Way Out West (10 page)

Rand
moved his head back and gazed mischievously into
her eyes. Playfully waggling his eyebrows, he growled deeply, “Then, I’m going
to bite you!” His teeth chomped near her neck.

With a shriek, Callie
pulled away, flattened a hand to the hat and started to run through the tall
grass. Her long skirt hampered her progress and even though she held it up with
one hand, she heard his heavy footsteps approaching from behind. A moment later
strong hands lifted her into the air and warm lips joined hers as they both
breathed heavily.

She tightened her arms
about his neck. Not that she was afraid to fall, but because she didn’t want to
let go.

Rand
cuddled her like a babe. “Ah, Miss Callie, I
can’t remember when I’ve ever enjoyed being with a woman so much. You’ve
brought a light into my life that I never knew existed.”

A tear sprung to her
eye. This big, bold man was as soft-centered as a marshmallow. He held her up
like a prize he’d won at a carnival. Yet, what did she have to offer? Who was
she? She’d had twenty-five years of living with nothing to show for it.

“Sir, you sure know how
to turn a girl’s head.”

His smile lit up his
face and his eyes glistened in the sunlight. “I plan to do a lot more than
that.” He set her feet back on the ground.

“Meaning?”

“Meanin’,” he took his
hat from her head and put it on his, “I want to show you all of Way Out West. I
want you to experience the joy of a simple way of life. I want you to
understand why this place is so special to me.”

“Whoa, hold on,
Maverick. I’m only here to do a job, not start a new life. And even if I was,
the Old West is the last place I’d look.”

“Are you sure?” he
murmured.

“Sure about what?”

“You’re not here to
start a new life. From what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like you have
anything to go back to.”

Callie hesitated. “Well,
I don’t, really.” She plopped down in the grass, which crinkled under her
weight. Tugging her skirt snugly over her knees, she drew her legs up and
hugged them as a melancholy mood settled over her.

He was right, she had
absolutely nothing to go back to. As for staying, Rand was only there for a
week. They’d no sooner get to know each other and he’d be off to his real life,
doing whatever he so carefully kept secret. Why didn’t he ask her why she was
there and what exactly did she have to go back to?

But he didn’t. Upholding
the solemn creed of secrecy, Rand just sat down next to her and gazed out at
the field.

“I was engaged once,”
she said, matter-of-factly. A long silence stood between them. She let the
prickly aftereffects of that statement run over her like a porcupine. It should
have been a happy time in her life, but she’d been miserable.

“Callie, you don’t have
to tell me any of this. Your private life remains private here.”

“But I want to. I want
you to know who I am.”

“I know who you are.
You’re a sweet, generous, fun-loving woman. And brave. It takes courage to
leave everything behind and come to a strange place where you don’t know a
soul.”

She laughed to herself.
He really thought of her as all those things? Funny, she didn’t recognize any
of it as her.

“What I am is a
quitter.” She noticed Rand adjusting his hat, obviously uncomfortable with her
soul-baring words. But she didn’t want him to have any false notions about her.

“We became engaged in my
second year of college. Shortly after that I quit school and got a job to
support us. He was a graduate student. Ha, he’s probably still a graduate
student. Keith was one of those career students. He ate, slept, and breathed
academia. I became his secretary, his research assistant, his maid and cook.
After about a year, I realized he’d never think of me in any other way so I
just up and left. He never even looked for me.”

She picked at another
long blade of grass. “Anyway, I stayed with my parents awhile before coming out
to California. They wanted me to go back to school, but I couldn’t bring myself
to do it. When I got here, I took some acting lessons but soon saw it wasn’t
meant for me and quit that.”

She suddenly realized
how easy it was telling him all this, how he probably knew more about her than
anyone she’d ever known. And he didn’t seem to mind. He sat there listening,
absorbing, lending support with just his presence and attention.

She fell back and laid
flat in the grass, letting the sun warm her. “Now, here I am. The quitter meets
the Wild West.”

Rand
moved down next to her, turning on his side. “I
wouldn’t call you a quitter. I’d say you’re a survivor. You’ve had some tough
breaks and you’re looking for something better.”

