Wildcat Wedding (Wranglers & Lace #2) Page 9

  He looked toward the derrick floor, at the turntable as it gripped and turned the pipe in the hole, its every rotation causing the diamond-sharp bit to cut farther into the hard earth, and closer to the payoff.

  “Hey, Brett,” the drill operator called out, then nodded toward the trailer. “You’ve got some visitors.”

  Brett turned around to find Josh and Katie waiting next to the trailer just as he had asked them to do as soon as their morning chores were finished. He grinned as he checked his watch. They must have been up before the sun.

  His thoughts went to Jessie, wondering if the kids had let her sleep in. All at once, his body stirred, finding he wanted the pleasure of waking her... No, definitely not. He shook his head. He needed to stay far away from Jessie Burke. She wasn’t the type of woman who could ever play by his rules. And there wasn’t any room in his life for a personal relationship right now. Besides, he wasn’t even thirty, too young to think about settling down.

  He stared across the site toward his young visitors. At the moment, it seemed he and Jessie had too many commitments in their lives to think about anything else.

  * * *

  Jessie was furious. And when she found Josh and Katie, they were going to wish that they’d never been born. How could they run off and not tell her where they were going? Jessie walked out the back door and glanced toward the deserted barn. She had searched everywhere they could possibly be and had still found no sign of the kids.

  The last thing she remembered had been hearing Mac leave with a neighbor around five o’clock this morning for a cattle auction. That must have been when she’d finally dozed off, she hadn’t remembered anything until she woke up at eight. Good Lord, she hadn’t slept that late in years, not since she used to take care of her sick mother. She thought back to last night and her foolishness.

  Brett Murdock.

  A shiver went through her body thinking about the kiss. How could she have let him...? She never should have had that glass of wine, nothing good had ever come from drinking alcohol. And now he was probably having a high old time laughing about the dumb farm girl with no experience.

  He wouldn’t be stretchin’ the true much, either. Jessie knew she was pretty ignorant when it came to men. Her daddy had kept a close rein on her. She thought about kissing Brett, a man who had a lot more practice kissing than any boy around these parts. She shook her head to clear it. She needed to forget about the kiss and think about Josh and Katie. She hurried along the road toward the high derrick.

  * * *

  Brett had just helped Katie from the platform steps, when he turned and saw Jessie coming toward them. Today she wore her usual jeans and long-sleeved man’s shirt. Didn’t she ever get hot? He smiled to himself. He knew firsthand how explosive Jessie Burke could be. Right now, though, she looked angry. Wonder what he’d done this time.

  “‘Morning, Jessie,” he called out over the drilling noise. “Let me get you a hard hat and I’ll show you around—”

  “Look, Brett,” she began, placing her hands on her hips, “I’m not really interested in seeing your operation right now.” She turned her attention to Josh and Katie. “Is this where you two have been all morning?”

  “Yeah, and it’s been great,” Josh volunteered and pointed up at the derrick. “Brett showed us how the drill works and how they test the rocks.”

  “And they made a mud pit,” Katie interjected. “They send mud into the ground so the drill won’t get too hot. And Marcus’s job is to look at the rocks, and when they turn pretty colors, we’re getting close to finding the gas.” The little girl’s eyes grew wider with her explanation.

  “That’s all well and good, Katie,” Jessie said, hating herself for spoiling her sister’s excitement, “but you two shouldn’t have taken off without asking if you could come here.”

  “We did ask,” Josh stressed. “Last night when we were eating dinner at the restaurant.”

  “You said if we got our chores done and we were careful, we could come by just this once,” Katie offered. “Please don’t be mad at Brett. He took real good care of us. He made us wear hard hats and he wouldn’t let Josh climb up on the derrick even when he begged.”

  Brett saw Jessie’s confusion, then watched her cheeks redden, knowing she had truly forgotten about the kids touring the site today. His attention went to the dark circles under her eyes, telling him that she hadn’t slept any better than he had. Had she been up thinking about him?

  “Hey, kids, why don’t you go hang your hats on the hooks in the trailer and maybe I can talk your sister into letting me take everyone into town for lunch. How about hamburgers?” The kids cheered and hurried off.

  “Look, Brett, you don’t need... You took us out last night.” Jessie avoided any eye contact with him. “I have to work the vegetable stand. Hatty’s been there all morning.”

  “Why don’t I drop you off and take the kids into town, then bring you back something to eat. I’ll even stay and help work.”

  “Really, you don’t need to,” she said. “Hatty and I can handle things.”

  “But I want to,” he countered. He reached out and touched her chin, tilting it up toward him. Finally, her blue eyes locked with his and it was as if the sun had just come out after a long rain. She was getting to him again. “Did I do something last night to upset you?”

  “You...you kissed me.”

  “Yeah.” He smiled. “A very enjoyable experience.”

  “But we shouldn’t have,” she argued.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t go around kissing men.” She pulled back. “I don’t have time for that sort of thing. My family is my only concern.”

  “You mean it never should have happened.”

  She nodded.

  “Such a shame,” he breathed. “Since we both seemed to enjoy it so much.”

