Flirting with Texas (Deep in the Heart of Texas) (20 page)

The old woman took a bite of the chocolate chip cookie and slowly chewed it. “I guess that depends on who is askin’.”

“Pastor Sean Robbins.”

A smile broke across the woman’s heavily painted face, and her gaze drifted down his body and back up again. “You sure don’t look like a pastor to me. You look more like a Beach Boy.” She pointed the half-eaten cookie at him. “I met them once. Their touring bus got a flat tire right down the road from here.” She chuckled. “They weren’t so happy about being stuck in Texas until the hens changed their mind about wishing all girls were from California.”

She finished off the cookie, then brushed her fingers off on her negligee before holding out a hand. “I’m Millicent Ladue, Pastor Robbins. But my friends call me Minnie. I’m the proprietor of this establishment—or what you would refer to as the madam.” She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you’re the one who wanted Sheriff Hicks to close us down.”

“Wants,” Sean corrected her. “What you’re doing is wrong, Miss Ladue, and now I have proof. The young woman who answered the door brought me straight up to this room and talked about the house specialty. And not more than moments later, Marcy Henderson was stripping naked and offering me sex for money.”

Miss Ladue held up the plate of cookies. “These are the house specialty, Pastor Robbins. And as for Marcy offering you sex—well,” her eyes swept over him, “there’s nothing like a handsome preacher to warm a wild girl’s blood.” Her gaze pinned him. “But unless money changed hands, I would say your proof doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

As much as it galled Sean, he knew the woman was right. His lust for Marcy had overridden his brain. Now he wouldn’t get a second chance to save her. An overwhelming depression settled over him, and he didn’t know why. He barely knew Marcy, and she had told him herself that she didn’t want to be saved. Yet somehow he felt as if his entire happiness was based on doing this one good deed.

“How much?” The words came out of his mouth without thought.

“Excuse me,” Miss Ladue said.

“How much do you charge for a night with a hen? And I’m not talking about one night. I want all her nights.”

Miss Ladue cocked her head. “So am I to understand that you want Marcy exclusively?”

Sean knew what she was thinking. He also knew that if word got out, it would be the end of his pastoral duties. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to let Marcy go.

He nodded. “I have thirty thousand saved up, but I can get whatever I need to save Marcy from Miss Hattie’s spell.”

Miss Ladue smiled. “It does weave a spell, but I don’t think it’s quite the spell you think it is, Pastor Robbins.” She tapped her chin. “Still, you may have stumbled onto something. Yes, I think a pure Lancelot is exactly what our Marcy needs.” The smile dropped, and her eyes grew
intent. “Of course, there can be no sex—that would be prostitution.”

“I’m a pastor, Miss Ladue,” he stated. “I’m not interested in Marcy for sex.”

After only a moment’s hesitation, the old woman spoke. “You’re also a man, Mr. Robbins.”

B
ILLY AND HIS SON
J
ESSE
were at the henhouse when Beau returned. As much as he had wanted to talk to Minnie, it was nice to see his big brother. After the first awkward hug, they took up right where they left off. They spent a couple hours in the library talking about family and Beau’s travels before moving out to Miss Hattie’s lilac garden where they talked business over the leftover chicken and dumplings that Sunshine had served them for lunch.

“So it sounds like you rescued Dalton Oil, big brother,” Beau said as he munched on one of Baby’s chocolate chip cookies. “Those figures are pretty impressive.”

Billy flashed a smile and reached for the glass of iced tea that Sunshine had refilled just minutes earlier. “Damn straight I did.” He glanced over at Jesse, who had twisted himself up in the hammock that hung from the huge cottonwood. The kid looked like a cocoon, dangling upside down. “Don’t break it, Jesse, or I’ll be taking some of that money you like to hoard.”

A scowl settled on Jesse’s freckled face. But instead of
smarting off like he would’ve done a couple years back, he carefully unwound himself and tumbled to the ground.

Beau laughed at the kid’s antics. At one time, Jesse had been too busy trying to make money to support the ragtag family of orphans he lived with to act like a kid. Beau was happy to see that Billy and Shirlene’s love had changed that. Not that the kid didn’t still like wheeling and dealing. When Jesse had first arrived at the henhouse, he’d brought one antique after another down from the attic and tried to talk Minnie out of them. Surprisingly, he had ended up with a few. Beau didn’t know if it was Jesse’s bargaining ability or Minnie’s love for the kid.