She turned her gaze to
meet his. Had she found something better? At the end of the week would it be
gone forever?

“And you think I might
find it here, right?”

He leaned closer. His
gaze settled on her lips. “Sometimes the best things in life are right under
our noses.”

His large figure loomed
over her, blocking the sun’s rays as he lowered his mouth to her waiting lips.
His kiss was soft, complete. Callie melted under its heat. As his kiss
deepened, her fingers found their way around his collar, reminding her.

She reached into her
pocket. “I got you a new tie.”

His surprised look
quickly turned to a grin. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

“It’s the least I could
do. I overreacted last night.”

Rand
sat up, smoothed back his dark hair and snaked
the tie under his collar. He tugged at her arm until she sat beside him.

“Let’s get back to town
and have a nice quiet dinner where I can court you properly in my new tie.”

* * *

He left her at the
saloon to freshen up while he went back to his hotel. When he returned an hour
later to escort her to the hotel dining room, Becky stood by the bar, arms
akimbo.

“Your shift starts at
seven, young lady.”

Rand
tipped his hat. “You have my word that she’ll be
returned safe and sound in plenty of time.”

Callie thought she
caught a twinkle in Becky’s eye but Rand pulled her away before she could
decide for sure.

“I know how Becky is
about her girls, that’s why we’re having such an early dinner. You don’t mind,
do you?”

“No. I’m rather hungry.
I haven’t eaten but two pieces of bread all day. And,” she stopped to look him
in the eye as he held the hotel door open for her, “I seemed to have worked up
quite an appetite this afternoon.”

Rand
’s dimpled chin jutted out. He smoothed a finger
across his mustache. “I know what you mean.”

All afternoon he’d had
an aching hunger which had absolutely nothing to do with food. Was it too soon
to know he wanted her for the rest of his life? Would she run from him like she
did from Spider if he suggested it?

After leaving Callie at
the saloon, he’d rushed around setting his plan in motion and he thought about
how much he should tell her about himself. He owed her something more than a
horse-riding, kite-flying gambler. Yet, if she could accept him at face value,
that’s what really mattered.

Rand
proudly escorted her to the secluded table he’d
ordered in the corner. Candles burned lazily. A daisy lay across her place
setting. She breathed out a little “Oh” as she picked it up after he pushed in
her chair. He signaled to the waiter and took a seat across from her.

“It reminded me of you.
Bright, cheery, full of sunshine.” He covered her hand holding the flower and
their eyes met.

Rand
retracted his hand once the waiter arrived with
fresh lemonade and waited as the man poured. When he left, Rand raised his
glass, inviting Callie to join him.

“To our kite, wherever
it may be.”

She giggled. “May it fly
forever.” They touched glasses and sipped. Callie pursed her lips. “Oh, it’s
very good, nice and sweet.”

“Like you.” He no sooner
said it than the waiter brought their sizzling meal of steak and potatoes and
broccoli.

She looked at Rand with wide eyes. “You ordered ahead?”

He nodded. “You don’t
mind, do you? I didn’t want to waste any time. I wanted you all to myself.”

“Well, that’s very
flattering.”

As soon as the waiter
left, Rand reached into his pocket and pulled out a white cloth bag. “Speaking
of flattering, one more thing. Would you honor me by wearing this?”

Callie’s eyes grew wide
as she watched him remove a gold chain with a small gold heart embedded with a
stunning sapphire. He laid it in the palm of his hand for her to inspect.

“Rand! Is that real?”

“As real as you are. May
I?” He got up and stood behind her chair to fasten the necklace around her
delicate neck. It hung brilliantly against the white of her high-necked blouse.
He sat back down and admired the lovely sight before him.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?” she asked,
fingering the gem gingerly.

“That it would match the
color of your eyes perfectly.”

A blush rose to her
cheeks. Lifting her hand, he pressed her fingers to his lips. With his eyes
closed, he tried to imprint the image of this moment to his memory forever.

“Callie, would you do me
a favor?”

