Wilde Bunch Read online

  Clay wandered over to the television set and turned it on. Autumn joined him. Tai, observing that all was quiet, ventured from the moose head to the mantel below it, then permitted Kara to lift him down.

  Kara’s stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten. She glanced at the children who were sitting in front of the screen, glaze-eyed and slack-jawed. It was tempting to let them sit there, quiet and still and out of trouble. This morning they’d already chased after stallions and lured untamed barn cats inside, and it wasn’t yet noon. On those grounds alone, she understood Mac’s desperate satellite dish purchase to keep the children inert but safe.

  But Kara felt guilty, watching them sit there mesmerized by a manic game-show host. She didn’t understand why, but she felt guilty just the same.

  “I have to make some phone calls, but afterward, I’d like you two to show me around the ranch,” she heard herself say. “Then we’ll make some cookies.”

  There was no reaction from either one. They were too absorbed in the show. Nevertheless, Kara’s plans for the day were set. She had a quick breakfast of toast and coffee while studying the phone book, looking for listings of “Paradise” anything, be it lounge, room, bar and grill, or worst of all, motel. If only she could track down Lily, get her out of the Paradise and the inevitable trouble lurking there. Convince the girl to come home before Mac arrived.

  But the word Paradise did not appear once in the directory, not in any form. Wherever Lily was, it wasn’t within dialing range. Which meant she’d either lied to her little sister or Autumn had gotten the name wrong.

  It was nearly five o’clock when Lily finally came home. She paused in the doorway of Autumn’s room where Kara and Autumn were surrounded by boxes of toys and clothes. Kara was startled by her outfit, a gauzy flower-print baby-doll dress worn over tight bicycle shorts with black boots. Only a girl as beautiful and shapely as Lily could pull off that unlikely ensemble!

  “Hi, Lily!” Autumn called, waving to her. “Kara is helping me fix up my room, so it won’t look stupid, anymore.”

  “We made cookies,” Clay announced. He was sitting on the floor, leafing through a comic book while he chomped on a thick sugar cookie. “We’re getting a puppy, too.”

  “Cool.” Lily smiled benignly and drifted into the hallway.

  Kara followed her. “Lily, I know you weren’t in school today,” she said bluntly, deciding to tackle the issue head-on.

  She trailed Lily into her room, which was smaller than both Autumn’s and Clay’s, and painted a startling deep purple. An enormous fish was mounted in its entirety on the wall, something of a change from the animal heads but not much of an improvement, Kara thought distractedly.

  Lily lay on her bed, propping her head on her hand. “I learned much more where I was today than I ever would’ve learned at school.”

  Kara studied her. The girl’s mouth was swollen, her smooth cheeks and neck red as if brush-burned. Her long, silky raven tresses were tousled, her makeup was almost completely rubbed off. Kara gulped. Even to her own inexperienced eyes, Lily looked like a sultry, satiated woman who had spent the day engaging in riotous sex. She felt totally out of her depth with Mac’s precocious niece, who was watching her with amused dark eyes.

  “Autumn told me you’d gone to a place called the Paradise and I looked in the phone directory but there isn’t a single listing for anything named Paradise,” Kara said, trying to sound matter-of-fact and not accusatory or condemning.

  Lily sat up, her face lighting with a smile of delight. “You thought I was at some place called Paradise and tried to call there? Oh, that is soooo cute!”

  Kara was taken aback. She wasn’t certain how to react to being called “cute” by someone nine years younger than herself. “I—I was worried about you, Lily. I didn’t tell your uncle Mac you weren’t in school because he was so upset about Brick’s trip, but I don’t know if I did the right thing by not saying anything.”

  “Thanks, Kara.” Lily sauntered across the room and gave Kara a quick sisterly hug. Or perhaps it was a coconspirator’s hug? “You don’t have to worry about me, I know what I’m doing and what I want. And you’re right not to say anything to Uncle Mac. There is nothing he can do, and he has his hands full with the kids and the ranch and all. Why make him crazy? Now, what’s this about Brick going on a trip?”

  Kara explained about the Yellowstone adventure.

