A Texas Ranger's Family (7 page)

“The cobbler's cool if you want a dish,” Daniel offered, hoping to sweeten his daughter's disposition and speed up her exit. She was goober-lipped from talking about their annual trip to the Double-S.

That was another logistical matter he had to sort out. They couldn't go off and leave Erin alone in Houston but neither could he let his family down. His brother was hard enough to make peace with on the subject of the day-to-day needs of the ranch. Jake would have a conniption if he thought Daniel might try to beg off at the busiest time of the year.

Daniel settled in a bedside chair, still shaking his head over Erin wearing his prized collectible.

“Cobbler, huh? So that's the smell that's been flirting with my nose for the past couple of hours.” Erin sniffed at the air.

“I figured J.D. would appreciate a fresh cup of coffee and something sweet to tide him over till his fancy first-class airline dinner.”

“Are you kidding? When you travel on World View's budget, your per diem is the equivalent of a tuna fish sandwich and a bag of chips.”

“Really?” Daniel hadn't suspected her employer was so tight with the financial reins. “Then how do you account for the private jet treatment you got on the way out here?”

The medical stupor they put her in for travel must have done the trick because she appeared to be considering that cost for the first time.

“I don't know.” Erin seemed puzzled. “I'll have to ask J.D. about the funding.”

The doorbell chimed.

“I think you're fixin' to get the opportunity.” Daniel stood and turned to get the door.

“Wait! Move me to the chaise before you let him in. Please, Daniel,” she pleaded. “He needs to see me out of a hospital bed. And if J.D.
is
here to fire me, then at least let me take the news in a vertical position.”

The bell chimed again.

“Just a moment,” Daniel called toward the foyer. He moved to Erin's side, scooped her up and deposited her on the chair by the windows. But before he pulled away, he gave himself the simple pleasure of enjoying her fresh scent.

The smell was womanly and inviting. To cover the inappropriate thought, he tossed his favorite old handmade blanket over Erin's legs and hurried away.

“Welcome, my friend.” Daniel swung the front door wide as he greeted J.D. “Here, let me help you with those things.”

The casually dressed man on the porch carried two large boxes in his arms, one stacked atop the other. Daniel relieved J.D. of the cartons, surprised by their weight.

“What's in here, bricks?” Daniel asked.

“Just a few trinkets for Erin,” J.D. replied.

“She's out here on the sun porch.” Daniel stepped to the side and let Erin's boss enter.

A look of affection spread across J.D.'s face the moment he spotted her on the chaise.

“Look at you.” J.D. was obviously pleased. “Out of that bed and wearing something besides those jerry-rigged hospital scrubs.”

She held out her left arm to show off the jersey and accept a gentle hug.

“I have my host to thank on both counts.”

Daniel was humbled by the credit she continually gave him. He lowered both boxes to the floor, motioned for J.D. to take a seat and then dragged up a side chair for himself.

“So, all my worry that you were languishing in this humid heat, pining for the deserts of the Middle East was a waste of energy, huh?” J.D. settled on the love seat.

“I admit the humidity is a nice change for my dry skin and I certainly don't miss the grit in my food. But I'm on the recovery fast track. I'll be at the fall G8 if I'm not already back in the field.”

Daniel's heart thumped at the news and J.D.'s brows shot toward his thinning hairline.

“Erin, that's very aggressive. Why don't we just take it one step at a time and talk about assignments in a few months.”

“Because this isn't going to take a few months. Look, I'm in otherwise perfect health and following all the doctor's instructions. I refuse to let this
inconvenience
get the best of me.” She raised her right elbow to show off her ability to wiggle her thumb. “I'm only down for a little while. Please, don't count me out.”

“Kid, you can't put a recovery like this on a timeline and expect your body to comply. I'm afraid you're setting yourself up for failure with such high expectations.”

