Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1 (16 page)

Chapter Eight

The front door of Olivia’s house banged opened and little feet pounded on the hardwood floor.

“Adam Montgomery Gentry. What did I tell you about running in the house?”

Olivia smiled at the sound of her mother’s voice. How many times had she heard her mother saying the same thing to her or one of her brothers?

“Sorry, Mimi. I forgot.”

“I doubt it. Olivia. Where are you?”

“In the kitchen, Mom.”

Adam flew into the kitchen, ran directly into Mitch’s leg and staggered back. “Sorry. Hey. You’re still here. I thought Momma said you were leaving.”

Mitch reached down and ruffled Adam’s hair. “Hey, Adam. Not gone yet.”

Jackie Montgomery followed her grandson. “Hello again, Mitchell. You’re still here I see.”

“Yes, ma’am. Still here.”

Jackie lifted one eyebrow. “Did you two get a chance to talk?”

“Yes, Mom. And guess what, Adam?” Olivia leaned over and motioned her son over to her. “Mitch has invited us to go to his ranch for a little vacation. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Adam’s eyes widened. “A ranch? Like Uncle Travis’s?” He whirled toward Mitch. “You have horses? And cows? Can I have my own horse? Uncle Travis is going to give me my own horse.”

Mitch laughed. “I have lots of horses and cows. Not sure about that
your own horse
thing though.”

Olivia gave Adam’s bottom a loving swat. “Enough. Uncle Travis did not promise you a horse.”

“Did to. Just ask him.”

Olivia decided to let the comment pass. Knowing her brother, Travis probably had promised Adam a horse. There wasn’t much her brothers wouldn’t do for their nephew.

Olivia met her mother’s gaze. “Thanks, Mom, for everything. Doesn’t a little vacation sound just wonderful?”

“I’m sure you’ll both have a great time.” Jackie squatted down and held out her arms. “Come here and give your Mimi a hug before I go.”

Adam raced into his grandmother’s embrace. “Bye, Mimi.”

Jackie kissed Adam’s cheek. “Be good and mind your mother. Have fun at the ranch.”

Adam’s head bounced enthusiastically. “Okay.”

Jackie stood and blew a fingertip kiss to Olivia. “Be good and mind your mother. Have fun at the ranch.”

Olivia chuckled. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Mitch, nice to see you again. Tell your mother hello.”

“I will, but something tells me you’ll be talking to her before I do.”

Jackie grinned. “Maybe so.” She turned to leave and waved over her shoulder. “Don’t get up. I’ll see myself out.”

In a moment, the sound of a door closing reached the kitchen.

“Are we still having pancakes for dinner?”

Olivia looked down into the upturned face of her son.

“Yeah, Olivia. Are we still having pancakes for dinner?”

She looked up into Mitch’s face. His eyes twinkled with mischief.

“Two against one, Momma.” Adam danced around. “Pancakes win.”

She glanced at the clock. Four-thirty.

“How about we go to The Pancake and Waffle Shoppe for dinner instead of cooking? Be less mess for the kitchen. That’s provided Mitch will drive.”

“Sure. No problem.”

Adam hopped around on one foot. “Oh boy, oh boy.”

Olivia pointed up the stairs. “You go change into clean clothes and wash you face and hands before we go.”

“Aw, Momma. I’m clean.”

“I don’t think so. What’s that on your shirt?”

Adam pulled the front of his T-shirt out and looked down at the yellow stain. “I don’t know.”

“My point exactly. Go.”

Adam clattered up the stairs.

Olivia glanced back at Mitch. Amusement covered his expression. He looked at her. “He’s incredible.”

She smiled. “I know. Dad and my brothers have been wonderful with him. Drake too.”

Mitch sobered at the mention on Drake’s name, his mouth pulling tight. “Don’t remind me of all I’ve missed the first five years of my son’s life.” He walked to the sink and rinsed his cup. Without turning he said, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate what your father and brothers have done for Adam, but I’m his father.” He turned to look at her. “I want to be his father in every way.”

