Chapter Eight
Becky eyed her hand-drawn design. Her latest client, Marla, had darker skin, and that would make the pale yellow color look like a strip of morning sunlight across her body. The diagonal, off-one-shoulder cut added to that imagery, plus it was very sensual. But it needed a tad more oomph. She pondered that while methodically sewing the pieces of the dress together on her portable sewing machine.
The doorbell rang.
Jiggy raced out to bark at the door in case Becky didn’t understand the concept of the doorbell. She set the dress aside and followed her dog to discover three women on the porch. “Hi Lucinda.” Her former boss was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, her dark hair loose and wavy around her shoulders. But the other two had her at a loss. “Uh, Logan’s not here, he’s out checking on some sick cattle, but I can call him if you need me to.” She had his cell phone number now, and generally knew his schedule. He preferred to work the ranch in the morning and his camp in the afternoon. But his father kept making more and more demands on Logan’s time.
Lucinda cut into her thoughts and held out an envelope. “I brought by your final paycheck.” She nodded at the two women with her. “This is Pricilla, Logan’s stepmother, and his sister. They insisted on accompanying me.”
A woman with chic dark hair and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen held out her hand. “Hello, Becky. Congratulations on your marriage.”
“Thank you.” After shaking hands, Becky smoothed her tank top, and tried not to think about her worn jeans or bare feet. Oh Lord, her hair—she’d clipped it up to get it out of her way.
“This is my daughter, Pam.”
The girl was around Becky’s age. She had a heart-shaped face with blue-gray eyes, and she was rocking a short skirt and boots. Becky crossed one foot over the other, wishing she was better dressed. But at least she could show some manners. “Would you like to come in? I’m sorry for the mess, I wasn’t expecting company.” She glared at Lucinda.
Pricilla glided past her. “We’re not company, we’re family. No need to fret. We really need to get working on your reception.”
“Reception?”
“Mom loves any excuse for a party.” Pam bent down to Jiggy. “Oh, who’s this? He’s so sweet.”
“Where would be the best place for us to work?” Pricilla looked around the living room and dining room covered in material.
Becky couldn’t get her bearings. She focused on Pam first. “His name is Jiggy.” Her dog climbed up on Pam’s lap. “He’s a bit of a flirt with women.”
“Maybe we could work out back on the deck?”
Becky turned to her mother-in-law. “I’m a little confused. Logan and I aren’t having a reception.”
Pricilla smiled and put her hand on Becky’s shoulder. “I’d really love to do this for you. I want to show off Logan’s bride and my new daughter-in-law to all of Dallas. It’ll be lovely, you’ll see.” She walked to the table, efficiently cleared a spot, sat, and turned on her iPad. “We’ll hold the reception here on the ranch. The side yard at our house will do nicely. I’ll hire the caterers and—”
“Don’t back down.” Pam stood at her side, holding Jiggy.
Ah, an ally. She nodded her thanks and turned at attention. “Pricilla.”
“Yes, dear?”
Becky judged her to be halfway into her forties, that place where beauty matures into a polished attractiveness, but she didn’t see any malice in her eyes, just determination. After the tension with Logan’s dad, the best thing she could do was get this woman on her side. Becky settled in a chair next to her. “Logan and I married quietly for a few reasons, not the least of which is my mother just passed away. I’m not comfortable having a reception.” She let grief thicken her voice. “It would be disrespectful to her memory and, frankly, painful.”
“Oh. I guess Brian did mention that.” The other woman laid her hand over Becky’s wrist. “I’m so sorry. How long has it been?”
There was true sympathy in her eyes. “Thank you. About six weeks. She had cancer.”
“How sad. Maybe a big reception isn’t the best way to go.” Disappointment settled around her eyes and shoulders. “I really wanted to do this for Logan.”
Lucinda sat across from Becky. “Aunt Pricilla, Logan doesn’t care about parties. He’d just want you to accept Becky.”
“But that’s the point.” She traced her finger around her iPad. “The marriage was so quick, we need a symbol to show that we support Logan.”
This wasn’t what Becky had expected. Logan’s dad had come across as angry, controlling, and confrontational, while Pricilla chewed her lip in concern.
“You can’t fix everything with a party.” Pam dropped into the seat by Lucinda.
Pricilla closed her eyes, as if defeated by her daughter’s words.
“Logan won’t come. He never comes to any of your parties unless Dad bullies him.”
“He would for his wife. A reception is out.” Pricilla lifted her chin, regaining her poise. “I know, we’ll do a low-key barbeque. Just introduce Becky to a few people, make it official. Of course Logan will come.”
