The Texan's Christmas Read online

  Whatever it was, Kid decided he had enough demons to face. One in particular was Lucinda Littlefield.

  Kid saw Chance and Darcy at the roping pen so he drove there. Darcy was throwing a rope at a dummy calf while Chance leaned on the fence watching her and giving instructions. Tiny, Darcy’s Chihuahua, sat at Chance’s feet.

  “Twirl it,” Chance shouted to his daughter. “Use your wrist.”

  Eleven-year-old Darcy flung the rope toward the dummy and it missed by an inch. “Shoot.” She stomped her foot.

  “Try again,” Chance said.

  Kid joined his younger brother at the pipe fence. “Are we having a rodeo or something?”

  “Nah. Just showing Darcy a little extra attention. Everyone makes a fuss over the baby and I don’t want her to feel left out.”

  Darcy was adopted, but no one would ever guess that by the way Chance doted on her.

  “Hey, Uncle Kid.” Darcy waved. “Watch me.”

  “Hey, hotshot.” He waved back. Hotshot was Chance’s nickname for her. Now everyone called her that. It fit. The girl was spunky and didn’t have a shy bone in her body.

  She swung the rope and it landed in a perfect loop over the dummy. “Daddy, Daddy, did you see?” Darcy jumped up and down.

  “That’s my girl.”

  Darcy ran and jumped on the fence. Chance lifted his daughter over the top.

  “I’m good, huh, Daddy?” Darcy pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

  “You’re the best.” Chance hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Here comes Mommy.” Darcy drew away and dashed to meet Shay who was walking across the lawn, holding baby Cody. Wearing denim shorts and a tank top, Shay looked beautiful, as always.

  “He was asleep earlier,” Shay said, handing the baby dressed in a blue outfit and cap to him. “Now he wants to see his uncle Kid.”

  Kid stared down at the three-month-old baby. Cody moved his head around, his greenish-brown eyes wide-open as he flailed his hands and legs.

  “I just nursed him and he wants more.”

  Chance kissed his son’s forehead. “Enough, buddy.”

  “Can I hold him, Mommy?” Darcy wanted to know.

  “When we get back to the house.”

  “Does anyone notice how much Cody looks like Jacob?” he asked, studying the chubby cheeks and cap of brown hair.

  “Yeah,” Chance replied, “except Jacob has Jessie’s black eyes. Cody’s will probably be brown like mine.”

  Kid cradled the baby in the crook of his arm and there it was again. That feeling. Suddenly he could put a name to it. Loneliness. His brothers, his running partners, were married and settled with families. He was the odd one out—alone and unattached. Holding their children filled that loneliness inside him. But it wasn’t enough. The thought startled him.

  “Shay.”

  Shay’s cousin, Nettie, strolled toward them. The woman wore a long full skirt and a gypsy blouse with her long gray hair flowing down her back. A purple scarf was tied around her head. Beads of every color were around her neck and on her wrists. She professed to be a gypsy-witch and took some getting used to. But she and Kid were now friends.

  From the start, Shay had wanted Nettie to move in with them because Nettie had raised her and Shay didn’t want her to be alone. Nettie, not wanting to horn in on newlyweds, refused. She liked her independence. When Shay became pregnant, Nettie changed her mind. She moved in about four months ago and took care of Cody while Shay taught school.

  “It’s too hot out here for the baby,” Nettie said.

  “The sun’s going down and it’s only for a few minutes,” Shay told her, glancing at her son. “He’s asleep so you can put him down. How’s that?”

  “I know I’m a little overprotective.” Nettie’s beads jangled as she talked.

  “A little?” Chance laughed.

  Kid handed off the precious bundle to Nettie, who immediately pulled the cap over Cody’s forehead.

  “Hey, Nettie, how about telling my future?” Nettie read palms and Kid thought he could use some help.

  “It’s right in front of your face.”

  “What? You haven’t even looked at my palm.”