“Uh-oh, there’s a
catch,” she said, fingering the heart.

“No. No catch. I just
want you to remember me as you see me now. This is me. I’m not some monster
ogre as some would make me out to be. I live. I breathe. I love.”

She dropped her hand.
“What are you saying? Who are you?”

“I can’t tell you
everything, but I want you to know that I was married once. There was a
terrible, messy divorce and there hasn’t been another woman in my life, until
now.” He rubbed the backs of her fingers with his thumb.

“Children?” Callie
whispered, emotion choking her voice.

He shook his head. “No.
She couldn’t have been bothered. But my ex-wife is not who I want to talk
about. It’s us. I want you to take me for what I am, this simple man who enjoys
a simple life. I want you to know me in your heart without the shroud of
hearsay. I’m genuine, Callie. On that you can depend.”

Chapter Seven

Genuine. What an odd way
for a man to describe himself.

In her room at the
saloon, Callie removed the chain from her neck and wondered if that was the
reason Rand given her the sapphire. It was genuine, like him.

They’d eaten quietly
after that, stealing looks at one another, smiling between bites of food. As
promised, Rand wasted no time getting her back in time for work.

As Callie changed into
the light blue satin dress Becky had picked out, she glimpsed the sapphire on
the dresser. Was it fate that the gem matched perfectly with her dress?
Smiling, she fastened the chain around her neck again. She knew Rand meant it to keep him close to her.

Looking in the mirror,
she liked the effect of the black fur trim around the low-cut neck and hemline
of her dress. It was chic, sophisticated. She pulled her hair up and twisted it
into a knot, securing it with combs and letting the remainder fall loosely over
one shoulder. A black feather band at the knot, and black velvet heels finished
it off beautifully.

Quickly touching up her
makeup and adding dramatic red lipstick, Callie sailed out of the room and down
the stairs. Rand was already there, not at a card table but at the bar talking
to Becky, head to head, their voices low.

Callie stopped behind
them, swishing her dress until both heads turned at once. Rand sucked in his
breath and beamed. Becky stared, mouth open, directly at her neck.

“Where on earth did you
get a nugget like that?”

Rand
took Callie’s hand and kissed the back gently.

Mouth still open, Becky
switched her stare to Rand. “Never mind. I think I have my answer.” When
neither Callie nor Rand replied, Becky cleared her throat. “Listen, you two. I
have a business to run. Rand, if you’re here for a game, get to a table.
Callie, you start working the tables and pay attention to more than just one
customer.” Her pointed glare needed no further explanation.

“Yes, ma’am,” they both
replied, then laughed before going their separate ways. Work had never been more
appealing.

* * *

Callie could hardly
believe two hours had passed already. She’d been so busy serving drinks and
cigars and fetching chips for down-on-their-luck gamblers, she’d barely had
time to share more than a glance with Rand.

Carrying a tray of empty
glasses to the bar, she sat on a stool to rest her feet. Her gaze drifted to Rand, cards in front of his face, pondering his ante. His eyes lifted, catching her gaze,
and he winked before resuming his concentration.

His wink warmed her
insides. She smiled to herself and wished she could sit with him. But her smile
quickly faded as the saloon doors swung open and an unshaven, disheveled Tyler lumbered in. His beady eyes surveyed the room then stopped to linger on Rand and the
other players at his table.

With a belligerent
swagger, he eased his way in. “How you boys doin’ tonight?” Curt nods met his
question. “Looks to me like there’s a pretty big winner at this here table.” He
glared directly at Rand’s pile of chips. “Course we all have our lucky nights now
and again. Ain’t it funny how that happens?”

Callie watched
breathlessly. She could see the little muscle twitch at the side of Rand’s temple and the tightening of his clenched jaw. But he never took his eyes off his
cards.

Tyler
walked around the table. “I guess I’ll just find
me another table that ain’t quite so
lucky
.” He shuffled to the next
table, which had only three players, and sat in the chair facing Rand with a full view of the bar.

That’s when he spotted
Callie. Rising from his seat a notch, he nodded sarcastically, “Evenin’,
ma’am.”