Becky was still reeling from the loaded subtext of the mother-daughter exchange. After meeting Brian, she wasn’t sure what she expected, but this warm, sincere woman wasn’t it.
Lucinda cut into her thoughts. “That would work. Small, intimate, it won’t overwhelm Becky or make her uncomfortable given that her mom so recently passed.”
Pricilla nodded. “Family and a few close friends.” She turned to Becky. “How many people will you be inviting? Let’s keep it down to a hundred or so total.”
“A hundred is small?” She had the sensation of getting caught up in a wave and being swept away—totally unable to see all the undercurrents snapping and popping beneath her.
“Fifty,” Lucinda said. “Hamburgers and hot dogs. Cold salads.” She shifted her gaze to Becky. “It’s a good way to introduce you as Logan’s wife and Sophie as his stepdaughter.”
True. She was supposed to play her part, not make it harder on Logan. He apparently had enough issues with his family. “Okay. But absolutely no gifts.”
Pricilla said, “Fifty to seventy-five. Gifts optional. How many people do you want to invite?”
Who would she invite? Wait. Damn, Pricilla was good. “No gifts. I’m not budging on this.”
A frown marred the smooth skin of Pricilla’s forehead.
Becky softened her tone. “It’s just not the time for a party like that. Maybe we could do something on our first anniversary?”
“Oh, that’d give us a year to plan it!” Excitement shone in Pricilla’s eyes. “Maybe you could renew your vows or something symbolic. Yes, that’s what we’ll do. This small barbecue to introduce you in a few weeks, between fifty and eighty guests, then next year, a huge event!”
Becky blinked at the way her mother-in-law kept massaging the number of guests. But her excitement was very real. “You like to throw a party.”
Pam laughed. “Mom lives to entertain.”
Pricilla flashed Becky a smile. “I’ll teach you all the tricks. Brian is going to spend the next few years training Logan in the management end of the ranch.”
“And break Abby’s heart. Hell, she’s practically running the entire horse program now.”
“Pam, there’s more to running a horse and cattle ranch than just training the horses.”
“You sound like Dad. Abby knows every inch of this ranch, every—” She clamped her jaw. “Forget it. No one listens.”
Becky cut her gaze between the younger girl’s angry eyes and her mother’s admonishing ones. Fortunately, Jiggy nudged her leg just as Sophie began to cry. “Excuse me, that’s my baby.” She escaped to get Sophie, then returned a few minutes later.
Pam jumped up and raced around the table. “Hi there, what’s your name?”
Becky was warming to Logan’s sister. “Her name is Sophie. Would you like to hold her? She might fuss though, she’s probably hungry.”
“I’d love to.” She held out her arms. Once she had Sophie in them, she returned to her seat, then laughed. “Jiggy, are you checking to make sure I’m taking care of your baby?”
Becky glanced over. Jiggy had his front paws on the chair.
“Sorry about that. He doesn’t usually bother us at the table, but he’s protective.”
Pam stroked Jiggy’s ears. “Every girl should have a protector.”
For a second, Becky forgot the other three women sitting at the table. There was something so sad about Pam, a loneliness that shrouded her, keeping her separate. “Yes they should,” she agreed. How was it possible that Becky felt a kinship with her when Pam came from wealth and she came from nothing? Yet she did. “What do you do, Pam? Are you in college?”
“I got kicked out for too much partying.”
At the same time, Pricilla said, “She’s taking a year off to compete in barrel racing.”
Well, crap. Becky had stepped into another steaming pile of family tension. What did she say now?
Pricilla rose. “My turn to hold the baby.” She glanced over at Becky. “Okay?”
“Sure.”
Her mother-in-law’s face softened as she lifted Sophie from Pam. “Well, look at you. Such pretty eyes.”
Becky’s chest hurt seeing the older woman with Sophie—a youngish grandmother. This was what she wanted for her daughter, but it wasn’t real. After a few months, she and Sophie would be alone again.
Sophie’s cries got her attention. Becky took her from Pricilla. “Thanks. Does anyone mind if I feed her here?”
Pricilla went back to the head of the table. “Of course not. Go right ahead.”
Becky got Sophie settled just as the door opened behind her. She didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. The electrical currents running up her back and lifting the fine hairs on her arms told her.
Logan.
Her skin almost sizzled when his shadow fell over her. His warm hand covered her shoulder. “Sugar.”
With Sophie nursing, all she could do was tilt her head back. Logan looked down at her, his light eyes a startling contrast in his darker face. He lowered his head and brushed his mouth over hers. His lips were warm and firm and for that brief second, it was like being claimed. As if she belonged to Logan, mattered to him.
Then she remembered what he’d told her right before the marriage ceremony.
