Lucky In Love (12 page)

“Fair enough,” she nodded.

************************************************************************************************

MILLI FILLED THE DROPPER WITH MEDICINE AND SHOT it into Katy’s mouth. It made her drowsy after the first fifteen minutes, but at least it kept her from throwing up. Who would have ever thought Milli Torres’ daughter would get nauseous when she flew? It probably came from the Luckadeau blood lines. Not that she could ever see Beau afraid of anything. He’d fight a forest fire with a cupful of water and expect not only to put it out but have a long drink afterwards. Surely he wasn’t afraid of flying. Not Beau.

Mary hugged both of them and helped get Katy buckled into her car seat. “You be careful, now. Give your folks a big kiss for me, and don’t get any wild notions about not coming back. Your grandfather would be disappointed. Not to mention the cowboy over on the Bar M who -”

“That’s enough, Granny,” Milli shook her head.

Milli buckled her own seat belt, gave her grandmother the thumbs up sign, and fired up the engines to her plane. It was one of those old Russian war buzzards, a Yak-52, which had been customized with room for the pilot, co-pilot, and enough room to put the baby’s car seat behind the pilot. She’d flown a Cessna 172 at first and she loved that little bitty plane, but this old bird had taken her eye at an air show when she was in college and she decided on the spot she had to have one like it. So she sold her Cessna and with the money she’d saved from stunt shows and a season of crop dusting, she bought the Yak-52. She loved the bubble of glass over her head and felt like the Red Baron every time she flew.

It was a far cry from the camouflaged plane she bought three years ago. She’d had it painted candy apple red with thin yellow pinstripes and viewers often said it looked like a ball of fire when she danced it through the acrobatics in a show. That’s exactly what she wanted it to look like. Just like she felt when she was doing dives and rolls. Like she was riding a piece of the sun. Like she was fully in control.

She talked to Katy. “Well, we’ll be there in an hour, give or take a few minutes. Maybe someday you won’t be sick and you can enjoy the whole trip without having to sleep away part of it.”

When they had gotten home from the park, Beau had told her that he had a cattle sale in Kansas City to attend on Monday and Tuesday and would be home on Wednesday. Could they go to dinner Wednesday evening?

“With or without Katy?”

“With, of course. There’s no reason she can’t sit in a high chair at the restaurant. Besides, it’ll be two whole days since I’ve seen her, so I’d like for her to come with us. Now Friday night is a different matter. That night, if Hilda and Mary don’t mind, I would like for them to keep her while we go out to dinner and a movie.”

She had agreed. He’d be gone for two days and she needed to take the truth to her folks. They needed to hear it from her mouth and not the family gossip vine. When she got back, they’d sit down with a couple, of lawyers and figure out Katy’s future and she could get on with her life.

Butterflies the size of gypsies danced in her stomach as she landed the plane on the little strip at the backside of the Lazy T ranch west of Hereford. A Yak was made to be landed on a dime and it didn’t care if the takeoff - landing strip was dirt or concrete. Her mother was leaning against her dad’s old work truck and scarcely waited for the plane to stop before she started waving and running toward it with her hands outstretched to take Katy.

Milli hopped down. “Well, well, seems to me like I should get a little attention. I am the daughter.”

Angelina nuzzled her face down into the soft curls on the baby’s sleeping head. “Oh, hush, you had all the attention for years. We’ve missed this baby so much. I don’t even care why you came home for two days. I’m just glad to see this critter.”

Angelina Jiminez Torres was of half-Mexican descent and half pure-bred English. It was a strange combination producing a lovely woman with a soft Texas drawl. Her chestnut brown hair had red highlights, and flecks of gold floated in her pecan-colored eyes. Her face was a work of art, permanently and perfectly tanned, with a small, thin nose, soft, sensual lips, and a ready smile. But her looks were as deceiving as her ultra-feminine name, because Angelina took sass from no one. She would mourn for her husband, John, if he died tomorrow and might never look at another man even though she was only fifty years old. But she could take up the reins and run the Lazy T as well as he could, and she ruled her household even yet with an iron hand.

She’d raised Milli to be exactly like her. When Milli stood her ground where Matthew was concerned, and later when Katy was born, Angelina was proud of her independence and glad she’d raised a daughter who could think for herself and take care of herself in the bargain.

