Wildcat Wedding (Wranglers & Lace #2) Read online

  Brett didn’t like the idea of Jessie’s trying to run him off for the second time. “Well, you have now. I’m Brett Murdock.” He reached inside his pocket and pulled out his keys, dangling them in front of the tall, lanky teenage boy. “Josh, you think you can do me a favor and drive my car up to the house where it’ll be safe?”

  Surprisingly, Josh looked at Mac for approval, and got a nod from his older brother. There was a loud cheer from the kid as he tore out of the room.

  “Josh,” Jessie called after him, but he was already gone.

  Jessie stared at Mac. “You know he’s too young to drive.”

  “C’mon, Jess, he’s been driving the truck around the farm for the past two years. Besides, he’ll have his license in less than six months.”

  “Can I go with him?” Katie asked.

  “No!” Jessie snapped, then regretted her harshness. “I can’t be worryin’ about the both of you.” She gave her little sister a hug, then brushed back the sandy curls that had escaped from the girl’s hair clips and tried to explain. “Honey, I need your help in fixin’ supper.” But first Jessie had to get their intruder patched up and sent on his way, then things could get back to normal. The way Jessie liked them.

  Katie turned and looked up at Brett Murdock with innocent brown eyes. “Are you staying for supper, too, mister?”

  Before Jessie could say anything, Mac spoke up. “Sure, we’d be honored if you’d stay and share a meal with us. Nothin’ fancy, but my sister is a pretty good cook.”

  Jessie pretended not to have heard. She focused her attention on cleaning the wound, but bit her lip, waiting to hear what the man who had invaded her privacy had to say.

  “I don’t want to intrude,” Brett said hesitantly.

  “You won’t be intrudin’,” Mac said. “Will he, Jess?”

  She felt her heart skip as her head jerked up, only to be met by another of Brett Murdock’s smiles. Her throat tightened, making it difficult to speak. She hated the strange feelings he stirred up inside her. Then the oddest thing happened, she found herself saying, “There’s plenty of food. One more won’t make a difference.”

  * * *

  That evening, Brett sat at the kitchen table with the Burke family, enjoying pot roast with homegrown potatoes and carrots, and mouth-watering biscuits. Of course, he’d never admit it to his mother, or the long-time housekeeper at the ranch, but the food was better than anything he’d ever tasted at home.

  Earlier, he’d spent over two hours following Mac and Josh around the farm while they finished the afternoon chores. After borrowing a pair of jeans, Brett pitched in, helping feed the few head of livestock while Josh milked the cows. Brett stayed with the simpler tasks and mucked out a few stalls—something he had learned at the Murdock ranch long before his dad or Will would ever let him climb onto a horse.

  Overall, the Burke farm seemed to run pretty efficiently, despite the outdated equipment. The truck and tractor were over twenty years old, and over half the fields were barren of crops. Mac talked about increasing his wheat production this year, but he needed help and more dependable machinery. The Burkes also wanted to increase the size of their cattle herd, since the few head they had were only enough to feed the family.

  Brett discovered that the farm hadn’t been producing at full capacity for a long time, long before their father’s accident three years ago. Jessie had taken over then, but how could a twenty-year-old girl and a sixteen-year-old boy be expected to run everything without the help of a hired hand?

  He looked at the woman sitting across from him at the table. After their scuffle earlier, Jessie had cleaned up and changed into a pair of freshly washed jeans and a shirt, these garments not fitting her any better than the ones she’d worn earlier. She was on the thin side, but had legs that went on forever, and Brett found he was more than curious to know how far.

  Her face was free of makeup, but her cheeks and mouth had their own rosy glow. Her short hair was neatly combed, circling her face with soft dark curls. Brett knew Jessie had had a hard life, remembering the feel of the calluses on her hands when she’d bandaged his leg. Even though she’d been prickly as a cactus about his being around, that hadn’t taken away the gentleness in her touch.

  Brett also knew the kids had lost their mother at a young age, and their father not too much later. It seemed that the responsibility of the house, raising the children and keeping the farm going all fell onto Jessie’s shoulders. His gaze moved to her delicate frame. How had she managed it?

