Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

C aroline's heart pounded up into her throat as she faced Dawson. Flirting and texting with him via cellphone was completely different than being in his presence. And she hadn't even gotten out of the car yet.

Ruffin ducked his head and came toward her, making her smile and giving her courage enough to get out. She smoothed her hands down her ugly work shorts and prayed for the best as she stepped out to close her door.

"Hey, Ruffin." She crouched down to greet the dog, giving herself a few more minutes of peace before she had to talk to Dawson. She told herself she'd driven up here specifically to talk to him. "Yeah, you're the best, aren't you? Yes, you are."

She didn't see the crows today, but she had passed a teenage girl pedaling furiously on her bicycle. Caroline couldn't hide behind a canine forever, so she rose to her feet and took a deep breath.

"Hey, darlin'," he drawled, and oh, that made Caroline smile. His voice sounded so much better than the chime on her phone, indicating he'd messaged.

"Hey." She moved closer to him, noting that he did not come to her, and opened her arms to him. In an easy, oh-so-natural way, he received her, pressing one kiss almost on the corner of her mouth, then another higher on her cheek, and a third right below her ear.

Three kisses.

Caroline's eyes drifted closed and she breathed in the salty, musky, sexy scent of Dawson's skin. Part shampoo, and part cologne, and all cowboy, and she thanked heaven above she had him to hold onto, so she didn't fall to the ground.

"Mm, you're here." His voice rumbled in her ear, his arms warm and welcome around her. "What are you doing here?"

She held onto him for another few moments, just long enough to make sure she could stand on her own, and then moved back. Dawson didn't let her go too far, as he took her hand in his and squeezed.

"I had to check something down in Ritchfield today," she said. "So I was on my way back." She'd planned to stop at his ranch today, but she didn't say so. She honestly wasn't sure how much to say. He'd kissed her three times, so maybe he'd said a whole bunch already .

"And I just got a text from Lincoln about owls between your two ranches."

"So you were just driving by?"

"Sort of," she said, deciding she could be brave. Use her words. She turned toward him. "I haven't seen you for a few days. I…wanted to see you."

He smiled at her, and oh, she probably shouldn't have asked him to do that. At the same time, so much light entered his soul when he did, and she didn't think Dawson could fake feelings even if he wanted to.

"It's great to see you," he said. He leaned toward her, and panic filled Caroline. Was he going to kiss her properly this time? He didn't, but nuzzled into her neck, crowding close and making her giggle.

And oh, how she felt cherished. Like he couldn't get enough of her with just his eyes and his hands, he had to smell her and taste her too.

He swept another series of tiny, barely-there kisses up the column of her throat and then lifted his head. "Mm, yeah. It's great to see you." He looked at the fence he and Link had erected around the owls. "I checked the fence for Link, because it's way easier to see from this side. I've got some pictures if you want to see them."

"I'm going to come out tomorrow with him," she said. "He said he got permission from you to approach from this side."

"Yeah," Dawson said. "We farm up there, so if you want to build something like this, I can help in the morning."

She nodded. "I'll keep you informed."

Everything sounded so clinical, and Caroline didn't know how to move past this. At least it was civilized now—more than civilized. His stomach growled as if he'd caged an angry pair of tigers in there, and he looked down at it.

"It's lunchtime," he said, raising his gaze to meet hers. "My momma is feeding me today. Would you—? You could come." His eyes searched hers, so much boyish hope living there.

Her first reaction was to decline. Lunch with him and his mom? They hadn't even been out on one date yet. They weren't dating. He wasn't her boyfriend.

All of the skin above her collarbone sizzled, seemingly to testify that she had indeed been doing things she'd only do with a boyfriend. Holding hands. Giggling. Accepting kisses.

So she opened her mouth, and "All right," came out.

He grinned even wider. "All right." He nodded to her car. "You want to drive in together? Bring me back out here? Or I can follow you in."

She glanced over to his truck. "How about you just follow me in? Maybe we could go for a walk or something after lunch."

His phone dinged, and he said, "That's my momma now. Just a sec." He pulled out his phone and typed something short and fast into it. "I'll follow you in." He nodded at her and stepped away, saying, "Come on, Ruff. Jump up."

The dog trotted over to the truck and got in the back while Dawson arrived in his cowboy speed. Caroline spun when she realized she'd been watching him and hurried to her car too. On the way back to the epicenter of the ranch, she gripped the steering wheel and talked herself into leaving without dining with the Rhineharts.

