Randall Pride (2 page)

Toby suspected dinner tonight would be silent and over quickly.

Elizabeth almost pulled Cleve aside then and there and told him their engagement was going to be brief. Like, ending tonight. He might have fit into her life in Laramie, but it was clear Cleve would never be comfortable with her family or vice versa. Her automatic choice came down on her family’s side.

Had she ever really loved him? It made her sound fickle. Maybe if she gave it a few more days.

“Elizabeth,” her mother, Megan, said. “Why don’t you take Cleve into the living room? We’ll have everything ready in a few moments.”

Elizabeth looked disturbed, and Megan added, “Boys, go with Elizabeth and Cleve. It will give you the chance to get to know him better.”

Toby knew he was included in that general direction, but he didn’t want to comply. The last thing he wanted to do was get to know Cleve better. He hoped his cousin’s engagement would be short, and that they’d move back to Laramie at once.

It was his only hope.

A
FTER DINNER
, B.J. called her daughter, Caroline, to tell her Toby was moving home. Caroline demanded to speak to her oldest brother.

“Finally!” she greeted him. “I was beginning to think my own brother hated me! I haven’t seen you since Christmas. Even then you avoided me.”

“Did not, squirt,” he returned with a grin. “I was trying not to bully you like you used to accuse me of doing.”

“I don’t believe you. What’s wrong? Did you start losing? Are the women turning you down? Did you get too old?”

“Watch it, brat,” he warned his little sister. “When are you coming home?”

“Next Friday. I’m not going to miss a chance to see the famous Toby Randall! My friends will all be so jealous.”

“There you go again, showing no respect. No man’s going to want a sassy woman.”

Her voice changed, turning smooth and silky. “Oh, you’d be surprised, big brother.”

“I’m having a talk with you as soon as you get here, little girl,” he warned.

“Practice on Elizabeth. Get rid of that jerk she says she’s going to marry!”

Toby’s breath caught in his throat, and he coughed. “Elizabeth’s not my sister, honey,” he finally said softly. “It’s not my business if she wants to marry him.”

She didn’t respond, and Toby tried again. “She’s—”

Then Caroline found her voice. “What’s wrong with you, Toby? When Harry Stiller picked on her in the fifth grade, you fixed him. Why can’t you take care of stupid Cleve?”

Toby wanted to hang up. It was a question he didn’t have an answer for. “We’re all grown up, Caroline. We’re allowed to handle our own problems, make our own choices.”

“Well, your choices stink!” she snapped. Then she hung up the phone.

He said goodbye to the buzzing in his ear, so his parents wouldn’t know Caroline was mad at him.

He stood up, unable to remain in the house; he needed some space to breathe…away from Cleve O’Banyon. He edged toward the door.

“Oh, Toby,” B.J. said, “I wanted to talk to Caro. Did she say when she’s coming home?”

“Yeah, Friday,” he said, hoping she showed up in spite of her anger.

He got out of the room, drawing a relieved breath, until a hand clapped him on the shoulder.

Jake had followed him out of the living room. “Going to check on your horses?”

Toby nodded. That was as good a reason as any he could come up with.

When they reached the barn, Jake didn’t look at horseflesh. He turned toward Toby and asked the one question Toby didn’t want to answer. “Son, what’s wrong?”

Before Toby could come up with an answer—an answer that wasn’t a downright lie, Jake asked another question.

“Have you changed your mind?”

“No, Dad. I’m happy about coming home.”

“You won’t miss the excitement? I want you to know that if you do, we’ll understand.” Jake’s smile was a little wistful, but as always, he was standing back, letting Toby make his own decisions.

Toby smiled. “I appreciate it, Dad, but the excitement of the rodeo pales next to being at home. I’m glad you and the uncles want me here.”

“If it’s not that, then what’s bothering you?”

Damn, Toby thought he’d distracted Jake. “I’m a little surprised by Elizabeth’s choice. But living in Laramie, I guess things are different.”

