“They’re not exactly like that, Sassy,” he told her. “If they were, I wouldn’t be working for them.”
Returning to stand at the side of the table, Bella looked at her brother. “Why are you lying to her? Bart probably has the first penny he ever made.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Jett argued. “But family means even more to him.”
Sassy looked from brother to sister. She already had these two disagreeing. What would happen once she met the Calhouns? Nothing, she tried to reassure herself. They’d probably laugh the whole resemblance thing away. She’d have a little visit with Finn and then go home to New Mexico and pick up her life where she’d left off. Except that, in seven months or a little less, she’d have a baby, a tiny being to love and nourish. The notion still seemed incredible to her. Yet already she was feeling protective of the life growing inside her.
“So, when do you plan to see the Calhouns?” Bella directed the question at Sassy.
Blinking, Sassy shook away her rambling thoughts and looked at Jett’s sister. “After what you two have told me, I’m not sure I want to.”
Sinking into a chair on the opposite side of the table, Bella looked regretfully at her brother. “Look what we’ve done. We’ve scared her with all this talk about Bart.”
Frowning, Jett corrected his sister, “She was scared before we said a word about the Calhouns.”
Not appreciating the sound of that, Sassy squared her shoulders. “I’m not scared. I’m disgusted. And who is this Bart?”
“The oldest Calhoun,” Jett explained. “The father of Orin and grandfather to Orin’s five sons.”
“Aren’t there any women in the family?” Sassy asked.
Jett answered, “Bart’s wife, Gilda, died many years ago. Orin’s wife, Claudia, died about five or six years ago. And none of the sons are married. The only women around the place now are the cook and a couple of maids.”
“Thank God for the maids. At least there will be someone around that I can relate to,” Sassy said wryly, while thinking she might as well find what humor she could in the situation. Crying certainly wasn’t going to help.
A groove of amusement creased Jett’s cheek. “I told the Calhouns we’d be over tomorrow evening. After everyone has finished with dinner.”
“That late?” Her gaze went from Jett to Bella and back again. “Tomorrow is Saturday. Surely you two have plans for the weekend and—”
Before Sassy could go on, Bella interjected, “I’m driving over to Truckee to spend the day with our mother. She’s having some friends over for dinner. Jett is staying home and feeding the cows.”
Sassy turned a questioning look on Jett. “You’re staying here because of me?”
He shook his head. “That was my plan even before I knew you’d be flying in today. I love Mom, but her parties bore me to death. I’ll catch up with her later. Besides, I gave my ranch hand the day off tomorrow, so I have to be here to take up the slack.”
That meant she’d be spending the day alone with Jett. It wasn’t anything remotely close to how she’d planned to spend her first weekend here in Nevada. She’d envisioned herself having a leisurely morning, then viewing some of the local tourist sites. Now she no longer had a hotel or a rental car. Somehow she’d allowed this man to take over and make her entirely dependent on him. This behavior wasn’t like her. Not at all. And as soon as tomorrow was over, she was going to do something about getting herself back in control.
* * *
Later that evening Jett was in the barn, spreading alfalfa hay for the horses, when his cell phone rang. Checking the display, he shook his head. It wasn’t like Finn Calhoun to call this late. Being the manager of the ranch’s broodmare and stallion operation, Finn rarely had a spare moment for anything more than work. And at this time of the evening, when the mares were brought in to the barns, inspected and fed, Finn was always there to make sure each and every horse was in its best condition.
Stepping out of the horse stall, Jett used one hand to carefully lock the gate behind him. “Hey, Finn, what’s up? Anything wrong at the Silver Horn?”
“Not that I’m aware of. But you know how it is with me, Jett, I’m the last one around here to be told anything.” After a slight pause, he went on, “I was actually calling to ask if Sassy Matthews had arrived? You did say she’d be flying in today.”
Of the Calhoun bunch, Finn was the one who’d been a close friend of Barry Landers. Several years back, the two men had traveled the rodeo circuit together, with Barry riding saddle broncs and Finn roping steers. And even after Finn had retired from competition, the pair had remained friends. But Jett could tell that Finn’s interest in Sassy really had nothing to do with his late friend. It had everything to do with her looking like a Calhoun.
