Lone Star Daddy

Knowing better than to argue with the woman, Alexa left the kitchen and climbed the stairs. Earlier this morning, before she’d left her bedroom, she’d opened the heavy wooden door that led onto the balcony, and now a cool breeze wafted through the large room and rustled the bed skirt on the dark oak four-poster.

These days she tired easily, and oftentimes her body begged for a nap. But this afternoon she was too wired to think about sleep and ignoring the bed, she walked out onto the balcony.

The ranch house sat in a valley that ran for several miles between pine-covered mountains. To the right she could see the Rio Bonito meandering through banks lined with willows and aspens. To the left, a massive ranch yard with barns, sheds, outbuildings and cattle pens spread across many acres.

In all her life and all her travels, Alexa had never seen a prettier place than the Chaparral. And from her father she’d inherited a deep love of the land. Yet at the moment she took no solace in the majestic landscape sweeping southwest toward Alto. No, her thoughts were on Jonas Redman and the fact that she was now going to have to go over to the ranch yard and tell him that she’d changed her mind about having him for a housemate.

Across from the house, at the end of a long line of horse stables, Jonas stood in his office with a cell phone jammed to his ear while Captain Leo Weaver with the Texas Rangers tossed questions at him.

“How much longer do you think this is going to take, Jonas?”

Frowning, Jonas peered out the dusty window as he watched a couple of cowboys attempt to repair a wooden feed trough with hammer and nails. “Right now it’s impossible to say, Captain. I’ve seen nothing moving on this property or the surrounding property. But these ranches around here are hardly small. I actually need another man here—an extra set of eyes and ears. As it stands, it’s going to take me days more riding to search out the backside of this ranch.”

Normally the Rangers didn’t go out of their jurisdiction, which was the state of Texas. But this was a bistate crime, and New Mexico had invited them and asked for their help. As a result, Jonas had been chosen for the job.

“What about using a four-wheeler? That ought to speed things up.”

“Most places are far too rough for an ATV. Horse or mule is the safest means of searching. That’s why another man would sure help.”

“Right now I don’t have a spare man to put on the case. Besides, two Rangers would be easier to spot than one. Another new hand coming onto the ranch—especially one that isn’t from the area—would make everyone suspicious. You’re gonna have to go this one alone, Jonas.”

Jonas bit back the frustration he was feeling. Leo was right; two new outsiders coming to work on the Chaparral at the same time could throw up red flags. His captain expected him to deal with the matter on his own, and Jonas would. It would just take him a lot longer. And he wanted to be gone from this place. He wanted to go home to Texas. And he damned sure didn’t want to babysit a pregnant woman.

“Yeah,” he muttered.

“The Cattlemen’s Association and the state livestock regulators are on me about this, Jonas. They’re worried about diseases being shipped in and spreading through healthy herds. We’re talking millions of dollars at stake. Not to mention the criminal aspect of it. Mexico does not want to give up its corner on the Corriente cattle market and Texas does not want Mexican cattle shipped illegally across its borders. Presently, all the information points to rustlers routing their stock through southern New Mexico. Particularly from your point through Portales and Clovis. And all of the areas—Texas, Mexico and New Mexico are working on it. But we think you are in the right area to uncover something. Have you picked up on anything at all?”

“Not much. Right now I’m just trying to look like a ranch manager and get a sense of the personal routines of the hands.”

“You think one of them is in on it?”

Jonas suddenly straightened his shoulder away from the window when he spotted Alexa Cantrell walking slowly across the dusty ground toward his office. She’d changed from the slacks and blouse she’d been wearing earlier into a blue-and-white flowered dress with a peasant neckline. The wind caused the hem to dance around her shapely calves and mold against her mounded stomach. He’d never realized a woman could be pregnant and sexy at the same time. Until now.

“Hard to say, Captain. Some people are more difficult to read than others. And some don’t talk about anything. I’m hoping something will break soon.”

“Let me know the minute it does.”

As Alexa neared the door of the office, Jonas lowered his voice. “Will do. Someone’s coming—I’d better get off.”

He snapped the phone together and dropped it into his shirt pocket just as the woman stepped through the door. She stared at the empty desk chair, then jerked her head sideways as she realized he was standing a few steps away from her.

