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“Listen,” his brother said. “Tempest is not someone you just toy with. That is a very kind woman. Cat and Chelsea consider her a friend.”
“Yeah.” Shaman liked her, too. His gaze went back to the giant bulldozer about to push into the enormous old barn. “She’s real nice.”
“No, no.” Gage shook his head. “You don’t understand. Tempest is a good woman.”
“I got that. You’re getting twisted up for nothing, bro. Listen, Cupertino brings me dinner. I guess she thinks I’m starving. And I say thanks, because the truth is, she’s a darn good cook. And I like to look at her.” He shook his head. “You can’t expect me to turn that down.”
Gage was clearly astonished. After a minute, he said, “You call her Cupertino?”
“That’s her name.”
“But do you know who she is?” he demanded.
“She’s a woman who grew up in Tempest.” Shaman didn’t see what the big deal was. It wasn’t like he was sending out engraved invitations begging her to come by. She showed up when she wanted, she left when she wanted.
“She’s in negotiation right now for a starring role in a major Broadway production that might be turned into a movie, for one thing,” his brother told him.
“Is she?” Shaman watched the bulldozer tear into the first wall, collapsing it. Dust and bits of wood flew everywhere.
“If you’d read the newspaper, you’d know that,” Gage said. “The New York Times publishes a Sunday edition that’s really quite informative, if you cared to learn about the world around you.”
He laughed. “The paperboy must have left me off the route.”
“Online Times is just fine. You can read it every day. Takes very little effort. You get twenty free articles the first month, and if you decide you like being informed about the world outside of your shell, you can subscribe. It’s great.”
“Yeah, well. There’s no internet here. If you haven’t noticed, we’re miles from civilization.” And Shaman didn’t really care. He liked the setup just the way it was. He didn’t want to know more about the woman than he did. Whatever it was that she wanted from him, it suited him well.
“There is internet,” Gage stated. “In fact, the internet is how Cat found Tempest in the first place.”
That caught Shaman’s attention. “Our niece wrote her?”
“Yes. Cat wanted Tempest to come home. She thought my wife’s writing creativity would get a boost if she met Tempest. Cat had other reasons for choosing her for pen pal status, but that’s the main idea. So don’t tell me the internet doesn’t work. It’s what brought her all the way from Italy.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’ll go to her gig when she’s ready. In the meantime, she doesn’t look like she’s suffering, does she?” Shaman asked, crossing his arms. “I mean, if you’re trying to infer that she can do better than me, I’ll be the first to admit I’m no prince, bro.”
Gage shook his head. There probably would have been more discussion of the wonders of the woman who seemed to want nothing more than nights in Shaman’s arms, but two walls collapsed on the barn, and workers started yelling and running around, ending the debate.
Thankfully. Because if he heard any more about what a goddess she was, he was going to have to tell her to take her picnic basket and hit the road. Shaman knew that, like the beast in the fairy tale, you should just appreciate the pretty things in life—while in the back of your mind you heard your mother saying, “Don’t touch anything in the store! You might break it.” You heard your father say, “A woman only wants a man with money and power.”
One day it’ll be over.
Right now, I just try to make her happy.
Chapter Two
“We’re going to have to quit meeting like this.” Shaman got out of bed, glancing back at the beautiful blonde gracing his sheets.
Tempest rose, too, dragging the sheet with her. If he had more time, he’d consider snatching it off her and tumbling them both back into bed.
“Shaman,” she said, “it’s not forever.”
He wondered what was happening about her negotiations for the Broadway show, but wasn’t about to ask. She’d never mentioned her career, so presumably it was something she didn’t care to discuss, at least not with him. “Yeah,” he said. “Forever’s a tough thing to plan.”
She smiled. “I’m going to get dressed.”
He turned away. “Be my guest. The workers arrived about ten minutes ago, so I’m going to head out.”
“Thanks.” She took her sheet into the bathroom with her, wrapped toga-style, goddesslike. He stared at the door for a long moment, briefly pondering taking her in the shower, then decided maybe she wouldn’t welcome that. These “visitations” of hers were strictly on her terms.
He finished dressing and took off for the barn, snagging a bagel from the stash Tempest had put on the counter.
Then again, one never knew which visit would be the last. He was not a man to look at destiny without a measure of appreciation—and she had mentioned “not forever,” though they’d never talked about the future before. A warning sensation shifted inside him, a prickling of unease. Intuition was a powerful thing, whether in looking out for mines and roadside bombs, or knowing that eventually a woman like her was ready to move on.
