Fannin's Flame (16 page)

“I’m the father!” he hollered, feeling like he was going to have a stroke.

Mimi looked hurt. “Gosh, Fannin, no need to chew my head off. You’re going to upset Nanette.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just that nobody seems to think that I have much to do with the fact that Kelly’s having babies.”

“I’d say you’ve had a lot to do with it.” She frowned at him. “Does Mason know? You’re going to get the condom lecture. Condoms are our friends—”

“How do you know about that?” he demanded.

“Oh, my gosh. Like y’all ever kept it a secret. He practically sang it to you boys in lullaby form from the age you started wearing deodorant and discovered your first zit. I thought I heard Last repeating it over and over one day when he was throwing feed out to those chickens we had once. Remember those?”

“I’m not worried about Mason right now,” he
interrupted. “I’m worried because Kelly says she’s marrying someone else.”

Mimi started giggling.

“What in the hell is so funny?”

“All of you Jefferson boys. Your love lives are train wrecks. Just watch ’em derail.”

He frowned. “She says she’s taking a leaf out of your book.”

“And what fine leaf would that be?”

“The one where you marry a man you don’t love in order to have a father for your children.”

Mimi straightened. “I think I hear Nanette calling me.”

“Wait, Mimi.” A sigh escaped him. “Look. I love her. I want to be her husband.”

“So go do it,” Mimi said, supremely annoyed. “Instead of sitting in my kitchen playing ‘Cry Me a River’ on the tiny-whiny fiddle.”

“I—”

“Stop,” she said. “If you are saying ‘I’ because you cannot have it your way, then go away and stop wasting my time. You can laugh all you want about what I did, Fannin, but I knew exactly what I wanted and what I had to do to get it. I am happy with my life now. In fact, it’s beatific.”

What about Mason, he wanted to say, but her eyes dared him to say a word on that subject.

“So go,” Mimi said stubbornly. “Either go and get what you want or go sit in your own house and mope.” She got up. “Did you ever notice how you
were always telling Kelly what she had to do in order to please you? You listened to what her needs and dreams were, and then you ignored them. You said, Yes, Kelly, I’m not keen on your mother and you’re too independent for me, but if you want me, you’ll have to do it the way I like it. And no woman with half a brain in her head would want that, Fannin.

“But you found a woman with a full brain inside her skull, so why shouldn’t she leave you on the vine for a less intelligent female to pick? And so, we have the continuing saga of the Jefferson male quest for what pleases them.” She took a deep breath. “Was that the expertise you needed?”

“I think that should just about do it.”

“Felt just like old times, didn’t it?” she asked with a wicked smile on her face.

He coughed. “Yeah, somehow it did.”

Matters were never going to be any easier than they were at the ranch, Fannin had decided. Mason had never come home—though they’d had a postcard from Wyoming.

He had figured out that Mason was on a mission to find Maverick. That was fine with him.

Fannin personally didn’t have time for any other mission besides the one he was on—a mission to marry the mother of his children, now that Mimi had set him straight.

Quietly he pushed open the door of the Honey-Do Agency. A striking woman looked up at him. “Hi,” she said brightly. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Fannin Jefferson.”

She nodded. “I’m Julia Finehurst, owner of the Honey-Do Agency. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”

Impossible. But he perched on the edge of a chair, his hat rotating in his fingers.

A red fur-ball came to roost at his feet, brown eyes
staring intently up at him. “Hey, Joy,” he said, laying the hat down so he could scoop her up. “Did your mama leave both of us behind? Hey, great necklace, little lady. Looks like I’ll have to tell Santa Lily she’s a smart girl.” He rubbed the little dog’s head, gratified by her loyalty.

Dogs were easy. “Maybe I should get a dog,” he murmured. “I mean, they still run off, but at least you can put a collar on them.”

“What can I do for you, Fannin?” Julia asked, her tone kind.

Fannin tried to relax. He figured Julia knew exactly who he was, so he was blunt. “I’m looking for Kelly.”

She nodded. “She’s not here, Fannin. I’m sorry.”

“Where is she?”

Julia took a deep breath. “Ireland.”

He stared, a thousand emotions flooding him at once. Shock and anger choked his good manners. “She can’t do that.”

“I’m afraid she did.” Julia smiled sadly.

He had the feeling she was sad for him. “People do not just get up and move to a different country.”

“She has a home there, Fannin. Is it really so surprising, or is it surprising because you didn’t want her to do it and she did anyway?”

“Kelly’s having my babies. A woman does not desert the father of her children to move to a different continent.”

Julia sighed. “You haven’t called in a while. You
haven’t visited her. The discussion of the trial marriage even died its natural death. The plane ticket was bought months ago, before she even went to Union Junction. What did you want her to do? Throw it all away and hope you’d come around eventually?”

“I’ve been busy,” he growled.

“It was already Kelly’s plan before she met you. I told her the best thing she could do was to go find herself. What you and she had didn’t seem to be…developing.”

He nodded. “I guess you’re right.” Now what? The woman he loved was gone. “Reckon I’d better go get me a little Irish lass then.”