“Oh. There you are.”

Jonas stepped away from the window to greet her. “This is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you again today.”

Folding her hands in front of her, she turned to face him. There was a humble look to her face, which he’d not detected earlier, and he could only wonder what had brought about the change. But then, he knew from experience that it didn’t take much to swing a woman’s mood.

“Am I interrupting anything?”

Nothing that she could know about, he thought grimly. Only Quint knew he was a Texas Ranger, and only Quint knew his reason for being on the ranch. Perhaps things might reach a point in the future where he would be forced to reveal himself to Alexa. But for the present, the less she knew, the safer they would all be. Nothing he did should bring danger to the family. He’d continue to ensure that.

“No. I just stepped into the office to see about ordering a shipment of vaccines for the cattle. Quint says the herd in the west pasture is due to be worked.”

She held her palms up in a helpless gesture. “I wish I could tell you more of the ranch’s schedule. But I’ve not been living here for the past five years. In fact, my family wasn’t expecting me to move back. I surprised them.”

“Yes. Your brother mentioned last week that you suddenly decided to move back from Santa Fe,” Jonas informed her as he strode over to an old schoolteacher’s desk made of metal and Formica. Propping one hip on the corner, he gestured for her to take the chair in front of him. “Please sit. Hopefully the seat’s not too dusty.”

She eased gracefully onto the wooden chair, then carefully smoothed her dress over her knees. Without bothering to look at him, she said in a quiet voice, “Well, I’m sure you must have guessed why I’m here.”

Looking at her jolted him. Something about her reminded him of just how long he’d lived alone, of how long it had been since he’d imagined having children of his own.

Tucking away all emotion, he said, “Actually, I haven’t. Do you have a question for me? A problem?”

“No problem. Unless—” she lifted her face and looked at him “—you’ve changed your mind about staying in the house with me.”

Her voice was stiff and halting, telling Jonas it must have cost her to come to him like this. He almost felt sorry for her. But just almost. He couldn’t warm up to people with superior attitudes, and that included beautiful women.

“Why would I change my mind? When I’m given an order, I’m not in a position to change my mind.” He tried to smile, but his lips felt uncomfortable as they stretched against his teeth. Smiling was foreign to Jonas, and when he did smile it was usually for effect, not a reflexive action. “Look, Ms. Cantrell, I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. Maybe you just don’t like cowhands like me. Maybe they’re just a bit beneath your style to have one sleeping in the same house with you. I don’t know—I’ve only met you. But you can rest assured that I consider you a job and nothing more. Now, if you want me to stay in the house, fine. If you don’t, that’s fine, too.”

She didn’t blink as he talked, but he did notice that her eyes darkened and her lips folded together.

“You don’t have to be insulting about it,” she said.

He shrugged. “You didn’t have to be, either. But you were.”

Her head dropped, and she absently plucked at the soft fabric covering her belly. “Yes, I suppose I was a bit rude,” she admitted lowly. “And I’m sorry for that. And I…want to say—my attitude had nothing to do with you personally. I’ve not been myself here lately. For obvious reasons.”

Jonas quietly studied her bent head as all sorts of questions drifted through his mind. The father. Her health. Her plans.

“When is your baby due?”

She lifted her head and looked at him with faint surprise. As though she’d not expected him to consider her personal plight.

“Six weeks from tomorrow.”

“Are you doing okay?”

A wry grimace twisted her lips. “You mean, as an unwed mother?”

He slanted an impatient look at her. “That’s not what I meant. I’m asking about your health.”

Pink color swept across her cheeks. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m being so—defensive.”

She thrust a hand through her black hair, then pushed to her feet. Jonas watched curiously as she began to meander around the stark, dusty room while he waited for her to say more.

“My life has been uprooted, and now that my mother and brother are gone, I feel…sort of lost, I suppose. I can’t ever remember a time I was on the ranch without any family around. You mentioned that I might ask a male friend or relative to stay with me. Well, I don’t have any male friends—not around here. And the only relative is my grandfather Abe, and you’d have to place several sticks of dynamite beneath him to get him to leave his home for any reason.”

His gaze took in the proud angle of her head. “From what you say, you’ve been living away from your family for several years now. You should be used to not having them around.”