“So what is this big secret you called about?” she asked as they drove back to the ranch house.

“Is Daddy home yet?”

“No, he’s off to see about a bull, but I phoned him and he said he’d be back in the middle of the afternoon. There’s not something wrong with Poppy Torres and no one wanted to tell us on the phone, is there? Don’t tell me he’s not ever going to be able to ride again. He’ll swivel up and die if he can’t sit a horse.”

“No, Poppy is fine. You’d be amazed how well he gets along. He’s already refused the wheelchair and only uses the walker when he goes outside. I caught him getting in the pickup by himself yesterday morning before church, and he said he was just sitting in the seat for a little while. He swears by the end of summer, he will be two-stepping with Granny at the barn dances.”

Angelina let out a whoosh of air. “That’s good news. I’ve been worried about him. Then when you called this morning and said you wanted to talk… can’t you even give me a clue?”

“No, Momma. It’s not something I want to tell two times. We’ll eat lunch and then maybe Daddy will be home and…”

“Okay,” Angelina parked in front of a rambling ranch house, which had never looked so good to Milli. She carried the sleeping baby into the house and laid her gently on the sofa in the great room: enormous living room, dining room, and kitchen all one open area, the furniture in soft, supple leather and weathered wood. Lemon candles burned on the square coffee table and a pot of coffee gurgled in the kitchen. Milli sank down on the end of the other end of the sofa and leaned her head back, taking in the smell that was home. Angelina always had coffee brewing. She poured two cups and took them to the living room.

“Something to sip on while lunch finishes. There’s lasagna in the oven and a salad in the refrigerator. Now tell me all about what’s been going on at the Lazy Z. Your father and I are kicking around the idea of flying out there in August and driving your rig home. We could send one of the boys, or Jim said one of his crew could drive it home and then fly back on the commercial plane, but it would be fun for us to get away for a few days. Your grandparents whine that we don’t visit often enough as it is. So we might even go down to the valley and visit your other grandparents instead of coming right home. They have a place for Wild Fire, so you wouldn’t have to worry about her. I’m glad you decided to take the plane so you could scoot in and out for a visit.”

John’s big booming voice filled the room when he opened the door. “Where’s my baby girl? Don’t tell me she’s asleep. And I finished my business early so I could play with her. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to do with a hug from my daughter, then.”

Milli crossed the room and he wrapped her up in a bear hug, which was exactly what she needed right then.

He pushed her away without letting go of her shoulders. Something was drastically wrong. Fear was clouding Milli’s eyes, and she had never been afraid of anything in her entire life. Not from the time she was born. She could whomp a rope around her hand and set the meanest bull in the rodeo for eight seconds. She could do stunts in that funny-looking airplane of hers that even made his hair stand on end when it looked like a red ball of pure fiery hell coming down for a crash and then whoosh, up it went again. She’d stood in front of them, declared she was pregnant and would not talk about who the father was, and she didn’t bat an eye In the worst of situations there had never been fear, only solid determination. Chill bumps danced down his arms when he thought about what could scare Milli. John wasn’t sure if he really wanted an answer to that question, or if he would rather let well enough alone.

“So, is that lasagna I smell in the oven?” he finally asked.

“Yes, it is,” Angelina said.

The doorbell rang.

Milli stepped back.

John answered it.

“Roses for Miss Milli and balloons and a bear for Miss Katy,” a feminine voice said.

Angelina carried the huge bouquet of roses and balloons attached to a teddy bear to the living area. “My, oh my, maybe you do have something to tell us. Have you been keeping company with an oil baron or something?”

Milli unpinned the card from the front of the red satin bow and opened the envelope. “Just part of the courting process. I already miss you. See you and Katy Wednesday.”

A warm feeling like the start of a sunburn crept up the back of her neck and into her cheeks. She removed the card from the bow around the teddy bear’s neck. “Daddy loves his baby girl.”

The blush deepened and she rolled her eyes. He must have phoned this morning before he left for Dallas to board his plane and Granny gave him her address in Hereford. If she hadn’t been coming to explain the situation, he wouldn’t have left her any other choice. He probably hadn’t even thought about the consequences of his impetuosity. She wondered if he’d telephoned his parents and told them all about her and Katy! Damn his sorry old scraggly hide anyway. If he was close enough, she’d start a shouting match that could be heard all the way to the valley in south Texas. She tried to frownbut it wouldn’t come out past the silly grin on her face.