“What the hell,” Shaman said, and went back inside to appreciate the best thing that had happened to him in years.
* * *
IT HAD BEEN TWO DAYS since she’d seen Shaman. Tempest was trying to figure out why spending time with him was beginning to matter so much to her. He was kind and strong, qualities that really called to her.
But she needed distance. Deeply felt the need for some space. So today she was renewing a special friendship instead of concentrating on hunky cowboys. She’d brought Cat Phillips, Shaman’s niece, to share a Shinny “special” with her. The change in the teen from sullen to happy heartened Tempest, made her yearn for the same sort of carefree joy in her own life.
“My dad says,” Cat Phillips began, settling into the red-lipstick-colored booth, “that you’re a short-timer.”
She smiled at the teen. “A short-timer here in Tempest?”
Cat nodded, slurping the chocolate milkshake Shinny had made. “Dad says this is too much of a backwater for you. He says that even if you do like Uncle Shaman, you won’t stay because there’s nothing here.” The teen shrugged. “I thought that once, too. Now I think there’s lots here.”
“It’s good that your father talks to you so much,” Tempest said, not really wanting to speak about the short-timer tag that had been hung on her.
“He didn’t talk to me about you and Uncle Shaman,” Cat said. “I heard him telling Chelsea that he doesn’t expect you to be around much longer, which is a good thing, because he doesn’t want Shaman to break your heart.”
Tempest blinked. “Really.”
“Mmm.” The girl nodded, her freshly bobbed black hair moving as she eagerly reached for the cookies Shinny’s wife, Blanche, placed in front of them before heading away from their booth. “Dad says Uncle Shaman is damaged goods, for one thing, now that he’s been in the military so long. He also says my uncle’s stubborn as hell, and he won’t do anything but hide out at Dark Diablo.”
“I’m a little reclusive at times myself,” Tempest said. “It’s not always a bad thing.”
“Yeah, but Dad says Aunt Kendall and Uncle Xav are bugging him to get Shaman home. They say he refuses to even discuss it while you’re in town.”
Tempest hesitated. “Where is Shaman’s home?”
“In Texas. Hell’s Colony.” Cat squinted, obviously thinking. “It’s kind of a palace.”
“A palace?” Tempest couldn’t envision Shaman in a palace. He seemed as one with the outdoors, fully connected to ranch life.
“Kind of.” She shrugged, fumbling for a description. “But anyway, Dad says the pressure’s on for Shaman to go home, though when he brings it up, Uncle Shaman tells him to get bent. I’m not supposed to say get bent.” Cat shrugged. “But it’s what Dad said.”
Tempest hated to be part of any discord in Shaman’s life. He was kind to her, and she enjoyed their time together. She didn’t want Cat upset, either. She was fond of the girl, and if it hadn’t been for her, Tempest knew she might not ever have returned to the small town where she’d grown up—and had such an unhappy childhood.
Yet it was best to face things one had ignored too long. “I feel badly that your father thinks I’m keeping your uncle from his family.”
“No,” Cat said. “Chelsea said Uncle Shaman wouldn’t go home anyway, and that Dad had been plenty hard to rope back into the fold himself, so he needed to butt out of Shaman’s life. And then I think Dad must have agreed, because I heard a lot of snacking going on after that.” She looked at Tempest wisely. “Snacking is what I call it when Daddy’s smooching on Chelsea. Lots of little snacking noises.”
Tempest smiled. “I’m glad they’re happy.”
“They are. We all are. I love Rancho Diablo!” Cat grinned, her pert little face shining with delight. “I like Dark Diablo, too, but there’s no kids. Dad says Uncle Shaman needs some ankle-biters to tie him to one place, and Chelsea said he’d better tend to his own ankles before he worried about his brothers’ and sister’s.”
“I heard you’re going to be a big sister,” Tempest said.
“I am. I can’t wait! Of course, I won’t be able to come visit as often, once I have my brother or sister.” She again looked at Tempest with those wise eyes. “I’ll miss you, but I’ll be very busy taking care of the baby, you know.”
Tempest grinned, delighted with the changes in the once-angsty Cat. “I know. I understand completely. If I had a baby, I would want you to be my chief babysitter.”
