Lindsay McKenna - Texas Wildcat

Kelly stared at the flowers. Her emerald eyes darkened. “You’re a little late with funeral flowers, Gage.”

A slight smile drifted across his lean face. “These are for you, Kelly. I thought they might brighten up your day.”

Her glare was frosty and laden with contempt as she rose from her chair. “The only thing that will brighten up my day is for you to get out of here!”

Gage casually dropped the bouquet on the desk. He seemed completely undisturbed by her outburst. It was as if he were waiting for a child to tire of her temper tantrum. “I was out of the country at the time of your father’s death. Otherwise, I would have attended the funeral and given you moral support.”

Her nostrils flared. “Take your lies somewhere else, Gage! You never cared for anyone longer than it took you to take their money!” Kelly choked back a sob. Oh, God, she couldn’t cry! Not in front of this man who had been like an evil shadow in her father’s life and her own.

“Look,” he continued smoothly, “I know you’re terribly upset by what happened. It’s all over the industry that Blanchard pipe has failed on several blowouts.” He gave a practiced smile that was supposed to win her over. “Sure I can’t interest you in using Wallace Steel Mills? I can assure you our formulas are up to the best standards. Why not switch? Now would be a perfect time. You can’t afford to buy any more pipe from R and B Steel. It will ruin your company’s reputation if another pipe blows under stress. You could lose the whole business, Kelly.”

She was trembling. In an effort to hide her distress, she leaned forward in an aggressive stance. “We have nothing to discuss, Gage. Not a damn thing. It’s typical of you to take advantage of a traumatic human event and try to make a buck out of it. You figure if I’m grief-stricken, I’ll just fall for your plan.” Her eyes sparked with disgust. “I may be upset but that doesn’t interfere with my business sense! Now get out!” She marched to the door and jerked it open.

He watched her for several seconds. “I’ll call on you sometime early next week. We’ll have dinner—”

“You don’t run my life, Gage. You never did. Just because you and Todd were partners once, that doesn’t give you access to me. I watched you run my ex-husband out of the business. I know your kind even if he didn’t.” Her voice shook. “Next time, you make an appointment. This is the last time you take advantage of me, my father’s business or anything having to do with us.”

Gage gave her a chilling smile as he hesitated at the door. “Someday, Kelly,” he began softly, “some man will break that fiery spirit of yours and put you in your rightful place. You’re one hell of a strong-willed woman. You need a strong man. Todd was too weak for you.”

Kelly smiled grimly. “And you can take your opinions with you, too. The man I love won’t want to ‘break me,’ as you put it, Gage. But then, that’s all you know: smash and destroy.”

Gage smiled steadily, his eyes opaque. “You know, there are some parts of your spirit I like.”

“Get out.”

“I’ll call on you next week.”

“Don’t bother.”

Two

“Sam!” Boots Hansen thundered. Unable to sit still longer than two minutes at any given time, Boots got up from behind the desk in his spacious office. Like all his employees, he wore white coveralls. Just as he came around the desk, Sam appeared at the door. “There you are. Come on in. You finally get cleaned up?”

Sam nodded. After leaving the office of Blanchard Pipe, he had gone home to shower, shave and change clothes. Trying to shave with his left hand had proved disastrous. Right-handed by nature, Sam had nicked himself more than once.

Boots’s blue eyes twinkled. “What the hell happened to you, boy?” A wide grin spread across his full face. “Remind me not to let you use a razor anymore.”

Sam took the teasing in stride. He touched his jaw where one of the several cuts had occurred. “I’m tempted to rip this sling off my arm and say to hell with it. I don’t think I can wait a week to get this damn thing off,” he growled. Making himself comfortable in one of the leather chairs, he waited for Boots to sit down.

“You up to playing messenger boy? Or do you want to rest? You look kinda peaked.”

Sam grinned. He had been with the oil firefighting company for three years. His employers’ homespun sense of humor and genuine concern were their trademarks in the industry. No one would make an outward fuss over Sam’s burn injuries. But the concern lingering in Boots’s blue eyes told Sam that he was more than a little worried. “No, I’m fine,” he lied. His shoulder hurt like hell.

With a decisive nod of his head, Boots pushed a set of papers toward Sam. “Good. Coots just finished up with the report on Well Number 561. Kelly Blanchard called and said she wanted to read the report as soon as possible. You mind driving by the Royden Oaks section and dropping this off to her on your way home?”

Sam reached over for the report. “Royden Oaks, huh? That’s the richest part of Houston.”

“Yeah. Guess the little gal flew down from Pittsburgh when her father died. She’s staying at his house.” Boots pushed his thinning blond hair off his broad forehead. “What’d she have to say about the pipe failing?”

Sam wanted to convey her genuine apology. He had silently applauded her courage. There were few women he knew who could handle the death of a loved one and then go to work and keep a multimillion-dollar company afloat. “She’s concerned, Boots. And she wants to get to the bottom of the problem.”

Boots gave a sigh. “We can’t have it happen again, Sam. We’re gonna have to go somewhere else to buy pipe. I already have five different pipe companies crying to come over and sell us their wares. I feel bad about this. Blanchard was a good-hearted guy and we’ve bought their pipe for years. Damn,” he said, rising. “It doesn’t make sense, Sam. That pipe’s withstood the Canadian winters at sixty below and been tested in the Persian Gulf where it’s a hundred and fifteen degrees in the damn shade.” He scratched his head. “Coots and I are going to have a meeting with her tomorrow morning and give her the bad news.” He shook his head in a mournful gesture. “Get going, son, you’re looking like hell. What you need is two days’ worth of sleep. Tomorrow’s Friday, so don’t bother coming in. We’ll see you Monday unless we’re called in on something big.”

Sam rose. “Okay, I’ll see you Monday.”

* * *

The sun was dipping closer to the western horizon as he drove down the freeway toward the Royden Oaks section of Houston. Sam never tired of the Houston skyline which rose dramatically into the vivid blue Texas sky. Many of the buildings were covered with reflective glass, giving the city a magical quality. It was a city of mirrors. His thoughts switched to Kelly Blanchard. One look at her exhausted features had made him wince inwardly. He felt guilty about barging in and lashing out at her in anger. But he had acted out of frustration over Slim getting injured. Before reaching the Royden Oaks area, he stopped at a florist shop and bought flowers.

Kelly had just finished a hot bath and slipped into a floor-length muslin robe of pale pink when the doorbell sounded. The bell rang hollowly through the depths of the large, silent house. She had taken the guest bedroom on the first floor, not wanting to sleep upstairs in her father’s bedroom. Padding barefooted down the long tiled hall, Kelly opened the door. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Sam Tyler standing there with a bouquet of delicate violets in his large hand. He smiled at her hesitantly.

“Here,” he said, giving them to her, “these are for you. A peace offering for the way I behaved earlier. And here’s that report you asked to see. There are a couple of things Coots wanted me to point out to you before I left.”