  Damn! He had to find a way to convince the Burkes to go for the mineral lease. Not only was it in their own best interest, but for himself and Murdock Oil, as well.

  Brett laid his napkin on the table. “Well, I have to thank you all for this wonderful meal.” He looked directly into Jessie’s blue eyes. “I should have passed up the offer of a second helping, but I just couldn’t resist.” He smiled, hoping to get one back, but no such luck. This woman definitely wasn’t good for his ego. If it wasn’t for the fact that Murdock Oil needed the business so badly, Brett would have walked out the door long ago. “I guess it’s time I get to the reason I’m here.” He glanced around the kitchen table, seeing the peaked interest from everyone.

  “Look, Mr. Murdock,” Jessie began, “we tried to tell you earlier that we aren’t interested in selling the farm.”

  “And, I don’t want to buy it,” Brett answered quickly. “I just want to lease the mineral rights. Surely you’ve been approached before about the possibility of there being natural gas and maybe oil on your land?”

  Mac exchanged a confused glance with his sister, then turned to Brett. “Daddy ran so many people off, we didn’t know what they’d come for.” He shrugged. “Mostly we figured they were from the county comin’ to collect back taxes.”

  “Mac!” Jessie gasped. “We don’t need to discuss our private business in front of a stranger.”

  “But Brett isn’t a stranger anymore,” Katie spoke up. “He let Josh drive his car and let us talk into his telephone and play music on his radio. He helped with chores.” She got out of her chair and stood next to Brett as if she were his protector. “And he told me all about Becky. That’s his niece. She’s ten years old.”

  Brett smiled at the small girl. He understood Jessie’s embarrassment about their financial situation and the last thing he wanted was to speak out of turn. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Katie, will you and Josh do me a favor?”

  “Sure,” she answered without hesitation.

  “Go out to my car and open the trunk. You’ll find a small briefcase.” He held out the key. “Will you bring it to me?”

  Katie took the key eagerly and rushed outside with a sullen Josh following close behind. Once he heard the screen door slam, Brett turned his attention to the older Burkes.

  “Jessie, Mac, I know about the back taxes you owe on the farm. These are hard times and with your daddy gone...”

  Jessie stood up. “I don’t wish to discuss private family matters with you, Mr. Murdock.” Her chin raised stubbornly. “And I don’t like you snooping into our business.”

  Brett also stood. “I’m not snooping, Jessie, nor am I here to strip away your pride. I’m here to help us both.” He glanced at Mac still seated at the table. “It’s public knowledge that you’re years behind in paying your property taxes. There’s already been notification of a power to sell, and within months your farm will be confiscated...then sold at auction.”

  Jessie’s face reddened as her brother stared at her in disbelief. “Is it true, Jess? Are we going to lose the farm?”

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. This was one of those times when she wished she wasn’t the head of the family. “Mac, could we please talk about this...alone?”

  Her brother looked at Brett. “Please, would you wait for us in the other room?”

  “I’ll go,” Brett agreed. “But first, I want you to think about at least allowing us to do a geological survey.”
He raised a hand when he saw Jessie stiffen. “You’ll be paid for the sections of land we use—between twenty and thirty dollars an acre.” He watched as Mac quickly calculated to over twelve thousand dollars a section. “It’s a good start to help you save the farm. If the survey results come back the way I think they will, you’ll be able to fix the place up, buy new equipment and stock a good-size herd. You’ll have security for the rest of your lives and be able to keep your land, too.” Brett drew a tired breath, wondering if they were even listening to him. He turned and left the room.

  Jessie felt Mac’s accusing gaze before the kids came running into the kitchen with Brett’s briefcase. Mac took it from Katie, then motioned for everyone to take a seat at the table. Ever since their daddy had died, this was how they made major decisions. Together. As a family.

  “Tell me about the taxes, Jess.” Mac’s voice was controlled. “So we can figure out a way to pay them.”

