Texas Heat (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 2)

Faith is a full time author and stay at home wife and
mother. She fell in love with the romance genre at a very
early age and she’s been addicted to it ever since. She
published her first book in 2006 and is proud to have
published over 50 since then.

Having It All, Mr. Perfect, Sweet Seduction, The Right
Sister’s Bed, Her Sister’s Roommate, Faith & Trust,
Coming Home, Accidental Bride, A Forever Kind Of Love,
Love Of A Lifetime, Baby Makes Three, Run Away
Princess, Her Hero, Amazing Grace, Stubborn Love, A
Little Something More, Pregnant By The Prince, Summer
Heat, Latin Lover, Hope Springs, Love At First Sight,
Answered Prayers, Serendipity: The CEO Meets His
Match, Oh Baby!, Staking His Claim, His Brother’s
Widow, Smokin’ Hot, Passion Inflames, Redemption,
Finding Her Way Home, Finding Hope, Sexy As Sin,
Falling For The Cowboy, Forbidden Love, Wish Granted,
Sweet Seduction, From Revenge To Romance, Family
Ties, Destiny, The Simple Life, Unexpected Bliss, True
Love Never Dies, For Better Or Worse, The Gift, Married
For All The Wrong Reasons, Their Heart’s Desire, Double
The Pleasure, Starting Over, Taken By The Cowboy,
Second Chances: Learning To Trust and Baby Mine

This book is for the people I love best… my family and
friends : Pat Ebert, Destiny Ebert, Matthew Covey, Nicole
Covey, Dee Peterson, Stephanie Letteer, Sean Letteer,
Samantha Combs, Brittany Combs, Jypsy Carlson, Jon
Normandin, Craig Covey, Jon Apling and Jeri Normandin.
I love you guys!

“When are you going to settle down, Travis? I’m not
getting any younger, you know… I want Grandbabies
before I die.”

“Ma, how many times have we talked about this? You need
to butt out of my love life.” The irritation in his voice was
plain as the nose on his face. As much as he loved his
mother, there was a reason he’d moved as far away from
home as possible.

Growing up in Wyoming
had been wonderful and he’d
hated leaving the wide open spaces. Life in a busy city like
Louisville had been hard for him to adapt to, but he’d done
it. He was a successful Veterinarian and he’d worked with
the biggest names in the racing industry.

His life was good. He saw no need to settle down any time
soon just because his mother seemed to want him to. “You
don’t need to worry about me, Ma,” he told her in a clipped
tone.

“Travis, I do love you… but I don’t count,” his mother
scolded.
“I didn’t mean you,” Travis said, knowing that it was an
outright lie, but if it made his mother feel better about the
way he lived his life, he was willing to live with the guilt.
“I’ve found a wonderful woman, Ma.”

“Really?” his mother asked skeptically. “Just how serious
can it be, since this is the first I’ve heard of this mysterious
woman? I want to hear that you’ve got yourself a wife,
Travis.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Ma. It all happened really fast.
We’ve been a bit busy ever since. It’s been a few months.”
He had no idea why he was going to this extent to reassure
his mother. It was clear that she was agitated, and he knew
that it was due to the fact that she felt left out of his life. If
it wasn’t for the fact that he was equally certain that in the
end, believing that he was happily married would be good
for his mother; he’d back down and tell her that he was
joking. Lord only knew that the idea of him settling down
with one woman for the rest of his life was a huge joke.

“When will I meet this whirlwind wife of yours?” his
mother asked; the skepticism was clear in the tone of her
frail voice.

“You do know that I’m a very busy man, Ma
… right? It’s
the middle of racing season. It’s my busiest time of the
year. There’s no way I am going to have the opportunity to
get back to Wyoming any time soon. I’m sorry.”
“Travis…” she said hesitating before saying anything else.

“And?” he asked,
settling his big body in a chair,
wondering what was wrong with his mother. He’s never
known her to sound so unsure or worried.

“Oh my God,” he said, closing his eyes, feeling the grief
wash over him. “How much time do they say you have,
Ma?”

“They aren’t sure,” she answered. “Please… I’m begging
you. I want to meet your wife… I really want to know that
there’s a chance I might be a Grandma before I die… But it
won’t seem real for me unless I see you’re happy with my
own two eyes.”

“And your wife?” she asked hopefully.
“We’ll have to see what we can do,” he answered, wishing
he hadn’t lied to her about having gotten married. When
he’d said it, he hadn’t expected to see her again for a good
long time. Plenty of time for him to come up with a woman
who’d be willing to play the part of his loving wife.

“I’ll expect both of you here
within the month, Travis
Robbins, and I won’t take no for an answer. If it will help,
you can consider it a dying woman’s last wish.”

“Yes, Ma,” he said regretfully, knowing that when his
mother said things like that, she meant it. There was no
arguing with her when she got like this. He’d just have to
head that way and figure out what to tell her when he got
there. If it meant telling her the sad truth and breaking her
heart, then he’d just have to suck it up and do just that…
and pray that a broken heart didn’t kill her.

Laurie Schmidt’s head was buried under the hood of a
candy apple red soft-top mustang with grease up her
elbows when her oldest brother, his wife and his children
came into her shop.

Eric had his arm wrapped proprietarily around Madeline’s
heavily pregnant waist with his two year old son, Brian’s
hand tucked in his much larger hand. Their daughter, Lillie
Rose was standing on her mother’s other side, trying to
look mature for a four year old. The sight was adorable and
Laurie just wanted to tug her into her arms and hold her
forever.

“Hey, Sis,”
Eric said brightly. “Came to see how you were
doing, since you haven’t stepped out of your garage lately
except for that one stupid date with that idiot drunken biker
dude.”