“It's not
expectations
, J.D.! It's my strategy to get my life back on track!” For a moment Daniel thought she might burst into tears. But as quickly as her anxiety surfaced, calm returned to Erin accompanied by a loud exhale. “My work is the only thing I know. It's all I've got and you can't take it away from me now.”

Daniel understood the importance of work. His position with the Rangers was one he'd prized since childhood. Still, in his heart he knew his family was what mattered most. His work could disappear tomorrow and he'd be fine. Only a threat to his child could cause him to relate to the panic Erin was feeling. Would she ever be capable of showing the mother's love Dana craved? And if the answer to that question was no, why didn't that make him feel better?

D
aniel remained quiet, keeping his thoughts to himself. He'd known Erin was bound to plead her case with J.D., but witnessing the emotionally charged comments made him feel like an eavesdropper. He stood, prepared to leave and give them privacy.

“You don't need to go.” Erin read his intentions. “This is your home and you have every right to know I'm doing my part to get better so we can all move on with our lives.”

Confusion was not a familiar state for Daniel. He weighed the facts, called the shots, took action and moved on. Most days that strategy was easier with a team of Texas Rangers than with a teenage girl, but he'd always managed.

Until now.

Whichever way he looked at it, this situation with Erin was a no-win wrapped up in a heartache. There was so much on the line. But each time he thought he knew the worst that could happen, she did something kind or said something endearing to ratchet up the stakes.

His child was bursting with the pride of finding her
mama, of discovering Erin's accomplishments. Dana's psychological void of not knowing the other half of her heritage was slowly shrinking thanks to the few jigsaw pieces Erin was willing to supply. And even if she hadn't come into their lives by choice, the comfort Dana had discovered from having Erin in their home was a treasure. Once she was gone, he would be a sorry consolation prize.

Then there was LaVerne, happy as a gopher in soft dirt over having a house in the city to run for a while. Though the widow Stabler was highly respected in her small community, she still drove her big Cadillac to Fort Worth or Houston every chance she got. Being valued for something other than her ability to halter a stubborn bull was like a tonic to his bossy mama. Her laughter on the sun porch was frequent as she enjoyed being appreciated by their female company.

And was it any wonder? At only thirty-four, Erin was a gifted photographer who had traveled the globe, had seen more of life than most people could ever imagine and had been awarded some of the world's highest honors for her work. Daniel was not immune to the impressive allure of Erin Gray and her talent. The few nights she'd been under his roof he'd slept fitfully. Even crept down the stairs in the dark once to confirm it wasn't his imagination.

This Erin might be different from the young woman who'd stood before the justice of the peace with him, but even so when Daniel looked into her eyes during moments of silence, a glimmer of that skittish girl still existed.

He knew her fears, knew her past and knew she would run to catch up with her future as soon as she got the chance.

And that was exactly what he wanted. Right?

 

Erin watched Daniel's face and waited. He'd been standing there for several long seconds, not saying a word. She needed his help convincing J.D. to give her another chance. Daniel took his seat again on the thick cushion of the ladder-back chair. He pressed his lips tight for a moment, then released the comment he seemed to be holding back.

“Actually, I agree with J.D. that you're putting too much pressure on yourself.”

“What?” She looked from one man to the other. “Is this a conspiracy?”

He raised a palm in defense so she let him continue.

“I agree that you're healing remarkably well and your therapist said you gave a gutsy effort this morning. But this self-imposed deadline could cause the very setback you need to avoid.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, glancing back and forth, suspicious of where this conversation was headed. She'd never been encouraged by anybody to slow down. Not ever. She lived in a hurry-up world and if she had to lay back and wait much longer, her brain would atrophy along with her muscles.

J.D. leaned close enough to rest a warm palm on her shoulder. “This is not about your employment, Erin. I promise a new passport will be waiting at World View headquarters when you're ready to return.”

“But until then, I'm fired, right?”

He stood, pressed his fists into the small of his back and arched forward, muttering about her “hard head” while stretching as he always did after sitting too long.

