Brick briefly considered lifting one of the cuticle sticks from the manicure table and stabbing it into his eye. Or, better yet, through the actress’s long, lovely throat.
Too bad he wasn’t a masochist or a murderer. As the owner/operator of Stardance River Camp he could do nothing except stand there and let her slice him up, down, and sideways with the stiletto she used as her tongue.
When she finally ran down a bit, he ventured, “I assure you, our masseuse is highly trained and he comes to us with fabulous references. He’s worked at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.”
“I don’t care if he worked at the White House. He’s unacceptable. I don’t like his hands. I’ll expect someone new for my four o’clock massage.”
Brick closed his eyes and counted to three. He cleared his voice before he spoke in a modulated tone. “Blake is the only male masseuse I have available. I do have a female who could possibly take your appointment today.”
He’d probably have to pay Gina triple her usual rate plus babysit her two kids to get her up here today. She usually worked at the Angel’s Rest spa, but she’d taken the summer off to stay home with her elementary-school-aged children. However, Brick knew the kids were in vacation Bible school this week, so maybe she’d take pity on him.
The actress gave a dismissive wave and a disgusted sigh. “Never mind. I’ll fly my Tomás in from Beverly Hills, but I will expect some accommodation in my bill. Really, this is just intolerable.”
You’re telling me.
“We’ve replaced all the soaps, lotions, and shampoos with the Heavenscents fragrance you requested yesterday.” Never mind that the stuff he’d replaced had been imported from France at her demand.
“Well, that’s something. I will say the items my assistant has been able to find in town are quality. Perhaps you could arrange an after-hours shopping trip for me? Of course, I’d need signed confidentiality affidavits. And heaven knows, no teenage clerks. Shop owners only.”
“I’ll see what I can set up. Is there a particular day you’d like to go?”
“I think tomorrow.”
“I imagine our businesses would need a little more lead time than that. This is our summer season.”
She wrinkled her nose and sniffed. “Try.”
Brick managed to keep his expression neutral as he asked, “Anything else before I leave?”
“Yes. Double the number of cinnamon rolls for our breakfast. Broderick particularly likes them.”
“Will do. If you think of anything else, you have my number.” Brick tipped his hat toward the actress, then used long, fast strides to escape to River Camp’s office, where his managers waited to speak with him. Please, God. Don’t let them quit.
It was touch-and-go for a bit and he had to spend a lot of time listening and soothing feathers and apologizing, but he managed to talk the married couple, both former managers for Marriott, into staying. When he climbed into River Camp’s limousine used to ferry guests to and from the airport, he desperately wanted to grab a beer from the bar in the back. Instead, he called his dad.
“Where are you?” Brick asked when Mark Callahan answered the call.
“My brood arrived at the North Forty about twenty minutes ago. It was Luke’s turn to bring your grandfather and you know Branch.”
“He had them on the road before daylight?”
“You guessed it. They’re settled in and the girls are already fishing.”
“What about Matthew?”
“They’re behind us a way. How about you? You are coming to dinner tonight, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. I’m driving in from River Camp now, but I need to make a couple stops and a handful of phone calls before I call it a day. Look for me around five thirty, I’d guess.” About the time Cam’s guys were picking up the four-wheelers. Wonder if Liliana and Patsy caught any fish? Wonder if they struck out and gave up and were already back at the RV camp?
Guess he’d see when he got there.
“The dance hall looks great, Brick,” his father added. “You did a fine job finishing it out.”
“Not me so much as Jax Lancaster. The man does good woodwork for a nuclear engineer. So what’s for dinner?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
Brick grinned and in that moment felt better than he’d felt in days. “Branch killed the fatted calf?”
“More than one of them. Dry-aged prime beef. I think a couple of rib eyes have your name on them.”
“There is nothing better than the day when Texas comes to Colorado. Looking forward to seeing y’all, Dad.”
“We’re anxious to see you, too.”
“Tell Annabelle I’m bringing dessert.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“It’s a surprise.” He’d sweet-talked Maggie Romano into making one of her Italian cream cakes for the Callahan family’s first-night dinner. A beep signaled an incoming call. Josh’s number. Brick said, “Gotta answer this, Dad. I’ll see you later.”
Brick pushed “accept call” on the limo’s screen and when the call connected said, “What’s up, Josh?”
“Where are you, boss?”
“Headed your way. Ten minutes out.”
“Is Courtney with you, by any chance?”
“No.”