“Sassy did arrive,” Jett told him. “She’s staying here at the house with me and Bella.”
“Still planning to bring her over to the Silver Horn tomorrow evening?”
“That’s the time Orin and I agreed on. Why? Are you calling to put the meeting off?”
“Shoot, no! I’m excited to meet her. Now that you’ve seen her, what do you think? Does she look as much like me as she does in the picture?”
When Jett had first walked up to Sassy in the airport terminal, he’d initially been shocked by her resemblance to Finn. But after a moment, he forgot all about that connection. He’d been taken by the vibrant color of her hair and the creaminess of her pale skin. Her eyes were the color of a cloudless sky and they’d sparkled like sunlight dancing across a pool of water. Her wide, rosy-pink lips had been smiling, and as he’d touched her hand he’d immediately felt her warmth and sincerity. And then she’d fainted and he’d never been so terrified in his life.
Shaking away his wandering thoughts, he said, “I’ll wait and let you be the judge of that.”
For one brief moment, Jett considered telling Finn about the baby that Sassy was carrying, but he pushed the urge aside. It wasn’t his place to reveal such private information. That was her business and hers alone. Even so, ever since she’d told Jett about her pregnancy, he’d not been able to get it out of his mind. She seemed so young and alone, so vulnerable. But then, not all women were as helpless and insecure as his ex-wife had been. Sassy might be perfectly capable of caring for herself and her baby without a man to support her. At least, he wanted to think so.
Finn laughed. “This is going to be fun. It’s said that everybody has a twin somewhere in the world. Maybe Sassy is mine.”
Careful to keep his tone casual, Jett asked, “Finn, if it turned out that Sassy was actually related to your family, how do you think they’d react?”
“Hell, that’s a peculiar question. I didn’t invite her out here because I thought anything like that. She was Barry’s friend and she looked like me. I just wanted to meet her and talk about my old buddy. Is she thinking she might be related?”
Jett wasn’t sure how to answer that. He realized Sassy was searching for some lead to her biological parents, but she wasn’t convinced she’d find it with the Calhouns. “Not really. It’s what I’m thinking.”
There was a long pause and then Finn said in a mystified voice, “Jett, you sound serious.”
“When you see her, you’ll understand.”
Another long moment of silence passed before Finn spoke. “I don’t know how that could be, Jett. Unless she’s some distant cousin that I’ve never heard about.”
Or Bart and Orin were hiding something, Jett thought. And even though he’d never known either man to be deceptive, he figured they would do most anything to keep their family tightly knitted together. Even lie. But Jett was going to keep that opinion to himself. Finn had enough problems trying to find his way in the middle of the pack of Calhoun brothers. The last thing Jett wanted to do was have him doubting his father’s or grandfather’s sincerity.
Moving away from the stall, Jett strode toward a door at the back of the barn. “You’re probably right, Finn. It’s all coincidence that she looks like you. But everyone ought to get a kick out of seeing you two together.”
“I agree,” Finn replied with an easy chuckle.
The two men exchanged a few more words before Finn ended the conversation. Jett slipped the phone back into its holder on his belt and, after making sure the barn was securely shut for the night, headed to the house.
Inside, he found Bella in the living room talking on the phone. As soon as she spotted him entering the room, she ended the conversation and rose to her feet. “That was Mom. I reminded her once again that you weren’t coming.”
Jett grimaced. “I’m sure she’s not pleased with me. I haven’t been over to see her in a few weeks now.”
“Actually, she wasn’t upset at all. She’s happy that you’re going to be spending tomorrow with a woman. I told her about Sassy.”
He rolled his eyes. Since her divorce from a real estate mogul up in the Lake Tahoe area had become final two years ago, his sister had been living with him here on the J Bar S. In spite of Bella’s doubts that the two of them could cohabitate peacefully under the same roof, Jett had convinced her that being on the ranch would be much nicer than holing up in an apartment in town. And, so far, it had worked. Mainly because brother and sister always spoke frankly to each other.
“I’m sure the news was burning your tongue,” Jett said drolly.
Bella gave him a sweet smile. “Well, Sassy is very pretty. And you’ve never brought a woman to the ranch before.”
