Reno was the only member of his family worthy of getting a piece of the Broken B, but if she had to, she’d go to war with him to keep him from getting it all.
CHAPTER TWO
RENO got out of his pickup and walked to the motel door. Number ten was Caitlin’s room. There were out-of-state license plates on most of the nearby parked cars, but there were also two late-model rentals. One of those was probably hers.
Jess’s condition had worsened, and the doctor told Reno it was time to notify his family. He’d called Madison St. John, Jess’s niece, but she’d been vague about a last visit, particularly when he’d told her that Caitlin was back. He hadn’t expected much from Madison. She wasn’t the quiet, sweet kid she’d been before Beau’s death. She was filthy rich now, spoiled by her money and her self-centered lifestyle, a social butterfly with iron wings and a razor tongue. It might be just as well if she stayed away from Jess.
Reno forgot about Madison St. John as he reached the door of number ten and knocked sharply. He’d tried to call Caitlin’s room earlier, but there’d been no answer. It was past time for supper, so he assumed Caitlin had eaten. He damned sure hoped she had. He wasn’t in the mood to take her anywhere but the hospital, and there wasn’t much time.
He knocked again, louder this time, and was about to go back to the hospital without her when the door opened.
For a female who’d projected such poise and confidence earlier, Caitlin was surprisingly reluctant to open the door wider than a crack. He glimpsed the towel on her head and the skimpy robe she was wearing. He felt his lips move into an irritable line.
He wasted no time on preliminaries. “Get dressed.” He stepped forward and pressed his hand on the door, but Caitlin pushed from her side to keep him from entering.
“Come back later.” Her voice sounded breathless, as if she were a little afraid of him.
He pressed on the door hard enough to demonstrate that he meant business. “You don’t have later. The doc says his time’s close.”
Reno watched the spasm of shock in her eyes. She immediately released the door and stepped back.
“I—I’d like to dry my hair,” she said as she clutched the front of the short robe and took another step back. She was bare-legged from midthigh to her toes. Reno stepped inside and closed the door with a snap.
He could smell her shampoo and the clean scent of female skin. Without her usual jeans, work shirt and boots, Caitlin looked small and vulnerable. With her mane of hair hidden in the towel, nothing distracted his attention from her face.
And her eyes. Her lashes were black from the lingering dampness of her shower and her eyes were so blue they glowed like starlit sapphires. The natural beauty of her face took his breath away. The sight of her bare legs and his very male urge to see the rest of her bare made every nerve below his waist heat and tingle.
“Cover yourself.”
His angry growl startled her into movement. She flitted away from him so suddenly that he was reminded of a fleeing doe. His gaze followed as she grabbed some clothes from an open suitcase. He didn’t breathe normally until she shut herself in the bathroom.
Reno paced the room, furious with himself for his reaction, furious with her for affecting him so strongly.
He was fair-minded enough to acknowledge that she hadn’t done anything improper, he had. He would never have forced his way into the bedroom of any scantily-clad female. He’d never had to. Why he’d pushed his way in on her when she wasn’t decent defied reason.
Caitlin was dressed in a surprisingly short time. In moments she was out of the bathroom, tearing through one of her suitcases. Her hair was out of the towel and hung in wet disarray down her back. Reno gritted his teeth at the sight until her frantic movements made an impression on him. He could see her hands were shaking. She got a brush and a hair dryer, then dashed back to the bathroom. This time, she didn’t bother to close the door.
Reno winced as she yanked the brush through her hair. That she was in an almighty hurry made him feel faint regret. He hated the turmoil she made him feel. Though he marshaled his anger by stoking his grudge against her, he could stand to let her punish her hair only a handful of strokes before he spoke up.
“No need to tear it out.”
He’d barked the words and managed to startle her again. Her reaction reminded him of the past. Most of the time, Jess had only used one tone of voice with his daughter: harsh and loud. He’d never seemed to notice or care whether anyone else was around or not when he’d upbraided his only child. Reno ignored those times because Caitlin had sometimes deserved a scolding. He’d always assumed Jess spoke more kindly to her the rest of the time. But then, he’d lived on his own ranch near San Antonio before Beau’s death, so he’d been around infrequently.
Why he suddenly questioned Jess’s treatment of Caitlin irritated him. Jess hadn’t been an especially affectionate man, but he’d doted on Beau and had been an attentive husband to their mother. Jess had been too good a man, too fair, to treat his daughter harshly without reason.
Caitlin continued to brush her hair, but she was only marginally less rushed about it. Moments. later, she turned on the hair dryer.
Reno waited impatiently, although he was aware that no more than five minutes passed before she switched off the dryer and hastily brushed her hair again. When she finished, she hurried out of the bathroom and shoved the brush into her handbag. Neither of them spoke as they left the motel room.
You don’t have later, Reno had said. The moment he’d spoken, Caitlin’s refusal to allow her father another shot at her vanished. Jess might be moments from death. Now that the time had really come, and so suddenly, she was once again reduced to foolish hopes and impossible dreams.
Impending death had a profound effect on other people—she was certain it would on her—so perhaps it would have a positive effect on her father. The cynicism Jess Bodine had pounded into her warned that nothing had changed, but the hope she knew she’d have until her father took his last breath urged her to grab for this last chance.
She was shaking so hard when she tried to dig out the car key that she dropped it on the concrete and managed to kick it with her boot. She’d started to retrieve it when Reno stepped over and swung down to snatch it up.
“You’re ridin’ with me.”
His gruff tone was harsh and sent her gaze streaking to his. The flat hard look he gave her hurt; the way his gaze shifted from hers communicated his reluctance to bother with her.
Too terrified to waste time arguing, she went with him to his truck. It surprised her when he opened the passenger door for her, then shut it once she was inside.
Her tension climbed higher as Reno drove swiftly through town to the hospital. He only paused for stop signs and red lights. Fortunately, at just after 9:00 p.m. Coulter City traffic was relatively light, so they pulled into the hospital parking lot in record time. It seemed to take forever to park and get into the hospital. By the time they reached the ICU floor, Caitlin’s heart was pounding with anxiety.
They stepped off the elevator and were halfway down the hall when a doctor walked out of the ICU. Reno stopped and reached for her arm to halt her. The doctor caught sight of them and approached. Caitlin read his somber expression and her heart fluttered sickeningly in her chest.
The doctor’s quiet “I’m sorry,” was directed to Reno before his kind dark eyes shifted to include Caitlin. “He passed away ten minutes ago.”
The words caused a faint roaring in her ears. Her father was gone. The stifling numbness she felt helped her maintain her composure those next moments.
Reno was still gripping her arm when his fingers tightened. The hot current that radiated