  Jessie’s eyes widened. “You did?”

  “Very much so. I kissed you twice, didn’t I? And you looked as if you were enjoying it, too.”

  “Yes,” she answered a little breathlessly.

  Brett reached out and brushed a curl behind her ear. “It’s okay, Jess, to take time for a little fun.”

  A sudden shouting of orders from the men on the derrick quickly brought them out of their haze. Stepping back, she folded her arms across her chest. “We both have jobs to do, Mr. Murdock. We can’t let foolishness...” She glanced away. “It can’t happen again.”

  Brett had had enough experience with Jessie Burke to know when not to argue. This was one of those times. “I agree with you.” He really didn’t, but her argument made a lot of sense, and he didn’t need any complications right now.

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “But we can still be friends?”

  “I guess that would be all right.”

  “Good. Now, as your friend, I’m going to drive you to the vegetable stand, then take Josh and Katie to lunch. I’m also going to help peddle some of your good Oklahoma produce.”

  He waited for another protest, but never got one. Jessie turned and marched off toward the house. He had to walk fast to keep up.

  * * *

  Brett pulled the truck off the road next to the wooden stand with the word Produce painted across the front. The kids were busy chatting between themselves, still excited about their outing into town, making him realize how much he had taken for granted all his life. Little Katie had never before gone out for a simple hamburger. And last night at the Gazebo, he knew was their first time in a nice restaurant.

  But looking at the kids, he knew that they hadn’t been neglected because of their lack of fast food. In fact, these two were so unspoiled, everything they were given was a gift to be treasured. He was sure that when the well came in, their life-style wouldn’t change much, neither would their values.

  He turned off the key, but the engine continued to shimmy. He hoped they’d purchase a new truck with some of their money. He grabbed the bag off the seat and followed the kids behind the
stand. They were talking nonstop to Hatty and Jessie about their trip to town.

  “It took longer because we drove around Durant,” Josh explained.

  “So you showed Brett our town, huh?” Hatty asked, then looked at Brett. “How did you like it?”

  He glanced over at Jessie who was busy at the other end of the shaded structure helping a customer. “Nice. We drove by Southeastern Oklahoma University.”

  “That’s where I want to go next year,” Josh said, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

  “Just make sure you stick with it.” Brett tugged on Josh’s baseball cap. “If you want to get anywhere, you need a college education.”

  Jessie stiffened hearing Brett’s words. She knew it was true. She’d spent the past eight years preaching to the kids about school. None of them were ever going to quit as she had. No one was ever going to call any more of the Burke kids stupid.

  If any good came out of leasing their land for drilling, it was that Josh and Katie would have a chance at making a life for themselves outside the farm.

  Brett came up to her. “I brought you and Hatty some hamburgers and fries.”

  Jessie lifted the brim of her floppy hat and wiped her hand across her warm forehead. “I told you that you didn’t need to.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Hatty interrupted. “I happen to love hamburgers, especially when I don’t have to fix them myself. Thanks, Brett.” She dug into the big sack and pulled out a couple of paper-wrapped sandwiches and handed one to Jessie.

  Hungry, she took it. “Thank you,” she murmured and caught one of his charming smiles. Jessie’s heart began to race. Darn the man, couldn’t he go back to drilling his well, and leave her alone?

  “Josh and I will work the stand. You two go sit down and eat,” he said.

  “I’ll help, too,” Katie added.

  Hatty swatted at a pesky fly. “Thanks, I’ll take you up on that. C’mon, Jessie, these old bones are tired.”

  Jessie moved to a small folding table where some crates were turned on their sides and used for stools. The area was covered by an old tarp that Hatty had brought so they could sit in the shade and rest while they weren’t busy with customers.

  Hatty bit into her hamburger immediately. The hot June heat bothered Jessie more than her empty stomach as she picked at her food, watching Brett tickle Katie until the little girl giggled. Then a car drove up and two young women got out and started looking over the vegetables. Soon they were talking and laughing with Brett while Josh bagged close to five pounds of tomatoes, a couple dozen ears of corn, some squash and several cucumbers. By the time they were finished, Brett and Josh were putting several boxes of produce in the customers’ trunk. One of the women lingered next to the car talking to Brett with her hand on his arm. Jessie felt her temper flare.

  “If Brett keeps selling produce like that, we’re going to have to close up early,” Hatty commented, then ate another French fry. “Of course, I wouldn’t mind since Marcus is going to take me to a movie tonight.”

  “You have a date?” Jessie couldn’t hide her shock.

  “I may be middle-aged, Jessie, but I’m not dead, especially when there is a man like Marcus around.” The older woman gave her a sideways glance, then looked toward Brett who was still talking with the ladies. “You should take advantage of your opportunities also.”

  * * *

  Jessie stared at the pretty bay mare and her three-month-old colt in the corral. Both animals had almost identical markings on the face and four white stockings. Katie and Josh were hanging over the fence trying to get the horses’ attention.

  Jessie eyed her brother Mac. “I thought you were going to buy a few head of cattle at the auction.”

