Archer's Angels (17 page)

“Well—” She was just about to answer, when she heard Lucy calling.

“Here I am,” Clove called, going to stand in the breezeway. One look at Lucy’s face told her something had gone terribly wrong. “What is it?” she asked, heading for her sister. Archer followed close behind.

“Your brother called,” Lucy hurriedly told Archer. “Last says Mason’s had a tractor accident!”

“I’ve got to get home,” Archer said after calling the ranch and getting Bandera on the phone. “All hell’s going to break loose with Mason down. It appears to be a serious injury, and they’ve just taken him to the hospital.”

He didn’t say everything that Bandera told him. One glance at Clove’s pretty face, all swelled up with worry and pinched between her eyebrows, told him that less info was a good thing.

Grabbing his duffel and checking for his passport, he said, “I’ll stay in town at the hotel where I made reservations. That way I’ll be closer to the airport for the earliest flight I can catch.”

“I forgot that you’d made reservations,” Clove said.

He wasn’t really paying attention. “Yeah.”

“I wish the cake was finished,” Lucy said, “so I could send you off with a piece of it.”

“It’s all right,” Archer said absently, glancing around the room to make certain he had everything. “Okay,
you two girls take care of each other, all right?” He gave Lucy a brief hug and Clove a fast kiss on the cheek.

“Let me drive you to the hotel,” Lucy said.

“No, thanks. I called the same driver who brought me out here. He’d given me a card in case I needed more transportation. Luckily, he wasn’t twenty minutes away from here.” He looked at Clove, whose face still seemed fragile with concern. “Take care of yourself,” he said. “I’ll call soon.”

“All right,” she replied faintly.

A horn honked outside. “That’s my ride. I wish twenty-four hours didn’t lay between me and my ranch,” he said, worried out of his mind. He was pretty certain Bandera might have parsed some details to keep him from going loco. “Bye,” he said, with one last quick kiss for Clove as he ran out the door.

His heart was in his stomach. Mason. If anything serious happened to Mason, they were all going to be in a pot of very hot water.

Mason had been holding their family together for a long time.

“Wow,” Lucy said when Archer had swept out the door. “That’s a man in a hurry.”

“You’ve been to the ranch,” Clove said. “It’s just as much to them as Penmire is to us.”

“Yeah.” Lucy sank onto the sofa, her gaze on her sister.

Clove shook her head, sitting down across from her, thinking that the smell of baking cake would forever be associated with Archer walking out of her life.

“He’ll be back,” Lucy said.

But Clove knew it was quite far to be apart. Difficult conditions. No real emotional cement between them. Just the babies. “I’m…not so certain.”

“He’ll call.”

Clove’s stomach shrank at the thought that it might be a long time before she heard Archer’s voice. “I hope so.”

“You could go there,” Lucy said.

“Not now,” Clove replied. “I’m not sure the doctor would clear it. Besides which, Archer as much as said he didn’t want me at the ranch.”

“Why?”

“Because of everything here.”

“Oh.” Lucy looked at Clove. “Me.”

“And our farm.”

“I see.” Lucy looked pensive. “He didn’t want me to be in Australia by myself.”

“He felt like it would be hard on us if…that were to happen. That I would be unhappy if you were alone.” Clove was very worried, and she couldn’t deny that she wished she could have gone with Archer. “I’d forgotten he’d made reservations to stay in a hotel here. You know, we really didn’t have time to grow together as a couple.”

“It’s unfortunate timing,” Lucy agreed. “I should have vacated the premises.”

“Don’t say that!” Clove shook her head. “No one knew this would happen. And Archer knew you and I lived together. Goodness, when we were in their bungalow, his brothers weren’t shy about hanging around
us. And the night we had dinner at the ranch, you stayed up there practically all night.”

“Now, that was fun,” Lucy said. “You don’t know this, but Last can balance a beer bottle on his nose.”

“Oh, my.” Clove rolled her eyes. “Archer is going to be so worried until he gets back to that ranch.”

“Yes.” Lucy patted her hand. “I’m sorry your visit got cut short.”