  “I don’t need to. Your life line is long and leads to home, but it will not be a pleasant journey.”

  Kid frowned. “Are you yanking my chain?”

  Nettie smiled and walked toward the house with Cody.

  Darcy waved a hand in front of his face. “Can you see anything, Uncle Kid?”

  “Don’t be a smart…”

  Chance cleared his throat.

  “…butt,” he finished.

  Darcy giggled and darted after Nettie, Tiny trailing behind her. “I’m gonna help with Cody.”

  Standing on tiptoes, Shay reached up and kissed Chance. “Supper’s in about thirty minutes. And we have ice cream.”

  Chance smiled and kept smiling.

  “Kid, you’re welcome to stay,” Shay said, looking at him.

  “Thanks, but Aunt Etta’s waiting.” What was it with the cooking? The women he knew didn’t know how to use a stove.

  “I can’t beat that.”

  Shay followed the others and Kid noticed Chance was still smiling. “Is ice cream a secret code or something?”

  “What? Oh. Just memories of when we were dating.” Chance turned to him. “How’d it go with Lucky?”

  Kid placed his boot on the bottom pipe of the fence. “Like sticking a needle in my eye for pleasure.”

  “Ouch.”

  “She’s mad and refused to sign a lease. No.” He rested his elbow on the fence. “She’s angry as hell—at me. After all these damn years, she’s still angry. I don’t get it.”

  “Do you want me to hold a mirror up to your face?”

  “What?”

  “Nettie said your future is in front of you. Maybe you have to confront your past before you can see the future.”

  “Is the heat making you loony?”

  Chance sighed. “Kid, back away from this and I’ll talk to Lucky in the morning.”

  “No.” Kid pointed a finger at his brother. “Cadde said the same thing, but neither one of you is taking over my job.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Chance held up his hands. “I’m not going to mention how important it is to lease Lucky’s land. Everything else is leased up. Without that piece of property, we’re not drilling a well.”

  Kid removed his boot and leaned his back against the pipe. He knew all the risks and he never saw a problem until today. There had to be a way around his shady past.

  “How long has Lucky been home?”

  Chance shrugged. “Five or six years. Why?”

  “You’ve talked to her, right?”

  “Lots of times.”

  “Did she ever ask about me?”

  “No.”

  “Never?”

  “Never.” Chance sighed again. “She didn’t bring up your name and I didn’t, either. Why is this so important to you?”

  “Why did she come back?”

  Chance leaned heavily on the fence and Kid got the impression he wanted to bump his head against it. “We were kids, but I know you remember the time two guys tried to rob The Beer Joint.”

  “Yeah. It’s the only crime ever committed in High Cotton. Some stealing, family squabbles and speeding tickets, but no big crimes like the attempted robbery. As I recall two guys came in after closing with guns drawn demanding all the money. They just didn’t count on Bud having a .45 pistol in the cash register. He shot both of them before they could blink. When he walked around the bar, one of them squeezed off a shot and hit Bud in the hip.”

  “That’s about it. One winter he slipped on some ice and injured the hip pretty bad again. Lucky came home to take care of him and she never left.”

  “So she got a nursing degree?”

  Chance shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I’ve never asked.”

  Kid kicked at the dry September grass. “Why i
s she slinging beer?”

  “That bothers you?”

  “For some reason it does, and if you mention something about a mirror again I’m going to hit you.”

  Chance shook his head. “Okay. But the bottom line is that Cadde’s not going to let this slide. It’s too important for Shilah. And it’s too important to us as a family.”

  Kid headed for his truck. “I know. Talk to you later.”

  No one had to tell him what signing that lease meant. They’d researched it thoroughly and the land around Giddings was rich in oil and gas. Through sheer tenacity Cadde had managed to secure several leases from other oil companies. That didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of hours of negotiating.

  The only holdout was the Littlefield tract. Bud had leased the land many years ago but the contract had expired without the property being included in a well. His research showed that ten years ago Bud had transferred the title of the land and all mineral rights to Lucky.

