The Texan's Secret

Chance clenched his jaw and willed himself to relax. “No. I have a good job at Southern Cross and I’m not interested in leaving it for the oil business…just yet.”

“Damn it.” Cadde hit the table with his fist, making the coffee cups rattle.

Aunt Etta tapped his shoulder with her spoon. “You’re not too old for me to use this on, you know. Respect your brother’s decision. You and Kid can get into enough trouble on your own.”

Cadde hooked an arm around Etta’s thin waist and pulled her to his side. “Aunt Etta, Chance is missing out on the biggest opportunity of his life.”

“That’s his choice.”

“I just…”

Cadde’s words trailed away as five-year-old Kira Yates burst though the back door, followed by her parents, Skylar and Cooper. Kira eyed the two strangers and edged her way over to Chance. “Look what I drew in school.” She handed him the paper. It was a child’s drawing of a family.

Chance introduced his brothers to Kira.

“I’m gonna have a brother, too.” Kira pointed proudly to the picture.

“I see. Very good.”

Kira carried the picture to Etta.

“What a little artist you are.” The elderly woman kissed the top of her head. “Miss Dorie is waiting for you in the parlor.”

“Gotta go.” Kira darted away.

Sky, the youngest Belle daughter and five months pregnant, walked over to the table. “My, my, the Hardin boys are back in town. Lock up your daughters, folks. They can’t be trusted.”

Kid got to his feet and hugged her. “Dane used to say that all the time.” He, Cadde and Chance had grown up with the Belle sisters, and Dane Belle had been like the father they’d lost.

Sky winked. “Especially to his daughters.”

Kid rocked back on his heels with the crafty grin of a possum eating honey. “Have no idea why.”

Of all the brothers, he hid his pain in humor and romancing the ladies. He was well known for it. Cadde was the driven one, set on making his dream come true. Chance, on the other hand, buried himself behind a veil of secrecy. The accident had affected all their lives, one way or another.

Cadde rose and hugged Sky and shook Cooper’s hand. “I heard you’re the owner of High Five now.” When Cooper had allowed himself to fall in love with Sky, he’d decided to stay in High Cotton forever, so he’d approached Caitlyn and Maddie, the other two sisters, with an offer they couldn’t refuse.

“Yep, and I heard you’re the owner of an oil company.” Cadde, Cooper and Judd Calhoun, owner of Southern Cross, were about the same age and had gone to school together, along with Maddie’s husband, Walker. High Cotton was a close-knit community of family and friends.

Cadde nodded. “I guess we’ve grown up.”

“Sobering, isn’t it?” Cooper replied, while shaking Kid’s hand. “Still riding shotgun?” Cadde and Kid were fourteen months apart, and so close, people often thought they were twins. The humorous Kid always kept the deep and brooding Cadde in line with his antics, or more accurately, kept him on his toes.

“Yeah.” Kid’s infectious grin widened. “Someone has to keep an eye on Cadde or he gets a little too intense.”

“Daddy, Mommy,” Kira called from the parlor. “Gran’s waiting. We’re having a tea party.” Dorthea Belle was the matriarch of the family and everyone loved her. Just as her son, Dane had, she made the orphaned Hardin boys feel like family.

“This could take a while.” Cooper delivered the words with a Texas-size smile. Family suited the man. “Stay as long as you want and visit.”

As Cooper left, Chance reached for his hat. “I’ve got to get back. Judd and Cait are gone for a week and I don’t want to stay away too long.”

“Damn.” Kid snapped his fingers. “I was hoping to see Caitlyn.”

Chance sighed. “You can’t flirt with her like you used to or Judd will give you a king-size headache.”

Kid shook his head. “Can’t believe she finally married him.”

Caitlyn was the oldest Belle daughter and Kid had always hit on her. Hell, he hit on all the sisters—that was his nature. He never met a woman he didn’t like. The Belles never missed a chance to set him straight. They’d lived so close they were like brothers and sisters—and they’d fought like siblings. Cait would vow never to speak to Kid again. In the next instant they’d be racing their horses to the general store, or off across the nearest pasture, argument forgotten.

