Trouble In Dixie (31 page)

"Okay, I found it...you want me to go get it
now?" he asked.

She nodded and said, "Thanks...I really need
it."

Women, he'd never understand them, but he'd
do anything for this one, so if she wanted her damned backpack
right in the middle of their conversation, he'd go get it for her.
Maybe she had her makeup in there, or clothes, he figured. If she
was wanting it for that reason, he'd be happy, because it meant she
was feeling better.

Forty-five minutes later, he walked back
into the room, and she was dozing, but woke up when he walked in.
She smiled a thousand-watt smile him, and held out her hand for the
backpack, then motioned for him to sit in the chair he'd put by the
bed. Tommy put the backpack beside her on the bed, then unzipped
it, before he sat down. He waited patiently to see what she wanted
from it, while she craned her neck and dug around inside.

Katie's face lit up when she finally found
what she was looking for, and she pulled out a yellow check, then
snatched a pen from an outside slot on the pack. Reaching back
inside, she drew out a book, then flipped the check over and signed
it.

Looking up at him, her eyes glistened, as
she held it out to him and said, "Go find the best damned lawyer in
Texas, and save
our
daughter from that bitch."

Tommy looked at the check, then back at her
and stiffened his shoulders. "I told you I didn't want your damned
money, Kate...you need to drop it," he told her in a low irritated
voice.

"The only thing I'm dropping, is this check
in your account, if you don't," she said flatly and shoved it at
him again, but he still refused to take it from her. Her lower lip
trembled, as she said, "Ask me again."

Tommy looked into her beautiful blue eyes,
which glistened like sapphires from the tears pooling there, trying
to figure out what she wanted him to ask her. Finally, when he
couldn't figure out what she meant, he gave in and asked, "Ask you
what, sugar?"

"Ask me to marry you," she told him in a
shaky voice. The check that she was still holding out to him
trembled in her hand like a leaf in a breeze.

Shock hit Tommy like a baseball bat right
between his eyes, and he blinked, then elation slugged him in his
gut and took his breath away. He shot up from the chair and dropped
to his knees by the bed, and yanked the check from her fingers to
set it on the table, so he could hold her hand.

"Katie Upton, will you marry me, and put me
out of my misery, darlin'?" he asked in a choked voice filled with
the unbelievable excitement pouring through him.

"Yes," she said breathlessly and squeezed
his hand, with tears tracking down her cheeks.

Pure unadulterated joy shot through Tommy
and he let out a whoop, he was sure they could hear down on the
first floor, then slid his arm under her neck and kissed her,
before pulling bag to hug her so tightly, she probably could
breathe. Katie pushed on his shoulder, and he stood back up
grinning down at her, then she reached over and picked up the check
off the bed table and held it out to him again.

"Now, this is
ours
, and Dixie is
gonna be my daughter too...take it and go kick that woman's ass.
Show her she's not gonna mess with what's mine," Katie told him
fiercely.

Tommy's hand trembled now as he took the
check from her, and emotion surged to his throat. "Thank you,
sweetheart," he said humbly.

There was no way he deserved this beautiful,
kind and incredible woman. Her loving him had to be some cosmic
mistake, he thought, but there was no way he was going to question
fate. He'd accept the gift and devote every day of his life to
making her the happiest woman in Texas.

She held up her hand, "No thanks are needed,
Tommy...go save our daughter, then I'll be thanking you."

"We are so damned lucky you're in our
lives...I love you so much, Katie," he told her, then leaned over
her and buried his face in her neck.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tommy hated to bring Katie home when those
damned cameras were still operational. At least there wasn't one in
the bedroom, or the bathroom, he thought and huffed out a breath.
Gabe said they needed to leave them operational and 'act normal',
so they didn't tip off whoever was hacking in that they were wise
to them.

Gabe's friend, Joey, in Phoenix was working
on figuring out who was doing the hacking, and he said he was
really close. He said whoever was doing it was not far from them,
within a hundred miles or so. Edith's house was in Dumas, and that
was within that distance...but so were a lot of other houses and
places of business. They needed solid proof it was her to nail
her.

"You doing okay, sugar?" Tommy asked Katie
who was sitting quietly beside him in his truck, as they drove back
to the ranch.

"Yep, perfect now that I'm out of that
damned hospital," she said with a grin and laid her head on his
shoulder.

"How's your arm?" he asked with concern.
He'd been in the room when they took off the gauze and splinting
this morning, to clean the cut on her upper arm and he almost
passed out. It was long and ragged, and looked a little red and
puckered, which worried him. He wanted to take that cut from her,
bear it himself, along with all her other injuries. It was almost
beyond his tolerance to see her in so much pain. She said it was a
lot better, but he didn't believe her.

"You find a good lawyer?" she asked him,
because he hadn't been back to the hospital yesterday to fill her
in. He'd been busy working with Gabe, and a Fed guy he knew, who
gave him the name of a family attorney in Lubbock who was top
notch. They'd gone to college together, and he said his friend did
not like to lose, and hadn't, since he started practicing fifteen
years ago.

"Yeah, Gabe helped me find someone...he's
out of Lubbock," Tommy told her. The guy wasn't cheap, but from
what he'd heard from numerous sources, he was the best.

"What's his name and what's he doing for
us?" she asked in a business-like tone.

Tommy looked down at her and smiled when he
met her determined eyes. "He's filing to give me managing and
possessory conservatorship of Dixie, sole custody basically, and to
terminate Edith's custody and visitation rights, because she's
chosen not to be a part of Dixie's life for ten years, and they
don't have a relationship. He says that allowing either of those
now could harm Dixie emotionally, and isn't in her best interest.
He said he felt like he could prove that Edith is only doing what
she's doing for revenge against me," he told her then grinned.

