Almost a Cowboy (6 page)

After his mishap on the isolated road, Utah had hiked eight miles to the next house to ask the resident to bring his tractor and pull the truck out. They also had to rush back into town for tires, narrowly arriving before the shop closed.

“Do you need to clean up? The bathroom’s right through here,” Caroline said.

“No, thank you. I washed my hands in the gas station restroom. I was lucky enough to get a rental car on short notice.”

Caroline smiled. “No small feat in this town. Come in. Can I offer you coffee?”

Utah glanced at her. Her breezy hostess act reminded him she wasn’t the shy young girl he’d known.

“Again, no thank you. I’m fine.” Tom raised the briefcase he carried and tapped the side with a forefinger. “I’m ready when you are.” He focused on Utah.

Utah lifted a hand to tug his hat lower, but he wasn’t wearing one. He ran his fingers through his hair instead, and nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

Caroline led the way into the dining room. The old oak table shone from her elbow grease, reflecting the brass chandelier overhead that only had two bulbs out of six burned out. She withdrew a chair and slid into it.

With a gesture for Tom to take the seat at the head of the table, Utah met Caroline’s gaze. Her eyes were calm, as always. They braced him.

Drawing a deep breath, he seated himself to the right of the lawyer. Tom ceremoniously placed the briefcase on the table and rested his hands atop it. “It’s good to see you back in town, Utah.”

Grunting, he fought the urge to drag the information out of the man. Enough of this small talk. He’d spent a decade getting what he wanted when he wanted it. A deer kill, a clutch of furs to sell. He took what he wanted.

Even Caroline.

He darted a glance at her across the table, and his heart lifted.

“I can see you’re eager to get on with it.” Tom cracked open the briefcase, and the sound was like a shot in the silence of the room.

Utah’s ma would sit straight up in her grave at this quiet. Their family dinners were boisterous at their tamest. And downright rowdy the rest of the time. Utah and his brothers had argued, teased, and tried to out-yell each other. When their father raised a hand for silence, though, they all obeyed.

It seemed that Hollis was at work now. Damn him.

“Hollis Davies was a hardworking man. He never hesitated to help folks out,” Tom began.

“You deliverin’ a eulogy?” Utah shot.

Caroline shook her head gently, gaining his attention. He knitted his brows together and tried to be patient.

Tom stared at him for a long minute as if Utah were in fact that caged animal Caroline referred to. Hell, maybe he was. Yanked out of the wilds. He’d been untamed for so many years, he could barely conjure the manners his ma had instilled in him.

Tom cleared his throat and spread some papers on the table. The fine black print taunted Utah.
Hollis Davies Family.

Swallowing hard, he battled the need to grab the file and find out what the hell his father had really done. He clenched and unclenched his hands.

Caroline reached across the table and clasped his fist. He didn’t meet her gaze but examined her slender fingers and oval nails instead.

“I can see you’re tense with the waiting, Utah. I’ll get on with it.”

About time.

“I think you know of a kernel of information that is…somewhat delicate in matter.”

Utah gave a hasty nod.

“Your father…”

Was a cheater? Had secret families?

“Had a bigger family than most people knew. But I think he told you, is that right, Utah?”

“Yes.” He voice sounded strangled. Caroline tightened her hold on his fist.

Tom shuffled papers. “It looks as if there are…fifteen Davies children.”

Caroline gasped. Utah hadn’t told her.

He dipped his head in agreement. “I heard. So who are they? You have information, I’m presuming?”

A crease appeared between Tom’s brows. “Well I have some information, yes. Not enough. Hollis left photographs and the order that all of the children must be united and present for the reading of the will.”

Fuck. It’s bad.

Utah blew a short breath through his nose. “I suppose this falls on me?”

“As oldest, yes.”

The gunpowder of fury bottled inside Utah ignited. He shot out of his chair, and it tipped over with a crash. Tom flinched, and Caroline pulled her hands into her lap, blinking at him with too-wide eyes. Neither of them knew what Utah was going to do, and that made him feel like an ass.

For a long minute, he stood there, breathing heavily. Finally he picked up the chair and dropped into it again. “Give me the file.”