There will be times we need to touch, and probably kiss, to keep the image up.
Right. Okay, she could do this. “I didn’t expect you home so soon.”
He brushed his thumb along her cheek. “I thought you’d like that tour I promised you.”
“Really? I’d love it. Can we see the horses? Can we go now?”
He grinned at her. “You look a little busy here.”
She’d forgotten the three women in her house. Having Logan’s attention hone in on her, offering to take her out to see what he’d been working on, scrambled her brains. “Right. Another time.” She tried to smile as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Pricilla rose, kissing her stepson’s cheek. “Logan, congratulations on your marriage. We’re planning a barbeque to introduce Becky.”
Logan cast his gaze around the table. “Hi, Pam, Lucinda. Looks like you ambushed Becky while she was working.”
Sitting down, Pricilla gave Becky her full attention. “Do you sew your own clothes?”
“Some of them. But this is a gown for a beauty pageant.”
Pam leaned forward. “Are you in a pageant?”
“Not anymore. I did pageants before college. But this dress I’m working on is for another contestant.”
Logan put his hand on her shoulder. “Becky won enough pageants to get a scholarship to college. She’s going to return to finish her nursing degree soon.”
The pride in his voice was all part of the image. Too bad the flutters in her chest didn’t know that.
“Very nice,” Pricilla glanced at her. “Now that you’re married, you won’t need to take on sewing work.” She nodded toward Becky’s hand. “Pretty wedding rings. Simple and classic. Did you pick them out?”
She could almost feel the other woman’s caution. “We decided on these together.” That was as close to the truth as she could get.
Pricilla’s smile lost the cautious edge and morphed into a brilliance. “They’re lovely.”
Right then, Becky loved her new mother-in-law. Pricilla had a stunning wedding set with gleaming diamonds that was probably worth more money than Becky would see in a decade. Yet her compliment was genuine. She’d just wanted Becky to be happy with the rings. “Thank you.”
Logan jumped in. “Time to end this meeting, ladies. I promised to show my wife around our land.”
Pricilla closed up her iPad. “Fine, but no backing out on this barbeque.”
Pam stayed seated. “Can I stay and babysit Sophie? She just ate so she should be fine. I’ll call you if she cries or anything.”
Having only met Pam today, Becky wasn’t sure that was a good idea.
Lucinda stood. “Pam’s great with kids, Becky. You can trust her.”
“Please?”
Becky looked up at Logan. Pam was his sister, he would know.
He nodded, then said to his sister, “Give me your phone, I’ll put Becky’s cell in there.”
In a flurry of activity, Lucinda and Pricilla left, Becky showed Pam around and familiarized her with Sophie’s routine, and then she was in the truck with Logan.
Alone. Without Sophie as a buffer.
…
“Each cabin will have an efficiency kitchen.”
Becky listened as Logan led her through rooms with framed walls.
“There will be a bedroom, bathroom, living area, and a front porch overlooking the pond.”
She studied the space as they headed to the little porch. “It’s peaceful here overlooking the water.”
Logan moved behind her, his warmth a counterpoint to the cool breeze. “I came here all the time when I was a kid. It wasn’t much then. A few years ago, I had the pond enlarged and restocked with fish. A couple guys and I built that deck for fishing.”
She lifted her face to his. “Tell me more about your plans.”
He took her hand and tugged her along beside him. “I can show you.” He led her to a trailer. “This is a temporary office to work from and for the construction crew to use as needed.” He led her up an aluminum ramp into a private office. Simple and functional with a built-in desk at one end and deep couch at the other. They went into a larger room, bypassed the conference table and side bar equipped with a coffeemaker, microwave, and small fridge, and stopped at blueprints spread out on a drafting table. On the wall over that were computer-generated renderings of the finished camp.
Entranced, she studied the pictures. The buildings were warm and rustic. The cabins formed a half circle around the pond, while the two larger structures were farther back.
Logan’s body heat spread over her back as he pointed to the bigger structures in the pictures. “In that main building there will be a mess hall, rec area, and group therapy rooms. Dr. Malone and his staff will have their own offices for private therapy. There’s also an indoor pool and spa, and a small gym, although we’re encouraging outdoor activities for the more physically-able guests.”
She wanted to hear every word, yet his nearness distracted her. “This is going to be amazing.”
He glanced down at her. “I talked to Dr. Malone about your idea of adding in music. He strongly supports it, agreeing that keeping it a low-key option is best.” He reached past her. “We’ve repurposed this space right off the rec room for it.”
A wave of warmth filled her with a sense of being a part of something important. Logan had listened to her, valued what she had to say. Emotion climbed up her throat, embarrassing her. She took a breath and shifted her focus. “You mentioned fishing, hiking, and horseback riding, too.”
