Texas Pride
Barbara McCauley
This book is dedicated to all my readers. Thank you for bringing the Stone family into your hearts and homes.
And to Christine Niessner, a special and talented editor who believes in me and my ghosts.
Contents
One
“H e’s coming, Lucas! He just passed the farthest windmill, and he’s headed right this way. It’s him. I know it is!”
Lucas moved silently behind Margaret, intending to follow the direction of her gaze, but found himself watching her, instead. It was rare to see her so excited, and her pleasure brought him an unexpected warmth. Her pale blond hair shone silver and her slender transparent form had a luminescent aura. It had been a long time since he’d seen her glow this brightly. A very long time.
“It might not be him, Meggie,” Lucas said gently, not wanting her to get her hopes too high. There had been too much unhappiness for her, and he couldn’t bear to see her suffer even one more disappointment.
She turned to him, her green eyes wide, her lips curved into a smile. “No, Lucas. He’s the one. I feel it.”
Lucas knew better than to refute one of Meggie’s “feelings.” She’d been right too many times to ignore. Still, he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of this man coming to Makeshift. He had become quite fond of Jessica Stone over the years, and he felt extremely protective of her.
“What a strange automobile he’s driving,” Meggie said, staring out the window again. “We’ve seen some unusual mechanical wagons over the years, but nothing quite like that. Do you think he lost some parts?”
The air vibrated with the sound of the vehicle, but Lucas still couldn’t bring himself to look away from Meggie. She wore his favorite dress, the blue one that was as prim and proper as the schoolteacher herself. She’d had it on the first day they’d met. When she’d burst into his saloon, he’d thought she was going to scold him for teaching blackjack to her older students. Instead, she’d thanked him for instructing and encouraging her most difficult pupils in the use of mathematics.
An intense longing filled him, and though he knew it was impossible, the desire to touch her rose in him. He carefully traced the outline of her shoulders with his fingertips, remembering how soft and warm her skin had once felt.
Sensing rather than feeling his touch, Meggie turned and smiled sadly at Lucas. “We’ll be together again,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how, my love, but I know we will.”
She lifted a hand and spread her fingers. Lucas brought his palm to hers, dwarfing her small hand with his large one, carefully lining up his fingers with hers. The glow between them brightened and they both smiled.
* * *
Jessica Stone heard the deep rumble of a distant motorcycle and glanced up from the carton of books she’d been unpacking. With a frown, she wiped her hands on her jeans, then rose and went to the window of the second-story hotel room she’d moved into three days before. Hannibal, the German shepherd she’d rescued from the shelter in Cactus Flat, jumped up from his favorite spotwherever Jes-sica was—and followed closely at her heels.
Eyes narrowed, Jessica stared at the approaching cloud of dust. The unusually hot weather West Texas was currently having so late in November created waves of shimmering heat off the barren plain. A dark figure emerged from those waves, and the sunlight glinted silver off the motorcycle’s handlebars.
“I’m not expecting anyone,” Jessica said to Hannibal. “How ‘bout you?”
Hannibal tilted his large black head at his mistress, then barked once.
“I didn’t think so.” Jessica watched the bike slow as it neared the edge of Makeshift.
Normally Jessica liked being alone in the abandoned town she’d inherited when her father had died, but as she watched the lone rider park his motorcycle in front of the saloon across the street, she suddenly wished that Jake and Jared had stopped in today for one of their all-too-frequent, and all-too-obvious, visits.
Her brothers’ overprotective behavior was a constant source of irritation. She knew, of course, that they only hovered over her because they loved her, but at twenty-seven, she thought herself capable of making her own decisions. Even if one of those decisions was to move out to Makeshift by herself.
Still, as she watched the biker pull off his helmet and give his long dark hair a shake, she wouldn’t have minded a little company.
The man swung one long leg over his bike and stood with his back to her, both hands resting on his lean hips, and glanced around. He wore faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt, which stretched tightly over his wide back and muscular shoulders and arms. He was tall, at least as tall as Jake and Jared, who were both six foot four.
He turned and looked up directly at her.
Jessica sucked in a sharp breath and jumped away from the window. Hannibal barked at her sudden movement.
“Shush!” She put a finger to her lips. The dog wagged his tail and pressed his nose against her knee.
She waited a few moments, letting her heart calm before she peeked out the window again.
He was gone.
She moved closer to the window and glanced from one end of the town to the other, but she saw nothing. A dust devil picked up a tumbleweed in front of the general store and kicked it down the wooden sidewalk.
“Where did he go?” she muttered, frowning at the empty streets. The town wasn’t that big, and except for the saloon and the hotel, most of the buildings were still boarded up.
A low growl rumbled from Hannibal. The dog jumped away from Jessica and turned, his ears laid back and his teeth bared.
Jessica froze, and she knew without a doubt that the stranger was standing in the doorway behind her.
She turned slowly and stared into eyes