  Lily was both amused and admiring. “Brick is a free spirit, and so is Jimmy Crow. It’s great they found each other. Although I guess the Bear Creek school district, Jimmy’s mother and Uncle Mac might not think so,” she conceded.

  “You’re not going to tell me where you were today, are you?” Kara asked her.

  “I was in paradise, small p. And it’s not exactly a place, more like a state of...bliss.” Lily arched her dark brows provocatively. “That’s really all I can tell you for now. But maybe when you’re sleeping with Uncle Mac, we can exchange tips on how to drive a man wild in bed.”

  Kara was certain Lily meant to shock her. Well, she had been supremely successful.

  Suddenly, Kara felt like the high school girl she’d been years ago. She had known some girls like Lily back then—girls who’d carried condoms in their purses and dated men in their twenties and were blatantly, terrifyingly sexually fast. Even the perky popular types like the cheerleaders and the homecoming queen and her court were subdued around those girls.

  It was disheartening to realize that years later, she could still be intimidated by the teenage Lilys of the world.

  “I’m going to take a nap,” Lily said, yawning. She put her arm around Kara’s shoulders and walked her to the door. “I had the most incredible day, but it was absolutely exhausting. Thanks for watching the kids today, Kara. You’re an angel.” She gave Kara a gentle shove into the hall and closed the door behind her.

  Kara wandered slowly down the hall, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. The sound of a car in the driveway stopped her in her tracks. She heard the engine cut off, doors slam, footsteps on the wooden porch.

  Moments later, the front door was flung open and Mac strode inside. Kara’s heart went into overdrive at the sight of him, strong and tall and vibrant with muscled masculinity. He was wearing jeans and boots, a dark brown shirt and a denim jacket, and even from this small distance she could feel the effect of his powerful charisma. It tingled along her spine, making her warm and flushed.

  Her mouth went dry. She felt dazed, almost disoriented. She’d spent the day here with Autumn and Clay, and had quickly, comfortably grown accustomed to the three of them together. Mac’s presence introduced an entirely different element into the atmosphere, a charged sexual tension that made her want to run for cover.

  Instead, she stayed rooted to the spot. Mac strode toward her and pulled her into his arms. “I am so glad to see you,” he rasped, and his warm hard mouth settled over hers.

  Kara’s eyes snapped shut as an intense surge of pleasure swept through her, wiping out any thought of resistance. His lips moved over hers and his tongue probed for entrance within. She felt overwhelmed and exhilarated by his heat and rampant sexuality and she sank against him, her arms locking around his neck. Desire exploded in her like a fireball, burning hot and bright.

  He kissed her deeply, urgently, with mind-shattering absorption, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, as if he was as hungry for her as she was for him. Her body ached and tingled with the pleasure and excitement he was rousing in her, with the building need to have more of him.

  When Mac finally lifted his head, his dark eyes were intense and heavy-lidded as he gazed into hers. A small whimper escaped from her throat. She felt helpless, wanting to pull his head down to hers for another one of those deep, intimate kisses, yet fighting an equally strong urge to twist away from him, to lock herself in the small bedroom until her mind had cleared and she was able to think again.

  Before either could speak or move, a rather cheerful young voice sounded beh
ind them. “I hate to break this up, you two, but we have company. And you’re not going to believe who it is.”

  “Company?” Mac echoed, scowling. Kara was lying limply against him, her breathing shallow and fast. “Talk about lousy timing....”

  Kara pulled out of his arms, her legs trembling, her whole body aflame with an unnerving mixture of desire and embarrassment. She kept her eyes averted from Mac, only to lock gazes with the boy standing to the left of him.

  “You must be Kara.” The boy stepped forward to present himself. “I’m Brick. Uncle Mac said that you were the one who told him about me and Jimmy driving to Yellowstone.”

  Kara wasn’t sure how to respond. Brick was staring at her, but did not appear to be either hostile or accusing, merely curious. He had longish, wavy brown hair and brown eyes, both lighter in shade than that of the other Wildes. He was short and wiry, with a smattering of freckles across his nose, still just a kid despite his deeds. The hormonal testosterone surge which transforms a boy into a man had not yet occurred.