  Jessie went to the sideboard and opened the drawer. After quickly going through some papers, she pulled out the tax bill. She recognized it right away by the huge dollar amount at the bottom of the page. Walking back to the table, she handed it to her brother. “I don’t think we can figure out how to pay this, no matter how many extra acres we plant, or even if we sell the whole crop of vegetables all spring and summer long.”

  Mac examined the paper closely, and Jessie knew the second his gaze reached the total. “My God! How did this happen? It’s been years since they’ve been paid.” He looked at her.

  “Daddy used to take care of these things.”

  “C’mon, Jess. Daddy wasn’t able to take care of himself.”

  The last few years of Walter Burke’s life had been pretty miserable, for everyone. Jessie had tried to cover most of it, but drinking had been her daddy’s way of getting through the day since the accident. Even before that, he’d been good at sampling his homemade brew.

  “I thought since daddy was collecting disability, maybe they wouldn’t expect the payments.”

  “According to this, they’ve been adding interest every time we didn’t pay.” Angrily, he tossed the paper on the table. “Jess, we’ve got to do something.”

  Jessie glanced around the table at her family. She saw the confused look on Josh’s face and the tears in little Katie’s eyes. She had let them down. Worst of all, she’d broken a promise to her mama. Before Emily Burke had slipped into a peaceful final sleep, Jessie had told her that she would always keep the family together. Now, because she was smart enough to handle things, they were going to lose their home.

  Katie turned to her sister. “What about Betsy and her puppies?” The child sobbed. “Are they going to be kicked off the farm, too?”

  “No, sweetheart,” Mac said calmly. “We’re not going to lose our farm.” He looked at Jessie. “Not if we let Brett do the survey.”

  “No! We can’t.” Jessie’s fist hit the table. “Daddy wouldn’t allow it.”

  “Jess, Daddy is gone, and we have to survive. If we have to move into town, all we could afford is an apartment. And what kinds of jobs could we get? With our limited education, we couldn’t make enough money to support the family. Besides, Katie and Josh are still in school and they need someone at home.”

  Jessie felt panic tear away at her insides. She knew what kind of job she could get without a high school diploma. No, there had to be another way. Hatty. “What about Hatty? She could help us.”

  Mac shook his head. “Hatty would probably take us in, but she’s struggling, too. She’s a wonderful friend and neighbor, but we can’t ask her to take us in. We have to figure a way out of this ourselves.”

  Jessie watched her brother. At nineteen he had matured so quickly. And she knew how much the farm meant to him. Now that he’d graduated from high school, he’d taken over a lot of the physical part of running the farm. Now, she had to give him the reins. “What do you think we should do, Mac?”

  “I think we should let Brett do the geological survey.”

  Jessie held back, feeling her whole world crashing around her.

  “But I think it’s only fair that we take a vote.” Mac looked at his brother and Katie. “If you think we should let Murdock Oil do a survey to see if we have gas on the land so we can pay the taxes, raise your hand.”

  Josh was the first, then Katie looked at her brother and her hand went up, too. Mac lifted his and they all turned to wait for her decision. Jessie felt her heart pounding in her chest, knowing that from this time on, her life would never be the same. But she couldn’t deny her family this chance.

  Her hand was trembling when she raised it in the air.

  Chapter Two

  Brett sat in his motel room at the Markita Inn. He’d been on the phone for the past hour, talking with geologist Marcus Braden, trying to confirm the geologist’s arrival in Durant. Brett wanted to set up a seismic survey as soon as possible.

  He glanced at the contract he held in his hand. Last night, even after signing her name, Jessie Burke hadn’t looked convinced, or happy—no matter how badly the family needed the money—that Murdock Oil would have a legal right to be on her land. That was also the reason he wasn’t leaving town, he was going to be at hand while all the preliminary work was being done on the property. As far as he was concerned, Jessie Burke wasn’t to be trusted.

  “Hello, Brett,” Caroline Murdock’s voice came over the phone line.

  “Hi, Mom,” Brett said with a smile. “I got the Burkes to agree to the survey.”

  “I’m so happy, son. Did you have a difficult time talking with Miss Burke?”

