A Match Made In Texas (15 page)

"What the hell did you do that for?" he asked, favoring the foot as he faced her. "Stop playing games. You've got me now."

Theresa eyed him warily. "I don't want you!"

Austin tested his weight on his injured foot. He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You want me. Don't lie."

"Okay, I admit I'm attracted to you. But I'm not playing games. And get this through that thick skull of yours. I haven't been scheming to get you alone."

"How stupid do you really think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid."

"Don't you? You didn't think I would notice you disconnected the battery cable so your car wouldn't start?

"
What?
"

Austin glared at her. "Don't play innocent with me. You know perfectly well what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't. I swear." But Theresa suddenly had a premonition and her heart sank.
Oh, Kelsey. What have you done now?

"That's great. Just great," said Austin. "You've got the innocent act down pat with those big green eyes wide with surprise. You missed your calling, sweetheart." He advanced toward her and leaned his fists on the back of the sofa. "What I can't understand is how you thought you were going to get away with it. It's an amateur's trick at best."

Theresa forgot about being frightened as anger surfaced. "Every time you're in my house, you insult me," she said, her voice low, her fury mounting. "I've had enough. It's true that I'm attracted to you. God only knows why. But,
I
didn't deliberately disable my car.
I
haven't schemed to get you alone. And I don't care to be accused, tried and convicted on circumstantial evidence."

"Are you brazen enough to stand there and tell me you didn't disconnect that cable?" Austin didn't know what to think. His mind reeled at the implications.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. And I am
not
the brazen hussy you're accusing me of being."

"Then who?" He asked the question softly. Already, he had a flickering idea about who was responsible.

Theresa took a deep breath. "I think it's obvious. But you've been so intent in your belief that I'm the guilty party, you can't see what's been going on right beneath your nose. I'm not the bad guy. I'm the victim here, too."

Austin stared at Theresa as if seeing her for the first time. "It's Kelsey, isn't it? She's been the one throwing us together. But why?"

"You need to ask her that question," Theresa said. "I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Whatever you may think of me, I don't blab what's been told to me in confidence."

Austin looked at Theresa standing on the other side of the couch. Her green eyes sparkled with tears and she sniffed like she was trying not to cry. He had the overwhelming urge to gather her in his arms and hold her. To offer her comfort.

"This thing between us," he said. "It won't go away. It's not finished." He skimmed his eyes over her curves and feminine softness; the familiar knot of hunger twisted his gut. No, it wouldn't go away.

Theresa walked to the door and opened it. "Oh, I think it's finished all right. We're both adults, as you keep reminding me. Sometimes things don't work out. You have to accept it and move on."

Austin stood before her and searched her face. "You want to accept it and move on?" he asked quietly.

Swallowing hard, Theresa nodded. She ignored the fluttering in her stomach caused by the heat from his body being so near. Squashed the urge to feel his arms wrap around her, his mouth devouring her like he was starving. She didn't want to remember how good it all felt. Didn't want to think that he'd never kiss her or make love to her.

She didn't want to move on, but she couldn't see a happy ending to all of this. Only misery and heartache. "You've thought the worst of me from the very beginning," she said. "I think it's best for both of us to move on."

Austin grabbed the keys from the table. "I'll take care of your car. No need to call Sam. I'll bring it back tomorrow."

"There's no reason for you to take care of it," Theresa said quickly. "I wouldn't want you to go to any more trouble."

"No trouble." With one last searching glance, Austin walked out of the house. The screen door slammed behind him. Theresa closed the door and for the second time that night, she slid to the floor. Pulling her knees to her chest, she leaned her head against them and cried until there were no more tears.

****

Austin had a lot to think about on the drive back to the ranch. His brain was spinning from the discovery that Kelsey, not Theresa, had engineered the whole business. It made everything he believed about Theresa invalid. Not everything, he reminded himself. She desired him as much as he desired her. But she was innocent of any deceptive behavior.

Unlike his daughter. Kelsey had been manipulating him for months. And manipulating Theresa, too. But why? Why was Kelsey throwing them together?

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Austin sped down the dark highway. He'd have his answers soon. Kelsey McCade had some explaining to do.

He ignored the sick feeling in his stomach. He refused to believe that Theresa wanted to end a relationship that had barely begun. The intensity of the attraction between them was incredible. He'd be a fool to ignore it. That kind of chemistry didn't come along every day.

He could never forget what he had with Deborah, but Deborah was dead. He was not. It was time to start living again. The thought terrified him. He didn't want to be emotionally involved with anyone. It was too painful.

The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that he would be able to separate his physical needs from any emotional entanglements. He wasn't looking for love. Just a tumble in bed.

He wanted Theresa in the most intimate way. Not like he had wanted other women over the past twelve years. He didn't want a feminine body to spill his seed into in order to relieve the sexual tension and frustration that came with abstinence.

No, he wanted
Theresa Rogers.
He knew it would be different with her. She made him feel alive. After walking among the dead for so long, she had awakened a hunger and desire in him.

If he could convince her to forgive him, make her understand what he wanted, then they could pursue an adult relationship. They could enjoy each other until the passion died out. From now on, Austin vowed to live in the present, in the moment. He wouldn't think about the future. And he would try not to think about the past.

The gates to the Diamondback Ranch loomed up in the darkness and Austin turned the truck onto the dirt road leading to his mother's house. He pushed everything from his mind except his daughter's many transgressions. She had lied, manipulated, maneuvered, deliberately disabled Theresa's car, and God knows what else to throw her teacher in his path. Why? One would think Kelsey wouldn't want another woman in their lives.