“Maybe you’ll have a baby one day, Tempest,” Cat said. “There’s Dad, so I have to go. He said he’d drop me off for a visit only if I came right out when he was ready to leave. He said it wouldn’t take long for him to pound the stuffing out of Uncle Shaman, and then we had to hit the road. He doesn’t like to be away from Chelsea for long. Thank you again for the cool headband you gave me. I really love it.” She hugged her, a good, strong hug that warmed Tempest, then ran to say goodbye to Shinny and Blanche. “Goodbye! Thank you for the delicious ice cream!”
They waved at the thin teen as she ran out the door. From the window, Tempest watched as Cat jumped into her father’s truck.
“She never fails to brighten our day,” Shinny said, coming over to take Cat’s seat. “That is one happy little girl.”
Tempest nodded. “Yes, she is.”
“Funny, but I think you had a part in that,” he added.
Tempest looked at the older gentleman regarding her with smiling eyes. “Cat made all her changes on her own.”
“Yeah, but you believed in her enough to come back to town. It means a lot to kids when people they admire notice them.”
Tempest remembered when Cat had been a sadder version of herself. “She has good parents now.”
Shinny nodded. “She reminds me of you, in a way.”
“I don’t know.” Tempest swirled the straw in her milkshake, not really feeling like thinking about her own childhood. “Is there anything I can do to help you, before I go?”
“Nope.” Shinny patted her hand. “You go rest. Blanche and I’ll see you at dinner.”
Nodding, she got up and gave him a kiss on his almost-bald head, then left the shop. She wondered why Gage would want to pound the stuffing out of his brother, then decided it didn’t have anything to do with her.
* * *
IT WAS NOT SHAMAN’S BEST day.
First, Gage had run by with a full head of steam to rag all over him about the barn contractor—who Gage had fired. Jonas Callahan didn’t like the contractor’s vision—and now it was up to Shaman to figure out what was in Jonas’s head. In spite of that, this job was a great one to oversee, so he had no quibbles. He just wanted it to go more smoothly than it was, given that his boss had just changed his mind about everything.
Bosses tended to do that, and he’d suffered enough annoyed superior officers to take an occasional ear-bending in stride.
Still, he could have used a break in the action before the land mine that was his sister drove onto the ranch. From the roof of the farmhouse, Shaman could see Kendall’s car edging up the drive. He knew it was her because she was driving a black Land Rover. It seemed the whole family fleet had been replaced with matching black Land Rovers, if Gage had the information right. Gil Phillips, Inc., was all about uniformity.
He sat on the roof, watching Kendall as she got out of her car. She wore a ladylike cream-colored skirt and jacket, and turquoise-blue sky-high heels. Some things never changed.
“Hi,” she called up to him.
“Howdy.”
“Get the hell off the roof, please. It’s dangerous.”
He laughed. “This isn’t dangerous. I know dangerous, and I’ll tell you when I see it.”
She was annoyed, he could tell. “We need to talk.”
Obviously, since she’d driven over from Hell’s Colony. “You have a cell phone. Doesn’t it work?” He climbed down the ladder, deciding it was best to obey his little sister when she was in her bossy element.
“Mom wants you to come home,” Kendall said, following him inside.
Shaman washed his hands at the sink, his mind on the condition of the farmhouse roof. It had occurred to him that if Jonas was going to hire a contractor who would subcontract out the roofs for the outbuildings, maybe getting this one replaced at the same time would be financially expedient. In his opinion, it was badly needed.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” He looked at his sister.
Kendall sat on the old leather-topped stool in front of the counter. “Mom wants you to come home.”
“Because?”
“Because you can do this kind of work there. She says you spent enough years away in the military.” His sister’s face softened as she looked at him. “We miss you.”
“I miss you, too, but this is my job.”
“You have a job. It’s called Gil Phillips, Inc.,” she reminded him.
“This is a paying job, something not all of my friends have been able to find once they got back to the States. Besides, haven’t you heard you can never go home?”
Kendall gave him a look of disgust. “That’s for other people. Our home represents our livelihood.”
Shaman smiled at her. “Not mine.”
“You’re being difficult, Shaman. What is it about this place that has you and Gage so obsessed?” She glanced around the airy kitchen. “Really, it’s kind of a dump.”
“It’s actually pretty nice.” He thought the farmhouse was quiet and cheerful. Mostly it was quiet, and that he needed.