Maybe a little of both.

The thought of Minnie had him glancing back at the house.

“So what’s going on?” Billy asked. “Why do you keep looking back at the house? You got a thing for that young woman who turns bright red every time you walk into the room?”

“Starlet?” Beau shook his head. “Not hardly. She’s like a little sister to me. And speaking of little sisters, how is Bri? Last time I talked with her, she sounded a little depressed. Of course, I don’t know how she can be depressed when all she has to do all day is spend money. Mama and Daddy have thoroughly spoiled her.”

Billy shrugged. “It’s hard not to spoil daughters. They’re just so dadgum sweet. When Baby Adeline pouts for something, I’d just about give her the moon if I could. And all Mia has to do is look at me with those big, soulful eyes, and I’m toast.”

“You goin’ soft, Big Bro?” Beau teased.

“Not hardly,” Billy said. “I’m still pretty pissed at you
for not coming home sooner. So what’s going on? And don’t give me that shit about wanting to see the world. I bought that for the first year, but two years is too long to be away from your family. Especially when Jenna Jay told Shirlene that you were about to slink off and not even stop by and see me.”

Jenna Jay.
The woman was still annoying him a good sixty miles away.

“Yeah, well,” Beau hedged. “I just didn’t want to disrupt your life.”

Billy reached over and thumped him in the back of the head, knocking off his cowboy hat. “I’m your brother, you idiot. You disrupted my life by leaving, not by coming back.”

Rubbing his head, Beau reached out to grab the hat off the ground, but before he could, the wind caught it and sent it sailing over a lilac bush. “I hope you know that’s Brant’s.”

“It’s about to be your head if you don’t stop being an asshole and tell me what’s going on,” Billy said. “Does this have to do with your cancer?”

Billy didn’t know about the test results from Beau’s last checkup. Brant was the only one in the family privy to that information. Beau didn’t know why he had kept his secret. Maybe because Brant realized that Beau wasn’t going to change his mind about going through more treatment and he didn’t want to worry the rest of the family. But more than likely it was because Brant was an honorable man who wasn’t about to break a promise. Beau was grateful. He had already gotten into a fight with Brant over not wanting to go back for more tests, and he wasn’t about to get into one with Billy. Not when Billy hit harder
and would have no qualms about dragging Beau straight to the hospital.

Still, Billy was right. Beau had been an asshole for thinking he could leave Texas without seeing his family. And since Jenna was responsible for ratting him out, he figured she owed him an excuse.

“Maybe I left because I wanted to see who I am outside my large, overachieving family,” he said. “Here in Texas, I’m just another Cates brother. Out there, I’m my own person.”

Billy squinted at him. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? Please don’t tell me that you’ve turned into one of those guy-crying dudes who want people to understand their sensitivity. Because if you think I’m going to have a sissy for a brother, you can think again. I’ll whup your ass into the middle of next month before I let that happen.”

Beau slumped back on his chaise lounge. Obviously, he shouldn’t have used Jenna’s exact words.

“Whose ass are you gonna whup, Dad?” Jesse came strolling up with his John Deere hat, identical to Billy’s, curled above his freckled face. “Mike Miller for starin’ at Mom’s titties?”

“Watch your mouth, son,” Billy said before quickly adding, “Mike Miller was looking at your mother’s titties—I mean, breasts?”

“Yeah, but I guess if you’re gonna whup his ass, you’ll have to whup half the town’s. There’s not a man in Bramble who don’t take a peek—”

Billy held up his hand. “Enough. And if you say ‘ass’ one more time, yours will be the one stinging.” He got to his feet. “Now we better get home before your mother starts to worry. Go settle up with Miss Minnie.”

Rising out of the chaise, Beau couldn’t help but tease his brother. “You going straight home or are you going to stop by Mike Miller’s welding shop?”

“What do you think?” Billy tugged his cap lower. “Nobody gawks at what’s mine and gets away with it.”

Chuckling, Beau followed Billy and Jesse out. He helped them load the antique sewing machine and coffee grinder that Jesse had finagled from Minnie, and would no doubt sell within the week, into the back of Billy’s monster truck. It was a redneck truck if ever there was one, and Beau couldn’t help but grin at the blatant bumper stickers plastered on the back.