“We seem doomed to have short bursts of acquaintance. Almost like e-mail—very abbreviated. And I thought we could go back to the beginning, to when the sparks first flew and we were getting to know each other, but you can never really start over, I guess.” Clove went to pull the cake out of the oven as the buzzer went off. The cake, she saw, was perfect. “Once again, the family recipe is perfection. If only relationships were as easy to fix!”

“Tell me about it,” Lucy said.

M
IMI WAS SITTING
in Mason’s hospital room when Archer got there two days later. Her eyes were huge as she came to hug Archer. “You look tired,” she said.

“You look tired, too. How is the old hoss?” He looked at his brother. Mason’s eyes were closed, and he had various tubes hanging out of him.

“He’s out of ICU, and that’s a good thing. They care-flighted him to the hospital or he probably would have died.”

Archer’s stomach contracted, feeling as if he’d been delivered a kick by a bull. “What the hell happened?”

“We’re not really sure because he was in the fields alone. That’s the problem. No one knew when he went down, and so he bled a lot.”

Archer glanced at her, worried about the sob he’d heard in her voice. “You should go home and get some rest. Where’s Nanette?”

“With Calhoun and Olivia. Minnie and Kenny like to play with Nanette, and Barley loves her, too.”

“All right.” Archer went to stand beside his brother. There was so much pain etched into Mason’s face. Lines he’d never seen before. It was as if age had crept up on Mason when no one was looking. Or maybe staring the Grim Reaper in the face lined one’s countenance. “Who found him?”

“Last, thank God.”

Archer nodded, putting his hand over Mason’s. “Hey, bro,” he said.

There was no response. But he really hadn’t expected one. “Go home,” he told Mimi. “Get some rest.”

She came to stand beside him, giving him a hug. “I will. By the way, how is your lady friend in Australia?”

“Good enough.” Not really, but it was a long story and he couldn’t go into it. Right now, he had to think about Mason. He was beginning to feel quite crazed with his life divided into places so far apart.

“All right.” She walked over to Mason and gently stroked his cheek. “Hey, you hardheaded mule.”

Then she leaned over and whispered something in Mason’s ear that sounded suspiciously to Archer like
Come back to me.

She stood. “Good night, Archer,” Mimi said, leaving the room.

“’Night.” He stared at his brother. “Mason, I’m home,” he said.

He thought he saw a flicker in Mason’s eyelid. He wished Mason would wake up. Of course, the minute he did and was coherent, he was going to want to know if Archer had solved his Family Problem. And Archer was going to have to say no. That maybe it was unsolvable.

It hit him hard, when his mind embraced that thought. Some things were simply impossible.

And no matter how much he might want to change it, maybe he couldn’t.

Two weeks later

From: Archer

To: Clove

Sorry I haven’t written, but I’ve been staying pretty much around the clock at the hospital. Mason is finally looking like he may pull through. Hope you’re taking care of yourself. Archer

Clove stared at the screen, blinking at the terse wording. She’d waited in agony to hear from Archer. And he sounded as though he was a world away, which he was, but emotionally just as much as geographically.

It did not feel good. Or right. More was wrong than just his brother. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do about it. The doctor had confined her to bed a
week early, and a nurse was coming to her house weekly to monitor her and the babies’ health.

She was beginning to get scared—about a lot of things. That Archer might never come back. That her babies might not make it. That everything she’d ever wanted might slip through her fingers. This family meant everything to her, and she so wanted Archer to want her, too. So she wrote:

I’m thinking about you daily, Archer. I miss you. Give everyone my thoughts and prayers. And please don’t forget that I love you. Clove

T
HREE MONTHS LATER
Archer awoke to his cell phone ringing in his pocket. Sitting up, he grabbed it before Mason awakened. Mason was slowly coming out of the woods, and therapists of all kinds were working with him. Mimi came by often. All the brothers and their wives had been by to visit him. The storm of Mason being down had galvanized the brothers into realizing they needed to work harder at the ranch.

Archer had slept in the chair in Mason’s room so often he felt as if he and the chair had become one. “Hello?”

“Archer?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed at his stubbly chin.

“It’s Lucy Penmire.”

He came completely awake. “Hi.”

“Um, I thought maybe you’d want to know that Clove has gone into labor.”

