Chapter 22
From the minute Cal walked into the building with Dillon, he felt dozens of eyes on them. He glanced down to make sure that nothing was out of place. It wasn’t until they passed a group just as one song ended and another started that he heard someone whisper about them being a couple.
“Seems word spreads quickly,” he whispered near Dillon’s ear.
She turned her head to him, a frown on her face.
“My fib to Hank about us being together.”
“Oh,” Dillon said as her eyes widened.
Not that he minded. It would give him the excuse he wanted to stay near her. They didn’t get too far inside the building before a group of women surrounded Dillon. He smiled as she glanced at him over her shoulder. He wouldn’t go far.
Cal could watch Dillon all night. He’d never seen a woman with a more radiant smile or natural beauty. And she had no idea of how many eyes followed her. Though Cal couldn’t help but wonder if one of them had been the person who’d pulled the trigger and tried to kill her.
“She has an innate charm I’ve rarely come across,” Emmett said as he walked up.
Cal glanced at the old-timer and nodded. More people crowded on the dance floor, making him lean to the side to find Dillon again. “I’ve been watching everyone with her. I haven’t seen anyone who appears to dislike her.”
“Because they don’t,” Emmett replied after taking a swig of his beer and wiping his mustache. “Dolly had a lot of friends, but people didn’t gravitate to her like they do Dillon. I think it’s because Dolly had an objective. Dillon just wants to run a successful ranch.”
“What was Dolly’s objective?”
Emmett sighed, his gaze dropping to the floor. “She wanted people to treat her like they would a man. Some did.”
“But most didn’t,” Cal guessed.
Emmett’s pale brown eyes met his. “It rankled her quite a bit. She used to get very angry about it. Hated that ranching was a man’s world.”
“Times change.”
“Not quick enough for her. Dolly tried to force the change, and that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.”
Cal snorted. “You mean it rubbed men the wrong way.”
“Yeah,” Emmett said with a soft laugh.
Cal’s gaze returned to Dillon, seeking her through the throng of people on the dance floor.
She was talking to the same group of women.
Someone said something that made her laugh.
He heard the beautiful sound over the music.
It went straight to his gut, making his stomach clench in a way he’d never experienced before. But he liked it.
Too much, maybe. He needed to remind himself that he worked for Dillon. She wasn’t just some woman on the rodeo circuit. She was different from all the others in so many ways.
“Ask her to dance.”
Emmett’s voice intruded on his thoughts. Cal frowned. “I will.”
“Don’t be an idiot and wait too long, son.”
Before he could approach her, another man asked Dillon to dance. He ground his teeth together as she and the man walked onto the floor and began to two-step. It wasn’t long before they passed Cal.
“I told you not to be an idiot,” Emmett stated before he strode away.
The job Cal had at Bar 4 was one of the first good things he’d done in his life. Granted, he wasn’t sure how he’d come to be on the property, but he would work that out eventually. All he knew was that he was happy. Truly happy. For the first time in his life.
It boggled his mind that he had continued down a path that he didn’t want for so many years.
The thing was, he hadn’t realized that until recently.
How many more years would he have wasted if he hadn’t woken up on Dillon’s property?
How many more years would he have continued to put his body through hell?
How many more years before he ended up dead like his father?
Cal took a deep breath, his eyes locked on Dillon as she and her partner moved about the floor.
She was a graceful woman and an exceptional dancer.
It was obvious the man was interested, and Cal had the sudden urge to punch him in the face.
Which was stupid. It wasn’t as if Dillon was his.
He might have saved her from a bullet, tended to her wounds, slept in her house, and watched over her, but that wasn’t a relationship.
No matter how much he wished it could be.
The song began to end. Cal pushed away from his spot against the wall, waiting for his chance to ask Dillon to dance.
Before he could, two other men approached her and her partner as the last strings of the song died.
Dillon thanked her current dance partner, spoke to the man on her right, and then turned to the man on her left when a new song started.
“If you keep the wall upright, you’ll never get a chance,” Emmett stated as he sauntered past.
Cal clenched his jaw again. He would get a dance by the end of the night. And if he had to knock a few heads together so he could claim his spot, no one had to know.
His thoughts halted as Dillon’s eyes locked with his. She smiled at him as her partner turned her. He returned the grin, that crazy feeling in his belly happening again when she held his gaze until she was out of sight.
Cal felt something touch his arm. He looked down to see a girl about eight beside him.
She had a white sash claiming her Little Miss .
. . something he couldn’t read. She wore a sparkly crown with her white hat.
Her white shirt with royal blue and red accents had rhinestones on it along, and she wore a large belt buckle at her waist.
“Hi,” she said with a bright smile.