“As appealing as that sounds to me at the moment,
dismissing you is not why I extended my day by five hours to have this twenty-minute discussion.”

“Then what was so important to bring you all the way to Houston?”

J.D. picked up one of the boxes and set it on a nearby end table. Daniel produced a small pocketknife to slit the packing tape. As the ends unfolded, J.D. brushed away foam peanuts and withdrew a leather case bearing a familiar black on yellow logo.

“Oh, J.D., you are the best boss ever and I love you!” She fumbled one-handed with the snaps on the flip-top case. It sprung open dumping a new Nikon digital into her lap. She lifted the camera close to her face and studied it, feeling the knot of uncertainty in her stomach begin to subside for the first time in days.

“What else is in the box?” She craned her neck, eager to see the accessories.

“Oh, just an assortment of lenses, some hardware for downloading and printing and a new laptop, since yours was nearly destroyed in Kirkuk. The IT guys saved what they could of your hard drive.”

She looked down at the expensive new camera in her hand and blinked hard several times. She'd lost more than mobility and a laptop when that bomb had exploded. She'd lost three young comrades.

“Thank you,” she whispered, grateful yet again to have survived. Then looking up into the faces of J.D. and Daniel, she said it louder. “Thank you both, so much.”

“It's a pleasure and the bureau's small way of encouraging your recovery. But that's not even the best part, at least in my humble opinion.”

J.D. slit open the second carton, folded back the flaps
and set it on the floor at her left side. Beneath a layer of packing bubbles was a thick mound of envelopes addressed to World View in New York.

“Is this all my junk mail?” she asked, puzzled why he'd bother to haul it all the way to Houston.

“Erin, it is
fan
mail. You know, those handwritten things from people who admire your work?” he teased. “And some of the stories are so incredibly well-written, they will take your breath away.”

“You've read them?”

“Well, most of them were generally posted to World View and as soon as the mail room found mention of your name, they sent them to me. There are others addressed to you personally. Of course, they've never been opened.”

She sifted through the envelopes noticing the postmarked locations and dates. “Some of these are pretty old.”

“I've been telling you for years they were piling up. Since your injuries made headlines at World View, we've had a flurry of new additions to your mail tub. I thought now might be a good time for you to check them out.”

There couldn't possibly be anything of interest among the envelopes, some yellowed and dusty and others crisp with recent postmarks. But she appreciated J.D.'s intentions. She reached for a tissue to clean the dust from her hand, then extended it along with her best smile to her boss.

“You were so thoughtful to go to all this trouble. I really mean it.”

Instead of taking her hand he glanced around, looking for something.

“Oh, wait.” He held up a finger and moved toward
the foyer. “There's more,” he called from around the corner. The front door opened, closed almost immediately and then he was back holding the handle of a familiar two-by-three-foot flat binder.

“My portfolio!”

Daniel threw his hands over his ears, an exaggerated reaction to her shriek of excitement.

“Where did you get it?” She reached out to accept the black nylon handle that had traveled what seemed like a million miles slung over her shoulder. “I thought I'd lost it years ago.”

“You left it in my office before you took off for Camp Justice and Saddam's execution. I slid it behind a credenza to keep it from getting bent and only ran across it the other day. I had a feeling you'd be happy to have it back.” J.D.'s broad smile said he was pleased with himself.

She ran her hand over the worn black case made of faux leather. It represented a time when she couldn't afford anything more. Once she had the money for a nicer portfolio, she wouldn't part with this piece of her history.

“Do you need some help unzipping it?” Daniel offered.

“Not right now.” She wasn't ready to share the images hidden inside the binder. Not all of her work had been worthy of prizes. And some of the photos were private, for her eyes only. “Maybe one evening this week, after dinner.”

“Speaking of food, how does peach cobbler sound to you?”

Bless him, Daniel had sensed her hesitation and steered the conversation to a sweet subject.