"His daddy is retired too," she muttered. "Of course he'll be there."

So she couldn't stay. Absolutely not. She and Dawson were not dating.

Desperation clogged her throat. She'd tried talking to Belle about Dawson, but it hadn't gone well, nor very far. Belle had seized upon something she'd said and ranted about her ex-husband for thirty minutes. Then she'd dissolved into tears and gone down the hall to the bedroom.

So definitely not a good chat, and certainly Caroline had not said everything she needed to in order to start a real relationship with Dawson. They texted constantly, usually in the afternoon or evening, and Caroline sure did like him.

He hadn't asked her out again, and she wished she could tell him she'd driven to the ranch today because she'd finally talked to Belle, and they could go to dinner.

She found herself rounding the corner of the barn, the exit road right in front of her. But she kept turning to the right and that put her in front of the farmhouse. It was clearly much older than the house a few hundred yards away, but someone took care of it.

The lawn had been winterized, and all the flowerbeds cleared for springtime blooming. The shutters had been painted a dark red, and a navy blue star sat up near the pinnacle of the roof. Everything else was white, and it screamed old-school Texas from the very foundations.

She got out of her car at the same time Dawson parked, and she smiled at the clucking and warbling of chickens somewhere nearby. Everything felt slower, more peaceful, here, and Caroline craved this small-town quaintness with her whole soul.

"Should be good," he said as he came around the front of the truck. "My momma is a good cook."

"What did she make?"

He took her hand at the same time the sound of another vehicle filled the air. They both looked toward it, and Dawson's frown deepened. "Looks like Duke and Zona are coming too." His expression turned to one of anxiety, and his hand in hers tightened. "Is that okay? You want to meet them all?"

"All of them?"

"Well, we all work here," he muttered. "I'm sure Brandon's inside. He's more of a momma's-boy than I am. "

Caroline had no idea how to get out of this. She wasn't even sure she wanted to. She stood there while Duke pulled in, her mind buzzing and fuzzing. Finally, about the time the tall, darker-haired man dropped from the truck and slammed his door, she blinked. Focused. Knew what she wanted.

"I've already met Duke," she said. "And I want to meet them all." She slid her hand up his arm and moved her other one to clutch his. "Okay?"

He met her eyes, something dark and dangerous and enticing swimming in his gaze. Desire. "We're a barrel of fun," he deadpanned. "But this might be good. Meet us now, so you can get out early if you need to."

"You haven't even asked me out," she whispered.

"Didn't know it was an option," he whispered back. In a louder tone, he said, "Hey, guys," and started toward his family.

Duke and his wife Arizona had come, and the same teenager Caroline had seen riding her bike got out of the back too. She looked like she'd been crying, and Caroline instantly wanted to shield her, protect her, and also leave so this family could talk without a stranger present.

But Dawson had a hold of her hand again, and he said, "You guys haven't met Caroline, I don't think." He beamed stars and light and all shiny things at her for a brief moment. "This is Caroline Thompson. She's the Wildlife Officer assigned to our ranch for the burrowing owls, and…." He swallowed and cleared his throat. "And sh e's this really amazing woman I keep trying to go out with."

Duke smiled too, and the gesture totally transformed his face. "Sure, Caroline." He stuck out his hand, and she had to release Dawson's to shake his brother's. "It's great to see you again."

"You remember Duke," Dawson said. "He runs the ranch. His wife, Arizona. We all call her Zona." He smiled at her, and while tension radiated from the woman, she too had a friendly, bright smile and firm handshake for Caroline.

"And my favorite niece," Dawson said. "April." The way they held each other's gazes said something, but Caroline couldn't decipher it fast enough.

"It's my pleasure to meet you," April said diplomatically. "I'm gonna go see what Grandma made for lunch, okay?" She waited until both of her parents nodded at her, and then she left.

Dawson watched her, a frown furrowing his brow. Duke sighed, and Zona linked her arm through his. "She's a good girl," she murmured.

"The best," Dawson confirmed, turning his attention to them. "She came out to see me this morning."

They both looked at him with extreme interest in their eyes, but they didn't ask any questions. At least not verbally. Dawson shifted his feet and started toward the house. "She's gonna be okay," he said. "How'd the meeting go at the school? "

"Fine," Duke said. "The teacher is going to put Morgan in another group, and April…well, she wasn't wrong."