“You going to tell us about this? Or has the cat plumb eaten your tongue off, girl?” her mother asked.

Milli buried her face in the bouquet. They even smelled like roses. Most hothouse flowers had no odor, but her roses smelled just like roses. The baby’s breath and soft fern fronds tickled her nose, but none of it gave her the courage she needed to tell her folks the tale of Katy’s conception. She’d have to find that on her own. “I’ll tell you.”

“Thank goodness!” Angelina said when she’d finished her story.

“Amen!” John nodded in agreement.

Milli could scarcely believe her ears. “What?”

“I’ve been worried all this time that Katy’s father was a married professor at the university and someday he would find out about her. I knew you were in pain when that rascal, Matthew, did what he did. And I figured you went to college and some slick-talking professor seduced you. But he was married and that was the problem and the reason you wouldn’t talk about it. At least this Beau is a decent fellow. Poppy Torres talks about him on the phone all the time. So, he wants to do the right thing by our Katy and make sure she has her inheritance. He’s got enough money to support her and from the looks of that bouquet in there, he’s pretty took with you, too.”

“But Momma, I was…”

“So?” Angelina said. “You were young and in pain and… that’s water under the bridge and in the past. What happened, happened. And now the baby’s father wants to acknowledge her. I think that’s in his favor. Besides, if some good-looking fellow sent me half the roses in Texas, I’d think maybe he was interested in me as much as Katy.”

“What does this Beau Luckadeau look like?”

Milli threw up her hands. She sure wasn’t expecting a reception like this. “Just like Katy. Same blue eyes, same hair, only his is a little lighter from being out in the sun so much. Same demanding streak. Same awful temper.”

Angelina shook her finger. “Oh, come on Camillia Kathryn Torres. You’re not about to pawn all of Katy’s temper off on someone else. If this Beau fellow has a temper, that’s good. You could never live with someone who’s mealy-mouthed and wimpy.”

“Momma, I’m not going to live with him!”

“I should hope not,” John declared. “But don’t be throwing ice water on the young man. He sounds like a good man and it’s pretty plain he must like you, even if you two did get off to a bad start.”

Milli still couldn’t believe the way they’d taken the news. “That’s what Granny said. Something about throwing ice water on him -”

The phone rang and Milli jumped up to answer it. Probably was one of her two brothers calling to see if she’d made it home. Neither was especially fond of her flying and they were extremely negative about her taking Katy up in the plane. They’d be ready to form a posse and go to southern Oklahoma with a new rope when they found out about Beau. She’d have to do some tall talking and fancy explaining to make them understand it was as much her fault as his.

“Hello?’

“Milli?” Beau’s soft Louisiana accent questioned.

“Beau?”

“Just calling to make sure you arrived safely,” he was glad to hear her voice, even if it was just one word.

Milli turned her back so she wouldn’t have to look at her parents. “Thank you for the flowers and balloons. Katy is still asleep, but she’ll squeal when she sees the balloons and bear. She’ll think she’s been to the circus.”

“You are very welcome. You must have made really good time, or at least left earlier than I thought,” he sounded stilted. What he wanted to tell her was how much he already missed her, that he’d dreamed about her last night, and he was holding the silver earring in his hand.

“Oh, we did all right.”

“Sounds like you flew. You need to watch that speed, lady,” he admonished in a teasing tone. “Did you buckle her up good?”

“Yes, sir. How was your flight?”

“Great. No air pockets. I hate flying. Makes me about half queasy to think about being up that far in the sky crammed in a tube with all those other people. It’s unnatural, if you ask me. I’d rather drive any day, but sometimes it just takes too much time. Gotta run now. My car is here to take me to the sale. I’m thinkin’ of you and Katy.”

“Thank you.” She wished she had the courage to say she’d thought about him every minute since he kissed her on the forehead last night when he brought her and Katy home to the Lazy Z, but saying the words wouldn’t be easy, even without an audience of two behind her and a baby who was crawling off the couch in the living room, eyes all aglitter as she reached for John and said, “Poppy. My Poppy. Ride, peas.”