Madeline chuckled, her hand settling on her belly. “Oh,
Laurie, you are always good for a laugh. You should know
my husband better than that by now. He’s very protective
of those people he loves best.”
“Yes, well, that’s his biggest fault,” Laurie said grumpily.
“I get that his first wife died horribly, but that doesn’t mean
that I’m going to get myself killed. Honestly, Eric… you
and Jeff need to butt out. I spend most of my time here in
the garage. I rarely get out with a man. A girl has needs just
like you men do, you know.”

Eric’s jaw ticked and Madeline patted his hand
reassuringly. “Your sister isn’t a baby any more,
sweetheart.”

“I’m right here you know,” Laurie said, laughing, wiping
her hands on the rag that was draped over the hood of the
car she’d been working on. “You are such a big pain in my
ass. Why can’t you just butt out already?”

When she stretched with her arms over her head and her
shirt rode up exposing the ink on her side, Eric grinned. “I
didn’t say boo when you got our parent’s names tattooed on
your body after they died, did I?” he asked, arching an
eyebrow at her, daring her to deny that he’d let her grieve
in her own way.

“No… you didn’t,” she allowed patiently. “But you sure
yelled and screamed when I put the ink on my elbow, and
all that is, is a sun.”

“There was no good reason for it, Laurie. I understand you
honoring Mom and Dad the way you did… Dad’s name on
your side and Mom’s on your chest was one thing… but a
tattoo just because is a whole different matter altogether.”
Laurie rolled her eyes not wanting to bring up the fourth
tattoo that her brother had yet to notice on her hip. “Was
there a reason for your visit, or did you just come by to give
me Hell for my life choices?” she asked in a tone that
showed her frustration.

“Not really,” Eric said laughing. “Maddie insisted I make
sure you were alright,” he admitted, looking down at his
wife with so much love on his face it almost hurt to look at
him.

“Do me a favor Sis,” Eric said seriously. “The next time a
guy flirts with you, before you go out with him… ask
yourself if Ma would have approved.”

The words had come out dead pan and it had taken a
minute for Eric to figure out whether she was kidding or
not.

“It wouldn’t hurt you know,” he said, looking down at his
wife again. “Married life is wonderful. It would do you a
world of good, just so long as you’re with a good man and
not some bad boy without a job or any life ambition other
than to get drunk or laid as often as possible.”

“If it will make you go away and not send Jeff in as your
comedic back up to see that you get your way, I’ll agree to
just about anything,” she said, wrapping her arms around
her chest, not caring that she was getting grease all over the
arms of the half shirt she was wearing.

“Believe it or not, little sister, I’m not trying to be funny.
You know I fought getting tied up in anything that forced
me back to life after Victoria died. If it wasn’t for Maddie
and Lillie Rose, I’m not sure how pitiful my life would be
right now. I just want you to be happy… Really happy,” he
clarified, when he saw the anger fill her eyes at the
suggestion that she was unhappy in any way with her life.

Taking the time to count backwards from ten to keep from
exploding, Laurie breathed through gritted teeth. After
reaching zero, she cleared her throat. “I’ll keep that in
mind,” she promised. “Now, if you don’t mind, I really do
have to get this engine rebuilt. The customer is coming
back to pick it up first thing tomorrow and I still have a ton
of work to do on it.”

Eric nodded his head and pointed his family towards the
door. “Take care little sis,” he called, pulling the door
closed behind him, leaving her alone. Just her and the tinny
sound of her radio playing 80’s rock music. Just the way
she liked it.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” she grumbled, sticking
her head back under the hood of the car and getting back to
work. “It’s not as if there are a ton of single men in the area
for me to choose between. If he’s so Hell bent on giving
someone a hard time for the way they live their lives and
who they date, why can’t he go pick on Jeff? Our little
brother needs it a Hell of a lot more than I do.”
“What do I need?” Jeff asked from the doorway. Laurie
groaned loudly and called out to him. “To go away and
leave me to my work!”

“No can do, big sis,” he argued, coming to stand beside her,
peering in at the engine she had her hands buried in. “I
came by to let you know that I’m going to be going out of
town for a few days… I heard about a prize bull that’s up
for sale. I’m determined to get my practice in while I can
with nothing but the best. This time next year, I should be
ready to join the local rodeo.”

“And
WHY
is it that you felt the need to inform me?” she
asked, feeling irritated at her brothers’ constant
interruptions.

“Because, I tried getting a hold of Eric and big fat hairy
surprise, he’s too tied up to be bothered to answer his
phone and I don’t have time to drive all the way out to his
ranch. I need to jump on this before someone else gets their
hands on that bull. I should be back by Sunday at the
latest… just do me a favor and let him know so he doesn’t
freak out on me when he can’t find me.”

“Our brother has a life of his own
, a spread, a wife and kids
to take care of. Why would he be looking for you?” she
asked, trying to concentrate on the delicate procedure she
was trying to take care of with her hands.

Jeff answered, laughing. “It’s what Eric does best.”
“Fine. If he calls or stops by to ask about you, I’ll tell him
that you left town to track down another surly animal who
will later try to kill you. He’ll be thrilled,” she said testily.

Laurie sighed and went back to work on the car. At least
she had both of their visits out of the way. Now, she should
be able to get serious about fixing this car so she could
hopefully head home at a decent hour for a change. One
could only hope. Contrary to her brother’s opinions, she
really did have a life outside of the garage. Just not much of
one as far as romance went. Most men couldn’t see past the
grease and her tom girl personality to notice that she was
even female. The ones that did had a tendency to have only
one thing on their minds and any woman with boobs would
do. It was a sad dilemma, but it was one she’d come to
grips with.