Chance had thought that Cait would never leave the place of her birth, but love was a powerful force. Her marrying her archenemy from the neighboring ranch came as a surprise to everyone, except Chance and her sisters. Since her teens, Cait had been in love with Judd, but it had taken years for them to work out their differences.

Even though Chance and Cait talked a lot, he’d never told her his secret. He’d never told anyone.

“Give it a rest, Kid,” Cadde said. “You were never serious about any of the Belles. They were family.”

“That’s what made it so much fun,” he replied with that silly grin. “They knew I wasn’t serious. You know how Caitlyn is when she’s mad? With just a frown, she can make a grown man take ten steps backward without even thinking or blinking. Hell, I had fun getting her angry.”

Etta gave him a strange look. “Sometimes I worry about you, boy.”

Kid hugged her. “Ah, Aunt Etta, I’m just joking. You know me. I’d never touch one of Dane’s daughters. Hell, he’d have killed me, but that didn’t keep me from teasing them.”

“Yeah.” She pointed a finger in his face. “You leave the girls alone. They’re happily married, with babies.”

“Pay no attention to him, Aunt Etta,” Cadde told her. “He’s always about a pint short on his blood supply.”

“Now wait a minute…”

Cadde ignored Kid and turned to Chance. “The offer is still on the table. Think it over. We want you with us.”

Chance nodded and walked out. As he got into his truck, he couldn’t deny that the offer was tempting. When they were younger, their father would say he didn’t want them toiling in the oil fields all their lives like he had. That as brothers working together, they could accomplish anything—be the bosses, not hands. That’s why Chance never saw what was to come—the horrible truth. The man who’d spouted family values, loyalty and love was a phony. His other two sons still idolized him. So how could Chance destroy that illusion?

With his jaw clenched, he turned from High Five onto the blacktop county road that led to the Southern Cross ranch. When Judd had offered him the job of foreman, Chance had been happy for the opportunity to cowboy again. He was tired of the grime and muck working as a roughneck, and wanted to settle down for a while. Also, Aunt Etta and Uncle Rufus were getting older, and he thought they might need him close by.

The Hardin home place was about a mile beyond the Southern Cross. Chance was glad he didn’t have to ride past it every day, but there were times when he was checking fences and he’d glance across the road and see the small, white frame house nestled among the oak trees. His pulse would quicken and nausea would gnaw at his insides for a second.

None of the brothers had been inside the house since that fatal night. Dane and his cowboys had moved all their clothes and belongings into Aunt Etta and Uncle Ru’s spare bedroom. In that tiny room they’d grieved, bonded tighter and learned to live again—all thanks to Dane Belle.

After a week of them not knowing what to do with themselves, Dane had said, “Boys, you’ve been dealt a mighty blow—some men would break under the sadness and pressure. But as a tribute to your parents you have to show you’re Hardin stock, tough and unbreakable.” He had given them a moment to digest that, and then added, “Let’s go. There’re cows to be fed.”

When they weren’t in school, Dane had kept them busy. They’d thrived on his attention. He’d taught them how to cowboy and how to be tough. Dane was a gambler and they’d all benefited when he won big. When Cadde graduated from high school, Dane had bought him a brand-new Chevy pickup. Aunt Etta had said it was too much, and Uncle Ru had agreed.

Cadde had held his breath as he’d waited for Dane to talk them into allowing him to keep the gift. And he had. Cadde had left for Texas Tech University in Lubbock to get a petroleum engineering degree. The next year Kid had followed in his own new truck.

Dane’s daughters had different mothers, so Maddie and Skylar lived out of state and spent holidays and summers on the ranch. Caitlyn was the only sister raised on High Five. With Chance’s brothers gone, that had left him and Cait. They’d graduated together. And just like his brothers, Chance got a truck. Cait got a car.

She’d been furious, for she’d wanted a truck, too. Dane had said that women don’t drive trucks—they drive cars. For a solid month she’d refused to drive the car, but eventually gave in.

Dane’s gambling and drinking took a downward spiral in his later years, and he’d passed away. It was a blow to everyone at High Five, to the community, and to the Hardin boys. Chance supposed everyone had to die. He just wished he didn’t think about it so much.