“Not that much,” Jake said with a sigh. “But you can join the Cleve O’Banyon Hate Club here on the ranch.”

Toby looked at Jake out of the corner of his eye. “Are you a member?”

“Hell, yes. But the president is Chad.”

Toby wasn’t surprised. Chad, as the youngest of the Randall brothers, had always seemed the most impatient. And Elizabeth was his favorite and only daughter.

“Well, as long as she’s happy. I guess Cleve fits in well in Laramie.”

Jake turned to stare at him. “But they’re not going to live in Laramie.”

Toby felt a tremor run through him. “What? Where are they going to live?”

“Here,” Jake said succinctly.

“But—but what would they do here?” Toby asked, frantically hoping he’d misunderstood.

“Elizabeth has already begun her job as kindergarten teacher in Rawhide. Classes started two weeks ago. I thought you knew.”

Double damn! Toby had thought he’d have some distance from Elizabeth as soon as she married. “But what is Cleve going to do? Let her support him?”

Jake sighed. “No. He’s an accountant. He’s going to join Bill Johnson’s accounting firm. It appears business is growing for Bill. He needs help.”

Toby pictured Bill Johnson in his mind. His appearance was that of a “good old boy.” He wore jeans to work every day and had never had his hair styled in his life. But his mind was brilliant.

“Has he met Cleve?” Toby asked
Jake grinned. “I know what you’re thinking. They don’t match, do they? He met him this afternoon. I was dying to ask how it went at dinner, but your mama threatened me.”

Toby snorted. His mother didn’t throw any fear into her husband. But Jake listened to her good sense. “Good thinking,” he agreed.

But while he found the information amusing, it didn’t diminish his problem. Of course, they’d live in town and he probably wouldn’t see either of them much since he’d be on the ranch. His breath caught in his throat. “They’re not—not going to live out here, are they?”

“Hell, no, boy. Prissy-pants wouldn’t think of it!” Jake replied, imitating the horror he thought Cleve would show.

Toby laughed. “Where am I going to sleep?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject. He had a lot to think about.

Jake pointed in the direction of a building they’d added a few years ago. They called it the Bachelor Pad since all the male cousins lived there.

“We’ve got room for you in the main house, of course, now that the boys, all except Casey, are out there, but I figured you’d want to be a little independent.”

Toby nodded. “Why isn’t Casey out there?”

“Aw, you know Janie. She considers Casey to be her miracle baby. She’s not quite ready to turn him loose.”

Pete and Janie had had the first of the babies, the twins, but she’d had a hard time. She’d hoped for a little girl the next time, but she never got pregnant. Then, when she’d given up on having another baby, she found herself pregnant just after the twins turned ten. Pete tried to save Casey from her coddling, but Janie was stubborn.

“Hey, Pete might be able to move the boy out there if you’re going to live in the Pad. I’ll suggest it to him. He’s afraid the boy will be timid,” Jake added with a laugh. “I don’t really think he’s got anything to worry about. The twins give Casey a hard time for the same reason.”

Toby grinned. Life was normal at the Randalls.

“Wow,” Toby suddenly exclaimed. “That will leave you with no kids in the house. Won’t that seem strange?”

“Yep. When I started the matchmaking, I never envisioned it would be so successful.” Toby and Jake shared a smile. Jake and his three brothers had lived for a number of years without any women. Jake had married Chloe, who divorced him and tried to take the ranch away from them. “Fear of Chloe” kept them from commitment until Jake realized they’d never have heirs to inherit the ranch unless something changed. So he hatched some matchmaking plots that really worked. “It seems sort of sad, though. I’ll miss having little ones underfoot. ’Course, Elizabeth will live with us until the wedding.”

“Uh, have they set a date?”

“Nope. I asked Chad about it and he said he wasn’t in any hurry. He’s hoping Elizabeth will come to her senses.”

Toby frowned. “The moms aren’t doing any manipulating, are they?”

Jake grinned again. “Naw. Not much.”

