"You can save something for her for later," he said. "It'll be all right."
Though he missed having her seated next to him, he welcomed the chance to finish the discussion he'd started yesterday with Ken about the ranch. Kristen would be fit to be tied when she found out what he'd been up to, but Ken had promised she'd come around. "I think it's a real good thing you're doing," he'd told Kyle yesterday. "It's a big step, but in the end, I think it'll be best for all of us."
Would Theresa think so, too? He'd wanted to tell her everything last night, but decided against it. She hadn't wanted to spoil their mood with words, and he'd told himself it would be better to wait until everything was settled before he made his big announcement. He still wasn't sure how she was going to take the news. And maybe he ought to tell Kristen first, anyway.
But when guests started arriving and he still hadn't seen Theresa, he began to get a little worried. He stopped Kim on her way up the stairs. "Maybe you'd better go check on Theresa for me," he said. "Make sure she isn't sick."
"She's fine." Kim held up the iron she was carrying. "I'm helping her get ready for the barbecue." She giggled. "Uncle Kyle, you just won't believe it when you see how pretty she is!"
"Why wouldn't I believe it? Theresa's always pretty."
"Yes, but now...she looks like a bride!"
The word sent shock waves through him.
Bride
and
Theresa
were not things he'd dared to link in his mind, but the two images together suddenly had a powerful appeal. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.
One big decision at a time,
he told himself.
Take care of business first, then worry about the rest.
He went outside and joined Ken by the barbecue pit, where two briskets were slowly smoking. Some of the neighbors joined them. They commiserated on Kyle's injury and asked about life in Austin. "I heard some political types are raising a big fuss about the goings-on on Sixth Street," one of his high school buddies, Larry Timmons, said. "To hear them talk, it's a regular den of iniquity down there."
"Don't believe everything you hear," he said. "There's nothing illegal or immoral going on. If some folks don't want to see tattoo parlors and lingerie stores, they should stay home or go someplace else."
"I wouldn't mind seeing one of those lingerie stores," a big man named Mike drawled. "Think I could meet one of them Victoria's Secret models if I went shopping there?"
They all laughed, but the laughter faded as one by one their attention shifted toward the house. "Speaking of models," Larry muttered.
"Kyle, is that the girlfriend I heard you brought with you this weekend?" Mike asked as they watched Theresa cross the yard toward them.
"That's her." He swallowed, his heart racing as he watched her pick her way across the grass. She was wearing a white dress with long sleeves and a full skirt trimmed in lace. With her dark hair flowing around her shoulders, she looked like an angel.
She stopped in front of him, smoothing down her skirt, her gaze darting from person to person. "What is everybody staring at?"
He stepped forward and took her hand. "Who wouldn't stare? You look gorgeous."
She tugged down her sleeve. "Do you like it?"
"I do." He caught and held her gaze, wanting her to know the sincerity behind his words. It was something, seeing a woman like her, who could brazenly wear the most provocative outfits, unsure of herself in a soft, sweet dress like this. "You look more beautiful than ever."
"Oh, stop with the mushy stuff. You're embarrassing me." Mike joined them and stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Mike Leggit and I've known this fellow since he ate mud pies for lunch and thought girls were icky."
She laughed and took his hand. "Pleased to meet you." She glanced at Kyle. "Did you really eat mud pies?"
"
Once.
And he won't ever let me forget it." He slipped his arm around her waist. "And I never really thought girls were icky, I just pretended to protect my image."
"That's right, Kyle's always fancied himself a ladies' man." Larry shook her hand. "I'm Larry Timmons and I own the ranch next to this one on the east side. We've been trying for years to get Kyle to come home and join the rest of us poor cattle folks, but I can see now he's got better reasons to stay in the city."
"Think you'd like to live on a ranch?" Mike asked.
She glanced at Kyle, then looked away. "I'm afraid I'm a real city girl," she said. "I wouldn't know the first thing about ranching."
"I'll bet you could learn," Mike said. "Kyle could teach you."
"I'm sure Theresa isn't interested in learning about ranching." Kristen must have been standing there listening for a while. When she joined them now, she smiled at Theresa. "That's a gorgeous dress."