“Not if you plan on going over there and telling her she has to come back here,” Julia warned him. “You’ll ruin any chance you have of winning Kelly’s heart if you go in there with your typical approach. No offense.”

His brothers’ approach hadn’t worked for him at all.
His
approach didn’t seem to be working, either. He was willing to listen to this calm, nonjudgmental woman with the sympathetic eyes. “What do you suggest I do? We’re having children.”

Julia shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“In the meantime, guess I’ll buy a plane ticket.”

She hesitated. “You’ll need a passport. Do you have one?”

“Actually, no.”

She got out a pad and a pen. “You can’t go any
where without a passport, I’m afraid. And those take quite a while.”

“How long?”

“Three to six weeks. I can do what I can to help you. We have some experience here with the paperwork, due to some of our clients—”

“I would appreciate any help you can give me.”

“All right.” She smiled. “Now we need to discuss how long you plan to stay.”

“I’m not sure.” Right now, he was making up his plans as he went along. “I didn’t even know Kelly had left the country. Is there a number where I can reach her, by the way?”

Julia wrote a number on a piece of paper, handing it to him silently. “Maybe you should think about applying for a visa.”

“A visa?”

“In case you decide on an extended stay. More months than weeks, you see.”

“Months? No, I can’t leave the ranch for months. I have to…” He hesitated at the look on Julia’s face.

“Maybe a round-trip ticket is more the thing,” she said lightly. “Can I look for fares for you, Mr. Jefferson? We provide a full range of services for our clients.”

He had the sudden feeling that he’d been found lacking. “Thank you.”

Getting up, he put his hat back on and went to the door, struck by a sudden, paralyzing thought. Turning
slowly, he said, “You wouldn’t know anything about a wedding, would you?”

Julia’s expression closed. “I’ve probably already said more than I should have. I’m sorry.”

That was a bad sign. Julia obviously knew that Kelly had mentioned marrying a family friend. He cursed silently to himself.

“You have her phone number,” Julia reminded him. “You can ask her any personal details you like.”

He nodded.

“And you might also want to leave Joy here,” Julia said with a smile.

He hadn’t realized he’d nearly carried the dog out the door with him. Her warm body and welcome had given him the strength he needed. “What’s going to happen to Joy? Do you need me to take her to Helga for you?”

“For now, she’s staying with me. Until I get word on what Kelly plans to do.”

“So…” Fannin digested that quickly. “She’s not married yet. Or there wouldn’t be the possibility of her coming back to get Joy.”

“As I said—”

“Thank you,” Fannin said happily. “What do you need from me to get the paperwork flowing?”

“I
’VE BEEN ENLIGHTENED
,” Fannin told Kelly over the phone. “I swear, I’m only listening to female tactics from now on. No more men’s ideology on han
dling women. And nothing more from my brothers. That’s pretty much a no-brainer.”

He heard Kelly sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Fannin. You just need the right woman. I don’t believe I’m her.”

“But would you marry me, anyway? I think I’m more of a long-term convincer than an off-the-cuff romancer. There are benefits to being married to me, I promise. For the long haul.”

She laughed softly, unwillingly. “Fannin, I have no doubt that you would do the right thing in a flash if I’d let you. But as I said before, I’m not even close to what you ordered that night. You may say it doesn’t matter, but it does to me.”

“Put yourself in my place. If you were calling up Dream Boat Bob, how would you describe him? Sean Connery in his younger days?”

“He’s still pretty good now,” Kelly said. “Technically, if I’d ever ordered a man, he would have been just like you in physical appearance.”

“I’m working on my personality. As fast as I can go,” Fannin said. “But there are some fundamental things about me I can’t change.”

“Actually, I fell for the whole package,” Kelly said.

“You did?” Fannin was shocked. “So…what’s the problem?”

“Your expectations. You would resent me after a while. I don’t want to be resented. My parents resented each other totally.”

“Hmm.” Long-distance was a tough way to discuss issues like these. He preferred to conquer Kelly with his hands. “I’m not a great conversationalist,” he said. “I reason more physically.”

“I know. Believe me, it’s wonderful. But the thing is, I don’t think clearly around you. You totally swept me off my feet. I still can’t believe we made it in a truck.”

“Hey, that can be a cowboy’s fantasy date,” he told her. “I’m not picky. I’d have you anywhere I could.”

That pulled a giggle from her. “How come you’re calling now when it costs you tons, but you stopped calling when I lived in Texas?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t figure you’d leave,” he said honestly. “I thought I had plenty of time to get the ranch under control, and there you’d be, thinking it through like you should.”

“Oops for you,” she said.

“Yeah. You went off half-cocked and I was mad, and then I thought…I would have done the same thing.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“I would. I wish I’d paid better attention so that I could have had a passport and gone with you. Anyway, how are the babies?”

“You are so transparent,” she said, “but I almost find your fathering determination admirable. It’s really sweet, Fannin. And they’re thriving, thanks. They
seem to like fresh Irish air, lying on blankets, long walks in the meadow and me not being stressed.”

