Texas Rose Forever (Texas Rose Ranch #1) (26 page)

Lefty froze and the look of horror on his face was almost comical. “No.”

It was her turn to cross her arms. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Am not.” He looked honestly offended. “I’m a wonderful liar.”

“Tell me about Loco Hernandez.” She was being pushy, but she needed to know the truth.

He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I can’t. The Rose family has been good to me. They picked me up, dusted me off, and made me part of the family. I ain’t gonna betray that.” He held her gaze for several seconds. “I can’t.”

“So it’s true.” She swayed a little and put a hand out to the wall to steady herself. This was major and could potentially ruin the Texas Rose Ranch.

“Yes.” His voice was a choked whisper.

This was bad. While her mind had known that Tres was really Loco, her heart hadn’t believed it until now. She shook her head. “What do I do?”

He walked to her and took her hand. “I got no idea.”

Recently, she’d been leading with her head and now it was time to follow her heart. Her career as a genealogist wasn’t as important to her as Cinco. Besides, who was actually going to read the damn book anyway, so who would know that she’d left out a fairly significant detail like, oh, um, say, the ranch actually didn’t belong to the Rose family.

“I’m going to pretend that Loco really was Tres.” The words felt heavy in her mouth.

“I’d say that was the easy way out and I’m not sure you’re one for easy street.” He led her to the chair and nodded for her to sit down. “Tres was like a father to me, nicest man you’d ever meet. Give you the shirt off his back if he saw you needed it.”

He smiled, lost in memory. “My little boy had just died. He was two . . . name was Jimmy. My ex was drinking and got behind the wheel—killed herself and Jimmy. I drowned my grief with the bottle.” He shook his head. “Whole chunks of time I can’t remember. I don’t even know how I got to Fredericksburg, but I ended up behind the wheel of my old Chevy Apache pickup. I didn’t know who I was or where I was, but I was going somewhere. This was before drinking and driving was against the law. I pulled onto the highway and crashed into Tres’s pickup truck. No one got hurt but our trucks was all messed up. I stumbled out of my truck looking for a fight. I saw them scars on his face and hesitated. Tres just looked at me and said, ‘You look like a man who needs a second chance. We all have scars. Yours are on the inside.’ He drove me to the ranch and I’ve been here ever since.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Not that it wasn’t nice, but it did seem out of character.

“Because I want you to know who Tres Rose was. He weren’t just some name on a piece of paper, he was a man who saw the good in everyone. Whether he was born into the Rose family or not, he loved this land and the ranch was better for it.” He smiled sadly. “You’re a good person, and leaving out a big thing like this is going to weigh on you. I just thought it would make it easier to know that he was more of a Rose than the man whose place he took. Miss Edith didn’t have the best of things to say about her nephew.”

CanDee sat up. “You knew Edith?”

“Yes. She died a year after I come to live here. She was feisty as hell. Kind of like you.” He pointed to her. “She and Mel were quite a pair. Always picking at each other in the way that some old married couples do, but there was love there. Mel was lost after Miss Edith passed. It was hard to watch.”

“I would have loved to have met her . . . well, both of them.” CanDee felt like she already knew them.

“Miss Edith was a fine lady. Always had her hair done and her dresses were pressed. She loved to cook and made homemade birthday cakes for everyone on the ranch. She was the type of lady who smiled and remembered your name, but if you got mud on her floor, she would give you so much hell that you’d get all teary eyed.” Lefty had loved Edith, that much was evident.

CanDee put her hand on his. “Thanks. I’m going to leave it out. I can’t stand the thought of the Texas Rose not being owned and cared for by the Rose family.” It wasn’t only because she loved Cinco that she would omit such a huge detail, it was because she loved Edith and Mel and in some way respected their wishes. More than any other place, this ranch felt like home. Generations of blood, sweat, and tears shed by the Roses and, well, Hernandezes on this ranch and the tender, loving care they took of the land and livestock would all be for nothing if the ranch changed hands. If she told the truth, she’d be dishonoring the past instead of honoring a rich Texas legacy.

She didn’t have any other choice. Edith and Mel had done the right thing and she refused to undo their work.

CHAPTER 26

“Is this a bad time?” Cinco saw CanDee and Lefty holding hands. Based on his history, this little domestic scene should unnerve him, but he knew that Lefty and CanDee holding hands likely meant they were arm-wrestling or one of them had that buzzer handshake thing that shocked people.

They dropped their hands and turned around.

He saw no guilt—not that he was looking for it, but it was nice there wasn’t any.

“I was just telling the hellcat about Miss Edith.” Lefty shook his head and then nodded at CanDee. “She’s so much like her.”

“Thank you.” CanDee grinned. “Edith’s pretty high on my list of dead people I’d love to have dinner with.”

“She’s dead. That gross.” Lefty waved. “Gotta go. I got an engine up on blocks and I gotta figure out why she ain’t working.”