“What do you mean not much?” Toby didn’t want Elizabeth to be unhappy, but she’d made her choice. If she was going to marry the guy, they might as well get it over with and marry…and move.

“I guess you don’t remember when Brett got engaged, do you?”

“To Anna?”

“Nope. Anna was here to help Janie deliver the twins, but Brett was in Cheyenne. When he got home and met Anna, he was already engaged to a senator’s daughter. A real, uh…female Cleve.”

“How awful. What did the moms do?”

“Nothing evil. They invited his fiancée to come to the ranch for a visit. And then let nature take its course. Within a couple of days, Brett realized Anna was the lady for him, thank God.”

“They think if Cleve visits the ranch, Elizabeth will see that he doesn’t fit in?”

“How could she help it? So, with you and Elizabeth coming home at the same time, we’re feeling real lucky.”

Toby offered up a smile, but it didn’t match his father’s grin. Real lucky. Oh, yeah. He didn’t think that was what he’d call it.

E
LIZABETH
had to be up early the next morning for class, so she said goodbye to Cleve on the back porch at night.

“I wish you’d go for a drive with me, Elizabeth. It’s not that late,” Cleve pleaded.

“I can’t, Cleve. I like to get to school early. Some of my babies are dropped off at seven-thirty because of the bus schedule. I don’t like to leave them unsupervised.”

“I don’t know why you took the job. You’ll just quit once we’re married. You won’t even finish the semester.”

Elizabeth frowned. “What are you saying? I have no intention of quitting just because we get married.”

“Of course you’ll quit. I’ll expect you to be my wife.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” This topic hadn’t come up in the two weeks they’d been engaged.

“You’ll keep house, do volunteer work, have intimate dinners, things to promote my career.” He smiled with satisfaction, obviously envisioning their future differently than her.

“Intimate dinners aren’t exactly in style in Rawhide,” she pointed out.

“Well, we won’t be in Rawhide all that long. You can practice for when we move to Denver.” Assuming she was in agreement, he put his arms around her and pulled her close.

Elizabeth shoved against his suit jacket. “Why would we move to Denver?”

“Because I don’t intend to stay in a small pond forever. I’m made for bigger and better things.” He leaned over to nuzzle her neck, and she jumped back, making it impossible to touch her.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, irritation in his voice. “I’m waiting, just like you asked, but surely I can touch you.”

She couldn’t argue that. He’d wanted her to sleep with him after their third date. She’d refused. He said he’d be patient. But his patience disappeared. Then he’d asked her to marry him and assumed he’d pushed the Go button.

Their engagement had almost ended in half an hour. When he finally understood that she intended to marry as a virgin, he’d reluctantly accepted her decision. But he pushed the limits every time.

Elizabeth held herself stiffly. “Cleve, you’re making some assumptions that aren’t true. I don’t want to move to Denver. I want to stay here.”

“Don’t be silly, Elizabeth. I can’t live on what I’ll be making with this hick Bill Johnson.”

“You don’t like Bill?”

“Who cares if I like him? Don’t tell me he’s another Randall cousin. You’ve got enough of them already. And no more kissing the newest one.”

Elizabeth knew he was referring to the kisses she’d given Toby when she’d first seen him. She didn’t think that would happen again. Toby was too distant.
Too—too changed. But she wasn’t ready to accept limitations on her behavior.

“Cleve, I think you’d better go. I’ve got some thinking to do.”

“Okay. I’m going back to Laramie early tomorrow morning, but I’ll call you.” He managed to snatch a brief kiss, seemingly unaware that he’d upset her.

When he’d left, Elizabeth remained on the porch, enjoying the privacy. What had she done? In Laramie, Cleve had seemed sophisticated, well-mannered. He was handsome, smart, active on campus. When he’d proposed, she’d explained that she intended to go back to her home to teach school. He’d agreed.

But apparently his agreement was only temporary. He’d already made plans to move and assumed she’d accompany him.

