On The Texas Border

“Are you proud of that?” Abigail Duncan asked, scribbling notes on a pad while a tape recorder picked up his voice. She was writing Mr. Brewster’s memoirs. The eighty-year-old’s life had been turbulent and fascinating, and she didn’t want to miss a word.

“You’re damn right I am,” he told her in his gruff voice. “If you’ve ever known poverty like I have, you’ll make sure you never have to live like that again.” He paused, then added, “I was nine years old when my father died and my mother and me had to work the fields to make a living. It was during the Depression and there were a lot of days when all we had to eat was bread and honey. I vowed that one day my mother would never have to work again. She was the only person I ever really loved until…”

She waited for his next words, but none were forthcoming. She glanced up to see him staring out the window and realized he was lost in another time. She doodled on the pad, knowing he wouldn’t speak until he was ready. She’d been working on his life story for a month and she had come to know his moods.

Her pencil stilled as her mind drifted. She’d returned—after a bitter divorce—to Hope, Texas, her childhood home. She’d lived here until she’d left for college. After getting her degree, she’d moved to Dallas and joined a large newspaper as a reporter.

She had been home two days when Simon Brewster had asked her to write his memoirs. The request had come as a shock because there’d been bad feelings between her family and Mr. Brewster for the past year. Her father had worked for Brewster Farms for thirty-five years, then suddenly Mr. Brewster had fired him. Her father said he hadn’t been given a reason for the firing, but the rumor that had circulated around the small town was that Abe Duncan had been caught embezzling funds. That had angered Abby and she’d wanted to find out the truth. But then her father became ill, and Abby had spent her time at home helping her mother to care for him. Nine months later he died. She’d loved her father, and had been devastated by his death. Her mother blamed Mr. Brewster. So did Abby.

When Mr. Brewster offered her the job, she’d turned him down. She had no intention of writing his life story. But then she began to see it as an opportunity to uncover the truth. She knew Abe Duncan had not embezzled a dime, so why had Mr. Brewster fired him after so many years of loyal service? It was time to get some answers. Her mother was adamantly against the idea, but Abby was a reporter, and she had to clear her father’s name.

So far she hadn’t been able to bring up the subject. The more Mr. Brewster talked about his life, though, the less she hated him. She didn’t understand that, but it didn’t change her mission.

Feeling uncomfortable, she brushed a speck from her denim skirt, straightened her white knit top and studied the elderly man at the window. He was a formidable character. His gray hair was short and stuck out in all directions. She didn’t think he ever combed it. She remembered that from her childhood. When she’d see him in town, his hair was always disheveled, giving him a wild appearance, and all the kids gave him a wide berth. She wasn’t a child anymore, but Mr. Brewster was still intimidating. The thought brought her back to the memoirs. She checked her notes to refresh her memory.

“Until what?” she prompted.

“Until my son was born,” he muttered. Abby knew better than to ask about his wife because she’d already learned that Mr. Brewster had married her for her land. It wasn’t a love match. The son was a different matter, and Abby was reluctant to talk about him. He’d been killed in an auto accident when he was thirty-one years old. Marjorie, Mr. Brewster’s wife, had grieved herself to death, and for the past twenty years, Mr. Brewster had been a hard and embittered man.

“I made people pay for his death and I will make them pay until the day I die. Vengeance is mine and always will be,” he said in a tone that sent goose bumps up her arms.

She swallowed and asked, “But wasn’t it an accident?”

“Drunk teenagers, that’s what it was,” he roared. “They were jealous of my son and his money and they dared him to a race that night. My son was never one to back down from a dare, but liquor and high speed don’t mix. I will continue to seek retribution for their callous behavior.”

Back then Abby had been only a child, but she remembered the accident. Her parents had talked about how sad it was. The whole town had mourned. But she’d thought there were no survivors.

“Didn’t the crash kill everyone?” she asked into the silence.

“Not everyone.” A sinister smile tugged his lips. “The boys left families, and I made sure those families never worked in Hope, Texas, again. They raised killers and they should be shunned as killers.”

Abby swallowed again. This was the side of Simon Brewster everyone had warned her about—the ruthless side.

She glanced at her watch and noticed the time. “Mr. Brewster, it’s almost five-thirty,” she said. “I’ve got to go. I promised Mom I’d be on time for supper.”

Simon Brewster turned from the window. “We’re just getting started,” he grumbled.

Abby glanced at him as she stuffed papers and the recorder into her carryall. They went through this every day. He never wanted her to leave. Abby recognized he was lonely. For a man who had so much, he had so little. Hope, Texas, was known as Brewster’s valley—miles and miles of fertile land in the Rio Grande Valley between Texas and Mexico. The land yielded vegetables and fruits that were sold all over the United States. Simon Brewster was a very rich man, yet he had no family, except distant relatives who were just waiting for him to die. Everyone said he’d got what he deserved…and maybe he had. When she’d agreed to write his story, the same people told her she was crazy, and she probably was.

