“Want me to bring the mare
for you?” she offered.

He shook his head.  “The
mare stays.  She’s for you and Raale.”

“Rafe, that’s very generous
of you, bu…”

“She stays, Mesa,” he cut in
sharply.  “You can’t stop me from getting my child a horse!”

She looked down at her feet
as she realized she’d hurt him yet again.  “Of course I won’t.  I
just meant that….well, do you think Raale is ready for a roping horse?”

He wished he’d left sooner so
they wouldn’t have to have this conversation, and he wouldn’t have to feel the
coil of desire that, for him, was a part of being near Mesa.  “No, she’s
not.  But you can ride the mare and rope off her until Raale learns to
throw a rope, and then y’all can share her.  By the time Raale’s ready to
start heeling, that mare will be ready for her to learn on, and she’s already
good.”

Mesa extended one hand and
touched one of Rafe’s arms, wishing she hadn’t spoken so quickly.  She had
to start being more open to sharing parental rights with him.

His eyes followed the
movement as her hand settled on his forearm, before darting back to her face,
shadowed by the subdued lighting in the barn.  His head shook from side to
side.  “That’s not a good idea, Mesa,” he said softly.

She withdrew her hand. 
“I’m sorry, Rafe.  I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Offend me?” he
growled.  “That’s not the problem.  It’s what I want….aw hell,” he
dropped the lead ropes of the two horses and fastened his hands on her
shoulders.  “Your hand on my arm is not offensive, but it sure as hell is
not enough.  I want so much more of you, Mesa.”  He pulled her
against him and folded his arms around her.

Mesa’s heart lurched out of
control.  Her arms slipped around his ribs and her hands flattened on the
smooth, hard muscles of his back, their lines and heat defined by the thin
black material covering them.  She turned her face toward his neck and if
she’d pursed her lips the slightest bit, they would be kissing that strong,
bronze skin.

He inhaled deeply, his
nostrils savoring the fragrance that belonged only to Mesa.  The slightly
sweet, crisply clean scent that he’d never smelled except on her.  His
body tightened at the feel of her full breasts against his chest, her hips
meeting his, her breath against his neck.  “I don’t understand why I still
want you so damn much,” he groaned, his hands wandering over her back, pulling
her closer, reveling in the feel of her against his body, wrapped in his arms.

She stiffened slightly at his
words but even as she did, she couldn’t remember why and simply relaxed in his
embrace again.  She’d wanted to feel those arms around her so many
times.  She dreamed it most nights, hoping that someday forgiveness would
make it possible.

One of his hands came up and
fastened at the root of the long ponytail on the back of her head. 
Pulling her head back, he looked down into her face losing himself in the amber
flashes in her mesmerizing green eyes.  “Tell me to stop,” he whispered,
“and I might be able to.”

She looked back at him
steadily.  “Maybe I don’t want you to.”  Her voice was soft, breathy,
and sent his blood temperature shooting up into the danger zone.

“Damn you, Mesa,” he groaned
as his head dropped toward hers slowly.

She knew the kiss was coming
and wanted it more than she could believe.  It had been so very long.

His breath warmed her face as
he paused, their lips almost touching.  “You don’t have any idea how many
times I’ve wanted to do this.”

She smiled, the heat in her
body already raging down from her stomach.  “Probably no more than I’ve
wanted you to.”

His lips brushed hers
lightly, up, then down, pushing her lips apart as his mouth settled in with
more pressure.

Mesa’s breathing juddered
roughly as he sucked her bottom lip in and held it between his teeth.  His
tongue traced across it, stroking it suggestively, and she moaned at the fire
he was fueling in her.

Releasing her lip, he slipped
his tongue between her teeth and found hers, twining with it seductively,
stroking it, persuading it, seducing it into his mouth.  She whimpered as
he captured it with a hunger she’d remembered in her dreams, and then he was in
her mouth again and she was pulling him in deeper.

His hands wandered down
across her fanny, lifting and pulling her against the rigidity behind the
zipper of his Wrangler jeans.  His knees almost buckled when her legs
parted and wrapped around him, the heat of her like a fire against him.

He tore his mouth from hers
and trailed hot, wet kisses down the cord of her soft neck.  “Mesa, baby,”
he whispered in her ear, his tongue tracing the shell like opening.  “What
are we gonna do?”

“Hey, you two should get a
room,” Russ spoke from the entrance of the barn.

Mesa’s legs dropped and Rafe
pulled his hand from her fanny up onto her back, but he kept her against
him.  “You need to get lost, Barnett,” he growled, unable to disguise the
huskiness in his voice.

Russ chuckled.  “It’s a
little late for that.  I’ve already seen what I’ve already seen. 
Can’t change it.”

Rafe was quickly regaining
control of his voice and his breathing.  “Did you come in here for a
reason?”

Again Russ chuckled. 
“Yeah, but damned if I remember what it was.”

“Then get out,” Rafe growled,
one of his hands holding Mesa’s head in the crook of his neck.

Russ laughed again and
turning, retreated the way he’d come.

Reluctantly, Rafe loosened
his hold on Mesa and she stepped back.  His arms were still around her and
as he looked down at her, he dropped his head and covered her mouth again with
a long deep kiss that left them both breathless once more.

“I don’t know where this is
going,” Rafe whispered, “but I do know it’s not over.”

Mesa nodded.  “But we
have to make sure Raale doesn’t get hurt.”

He turned and reclaimed the
lead ropes that he’d dropped earlier and then turned to look at her
again.  “Wanna go home with me?  Uci’s staying over at Jenny’s
tonight.”  He didn’t hide the fact that it was an invitation for a night
of eager, hot activity between the sheets of his bed.  He wanted Mesa
anyway he could get her, and he was tired of fighting it.