“She didn’t show up for her shift. I went and knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. Her car’s not here, either.”
Brick grimaced. What next? “Great. Just great.”
“Want me to call in one of the teenagers to cover the desk?”
“Yes. I was going to do that anyway. I planned to ask Courtney to make an airport pickup this evening.”
“Another guest at River Camp?”
“The Wicked Witch of the West Coast is bringing in her own masseuse from Hollyweird. She doesn’t like Jenkins’s hands.”
Josh muttered a curse. “I’m getting real tired of that lady, boss. Want me to make the run for you? I heard your family is in town.”
“She’s no lady. And thanks, but I’ll find someone else. You’re family, so you’re invited to dinner, too.”
“I appreciate that, but I’d rather wait until Paul and Cindy arrive. It’s a Callahan night. You take tonight with them. I’ll go pick up your Californian.”
“Thanks, Brother.”
“You’re welcome. Just bring me back a rib eye from Texas north, would you?”
“How did you know that’s what’s for dinner?”
“Your uncle Gabe told me when he stopped by earlier to invite me and Courtney to join y’all.”
“Ah.” At the mention of his foster sister, Brick frowned. “Wonder what’s up with her? It isn’t like her to just not show up.”
“Maybe she just got her days mixed up. She’s probably in town shopping or something.”
“Yeah.” Brick pulled the limo into the entrance to the campsite and glanced toward his normal parking spot. The truck wasn’t there. Patsy and Liliana weren’t back yet. Maybe those new flies Cam sold ’em had brought them a lot of luck.
Steak for supper. Italian cream cake for dessert. Maybe some trout for breakfast. Things were looking up.
Or so he thought.
* * *
“Is that a bear?” Patsy asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Maybe a mountain lion, then?”
“Doesn’t sound like a cat.” Lili lifted her walking stick from the ground and held it like a club. “Maybe a … coyote?”
Grrrrrrr.
“But you’re sure it’s not a bear?”
Lili couldn’t say much of anything. She was shaking in her boots. How stupid was this to take off hiking in the mountains without a weapon of any sort?
Well, other than a walking stick. She could use this nifty walking stick to defend herself and a dying woman from a rabid coyote or wild hog. “Do they have wild hogs in Colorado like they do at home?”
“I don’t know.”
Grrrrrr.…
“That’s not a snort. Hogs snort. That’s definitely a growl. There are wolves in Colorado. Someone in town was telling me a story about this family who—“
Patsy’s nervous chatter broke off when the bushes began to move. Lili stepped forward, moving between Patsy and the threat. Softly, she said, “Slowly back away, Patsy.”
“Lili. You, too.”
“I will. Just—”
A snout pushed forward out of the brush. Long and narrow, white-gold fur on a black nose. Big brown eyes gazing up at Lili with a glazed combination of pain and weakness.
“That’s no wolf. Look, Lili. That’s a dog.” Patsy walked around Lili and approached the dog. He growled menacingly.
Lili put out her hand to stop Patsy. “He could be rabid, Patsy.”
“Look at those eyes. They’re not wild looking. They’re filled with pain. This dog is hurt.”
“Yes, I think you’re right.” Carefully, Lili leaned forward and attempted to peer into the bush where the dog lay hidden. Poor baby. She saw matted fur and dried streaks of brown that might have been mud or blood. “Hello, boy,” she said in a calm, gentle voice. “Or girl. Can’t tell which. Do you need some help? We’d like to help you.”
The animal’s growl softened to a whimper.
“I think she’s a golden retriever. Look at all the gray on her snout. She’s not young.” Patsy’s voice hardened as she added, “An old dog. I wonder if somebody brought her out to the wilderness and dumped her. It happens, you know.”
“I know. People can be horribly cruel. Do you have any water left in your bottle?”
Pasty handed it over, and Lili went down on her knees. She poured a little into her cupped hand and carefully held it out to the dog. He lapped it up as if he were dying of thirst.
Lili poured him more and most of the tension left her body. “That a boy. Good boy. You were thirsty, weren’t you?”
“I don’t think we need to worry that he’s rabid. Here, Lili, I have a protein bar. It’s one of those made with meat. See if he wants that.”
Patsy unwrapped the bar and handed it to Lili. She broke off a piece and the dog wolfed it down. Lili rose back to her feet and extended her hand with another piece, attempting to lure the dog out of the shrub and onto his paws.