He settled a hand on her waist. “I’m acquiring the horses now, working with them and hoping I can get Abby to help me.”
It took her a second to place the name. “She’s your other sister?”
“Yes.” His jaw bulged for a second. “Abby’s not like Pammy. She’s angry at me.”
“Why?”
He looked down at her. The overhead lights bounced off his dark hair, emphasizing his strong bone structure. His sister Pam had a much more delicate build, brown hair, and lighter skin. He must have gotten his darker coloring and unique green eyes from his mother.
“I’m good with horses, but Abby is amazing. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. She knows horseflesh, and can spot a fast runner, a good cutter, even a horse who will do better with a child. She can get more out of a horse than any other person breathing.”
“That makes her angry?”
“No. In Abby’s mind, I’m the interloper that ruined everything in the family, including her chances of getting control of that ranch.”
She tried to makes sense of it all. “But all you want is this piece of the ranch.”
He nodded.
“Why isn’t she mad at your father?”
“It’s easier to blame me. When I first came to live here, Pricilla hadn’t known about me. My father just showed up and announced that I was his son.”
That was unbelievable. “He’d never told her?”
“No. She knew about his brief marriage to my mother, that was common knowledge. But few people knew she was pregnant when she ran off. When I came to live with them, it was an ugly time. Pricilla tried not to hate me, but I’m sure part of her did. And Abby was just old enough to pick up on that.”
She couldn’t imagine. “That had to be awful for you.”
“Wasn’t fun for Pricilla either. Believe me, I didn’t make it easy on her. When she tried to be kind, I was a snarly little bastard.”
“Did it ever get better?”
He smiled. “I don’t know how Pricilla’s lived with my father so long and not become a raving bitch, but she hasn’t. We thawed over time, probably a lot of that was Pammy. She followed me around and I secretly liked it. Pricilla loves her daughters, and since Pammy loved me, we had to find a way to co-exist. After a year or two, I realized Pricilla wasn’t all that bad and stopped working so hard to make her every waking moment miserable.”
Becky leaned her head back against his shoulder. “Pricilla wanted to have a big reception.” She told him the whole story.
“Luce had a point. It’s a good idea for us to be seen as a couple. Not just for me, but for you and Sophie, too.”
“True.” Logan was keeping his word. Yesterday, once the tow truck had taken her car away, he’d driven them to the lawyer’s office and paid the retainer. And today, her car had been delivered to the ranch with four new tires. “Thank you for the tires on my car.”
He brushed his hand up her arm. “I want you and Sophie safe.”
Damn, he was doing it again, creating the illusion that he cared. “No one can see or hear us, you don’t have to say things like that. Or touch me.”
He turned her in his arms, spreading his hand over her lower back. “Is that what you think?”
The masculine scent of soap, leather, and hard work clung to him and Becky wanted to inhale it so deep into her lungs she’d keep it forever. Combined with the feel of his hand wide and possessive on her back, she melted more with every passing second. Struggling to regain her bearings, she said, “It’s what you told me. Like when you kissed me today in front of your family. That was for them.” Right?
His eyes caught the sunlight streaming through a window, turning to green fire. He cupped her nape, sliding his thumb long the side of her throat. “It should have been.”
Tingles fanned out from his touch. “It wasn’t?”
“Sugar, you’re doing something to me. When I got back to the house and saw the cars there, the burn of anxiety started in on me.”
“Why did that bother you?” She wanted to understand Logan better. Most of the time, he seemed so calm and in control. But the night she’d found him sitting in the dark on the porch, the tension coming off him had been sharp and jagged.
“My house, this land, it’s the place I come to be alone and beat back the PTSD when it rears up. Here I have complete control.”
He was telling her something important and she wanted to make sure she grasped what it was. “What does that control mean to you?” She didn’t know a great deal about PTSD, but she wanted to. Logan was building a compound here to help vets who were dealing with it and it mattered to her.
His hand on her back stiffened and his thumb on her jaw froze.
She gripped his waist, desperate to hold onto him and the moment. “You told me I can talk to you, that no one is judging us when it’s just you and me. You can tell me.”
He shook his head.
Before she could think, she blurted out, “I’ll go first then. I’m afraid I’ll never have what my parents had—real love. That no one will ever really want me for just me. They only want me to bang the beauty queen then leave.”
As soon as the words were out, she regretted it. She’d just bared her soul to him. Aside from losing Sophie, that was the dread that Becky carried each and every day. That she just wasn’t loveable for herself.
To a strong, powerful man like Logan, that had to sound pathetic. Would he dismiss her like most everyone else?