He jumped to his feet and ran into the hall so he could talk without disturbing Mason. “What? Labor?”
Swiftly, he checked the date on his watch. “It’s only, wait a minute. How far along is she?”

“In terms of contractions?”

“No. Yes. What month of her pregnancy is this?”

“The fifth. Almost the sixth. Could be the sixth, depending on the date of conception, which—”

His breath tightened. “Fifth! That’s too soon!”

“She did the best she could to keep the babies in. They’re just too many and she’s so small.”

Dizziness swept him. “Did you say something about contractions?”

“Yes, she’s having some, but the doctors are worried that’s not a real good sign. They’re going to perform a cesarean section very soon.”

“Crap!” He ran into Mason’s room, not realizing his brother was awake and listening intently. “Can they wait until I get there?”

“No. Twenty-four hours, even at the minimum, would be too long. I’m sorry, Archer.”

“Crap! I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell her, tell her I got her e-mail.”

“Like a while back?”

He heard the gentle reproof in Lucy’s tone. But how could he explain he was never at home anymore? And that he was consumed with Mason’s care? The ranch, his brothers, life… “Dammit,” he said. “I swear, I didn’t realize it had been that long.”

“It’s all right,” she said. “But it would mean a lot to Clove if she could hear your voice.”

“Well, she’s going to hear it very soon.” Archer hung up, stuffing his belt through the loops.

“Are we having babies?” Mason asked.

Archer whipped around. “Trust that the very mention of babies would bring the first light of interest to your eyes since your accident.”

“You’re heading out?” Mason asked, his voice very thin and rusty.

“I am.”

Mason nodded. “What are we having?”

“Boys, I’m sure. Hell, I don’t even know.”

“Archer.”

“Yeah.” He saw his brother’s gaze focus on him tightly.

“You talk about her in your sleep.”

“I do?” He was shocked. Often when he slept in the hard old hospital chair, he didn’t think he slept at all.

“You do. You yak about her a lot. It’s like a nighttime soap opera. I’ve quite enjoyed it.”

Archer shook his head. “And to think I’ve been trying so hard to make certain you’re resting well.”

“What else do I have to do but lie in this damn bed? I might as well listen to you ramble. So this time, fix it.”

“Fix it?”

“You love her. Regardless of how this came to be, fix it. Life is short.”

Archer swallowed, looking at his brother’s face. He would never get used to the shorn patch of skin on Mason’s head, where they’d had to go in to reduce some swelling. “Mason, I’m going to call Bandera and have him come stay with you.”

“Good luck,” Mason said. “Dad.”

Archer blinked. “Oh my God,” he whispered. “I’ll be a father in less than twenty-four hours.”

Mason grinned and closed his eyes.

It was the first time Archer had seen his brother smile since his accident. And it was all about becoming a father.

“Stop right there,” Clove said as Archer entered her room three days later. She was sitting up in bed, wearing a pretty jacket. And at least her hair was washed and her face wasn’t as swollen as it had been. Soreness was her middle name. But when that cowboy strode into her room, she stopped him with an upturned palm.

She thought she had never seen Archer looking so handsome.

“Do not take one step closer until you hear me out,” she said. “This time I’m saying everything on my mind.”

“Clove—”

“I am moving to Texas,” she said, interrupting him. “You and I and the children are going to be a family when they get out of preemie care.”

“Clove—”

“And furthermore,” Clove said, “I love you. I have missed you. It’s been torture without you. I know you had to be with your family, but from now on, I intend to be like Tonk. We are sticking to you like a Texas tumbleweed.”

“Tumbleweeds don’t really stick—”

“Archer, you’re supposed to be listening. Those babies want you. I want you. I’ve changed my mind about Mimi’s house. I will live there. I will live anywhere. Just so long as I’m near you.”

He grinned at her. “Can I speak?”

“No. I’m certain you still haven’t heard me. I know you think the only way we’re ever going to communicate is by e-mail—”

She gasped as he opened a velvet box that contained an enormous diamond engagement ring.

“
Now
can I speak?” Archer said, beaming.

“All you want.” She gestured to him to come closer. “And you don’t have to stand over there any longer.”