“I do not understand.” Kendall shrugged delicately. “This place could use a decorator.”
“I’ll put your name into the hat for Jonas Callahan.”
“Don’t you dare.” She slid off the stool, walking around the kitchen. “You need to come home. Xav’s decided to get married.”
Shaman blinked. “To whom?”
“To some gold digger. Mom is up in arms.”
“What does that have to do with me?” He tossed the dish towel he’d used onto the counter. “Xav’s life is his own.”
“Mom wants you to talk sense into him.”
Shaman shook his head. “Not me. I leave all the gold digger talks in your capable hands.” If Xav’s sweetie wasn’t appropriate in some way, he figured Kendall would have her wrapped up in so much legal tape she’d barely be able to move.
“Mom thinks it would be better coming from you. Older, wiser brother.”
“No, what might have helped is if Xav had ever been able to get out from under your and Mom’s hands. And purse strings. Seeing the world doesn’t hurt a man.” Although sometimes it had hurt him, Shaman amended silently. Sometimes it had hurt a lot. But he was tougher for it, too.
Kendall gave him a look that was distinctly displeased. “Shaman, Xav looks up to you—”
A knocking at the door stopped her words, for which Shaman was glad. The last thing he was going to do was get involved in a family issue. He opened the door, his whole day brightening at the sight of Tempest on his porch. “Hi, Cupertino.”
“Hi.”
He didn’t open the door wider, but noted that she had her picnic basket, so dinner was about to be served. And maybe dessert as well. This was good. Lately, he had a sense of unease that everything in their relationship was about to change. She’d seemed a bit distant somehow, and he’d been bracing himself.
It felt great just to look at her, and know she’d come back one more time.
“Your niece came by to see me,” Tempest said.
“Oh?” Shaman didn’t open the door any farther, trying to keep Tempest and his sister apart as long as possible, reluctant for his two worlds to collide.
“Yeah. She thinks I should have a baby,” Tempest said, clearly teasing. From behind him, Shaman heard, “Oh, great, just great,” from Kendall.
“Do you have company?” Tempest tried to look around him. “I saw the car, but I thought it was—”
“It’s mine.” Kendall glanced around Shaman’s shoulder, then gave him a little shove to get him out of her way. She was nothing if not determined. “Is there a baby in that basket? Or are you just looking for a husband?”
“Kendall,” Shaman said, “back off, sister, dear. Come in, Tempest. Join the dysfunctional family.”
Kendall sniffed, checking her out as Tempest entered. Both women were blonde and gorgeous, but there was no doubt that Tempest was taller and more statuesque. Still, neither of them would look bad on a magazine cover.
“Girls, girls, there’s no need to fight. Kendall wants me to go home, and you want to have a baby. Can’t we work things out?”
Tempest put her basket on the counter and began pulling things from it. “Doesn’t sound like it. However, I just happened to bring enough for three.” She looked at Kendall, who was still bristling. “You can join us. That is, if you eat.”
“I eat.” She came over to check out Tempest’s menu. “Is that Brie?”
“It is. And this is a light, crisp white wine, if you drink that. Also, this is sliced avocado on wheat, if you eat avocado. Some caviar, if you know what that is.”
“I do,” Kendall snapped. She took a plate from Tempest and helped herself to the repast. “I guess if you’re stalking a man for a baby, at least you bring decent bait.”
Shaman laughed. “Kendall, you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Oh?” Tempest looked up from making a plate for him. “She doesn’t get out of her cage often?”
He couldn’t help laughing harder. The outraged look on Kendall’s face was too perfect. “Be sweet to my overprotective sister, Tempest. She means well.” He kissed Kendall’s cheek, then Tempest’s. “Now you girls make up, because I say so. And I appear to be the rooster in the henhouse today.”
“Whatever,” Kendall said. “She just has unusual opening lines.”
“You have a big mouth,” Tempest said pleasantly. “I could probably recommend a voice coach for you.”
Shaman happily ate the grub Tempest had brought him. “So, we’re going to have to work some things out. One, I’m not going home, Kendall, no matter what’s happening at the old haunt. And two, I’m not interested in having a baby, Cupertino.” He gazed at both of them, deciding he was a lucky guy to have two ladies that cared about him, sort of. “So what else did our niece have on her mind?”
Tempest shook her head. “Cat is happy as can be.”
“Come on,” Kendall said, munching on the avocado-laden toast. “Don’t hold back just because of me.”