Austin parked the truck at the back of the house. He sat for a minute wondering how he would handle all of this. Obviously, Kelsey was getting out of control. He wasn't doing a very good job raising her. It wasn't the first time he wished for Deborah's help with their daughter. Although, nothing like this would have happened if Deb were still alive, he admitted to himself.

Kelsey was sitting at the kitchen table eating a piece of cake. She looked up when Austin walked in the back door.

"You sure didn't stay long at Miss Roger's house. Did you fight with her again?"

Austin stood at the foot of the old oak table, staring at his daughter. "What do you mean, '
again
'?"

Licking her fork, she glanced at him. "Well, something happened at the homecoming dance. You were mad. You didn't act like a jerk tonight, did you?"

Ruth, busy at the sink, turned around. "Kelsey! You mustn't talk to your father like that."

Kelsey shrugged. "Grams, you haven't seen him around her. He acts like a total--"

"That's enough," Austin said. He walked to her side of the table and stood with arms crossed over his chest. "The game's up, Kels."

He had the satisfaction of seeing the angelic blue eyes widen in surprise and perhaps a little fear. For all her intelligence, bravado and seeming self-confidence, Kelsey was still only twelve years old. He couldn't let himself forget that important fact.

Kelsey bit her lip and set her fork down. "So, you figured it out, huh? Or did Miss Rogers tell you?"

"She didn't rat on you, if that's what you mean?"

Ruth came over to stand near Austin and looked at Kelsey. "What on earth have you been up to, child?"

Kelsey sat back, crossed her arms and glared at both adults. "I plead the fifth."

"Pleading the fifth is not an option, young lady." Austin pulled out a chair and sat down. "Have a seat, Ma," he said, indicating the chair he'd scooted out for her.

Ruth sat and twisted the dishtowel in her hands. "Will someone tell me what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Austin said, keeping his eyes on Kelsey's face. "My daughter,
your
granddaughter, has been trying her hand at a little matchmaking."

"What?" Ruth stared at Kelsey and shook her head sadly. "Matchmaking? You know your father is a hopeless case. He'll never love a woman like he loved your mother. He's said so a million times."

Austin felt irritation creep along his spine. "Ma, that's not the point here. Kelsey's been lying, manipulating and scheming to throw Theresa and me together."

"Theresa?" Ruth asked, eyeing him strangely.

"Miss Rogers, damn it." He looked away from his mother's curious gaze.

Ruth turned her attention to Kelsey again. "So, you threw this party to get her over here. Why didn't you invite your dad? I don't understand."

Kelsey shrugged.

Austin shoved back his chair and stood. He couldn't sit still any longer. The more he thought about the whole thing, the angrier he became. "I'll explain it to you. She decided to have a party, invited Theresa over here, and deliberately tampered with her car. Then she called me to come to the rescue, maneuvering everything and everybody so I would be the one to take Theresa home. And this isn't the first time she's schemed to throw us together."

Ruth shook her head again. "Oh, my. How did you know what to do to the car to make it not start?" she asked Kelsey.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too," Austin said. "Spill it, Kels."

For a minute, he didn't know if Kelsey was going to cooperate. He wondered what he would do if she refused to talk. She was too old to spank. He'd have to ground her. He felt like grounding her for the rest of her life.

Kelsey lowered her gaze. "Aunt Jessie told me," she finally answered in a small voice.

"Good heavens!" Ruth said, fanning herself with the dishtowel.

Austin stopped pacing. "
Jessie
told you? When? How?"

"I emailed her and asked. She knows everything about motors and cars."

"Do you mean to tell me Jessie's in on this?" Austin said. "Did you tell her why you wanted to know such a strange piece of information?"

Kelsey sighed. "No, she didn't know the real reason. I told her it was for an assignment in English. A short story I was writing."

"Oh dear, oh dear," Ruth said softly.

"Another lie." Austin paced around the kitchen again before stopping in front of Kelsey. "Why did you do it, Kels?"

She looked up at her dad and took a deep breath. "I did it for your own good. I'm not always going to be around, you know. I'm going to grow up, go away to college, get married some day. You'll be alone. I don't want you to be all alone. And I want you to be happy. You haven't been happy in a long time."

Austin pushed away from the table and raked his fingers through his hair again. He didn't know what he had expected Kelsey to confess to, but it certainly wasn't this.

He stared down at his daughter. "You think Theresa Rogers would make me happy? What do you want me to do? Marry her?"

Kelsey shrugged. "Miss Rogers is smart, pretty, and has a good sense of humor.
I
like her. Everybody likes her. And I've seen the way she looks at you. She likes you. Or, at least she did. You've probably made her angry or something. Because you act like a--"

"Don't say it," Ruth said.

"Well, it's true," Kelsey mumbled under her breath.

Ruth patted her granddaughter's hand and cast a knowing glance at Austin. "I don't doubt it."

"Thanks for your support," he said, caustically.

Ruth sighed. "You can't help it, dear. You're a man. But that doesn't make it right for Kelsey to call you names." She turned back to Kelsey. "Darlin', matchmaking rarely works out. People have to find partners for themselves. If the attraction is mutual, the chemistry just right, then they fall in love. If it's meant to be, everything turns out fine. If not . . . you can't force people to like or love each other."