“Good. Because I didn’t want to have to toss this across the room.”

“You can bet I would have caught it. Archer, it’s stunning!” She stared down at the simple emerald-shaped diamond. There was also a wedding band in the box, of channel-set diamonds. “I have never seen anything so beautiful!”

“I figured I’d better show up with something impressive for the woman who conceives and delivers three babies. It’s three carats, one for each baby.”

“Slide it on,” Clove said. “Although I’m very swollen and it might not fit—”

“Aren’t I supposed to ask you a question first?” Archer asked playfully.

“Go ahead.” Clove closed her eyes. “I want to hear you say it.”

He took her hand. “Open your eyes. I want to see
those gorgeous eyes, which I loved even when you wore those crazy specs of yours.”

She did, smiling shyly at him, her heart beating happily with joy. “I love you.”

“Wait,” he said, laughing. “You’re making me nervous. I know I’m supposed to make a speech here. A proper proposal.”

“You stink at it, so I’m saying yes or we’ll be here all night.” Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tight. He fell into the hospital bed beside her, careful to avoid her tummy.

“This is still my favorite position with you,” he said. “And we’re managing to try out so many different locations of being horizontal.” He kissed her lips, slowly, softly. “Clove,” he said.

“Yes?”

“Clove Penmire, I love you. I want you to consider my proposal. I promise to love, honor and hold you, through good times and bad. I promise to take care of you like a prize among women, because you deserve it. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes,” she said shyly. “I love you.”

“I know. That last e-mail you sent me was the clincher, babe.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I don’t believe you. You never wrote me back.”

“I’m sorry. Life was crazy. But I will tell you that when I got that e-mail, and you laid out your feelings like that, I knew no matter what happened, you and I were going to be together forever.”

“I do love you.” She let him slip the ring on her finger. “It wasn’t just about the babies in the end.”

“The babies!” He stared at her. “How are they? How are you feeling? Are you all right?”

“Everything is fine.” Clove looked at him with that tricky smile he loved. “You can go down to the nursery and see them if you want to. Baby Penmire #1, Baby Penmire #2 and Baby Penmire #3.”

“Baby Penmire?” Archer repeated, wrinkling his face. “We’re changing that right away! I’ll be right back,” he said, kissing her nose. “I forgot all about the babies because you look just the same as you did the last time I saw you. Except more beautiful,” he said hurriedly.

She laughed. “You’re doing good for a new fiancé. Nursery is down the hall.”

He tore out of the room. Clove sat very still, a grin on her face, waiting.

A minute later, he ran back into her room, his handsome face stunned. “Clove Penmire almost Jefferson,” he said, “those are girls in that nursery!”

The expression on his face was priceless. “Don’t you like girls?” she teased.

“Well, I do! But I was expecting boys. Boys I know what to do with. I have brothers, for heaven’s sake. But girls—girls are a mystery to me.”

She motioned for him to come close, so he did. They kissed for a long moment, then she whispered in his ear, “We ladies are going to enjoy keeping you off balance,” she said, “but you miscounted those bald heads, my
love. There are two girls and one boy. You aren’t totally outnumbered.”

“Oh. Well. I didn’t
really
care about having all girls,” he said with an embarrassed laugh. “Except for their pink name tags, they all looked the same to me with their caps on their heads and mitten-things on their hands. I’m just thrilled they all have your beauty. I blew them each a kiss and they’re all very smart, I can tell. And sweet. And talented. And guaranteed to be successful at whatever they do, due to their mother’s intelligent, brave and sexy personality. When can they come home with us?”

“I’m not sure, but whenever it is, it’s going to be to
our
home, yours and mine.” Clove smiled, her heart full of love and joy for her fiancé who loved her just the way she was. Archer held her tight, and smiled, thinking that this woman, his soon-to-be bride, made him the luckiest man in the world.

It wasn’t every man who was fortunate enough to marry a woman who gave him three wonderful children. “You’re my angels,” he whispered, holding Clove in his arms. “All four of you. As long as I live, my angels are going to be right by my side.”

And outside the hospital window the Australian sun glowed golden, sending rays of happiness splashing across their bed.