Page 6 of The Texas Cowboy's Proposal

“I don’t know how many other ways there are to say the wordyes. A child’s life is more valuable. This land will continue with or without me on it. It won’t be scarred, not in the same way a human being could be. I would want no part of that. All I can do is assure you that I have thought of what the next three years might look like with Lacy in mind. I don’t pretend to know about parenting. But I can promise kindness and a safe home and a future secured by what you will be walking away with once the agreement is done. Lacy will indeed have no worries in whatever future she chooses. You’ll have to decide if you trust my word or not.”

“Well, I don’t reallyknowyou and you don’t know me. So it looks like we have to take a lot of things on blind faith and words of promise. I haven’t had very much luck in trusting in those things, especially from females with a craving for money and power. And I am not the easiest of people to live with. Guess we’ll have to figure out a lot of things as we go along.”

“Sounds not too far off from what most marriages begin with. Except for the words of undying love and all that romantic stuff. But this is business. And as long as we agree on that, then who is to say this can’t work in everyone’s favor? Do we have a deal?”

He nudged his horse closer so that their knees were only an inch or so apart. She could note the fine lines beside the green eyes that had flecks of gold glinting in their depths. They held her attention for more than a few seconds. He had a strong chin, too, but she had not noted the slight indentation or what might be evidence of curved lines beside the strong mouth that next caught her gaze. Had she never really looked at this man before? Why should she find him of interest now? That would never do. Sammi Jo sat up straighter in the saddle.

“A deal? With a minor amendment. Matt Mateo had a chat with your attorneys. Seems we have thirty days to ‘do the deed,’ so to speak. To actually say the ‘I do’ part of all this. In that time, I say we use it to see how Lacy responds to you. Townspeople won’t be so quick to gossip with a whirlwind courtship and then a quiet wedding a few weeks from now. I won’t have unnecessary gossip involving my daughter. If Lacy has any problem with you in that time frame, it is all off. We can sign any agreements you need to make you feel better in the meantime. But rest assured that no Hawkes goes back on their word once given. Unlike the Burkitts have done in the past.”

She felt the bristles rise. “Whatever happened in the past is just that. And for whatever my grandmother’s reasoning for all of this now, rest assured that I follow my own path. I make a promise, I keep it, come hell or high water. I have my grandfather’s genes too. And for some reason known only to him, he thought the Hawkes had redeeming qualities and tried to make amends over the years, also. I’ll have to see those qualities for myself before I come to any conclusion like his. In the meantime, I believe the same as he did in the power of a handshake to close a deal.”

Sammi Jo stuck her hand out first, chin leveled, eye contact to eye contact. He sat still for a heartbeat or two. Then, slowly, he withdrew the worn work glove from his hand, and his palm enveloped hers. The heat of it surprised her first. Then that warmth seemed to spread up her arm and across her chest, and there was an unfamiliar feeling in the pit of her stomach. She might have taken her hand back in that moment, but his grip was as sure and steady as his gaze. And in that moment, on that hill, they struck a deal. Good or bad? Had she just chosen to dance with the devil? Or had she, in a fleeting moment, found a glimpse of what Heaven might be like?

*

“We have anagreement.”

“Which is what?” Jaxson halted beside the yard gate leading to the Hawkes’ main house. He had arrived at much the same time Beaudry rode up from the west pasture.

“We’ll use the thirty days to set the stage, so to speak, for the gossipers, and to give some time to see how Lacy does with this woman’s entry into our lives. If all goes well, in thirty days, we’ll make it all legal. We shook on it.”

A slight smile curved Jaxson’s face.

“Don’t seem so overjoyed that your brother sacrificed himself for the Hawkes family future.”

“I’m just envisioning the handshake and wondering who had the sharpest blade hidden in the other hand behind their back. I think I would bet on the red-haired lady. No offense, little brother.”