"She's just like…." Zona didn't finish, and Caroline certainly wasn't going to fill in any adjectives.

"Abrasive?" Dawson suggested. "Fiery, like you? Grumpy, like you?" He looked from Zona to Duke, clear challenge in his lifted eyebrows. Then everything about him softened, and one corner of his mouth kicked up. "Seems to me, y'all created this problem yourselves."

Duke looked like he'd just had ice water thrown in his face. Zona blinked a couple of times and looked at her husband. "He's not wrong. We're like vinegar and baking soda combined. No wonder she's this way."

"She's no way ," Dawson said. "She's your daughter. Your smart, free-thinking, beautiful, talented, a-little-on-the-brusque-side, daughter."

"A little?" Duke asked.

"Have you met yourself when you haven't eaten?" Dawson asked, opening the front door to the farmhouse. "She's fourteen. You're forty-five. Give her some time to grow into herself."

The scent of something spicy hit Caroline's nose, and her stomach growled in the most embarrassing way possible. Both Duke and Dawson chuckled, and the latter drew her closer as he took her into the house. "Hungry, huh?"

"I guess so," she said .

"Smells like chili," Zona said, and Caroline completely agreed, though she hadn't been able to place the scent before.

"I hope you're ready for something amazing," Dawson said as the front of the house opened up to the back. While it looked old on the outside, the interior of the farmhouse had been completely updated at some point in the recent past.

The living room she walked through held beautiful furniture in a deep, dark brown leather. A hutch of trinkets stood beside the window to her left, and then a large dining room table took over the initial space in the kitchen. It pushed back through the house, with glinting silver appliances, and an island that held a feast fit for a king.

Or maybe just sons. Cowboys.

"We're here, Momma," Dawson said. "Duke and Zona pulled up at the same time."

His mother turned from the kitchen sink, where she stood with another younger man—clearly Dawson's brother. Besides April, she didn't see anyone else.

"Oh." His mother stopped completely, and Caroline's face heated slightly. She glanced at Dawson, who everyone seemed to be looking at, and April stepped over to the sink.

"I've got the rest of these, Grams."

The teenager's words seemed to thaw Dawson's mother. "Thank you, dear." She quickly wiped her hands on her apron, her smile blooming to life.

"Momma," Dawson said, a growly undertone to his voice. "This is Caroline Thompson. She's the woman I told you about." He held absolutely still, not a swallow or a blink in sight. "Where's Daddy?"

"He's finishing up with the well out back," his mom said.

Dawson nodded, his gaze flitting toward the back windows. "Caroline, this is my mother, Abby. My daddy is Wade. He'll be in soon, I reckon."

Caroline smiled with all she had as she stepped away from Dawson to greet his mother. "It's so wonderful to meet you," she said. "I hope there's enough for me. Dawson just invited me randomly." She laughed lightly, though what she'd said was true. "I mean, I guess—" She glanced over to him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I surprised him by showing up on the ranch, and I don't think he could stand to have me delay his lunch."

"Now that sounds about right," Duke said as he eased to kiss and hug his mother hello. Then Caroline remembered that this was not his biological mother. He'd come from Wade's first wife, and Caroline was impressed with the love and care coming from Duke.

"My brother Brandon," Dawson said, nodding to the man standing at the sink, now drying his hands on a tea towel with a brightly colored chicken embroidered on it .

He nodded to her, his smile bright and so unlike Duke's or Dawson's. She even looked between the three of them, and nope. Brandon did not fit. He was lighter in every way, from his hair color to his eyes to his personality. At the same time, he fit with them, what with the shape of his jaw and the slope of his nose.

"Hello, Abby," Zona said quietly as she too hugged the other woman. "Thank you for making lunch."

"It seemed like a chili kind of week," she said, turning to survey the countertop. "Now, we don't need to wait for Daddy. He said not to, and you know how he is."

Caroline didn't, but murmurs of assent ran through the rest of them. She took in the quartered quesadillas, expecting to find a pot of chili to match the smell wafting through the house. But she couldn't find it.

She saw bowls of shredded cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes, guacamole, and as she watched, April turned from the sink with one of freshly washed shredded lettuce.

"April," Abby said. "Will you pray?"

The girl froze, her eyes wide like twin full moons.

