Texas Gold (5 page)

Shoot, the earth had moved when his lips touched her neck. Lips would have rocked her universe.

And after last night, she’d pretty much decided her universe was in dire need of shaking up.

Ready to yank Brenton inside, she threw the door open and found herself face to face with her niece, Jen, and Brenton’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Nina.

Nothing like the fantasy man’s child to stop an overactive imagination.
 

She tried to tell herself this was just as well since she despised Brenton anyway, but her body wasn’t having any part of it.
 

Especially not this early in the morning.

But fantasy aside, Mallory knew this early morning appearance spelled trouble.

“So what brings y’all over practically before daylight, and don’t tell me how the sun rose an hour ago. I want a real answer.”

They had to be plotting some mischief because Jen knew to stay away until at least noon the first day after the season ended, and Nina just plain looked guilty.

“We just wanted to stop in a say hello.” Jen led the conversation with Nina nodding in the background.

“Uh-huh.” She decided waiting them out was the best course of action even if it did mean more time away from her dreams. As soon as she shooed these girls out the door, she was headed back to bed.

“And we need your advice.” This time Nina was the one talking.

“Actually, we need your help.” Jen chimed in.

“Your assistance.” Nina added.

Mallory was done waiting. “Spit it out girls. What’s up?”

“Well, see, Nina told her dad that she was staying over at the house with me.”

“Uh-huh.” Mallory watched her niece wrap her shoulder-length blonde hair around her finger in a nervous habit she’d had since practically birth. And Nina kept rocking back and forth from toe to heel on her shoes. This was definitely headed-to-disaster mode.

“And, well, I kind of said I was staying with her.” Jen continued. “But now it’s too late to go to either place.”

“And you want me to...”

“We were wondering if we could call home and say we’d stayed with you instead. You know how Daddy is. You say all the time he was completely irrational while you were growing up. He’s totally the oldest child, and I’ll be on restriction all summer if he knows we stayed out all night. We didn’t mean to. We were just goofing off. Nothing bad.”

Didn’t mean to stay out all night? Who did they think they were kidding? She remembered all too well the kind of stuff other kids talked about happening all night. Of course, she hadn’t had the chance to partake in those sorts of clandestine affairs. Just like Jen said, Tim was so the oldest child. And his first role in life was watching out for his baby sister. Still, she couldn’t cover for her niece.
 

“You know I’m not going to lie for you, Jen. But I’ll call and let your families know you’re here while you two get some breakfast.”

She jotted down Nina’s number and pointed to the kitchen watching them walk away heads down in dejection.

What in the world were fifteen year old girls doing staying out all night? Did they have no concept of danger?

She picked up the phone and called her brother first. After a quick explanation and his promise to be right over, she hung up the phone and made herself dial the next number. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear Brenton’s voice, but she couldn’t back down now.

After three rings, he answered. She’d obviously woken him, and when he heard her voice on the other end, he immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“Changed your mind, huh? Couldn’t sleep all night just thinking about it.”

His certainty about her night got under her skin. He was something else. Now that she actually had him on the phone, she was right back in reality. He’d offered her the chance to save her father’s job in return for sexual favors. No wonder his teenage daughter stayed out all night.

“I slept like a baby.” She practically purred the lie. “I’m calling to let you know your daughter’s at my house. She and my niece spent all night out who knows where. You’re welcome to come get her.”

After a short pause, his voice sounded again. “If she’s able, put her on the phone, please.”

It wasn’t a request, and since she understood his anger, she turned around to call for Nina. She didn’t have to.
 

Nina held out her hand for the phone and twisted the cord around her hand the minute the receiver touched her ear. “Hey Daddy.” She sounded cajoling and repentant at the same time.

Mallory watched as she shifted back and forth, twirling the phone cord all the while. “I know, Daddy. It wasn’t like that.”

Sniffles were starting now, and Mallory decided the rest of the conversation didn’t need her presence.

She walked into the kitchen and sat across from her niece.