"Thank you."
"Howdy, Kristen."
"Hey, Kristen, how are you?"
Once everyone had said hello, the conversation died. Kyle inwardly cringed. Kristen hadn't meant to put a damper on their fun, but that's exactly what she'd done. She was so different from Theresa--so proper and efficient. She was the epitome of what a ranch wife should be--what all their mothers had been. You couldn't joke about lingerie and city girls with the image of your mother standing there, could you?
"We were just telling Kyle how much we missed seeing him around the ranch," Larry said.
"I tell him that all the time." Kristen smiled at him. "I'm sure he'll get tired of Austin and decide to come home one day soon."
"Ranching kind of gets in your blood, I guess," Mike said. "You can't help it, really."
If that's what they all wanted to believe, fine, but that wasn't how Kyle felt. "I like it fine in the city," he said. "I think I'll be settling down there."
Kristen laughed. "That's what he says now, but in a few years he'll be changing his mind."
She talked as though he was still a child who couldn't make up his mind between a red bicycle and a blue one. "No, I won't change my mind," he said firmly.
Her smile faded. "I didn't mean to upset you. We can talk about it later."
"No, I think we'd better talk now." He took Kristen's arm and led her away from the cooker. "Excuse us just a minute, fellows."
"Kyle, what are you doing? I have guests to see to." She tried to pull away from him.
"This won't take a minute. Ken, Theresa, you come, too."
"I don't think..." Theresa took a step back.
"Aw, come on, you might as well hear this, too." Ken took her arm and escorted her across the yard behind Kyle and Kristen.
Kyle stopped in a secluded corner between the kids' sandbox and the fountain Ken had given Kristen for her birthday two years before. Kristen pulled away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. "What has gotten into you?" she asked.
"I've asked Ken to buy out my share of the ranch."
It took a moment for this bombshell to register. Kristen went pale and stared at her husband. "What did you say?"
"I told him I thought it was a good idea." His mouth was set in a grim line. "For everybody."
"I can't believe you agreed to such a crazy idea!" She turned to Kyle. "This ranch is half yours. Daddy left it to both of us in his will."
He shook his head. "It makes no sense for me to own half of something when I'm not here to do any of the work or make any of the decisions. You and Ken are the ones who are doing all the work--you deserve all the reward, too."
"But what will you do with yourself?"
"I'm going to use the money to build a house on my land in Austin, and to start a business."
"Doing what? You don't know how to do anything but ride horses and ranch."
He shifted his weight to one hip. So what if he didn't know anything else? He could learn, couldn't he? "I'm not sure what kind of business yet, but I'm looking into a few things."
She shook her head. "I can't let you make a crazy mistake like this."
All the sympathy he'd been feeling for her fled. "You're not my mother. And I'm not some stupid kid who needs looking after. I can make my own decisions. And if I screw up, then it's my life I'm messing up, not yours."
"How can you say that? I care what happens to you."
"I know." He stared at the ground. Why did she have to make this so hard? If she loved him so much, why couldn't she abide by his decision, wish him well and leave it at that? But then, she wouldn't be his sister if she caved that easily. "I'm going to do this. So make your peace with it."
She glared at him, then charged past them, toward the house. She brushed against Theresa and stepped back. "This is all your fault," she said. "He was never like this before he met you."
Theresa looked stunned as Kristen hurried across the yard in a stiff-legged gait that was almost but not quite at the pace of a run.
"I'm sorry," Kyle said to Theresa. "She shouldn't have said that."
She looked at him, eyes questioning. "You really are selling your half of the ranch?"
He nodded. "I finally figured out it was the only way I could really break the ties, plus get a stake for a fresh start."
"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean...this is your home."
"It's still his home," Ken said. He clapped Kyle on the back. "That hasn't changed. He's welcome here anytime."
Kyle nodded. "This will be best for everybody." He looked toward the house, where Kristen had fled. "I hope she'll see that one day."
"I'll talk to her," Ken said. "It'll be all right."