He took in her long, blond hair that fell to her waist with perfect curls at the ends. Cal tipped his hat to her. “Hello, ma’am. What can I do for you this fine night?”
“My daddy says a lady should wait for a man to come to her. My momma says I should go for what I want.”
Cal bit back a laugh by licking his lips. “Sound advice from both parents. What is it you want?”
“To dance with you.”
“How could I decline such an invitation?”
She beamed and held out her hand. “I’m Dallas.”
“I’m Cal,” he replied as he took her hand. He glanced up and found the girl’s parents not too far away. The mother smiled and waved while the father glared, not that Cal could blame him. He gave them a nod and walked Dallas onto the floor.
She wrinkled her little nose. “Perhaps I should’ve asked if you could dance. I don’t want to be embarrassed.”
“I wouldn’t dream of humiliating you,” he replied with a smile then put his hand on her left shoulder and took her right hand before leading her in a slow two-step.
After a minute, her smile brightened once more. “I made a good choice.”
Cal couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “I think you did, if I do say so myself.”
“I saw you in the rodeo last weekend.”
He hadn’t expected that. When he looked up, he found Dillon dancing past him. She glanced at Dallas before flashing him a grin. He watched Dillon for a moment longer, then turned his attention back to his dance partner. “It wasn’t my best performance.”
“Bull riding is my least favorite. It’s so dangerous,” she stated wisely.
“You’re not wrong. What is your favorite category?”
She met his gaze. “Barrel riding, of course.”
“Of course. And I suppose that’s what you won that belt buckle for?”
If it were possible, her smile grew wider. “It is. One day, I’m going to be Miss Rodeo USA. My momma was Miss Rodeo Texas, so she’s giving me all the tips.”
“I’m guessing your father is also in the rodeo?”
“He’s a tie-down champion. So, I’ve got rodeo in my blood. It’s natural that I take this route.”
He twirled her as the song ended and then stopped in front of her parents. Cal tipped his hat to her again. “Thank you for the dance, Miss Dallas. I hope you get all that you dream of.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a wink before turning and strutting back to her parents.
Cal saw a woman approaching him, so he quickly maneuvered through the crowd and went to the bar to order a soda. When he turned around with the drink in hand, Hank was there.
“Coke? Really?” Hank said with disdain. “Have a real drink.”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Hank took a long drink of his bourbon. “I was hoping you’d show up.”
“Why is that?”
“We’ve not had a chance to talk.”
Cal was immediately suspicious, but he also wanted answers. “What do we need to talk about?”
“The fact that you think I had something to do with the stolen horse.”
“The tracks led to your property.”
He chortled, shaking his head. “My land surrounds the Bar 4. Of course, it led to me. I’ve already explained that.”
“Why didn’t you let me search your land?”
Hank gave him a flat look. “You’re a smart man. You know why.”
Cal drew in a breath and slowly released it. “What’s going on, Hank?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean. Dillon has been shot at two different times now.”
Hank’s nostrils flared. “You think because I wanted her land that I’m responsible for that? Is that what you think of me?”
“I think you’re hiding something.”
Hank moved closer so they weren’t talking over the music. “You know me better than that.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
“How did I get onto Dillon’s property?”
Hank shrugged, his lips twisting. “How am I supposed to know?”
The more he talked, the more Cal knew he was lying, though he couldn’t prove it.
Hank glanced at the dance floor and Dillon. “With the way the men gather around her at this dance each year, I had thought she would have found a man by now. How come you’re allowing all these other men to dance with her if you two are together?”
“We came together. We’ll leave together.”
“A woman like her needs a strong man.”
“You’ve not found a woman,” Cal pointed out.
“A woman is an accessory,” Hank said. “I hire people for the things a woman claims she can do in a marriage. I’ve got a cook and a maid. As for female company, well, let’s just say I don’t have to pay women to share my bed. As I remember it, neither do you.”
Cal stared at the man his father had called a friend. There were more lines around his mouth and eyes now. If his father still lived, would he have the same kind of age on his face? Cal wished he would’ve found out.
He leaned closer to Hank and said in a low voice so no one else could hear, “Dillon is a good woman, who is doing an excellent job of running the ranch. On her own. I’m going to do everything in my power to locate her stallion and find out who is trying to kill her and take her ranch.
I hope to God you aren’t party to any of it.
But if you are, I’ll make you regret it. ”
Cal leaned back and met Hank’s gaze, holding it for a long moment to ensure that Hank took his words seriously.
Then, Cal walked away. He had wanted a private word with Hank to see if he could determine if his old friend was involved or not.
Unfortunately, he’d come away more perplexed than before.
But that didn’t mean that Hank was a part of things.
It also didn’t mean he wasn’t.