suddenly lodged in her throat. Barry had turned out to be someone very different than the man she’d initially believed him to be. And then she’d learned that her mother was someone different, too. All of it together had been difficult for Alexa to deal with. Yet Quint seemed to be taking everything in stride. He was excited at having two older brothers and couldn’t wait to get them out here for an extended visit.
“Seems that way,” Alexa murmured, then drawing in a breath, added, “I met the new manager, Mr. Redman, a few minutes ago.”
There was a long pause before Quint finally replied. “Oh. How did that go? Please don’t tell me you got crosswise with the man. I can’t deal with that, Alexa. Not right now.”
She stiffened her spine. Did everyone view her as difficult? Now that she was home again, was her brother expecting her to be a problem rather than a help? The idea cut right through her. True, she’d shown up here at the ranch unexpectedly, throwing kinks in the plans her mother and brother had already made. But she’d wanted to surprise them. She’d not stopped to think that they had lives and schedules that didn’t always include her.
“No. No problems. He seems competent enough.” Now where had that come from? she wondered with self-disgust. She and Jonas Redman hadn’t discussed anything about the ranch or how to run it. But then, was it really her place to say how the Chaparral should be operated? For the past five years she’d chosen to stay away from her home and live in Santa Fe. At that time, she’d believed that living in the city would bring the change she needed in her life. She’d thought being Senator Hutchins’s aide would be the beginning of a satisfying career that would keep her away from the ranch. She’d not counted on Barry or the baby happening. Now her life felt as though it had splintered in all directions, and not one was the right one for her.
She pushed back a sigh as her brother began to speak.
“Jonas is more than competent, Alexa. We’re very fortunate to get him.” The phone crackled, telling Alexa her brother must be driving through the mountains, causing the signal to break. “I—you were—with him staying in the house. He—but I—made him see how important it was—have you safe.”
Alexa wearily wiped a hand over her eyes. “Your phone is breaking up, Quint. Everything is fine here. I’ll talk to you later.”
After putting away the phone, she reached for the tray of refreshments and carried it into the house. The dimly lit interior was cool as Alexa made her way through rooms with low ceilings, whitewashed walls, and comfortable Western furnishings. A large kitchen was located on the bottom floor at the back of the house. When she stepped into the room, she found the ranch’s longtime cook watering potted succulents rowed along a windowsill.
The sound of Alexa’s footsteps tapping against the tile floor announced her arrival, and the woman turned just as Alexa placed the tray of refreshments down on the cabinet counter.
“Alexa! You shouldn’t have carried that heavy tray!” she scolded. “Why didn’t you call me?”
Alexa smiled at the woman. Reena Crow had been working for the Cantrells even before Alexa was born. She was now in her mid-fifties but looked at least ten years younger. She was petite and slender, and her shoulderlength hair was as straight as a stick and salt-and-pepper in color. Her brown skin implied a Native American ancestry, but her pale green eyes belied it.
At the age of eighteen, Reena had come to work on the Chaparral as a maid, but after a few years her culinary skills had pushed her to the position of cook. Now widowed and with a grown daughter living away, Reena spent her days on the ranch and her nights taking care of her ninety-year-old mother.
“It wasn’t that heavy, Reena. I think both thermoses are practically empty,” Alexa said as she began placing dirty glasses and mugs in the sink.
“So Frankie is already gone?”
Alexa bit back a sigh. She’d come home, eager to help with stacks of bookkeeping for the Chaparral while her mother was away. She’d not envisioned having to deal with a man like Jonas Redman in the house.
You can always tell him no thanks, Alexa. You can flatly refuse to allow him in the house.
Yes, she could refuse, Alexa thought glumly. But that would only throw more worry onto Quint. And she already felt guilty enough about the heavy load her brother carried. Besides, now that she thought about it, she’d overreacted to the whole thing. Jonas Redman wasn’t going to intrude on her life. Even if he was one of the sexiest men she’d ever laid eyes on, his interests obviously didn’t include a very pregnant single woman. And she’d be incredibly conceited to think otherwise.
“Yes. I waved her off a few minutes ago.”
“She’s very excited,” Reena said. “And happy. That’s so good to see. Earlier this winter I was afraid she was going to die.”
“So was I, Reena. But once she realized she had something to live for, she agreed to the heart operation, which she desperately needed. Thank God.”
Reena climbed down from the step chair and put her watering can to one side. “Well, you having this baby has also done wonders for her.” She slanted a concerned eye at Alexa. “Are you feeling okay? Your face is flushed.”
No doubt, Alexa thought wryly. Jonas Redman had stirred her blood. Although she wasn’t sure why. He’d simply been following orders. And he’d not given her one sly look, one suggestive word. Yet she’d found herself having thoughts about him that were disturbing. She’d never reacted to any other man like that before she was pregnant.
“I’m fine. It’s just a little warm out this afternoon.”
Alexa began to fill the sink with warm water, but Reena quickly elbowed her away.
“Go. Rest. Do something. I’ll tend to these.”
Knowing better than to argue with the woman, Alexa left the kitchen and climbed the stairs. Earlier this morning, before she’d left her bedroom, she’d opened the heavy wooden door that led onto the balcony, and now a cool breeze wafted through the large room and rustled the bed skirt on the dark oak four-poster.
These days she tired easily, and oftentimes her body begged for a nap. But this afternoon she was too wired to think about sleep and ignoring the bed, she walked out onto the balcony.
The ranch house sat in a valley that ran for several miles between pine-covered mountains. To the right she could see the Rio Bonito meandering through banks lined with willows and aspens. To the left, a massive ranch yard with barns, sheds, outbuildings and cattle pens spread across many acres.
In all her life and all her travels, Alexa had never seen a prettier place than the Chaparral. And from her father she’d inherited a deep love of the land. Yet at the moment she took no solace in the majestic landscape sweeping southwest toward Alto. No, her thoughts were on Jonas Redman and the fact that she was now going to have to go over to the ranch yard and tell him that she’d changed her mind about having him for a housemate.
Across from the house, at the end of a long line of horse stables, Jonas stood in his office with a cell phone jammed to his ear while Captain Leo Weaver with the Texas Rangers tossed questions at him.
“How much longer do you think this is going to take, Jonas?”
Frowning, Jonas peered out the dusty window as he watched a couple of cowboys attempt to