Caroline's heart skipped and shrunk, then pounded forward like she'd been holding her breath underwater for a long time. "I will," she blurted out.

Dawson looked at her. Abby looked at her. Brandon, Zona, and Duke looked at her.

"If it's okay with April," she said, trying for a fun, friendly smile for the girl who still hadn't moved. Silence rained in the house, and Caroline wanted to walk out of this tension.

"It's fine with April," Dawson said quietly, giving the girl a nod. "Go ahead, darlin'."

"Darlin'?" Duke muttered as Caroline lowered her chin and folded her arms.

And just like that, words failed her. She'd prayed hundreds of times. Thousands probably. At least, especially since she'd prayed dozens of times each day as she went through her separation and divorce. She honestly didn't know how she'd have made it out alive otherwise.

Something slid along the floor, and someone coughed, and then Caroline practically yelled, "Dear God," into the stunted, soul-sucking silence.

The back door opened with a man saying, "That blasted well is going—oh."

Caroline looked over to Dawson's daddy, who quickly swiped his cowboy hat from his head, his eyes squeezing closed as he held it over his heart.

"We're grateful to be in Three Rivers," she said, not even sure where the words came from. They sounded so stupid, as the Rhineharts lived here. And had for years and years. At the same time, she wondered if they even knew how special their small town was. If they even knew how good their lives here were.

"We're grateful for Abby for making this food. If it tastes half as good as it smells, we're going to eat like royalty today."

Dawson's hand slid along her waist, and Caroline melted into the touch. "Bless the food that it'll keep our bodies healthy and strong, and our minds clear and able to make decisions. Bless our hands that we can do good, and bless our eyes to see those around us who need help. Then, bless us to get out of our minds and offer our assistance, as each of us has so much to offer to those around us."

She honestly had no idea what else to say. She wasn't even sure what she'd already said, but she had uttered some gratitude and something about a blessing on the food, and she figured she might as well wrap up this massacre.

"Amen." The two-syllable word scraped her throat, and Caroline dropped her hands back to her sides, opened her eyes, and leaned into Dawson.

No one moved or said anything. They didn't even seem to be breathing. They all stared at her, and as she looked from April to Abby to Brandon to Wade, it seemed to be for a different reason for each of them.

April seemed shocked. Abby grinned like a mother hen who'd welcomed home a long-lost chick. Brandon mirrored April, and Wade wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well," Duke said. "I think that was about perfect." He smiled at Caroline as he reached to pick up a plate. They so weren't eating chili for lunch, but the scent in the air…. "It's sure nice to have a different voice say a prayer."

"What does that mean?" Dawson asked, plenty of bite in his tone.

"It means," Duke said as he picked up four quarters of a quesadilla to make a whole one on his plate. "That Caroline." His eyes switched to hold hers. "Said some real nice things. Good reminders, that weren't the same rote stuff we say at our house." He glanced at his wife. "Right, Zona?"

She cleared her throat and said, "Yeah. Yep." She too picked up a plate, but Caroline watched as Duke mounded shredded cheese onto each quesadilla. "I've forgotten to be grateful for where I live. It was a nice reminder."

"I liked the part about our hands needing to be blessed to do good," Brandon said.

Duke turned and put his quesadillas in the microwave, but Zona added cheese, dolloped on sour cream, then piled on lettuce, tomatoes, and guac before she took her plate to the table.

"What is happening here?" she murmured to Dawson, who hadn't moved to get in line. His father now washed at the sink, and April had gotten in line behind Brandon.

"It's a chili quesadilla," he said. "You just have to imagine a bowl of chili—with all the stuff. Cheese, green onions, sour cream—inside a tortilla." He indicated she should go in front of him, and Caroline knew his mother wouldn't get food until every one of her chicks had it and was eating.

"It's like a taco almost," April said. "I love ‘em, and my grandma knew I was in big trouble today, so I'm pretty sure she made them just for me."

"That's not true," Abby said quickly. "I started the chili last night, sweetheart, and no one knew you were in trouble then."

Caroline glanced at the girl as she loaded hers the same way her daddy did. She passed him the plate, and he swapped his for hers. She started loading it with the other toppings, and about the time she finished, she and her daddy were able to switch plates again.