She hesitated and when she
did, he nodded.  “Alright, I get it.  When you find a solution for
this let me know what it is.”  He started walking and she stepped out of
his way and watched him lead the two horses to his rig.  A few minutes
later she heard his sharp whistle to summon Spur, then in only a short time his
truck and trailer were fading in a wake of dust as he turned onto the highway
headed home.

Mesa was slow in rejoining
the group beneath the machine shed, and when she did, she wasn’t surprised to
see most of them gathering their belongings in preparation of leaving.  It
was late and it had been a long day.  The sounds of weary horses
scrambling up into the trailers, eager to be home again in their quiet stalls,
sounded through the darkness, announcing that it was time to go home.

In less than an hour she
watched the last of them leave.  She was tired, but there was little hope
of sleep for this night.  She had too much on her mind.

She knew her first concern
had to be Raale.  She had no doubt that the child cherished the hope that
somehow, her parents would unite and the three of them could be the
happily-ever-after family that lived in all the fairy tales she knew.  But
in spite of the undeniable attraction that she shared with Rafe, Mesa was sure
he’d never forgive her for not telling him about their child, and without
forgiveness that could never happen.  She shook her head from side to
side, her long hair swishing behind her head.  It wasn’t smart to let
something intimate develop between them.  She knew that, but just the
thought of being in his arms made her legs weak.  Her eyes closed and she
could see the heated hunger in his chocolate eyes just before those generous
lips had settled on hers with such devastating effect.

She walked to the cabin
slowly.  It was a lot to think about, she decided as she strode across the
porch and went inside.  The cabin was quiet and she knew that Raale and
Uncle Rance were both down for the night.  She slipped up to her room for
a quick shower, pulled on her robe and went back down to the den.  She
found Jory sitting in a comfortable chair watching his favorite reality show on
television.  Mesa heard one of the cast shouting, “Choot ‘em, choot ‘em,”
and looked at the television to see one man pointing a gun at an alligator that
was churning the muddy water beside a boat.  She walked over and settled
into the padded swivel rocker.  She tried to watch the television, but
after only a minute, she stood up and walked to the book case against the back
wall.  Nothing there sparked any interest and when she turned around
again, she found Jory watching her.

“Feeling a little restless,
are you?” he asked.

She shrugged.  “Yeah, I
guess I am.”

He picked up the remote and
switched the television off.  “Want to talk about it?”

“I dunno,” she replied. 
“I don’t know what the problem is.  I guess I’m just over tired.”

He laughed softly.  “I’d
call it over stimulated.  You’ve hardly taken your eyes off him all day.”

She frowned.  “Off who?”

He stood up and walked across
the floor and slipped his arms around her.  “Off Rafe.  You knew who
I meant.”

“Yeah, I knew.  I just
didn’t know I was that obvious.”  She sighed and rested her head against
his powerful chest.

“He’s probably just as
restless as you are, for the same reason.”  Jory stroked the back of her
shoulders gently.  “I don’t know which one of you is the most pitiful, but
right now, I’m leaning toward him.  He almost lost it when you were singing
Desperado.”

She nodded.  “I saw him
go to the barn.”

“Did the two of you ever
talk?”  Jory asked.

Mesa snorted softly. 
“I’m not sure it was much of a conversation.”

He patted the back of her
head.  “Too many sparks flying?”

She nodded.  “He told me
Uci’s spending the night with Jenny and invited me to go home with him.”

“And you refused?”

“I didn’t answer.  He
took it as a refusal.”  She sighed.

“I doubt if he’s any more
able to settle in than you are,” Jory said softly.

She lifted her head. 
“You think I should go?”  She sounded a little surprised.

He smiled down at her. 
“Your heart is already there.  I know you still love him, and I’m sure he
still loves you.  He may not like it, and he may not be willing to admit
it, but he can’t keep his eyes off you.  That’s a strong indication of how
he feels.”

“How will this affect
Raale?”  She couldn’t help asking.

Jory curled a finger under
her chin and tilted her face up to look into his eyes.  “Honey, Raale is a
child.  You can’t live your life just for her or when she grows up and
leaves the nest, where will you be?”

She smiled sadly. 
“Right here with you.”

He shrugged.  “I might
have a life of my own by then.”

“Suppose things don’t ever
work out for Rafe and me.  I’ll still have to deal with him for Raale’s
sake.”  She stepped away a couple of steps.  “Are you interested in
my mama?”

Jory smiled and
shrugged.  “Shirley is a work in progress.  She’s still struggling,
but she gets a little stronger every day.  Who knows what the future holds
and as for you and Rafe, how would a failed relationship be any different than
what you’re dealing with now?”

Mesa frowned.  “My mama
was the biggest tramp in the county, Jory.  You deserve someone better.”

“Don’t judge Shirley by the
woman you remember, or have you forgotten what I used to be, and I didn’t say I
was interested in her.”  He reminded her softly.

Her eyes stretched
wide.  “Oh my Lord, Jory.  Sometimes I
do
forget what it was
like.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, honey. 
Now, why don’t you go over to Rafe’s place and see what happens,” he
suggested.  “One of you has to take the first step.”

She snorted again.  “Oh,
I know exactly what’ll happen.”

Jory smiled.  “Well,
maybe after that, you two can actually have a conversation.”

About thirty minutes later,
Mesa stood on the porch of the Storm Horse home, butterflies in her stomach
migrating up into her throat, threatening to choke her with all that frantic
fluttering they were doing.  Panicked, she started to go back to her car
when the front door was pulled open.