He tried, but the women quickly realized he was a she and had something wrong with at least one of her hind legs. “You poor girl. Here.” Lili gave her the rest of the protein bar. “Well, what are we going to do, Patsy? Should one of us stay here with her and the other go for help?”
“She looks to be mostly fur and skin and bones. Any chance you could carry her?”
“If she’ll let me. But I don’t know that I could carry her all the way down to the truck. And I don’t see managing her and a four-wheeler.”
“We won’t go to the truck. We’ll go down to Brick’s River Camp and ask for help.”
Lili’s teeth chewed at her bottom lip. “I don’t like the idea of trespassing, but this is an emergency.”
“A matter of life and death.”
“People will tell us we’re stupid to get involved with an injured stray dog this way.”
“I quit worrying about what other people say fifty years ago,” Patsy replied with a dismissive wave.
Lili knelt beside the dog once again. “Okay, sweetheart. Patsy and I are going to try to help you. Will you let us? No biting, now. Sweet puppy dog.” She reached out a hand and gently stroked the dog’s head. “You’re a sweet thing, aren’t you? Good girl. Good girl.”
Lili spent almost five minutes petting and crooning to the dog before she judged her comfortable enough to attempt to pick up. The dog let out a yelp of pain, but she didn’t snap at Lili.
“Good girls,” Patsy said. “Both of you. Good girls. How heavy is she?”
“Not heavy enough for a dog with her frame. Maybe forty pounds?”
“She’s been on her own awhile.” Patsy took a better look at the dog’s legs and shook her head. Pulling her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, she said, “She’s tangled with something. Another animal, I’ll bet. Her wound is obviously infected. The vet in town … what’s her name?”
“Lori. Lori Timberlake. Her business is the Eternity Springs Veterinary Clinic.”
“I’ll call her as soon as we have a signal. Now, let me lead the way, Lili. I’ll watch the trail and warn you of the tricky spots.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The hike down the mountain to Stardance River Camp proved challenging in a couple of different ways. Twice a split in the trail left them unsure of which path to take. Luckily, signs of the recent passage of a four-wheeler provided the clue of where to go. Once Patsy had to sit and slide to negotiate a particularly steep section of trail. With her longer legs, Lili was able to make her way down by walking sideways. The dog whined and whimpered, but she proved to be a trooper. Lili talked to her almost nonstop.
Finally, the trail twisted around a bend and gently sloped another twenty yards to a meadow. Patsy got a cell signal and called the vet clinic. Lili got her first good look at the collection of tents that lined a bubbling mountain stream. Under other circumstances, she’d have stopped and marveled at their size, but right now her back ached and she wanted to sit down.
The last thing she needed was to be accosted by a big, brawny man wearing fatigues and carrying a gun.
* * *
Brick sat next to his dad on the tailgate of his uncle Luke’s pickup, a cold beer in his hand and a grin on his face as he watched the Callahan cousins play tag along the lakefront and listened to them laugh. Bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeños sizzled on two of the outdoor kitchen’s grills. Texas Red Dirt music drifted from speakers located strategically across the property.
“So, you want to tell us what had you so worked up when you got here?”
“Not especially.”
His father and all three uncles gave him the hairy eyeball. Brick sighed. “Just a pesky bookkeeping problem. I need Courtney to help me figure it out, but she wasn’t at work today. It’ll keep until tomorrow.”
“I was hoping she and Josh would come to dinner tonight,” said his stepmother, Annabelle, as she stepped between Brick and Mark and wiggled her butt so that the two men would scoot over and make room for her on the tailgate. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Josh, and I’d like to meet your sister.”
“I’m sure they’ll both be here for the Fourth.”
“What do you hear from Paul and Cindy?” his father asked. “Are they enjoying their cruise?”
“Judging by her Facebook posts, Mom certainly is. I’m getting tired of looking at dessert pictures, though.”
A shout from behind them had everyone’s heads turning. Branch Callahan, the patriarch of the family, drove his motorized wheelchair toward the spot where his sons, daughters-in-law, and eldest grandson were congregated. “Hey, boy. I drive all this way to see you and you don’t come inside the house to say hello?”
“I did. Figured I’d kiss your ring later, though, because you were on the throne.”
Branch broke out in a loud guffaw as Brick slid off the tailgate and strode toward him. When the octogenarian showed no sign of slowing down, Brick held up his hands palms out. “Jeez, Branch. You gonna put the brakes on before you hit the lake?”
“I like to stir me up some dust.”