“Sassy is here because I was concerned she might faint again. No other reason.” Except that she had an alluring quality about her that had grabbed him from the very start. Within moments of meeting her, he’d felt himself being drawn into her plight and wanting to make things better for her. It had been years since he’d allowed himself to feel that level of protection for any woman other than Bella or his mother. It was an odd feeling, and he wasn’t sure where it was leading.
“Oh. Well, maybe you’d better take a closer look and you’ll find a reason to keep her here for a while longer.”
Not bothering to reply to his sister’s suggestive remark, Jett turned on his heel and started out of the room only to have Bella snatch hold of his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To change clothes and start supper. It’s that time of evening,” he said pointedly. “Or hadn’t you noticed?”
Bella slipped her arm through his and pulled him over to the couch. “Well, you can give me a minute or two. I want to talk to you before Sassy gets up from her nap.”
His expression full of warning, he allowed his sister to pull him across the room. As the two of them sat on connecting cushions, Jett asked, “About what? If you’re going to start digging into me about her—”
Bella impatiently shook her head and lowered her voice. “I’m worried about you, that’s all.”
Jett snorted. “Worried about me? Why?”
She squeezed his hand, and in that moment Jett realized that, in spite of Bella’s independent nature, she needed his support. Just as he’d always needed hers. With their mother living miles away in Truckee, and their dad leaving the family years ago, the two siblings had stuck close. Especially after both of their marriages had fallen apart.
“This thing with Sassy,” she answered. “I’m afraid the Calhouns are going to blame you for all this.”
His brows arched with innocence. “All this? Nothing has happened.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not yet. But it will. I’m certain of that, and so are you.”
Jett glanced over at the open doorway that connected the living room to the rest of the house. The last thing he wanted was for Sassy to overhear their conversation. She’d probably take the first flight out of Carson City. And he didn’t want that to happen. Even though his ex-wife, Erica, had made his life a living hell and caused him to swear off women for the past five years, it was nice to be in Sassy’s company. She was fresh and frank, and one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen in his life—which was weird since she looked so much like his friend. And somehow her youthful energy—even despite her faint—made him feel alive and good. He couldn’t see anything wrong with that.
“If Sassy’s visit to the Silver Horn opens a can of worms, it’s not my fault.”
“Oh? Then whose fault would it be? You’re the man who set up this meeting. Why did you get involved, anyway? If Finn wanted to visit his dead friend’s girl, then he should’ve done it on his own and left you out of it.”
He glared at his sister. “Bella! It isn’t like you to be so unfeeling. And being the Calhouns’ lawyer always makes me the middleman. Anyway, that part doesn’t matter. I want you to put yourself in Sassy’s shoes for a moment. Wouldn’t you welcome any sort of help in finding your parents?”
She grimaced. “We haven’t known our father’s whereabouts since we were teenagers. And I’m not asking anyone to help me find the man,” she pointed out.
“No. But you don’t have to wonder who he was. And you have a mother in your life. Sassy has neither. Her adoptive parents were killed in a house fire when she was just seventeen. Now she’s having the baby of a man who was tragically killed only two months ago. The woman deserves a little helping hand, don’t you think?”
Bella’s sigh was rueful. “Okay, I sound awful. I admit it. And I’m sorry. Especially because I like Sassy. I even wish she’d stay with us for a while. But taking her to meet the Calhouns—that’s another thing. Let her go alone. Otherwise, if she uses this meeting to start questioning them about relatives, Bart might get angry at you for aiding and abetting her. He might even fire you.”
Jett’s chuckle held little mirth. “Not likely. Bart trusts me to keep the ranch’s business private. But the roof wouldn’t fall in if he did fire me. I’ve been thinking I’d rather hang my shingle out in town, anyway.”
Bella stared at him. “I’ve never heard you talk like this. Are you serious?”
“Very.”
Shaking her head with disbelief, she said, “The Calhouns pay you an enormous salary. Why would you want the headache of a public practice?”
“I didn’t go through eight years of education to work exclusively for one family. I’d like to think all that learning could help others, too.”
Bella laid her hand on his forehead. “My Lord, something has come over you. What is it?”