As a child, she’d ridden her bicycle past his mansion with the wrought iron gates. The house was built of white stone and had a red tile roof. Although she’d lived most of her life in Hope, she’d never been inside the house until four weeks ago. It was exactly the way she had thought it would be—elegant and tasteful with a Mexican flavor.

Today they were in his bedroom because Mr. Brewster had been having chest pains, and the doctor had ordered him to take things easy. The room was awesome and the four-poster bed had a headboard, with intricate Mexican carvings, that almost reached the ceiling. A luxurious bathroom and adjoining sitting room gave a sense of space and elegance, but the floor-to-ceiling windows with their spectacular view took pride of place. From his bedroom, Mr. Brewster could see everything that went on at Brewster Farms.

Few people liked Simon Brewster, but most of the town depended on Brewster Farms for a living, so they put up with his bad attitude and bad moods. Just as her father had done. Abe Duncan had never hurt anyone. He didn’t deserve what had happened to him. No matter how involved Abby became in Mr. Brewster’s life, she never forgot that fact. She would find out the truth…maybe not today, but soon.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Abby said, when she realized her mind was wandering.

A shaggy eyebrow shot up in annoyance. “Every time I’m in a mood to talk, you have to run off. Can’t your mother wait?”

Before she could form a suitable reply, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Mr. Brewster called crossly.

Jonas Parker stepped into the room. Jonas was the manager of Brewster Farms. He answered only to Mr. Brewster.

“Howdy, ma’am,” he said to Abby as he removed his hat, and her toes curled into her shoes. His voice was low and deep and seemed to come from the depths of his broad chest. Jonas Parker exuded raw sensuality.

His light brown hair was bleached blond by the sun. It was parted on the side, and a lock fell across his forehead when he wasn’t wearing his hat. His features were masculine and well-defined; his eyes, a clear brown. He was well over six feet, and his body was firm and strong as if he knew what hard work was all about. He wore a chambray shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows and faded jeans that emphasized his long legs.

Her stomach tingled with excitement…just as it had when she was sixteen and Brad Hazelton, two years older than her and popular in school, had asked her out. She was appalled at her reaction. She had sworn off men, love and marriage. Evidently her body hadn’t gotten the message.

Jonas walked to Mr. Brewster and handed him a clipboard. “Here are the orders for tomorrow,” he said. “Twenty eighteen-wheelers will arrive in the morning. We’ll have them packed and out of here by five.”

Jonas was precise. That’s probably the second thing she had noticed about him. He said by five and he meant it. Jonas Parker was a man of his word. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out why she found so many of his qualities attractive. Her hormones were out of whack, she told herself. Time to get out of here.

Mr. Brewster signed the papers. “What vegetables are we shipping?”

“Yellow squash, carrots, onions and the last crop of cantaloupes.”

“You see the job’s done on time.”

“Don’t I always?”

“Yeah, I guess. You don’t give me much to gripe about.”

Jonas took the clipboard from him. “I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“You’re damn right I will,” Mr. Brewster snarled. “You work for me, boy, and I expect loyalty and—”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Abby interrupted, not wanting to sit through one of their many arguments. The two men seemed to hate each other, and Abby didn’t understand why Jonas continued to work for a man who always tried to belittle him. Of course, Jonas gave as good as he got. And she doubted if anyone could truly belittle Jonas Parker. He was too much of a man.

“Run off.” Mr. Brewster waved a hand. “You always do that when I’m on a roll.”

Abby slipped out the door without another word. She hoisted her carryall over one shoulder and her purse over the other. She hurried down the winding staircase, eager to get home. A door slammed loudly, and she jerked around them. Her purse slid from her shoulder to the floor, its contents spilling onto the Mexican tile. She hurriedly picked up her wallet, keys and lipstick, and as she reached for a tampon that had rolled away, a masculine hand, lightly covered with brown hairs, retrieved it.

She straightened to stare at Jonas, and her knees wobbled. A musky, masculine scent filled her nostrils, and her cheeks turned red as he handed the tampon to her. She managed a weak “Thank you.” She crammed it in her purse, expecting him to walk on. He never had a conversation with her. He greeted her politely, but that was it.

“Haven’t you got anything better to do than listen to an old man’s ramblings?”

The attacking words startled her. She slung her purse over her shoulder in a quick movement. “Ramblings? It’s his life story. I’d hardly call that ramblings.” Her voice was cool, belying the heat building in her.

“But how much of it is true?”

Again, she was startled by the question, but didn’t allow her puzzlement to show on her face. “All of it,” she responded. “It’s his life so I assume—”

He cut her off. “Never assume anything about Brewster. He’s asked you to write his memoirs for a reason, and you can bet it has nothing to do with his desire to let the world read about his remarkable life.” With that, Jonas walked past her and out the front doors.

It took a moment for Abby to catch her breath, then she quickly followed. If he thought he could throw that at her and leave her standing like an idiot, he had another think coming.