He did just that and once he’d stopped, rather than shake his hand, Brick leaned down and gave him a hug, not too hard, because age had whittled away at the once-brawny man. Still, Branch remained far from frail. “It’s good to see you, Granddad. You’re lookin’ good. Like the fishing shirt.”
“You don’t have to tuck it in. That’s the style. I’m told I’m fashion-forward.”
“You’re a lot of things, Branch.”
“Truer words were never spoken,” Matt Callahan drawled.
Branch ignored his son’s comment as he surveyed the company. “Where’s John Gabriel and his family? Why aren’t they here to greet us?”
Luke’s wife, Maddie, said, “Nic has the baby at a doctor’s appointment. The twins are with Gabe up at the Rocking L camp delivering our Callahan Fourthfest T-shirts to the kids. They’ll all be here by time we put the steaks on. Would you like a glass of lemonade, Branch?”
“You know better than that, girl. It’s cocktail hour. I’ll have a bourbon and branch.” He turned a narrow-eyed gaze on Brick and added, “I need to talk to you, boy. You have sorely disappointed me.”
Brick grinned and sipped his beer. Hearing this old, familiar lecture was like coming home.
“I’m dying, you know. A heart attack waiting to happen.”
As one, his three sons snorted. Branch Callahan had been “dying” from “heart attacks” for years.
“You are selfishly denying me the chance to meet my first great-grandchild before I pass to my reward. What do you have to say for yourself, young man?”
“The same thing I always say, Granddad. When I meet a woman who is Callahan quality—as beautiful as Annabelle, as sweet as Aunt Maddie, as special as Aunt Torie, and as loving as Aunt Nic—I’ll snap her up in a heartbeat.” Even as the words left his mouth, Brick felt a wave of unease. Holy crap.
For the first time in all the years he’d been using that excuse with Branch, he couldn’t deny having met that woman.
Branch harrumphed. “I’ll give you that such women are rare, but they’re out there. I expect you to get off your butt and find one.”
“Yessir.”
“Okay, then.”
Just then three honks of a horn sounded, car doors slammed, and two girls came running. “We’re here! We’re here!”
Gabe and Nic Callahan’s twin daughters, Cari and Meg, dashed to greet their cousins, aunts, uncles, and beloved Grandpa Branch. The already-celebratory atmosphere raised another notch as the family embraced the reunion that never got old—that of John Gabriel Callahan, his father, and three brothers.
For a number of years that had come close to destroying the family, Branch and his three elder sons had believed that John Gabriel was dead. Brick would never forget that Christmas when his cousin opened the front door of Branch’s house in Brazos Bend, Texas, to reveal a miracle, the return of the man who took their broken family and made it whole.
After life dealt him a series of horrific blows, the youngest Callahan brother had gone to Colorado to die. Instead, Eternity Springs had worked its magic on him and he’d found a reason to live. Nicole Anderson and a dog named Clarence helped his heart to heal, and he’d made a new life for himself. But by the time he’d worked up the courage to return home to Texas, it had almost been too late. Branch lay on his deathbed—legitimately, for once—and the family had gathered for a funeral. Gabe’s knock on the door had been the Callahan family’s Christmas miracle. He’d brought a little bit of Eternity Springs’ healing magic with him to Texas, and with his family reunited Branch had rallied.
Now years later, Brick still choked up at the memory.
So intent was he on watching the five men he admired most in the world greet one another in the way of men with backslaps and jibes and insults that he almost didn’t notice that his phone was ringing.
He didn’t recognize the number, so he let the call go to voice mail. Almost immediately it rang again. Same number. As he watched his dad swing Cari Callahan around and Uncle Luke do the same to Meg, he gave in and answered. “Callahan.”
“Hey, Brick. Zach Turner here. I need you to come by the office ASAP.”
Brick’s thoughts immediately went to Courtney. The smile on his face slowly died and his knees went a little weak. He leaned back against his uncle’s truck for support. “My office? The RV camp?”
“No,” Zach replied. “My office. There was trouble up at your River Camp. I have some women here in jail and I need you to help sort things out.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
Zach’s sigh was long and put-upon. “Just get over here, Callahan. And if you happen to run into your aunt, send her this way, too. We have a seriously injured dog, and Lori is up at the Rocking L lecturing the kids on one of Celeste’s nature hikes. This dog needs attention fast.”
Whatever had happened, Brick knew one thing for sure. The Wicked Witch of the West Coast had struck again. “All right, Zach. Nic is with me. We’ll head that way.”
“Sooner the better. It’s ugly around here.”