Rand’s head shot up and
he pierced Tyler with a hot glare.

Unaffected, and
obviously enjoying his taunt, Tyler smiled at Rand while nodding toward the
bar. “Lovely lady.” He then called one of the other girls over and asked for
some chips.

The two tables resumed
their card playing. To an outsider, everything would have appeared normal. But
Callie knew differently. She saw the strain in Rand’s face. She saw the men at Tyler’s table nervously counting their chips, afraid to bet. She saw the same gloating
look on Tyler’s face as he’d had the night before when his winnings had begun
to pile up.

In her trips around the
room, she carefully avoided Tyler’s table, afraid of what might happen if he
overstepped the unspoken bounds Rand patiently monitored.

Becky touched her
shoulder as she placed an empty tray on the bar. “Why don’t you take your break
now? Fifteen minutes. There’s sandwiches and coffee in the kitchen.”

Callie worried her
bottom lip and nodded. “Thanks.”

At the long table in the
kitchen, she sat sideways with her legs stretched out on the bench and her
shoes discarded on the floor. Ahh, relief. She’d poured herself a coffee and
flexed her feet as she nibbled on a cucumber sandwich.

The big kitchen door
swung open letting in the sounds of music and chatter and heavy boots. She
turned to see a worried Rand heading her way.

“I’m off duty so if you
want coffee, it’s over there.”

Rand
looked down at her stockinged feet. His worried
face relaxed in what appeared to be amusement. “No sneakers?”

“Don’t I wish,” she
moaned, wiggling her toes.

Rand
sat at the end of the bench near her feet. He
lifted them up and slid under, letting them rest in the comfort of his lap.
With strong, precise fingers, he began massaging her aching feet, working the
pain out of her soles and moving up to her toes. He took the time to carefully
massage each toe while Callie closed her eyes and relished the exquisite
sensation.

She moaned. “That feels
wonderful.” Opening her eyes, she glanced suspiciously at him. “Is this part of
the courting?”

He grinned. “Most
definitely.”

“I like it. Carry on.”
Her eyelids drifted shut again.

Rand
chuckled but faithfully continued the foot
massage. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Mmm?”

“Would you come with me to
church services in the morning?”

Callie’s eyes flew open.
“What? Church? I haven’t been in a church since...” She thought hard. “I don’t
remember.”

“You haven’t answered my
question,” he reminded her.

“Well, uh, do you attend
services regularly? I mean, are you like a religious fanatic or something?”

“You’re stalling,
Callie. No, I’m not a religious fanatic. No, I don’t attend services regularly,
but yes, I attend whenever I’m here. Now, will you come with me?” He stopped
massaging and ran a finger down the underside of her foot.

She jumped at the crude
sensation. “Hey, cut that out!”

“Will you?” He did the
same to the other foot.

“Stop it, that tickles!
Okay, yes. I’ll go with you.”

But it wasn’t because
he’d tickled her, it was because she could see how important this was to him.
Whatever his reasons, she wanted to be with him. In fact, she didn’t want to be
away from him at all and that thought provoked another.

Only one week
. What would happen when he left? Would he ever
tell her who he was or how to find him when she left?

Suddenly, unbidden
doubts crept up on her. What if he didn’t tell her any of that? What if this
was all a part of his vacation, his escape from reality, like a sailor on shore
leave? Was the courtship just a part of his adventure?

She grabbed for the gold
heart at her neck and held it tightly. She couldn’t believe this was just a
fantasy for him. She’d seen his eyes at dinner, his sincere plea to accept him
at face value. It frightened her to think that might have been a prelude to a farewell
speech.

She decided to make his
decision to leave a little more difficult. “Rand?”

Once again massaging her
feet, he murmured, “Yes, darlin’?”

She pulled her feet from
his lap and slid over to him. With an upturned face, she demanded, “Kiss me.”

The words still
reverberated in her throat as his mouth captured hers in fierce compliance. She
clung to him, desperate arms about his neck seeking to keep him with her
always.