Ken left them and Kyle turned back to Theresa. "I'd planned to tell you later, after I'd talked it over with Kristen." He looked around at the crowd of people. "Now wasn't exactly the best timing, but I couldn't stand her thinking she could keep planning my future the way she always has."
"I don't know what to think," Theresa said. "I'm a little stunned myself."
"I was hoping you'd be happy for me."
"I am." She nodded. "If this is what you want, then I'm happy."
Then why didn't she look happier? Standing there in that white lacy dress, she looked like a bride who'd been left at the altar.
They needed to talk more, but before he could say so another neighbor, Travis Wiley, grabbed Kyle's arm and insisted he join them for a game of horseshoes. "You can talk to that pretty gal of yours anytime," Old Man Wiley said. "You can only play horseshoes against me once a year."
"You just know you'll whip me because I'm out of practice," he said. "Maybe in a couple of minutes." He turned back to Theresa to continue their conversation, but she was already halfway to the house, her black hair flying like a horse's mane behind her, the full skirt of her white dress billowing out as she hurried across the yard.
Was Kristen right? Had Kyle sold away his birthright for
her?
The idea terrified her. It was one thing to imagine that she was in love with Kyle, or even to hope he might love her. But for him to give up so much...and why? Was it really what he wanted? Or only what he thought
she
wanted?
Last night at the creek, they'd been so close. At one point, he'd started to tell her something and she'd immediately brushed him off. She'd been afraid he was going to tell her he loved her, and she wasn't ready for that. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Had he seen the fear in her eyes and decided that instead of telling her his feelings he'd make some grand gesture to show them to her? He was just the kind of man to do something like that. After all, he'd made a bedroom under the stars and danced almost naked on her coffee table to impress her. Maybe giving up his share of the ranch was the same kind of thing.
She thought of what his friend Mike had said, about ranching being in his blood. If that was true, then turning his back on that for someone else--for a woman with no ties and family of her own--was asking for trouble. What would happen in a few years when he realized he'd made a mistake? Who would he blame his unhappiness on if not her?
She zipped the suitcase shut and glanced around the room, looking for anything she might have left behind. Then she grabbed her purse and the case and tiptoed down the stairs. She stashed the suitcase in the back of Ken's truck, then went to find him.
He was in the kitchen chipping ice, thankfully alone. "Does Wimberley have a bus station?" she asked.
He looked up, startled. "No, you have to go to San Marcos for that."
"Can you take me there? Now? I need to get back to Austin."
He frowned. "Why don't you ask Kyle to take you?"
"I don't want to spoil his fun." She tossed her hair back and tried to look unconcerned. "Something's come up."
Ken laid aside the ice pick and studied her. "You two have a fight or something?"
"No." She twisted her hands together. "Please, will you just take me to the bus station?"
She thought he was going to say no, but after a long silence, he nodded. "Okay, let me get my keys." She followed him out to the truck. "You know you're going to cause all kinds of gossip, don't you?" he said as they climbed in.
"What do you mean?" She fastened her seat belt.
"Everybody'll be talking about how I ran off with my brother-in-law's girlfriend."
"They'll find out the truth when you come back without me."
He grinned. "I don't know. I might just let them think we were up to something. It'll be good for my reputation."
She laughed in spite of the tension coiled in her chest. "You're incorrigible."
"So my wife tells me all the time." He started the engine. "I like to think that's why she married me."
As they pulled away from the house, she stared out the window at the rows of pickup trucks and cars parked under the trees along the drive. "What will you tell Kyle?"
"That you had to leave. That you said something came up. That you wouldn't tell me what it was."
She nodded. Kyle would probably be angry with her, but maybe that was for the best. If he got mad at her, maybe he'd think more about what he was doing.
"This isn't because he said he is selling his half of the ranch, is it?" Ken asked. "I mean, it's not like it's some big spread worth a lot of money or anything."
She shook her head. "No. It's not about the ranch. It's about me." That at least was the truth. She loved Kyle, but she didn't want him building his future around her. She couldn't handle that kind of responsibility. If you started counting on other people to make you happy, you'd only end up in trouble. Kyle needed to figure that out, and maybe he needed to do it without her.