  “I’m glad to meet you, Brick.” Kara extended her hand to his. “I hope you understand that I had no choice but to tell your uncle.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Brick shook her hand for a split second, then shoved both his fists into the pockets of his jeans. “But I’d like to zap Autumn into another dimension. If she hadn’t blabbed, me and Jimmy would be in Yellowstone right now.” He turned to his uncle. “I’m going to my room. I’m not gonna stick around out here to hang out with that pest Joanna Franklin.”

  “The Franklins are here?” Mac grimaced.

  “Comin’ up the walk. Don’t let them near me, especially not Joanna!” Brick dashed down the hall and turned the corner to the kids’ wing of the house.

  Through the partially open door, Mac and Kara watched Reverend Will Franklin, his wife Ginny and their two daughters approaching the front porch.

  Kara tensed at the sight of them. Her eyes—wide and hazel and wary—flew to Mac’s. Immediately, he moved to stand beside her, slipping his arm around her waist.

  “Kara, my dear!” Will Franklin exclaimed when he saw her. Pushing the door fully open, he stepped inside. His wife and daughters, their arms laden with covered dishes, followed him.

  Kara’s first reaction was to throw her arms around her former stepfather, just as she’d done when she was a little girl and he had been her daddy. She instantly stifled that urge. She was not a child, and the reverend was neither her daddy nor her stepfather; he was not even her uncle. Plus, he was flanked by his family, who were not her family. Ginny Franklin had succeeded in making that fact painfully clear.

  Kara’s gaze flicked to Ginny, whom she’d last seen years ago, shortly before the Franklins moved to Bear Creek, Montana. She was trim, attractive and looked younger than her age, which Kara knew to be in her midforties. Tricia, the older daughter who had been a baby then, was now a pretty blond teenager. Kara recognized Tricia and her younger sister Joanna from the annual Christmas card photo she’d received every year with The Franklins stamped in red on the bottom of the card.

  “Hello, Reverend Franklin,” Kara said politely. Considering Ginny Franklin’s attitude toward her, she didn’t know what, if anything, Tricia and Joanna had been told of their father’s relationship to her. “Hello, Mrs. Franklin, Tricia and Joanna. It’s very nice to see you.” If she was a skeleton rattling around in Uncle Will’s personal closet, she intended to stay put.

  Mac glanced from Kara’s smiling polite mask to Reverend Will. He saw the pain flash in the reverend’s eyes at Kara’s rather stilted greeting.

  Well, how else could she possibly have greeted them? Mac felt suddenly, fiercely protective of her. Kara had been deliberately kept on the periphery of the Franklins’ lives all these years. If the Rev had expected a heartwarming father-and-child reunion, he had been foolishly deluding himself.

  “Goodness, let’s not be so formal,” Ginny interjected gaily. “It’s Will and Ginny, of course. Kara, Mac, you both look wonderful.”

  “We brought you some dinner to welcome you to Montana,” said Joanna, the younger daughter, a plump seventh-grader with short curly blond hair. “I made the lime Jell-O salad with pears and cream cheese.” She held up a shimmering green gelatin ring.

  “And we have fried chicken and hot potato salad, coleslaw, rolls and pumpkin cake for dessert,” added Ginny. “Shall the girls and I take everything into the kitchen?” She addressed Kara, as if she were already the woman in charge of the house.

  Kara glanced at Mac to find him watching her intently. Her cheeks pinked. “I—I guess so,” she murmured. She was intensely aware of his arm around her, of the pressure of his big warm hand on the hollow of her waist.

  Ginny and her daughters, apparently familiar with the layout of the house, headed toward the kitchen, leaving Kara, Mac and the reverend standing in the vestibule.

  “I tried to call earlier in the day but there was no answer, Kara,” Reverend Will said, breaking the awkward silence. “I couldn’t imagine where you were because I knew you had no way of getting into town, especially not with Mac off fetching Brick.”

  “So the word is already out on Brick’s and Jimmy’s adventure?” Mac groaned.

  “All over town,” the reverend confirmed. He turned back to Kara. “I was going to drive out this afternoon, but when there was no answer here, I decided against it.”