“How about you look at it after you fill Rita up with gas?” CanDee leaned down and kissed the old man on the cheek. “You may find that your life works better if I have gas and tires . . . at the same time.”

“My life’s just fine the way it is.” His faded brown eye gleamed. He shuffled out of the front door.

“He gave me back my tires but shorted my gas.” CanDee grinned. “Tonight, I’m going to rearrange his tools. I can’t wait.”

She practically vibrated with excitement.

“Your relationship with Lefty is interesting.” He slid his arms around her and pulled her in tight. He’d missed her today. Not stopping by for lunch because he had a long call from his attorney had made him mad and surly this afternoon.

Today, Cinco had filed a suit against Phillip Harcourt on her behalf. Now all he had to do was tell her. He opened his mouth to spill, but nothing came out.

“So, I was thinking that we could make French bread pizzas out of the stale French bread I bought the other day. Sound good to you?” Her voice was muffled because her face was tucked into his shoulder.

“That sounds perfect.” This was what he’d always wanted—she was the life he wanted. Just standing here holding her soothed his bad day away. He could do this forever.

Unfortunately, they needed to talk about life after she finished her book, but he wasn’t a hundred percent certain if that would go in his favor. He didn’t doubt that CanDee loved him, but asking her to move down here permanently was altogether different. While she loved the ranch, he had no idea if she wanted to make it her home.

“How’s the genealogy coming along?” He decided to start off slowly.

Under his hands, she stiffened.

Something was definitely not right.

“Good . . . fine.” Her voice was overly bright. “I had no idea that Lefty knew Edith.”

“Apparently she loved nothing more than a second-chance story.” With her head rested on his shoulder, he was disposed to think that right now all was good and kind in the world. “I don’t know the story, but I think he was an alcoholic.”

“He told me that after his son died, he tried to drink the grief away.” She patted Cinco on the back, loosened her hold, and stepped back.

“Lefty had a son? I never knew the particulars.” Clearly Lefty really liked CanDee and had confided in her. To his knowledge, the old man hadn’t disclosed that information to any of Cinco’s immediate family.

She shifted from foot to foot. She was acting strange.

“Something wrong?” Cinco’s hands balled into fists. Had Phillip tried contacting her again?

“Yes and no. I’ve run into a little snafu with the genealogy.” She sucked in her lower lip. “Are there any more family pictures anywhere?”

Good, it was just the book and nothing major.

“Maybe. When I was a kid, my grandmother, Susie, showed me a huge brown Kirby vacuum cleaner box full of old photos. I haven’t thought of it in years. Maybe it’s in my parents’ attic or even here?” He pointed to the ceiling.

“You Roses sure do like attic space.” She glanced at the ceiling and the smallest glimmer of anticipation sparkled in her eyes.

He looked around until he found the trapdoor in the ceiling. It was close to the front door. “Let’s see if there’s a fold-down ladder.”

He grabbed a chair, positioned it under the trapdoor, and climbed up. There wasn’t a string hanging down, which made him think that there wasn’t a ladder. A small brass drawer pull served as the opener and he felt the weight in his hands. He yanked and the attached door with a small wooden ladder attached squeaked open. He jumped down and extended the ladder.

CanDee grabbed the ladder and stepped on the first rung, but he put a hand on her shoulder. “Me first. I don’t know how safe this is and I don’t know what’s up there. Plus, you probably have on tiny underwear and that would distract me.”

“I’ve never met a man more interested in my undergarments.” A sexy smile curled on her lips. “I’ll just wait down here and watch your ass in those tight jeans.”

“My jeans aren’t tight.” He tried to look behind himself and did the whole dog-chasing-its-tail routine.

“You know, you have a great ass and I’m so glad your jeans are molded to the fine piece of work.” She smacked it lightly.

He knew he was wearing a stupid grin, but he couldn’t help it. She liked his backside. He knew that she loved him, but it certainly was a boost to the old ego that she liked the look of his body. With an exaggerated hip shake, he stuck his boot on the first rung and tested it. It held his weight. He tried the next one and his foot didn’t fall through so he tried the next one and the next until he made it to the top. With one hand holding on to the ladder, he felt around with the other hand for a light switch. After some flailing, he finally found it and flicked the switch. Mainly this was a cavernous open space of nothingness, except for a few boxes stacked in a corner.

“There are some boxes. I’ll get them and hand them down to you,” he called over his shoulder. He had no idea what could be in the boxes. They kept the ranch files and paperwork in a storage building, so it couldn’t be ranch business.

Careful to only step on the wooden rafters, he made his way to the left back corner of the attic. One by one, he brought three boxes to the trapdoor opening.

“I’m going to hand them down to you one at a time,” he called down to her. He eyed the V-neck of her dress and grinned. “From up here, I can see down your dress . . . nice.”

“Goodness me, it’s hot in here.” She pulled her neckline out. “Does that give you a better view?”