“I’m surprised Shirlene let you keep it.”

Billy slammed the tailgate closed. “She loves this truck almost as much as I do.” He winked. “It’s great for sneaking away from the kids for a little alone time at Sutter Springs.” He walked around to the driver’s door, but before he climbed up, he turned to Beau. “I realize you’ve had a hard time of it. And I don’t begrudge you the fun and excitement of traveling around the world. But you can’t ignore family, Beau. Shirlene and I are having a barbecue this weekend, and I expect you to be there.”

“On one condition.” Beau leaned in for a quick hug and a hard thump on the back. “You don’t tell the rest of the family I’m here for a few days. I don’t need the Cateses converging on Miss Hattie’s just yet.”

Billy pulled back and studied him for a second before nodding. “Fair enough.”

Once Billy’s truck had disappeared on the horizon, Beau went in search of Minnie. His brother’s visit had kept him from talking with her about the doctor’s visits, but now he intended to get to the truth. Unfortunately, he
found her napping in her wheelchair in the library. Figuring she could use all the rest she could get, he wandered back out to the garden and climbed in the hammock. The afternoon was hot, and after only a few minutes, he removed his boots and socks and unsnapped his shirt. Dangling one foot to the ground, he set the hammock in motion.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the lilac bushes that surrounded him.

It was good to be home. Good to see his brother and the hens. Good to feel the welcome and love that no stranger can offer. Still, he didn’t feel like he belonged. Jenna’s words came back to him, and he wondered if she wasn’t on to something. Not that he felt like he didn’t belong in his family. It was just that he didn’t feel as if he belonged anywhere. He felt like an island. One wheel on a cart. One sock without a mate.

One puzzle piece without a puzzle.

His mama had always thrown out puzzles with missing pieces. And maybe that’s what he’d done to himself. Thrown himself out of Texas and a family that reminded him of his solitary situation. And what choice did he have? How could he ask a woman to share his life when he didn’t know how long his life would last? At one time, he thought it didn’t matter. He thought that if you loved someone, any time you had with them was special and worth it.

Cari Anne had proved him wrong. His beautiful college sweetheart’s love had only lasted through his first chemo treatment. Of course, Beau hadn’t blamed Cari. Who wanted a bald husband with no eyebrows or lashes?

Still, it had hurt. And not even his family rallying
around him had made him feel any better. As much as they tried to be there for him, it wasn’t the same. Something inside him died the day Cari Anne left, and he’d become what he was today. A loner without a home.

For some strange reason, the image of Jenna Jay flashed in his mind. Or more like multiple images. Jenna Jay in a short skirt and high heels wobbling down the path in Central Park. Jenna Jay in boxers and a white tank standing by the window in her apartment talking about Texas. Jenna Jay in western wear and a sexy cowboy hat driving Moses’ truck. Jenna sitting on his lap in the bathtub with her shirt unsnapped, showing off her pretty little mole above her even prettier rose nipple. He could only imagine what Jenna would do if Davy ended up with cancer. She’d probably single-handedly come up with a cure.

Damn, tenacious woman.

Beau drifted off to sleep thinking about Jenna, so it wasn’t surprising that he dreamed about her. Dreamed of lying with her in a bed of lilacs. They weren’t naked or even close to having sex. They were just lying there, looking up at the clear blue sky and listening to the sound of birds chirping and bees buzzing. And a heart beating. A slow and steady thump that was calming. But then suddenly, the thumping stopped, and there was nothing but silence. No birds. No bees. Nothing.

Then Jenna lifted her head and her cool fingers slid through his hair, strong and reassuring. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t hear his heartbeat. All that mattered were the soft lips that brushed his.

Reaching out to cradle her head, Beau deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth. She gasped, and his eyes opened. He expected to see eyes as blue as a
summer sky above their heads. Instead, they were a deep innocent brown.

Beau jerked back from the kiss and stared into Starlet’s flaming face.

“Shit!” He scrambled back so quickly that he flipped off the other side of the hammock and landed in the grass.

“Oh!” Starlet said. “Are you all right? Did you break anything? Do I need to call an ambulance?”

He rolled to his back only to come face to face with Starlet’s bosom that spilled over the top of her dress. Most men would’ve appreciated the nice display. It just made Beau mad at the hens for not making Starlet dress appropriately. He took his anger out on Starlet.