Texas Orchids (The Devil's Horn Ranch Series) Read online

  I grab his hand. “You can’t throw them away. They’re beautiful. Where did you find them?”

  “By the ridge.”

  “You rode all the way out there to pick orchids?”

  “Didn’t have anything better to do just then.”

  I pull a vase from a cabinet and fill it with water. “Well, thank you. That was very sweet.” I put the vase on the dining room table. “We should eat before it gets cold.”

  He opens the bottle of wine and pours us each a glass. “What should we toast to?”

  “Not much to celebrate around here lately.”

  “To orchids,” he says. “And sunsets.” He starts to drink, then stops. “And to unexpected rain showers.”

  We eye each other over our glasses as we drink. Has he thought about that night as much as I have?

  I take a bite of short ribs. They melt in my mouth. “Oh my god, Maddox, these are amazing.”

  He smiles. “I know.”

  “But you haven’t tasted them.”

  “I already made them two times this week. Ate them for lunch.”

  “Seriously?”

  “They’re your favorite. I had to make sure I got it right.”

  I take another bite. “Mission accomplished. Mine aren’t even this good. You’ll have to share your recipe.”

  “Things always taste better when someone else cooks. I found the recipe in one of Nana’s cookbooks.”

  “Whenever she’d have Granddad and me over, she’d cook like it was Thanksgiving.”

  He grins. “That’s Nana.”

  “Every time I leave this house and look over at yours, I think she’s going to come bouncing down the stairs with a smile on her face, like she always did.”

  “I know. It’s still strange living in her house when she’s not there.”

  We reminisce about Vivian through supper. When we’re almost finished eating, there’s a knock on the door.

  “Andie?” someone calls.

  My heart pounds. “It’s Victor. He can’t find you here.”

  “He won’t.” He speedily picks up his plate, napkin, utensils, placemat, and wine glass. “I’ll go out the back.”

  I swallow. “You’re leaving me?”

  “I’ll find an excuse to come over in a minute. Now go answer the door.”

  “Coming!” I yell as Maddox runs through the kitchen and out the back door. Taking a quick glance around to make sure he didn’t leave anything incriminating, I throw a book on his side of the table, then open the door. “Hi, Victor. What brings you out here?”

  “I had to pick up supplies in Ft. Worth. Thought I’d stop by on the way back. We haven’t seen each other much lately.”

  “I know. There’s been a lot going on with my job.”

  He sees Beau lounging on the porch. “What’s up with the dog?”

  “There are several of them living on the ranch.” I reach down and fluff his ears. “This one is Beau.”

  “Can I come in?”

  I try to think of an excuse why he can’t. “I was just finishing supper.”

  “Smells good.” He crosses the threshold. “Too bad I ate earlier.”

  We enter the dining room, and I glance out the window to see Maddox running back to his house, Beau trailing behind. Does Victor somehow know he was here?

  “What took you so long to answer the door?”

  “I was in the bathroom.”

  He eyes my almost empty bottle of wine. “Drinking alone?”

  “Just having a glass with my meal. One bottle lasts me all week.”

  “Nice dinner. Do you always cook this much?”

  My throat goes dry. Why is he asking so many questions? I’m sure he can see right through me. “These were leftovers. I cook enough to last a few meals.”

  “Good idea. Maybe one of these days you’ll cook for the two of us.” He picks up my plate and the dish of potatoes. “Let me help you with these.”

  “I can do it.”

  He heads for the kitchen. “So can I.”

  I panic, knowing what he’ll find there, and try to block the way. “No, really.”

  “It’s no big deal. I showed up unannounced, the least I can do is make myself useful.”

  I almost run for the door. He’s going to see Maddox’s dishes, then he’ll know for sure. What will he do?

  I tensely wait for him to say something, but he returns with a clean glass and pours himself a couple fingers of whiskey. “I hope you don’t mind if I stay for a drink. I’ve missed you.”

  “Sure, but only one, okay? I’ve had a long day.”