“She said Gage had come over to pound the stuffing out of you,” Tempest admitted to Shaman. “I thought I better check on you and make sure you weren’t incapacitated.”
Both siblings laughed.
“Gage wishes he could pound the stuffing out of you?” Kendall looked at her brother. “What’s got him out of sorts, anyway?”
“I don’t know. This job, I guess.” Shaman didn’t care right now. “Are you staying, Kendall?”
She glanced at Tempest. “No.”
“Don’t go because of me,” Tempest said.
Kendall gave her a sour look. “I’m off to Rancho Diablo to check on my other brother, the one who isn’t in hiding out here in the middle of nowhere, and my darling niece.”
Shaman grinned. “You know, Kendall, if you ever got out of those power suits and let your hair down—”
“I’d find myself propositioning men for babies? I don’t think so.” His sister slid off the stool. “I’m only staying at Rancho Diablo for the night. I have to get back to Hell’s Colony. Mom’s not feeling well, and—”
“You didn’t say anything about that,” Shaman said.
“I shouldn’t have to,” Kendall retorted. “She’s old. She wants her son at home. No big shock, right?”
He recognized guilt as one of Kendall’s weapons, and pulled her to him so that he could rub her hair and muss it up, the way he had when they were children. And later, when they were teens. She shrieked predictably, making him grin. “That felt great,” Shaman said.
Kendall grabbed her purse. “I’m glad it was good for you. If Gage does come to pound your stuffings, I hope he succeeds. Goodbye, Tempest. Was that your name?” Kendall frowned. “It fits.”
Tempest smiled at her and reached out to shake hands. “Tempest Thornbury. It’s nice to meet you, Kendall.”
“Tempest...Thornbury?” She frowned again. “Not the Tempest Thornbury from New York, who used to sing and act on—”
“One and the same,” Shaman said cheerfully, loving the shocked expression on his sister’s face.
Kendall glanced at the picnic basket, then back at her. “No wonder you don’t want to come home, Shaman.”
He laughed. “And you thought I just spent all my time on the roof.”
“I think you’re crazy. But at least if she wants to have a baby, she won’t be after your money, too. I guess.” Kendall shook her head. “Be nice to my big brother, or I’ll send mean critics after you. Love you, Shaman. Please come home soon and give Xav a man-to-man chat. This well-planted daisy is on the level of Gage’s first wife, if you know what I mean. Bad all the way around.”
Kendall left, a smooth slide of silk and high heels moving out the door. Shaman followed, walking her to the car, then making sure she was safely belted inside. “I love you,” he told her. “I’ll come home at some point. I just don’t know when. And no family chats with Xav. It’s his life.”
“Make it soon.” She drove away, and Shaman went back inside.
Tempest was pouring two glasses of wine.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he told her, ignoring the wine and pulling her close.
“Really?” She snuggled against his chest, and Shaman closed his eyes, loving the feel of her in his arms.
“Yes. I miss you.” He kissed her hair, breathing the scent of her in. “You know, they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Tempest ground his foot under hers, which didn’t do any damage because of the steel-toed work boots he wore, but he got the message. “So back to this baby talk you and Cat had.”
“It was Cat’s idea,” Tempest said, and he said, “Oh, come now, Cupertino, teenagers don’t think that kind of stuff up. Don’t blame my precocious niece.” He scooped her into his arms. “You carry the wine, and we’ll go talk some more about how babies are made. I want to see where you’re going with this.”
“Soldier, I think you know just fine.” Tempest grabbed the glasses and let him carry her down the hall.
Chapter Three
The funny thing was that once Tempest had mentioned “baby” to him, Shaman found himself actually thinking about it. A lot. Wasn’t a man supposed to run at the thought of a woman who wanted to get pregnant with his child?
He didn’t.
It had been a week since she’d been by with her picnic basket, and he was still mulling over her offhand comment. Maybe she’d been playing around. Maybe the baby suggestion had been her opening line, like sex talk. Sure, that was probably it.
It had worked. He’d made love to her all night.
A spray of water caught him in the face as he wandered around the barn, making him blink with surprise. “Cat! You little devil!”
He ran after his niece, dedicated to the idea of tossing her in the creek for her just deserts. She eluded him, jumping into the creek herself, fully dressed, and just as he began tugging off his boots to land the cannonball of all cannonballs on his niece, he realized they weren’t alone.