With a sigh, she turned back to go inside. She’d end the engagement. He wasn’t leaving her any choice.

A sound behind her had her spinning around. In the shadows, she recognized Toby.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

He stepped up on the porch, but he didn’t show any enthusiasm about joining her.

“Out at the barn.”

“Your horses all right?”

“Yeah, fine.”

She couldn’t think of anything else to say. They used to talk nonstop when they were younger. But as
she’d noted earlier, Toby had changed. “What made you decide to drop out of rodeo and come home?”

“It wasn’t because I was losing,” he said, “like Caroline said.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Caro was teasing. She brags about you all the time. She has tons of friends because they’re hoping she’ll introduce them to you.”

His cheeks darkened, just barely visible. It was a charming part of Toby. He was unimpressed with his achievements.

She watched him shrug his shoulders instead of answer her original question. “Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“Why should I? We don’t share secrets anymore. You certainly haven’t said why you’re marrying that idiot! I thought you were supposed to get smarter in college, not take leave of your senses.”

The abrupt attack stunned Elizabeth. “How dare you call me dumb! I have a right to my own choices! You don’t even know Cleve.” Why was she defending the man when she had no intention of marrying him? But it was only fair to tell him first, not Toby. Especially not Toby when he was insulting her intelligence.

“I know him more than I ever want to. He’s an accountant and he thinks he’s superior to us?” Toby’s scorn was evident.

“Uncle Brett is an accountant. It’s a perfectly good job.”

“Uncle Brett is a rancher. He does accounting for the family. That’s different.”

“So Bill Johnson is—”

“I’m not arguing this,” he muttered, walking past her to reach the back door.

“What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll lose?”

Her taunting had the desired effect. He pulled to a halt and turned around to stare at her. “You’ve certainly changed, Elizabeth. I don’t remember you being so difficult.”

“I’m surprised you remember me at all, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. I used to— I guess you’ve been more interested in…other things than your family.”

He stared at her, his breathing rough. Then, much to her disappointment, he muttered, “I guess I have.”

Before she could say anything else, he disappeared into the house.

A single tear escaped her eye to flow silently down her cheek. She remembered a picture in a cowboy magazine of Toby surrounded by beautiful women putting their hands all over him. She’d hated that picture, told herself it didn’t represent Toby’s real life. He probably didn’t know any of those women. They were just models.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

Maybe he was biding his time before he brought one of them home as his wife. Or maybe he intended to cut a wide swath through Rawhide and the surrounding ranches with all the single women. She im
mediately started making a mental list of women he would discover.

As she went back in the house to go to bed, she didn’t give her engagement to Cleve a thought. What Toby was going to do was much more important.

T
HOUGH ALL
the male cousins had moved to the Pad, they always ate their meals with the family. Toby figured he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Elizabeth at breakfast. After all, schools didn’t start until eight in the morning. He’d have been in the saddle for at least an hour by then.

He came into the kitchen the next morning at six-thirty, the normal time, and discovered Elizabeth helping Mildred to set the table.

Mildred sang out, “Morning! So good to see you here, Toby!”

“Hey, now,” Russ called, “no giving Toby more food than us.”

Mildred grinned. “Might be a good idea. I think you’re puttin’ on weight, Russ.”

Though he was tall and lean, Russ pretended to be wounded by Mildred’s teasing. With laughter, the guys sat down. Their fathers would come a few minutes later. Red called it the second wave.

It was the younger Randalls’ job to have the horses saddled when their fathers finished eating. Jake called it the privilege of rank.

“What are you doing up?” Toby asked Elizabeth abruptly.

“I leave for school at seven,” she replied, not looking at him.

“Do Drew and Casey ride with you?” He noticed the two boys weren’t there for breakfast.

“No, they like to wait until seven-thirty before they go. Drew takes a truck.” She didn’t know why it mattered. Drew was a senior, certainly old enough to drive.

Red nudged Toby toward the table. “I’m serving your eggs, boy. Sit down and eat.”