  “One then, but only if you agree to go out with me this weekend. No Maddox and Melina.”

  “I, uh…” I pray for Maddox to show up with some horse emergency.

  “You have to agree. I’ve been very patient, Andie.”

  “You have.”

  “Dinner then. My house on Friday. You don’t even have to cook.”

  “Okay.”

  He fills my glass with the last of the wine. “Great.”

  There’s a knock on the door. I’ve never been more relieved.

  “Looks like you’re a popular girl,” he says, going to open it. “Maddox, what brings you all the way out here?” He laughs at his own joke.

  Maddox holds out his hand. “Andie has mail.”

  “Thank you for bringing it over.” Victor starts to shut the door.

  “Melina wanted me to ask if she could get the recipe for Andie’s famous apple pie.”

  “Now?” Victor is clearly not pleased Maddox is barging in on our alone time.

  I hurry over and fully open the door. “It’s in the kitchen. Victor, sit and have your drink. I’ll be back in a second.”

  Maddox trails after me. “While you’re at it, can I get the recipe for whatever you cooked tonight? It smells great.”

  I scan the kitchen and don’t see Maddox’s dishes. “What did you do with everything?” I whisper.

  “Dishwasher. I threw them in.” He looks guilty. “I might have broken the wine glass.”

  “They’re your glasses.”

  “Andie, give me a recipe.”

  “Oh, right.” I pull out the old recipe box Vivian gave me and take a few. “Don’t leave.”

  He puts his hand on mine. “You’re shaking.”

  “Shh, he might hear you. Of course I’m shaking. He’s in my living room.”

  “I’ve got it handled.”

  “How?”

  “Trust me.”

  “Everything okay in here?” Victor says, appearing in the doorway.

  I hand Maddox the recipes. “Tell her not too much butter in the crust. It’ll make it less crumbly.”

  “Sure thing. Thanks.”

  Victor hands me a letter. “You should open this one. It looks official.”

  “I’m sure it can wait.”

  “I’m serious. Open it.”

  I examine the letter. It’s from an insurance company. I open it and almost faint. I sit on a chair, staring at the check made out to me.

  Victor takes it from me. “Holy shit. Two hundred fifty grand?”

  I read the enclosed letter. “It’s from Vivian. She named me beneficiary of her life insurance policy.” I look at Maddox. “I had no idea. I can’t accept this. This should go to your family.”

  “Hell no. She wanted you to have it, Andie. She left my family enough, believe me.”

  “This is huge,” Victor says. “Now you can pay off your loans and move back to your apartment.”

  I think about what this means. He’s right. I have no excuse to stay in Maddox’s guesthouse. Why did I have to open the envelope? “I can’t believe she did this.”

  “She loved you, Andie,” Maddox says.

  Tears come to my eyes. “She’s still taking care of me.”

  Maddox puts a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “We should take off. Andie looks like she has a lot to deal with. How about you come over to my place for a beer? Or I could rustle up some
of the guys for a game of poker.”

  “I think I should stay with her,” Victor says.

  I shake my head. “I’m no good to anyone right now. All I can think about is Vivian. Go have your drinks. I’ll be okay.”

  Reluctantly, Victor moves to the door. Maddox glances back and smiles, and I mouth Thank you. He nods like he gets me. Like he knows me better than anyone ever has.

  Except maybe Vivian.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Maddox

  “Thanks for doing this,” I tell Owen. “I know you have better things to do.”

  “Are you kidding? Any excuse I can get to shoot a gun.” We examine the target. “This right here? This was yours. You’re getting better. Want to try the shotgun?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  He gives me a demonstration and hands it to me. “Watch out, it’s got quite a kick. Make sure your feet are planted.”

  I shoot, then rub my shoulder. “Why do I feel like this is going to hurt later?”

  “You get used to it. Kind of like working out at the gym—you build up a tolerance.”

  I take the handgun, aim at another target, and sprinkle bullets on and around it.

  He laughs. “Whose face are you picturing?”