He moved his jaw as he considered her words. “Are you getting married?”

“No,” she said softly. “I changed my mind about Mimi’s leaf. It was a good theory, but then I knew that the only man I would ever really love was you.”

“Then can we please figure out how to make it work?” Fannin said. “You’re killing me!”

“I don’t mean to. Tell you what—you tell me how you see it working and I’ll see if I can see it your way. Because so far, I don’t.”

“I’ll have to think about that,” he said.

“I thought so,” she said.

“F
ANNIN, COULD I TALK
to you for a second?” Last said.

Fannin barely glanced up from the map of Ireland he was poring over in the family library of the main house. “Shoot.”

“Um, it’s…private.”

“Close the door.”

“I mean, it’s personal, too.”

Fannin looked up, seeing the distress on his youngest brother’s face. He folded the map up. “I’m listening.” His mind was on the call he’d had from Julia, telling him his passport was ready. How was that for service? Sure, it had been a while, but he’d talked to Kelly almost every night. They’d learned a lot about each other, filled in a lot of blanks. He was
going to recommend Julia and the Honey-Do Agency to everyone he met, out of gratitude for her calm guidance.

“I’ve got a problem,” Last said. “And you’re the only one I can talk to about it.”

“Sit down.” His brother’s tone was alarming him. He’d never seen the family philosophe so rattled. “Have you heard from Mason?” It wasn’t like Mason to be gone longer than it would take to have a passport made without checking in on the family and, most especially, the baby.

“No. Last credit-card purchase was made in Montana.”

“Okay.” Fannin mulled that. “He’s searching. I’ll transfer more money into that account so he can keep moving until he’s done.” Of course, where Mimi was concerned, he was afraid his brother might never be done.

“I’ve gotten someone pregnant,” Last whispered desperately.

Fannin’s eyes went huge, and a rock lodged in his gut. “Are you sure?”

Last nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Anyone we know, I hope, who’s amenable to the idea of marriage?”

Tears slid down Last’s face. “She wants to get married this weekend, as soon as we get paperwork and blood tests done. We’re supposed to go to Las Vegas to do it fast.”

Fannin frowned. “Who is she?”

“Her…her name is Valentine.”

Fannin culled his brain looking for a Valentine and came up empty. “Where’d you meet her?”

“The Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon,” Last said miserably. “She’s the receptionist. I don’t know her last name.”

Fannin’s jaw sagged. “What were you doing out there?”

A shrug met his question. “I don’t know. It was Christmas season, and—”

“I remember.” Last had come home zoned, and they’d had to baptize him in cold water. It had literally taken hours for him to ease into a conscious state.

“If I don’t marry her or pay her five hundred thousand dollars for her emotional distress, she says she’s going to go to the authorities. To sue me.”

“Sue for what?” Slow burning flickered in Fannin’s gut. That kind of talk was serious.

Last shook his head. “I can’t say it.”

“Never mind,” Fannin said, his whole world bottoming out. “I got the picture.”

T
WO HOURS LATER
, Fannin had a game plan. It wasn’t a good one, but it was all he had. “Julia,” he said, “it’s Fannin.”

“Hey, Fannin. Ready to do an Irish jig?”

“I’m actually calling to ask you to cancel the plane ticket. We’ve had something come up at the ranch. And as much as I’d like to go, I can’t.”

“I see,” she said.

“Probably not, but it’s something that can’t be helped. Thank you for all your help.”

“You’re welcome,” Julia said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Thanks. But this time there’s nothing anyone can do.” He hung up and called the brothers in for an emergency conference. Looking them over, he realized this was the moment when he assumed the mantle of guardian for this family. Mason couldn’t help them now. No one else had Fannin’s desire to hold fast to the ranch and never leave. And that was exactly what had kept him from Kelly. His home was here.

“We have a problem,” he told his brothers. “An assault on the good name and financial resources of the Union Junction Ranch. Last, would you care to elaborate?”

His brother broke down sobbing.

Fannin took a deep breath. “I’m not the only one adding to the family. Apparently, Last will be a father, as well.”

His brothers stared in shock at the family moral compass, who sat in their father’s old wing chair, shaking with fear.

“Never,” Calhoun said.

“Condoms are our friend,” Archer said.

“Treat ladies with respect,” Crockett said. “Wear your condom.”

“We expect this from everyone but you, Last,” Navarro said.

“Who is she, Fannin?” Bandera wanted to know. “She must be a real looker to catch Last.”

His brother’s red-rimmed eyes told how miserable he was. Fannin was moved to pity. “Her name is Valentine, and she works at the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon.”

They stared at Last, their faces scrunched.

“She wants marriage or five hundred thousand dollars for her trouble. Or she goes to the law,” Fannin said.

Except for Last’s heartbroken gasps, dead silence hung over the room. His head was down on his arms now, and Fannin began to worry for his emotional state.

“For now everybody stays home at night. We bring Helga back to the ranch as a chaperone,” Fannin stated. “Mimi’s had her for nearly three months. We’ll increase her salary so that she can be here, as well.”