Wordlessly, Tom passed it to him. When Utah opened the folder, a dark-haired, blue-eyed child smiled up at him. His unknown brother. Utah felt nothing but disgust when he looked at the kid.

He flipped the photo over. On the back, written in a feminine hand was
Bennett Davies
.

“Goddamn him.” Utah’s words were a burning oath.

There was a beat of silence, and then, “I realize this will be shocking to the family. I’ll do whatever I can to help you search for these siblings. We’ll postpone the reading of the will until you can bring them all here. But we should try to do this as quickly as possible.”

With a sharp pain in his stomach, Utah nudged the photo aside. Below Bennett’s photo was another little smiling child. This one with dark shaggy hair and glasses. Utah didn’t want to know the kid’s name.

“How old are they? Are they minors?” Caroline’s shock sounded in her voice.

“My guess is that some of them are,” Tom said.

Utah shut the file and looked at the lawyer. “How am I supposed to find them? You have addresses? Phone numbers?”

Tom darted a look at Caroline as if drawing her into his alliance in case Utah snapped. Irritation fed into Utah’s veins. “No, that’s all we have. Pictures and names.”

“Fuck.” Utah shoved the file across the tabletop, and the pictures spilled from the manila folder. One of them was a girl.

He had a goddamned sister.

Jumping from the chair, he stomped through the house and out the door. The scents of sweet grasses greeted him but didn’t calm him. This was worse than he’d ever imagined. He was supposed to drop his life and go on a wild sibling chase?

What life?
In the back of his mind he admitted he’d simply been existing. Now he had Caroline, and that was worth all the trouble his father had left.

When he felt her soft hand slip into his, he turned and gathered her to his chest, holding on to the only thing that would keep him afloat. She wrapped her arms around him. “It’s going to be okay,” she said.

“You think? Jeezus, Caroline. What the hell kind of man has twelve other kids? They can’t be to one woman.”

She quivered, maybe from the force of his tone. “Probably not.”

He lifted his hands to her face, cradling it and staring into her eyes. “You have to help me find them. Caroline, I can’t—” His voice broke, and he hated that his pa had done this—stripped away his control.

Tom appeared in the doorway, and they pulled apart. “I’ve left the files on the table along with my card. Call me if you need help. I’d be happy to assist you in any way I can. I know the number of a good private investigator.”

Without releasing his hold on Caroline’s hip, Utah extended his other hand and shook Tom’s.

Determination broke over him. He’d find every last one of these children who shared Utah’s DNA. He’d damn well bring them together at the ranch, and they’d hear Hollis Davies’s last requests.

Then Utah would be quit of the whole business. He wouldn’t need to have any further contact with his siblings.

As he and Caroline watched Tom walk to his rental car, the breeze fluttered her hair against his arm. He caught the tendril and pinched it between his fingers.

She tilted her head to look at him. “Of course I’ll help you.”

His throat tightened. He buried his nose in her hair. “Thank you.”

“C’mon.” Grabbing his hand, she towed him back into the house. The dining room no longer felt so oppressive but somehow alive with the energy of the past. Caroline dropped into Hollis Davies’s chair that Tom had vacated and opened the folder.

Utah took a seat as she spread the twelve photos on the table like some kind of twisted bingo game. A crazed laugh burned in his chest, but he locked it in. Once twelve pairs of eyes stared up at him, he and Caroline sat back in their seats.

She fingered the edge of one picture. “This could be you at thirteen years old.”

It was true. The kid bore the same square jaw, the same look in his eyes. Hell, the same chin cleft.

He snatched up the picture and flipped it over.
Jefferson Davies, age 14.
“Christ.” He dropped the picture as if it were on fire.

Caroline shook her head. “I can’t believe this was going on the whole time.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Are there other papers in his office?”

“No. The day I arrived, I rifled the desk, the safe, and every other drawer in the house. I didn’t find anything.”

“How did you know about the other kids?” Caroline’s eyes were bright with interest.

“He told me. When Ma died, I came home and found him with these pictures. He told me then.”

She sucked in a breath. “That’s why you never came back.”