  “No one.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem. In my experience it’s easier to hit the bullseye if you’re motivated.”

  “Who do you picture?”

  “Elly Michaels.”

  I lift a questioning brow.

  “Broke my heart when I was sixteen. Ran off with my best friend.”

  “Seems you ought to picture his face then.”

  “My best friend’s name was Janice Kessleman.”

  I laugh. “Oh.” I squint at the target, aim, and pull the trigger. I hit it slightly off-center.

  “Damn,” he says. “Now we’re talking. Let me guess. It’s Victor, isn’t it?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Everyone with eyes would say that, partner.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  He holds up his hands. “I’m not one to judge. The vet is hot and considering the way you look at her, I’d say you agree.”

  “We’re friends.”

  “Friends who sneak around and eat supper together every night.”

  “She cooks for me in exchange for my letting her live in the guesthouse.”

  “I’m willing to bet her boyfriend doesn’t know that.”

  I kick at a stump.

  “Hey, it’s okay. We’re family around here. Doc is part of that, and now you are too. Family take care of their own. You got nothin’ to worry about.”

  “It’s not what you think. There are things you don’t know.”

  “Like I said, you’ll get no judgment from me. Just so you know, if you ever decide you want to be more than friends, everyone thinks you’re a good fit.”

  “Everyone? You guys talk about us?”

  He pats me on the back. “It’s getting late. You wouldn’t want to miss supper, would you?”

  While riding back, we pass a building covered in vines. “What’s that?”

  “The old hunting lodge. Before Vivian bought this piece of land, it was rented out for parties. But that came with a lot of liability she didn’t want to take on. Get a dozen drunk hunters together and you got yourself a recipe for disaster. We still rent out the land for hunting but not overnight.”

  “What’s it like inside?”

  “Empty. Vivian cleaned it out years ago and shut off the electricity. Matteo inspects the place from time to time. You know, runs the water, checks for squatters. I can’t remember the last time I was inside. It’s probably dusty as all get out.”

  “Looks like a great place. Seems like someone should live there. In fact, why don’t you live there? Your cabin is a fraction of the size.”

  “Now what would someone like me do with all that space? I only need a place to sleep. I work a hundred hours a week.”

  “Why do you work so much?”

  “We all do. It’s all we know.”

  “Do you enjoy it?”

  “Maddox, I see you. You’re up at dawn and busy until you go over to the pretty vet’s house for supper. You’re one to talk.” He shakes his head. “The thing is, you don’t even have a horse in this race. You’re here temporarily. Your daddy’s gonna sell out, and you’ll probably never set foot on a ranch again.” He gives me a pointed stare. “Now lie to me and tell me you’re not enjoying the hell out of it.”

  “You got me. I do love it.”

  “Maybe I’m wrong then. Maybe you’ll hang around.”

  “For what? They’ll be nothing here for me.”

  He peers in the direction of the houses. “Oh, there’ll be one thing.”

  He rides off, leaving me with my thoughts. Thoughts of a future standing behind a bar, serving drinks to ungrateful socialites. When I pass the run-in shed Andie and I took shelter in last week, I stop Tadpole and gaze at it. Owen is right. I can’t imagine going back to my old life.

  A black truck is parked by the stables. Damn it, I recognize it. Andie and an older man come out of the guesthouse. I dismount. “Looks like we have company.”

  “I saw Jon earlier,” Andie says. “I think he’s talking with Matteo.” She turns to the man. “Granddad, this is Maddox McBride, Vivian’s grandson. Maddox, this is my granddad, Gerald Shaw.”

  “I saw you at my grandmother’s funeral.” I hold out my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “The pleasure is all mine.”

  “Granddad is here for supper. You’ll join us, won’t you?”

  “I don’t want to impose. I can just make a—”

  “Sandwich? No, you won’t. I’ve got enough stew to feed an army.”

  “I insist,” Gerald says.

  “I can’t argue with that. Let me brush down Tadpole and jump in the shower, and I’ll be over.”