Beaudry grunted and headed his horse toward the barn. It was just as well, as he wasn’t about to own up to the fact that he’d had the same quick thought as he had grasped the hand Sammi Jo offered to him. But that thought had swiftly disappeared in a puff of smoke when a jolt short-circuited his thought process as skin met skin. Whether she had felt the same strange sensation, he wasn’t certain. Maybe she was just that good a poker-faced card player? Burkitts had always beaten the Hawkes when it came to the cards. But this was different.

The breeze picked up and his gaze caught a swiftly formed little dust devil churning its way across the space between the house and barns. A prickle ran up the back of his neck, and he lifted a hand to massage it away. What wouldn’t go away as easily was the feeling that a storm might be brewing somewhere in the distance—just beyond the horizon of wherever their agreement would take them.

*

Beaudry entered theranch house a half hour later. It was quiet except for the sound of the kitchen radio playing, which was soon switched off after the door shut behind him. Serafina, his housekeeper, came from the direction of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the checkered apron she was also busy extricating herself from. Her usual smile shone bright white against her tanned skin. The woman had been a mainstay in their household since both he and Jaxson had been in grade school. Their mother drunk herself to an early grave, never having gotten past the fact she married just a lowly, hard-scrabble rancher. A tractor accident claimed him right after the boys graduated from high school. From that point on, he and Jaxson were all the family each had—until Beaudry married and along came Lacy. He knew he couldn’t have managed all these years with household work and raising a small baby and then a young child.

“Is Lacy getting ready?”

“Sí. She has had her bath, and I left her dressing a few minutes ago. She wanted to choose her outfit herself.”

“Thanks. I’ll hurry her along and then get ready myself. Thanks for getting things started. And now, you have an early evening off. Make Miguel take you out for dinner tonight. You deserve it.”

“We are going over to our daughter’s house for our dinner out. And spend some time with our new grandbaby. You and little missy have a good dinner too. It’s nice to see you and Lacy having a special time of it. That is, if you can get her head out of that book that came today. She hasn’t let it out of her sight all afternoon.” She ended with a shake of her head, and her compact body shook, as well, with her laughter.

The woman retraced her steps to the kitchen, and Beaudry headed down the hallway and then up the stairs to Lacy’s bedroom. Its red-and-blue patchwork quilt and matching curtains were shared with a mound of stuffed dogs in the center of the bed and two of the four corner shelves in the room. Lacy was seated cross-legged in the center of the bed, her head bowed over a page of the large book and the Beast lying next to her, his huge head resting on one of her knees as she explained to him the highlights of the page.

“Have you memorized that book yet?” he asked, leaning a shoulder against the door’s framework. He felt the day’s drama seep out of him, replaced with a softening smile on his face as he gazed at the small child that was the center of his world. She was the balm that calmed him after a day’s work. All he did was for her. Had been since she took her first breath into the world. But now, they were headed down an unknown road ahead, and each step he took had to be with great care.

Her eyes gleamed with excitement as her gaze left the printed page and greeted his. She scooted off the bed in one swift movement and came to his side, offering the book for his inspection.

“Isn’t it something? It came specially forme.I’ve never had a package come to the house for me before. And it’s got writing in the front too. Look at it! It’s from that nice lady that was here before. She is really a nice lady, isn’t she?”

Beaudry took the book and looked at the page in the front that his daughter seemed so intent upon showing him. The handwriting was flowing and brought the lady in question into the room with them.

For Lacy and the Beast, always take care of each other. Hoping this brings you many hours of enjoyment. Sammi Jo Burkitt.

“That is indeed something. You need to thank her for this thoughtful gift tonight.”

“Tonight?” His daughter’s eyes grew round in her small face. “Is she going to come to dinner tonight? Is she really?” Her enthusiasm was barely contained. Beaudry had to pause for a moment. He hadn’t seen such obvious joy in his little girl since last Christmas, when she found the bright red bicycle underneath the tree.

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