Tina Leonard - His Callahan Bride's Baby

He nodded. “I did. She turned down my suit. So then I thought maybe my neighbor gal might want to accompany me. Sounds like it’s going to be a real nice evening.”

Xav looked as if he was trying to rise to a sitting position, though he wasn’t going to make it. He muttered something, a string of incoherent words, and Ash looked at him with concern. “The less you move, the faster we can get you home, Xav. Your weight is too much on the horse,” she told him. “Try to stay still.”

After a few more twitches, he settled.

She looked back at the other man. “I don’t know what to say, Storm. I wasn’t planning to attend the charity ball.” Of course she was—but she’d been planning to go solo, if she could talk Galen into letting her off post that night.

Xav made more noise, sounding like a pheasant startled from a forest. Of course, he was feverish, so that probably had a lot to do with his sudden flailing. No telling how long he’d been lying out there, bleeding.

He’d do anything to avoid her.

“Let me think about it, although I warn you my brothers will not be happy. But I did want to go, so thank you for the offer,” she told Storm, and Xav fell silent at last.

* * *

“I THOUGHT I’ D COME BY to talk to you,” Taylor said to Falcon as she hopped out of her truck. “Unless you were about to leave?”

Fiona and Falcon did look as if they were about to take off somewhere. Taylor knew she should have called first. The thing about Rancho Diablo was that people felt comfortable dropping by whenever and often, and she’d decided to ambush her own nerves and just make herself go face Falcon. Spur of the moment. No phone call to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.

Now Taylor wondered if she’d been a bit too impulsive.

“We were about to leave,” Falcon said, and his aunt nodded enthusiastically. “But you’re welcome to ride with us.”

Fiona turned and stared up at Falcon as if he’d lost his mind.

“You said you’d help me out,” he told her.

“I didn’t say we’d give away the family secrets,” Fiona shot back.

“Maybe another time,” Taylor said, and Falcon and Fiona both said, “No!”

“By all means, come with us,” Fiona said. “We’re just going to take a small joyride on the ranch.”

“More ghost-busting?” Taylor asked brightly. “Falcon’s big on ghosts.” She got into the backseat of the military jeep.

Fiona sent her nephew a droll look. “Our whole family enjoys a good paranormal goose-pimpler.”

The Callahans were legendary for their love of ghost stories and spiritual juju, according to her aunt Nadine. They even let a local woman give ghost-hunting tours on the ranch in the fall. Taylor smiled as they drove, listening to Fiona and Falcon banter. Fiona seemed very fond of her nephew, and just couldn’t help ribbing him. Taylor’s gaze focused on some horses making their slow way in the distance. Ash’s platinum hair caught her eye, but she didn’t recognize the man riding beside her. A third horse followed disconsolately behind the riders. “Who’s that?” she asked, touching Falcon’s shoulder. Through the black T-shirt she could feel muscles, strength—solidness so comforting.

“It’s Ash,” Fiona said. “And Storm.”

“Never a good combination. Let’s go throw a burr into whatever he’s up to. Hope you don’t mind, Taylor.”

“Fine by me.”

They pulled up alongside Ash and Storm, who came to a halt. Falcon cursed and jumped from the jeep. Fiona wasn’t far behind her nephew, and Taylor followed, too, as they hurried to help Xav.

“What happened?” Falcon demanded.

“I found him pretty much unconscious,” Ash said. “He’d dragged himself under a ledge. His horse was standing in the open, or I’d never have spotted him. Xav’s been shot.”

“What were you doing in the canyons?” Falcon demanded, examining Xav. “Help me get him into the jeep,” he told Storm. “You can explain to me later why you always seem to be around when something’s going wrong, Cash.”

The two men lifted Xav from the saddle, gently carrying him to the jeep. “I’m going to run him to the hospital,” Falcon said. “Fiona, I hate to abandon you—”

“I can take care of myself,” she said. “So can Taylor. Hurry!”

Falcon left with Xav strapped in the passenger seat, quiet and pale. Taylor didn’t know what to think about anything that had just happened. It was clear from Ash’s face that she was shaken by Xav’s condition.

“Come on, Fiona,” Storm said. “I’ll give you a lift.”

“Thank you.” Fiona sniffed, then allowed herself to be helped into the saddle behind Storm. “I think my nephew has a very salient point about you being around whenever there’s trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Storm said, and the two of them went off like bristling porcupines.

“Come on,” Ash said to Taylor. “Let’s get back to the ranch before my brothers come yelling at me.”

Taylor took a hand up from Ash into the saddle. “Xav will be all right, Ash.”

“I know.”

Her voice was tight. Taylor could tell Ash was really worried. Xav hadn’t looked all that good, sort of pale and obviously in pain.

“So what’s going on with you and my brother?” Ash asked suddenly. “I thought the two of you were supposed to avoid one another until December.”

“Falcon seems pretty good at bending the rules just enough to stay this side of honest.”

Ash snorted. “Living outside the rules is pretty much a Callahan family trait. Serves us very well at times. The thing is, I don’t know if my big brother’s what you need in your life, Taylor.”

Ash took off for the house, letting her horse run, soon galloping past Fiona and Storm. Taylor hung on, not sure what Ashlyn’s words had meant—and not sure if they were friendly or not.

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