  Jon Thompson exits the stable, pissed as hell. He beelines over and gets in my face. “You got somethin’ to say to me?”

  “Man, I don’t even know you. Why would I have anything to say to you?”

  He glares at Gerald. “How ’bout you, old man? You got something to say?” Gerald looks positively terrified. “I didn’t think so.” He turns to me. “Cops been sniffin’ around. Don’t stand here and lie to my face like that spic, Matteo.”

  “Spic?” I laugh in disgust. “Aren’t you half Latino?”

  “Don’t mean I’m a spic like those fuckers you got working for you.”

  “They don’t work for me.”

  “Your daddy then. It’s all the same.”

  “I’d appreciate if you’d take your truck and your racial slurs off this property.”

  “Why don’t you call off the dogs?”

  “Now why would the cops be interested in you?”

  “Don’t play fuckin’ dumb.”

  Andie steps forward. “Jon, we all know who poisoned the stream.”

  Gerald tries to hold her back. “Andie, don’t.”

  Beau trots over and leans against Andie’s leg as if protecting her.

  “Maybe you should listen to the old man and mind your own business, sweetheart.” Jon inches closer and looks her over like she’s a piece of prime meat. “Unless you want to get all up in mine.”

  I step between them. “I said get off my property.”

  “You just told me it ain’t yours.”

  “Leave or I’ll throw you off.”

  Beau growls.

  Jon bends over laughing. “You and what army? Oh, right, the spics. I’m shakin’ in my boots.”

  I grab his arm. He jerks lose and lifts the front of his shirt, revealing a gun. “Might want to think twice before layin’ a hand on me a second time.”

  “And you might want to think twice about coming back here.”

  “You have no idea who you’re dealin’ with, do you, boy?”

  “Looks like an asshole with limited education and vocabular
y. A loser whose only claim to fame is his corrupt father, and whose only aspiration is to belittle those around him, because he knows he’ll never really amount to anything.”

  He makes a tsking sound. “You done messed with the wrong cowboy, asshole.”

  “Get the fuck off my property.”

  He blows Andie a kiss. “See you around, sweetheart.”

  He drives away. Matteo, Owen, and some of the guys witness his departure. Owen gives me a low whistle. “Damn. Not many people will hand him his ass like you just did.”

  I blow out a deep breath. “I guess not many people are as stupid as I am then.”

  “Granddad, are you okay?” Andie asks.

  Gerald is pale. I help him to a bench. “Someone get him a bottle of water.”

  He waves off my comment. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re as white as a ghost,” Andie says.

  “Those Thompsons have a way of doin’ that. You stay far away from the lot of them, Andie, you hear me?”

  “I plan to.”

  “That’s a good girl.”

  Merle tries to hand him water, but he bats it away.

  “I’ll be needin’ something a bit stronger. Now help your ol’ granddad up so I can get a whiskey.”

  I make sure he’s steady on his feet. “You sure you’re okay, Gerald?”

  “You get to be my age, you’re okay if you’re still breathin’. Now git on with that shower. Andie’s stew is a callin’.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be over in ten minutes.” I lean down and pat Beau’s head. “Good boy.”

  Merle takes care of Tadpole as I race to the house, shower, and change. I’m knocking on Andie’s door in record time.

  Gerald answers. He takes my bottle of wine, shakes my hand again, and gestures to the couch. “Andie will be out soon. Why don’t we sit? Can I get you a drink?”

  “I’ll wait for supper, but thank you.”

  “You’re a bartender, eh?”

  “I was. I’m not really sure what I am anymore, to tell you the truth.”

  “Livin’ on a ranch can do that. Gives you perspective.”

  “I hear you and my grandmother were close.”

  He nods. “No disrespect to your granddad.”

  “Of course not. He died a long time ago. I’m glad she was happy.”

  “One of the happiest people I’ve ever come across. Boy did she love you and your sisters. Talked about you all the time. Counted down the days until she was going to fly up for a visit.”