“He’s never going to forgive this, Aunt Mal. I’m dead.”

Knowing Tim the way she did, Mallory figured Jen would spend plenty of time mucking stalls, pulling weeds, and cleaning up after dogs or babies.

“You messed up big time, kid.”

Jen let her head thunk down on the table. “You have no idea how mad he’s going to be.”

Oh yes she did. Being the baby sister might have had its advantages, but it had never spared her Tim’s sense of justice.
 
She could only imagine what he’d dole out to his daughter.

A few seconds later Nina sulked into the room and sat across from them at the last place Mallory’s kitchen table held.

“My dad said he’ll be here in a minute. I lost my car for the whole summer, and that’s just what he said over the phone. I think he’s madder than anything that we came over here. I really blew it. Especially with his business partner coming to town today.”

Mallory couldn’t help but feel gratified at that. Served him right to have a lousy day working. Maybe she should devote herself to making every one of his working days lousy.
 

But she wouldn’t want a repeat performance like this. Since the girls weren’t sharing where they’d been, she was stuck with all sorts of horror stories running through her mind.

Thankfulness flooded her mind, when she heard Tim’s truck pull into her drive. She wouldn’t trade spots with a parent any day. “Come on girls. You know the rule. Do the crime, pay the time. Every action has a consequence.”

A chorus of “I know, I know,” met her words. Words the team lived by during season.

A few seconds after a very angry Tim took off with Jen, an even angrier Brenton showed up for Nina.

The minute Mallory saw him, color flooded her face. Brenton as sex God beckoning her closer and closer with his business proposal was enticing. Brenton as avenging father was magnetic. It proved he had scruples of sorts, and she was such a sucker for scruples.

She’d lost her mind last night, and now she’d have to live with it every time she saw him. She would not allow insanity to close in on her this time.

He pointed at Nina the second he saw her. “Go sit in the truck.” His voice left no room for discussion, and Mallory almost felt sorry for her.

Nina trudged out the door and climbed into the SUV, and Mallory moved toward her door. Putting distance between them front and center in her mind. She didn’t want to be alone with Brenton ever again. But she wasn’t going to turn tail and hide. Obviously he wanted to say something.

“I just want to thank you for calling.”

He really had no idea about towns like this. “Well here we pretty much consider all the kids our own. If you’re a part of the community, you’ve just added a couple hundred watchful eyes to your parenting arsenal. We don’t have a drug problem and our kids aren’t pregnant. The only time we ever see green hair is when St. Patrick’s Day rolls around.”

He held up a hand to stop her. “I was just thanking you. I don’t need a sound byte. But it’s good to know you consider me a part of the community.”

No sense correcting him on that assumption. He knew good and well she didn’t.

She could see Nina watching them with interest from the truck. He was so close to her now, Mallory could only imagine what it looked like.

Taking three steps toward the door, she made it clear what she thought. “Well, you better get. Nina says you’ve got business to do today.”

The word reminded her of the night before and obviously it did him, too. His smile grew, and he stepped closer to her again.

“Nothing like the business last night, I assure you.”

She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. “Well, that’s good then.” She faked a little laugh. “You know I think they put you in jail in most states for business like last night.”

In answer, he smiled and she felt her heart thud right to her toe nails.
 

“I’m pretty choosy about business like that, Mallory. I think I can pretty much sum up the number of times I’ve made an offer even similar. Never. But you intrigue me.”

She’d intrigued him? She wanted to irritate the hell out of him so he’d move on.

However, at this moment, he really had her at a disadvantage. She couldn’t do battle in a bathrobe and bare feet.

“Well it’s good to know what drove the insanity. On that note, I think I’ll be going inside.”

She turned and scurried through her door before he could make any more comments. As she watched them drive away, she wondered why the one man on earth who was trying to ruin her life was the one man she’d ever felt drawn to like this.

Sometimes life just didn’t make sense.

