Randall Pride. Judy Christenberry
kinds of activities.
She supposed he’d kissed a lot of women since then.
“Hi, Mom. What’s for dinner?” Toby asked.
B.J. kissed him on the cheek. “We changed the menu just for you. Red is making his chicken-fried steak.”
As Toby smiled at his mother, someone muttered, “How bourgeois.”
Everyone turned to stare at Cleve, and Elizabeth’s cheeks flushed.
Red pokered up. “Boy, if you don’t like—”
Jake quietly stopped him. “Red, mind sliding a rib eye under the grill? That might be more to Cleve’s taste.”
Red muttered something under his breath and turned his back on the guest.
Toby tried to search for a distraction. “Hey, you haven’t set the table. We’ll do it for you.”
Mildred shot him a nervous look. “We’ve already set the table…in the dining room.”
Toby realized the reason for Mildred’s concern. They never ate in the dining room except at Christmas. They were a boisterous, loving family. Dinner was their opportunity to catch up on everyone’s day. Though taught good manners, they all participated in the many conversations flowing around the table.
Toby suspected dinner tonight would be silent and over quickly.
Elizabeth almost pulled Cleve aside then and there and told him their engagement was going to be brief. Like, ending tonight. He might have fit into her life in Laramie, but it was clear Cleve would never be comfortable with her family or vice versa. Her automatic choice came down on her family’s side.
Had she ever really loved him? It made her sound fickle. Maybe if she gave it a few more days.
“Elizabeth,” her mother, Megan, said. “Why don’t you take Cleve into the living room? We’ll have everything ready in a few moments.”
Elizabeth looked disturbed, and Megan added, “Boys, go with Elizabeth and Cleve. It will give you the chance to get to know him better.”
Toby knew he was included in that general direction, but he didn’t want to comply. The last thing he wanted to do was get to know Cleve better. He hoped his cousin’s engagement would be short, and that they’d move back to Laramie at once.
It was his only hope.
AFTER DINNER, B.J. called her daughter, Caroline, to tell her Toby was moving home. Caroline demanded to speak to her oldest brother.
“Finally!” she greeted him. “I was beginning to think my own brother hated me! I haven’t seen you since Christmas. Even then you avoided me.”
“Did not, squirt,” he returned with a grin. “I was trying not to bully you like you used to accuse me of doing.”
“I don’t believe you. What’s wrong? Did you start losing? Are the women turning you down? Did you get too old?”
“Watch it, brat,” he warned his little sister. “When are you coming home?”
“Next Friday. I’m not going to miss a chance to see the famous Toby Randall! My friends will all be so jealous.”
“There you go again, showing no respect. No man’s going to want a sassy woman.”
Her voice changed, turning smooth and silky. “Oh, you’d be surprised, big brother.”
“I’m having a talk with you as soon as you get here, little girl,” he warned.
“Practice on Elizabeth. Get rid of that jerk she says she’s going to marry!”
Toby’s breath caught in his throat, and he coughed. “Elizabeth’s not my sister, honey,” he finally said softly. “It’s not my business if she wants to marry him.”
She didn’t respond, and Toby tried again. “She’s—”
Then Caroline found her voice. “What’s wrong with you, Toby? When Harry Stiller picked on her in the fifth grade, you fixed him. Why can’t you take care of stupid Cleve?”
Toby wanted to hang up. It was a question he didn’t have an answer for. “We’re all grown up, Caroline. We’re allowed to handle our own problems, make our own choices.”
“Well, your choices stink!” she snapped. Then she hung up the phone.
He said goodbye to the buzzing in his ear, so his parents wouldn’t know Caroline was mad at him.
He stood up, unable to remain in the house; he needed some space to breathe…away from Cleve O’Banyon. He edged toward the door.
“Oh, Toby,” B.J. said, “I wanted to talk to Caro. Did she say when she’s coming home?”
“Yeah, Friday,” he said, hoping she showed up in spite of her anger.
He got out of the room, drawing a relieved breath, until a hand clapped him on the shoulder.
Jake had followed him out of the living room. “Going to check on your horses?”
Toby nodded. That was as good a reason as any he could come up with.
When they reached the barn, Jake didn’t look at horseflesh. He turned toward Toby and asked the one question Toby didn’t want to answer. “Son, what’s wrong?”
Chapter Two
Before Toby could come up with an answer—an answer that wasn’t a downright lie, Jake asked another question.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No, Dad. I’m happy about coming home.”
“You won’t miss the excitement? I want you to know that if you do, we’ll understand.” Jake’s smile was a little wistful, but as always, he was standing back, letting Toby make his own decisions.
Toby smiled. “I appreciate it, Dad, but the excitement of the rodeo pales next to being at home. I’m glad you and the uncles want me here.”
“If it’s not that, then what’s bothering you?”
Damn, Toby thought he’d distracted Jake. “I’m a little surprised by Elizabeth’s choice. But living in Laramie, I guess things are different.”
“Not that much,” Jake said with a sigh. “But you can join the Cleve O’Banyon Hate Club here on the ranch.”
Toby looked at Jake out of the corner of his eye. “Are you a member?”
“Hell, yes. But the president is Chad.”
Toby wasn’t surprised. Chad, as the youngest of the Randall brothers, had always seemed the most impatient. And Elizabeth was his favorite and only daughter.
“Well, as long as she’s happy. I guess Cleve fits in well in Laramie.”
Jake turned to stare at him. “But they’re not going to live in Laramie.”
Toby felt a tremor run through him. “What? Where are they going to live?”
“Here,” Jake said succinctly.
“But—but what would they do here?” Toby asked, frantically hoping he’d misunderstood.
“Elizabeth has already begun her job as kindergarten teacher in Rawhide. Classes started two weeks ago. I thought you knew.”
Double damn! Toby had thought he’d have some distance from Elizabeth as soon as she married. “But what is Cleve going to do? Let her support him?”
Jake sighed. “No. He’s an accountant. He’s going to join Bill Johnson’s accounting firm. It appears business is growing for Bill. He needs help.”
Toby pictured Bill Johnson in his mind. His appearance