She wanted to ask what kind of trouble the teenager had gotten into, but she held her tongue. "I'll tell you later," Dawson whispered, nudging her down the line. "You can eat them straight up," he added in a louder voice. "Like a legit quesadilla. I like to dip some of mine in ranch dressing." He leaned over and picked up the bottle on the edge of the counter. "And I like to make others into tacos, like April said."

"So it's chili," Caroline said, seeing all the pieces in front of her. Close family. Lots of good food. Warm house. "But it's a quesadilla-taco-type of situation."

Dawson grinned at her. "You got it, darlin'."

"You want your cheese melted?" Duke asked, though his plate was done and he could join his wife at the table.

Caroline looked at the two quesadillas she'd put on her plate. "Just one," she said, quickly removing the other. She put a healthy handful of cheese on it and gave the plate to Duke.

"I'll get it for her," Dawson said.

"Thanks, brother." Duke said the word easily, but Caroline wondered how it landed in Dawson's ears. He didn't seem to think much of it, and he made all but one of his quesadillas into triangular tacos.

He did get her plate out, and she dressed up her second quesadilla the way he had. "Can I share your ranch dressing?" she asked.

"Absolutely," he said, taking his plate and the bowl of dressing toward the table. He sat next to Duke, leaving a place for Caroline on the end. Across from April, with a chair still at the head of the table.

For his daddy.

"Daddy," Dawson said when his father arrived with four quesadillas with only melted cheese on them. It was like a chili pizza at this point. "This is Caroline Thompson. Be nice to her please. I'm tryin' to get her to come ‘round more often, and I don't need you scaring her away."

"He'll do that just fine on his own," Brandon teased.

Caroline smiled at him, then looked at Wade. "It's great to meet you. "

"You too," he said in a perfectly pleasant voice. She'd just taken a bite of her chili-taco-dilla when he asked, "How long have you and Dawson been dating?"

Shredded lettuce flew down her throat she sucked in so hard. She immediately began to cough and choke, while around her, Duke started to laugh, Abby chastised her husband for asking, Wade grumped about being able to ask "perfectly normal" questions, and Dawson patted her on the back, handed her a napkin, and as she recovered, sat there with a positively murderous look on his face.

Finally, it was April who said in a very loud mock whisper, "Grandpa, this is Car-o-line . The woman Dawson's in love with but can't get to go out with him."

"Dust and shadows," Dawson muttered, his eyes suddenly dark and filled with venom. "You can't come out to the owls with me anymore. In fact, you can't ever come out onto the ranch with me ever again. Also, don't come by my house. It's the end for you."

April simply grinned at him and said, "You should've done what I said."

Caroline finally got control of herself, though her lungs felt like they'd have shredded lettuce in them for the rest of her life. Shredded lettuce dipped in bleach. They burned, but she managed to breathe through the raging thoughts that everyone in his family knew about her.

They seemed to know how he felt about her, even the fourteen-year-old girl. This man…he didn't keep things secret—at least not from his family.

She looked at Dawson. "What did April tell you to do?"

"Nothing," Zona yelled from at the other end of the table. "Everyone knock it off. This is why she's not going to come back." She gestured around with her hand, her arms long and reaching far. "And we don't even have all our kids here." She shook her head. "My word, you're as bad as my family."

"That is so not true," April protested immediately while Duke scoffed.

"As bad as your family?" He's the one who shook his head now. "Baby, you have eleven brothers and cousins. That's more than my whole family combined."

Zona said nothing as she bit into her next chili-taco-dilla. Duke looked past Dawson to Caroline. "And then they're all married. And we all have kids. You get together with the Glovers, it's like a hundred people—and that's if some of them are sick or out of town."

"Please," Dawson said. "None of them are ever sick or out of town."

That brought a beat of silence to the kitchen, and then all of the Rhineharts—Dawson included—burst out laughing. Even Arizona.

"He's right," she said as she giggled. "We're a circus." She looked lovingly at her husband. "But it's a good circus, right, hon? "

Duke nodded, a long string of cheese coming from his chili-pizza-taco. "Yeah, baby. It's a good circus." He smiled at her and then Caroline, and then went back to eating.

Everyone did, but Caroline had not gotten her question answered. So she ate her taco and then leaned into Dawson as she wiped her mouth. He bent his head closer in a beautiful, personal way, so he could hear her better.

Oh, she loved that. Always had.

"I still want to know what April advised you to do," she murmured.

To which he said, "I'll tell you later," with a delicious, ruddy flush crawling into his face.