Olivia noticed the glaring omission of Drake’s name. “I understand, Mitch. I do. But you can’t push this. You—”

The sound of little boy tennis shoes hitting the floor in a jump stopped her.

“We’ll finish this later, when we don’t have little ears.”

Adam hopped into the kitchen. “I’m back. Let’s go.”

Mitch smiled. Heck, his face glowed with happiness. “All right, partner. But I think we need to give your mom a minute to get ready. Don’t you?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Girls.”

She bit her lip to avoid laughing at his dead-on impersonation of her brother Travis.

“See those cows?”

Adam pressed his face against the window in the co-pilot’s seat. “All those cows are yours?”

Olivia smiled at the amazement in Adam’s voice.

“Mine and my parents.”

Adam turned in the seat toward Mitch. “Where are your horses?”

Mitch banked the plane to the left and circled. “See that hill?” He pointed through the cockpit window.

“Which one? There’s a bunch of hills.”

“Very true.”

Mitch had met each question from Adam—and there had been many since leaving Dallas—with a serious response, treating Adam not as a child, but as a peer. Adam’s relationship with her dad and brothers had always been close. He’d never been a shy child. But he’d taken to Mitch quickly, more quickly than he’d taken to Mark at Jim’s Gym. She wondered if it was because Mitch treated Adam like a friend and not a kid, or if there was some underlying genetic response a boy had to his father. If she only had a nickel for each question, she’d be a very rich woman.

“See the middle hill? The one with four trees?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, over that hill just a ways is where I live. I keep most of my horses closer to the ranch.”

Olivia settled back against the seat and glanced around Mitch’s new four-seater plane. It still had a new plane smell of fresh leather.

By the time Olivia had gotten all her responsibilities at Jim’s Gym delegated and met with her orthopedist about traveling, they hadn’t gotten off until Tuesday morning. Mitch had been missing most of Monday checking out the plane, but when he put Adam in the co-pilot’s seat and placed a headset over his eyes with
Adam
painted on the left ear pod, she knew where part of his day had been spent. Tuesday morning, she’d overheard Mitch’s telephone conversation with someone, at the ranch she’d assumed, telling them to prepare the guest rooms and to expect his guests to be there a month. She’d started to argue that she and Adam were only going for a couple of weeks, but in the end had decided to cross the departure bridge when she got to it. Mitch had helped Olivia into the plane and to get settled, but after that, all his attention had been on Adam.

“Put your hand on that steering wheel in front of you.”

Mitch’s statement made Olivia bolt up straight. Had she heard that right?

“Like this?” Adam’s voice trilled with excitement.

“Yep. Just like that. Now, when I let go, you’ll be flying the plane all by yourself.”

“Momma! Momma! I’m driving the plane.”

Olivia leaned forward into the cockpit area. “I see that.”

Adam’s smile stretched from ear to ear. His feet didn’t come close to the plane’s steering pedals, but his feet moved back and forth as though he controlled the pedals with each twitch of a foot. Olivia shifted her gaze to Mitch and saw he had a couple of fingers on the lower edge of the steering wheel out of Adam’s sight.

“He’s doing a great job, isn’t he,
Mom
?” Mitch’s jab hit home.

“He is.”

“Okay, Adam, turn the wheel toward me so we’re turning left.”

Adam followed Mitch’s instructions and the small, fixed-wing aircraft slowly turned left.

“That was excellent, Adam. You’ll be flying all by yourself in no time.”

“Hear that, Momma? Mitch said I could fly this plane.”

“I heard that, but you probably are going to have to wait until your feet touch the pedals.”

Adam looked down at his dangling feet. “Yeah,” he said wistfully.

“I’ll tell you what, buddy. I’ll take back over, but you can keep your hands on the wheel and practice. What do you think?”

“Okay.”

Mitch made a big production moving his hands back onto the wheel and Olivia doubted Adam ever knew that Mitch had really never let go of it.

