Calder Storm (Calder Saga 10)

Kelly laughed, unconcerned. “That’s what Daddy said.” Her glance quickly darted around and behind them in a searching manner. “Isn’t Trey with you?”

“No. He left the ranch before we did,” Jessy replied.

“Oh.” Disappointment gave the curve of her mouth a downward turn, but only momentarily. Forcing a brightness into her expression, she said, “I’m sure I’ll see him at the fairgrounds. We’re headed that way now. Catch you later.”

She flashed them a parting wave and scooted back to her family. Jessy raised an acknowledging hand to the Ramseys, a gesture they returned before moving en masse toward the door. But Jessy’s attention remained on Kelly.

“She has her sights set on Trey, doesn’t she,” she murmured to Laredo.

“Are you just discovering that?” His smile was rich with amusement.

“You aren’t surprised at all.” She shook her head in mild dismay at this realization. “Sometimes I think you know more about what’s happening on the Triple C than I do.”

“That’s because you’re too busy running it to listen to all the gossip that comes through the range telegraph. Besides, there isn’t a single woman in five hundred miles who wouldn’t like to throw her loop around your son.”

“I just hope he makes the right choice when the time comes.” And she hoped it wouldn’t be soon. But Jessy knew those decisions weren’t hers to make.

“You aren’t worried that he’ll get fooled into marrying some gold-digger, are you?” Laredo chided. “Don’t forget, Trey learned all about feminine wiles from his sister. At one time or another he saw Laura use every trick in her arsenal on some poor, unsuspecting male. When it comes to women, that boy is much wiser than his years.”

“True,” Jessy agreed. “Did I tell you Laura called last night?”

“No. But you better tell me about it outside,” Laredo suggested as more people entered the hotel, familiar faces among them. “This place is getting busier than a bar on Saturday night. We’d better get our bags out of the pickup and up to our rooms before we get trapped in the lobby.”

“It isn’t that bad.” But Jessy didn’t object when he steered her through the stream and out the door, giving her only enough time to exchange nods and brief hellos with those she knew.

Moving to her right shoulder, Laredo asked, “So how’s the new bride doing?”

“Laura’s doing well, and still sounding very much like a bride. Nearly every other sentence started with ‘Sebastian said’ or ‘Sebastian suggested.’”

“I think it’s called love,” he teased as they crossed to the ranch pickup.

Jessy ignored the playful gibe. “I’m just glad she’s happy. I only wish that she lived closer. England is half a continent and an ocean away.”

“You and Cat both are dealing with an empty nest, aren’t you?” Laredo remarked astutely. Cat was Jessy’s sister-in-law, Catherine Calder Echohawk. Widowed almost a year ago, Cat had moved back to the Triple C to look after her aging father, Chase Calder. “First your Laura gets married in November. Then her Quint ties the knot in April. Now you’re wondering if Trey will be next.” As he reached into the truck bed for his duffel bag, he looked up and paused, sliding a dry glance at Jessy. “Speak of the devil.”

With a nod of his head, Laredo directed her attention to the pickup just pulling into the motel lot. Three cowboys sat shoulder to shoulder in the cab, their faces shadowed by the hats they wore

and the dim interior. But Jessy easily picked out her son from the others even before they piled out of the pickup after it pulled up at the motel entrance.

Standing six feet, three inches, he was easily taller than the average man, wide in the shoulders and chest, yet youthfully lean and supple, with a rider’s looseness about him. One look at his deep-set eyes and rawboned face and there was no doubt he was a Calder. That hard vitality was like a tribal stamp.

At his birth, Jessy had proudly named him Chase Benteen Calder after his grandfather and the family patriarch. His great-great-grandfather had carried the same name, the Calder who had formed the Triple C Ranch more than a century and a quarter ago. Within weeks of his namesake’s birth, the baby was dubbed “Trey Spot,” which was soon shortened. He’d been called Trey ever since.

As Trey swung his long frame toward Jessy, he was hailed by Kelly Ramsey. “Mind if I ride with you to the fairgrounds, Trey?”

Laredo was quick to detect the wary tensing of Trey’s body, but the smile was easy, without the coolness of rejection. “Sorry. There’s no room. I’ve got Tank and Johnny with me.”

His response was clearly not the one she wanted to hear. She wavered for an instant, as if assessing the odds of changing his mind, then showed some wisdom and accepted his answer with good grace.

“No problem,” she said, already taking the first retreating steps back to the Ramseys’ double-cab pickup. “I’ll see you later.”

Trey was quick to turn away and shoot a glance at Laredo. It was one of those man-to-man looks that conveyed his utter lack of interest in the girl and his relief at avoiding her company. Laredo dipped his head down, hiding a smile, as Trey loped over to them.

“Did you two just drive in?” he asked when he joined them.

“We’ve been here long enough to check in.” Jessy eyed her tall, strapping son with a mixture of affection and quiet pride.

“I guess that means all I have to do is pick up a key.” His grin had a reckless and carefree quality to it that spoke of his youth.