He bobbed his head, keeping his gaze locked on the smiling faces. One kid had a cowlick. Another pimples. God, these were real people. They shared his blood, just as Clinton and Gunnison did.

Realization walloped him.

He smacked the table with a palm, and Caroline jerked. He threw her an apologetic look. “The names.”

“What?” Confusion crossed her beautiful face.

“Our names—Utah, Gunnison, Clinton. We’re from Utah.”

“Yeah, so?”

“State, county, county.”

“Okay,” she said slowly.

“What if Bennett or Jefferson are cities or counties in another state? It might lead us to them.”

Excitement sparked in her eyes. She started grabbing the photos and flipping them. Once twelve names faced up, she jumped to her feet. “Be right back.”

He watched her ass sway away from him. Roused from his shock and anger, he let the heat mount inside him. Whatever happened, he had her in his arms again. He wasn’t going to let her go.

He was still staring at the doorway when she returned carrying a black rectangle.

He’d seen the devices in mail flyers but never in person. She switched on the tablet computer. On the screen was a picture of the little fur-ball she called Arial. The kitten had strongly protested Utah being in bed with its owner and spent some time meowing loudly before Caroline gave it a bowl of milk and locked it out of the bedroom.

“I’m good at tracking down information. Let’s see what we can find.” She tapped the screen.

Utah’s gaze snagged on a particular name. He covered it with a blunt fingertip. “Alexandria. Think it’s Virginia?”

“Dunno,” she said absently. “We’ll look there first.” Her fingers moved over the screen. A second later, she cried out, “Aha!”

Turning the screen around, she held it up for him. “Alexandria and Franklin. Both Virginia cities.”

A knot tightened in his gut. “Pa made a lot of runs to Virginia.” His hauls across the country in the big rig had once fascinated Utah. He’d dreamed of becoming a truck driver too. Now everything about the occupation felt dirty.

In the end, he wasn’t anything—football player, truck driver, or even a cowboy. When he’d lost Caroline, he’d run from it all and become a mountain bum.

But with Caroline, I might finally become who I was meant to be.

She glanced up to find him staring at her. A faint blush burned her cheeks, and she was suddenly the tempting little treat from his youth. She flashed a smile, granting him a glimpse of her square white teeth that had nipped a path down his body last night. Then she’d blown his mind by sucking his cock. No fumbling youthful efforts from her. No siree, just pure skill.

His muscles tensed at the memory.

As she flipped through screen after screen, he mentally undressed her. Last night he’d spent countless minutes exploring her every inch. She bore a new scar on her ankle she claimed she’d gotten jumping off a rock in the river. And also a jagged white scar on her forearm that made her clamp her lips shut.

She set the tablet down and plucked two pictures off the table, placing them side by side. “Alexandria and Franklin—Virginia.” She scooped up two more. “Aurora is a city in Colorado.”

Anger speared him. “Pa dumped a lot of cargo in Colorado. At least he claimed to.” He dragged his gaze over the other names and pulled Bennett from the lot. Positioning the snapshot beside Aurora’s, he heaved a sigh. The handwriting on the backs of the photos was the same, a flowery cursive.

He already knew what Bennett looked like but not Aurora. He dreaded turning that photo over. “Pa’s route was often the same. He drove east to Maryland.”

“I’m bringing up a map now.” Caroline placed two fingers on the screen and then spread them apart, stretching the image of the map. Utah took one look and huffed out a disgusted breath.

Just as he’d thought—the line from Colorado to Virginia and then Maryland was almost straight. “The rest of these kids are in the states between. Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky.”

“Yes!” Caroline threw him a smile. Excitement oozed from her.

He turned over Aurora’s photo. She wore two low pigtails and a sparkly purple top.

“You love this, don’t you?” Utah asked.

Caroline stilled. “What do you mean?”

“The digging of information.”

“Well yeah. It’s what I do.”

He’d seen several journalism awards around her house. Obviously she was good at her job. He’d just never pictured her in that role. Whether she’d been a doctor or a hair stylist, he’d only ever thought of her as belonging to him.

Another few minutes passed. She grouped more photos together and scrawled something with the pen Tom had left behind. Finally, she sat back, smiling.

“I think we’ve found a starting point. What’s next?”