She threw her bathrobe over her closet door and settled into bed for forbidden dreams, and she would have been content to stay there if her phone hadn’t started ringing. She decided to ignore it and let the machine pick it up anyway, but once she heard the message, she knew sleep was out of the question.

Chapter Four

“Mal, if you’re there pick up. It’s Celinda. Pick up the phone.”

She really didn’t want to talk to Celinda. Talking to Celinda usually meant bad news. But since Celinda and Scott were living with Daddy, she better make sure everything was okay.

She just wasn’t getting out of bed to do it. She reached over to her bedside table and answered after the fifth, “Mallory, pick up the phone.”

“”Hey Celinda.”

“Oh Lord, Mallory, you’re not going to believe it.”

Oh mercy, she wanted to hang up now.

“Believe what?”

“Well, heaven only knows why and I’m really beginning to think it might be a sign from God, but your brother Jackson just sold his land to Brenton Alexander.”

Wonderful.

She wasn’t surprised since the last time she’d talked to Jackson he’d sworn he’d never set foot in Serendipity again, but hearing the news was painful.

Painful and infuriating.

“Well, we knew that might happen.”

“That’s not the worst.”

Figures. Celinda wouldn’t call this early in the morning for some piddly little thing like that.

“Okay, Celinda, tell me what’s got you up so early. And then, I’m going back to bed.”

“Why, Mallory Baber, you know I’m up by five a.m. every morning. I’m only calling you as a courtesy. I thought you might want to know what’s going on in this town.”

Sighing, Mallory held the phone away from her ear as Celinda finished her speech complete with her early morning routine. She hoped the reason her sister-in-law was calling didn’t have anything to do with J.D.’s job.

She put the phone back to her ear in time to hear Celinda’s “and oatmeal is good for you whether you like it or not.”

Why had she answered the phone?

“So, you were going to tell me about what was worse than Jackson selling his land.”

“Well, Scott was out working the horses when the dogs went stark raving lunatic. He walked down the drive, and what do you suppose he found?”

Mallory considered answering with something along the lines of aliens abducting cows or supermodels strutting around topless, but she didn’t figure Celinda would appreciate the humor. Still, she couldn’t stop a little sarcasm. “What in the world did he find?”

“Brenton Alexander brought in a survey team. They’re here today working on his latest development. Zero lot line houses clear to the highway. He’s calling it Shepherd’s Glen.”

Great. She’d lost the battle before she even got started. Zero lot lines on the fields she’d once roamed with abandon. Probably clear to the stream. What would he do with the land her family had sold?

“Where’d Scott get his information?” There was a chance Celinda was wrong. She overreacted all the time.

“J.D. told him. Said he’d heard all about it at the coffee shop. Said the houses were going to start at two hundred.”

Well, damn. If they were talking about it at the coffee shop, it was probably true.

At least the houses were small in comparison to the behemoth Brenton lived in. Still, they’d destroy the countryside.

“Well, thanks for letting me know.” What more could she say? Celinda would fall over dead if she started cussing the way she wanted to. How her crazy rodeo-loving brother had ended up with Celinda was a family mystery destined never to be solved.

“What are you going to do about it?”
 

Celinda wanted action. She didn’t want to help, but she wanted Mallory to do something. Too bad her best friend, Carolyn was on a summer cruise. She’d be full of creative ideas. And she’d be willing to help.

The answer came to her suddenly. The way it usually would at two in the morning when it was too late to do anything about it. It wasn’t too late now, though.
 

“I don’t know. But I’ll think of something.” She hung up the phone and jumped out of bed. No sleeping now.
 
She had a plan, but it wasn’t anything she could share with Celinda.
 

To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t all that original.

Before this day was over, Mr. Brenton Alexander, developer from hell, was going to wish he’d left her and Serendipity alone. In the mean time, she was ready for some fun. She’d survived last night with a few scorch marks. Maybe this time she’d do a little of her own burning.

Brenton wished there was a way he could lock his daughter up for the rest of the summer and thank her at the same time. He’d definitely wanted to see Mallory. But not at the expense of Nina.