  As someone who had leased many tracts of land for Shilah, he wondered about that. Why would someone in this economy refuse money? He couldn’t leave it alone so he dug deeper, calling some old friends who worked for other oil companies. The response he got was the daughter was harder to deal with than the father and it wasn’t worth the trouble for those fifty acres.

  So maybe it wasn’t about not leasing to a Hardin.

  Maybe it was something else.

  AFTER KID LEFT, LUCKY SPOKE with Mr. Harvey, who had leased his land to Shilah. He was excited about the deal. She wasn’t and she’d just as soon never see Kid again. She tried to act normal, but her nerves were shaky, her stomach queasy. Hurrying to the storeroom, she sank onto a couple of cases of beer and took several deep breaths.

  How could he waltz in here as if they’d never been lovers, never planned a future together? And how could she keep holding on to that pain? She bent forward, sucking air into her lungs. Oh, God, she hated herself for this weakness. She’d gotten over Kid a long time ago, she told herself. It was just seeing him so suddenly that had wiped out years of perfecting a cool facade. She hoped none of her inner turmoil showed.

  Her nerves subsided and she forced herself to relax. As always, he was cool, collected and charming. That hadn’t changed, but when she looked at his handsome face all she could feel was the pain he’d caused her—the pain was a permanent reminder of their teenage relationship.

  Her hand went to her hair. He used to love her long tresses, but that wasn’t the reason she’d had it cut. The style was easier in her line of work and it drew less attention. She took another breath. Running her hands through the thick layers, she wondered how different she looked to him.

  Stop it!

  Her cell buzzed and she eagerly reached for it, anything to keep Kid out of her head. It was her boss, Travis Coffman, and they set up a time to meet. She didn’t like working in The Beer Joint any more than Kid liked it, but it was part of her job, which meant a lot to her. It gave her validation and purpose she desperately needed.

  As she slipped her phone into her pocket, Bubba Joe walked in. “It was great seeing Kid, huh?”

  “I know you like him, Bubba, but I’d rather he didn’t come in here anymore.”

  “Oh.” That blew Bubba’s mind. Everybody liked Kid.

  “Listen.” She got to her feet. “I have to go out for a little while. Can you handle things?”

  “Is Thelma Lou coming in?”

  “No. It’s a weekday and it won’t be that busy.” She hated to douse Bubba’s obvious enthusiasm. He and Thelma had something going and she didn’t want to know about it. Thelma’s husband had left her with four kids and Lucky thought Bubba was getting in over his head. But then, what did she know about relationships? “I won’t be long.”

  Going through the side door, she felt a rush of energy. This was the job she loved and she did it well, even if she had to run The Beer Joint as a cover.

  Fortunately, Kid would never know about her secret life. And that was fine with her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  LUCKY HURRIED THROUGH the back door of her home, wanting to check on her father before meeting Travis. She found him in the living room in his recliner watching Wheel of Fortune—a double-barrel shotgun lay across his lap. Ever since he was wounded in an attempted robbery years ago, the gun was never far from him. Faithful as always, Ollie, his black-and-white border collie, lay by the chair, also watching the TV as if he understood every word.

  “Hey, girl, what’re you doing home so early?”

  “I wanted to check on you and make sure you had supper.”

  Her father’s fall about six years ago had injured an already bad hip. Now it was stiff and cumbersome and he walked with a cane. He was the only family she had. She didn’t even remember her mother, who’d died when she was small. Her grandmother helped raise her, but her father was always in charge. No matter what, she would be here for him like he’d been there for her.

  “I had a bowl of soup. I’m not too hungry.”

  “Dad, you have to eat.” She worried about him. He’d gotten so thin in the past few years and it took effort to get him moving around. The cattle on the property were his only interest. Every now and then she could coax him into coming into The Joint so he could visit and talk to people.

  “Girl, you get on my nerves sometimes.”

  “That’s what daughters are for.”

  “Humph.”

