Texas Ranch Justice

“Nope. I’m not there yet, sweetheart.” He wiggled his bushy eyebrows at her, making her laugh. Right after that, he yawned, not even covering his mouth with his hand. “I am tired, though. I think I’ll turn in. Will you be okay with me leaving you alone?”

Impulsively, she jumped up and gave Hal’s weathered cheek a soft kiss. “I’ll be fine. Good night,” she said softly. “Sleep well.”

Beaming, he nodded. “You too.”

Once he’d wheeled into his room and closed the door, Scarlett shut off the TV and retreated to her room. Once there, she closed her door and pulled out her laptop. She linked to Hal’s Wi-Fi—secretly surprised he had one, and then went in search of his router so she could get the password. Once she’d done that, she accessed the internet so she could research Hal’s symptoms.

Cancer seemed most likely, but Travis had said that had been ruled out. The weight loss and lack of appetite, the wasting away, those were all serious symptoms. And she figured the doctors had thoroughly investigated each potential disease.

Things didn’t look good for Hal. Travis had tried to tell her, but she didn’t want to believe him.

Her throat ached. She’d stay here as long as Hal would let her, no matter what Travis or his family thought. She’d look on the positive side and consider it a blessing she’d get to spend time with Hal at all and that she hadn’t located him after it was too late.

And she’d continue looking. Just because there were a thousand possible illnesses, she wouldn’t give up easily.

* * *

Travis started the morning the same way he’d done for the last ten years. Got up, showered and dressed, and made a single cup of coffee, taking care not to wake anyone in the house. Then he hopped into the cab of the truck and Travis drove himself to Hal’s house to have breakfast.

In the old days, Hal would have the meal ready before Travis arrived, but as Hal got sicker, Travis had taken over the duty. He had two specialties—scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and hot sauce, and biscuits and gravy. Both of them were pretty darn good, if he said so himself.

As he made the turn into the drive, he saw Scarlett’s little red car. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with her this morning. He doubted she got up before ten.

But when he strolled into the kitchen, he stopped short at the sight of her sitting at the table with Hal, heads bent close over steaming cups of coffee. His traitorous heart skipped a beat. She wore no makeup and she’d pulled her glossy black hair back into a jaunty ponytail, which showcased the delicate lines of her features.

Before he could help himself, he managed to zero in on her kissable mouth, until he quickly dragged his gaze away. She managed to look lovely and sexy and natural, all at once.

And way too damn cozy with Hal.

Suppressing a sharp stab of resentment, Travis worked on manufacturing an easy smile. “Good morning,” he said, nodding at her before looking at Hal.

“Mornin’.” Hal grinned. “Scarlett here was just fixin’ to fry up some eggs.”

Though he wondered if she really knew how to cook, Travis nodded. “Sounds great.”

His tone mustn’t have been too convincing, judging from the narrow-eyed glance Scarlett sent his way. Travis shrugged and poured himself a mug of coffee before taking a seat at the table. “You know you don’t have to cook,” he said. “That’s usually my job, at least for breakfast.”

In the act of placing a large skillet on the stove, she turned. “You can cook?”

“Barely,” Travis allowed. “Judging from your tone, you don’t believe it.”

“Show her,” Hal said, grinning. “She’s our guest and really shouldn’t be making her own meals.”

“Nonsense.” Scarlett stood her ground. Those ridiculously high heels of hers had the effect of making her legs look even longer. “I don’t mind helping.”

Travis debated getting up and asking her to sit down, but if she really wanted to make breakfast, he truly didn’t mind. “Knock yourself out.”

Shaking his head, Hal went back to reading the paper. He passed the sports section over to Travis, just like he always did, but Travis barely glanced down at the page. He couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the woman standing in front of the stove.

With her back to him, she moved with a sensual grace, despite the tall shoes. Today, instead of her usual fancy dress, she wore a pair of formfitting blue jeans. He had to admit, she filled them out a heck of a lot better than he’d imagined.

When she glanced over her shoulder, as if she’d felt his gaze on her, he blinked and hurriedly looked down at his newspaper. He read the cover story three times, not absorbing a single word.

A few minutes later, she set a plate down in front of him. Three perfectly cooked eggs, two slices of bacon and toast. She placed an identical plate in front of Hal, before returning to the stove to fetch her own.

“Did you want some orange juice?” she asked, her direct gaze and her sweet tone daring him to find something wrong with his breakfast.

“No thanks,” he replied, changing his mind when Hal asked for some.

Finally, all three were seated, the hot meal in front of them. “This looks great,” Hal enthused, before digging in.

Again, Scarlett glanced at Travis, as though she expected him to make a snide comment. Instead, he nodded. “It does look great. Thank you.”

He ate, trying not to be too obvious about the fact that he was also watching Hal. The man had to take nourishment sometime. If he didn’t, he’d not only continue wasting away, but he risked having heart and kidney issues.