  “I did. I bought a dozen Hereford mix along with a prime bull. I found the two horses before the auction even started. A local rancher offered them to me at a fair price. The mare isn’t exactly top-grade horseflesh, but good enough for riding, and her colt shows some potential.” He nodded toward their younger siblings. “Thought maybe it would give these two something to do this summer, something they can call their own.”

  “What about feeding these animals?”

  “The colt’s still nursin’, and we’ll be growing our own feed by next planting season.”

  Maybe Jessie had been just so used to worrying about everything that she couldn’t let herself enjoy the beautiful animals. Besides their milk cow, a stray dog and a few of her pups, it had been a long time since they’d had much livestock on the farm. Now, they were going to start breeding cattle. She looked at the shy colt hiding behind the mare.

  “What about a saddle?”

  “I found two in the tack room.” He nodded toward the barn. “They need to be cleaned up, but Josh can take care of that so he won’t be bothering Brett and Marcus at the drilling site.”

  “You got it all figured out, don’t you?” She smiled at her brother. “Got any ideas on how you’re gonna keep Katie from dressing that colt up in clothes like she did the puppies?”

  They both began to laugh, remembering how poor Betsy put up with Katie’s playing house. Mac pulled off his hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt if we bought her a doll and some new clothes. It might keep her away from the animals.”

  “I think we’ve spent enough money for a while.”

  “We have money to spend,” he stressed. “In fact, I was going to talk to you about having the house and barn painted. What do you think?”

  “I think it will be expensive.”

  Mac shook his head. “The house needs it badly, along with some structural work.” He turned and faced the large two-story structure. “Wouldn’t you like to see our home painted all white with shutters trimmed in dark green? Just think how pretty your flowers will look.” He pivoted back around. “And the barn in bright red and all the corral fences in white.”

  “But we’ll need money for taxes, and Josh is going to go to college in another year.”

  “Jess, a lot of these improvements will be tax deductions. And with an increase on the wheat and alfalfa planting, we should be bringing in a decent income. Then I can expand the herd and—”

  “You’ve been thinking a lot about this.” She studied Mac. “How come I never heard about any of this before?”

  The nineteen-year-old suddenly looked a lot older as he gazed off toward the pasture. “I guess I’ve talked a little bit about it to Brett. He was a business major in college, and I wanted to know the best ways to make the farm profitable again.” Mac shrugged. “He gave me some tips. I was going to talk to you as soon as the commotion with the drilling died down.”

  Jessie was hurt. She and her brother had always talked things out. Even when their dad’s condition was at its worst, she and Mac had always discussed what they needed to do, together. Now, he had Brett Murdock.

  “This is going to be your farm in a few years. I guess you should have a say-so about what is going to happen.”

  “I don’t want to do anything without you agreeing to it,” he said. “This is your home, too.”

  No, it really wasn’t. Mac was the eldest male child and it was his farm. That’s the way it had been for generations. And Jessie was at least smart enough to see that Mac had better business sense than she would ever hope to have. They had the extra money to buy some needed farm equipment and even make the place look nice again. Yes, it was time to let Mac handle things.

  “You do what you feel is best,” Jessie said. “You were always pretty good with math.” She pushed away from the corral fence and started for the house to fix supper.

  “Jess, there’s another thing,” he called out.

  She stopped and turned around. “What?”

  “You deserve to go on a shopping spree for yourself. It wouldn’t hurt for you to start dressin’ like a woman. At least buy some women’s jeans.”

  Jessie smiled. “You better be down on your knees every night, brother, and pray that our well comes in, be
cause the way you’re spending money, you’re going to need a lot of it.”

  * * *

  Jessie sat on the old porch swing, pushing with her feet to get it moving. She looked off toward the west where the sun was slowly disappearing from view. She sighed and glanced at the corral where Josh was walking the mare around, the colt following close behind. Katie was sitting on the fence calling out instructions to her brother. Josh was ignoring her. Mac came out of the barn carrying the milking pail. The two were standing side by side and Jessie smiled with pride. Her brothers were quickly changing into men.

  Thank goodness it would be several more years before Katie was on her own, but even now her younger sister was pretty independent for an eight-year-old. Jessie couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without the kids. Yet she had to think about the day when they wouldn’t need her anymore. Mac would probably get married in a few years, Josh would go off to college and then...it would be just her and Katie.

  Jessie was only twenty-three. She could get married and have her own family. First she would have to find a man, a man who didn’t mind a couple of siblings thrown in with the deal. The thought of her having her own babies was almost enough to give finding a husband some serious thought. But she didn’t have the time and she wasn’t such a prize catch herself, she reckoned.

  Her thoughts turned to Brett. The memory of his kisses had been on her mind all day. The strange feelings he had caused inside her, feelings she couldn’t afford to have. He was from the city and he was used to women falling all over him, she thought, remembering the scene at the produce stand and his flirting with those two female customers. Sweet-talking was second nature to men like Brett Murdock. And she’d be wise to stay clear of him, she reminded herself, remembering her one short disastrous attempt at dating. She had been so sure that Tommy Anderson was the perfect man.