  She went into the kitchen, cut cheddar cheese into wedges, grabbed crackers, a clump of grapes and a Dr Pepper, his favorite drink besides beer. Placing them on the TV tray by his chair, she said, “Something for you to nibble on.”

  Ollie looked up at her, wagging his tail.

  “Okay, I’ll get you some bacon strips.”

  Once Ollie had his treat, she glanced at her father, who was trying to look around her to see the TV.

  “I saw Kid Hardin today.”

  “What?” She suddenly had her dad’s full attention.

  “I tried to maintain my cool.” She wrinkled her nose. “I think I failed a couple of times, but I didn’t get my gun and shoot him. It was on my mind, though. He strolled in bigger than Dallas expecting me to forgive and forget. Not that he asked for forgiveness. He just wanted the past swept under the rug, like it had never happened.”

  She took a deep breath. “He…uh…looks as good as ever. He’s gotten older, of course, but even that’s appealing with a couple of gray hairs and a Hollywood five o’clock shadow. On most men the look seems as if they need a bath, but Kid has it perfected. His body isn’t as lean as it was, either. He’s filled out with a lot of muscle.”

  “Sounds as if you looked at him pretty good.”

  Maybe too good.

  “I was trying to figure out where to put the bullet.”

  Her father laughed and it felt good to hear that robust sound. He didn’t laugh enough.

  “After all these years, did he have a reason to stop by?”

  “Oh, yeah. He wants to lease our land for oil and gas.”

  “That son of a bitch!”

  “Mmm. When he left, I talked to Mr. Harvey. The rumor is that since the oil well on the Hardin property isn’t producing, Cadde acquired the drilling contract from another company, as well as another tract, for a pretty penny. But they need our land to complete the desired acreage for a horizontal well or whatever.”

  “So, now Kid wants a favor?”

  “That’s about it.”

  Her father’s eyes narrowed. “What was your answer?”

  “Hell, no.” She looked down at her fingernails. One she’d bitten down to the quick since this afternoon. Damn Kid! She’d wondered for years what her reaction would be if she ever saw him again. Hi. How you doing? They would be polite, or maybe just indifferent. She just didn’t expect all the hurt and pain to still be there, and be so vivid.

  “Lucky.” Her father noticed her hesitation, her inner struggle. She could never keep anything from him.

  “I’m oka
y.” She brushed it away. “It was just a shock seeing him after all these years.” She reached down and scratched Ollie’s head. “I’ve got to go. I have to meet Travis in a few minutes.”

  “Lucky.”

  “Dad, I really don’t want to talk about Kid.”

  “I’m not worried about Kid. It’s Travis. I want you to get out of this job.”

  “It’s what I do and I’m very good at it.”

  “It’s dangerous.”

  She sighed at this same old conversation. “I’m well trained and can take care of myself.”

  “You’re a woman and cattle rustling is a man’s game.”

  Her job was top secret and she knew her father would never tell anyone. It would endanger her life. She worked as an undercover agent to a special ranger for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. Cattle rustling was on the upswing because of the economy. Not only cattle, but tractors, ATVs, farm equipment, saddles and tack—anything that could be sold. She spent most of her day selling beer and listening for tidbits of information. Sometimes it paid off and they could shut down an operation or a petty thief eager to make a fast buck.

  “Don’t worry.” She kissed her dad’s cheek and headed for the door before he could get in another plea.

  In her Chevy pickup she sped toward an old dirt road that was rarely used. She tried to push thoughts of Kid away, but he was always there in the hidden corners of her mind. So many wasted years of regret. She wished she could erase him like a recording and all that would be left would be a blank tape—a place to rewrite, a place to start over.

  She spotted Travis’s truck. Parking behind him, she pushed a button and the window slid down. The heat of the late afternoon was still oppressive, or maybe it was just the warring thoughts inside her.

  A tall lean man with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes walked toward her. At the lowest point in her life she’d found a friend—a true friend who wanted nothing but to help her.