  “No.” Brett thought back to the leggy wildcat who nearly took his head off with a twenty-two. He’d think twice before he turned his back on that woman again. “It was a piece of cake.” He didn’t want to tell his mother that getting the mineral rights might be another story altogether.

  “Your daddy...he’d be so proud of you,” Caroline Murdock said in a broken voice. “You’re doing a wonderful job taking over the company.”

  Brett felt awful. He knew that maybe he shouldn’t have left her, it had only been six months since J.T.’s death. But with all the financial problems at Murdock Oil, he couldn’t put this trip off.

  “Don’t you worry, Mom. The business will be back on solid ground soon.” Brett felt his chest tighten, and silently cursed his father for dying and leaving everything for him. “I just have a hunch this well is going to pay off.”

  “Just like your father,” she said proudly.

  Brett didn’t know if that was true, but he was pretty sure how the survey would come out. He had already done plenty of research on the Ardmore basin. Historical data and several maps of previous drilling sites had confirmed the fact that the counties surrounding Durant, Oklahoma, were target areas for gas, and possibly oil. He was sure they were going to hit, and hit big.

  “When Braden gets down here and the crew is set up, I’ll let you know how things go.”

  “Aren’t you coming home?”

  “I think I’ll stay here and keep the Burkes abreast of what’s going on. But if you need anything...”

  “Stop worrying about me,” she urged. “I have Tyler and Maggie here. You just take care of the business.”

  Brett ended the conversation with his mother after hearing about the family. He made a quick call to his brother and was relieved that Caroline Murdock, although still mourning her husband’s death, was all right. He needed to concentrate on this job without worrying about his mother. He couldn’t wait to get out on his own while his father was alive, but now that he was gone... He sighed tiredly. There was no way he could go back to Dallas with a dry well. Murdock Oil would be history.

  * * *

  Jessie had sent Katie and Josh off to catch the school bus and had just finished up the rest of the breakfast dishes, when she looked out the window to see Brett Murdock’s fancy car coming down the road, kicking up a trail of dust in its path.

  “What does he want now?” Jessie murmured
as she dried her hands on the towel, wondering if the man planned to hang around every day, bothering her.

  She marched across the kitchen, pushing open the screen door as he got out of the car. Unlike yesterday, he had on worn jeans that fit better than any she’d ever seen on a man, or had a right to. The soft washed-out denim covered muscular legs, and the frayed hem drooped sightly over a pair of scuffed buckskin boots. He wore a light blue Western shirt that hugged his broad chest and was tucked neatly into the waistband of his pants, showing off a shiny silver belt buckle and his flat stomach. For the first time in a lot of years, Jessie felt self-conscious about her appearance.

  She quickly masked her nervousness. “Isn’t this awful early for a city fella to come visiting?”

  Brett stopped and stared up at Jessie on the porch. She was standing, her long legs braced apart and her arms folded across her chest. He took more time to enjoy the view. Today, her jeans fit like they were hers, not her brother’s. His gaze traveled over the faded print blouse that gave away the fact that she had breasts, nice full breasts. Her hair curled around her face, looking all soft and shiny. He felt a sudden stirring in his gut. Darn. The last thing he wanted to do was think of her as a woman.

  “Mornin’, Jessie,” Brett said as he tipped his new hat. “I didn’t recognize you without your rifle.”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Murdock. Just because you got my family to sign your contract doesn’t mean I trust you any more than I did yesterday.”

  Brett placed his hand against his heart, acting as if he were in pain. “Oh, Jessie, you wound me.” Then he did it. He smiled. Jessie found she was short of breath.

  “You’re just used to having women falling all over you.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “And why would you say that, Miss Jessie?” he asked as he climbed slowly up the steps.

  Jessie had to tip her head back to see his face. Blast it! She hated that and moved back a little. “I watched you yesterday with my sister. Your sweet talk and fancy gadgets might work on her, but don’t try it on me.” She glared at him. “You best not hurt my family, or you’ll have more to worry about than just replacing your hat.”