Brick disconnected the call, his mouth set in an angry line, and he went to join the family who were still in the process of greeting Gabe and Nic. “Sorry to do this,” he interrupted. “I just got a call from the sheriff and I guess I have some trouble. He needs me at his office. I have to go now.”
The Callahan brothers shared a look. Uncle Matt said, “We’ll come with you.”
“No, I’m not in trouble. Something happened at River Camp. Only thing I know is that it involves a dog.” Brick glanced at Nic. “Zach asked for you to come, too. Lori’s out-of-pocket and the dog is seriously injured.”
“Sure,” Nic said. “Let me get my bag.”
“Do I need to take you by your house for it?”
“No. I always carry it with me in the car.”
Brick started toward the Stardance Ranch Jeep he was driving since Liliana and Patsy still had his truck when he’d left for the North Forty. He called over his shoulder, “I’ll bring her back ASAP. Save me some steak!”
It was a ten-minute drive from the Callahan property to the sheriff’s office in town. Brick wasn’t the least bit surprised to see another of the family vehicles following him. In many respects, trouble was the Callahan family business.
“Can you tell me anything else about the dog, Brick?” Nic asked. She’d been the town’s only veterinarian until her protégée, Lori Timberlake, graduated from vet school and took over Nic’s practice. Nic was a contented stay-at-home mother now, though she did fill in for Lori during circumstances like today.
“No,” Brick replied. “All Zach said was that it’s seriously injured. He didn’t mention breed or size of what type of injury.”
“I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”
They drove in silence for a couple of minutes before Nic said, “Your grandfather looks good.”
“He does. It’s like he went into reverse-aging mode on that first Christmas when Gabe brought you to Brazos Bend.”
“Gabe needs to get back to Texas more often than he does. That fifteen-hour car ride is a killer with the kids. But JG will be walking soon and that will make traveling easier.”
“How does Clarence travel? He’s getting up there in years himself.” Gabe’s dog was an integral part of their family. They never traveled without him.
“He does great. Ten times better than the twins. Hmm … maybe the thing to do would be to board the girls and take Clarence and JG with us.”
Brick’s smile faded as he made the turn onto Cottonwood Street and spied the crowd gathered outside of the sheriff’s office. “Oh, man. This doesn’t look good.”
“Who is up at River Camp right now, Brick?”
“I can’t say. I’ve signed every legal document known to man and will have to give her my left kidney, right lung, and firstborn if I so much as whisper her name.”
“Firstborn?” Nic piped up. “Does that mean there’s one on the radar?”
“You are such a female relative,” he grumbled as he pulled his truck into the parking lot across from the sheriff’s office. “If this costs me the rental fees, I may have to sell the kidney she doesn’t take.”
They climbed out of the Jeep and Nic grabbed her physician’s bag. They crossed the street and wouldn’t have made it through the throng if the deputy guarding the doorway hadn’t directed the crowd to let them through. As they climbed the steps to the front door, Brick asked the deputy, “What’s going on?”
“Zach will brief you. Glad to see you, Dr. Nic. I have a soft spot for dogs and this old girl is just pitiful.”
“Where is she?”
“The breakroom.”
Familiar with the sheriff’s office, Nic headed for the breakroom the moment they stepped inside. Brick scanned the room for the sheriff. Zach Turner sat with a hip propped on his desk, his eyes closed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he spoke into the phone.
“I understand, Governor.… Yes.… Yes.… No.” He listened for half a minute, his mouth settling into a grim line. “No, sir, I won’t do that. I don’t care who she is. This isn’t Washington, D.C. This is Eternity Springs, Colorado. Nobody is above the law here.”
Zach listened a few more minutes. He quit rubbing his brow and began rubbing his neck. That’s when Brick noticed that the sheriff had a black eye.
Brick’s phone rang. He checked the number. Didn’t recognize it, so he ignored it. It rang three more times in the next minute—three more numbers he didn’t recognize—so he switched it off.
“Yessir,” Zach said. “I will do that, sir. Yes, Governor.”
Brick’s father and three uncles stepped into the sheriff’s office as Zach finally returned the desk phone receiver to its cradle. Brick didn’t give him a chance to take a breath before he asked, “Zach, what the hell is going on here?”
Zach sighed heavily, slid onto his feet, and gestured for Brick to follow him. He led the way into the section of the jail that contained the holding cells. Brick wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the Wicked Witch of the West Coast in one.
Discovering Liliana Howe in another left him speechless.