To Travis’s relief, Hal ate most of one egg and an entire piece of toast. He only nibbled on a slice of bacon, but that was definite progress.

When Scarlett caught his eye, he realized she was thinking the same thing. A sudden image of his hands tangled in her hair, pulling it loose from the ponytail, before he placed his mouth over hers and tasted her once more.

What the... Quickly glancing down at his plate, he concentrated on sopping up the rest of his egg with his toast. Why the hell had he given in to impulse and kissed her in the first place? Now he couldn’t get her out of his head.

But he would. Immediately.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Hal asked. Travis looked up, realizing the older man was addressing him. Relieved, he listed all the chores he had in mind for today. Though they were remarkably similar day to day, Hal knew this all too well. Running a ranch entailed supervising various ranch hands and making sure they did what needed to be done. There was always fence needing repair, cattle needing rounding up or feeding. Though Travis preferred spending his day on horseback, taking care of a ranch this size often entailed using his pickup.

As he wound down, he became aware of Scarlett watching him. The hunger he thought he saw in her gaze rekindled his own desire, simmering flame igniting into an instant inferno.

Look. Away. Mindlessly, he reached for his coffee cup, gulping down the last two swallows. “I’ve got to get going.” He pushed back his chair, scraping it on the linoleum floor.

Trying not to rush, he strode to the coatrack, grabbed his hat and crammed it on his head. He slammed outside without another word.

Though today was one of those days when he probably needed to take the truck, instead he went to the barn and saddled up his favorite gelding. He needed to clear his mind and get himself straight. Not only did he still not trust Scarlett Kistler, but he couldn’t help but be aware of how the lure of a sexy woman had brought stronger men than him to their knees.

And it wasn’t just that he wanted her. He could tell she wasn’t the kind of love ’em and leave ’em woman who could handle a strictly sexual fling. Which was all it could ever be between them. She definitely wasn’t the type who’d thrive on a ranch, with a simple man like him. Angry that his thoughts had even gone down this path, he shook his head. His horse snorted, sensitive to his mood.

Calming himself, he slipped the bridle on and adjusted the bit. Working the familiar motions of saddling his horse helped. Climbing up, swinging his leg over and settling into the saddle helped even more.

When he rode out onto the dirt trail, he felt like himself again. The easy rhythm of hooves hitting the earth, the warm spring breeze and the birdsong from the nearby trees helped to erase his tension.

His cell phone rang, startling him. Caller ID showed the landline from his house, which meant either his mother or his sister needed something. Despite the fact Travis had told both of them numerous times not to call him during the workday unless it was an emergency, they still did.

Since he still had a few more minutes before he reached the area where he knew the men would be working, he went ahead and answered.

“Good morning, son,” Vivian chirped. “I tried to catch you before you left, but I overslept.”

In all the time she’d been living with him, he’d never once seen her up before sunrise, so he didn’t reply.

“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about that girl.”

Of course she did. She’d been out late the night before, so she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to bring it up before bedtime.

“What about her?” he asked, unsuccessfully trying to keep from letting his annoyance show.

“Do you think she’s for real?”

“What I think isn’t important. Hal believes she is, so that’s all that matters.”

Her expressive sigh told him what she thought of that.

“I’d planned on going over there today to visit with Hal, but now I’m not sure I should,” she said. “But I need to try to get to know her. I feel like I should try to keep Hal from getting hurt.”

“I feel exactly the same.” Inwardly wincing, he went ahead and said it anyway. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to get to know her. You and Amber might be able to learn things about her more easily than I would.”

Vivian laughed. “Okay, you twisted my arm. It’s always best to keep your enemies close.”

Poor Scarlett. He almost felt sorry for her, as if he’d unleashed a horde of locusts or something. His mother definitely could be a force to be reckoned with.

“You never know,” Vivian continued. “She might be for real. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted.”

“You do that,” he agreed, and ended the call. He fought back the desire to call the main house and warn Scarlett. Where had that notion come from anyway?

He’d just settled back into the saddle, enjoying the natural beauty of the landscape, when his phone rang again. He groaned, especially when he realized it was from the same number.

“What now, Mom?” he asked, by way of greeting.

“It’s not Mom, it’s Amber,” his sister replied. “Did you really just sic Mom on Scarlett?”

“I wouldn’t put it quite that way. If Scarlett’s planning to be around awhile, which she said she is, she needs to get to know everyone.” His answer, while true, sounded weak, even to him.

Amber snorted. “You have a point, but maybe you should have let it happen a bit more gradually instead of having Mom go at her full strength.”

Ahead, he could see the group of ranch hands, loading cattle into chutes in preparation for the work they had to do.

“Look, Scarlett’s a grown woman. I’m sure she can handle anything Mom throws at her. Now, unless there’s anything else you need, I’ve got to get to work.”

“Nope, I’m done. But a word of warning, big brother. Don’t be surprised if this backfires on you.” She ended the call before he could ask her what she meant.