LITMIR.BIZ

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to matter so much to her. He was kind and strong, qualities that really called to her.

      But she needed distance. Deeply felt the need for some space. So today she was renewing a special friendship instead of concentrating on hunky cowboys. She’d brought Cat Phillips, Shaman’s niece, to share a Shinny “special” with her. The change in the teen from sullen to happy heartened Tempest, made her yearn for the same sort of carefree joy in her own life.

      “My dad says,” Cat Phillips began, settling into the red-lipstick-colored booth, “that you’re a short-timer.”

      She smiled at the teen. “A short-timer here in Tempest?”

      Cat nodded, slurping the chocolate milkshake Shinny had made. “Dad says this is too much of a backwater for you. He says that even if you do like Uncle Shaman, you won’t stay because there’s nothing here.” The teen shrugged. “I thought that once, too. Now I think there’s lots here.”

      “It’s good that your father talks to you so much,” Tempest said, not really wanting to speak about the short-timer tag that had been hung on her.

      “He didn’t talk to me about you and Uncle Shaman,” Cat said. “I heard him telling Chelsea that he doesn’t expect you to be around much longer, which is a good thing, because he doesn’t want Shaman to break your heart.”

      Tempest blinked. “Really.”

      “Mmm.” The girl nodded, her freshly bobbed black hair moving as she eagerly reached for the cookies Shinny’s wife, Blanche, placed in front of them before heading away from their booth. “Dad says Uncle Shaman is damaged goods, for one thing, now that he’s been in the military so long. He also says my uncle’s stubborn as hell, and he won’t do anything but hide out at Dark Diablo.”

      “I’m a little reclusive at times myself,” Tempest said. “It’s not always a bad thing.”

      “Yeah, but Dad says Aunt Kendall and Uncle Xav are bugging him to get Shaman home. They say he refuses to even discuss it while you’re in town.”

      Tempest hesitated. “Where is Shaman’s home?”

      “In Texas. Hell’s Colony.” Cat squinted, obviously thinking. “It’s kind of a palace.”

      “A palace?” Tempest couldn’t envision Shaman in a palace. He seemed as one with the outdoors, fully connected to ranch life.

      “Kind of.” She shrugged, fumbling for a description. “But anyway, Dad says the pressure’s on for Shaman to go home, though when he brings it up, Uncle Shaman tells him to get bent. I’m not supposed to say get bent.” Cat shrugged. “But it’s what Dad said.”

      Tempest hated to be part of any discord in Shaman’s life. He was kind to her, and she enjoyed their time together. She didn’t want Cat upset, either. She was fond of the girl, and if it hadn’t been for her, Tempest knew she might not ever have returned to the small town where she’d grown up—and had such an unhappy childhood.

      Yet it was best to face things one had ignored too long. “I feel badly that your father thinks I’m keeping your uncle from his family.”

      “No,” Cat said. “Chelsea said Uncle Shaman wouldn’t go home anyway, and that Dad had been plenty hard to rope back into the fold himself, so he needed to butt out of Shaman’s life. And then I think Dad must have agreed, because I heard a lot of snacking going on after that.” She looked at Tempest wisely. “Snacking is what I call it when Daddy’s smooching on Chelsea. Lots of little snacking noises.”

      Tempest smiled. “I’m glad they’re happy.”

      “They are. We all are. I love Rancho Diablo!” Cat grinned, her pert little face shining with delight. “I like Dark Diablo, too, but there’s no kids. Dad says Uncle Shaman needs some ankle-biters to tie him to one place, and Chelsea said he’d better tend to his own ankles before he worried about his brothers’ and sister’s.”

      “I heard you’re going to be a big sister,” Tempest said.

      “I am. I can’t wait! Of course, I won’t be able to come visit as often, once I have my brother or sister.” She again looked at Tempest with those wise eyes. “I’ll miss you, but I’ll be very busy taking care of the baby, you know.”

      Tempest grinned, delighted with the changes in the once-angsty Cat. “I know. I understand completely. If I had a baby, I would want you to be my chief babysitter.”

      “Maybe you’ll have a baby one day, Tempest,” Cat said. “There’s Dad, so I have to go. He said he’d drop me off for a visit only if I came right out when he was ready to leave. He said it wouldn’t take long for him to pound the stuffing out of Uncle Shaman, and then we had to hit the road. He doesn’t like to be away from Chelsea for long. Thank you again for the cool headband you gave me. I really love it.” She hugged her, a good, strong hug that warmed Tempest, then ran to say goodbye to Shinny and Blanche. “Goodbye! Thank you for the delicious ice cream!”

      They waved at the thin teen as she ran out the door. From the window, Tempest watched as Cat jumped into her father’s truck.

      “She never fails to brighten our day,” Shinny said, coming over to take Cat’s seat. “That is one happy little girl.”

      Tempest nodded. “Yes, she is.”

      “Funny, but I think you had a part in that,” he added.

      Tempest looked at the older gentleman regarding her with smiling eyes. “Cat made all her changes on her own.”

      “Yeah, but you believed in her enough to come back to town. It means a lot to kids when people they admire notice them.”

      Tempest remembered when Cat had been a sadder version of herself. “She has good parents now.”

      Shinny nodded. “She reminds me of you, in a way.”

      “I don’t know.” Tempest swirled the straw in her milkshake, not really feeling like thinking about her own childhood. “Is there anything I can do to help you, before I go?”

      “Nope.” Shinny patted her hand. “You go rest. Blanche and I’ll see you at dinner.”

      Nodding, she got up and gave him a kiss on his almost-bald head, then left the shop. She wondered why Gage would want to pound the stuffing out of his brother, then decided it didn’t have anything to do with her.

      * * *

      IT WAS NOT SHAMAN’S BEST day.

      First, Gage had run by with a full head of steam to rag all over him about the barn contractor—who Gage had fired. Jonas Callahan didn’t like the contractor’s vision—and now it was up to Shaman to figure out what was in Jonas’s head. In spite of that, this job was a great one to oversee, so he had no quibbles. He just wanted it to go more smoothly than it was, given that his boss had just changed his mind about everything.

      Bosses tended to do that, and he’d suffered enough annoyed superior officers to take an occasional ear-bending in stride.

      Still, he could have used a break in the action before the land mine that was his sister drove onto the ranch. From the roof of the farmhouse, Shaman could see Kendall’s car edging up the drive. He knew it was her because she was driving a black Land Rover. It seemed the whole family fleet had been replaced with matching black Land Rovers, if Gage had the information right. Gil Phillips, Inc., was all about uniformity.

      He sat on the roof, watching Kendall as she got out of her car. She wore a ladylike cream-colored skirt and jacket, and turquoise-blue sky-high heels. Some things never changed.

      “Hi,” she called up to him.

      “Howdy.”

      “Get the hell off the roof, please. It’s dangerous.”

      He laughed. “This isn’t dangerous. I know dangerous, and I’ll tell you when I see it.”

      She

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