CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Calvin~
What the hell had made him flare up at Amber and Lance? It was none of his business if Amber was getting it on with every hand on the Double B. Only she needed to recognize that now she was connected to the B&B Oil Bascoms, she had a target the size of the Double B painted on her back. There would be lots of fellows who would see her as their ticket to Easy Street.
Amber was a worry. Her life in the backwoods community of French Town had left her ignorant of the seamier side of life. Patrick’s wife Heather was unbelievably naive. Patrick had confided that she had not realized that a woman could get pregnant the first time she had sex. Which spoke ill both of sex ed on Yakima Ridge, and of her understanding. No reason to think Amber was any savvier.
His sister Laura thought highly of Lance Prescott. He was one of the many veterans who worked on the Double B and the stud. When he was in charge, Great-Granddaddy Clive had always made a point of hiring veterans. Time was that Clive had a lot of respect for servicemen. And Laura had kept up the custom when she became manager of the ranch.
Yet Clive had tried to prevent Cal’s cousin Zeke from going to West Point. And his will had cut Cal, Pat and Zeke off without a penny if they didn’t resign from the military. Of course Clive had soured on military service. It wasn’t hard to guess why. None of Clive’s sons had returned from the wars. Neither had a good number of his grandsons. Luther, Cal’s own twin, had come home in a box. Clive had never been the same after that. For that matter, neither had Calvin.
Yet he and Patrick had continued in the Reserves. It was part of being a fricking bear. Without his weekend training, he would have had no respectable outlet for his primitive desire for mayhem and roughhousing. Zeke had it worse. Until he had been given a medical discharge, he had been career army and proud of it. Especially proud of being in Special Forces. He had had no intention of quitting just to get Clive’s legacy. But a diagnosis of PTSD had forced his cousin’s hand.
Neither Calvin nor Patrick had contemplated knuckling under to Clive’s demands. They were indebted to Laura. By putting aside her own challenge to Clive’s will, she had arranged for the executors of Clive’s will to set aside the clause demanding their resignation from the military. The will was more or less settled now that Laura had married and had babies on the way. Her life interest in the ranch would turn into true ownership the minute her twins were born, which ought to be any day now.
Which brought him right back to Laura’s husband. Steve Holden was also former Special Forces and one more of Clive’s secret descendants. The lawyers were still turning them up. Holden and former Marine Lance Prescott were buddies. Did Lance hope to emulate Holden’s big score? Was he looking at pretty, curvy, innocent Amber Dupré as his entry to the Bascom billions? Heather was family now, and that made her twin sister the Bascoms’ collective responsibility.
What in blazes did Prescott mean by dragging that girl to Hank’s? Had to have been Hank’s. There wasn’t but the one place in Success, Colorado, where there would be a Valentine’s Day dance. Hank’s was no place for an innocent female like Amber. If ever a female needed a keeper, it was that little girl.
He turned his head briefly from the controls of the helicopter. The Colorado snow had disappeared and they were on course to arrive in Washington State by zero three hundred hours. Jeremy had instantly fallen asleep like the experienced traveler he was. Amber had been keyed up and had stared big-eyed out the window. Now she too was deeply asleep, her dark lashes two thick fans on her pink cheeks. She really was a breathtaking little thing. As cute as her sister. And just as unsophisticated.
However he never let his bear choose his women. Even if Amber hadn’t been family, she wouldn’t have made his short list. He selected his partners from the sleek, cosmopolitan beauties he encountered at his level of society. Women like the future Mrs. Jeremy Bascom.
Although, he didn’t recall seeing the lovely Tiffany Holcomb lately. Perhaps Uncle Jeremy had tired of her as Calvin had. Tiffany had only two topics of conversation. Herself. And investment banking. And she was ice cold in or out of bed. He had never worked out if Tiffany wanted to marry him or take a crack at investing his fortune.
Patrick seemed blissfully married to Heather Dupré*. And Zeke** and Uncle Gil** seemed equally happy with their hillbilly brides. Their wives were built on the same voluptuous lines as the Dupré sisters. As his own mother and Jeremy’s first wife and Zeke and Pat’s mom had been. All the more reason to restrict himself to the elegant women he preferred. The sort of devotion that his father had felt for his mother was not what he wanted for himself.
By zero two hundred fifty, right on schedule, he was touching down in Yakima City. It was far too early to go to the hospital, but they could catch a few hours of sleep at the hotel and clean up before visiting the maternity ward. Jeremy opened his eyes and was ready to go. Amber struggled awake, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She looked around at the dripping skies and smiled.
“I guess we’re home,” she said.
Their limo drew up. A chauffeur got out with an umbrella. “You first, Uncle,” Cal said. He turned and flipped down the back of Jeremy’s empty seat so Amber could move to the door.
“Thank you.” She looked apprehensively at the chauffeur and his umbrella, but she accepted his help to get down and got in the back seat of the limo.
Cal shook his head at the driver’s offered umbrella. He needed to arrange for service and re-fueling before he left the airstrip.
When he got in beside her, Amber was dozing again. “We’re set,” he told the driver. “The Bridgefield.”
Amber woke up enough to looked shocked. “Aren’t we going to the hospital?”
“It’s too early. They won’t let us near Heather yet. We’ll go check in at the hotel and maybe get some sleep, eat breakfast.”
Her plump features set. “I can’t afford a hotel,” she hissed. “I never thought you meant to stay in Yakima City.” She sounded as outraged as if he had brought her to some den of vice.
Jeremy cut in smoothly. “Patrick would have my head if I didn’t look out for his sister. We have a suite all arranged. Doesn’t cost any more to have you stay in it with us.”
Which was a barefaced lie. But little Miss Amber swallowed it whole. Her face cleared. “Thank you,” she whispered.
It was as good as a movie to watch the way she responded to the best hotel in Yakima City. It was pretty run of the mill as far as he and Jeremy were concerned but Amber gazed around in awe at the lobby. “Are those flowers real?” she asked big-eyed.
A massive display of white orchids cascaded from a tall bronze pedestal under the chandelier. Similar plants graced the check-in desk and the corners of the room.
“They are.” Jeremy was at his most genial.
“Wow.” She looked down at the carpet and then at their bland expressions. All the joy died out of her face. He felt as if he had kicked a kitten.
He bent to her ear. “There’ll be more in the suite.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“I guess you can tell I’ve never stayed in a hotel.”
“Never?”
“This is my first time.”
Which made him wonder what other firsts she had in her future.
*Bear Sin
**Bear Skin
***Bearly Beloved