Tony threw himself into work, coming home nights to an empty house that he had never felt alone in before. Constantly, he remembered Lindsay in his arms, and he wanted to talk to her or see her again. Every time he reached for the phone, he stopped, reminding himself she wanted them to break off seeing each other and he should, too, because it was inevitable.
In spite of logic, he missed seeing her. He knew from one of the men who worked for him that she had gone to Dallas and he wondered why and what she was doing there. He would get over her soon because he knew as well as she did, in spite of their truce, they were still the same people and she remained stubborn as ever. It was just a matter of time before there was another conflict between them, something she seemed to thrive on. Though common sense told him that he was better off without her, he missed her in a way he wouldn’t have thought possible.
He woke up on Friday morning and she was still on his mind. He knew time would take care of this longing for her, but right now memories of her wouldn’t stop coming.
He rose and got ready for a first-thing-in-the-morning meeting with Keane, who had problems with one of their trucks.
Tony stood on his porch with his foreman, who had his hat pushed far enough back on his head to reveal a pale strip on his forehead where his hat always shaded him. His tangled, curlybrown hair framed his face. He was shorter than Tony, slightly stocky and the most capable ranch hand Tony had ever had.
“Keane, I heard an animal howling last night. I’ve seen it before on Lindsay’s ranch,” he said, remembering the eerie howls that had been so forlorn and sounded like an injured animal. As he had listened, he understood why the howls had unnerved Lindsay and caused her to call. They’d been jarring in the night, even to him. He’d finally got up and retrieved a rifle, switching off yard lights and stepping out on his dark porch. He’d seen it plainly in the moonlight, but he’d paused as he lifted his rifle, remembering Lindsay’s request that the animal not be put down. He’d lowered his rifle and walked back inside to lock up, put away his rifle and go back to bed.
“It might be a dog,” he told Keane now. “Might be a coyote. Lindsay thinks it’s a wolf and she doesn’t want it put down unless it starts killing livestock. Pass the word to leave it alone unless it kills something and until we know it isn’t a big dog.”
“Sure. Have you seen it?”
“Yes. It’s big, has black and gray shaggy fur and, frankly, it does resemble a wolf, but I can’t imagine it is.”
Keane had a faint smile. “You know that old legend.”
“If I thought that were possible, which I don’t, I’d try to catch and tame the critter and I’d wish for rain.”
“Amen to that one,” Keane said, glancing at the sky. “Still none in the forecast. No break in the heat, either—over a hundred today. When it does rain, the ground will soak up water like a sponge. It’ll just disappear. We need a month of rains.”
“Right. Well, I’ll see about replacing that truck,” Tony said, and turned to go.
While Tony worked all day alongside the men, keeping his hands busy, he couldn’t keep his mind from returning to Lindsay.
On second thought, he told himself, maybe he should tame that wolf and wish for amnesia. That might be the only way he’d forget her.
Feeling torn, miserable and caught in an uncustomary inability to make a decision, Lindsay stared at her dinner. She didn’t want to eat but knew she should. Her thoughts were constantly on Tony. It seemed with each day she dreaded telling him about the baby more and more. She had to before she began to show and word got back to him. But when?
First she needed to go see Scotty, to hold him and think about having her own little baby, and then she needed to talk to Mike who would probably be a bulwark in the storm that would eventually rage around her. She didn’t want to hide behind her brother from Tony, but Mike would take a levelheaded view of the situation and he and Savannah would support her in what she wanted to do.
Maybe she just needed to take Tony’s call, go out with him and tell him the news. Get it over with and move on with her life and planning for her baby. Maybe Tony would back off and leave her alone.
She knew better than to expect that to happen. Mr. Take-Charge would dominate her life when she told him. Each time she thought of that happening, she was filled with dread.
She played with different scenarios in her mind: telling him soon, waiting four or five months to tell him or not saying a word until she had to. Like maybe when the baby was born.
As she headed to her house Friday afternoon, she was wrapped in worries and indecision and through it all, though she hated to admit it to herself, she missed Tony. She was so tired she paid little attention to her familiar surroundings until she steered her pickup toward the back of her house and saw a trucknear the back gate. Frowning, she glanced at the house and saw Mike seated on the porch with his feet propped on the rail while he whittled.
She didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed with him and wondered whether Savannah had made him come.
As Lindsay parked behind his pickup and stepped out, Mike rose to his feet and put his knife away, along with whatever he had been whittling while he waited at the top of the steps. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked up the steps.
“Waiting to see if you need a big brother’s hug,” he said.
His kindness shook her and she walked into his arms. “I do,” she whispered.
He hugged her, then stepped away to smile. “Let’s go inside where we can talk and it’s not a hundred degrees in the shade.”
She tried to smile. “You mean where I can cry without someone seeing me,” she said, unlocking the door and leading the way. “Want a beer?”
“I’d like one, but not if it’s going to make you want one.”
“No. No problem there. I’ll drink ice water.” When they had drinks and were seated in the cool family room that overlooked the porch, patio and swimming pool, she sat facing him.
He had hung his hat on a hook in the entry hall and he raked his fingers through his hair. “Savannah said that you gave her permission to tell me.” Mike leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees. “Here comes some brotherly advice and words of infinite wisdom.”