  “That must’ve been when Autumn and Clay were giving me a tour around the ranch,” replied Kara. “We walked to the bunkhouse and saw the mess hall and the ranch manager’s trailer. We saw the horses and the cats in the barn and Autumn’s least favorite place—the chicken coops. She’s convinced there is a salmonella outbreak just waiting to happen there.”

  “Not on my ranch,” Mac disputed. “So the kids showed you around?” He looked pleased. “Tomorrow I’ll take you out in the Jeep to see the outer buildings where we sort and brand calves. You’ll want to see the pastures and the creek, too. This place extends much, much farther than you could ever walk.”

  “I hoped you would spend the day in town with us tomorrow, Kara,” said Reverend Will. “I would like to show you around the town, have lunch with you at our house and hopefully, convince you to stay with us. We have an extra bedroom that—”

  “Daddy, there’s a cat in the kitchen!” Tricia Franklin came racing through the hall at breakneck speed. “A nasty-tempered Siamese. He is sitting on top of that elk head, hissing at us. My eyes started to water and I sneezed twice. Mama said to come out here right away, she and Joanna will finish setting up. We have to leave immediately, of course.”

  “The cat is on the elk head?” Mac repeated, incredulous.

  “Siamese cats like heights,” explained Kara. “Tai discovered that those trophy heads offer an ideal vantage point.” To observe menacing enemies like Stripe the barn cat and Tricia Franklin.

  “I’d better let some fresh air inside to counteract the pollutants in here.” Tricia proceeded to open the front door and hold it open, despite the chilly shaft of wind that blew into the house. “I can’t be exposed to cat fur, I was taken to the hospital—”

  “There’s no question about where Kara will be staying, Rev,” Mac cut in, ignoring Tricia. “It’s here.”

  “We can discuss that later.” The pastor dismissed him to focus exclusively on Kara. “Let’s make our plans for tomorrow right now, Kara. I’ll be more than happy to pick you up tomorrow morning—or, better yet, you can come back with us this evening and we—”

  “No, that won’t be possible,” Mac said firmly. “Kara is going to have to take a rain check on your kind invitation.”

  Kara felt his grip tighten on her. She stole a glance at him, saw the implacable set of his jaw, the hard gleam in his eyes. He was answering for her without giving her a chance to even voice her opinion. Her lips thinned into a straight line. If she wanted to spend some time in Bear Creek with the Franklins, she most certainly could.

  “I would love to see Bear Cree
k and—” she began.

  “Clay still has chicken pox and he can’t go back to school, yet. Kara can’t leave him alone to go running all over Bear Creek,” Mac interrupted abruptly. “There’ll be plenty of time for her to see the town later on—it’s not going anywhere.”

  His arrogance sparked Kara’s temper. She was not a prisoner here, and she could speak for herself. But before she had a chance to point out those two crucial facts to Mac, Ginny and young Joanna joined them, carrying the now empty plates and dishes.

  “We transferred the food to your own plates and containers,” Ginny explained. “It’s all set up for your dinner. We hope you enjoy it.”

  “Is Brick here?” asked Joanna. “I want to tell him we brought fried chicken. I know he loves it. He ate twenty-two pieces at the Church Lawn Fete in August. It was a record!”

  “Brick is in his room. He’s grounded and—uh—not allowed any visitors. You know, like solitary confinement,” Mac replied quickly. He toyed with the idea of sending Joanna back to badger Brick—the boy had already implied that would be a real punishment—but adult reason prevailed. “We’ll make sure Brick gets plenty of that delicious chicken for dinner tonight,” he added heartily, feeling guilty for even thinking of using this eager young girl as a means of retribution.

  “Where’s Lily? I hope she isn’t sick,” Tricia piped up. “She wasn’t in cooking class again today. Is she all right?” she asked, so sweetly concerned that her father beamed his approval.

  “Lily wasn’t in class?” Mac was instantly on guard.

  “Not cooking class. She wasn’t up for it,” Kara hastened to explain. “Lily went to bed as soon as she came home. She’s sleeping now.” She was mentally crossing her fingers as she served up the assorted truths and half-truths. The end result was most definitely a deception, placing Lily in school except for the cooking class. Intimating that she’d come home from school feeling ill.