And if he could prove she was illegally
monitoring his home, he was going to file charges against her, it
would be a slam dunk, for sure. He also planned to sue her civilly
for invading his privacy. When she attacked his family, she made a
big mistake.

"Wow, that's great...he's that good, huh?
What about her connections?" Katie asked him with a frown.

"Those won't matter, because he's filing in
Lubbock, his home turf, and she doesn't have any pull there...she's
a big fish in a little pond where she is, but she's gonna be a fish
outta water in Lubbock," he told her with a chuckle.

"I like fishing," she told him with a
chuckle.

"Me too, baby," he laughed then turned onto
the long paved driveway leading up to the house at the Rockin'
D.

The front door opened, when they pulled to a
stop in front of the house, and Karlie walked out and waited for
them with her hands on her hips. He smiled at her and waved, then
got out of the truck, and helped Katie slide out. When her feet
touched the ground, she sucked in a breath and put her arm around
her waist.

Tommy flinched, and said, "I'd carry you,
but that would probably hurt your ribs, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I'll walk..." she said and grabbed
hold of his arm to steady herself and straighten up. "Just go
slow."

"You got it sugar..." he told her then put
his arm around her back, leaning her against him. "I'm going to get
you a wheelchair, so you can move around better."

Katie snorted and said, "I don't want a
wheelchair, I'm not an invalid." There was no way in hell she was
going to sit in a wheelchair and get stiff. She was going to
exercise and get her strength back, so she could be mobile again.
Katie knew from her rodeo days and injuries that was the only way
she was gonna get back on the horse, so to speak.

"Well you're getting one, at least for a few
weeks, until your ribs heal...and I called an agency to find
another housekeeper. They're sending someone over either this
afternoon, or tomorrow. Supposedly she used to be a nurse, so she
can help take care of you."

Tommy sure was being bossy, Katie thought,
and it irritated her, but she knew it was only because he was
worried about her. When they reached the front porch, Karlie came
down and helped him get her up the steps. Every step up jarred her
ribs and she gritted her teeth against the pain, because she wasn't
going to worry them more.

"Glad you're home, sis," Karlie told her
with deep emotion tingeing her words.

"Me too, I was way over that hospital and
all the poking and prodding," she said with a sigh, the asked,
"What are you still doing here?"

"I'm staying for a few days to make sure you
don't give Tommy any crap," Karlie told her then helped Tommy ease
her down onto the sofa.

"What about Gabe?" Katie asked, then said,
"You have a job at the Double B...you need to go home, Karlie."

"Don't tell me what I need to do,
Kate...Gabe is a big boy and can take care of himself for a few
days, and Cassie insisted I stay here with you."

God, everyone was treating her like she was
made of glass, and it was going to drive her nuts, before this was
all over. Huffing out a frustrated breath, she pinned Karlie's blue
eyes with her own, and said firmly, "Just a few days, and then I'm
kicking you out...you have a life, and need to get back to it!"

"I could have lost you, sis...and it scared
the shit out of me," Karlie told her in a trembling voice, then
leaned down and hugged her shoulders.

Katie had been scared she'd never see Karlie
again too. When she realized she was going to crash, Karlie, Tommy
and the babies were the only thing that had been on her mind. A
tremor passed through her and a lump formed in her throat. She'd
come damned close to losing everything, including her life. "I'm
sorry I scared you, I was scared too."

She thought she heard a whimper, and looked
up at Tommy. His face held a wide smile, but she saw the fear in
his eyes. He looked away from her and fluffed the pillows on the
end of the couch, then unfolded a blanket. "Lay down, sugar," he
told her and grabbed her shoulders to help ease her down. He stood
back up and asked, "You hungry?"

Katie snorted, and told him, "Not right now,
I'm still stuffed from the geriatric special they gave me for
breakfast at the hospital, before they turned me loose." Katie
tried to shift herself a little to get comfortable, and Tommy was
beside her in an instant, holding her arm steady, and helping her
twist.

Katie huffed out a breath, then bounced her
head on the pillow underneath her. "Ya'll go find something to do,
I'm going to take a nap," she ordered and closed her eyes.

"You're going to take your medicine first,"
Tommy told her sternly, then walked to the kitchen. When he came
back, he had her antibiotic and a pain pill, with a glass of iced
tea. He handed Karlie the tea, then put his hand behind her head,
and lifted her up, then handed her the pills.

She hesitated, wanting to be stubborn, but
she could see he wasn't going to give up. She held out her hand and
he dropped the pills into her palm, then she popped them into her
mouth, and washed them down with the tea Karlie handed her.

"Thanks, mom..." she said and plopped back
on the pillow, then closed her eyes and turned her face toward the
back of the sofa. Tommy chuckled then kissed her forehead, then he
and Karlie left the room, and Katie drifted off to sleep.

She must've slept a good while, because she
didn't wake up until she heard Dixie squeal her name near the front
door, right before she heard her boot heels hitting the hardwood
floor at a run.

"Miss Katie!" Dixie squealed again as she
rounded the sofa, then slid on her knees beside the couch. Dixie
went to throw her arms around Katie and she flinched bracing
herself for the impact, but it didn't come. Dixie's crystal blue
eyes got wide with worry, and she bit her lower lip.

"You got hurt bad, daddy lied," she said
softly, then put her hand over Katie's. Katie grabbed her wrist and
pulled her up to her chest and hugged her.

"Your daddy would never lie to you, darlin'.
I'm fine...I'll be good as new soon, I promise," she said then
kissed Dixie's blond curls, and hugged her tight with her good
arm.

"Snuggles and I were worried about you,"
Dixie said in a watery voice.

"Well ya'll don't have to worry any more,
I'm just fine," she said then asked, "How are you doing with
training him?"