Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

He gave each boy a hug, distracted for a moment from his preoccupation with work. Once they’d left, Callum powered up his laptop, picked up his cell phone and got to work.

He came alive as he immersed himself in activity, his mind ticking off a dozen details at once. The adrenaline rush made him forget his surroundings for hours.

By lunchtime, last night’s dream had almost disappeared. It came back to Callum only when he looked out the window and saw Jody and her hired hand marking off a large rectangle toward the back of the house. Judging by the stumps of cornstalks, they must be planning to clear and replant the vegetable garden.

The cycle of life on a ranch had a nostalgic familiarity. Callum understood the satisfaction of seeing crops grow and herds increase. Although operating a modern ranch required sophisticated knowledge of everything from cattle prices to tax laws, would it be outside the realm of possibility for him to stay here and learn to run the Wandering I with Jody?

A shudder ran through him. That man riding home in the dream could never be him. Not for long, anyway. He loved Jody and the boys, but he didn’t want their closeness to deteriorate into broken promises and resentment. There had to be a better solution.

Callum went to fix lunch. Jody must be starving after a morning of hard physical work. Ranching didn’t suit her, he thought, even though she was doing a conscientious job. She belonged in a classroom.

He set to work fixing a large Nicoise salad with leftovers and some purchases he’d made in town. Boston lettuce, ripe tomatoes, thick slices of potato, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, black olives, capers, anchovies. The names of the ingredients fitted into a mesmerizing rhythm while he worked.

He was mixing the vinaigrette when Jody came in. “That smells wonderful.”

“As good as chalk dust?” he asked impulsively.

“Is that a joke?” Her nose wrinkled. “Because it isn’t funny.”

“It’s not a joke.” Callum took her hands in his. Turning them over, he inspected the scarred and calloused palms. “You’re doing a great job. Your father would be proud of you. But this isn’t right.”

A frown settled across her face. “What you mean is, it isn’t what you want me to do.”

“That’s partly true,” Callum conceded. “I want you and the boys to move to L.A. so we can be together.”

“You want to have your work and us, too,” Jody answered. “Well, this is my work. That land out there is my office, and I have a staff, too. You can’t ask me to toss them aside any more than I can ask you to toss your magazine aside.”

“One of us has to move,” he said.

She pressed her lips together. He imagined he could hear what she was thinking: It won’t be me.

Darn! She’d always been stubborn. But then, so was he.

“Let’s eat,” Jody said. “I’m grumpy on an empty stomach.”

He had to win her over, but he’d already played his trump card by mentioning her teaching career. He knew she’d be happier teaching in a classroom than oiling farm machinery any day of the week, if only she would allow herself to admit it, but for some reason she’d refused. What else did he have to offer?

For once, Callum Fox had run out of ideas.

A FTER LUNCH, Callum took a cell phone call and disappeared into his room. Too edgy to return to work, Jody sat at the piano and rippled through a show tune, then another and another, while her thoughts played over their conversation.

He’d asked her again to come to L.A. The scary part was that she’d been tempted to agree.

Here at the ranch, she fit into Callum’s arms and matched him in their verbal sparring. She was his equal. In California, she would be just one more woman seeking his attention, and not the most beautiful one, by far.

She’d also meant what she said about the boys having emotional ties to the home where their grandparents had helped raise them. True, during the past few days she’d been surprised at how quickly the pair had taken to Callum. Perhaps they needed a father more than she’d realized. Still, something was missing.

As her fingers moved across the keys, Jody was finally able to pinpoint what troubled her so much. Despite his invitation, Callum still held back. He hadn’t said he loved her. He hadn’t asked her to marry him.

He might love her a little, but not enough to sustain a lifetime. The omission confirmed her belief that he wasn’t truly committed to her. And if it didn’t happen here in Texas, it certainly wasn’t going to happen in the land of temptation.

Hearing his footsteps in the kitchen, she dropped her hands to her lap and let the silence enfold her. The moment she glanced up, she saw the news in his expression.

“You’re going home,” she said.

Callum blinked. “I didn’t know you could hear my conversation.”

“I didn’t have to.” The mixture of emotions on his face told Jody everything. Especially the hint of relief playing around his mouth. “It’s obvious. You’re eager to be gone.”

“I’ve got my work cut out for me. One of our major advertisers is threatening to take his business to a rival publication.” Callum’s long legs carried him down the steps toward her. “While our advertising director’s been out with an injury, our competition seized the chance to wine and dine our client.”

“And you’re the only one who can turn him around.” Jody understood the impact of Callum’s charisma.

“I don’t want to leave until we resolve our situation.” He sat beside her on the bench. “Jody…”

To her dismay, tears clouded her vision. Defiantly, she said, “Don’t try to snow me. You’re relieved. Go on, deny it.”

He couldn’t. Callum might seem glib at times, but he was honest. He proved it by admitting, “In a way, I am. Not because it means leaving you and the boys. I hate that part.”

“What’s the part you like?” Jody forced the words through stiff lips.

“Do you remember my senior year in college, when Dad had his first heart attack?” Callum asked.

“You went ballistic.” He’d left campus the moment he got the news, skipping classes to stay at his father’s bedside until his recovery was assured. “You did everything you could for him and your mom.”

“Until then, I’d taken them for granted, the way kids tend to.” In the warm midday light filtering through broad windows, Callum’s eyes had a faraway glaze. “I was thrilled that he got better. But not entirely for selfless reasons.”

“You were worried about the feed store,” Jody remembered. “I told you your mom could run it.”

“Not alone. I wouldn’t have let her. You know she had chronic health problems.” A shadow fell across his clean-cut features, perhaps from recalling her death soon after their graduation. “During that whole period, I had a recurring nightmare where I was locked in a room and couldn’t find the door. After a while, I realized there was no door.”

“You felt trapped,” she summed up. “You were afraid you’d have to give up your dreams to run the store.”

He nodded. “I realized that later.”

“Is that how you feel about the ranch? Like you’d be trapped if you stayed here?” Until this moment, Jody hadn’t wanted to admit to herself how much she was hoping Callum would either sell the magazine or find a way to run it from the ranch.

“There’s a part of me that loves this place.” His hands closed over hers. Although they were sitting very close, he hadn’t touched her until now. “That part of me wants an idyllic life here with you and the boys.”

“You’d hate it.” Her voice came out flat, making a statement she desperately wished weren’t true.