When Rand lifted his
mouth, he panted his strangled words. “I swear, I’ve never been kissed like
that. Heaven knows I can’t resist you, Callie.”

She smiled. That’s
exactly what she was hoping for.

They were still linked
in each other’s embrace when the kitchen door suddenly swung open and Becky’s
voice bellowed. “Good Lord, is there an invisible umbilical cord connecting you
two?”

* * *

As midnight approached,
the drinkers and gamblers showed no signs of letting up. It was Saturday night
and they were there to make the most of it.

Rand
had done well at the table. He’d won big, then
lost a little, but came back with a vengeance. Now, as it grew late, he felt
his concentration slipping and decided to call it quits.

Not that he was tired.
No. Distracted was more like it and the distraction had a name. Callie. She’d
occupied his every thought since he’d set eyes on her Friday and she’d kept his
blood pumping since they’d shared a saddle.

As he threw in his last
hand, he scooped his chips into his hat and stood up. “Gentlemen, I thank you
for a very pleasant evening.” Signaling the closest saloon girl, he dropped a
handful of chips on her tray. “Drinks for my friends here.”

“Evenin’, Rand.” A quiet voice from behind startled him.

Rand
turned to see the telegraph clerk with a message
in his hand. “Evenin’, Willard. Working late tonight?”

“Yes, sir. I was just
locking up when this came in for you. I knew you’d be anxious to see it.”
Handing the paper to Rand, the little man shifted from foot to foot.
Uncomfortable around people, he was more at ease within his quiet telegraph
office, making friends through Morse Code.

“Thank you, Willard. Can
I buy you a drink?”

“No, sir. Thank you
anyway. I best be goin’.”

Rand
reached into his pocket and pulled out some
bills. Stuffing them into the man’s hand, he thanked him again. “You have
yourself a good night now.”

With the hat weighing
down his hand, Rand strolled over to the cashier’s window and cashed in his
chips. While waiting for the clerk to count out his winnings, he read the
telegram and nodded to himself. Leaving the cashier a share of his winnings, he
tucked the paper inside his pocket and strode over to Callie.

“I have to step out for
a few minutes.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t go near Tyler. He’s trouble.”

“I don’t need a crystal
ball to tell me that,” she quipped.

 With a purposeful gait,
Rand headed out the door and directly for the Sheriff’s office. A single oil
lamp burned on the wall. All jail cells were empty and Sheriff Clayton sat with
his chair tipped against the wall, feet up on his desk.

Rand
shut the door with force, rattling the windows.

The Sheriff nearly fell
over on the chair but recovered enough to at least put his hand to his gun.

“What the...oh, Rand. What’s all the commotion?”

Without preliminaries, Rand cut right to business. “That stranger, Tyler. Here’s what I found out about him.” He
tossed the telegram on the desk and paced while the Sheriff read it.

Rubbing his face with a
tired hand, Clayton frowned. “What am I supposed to do with this information?”

“Help me find out what
he’s up to. Something about him last night triggered some bad vibes but I
couldn’t put my finger on it. Now I can. The other man named in that telegram,
Kyle Thornton, is his brother. I had to fire him. He’s a dangerous computer
hacker and he was doing it on company time. My company escaped a major lawsuit
thanks to some dedicated employees who stood up for me.”

The Sheriff rose,
scratching the back of his head. “I still don’t get what that has to do with
Tyler Thornton being here.”

“His rap sheet shows
he’s a small-time thief and scam artist. I figure Kyle Thornton got him to come
here to do some dirty work while he sits at home in front of a computer. His
goal is to get to me. He wants to see me fall, hard.”

“Like I said, what am I
supposed to do?”

“Keep an eye on Tyler
Thornton. In the meantime, I’ll wire my office to dig up as much as they can on
both Thorntons and wire the findings to you personally. Too many telegrams
coming to me might raise a flag.”

“Where’s Tyler now?”

“I just left him at the
saloon. He likes his poker, but I’m not so sure he’s straight about that
either.”

Fitting his hat on his
head, Clayton said, “Well, why don’t I just take a stroll over there and get a
look at this fellow.”