“Ready to land this bird?”

Adam giggled. “Okay.”

Zeb Hobbs, Mitch’s ranch manger, met the plane as soon as it touched down on the grass landing strip. She’d met Hobbs—nobody called him Zeb—quite a few times during college when she’d come home with Mitch for the weekends. He’d always been overtly friendly, welcoming her with bear hugs. This time, however, when Mitch helped her from the plane, Hobbs was restrained in his greeting. Courteous, but definitely reserved.

Hobbs tipped his hat. “Ms. Olivia.” He didn’t offer his hand.

“Hobbs. How nice to see you. It’s been a while.”

Hobbs shifted his gaze toward Adam and back. “Yes, Ma’am. ’Bout six years I’d say.”

Mitch handed Olivia her crutches. “Hobbs. There’s more luggage in the hole if you’d give me a hand.”

Hobbs nodded and moved away.

In no way could she say Hobbs had been curt or unfriendly toward her, but she missed his previous spirited hugs.

The twenty-minute drive to Mitch’s house was consumed by Adam’s questions, which either Mitch or Hobbs would answer. But neither of them directed any questions or statements to her.

As they drove between the brick pillars and under an arched Lazy L sign, Olivia’s heart raced. Sweat slicked her palms. Mitch’s home. She’d been to his parents’ house years ago, but she didn’t know what to expect of a house Mitch had selected and built. She’d been able to see the rooftop when they flew over, as well as the pool in the back, but those glimpses hadn’t adequately prepared her.

They pulled into a curved drive in front of a two-story gray limestone house. An arched doorway led to a double-door front entrance. Long, paned windows glittered in the sun. A
porte-cochere
connected the first floor of the house to a garage that would house four cars if Mitch owned a car for each garage door.

Hobbs stopped the car in the circle drive and both he and Mitch exited. Mitch opened the truck’s back door and Adam jumped to the ground with a loud stomp on the concrete. Hobbs held Olivia’s door and even offered her a hand to assist getting out and onto her crutches.

“Hobbs, can you get one of the guys to give you a hand with the luggage? I spoke with Magda this morning, so I’m sure she has the rooms ready.”

“Not a problem.” Hobbs pulled a cell phone from his pocket and wandered off.

Grinning broadly, Mitch flung open both doors to his house. “Come on in.”

They walked into a two-story foyer with a sweeping staircase to the left. Bright shafts of sun glinted off the hardwood floors. Colors from the crystal chandelier danced on the flooring.

“Welcome to Chez Landry.”

Olivia looked up the stairs toward the female voice that had spoken. Joanna St. Claire Landry walked down the staircase, her manicured hand lightly sliding along the highly polished wood rail.

“Oh no,” Mitch muttered. His face reddened. “Joanna, what are you doing here?”

“Daddy told me you were bringing home, um, guests and well, with that housekeeper you hired, I wanted to make sure everything was done right.”

“You didn’t need to do that. I’m sure Magda has everything under control.” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Magda.”

Adam slipped his hand into Olivia’s. “You’re not supposed to yell in the house.”

Mitch looked at him. “You’re right, but let’s make an exception this one time. Magda.”

From the rear of the house came the disembodied reply, “Hold your horses. I’m coming.”

“See, Mitch? That’s what I mean. She shows you no respect all at. It’s a good thing I came here today. Why, she hadn’t set up one of the bedrooms upstairs for Olivia.” She said Olivia
as though it left a sour taste in her mouth.

A thin, tattooed, twenty-something woman with unnaturally black, spiked hair walked through the formal dining room into the foyer. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and stored it on her shoulder.

“I’m here. I’m here. Don’t yell in the house.”

Mitch laughed. “Adam already scolded me.”

The young woman knelt in front of Adam and held out her hand. “I’m Magda. You must be Adam.”

Adam dropped his mother’s hand to shake Magda’s. He nodded.

She stood and faced Olivia. “You must be Olivia then.”