Page 25 of Taming His Brat

Her glance dropped to her hands, twisting around each other in her lap. “I figured it wouldn’t really make much of a difference because if they finished other things then they’d have more crew to work on this all at once. So maybe the timing would end up about the same,” she explained.

That was pretty much never how it worked with construction, but he’d give her the benefit on that one. “So, if you thought it would be fine then why didn’t you talk to me first?”

“I just thought you might be annoyed because I know you’ve been worried about Vicky staying around.” Her voice was so low he had to lean in to hear it.

“You didn’t want me to know her visit was going to be a lot longer than we expected?”

“No—I mean kind of. I don’t know for sure that itwillbe longer. She hasn’t really said.” She wasn’t meeting his eyes.

“But you think that’s what it means?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

He sighed. “You know why I’m worried about her being here, Charlie. You know what Mike said too. Did you ever go talk to him about it?”

She shook her head and he put two fingers under her chin and forced it up so he could see her face. “Why not?”

“I just … I don’t know. Maybe she’s different now. It’s been a long time. I get that she was a bitch to Mike back then and she made a lot of mistakes, but that was soooo many years ago. He hasn’t seen her since then, so he only knows who shewas.” The words were hesitant, nervous, like she was trying to convince herself just as much as him.

She wasn’t wrong though. People did change. He had. “People change but they also have baggage that they carry with them, Charlie. Knowing about her history would let you see if she really has changed or if she’s still the person she was. I can’t help feeling like you’re afraid to find out the truth on this one.”

Her shoulders shook and she nodded, just once. He wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or just acknowledging what he’d said. She slid around, straddling him and letting her legs hang down on either side of the chair as her head tucked into the hollow of his neck. “I should have talked to you,” she admitted.

“Yep.” His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight to his chest.

“Am I in trouble?”

“Yep. But since you just got my belt across your ass for missing your shift, I think I’ll sort out another kind of punishment for this. I think we need something that will make the lesson stick for longer than it takes for you to sit comfortably.” He wasn’t sure exactly what that would be. Some chores would probably be part of it, but he’d figure out the whole thing later.

He wanted to relax and just enjoy holding her in his lap, but his mind wouldn’t stop working through the problem theyhadn’tdiscussed yet. He wondered if Charlie would bring up the reports that she was selling the ranch before he did. She had to be curious about it too, but she seemed content so relax in his lap.

Well, he didn’t intend to mention her mother tonight, but he had to at least talk about the calls. “Charlie? Can you think of any explanation for why three people would call to ask me about you selling the ranch?”

Her body stiffened, and her arms around his neck tightened. “I don’t know, Sam. I just know it wasn’t me.” She paused, and then like she was afraid to ask the question, “What did they say exactly?”

“Well, Jim Musgrave wanted to know if I was looking for work since you were selling. When I said you weren’t selling, he was confused, said he got a call from you a few days back asking if he was interested in expanding.” That had been the earliest call. At first, he’d been sure it had to be a mistake.

“I haven’t seen Jim since before college. I doubt he’d even recognize my voice,” she pointed out.

That was a point in her favor, but not in Vicky’s. “I asked if he knew about anyone else getting a call like that. Said I thought maybe someone was playing a trick, and he said he’d look into it. Pete Jones and Serilda Bailey heard from him I was asking so they both called me direct to say they’d gotten the calls too.”

“Well, Pete … I don’t know, Sam. He knows me but it’s been a while. I can’t say he’d recognize my voice and I don’t even know anyone named Serilda.” Charlie finally pushed herself back so she could look him in the eyes.

“Serilda bought out Matthew a couple years back. She’s his ex-wife. You’ll remember him because he used to team up with your father for harvest season sometimes.” She nodded; Matthew was hard to forget. He was a big man with a bigger laugh that could practically shake the walls and he’d been around a lot when they were kids. “Well, when they got divorced, he decided it was time to retire. His arthritis had gotten pretty bad and he wanted to move someplace warm, so she bought him out.”

“Well, he’d have recognized my voice, but I never met her. I guess it could have been any woman using my name and they wouldn’t have known.” She gave him a nervous look as though afraid he’d start suspecting her again and then sighed. “Do you think itwasa prank? Someone just trying to be funny?”

“Maybe.” No, he didn’t. But it was possible, barely, that it could be.

“I don’t really understand why anyone would do it. I mean what’s the point?” She frowned and he could see the wheels turning. For a second he almost thought she was going to make the connection, but then she burrowed back against him.

He held her like that a little longer, but the hard chair wasn’t comfortable so pretty soon they moved into the living room to snuggle up in front of the fire. Despite all the problems of the day, and the worries on his mind, he enjoyed the time, and he was reluctant to get up and disturb her, but as the fire died down, he sighed and stretched carefully under her body.

She was half asleep by then anyway. She mumbled something he couldn’t understand in a drowsy voice as he lifted her and carried her into the bedroom. She looked beautiful curled up on the sheets with her hair loose and spilling around her face and he was struck with a sudden possessive feeling.Mine!

The idea that anyone would take her away made his insides clench painfully. He really was worried about Vicky. He sensed a predator in her. She wanted something from Charlie and she wasn’t going to leave until she got it. His biggest concern was that what she wanted might be for Charlie to leave with her.

If it had been something as simple as another man coming around, he would have gone in swinging, but this wasn’t that kind of fight. He couldn’t chase Vicky off like she was a coyote after the herd. All he could do was try to influence Charlie to step back, guard her feelings, and try not to get sucked in.

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