“Yes, ma’am. Are you going to show me more of that red bra later?” Not only was he in love with CanDee, but he really liked her too. Even digging around in a stifling hot attic with her was fun.

After handing her the boxes, he folded up the ladder and closed the trapdoor.

“I think we struck out.” She tossed a deflated football in the air and caught it. “Unless you want me to include your dad’s old football trophies, a very extensive baseball card collection, or a turntable and some speakers that might have been the height of technology when Ronald Reagan was president, I don’t see anything of historical value.”

“Trophies?” He went over to the box and sure enough, there were lots of football trophies, ranging from peewee to high school. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to get these back. My mother won’t. She’s probably the one who put them up here in the first place.”

“Should we just quietly put them back and forget we ever found them?” CanDee folded the flaps of the box back in.

“No, I think he’ll want them. He has an office and I’m sure he can sweet-talk my mother into letting him display them there.” Now that he had what his parents had, he understood a little more how their relationship worked. Love based on mutual respect and affection was something beautiful. He hadn’t had that solid foundation with Naomi.

“Why are you smiling?” She glanced down at the boxes like she couldn’t see what was making him happy.

“Because I love you and that makes me smile.” He slid a hand around her waist and pulled her into him.

“You’re not getting sappy on me, are you?” She gave him a big smacking kiss on the lips. “Because I like it and I love that you love me.”

“I love that you love that I love you.” He returned the smacking kiss.

Gagging noises came from the doorway. “You two are so sweet that my blood sugar just spiked.”

It was Rowdy.

“You’re just jealous because all you have to keep you warm at night is Elvis.” Cinco grinned.

“Elvis Presley?” CanDee glanced up at Cinco.

“No, my basset hound,” Rowdy said. “I named him Elvis because he looks like the King of Rock and Roll in the fat years after a two-day bender. Cinco’s just jealous because Elvis hates him. He started out as Cinco’s puppy, but once he met me, he packed up his dog toys and moved to my house.” Rowdy hunched his shoulders. “What can you do? The dog clearly has taste.”

“Taste, my ass. That dog is psycho and has a stupid name. When he was mine, his name was Merle. That’s a perfectly good basset hound name.”

“Not according to Elvis.” Rowdy glanced down at the boxes. “Found some more moldy old records that just make your little hearts go pitter-pat?”

“Don’t make me kill you in front of company. Mom would be so mad.” Cinco slid his hand down to CanDee’s lower back. “Did you come in here just to piss me off or did you have a real reason?”

“So much hostility. Where’s the love?” He looked at CanDee. “He’s so negative. It just breaks my heart.”

“Are you almost done?” Cinco made a big show of checking his watch. His brother was one of the most infuriating people on planet earth. He was pretty sure even Mother Teresa would have lost her patience with him.

“I just came to see if her cousin found CanDee.” Rowdy nodded in the direction of the cottage. “I saw him knocking on the door and sent him to your place.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I told him that you were hot and heavy with my big bro.”

“Cousin?” Her brows scrunched up. “I don’t have any cousins. Both of my parents were only children.”

The hair on the back of Cinco’s neck stood up. “What did he look like?”

“Um . . . I don’t know. Tall, blond, average looking. He drove a sweet red Boxster Spyder.” He looked from Cinco to CanDee and back to Cinco. “I don’t understand.”

“Phillip.” CanDee shook her head like she just didn’t believe it. “He really must need the next book badly.”

“I think it’s restraining-order time.” Her ex was stalking her and Cinco wasn’t about to stand for it. The worried look on her face made him want to use her ex as a speed bump.

CanDee was as tense as a baling wire.

She opened her mouth to argue and then closed it. “He’s getting desperate.”

“Who’s Phillip?” Rowdy went into protection mode. Cinco’s little brother wouldn’t let anyone mess with his family and clearly, he thought of CanDee as family. Cinco’d never loved his brother more.

“My ex-boyfriend.” She dropped her gaze to the floor like she was ashamed.

Cinco pulled her in closer. It tore him up. This was not her fault.

“Was he the guy Lefty punched at Cranky Frank’s?” Rowdy’s brow flattened . . . yep, he was itching to mix it up.

“Yes.” Cinco should have told his family about CanDee’s ex, but he thought Lefty had taken care of the problem. Phillip had balls to show his face on Rose property.

One of Rowdy’s eyebrows arched and he shot Cinco a look. “Let’s go see if he’s still around here somewhere.”

It wasn’t a question but an order. Rowdy may have been a pain in the ass, but there was no one more loyal. If someone messed with his family, he was ruthless.

“That is an excellent idea.” Cinco could feel a nice rage simmering through his body. His hand dropped from CanDee’s waist and he kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Go to the main house, find my dad, and tell him what’s going on. Stay there. I’ll come and get you after I’ve made sure that he’s gone.”

He didn’t give her a chance to argue. He nodded to his younger brother and then stepped out into the sunny spring afternoon.