“With ice cream?” J.D.'s bushy brows shot up.

“And fresh coffee,” Daniel tempted.

“I'm in! That puny snack they gave me on the flight is long gone.”

“J.D., Daniel asked me something earlier that I couldn't answer. Did World View pay for the chartered jet that brought me to Houston?”

“Good grief, no.”

“Well, if the company didn't, how was it funded?”

“It was an anonymous gift from someone at Walter Reed who appreciates your talent and wanted to help you.”

Erin felt a headache begin to throb as she strained to think of anyone she knew with the kind of money it took to give such an expensive gift.

“I don't understand.” She shook her head, stunned by such generosity.

“Well, maybe you're not supposed to. I've been trying to convince you that you have loyal fans. Perhaps now you'll believe it.”

 

“Where's Dana been all day?” Erin inquired as credits for the classic film rolled up the screen.

LaVerne snapped off the television and handed over the remote. “Down at Abundant Harvest with her friends. They're rehearsing for the youth concert, but we're trying to stay away from that sore subject.”

“How come?”

“It's always scheduled for the same week as the Double-S cook-off. Poor kid works long hours at the church all summer and then misses the big event.”

“Why doesn't Daniel let her stay home?”

“That's another sore subject, but I happen to agree with him on this one. Daniel's a family man. He spends his vacation time at the ranch with us. He's always put
family first and he's raised Dana to respect that. The only selfish thing my baby boy ever did was follow his professional dream, and that seed was planted and fertilized by his own daddy. My oldest enjoys giving his brother a hard time about bailing on the family business, but even Jake grudgingly admits that Daniel was never suited for ranching.”

“So, if I understand this correctly, Daniel spends his time off from work doing stuff he's not particularly good at and makes Dana go along with him?”

LaVerne's puckered lips and nearly closed eyes said she was considering the statement, but then she shook her blond updo in disagreement.

“No, that's not it. He might would like to spend a week fishin' in Mexico and Dana moans and groans something fierce about the long drive and the hard work. But when the contestants show up and the fun starts, there's no mistaking that the two of them wouldn't miss it for the world. And there's another reason Daniel makes her go.”

“He doesn't trust her to stay behind in Houston alone?”

LaVerne chuckled at the thought. “There's probably some truth to that, but it's more about exposing Dana to the people and the place she came from. That girl's been a living game of Twenty Questions since she was old enough to talk. And the more Daniel refused to tell her about you, the more she was determined to be different from him. I swear, the day she discovered Miss Clairol I thought her daddy would have a stroke. She went into the bathroom a pretty girl with shoulder-length auburn hair and came out lookin' like the raven-haired, white-faced offspring of that Manson fellow.”

“Charles?”

“No! Marilyn!”

“She doesn't look that drastic now, so her taste must have moved back toward the center.”

“That's thanks to Daniel. Once he came down off the ceiling, he decided to play it cool. Acted like it was no big deal. He said as long as she wasn't doing anything illegal or immoral, it was her choice to go to school lookin' like a freak every day.”

“Well, his plan seemed to have worked.”

“Don't be fooled by the way she's dressed today. Tomorrow it may be Gap jeans and a polo shirt. She's reinvented herself more times than Madonna.”

Erin was learning a lot from the chatty older woman. “I'm impressed, LaVerne. You know pop culture.”

“Hey, we have a satellite dish! I may have been raised on Elvis but every now and again I have an MTV moment.”

While LaVerne picked up their dessert dishes and carried them to the kitchen sink, Erin considered this latest news. One thing was abundantly clear. Daniel's primary motivation for her presence in his home was to give Dana a better sense of self. The girl was obligated to spend time with her daddy's family whether she related well to them or not. She deserved equal time with her mother to balance the country connection. But what if the nature of Erin's family trumped the nurture of Daniel's? Wouldn't that do Dana more harm than good?