Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6) Read Free Page A

many years and seemed happy with her lot in life.
    Where would this tug of attraction go? Or would it go anywhere?
    Over the next few weeks, Beau asked himself a hundred times if buying the ranch had been a mistake. Every day brought another crisis. His new bull got stuck in the pond. It took every hand on the ranch, plus a tractor to get him out.
    Once out, the bull went nuts and ran through a fence and onto the Callahan spread. With Donovan’s help, they coaxed him back. Then there was the day it rained while Gordon was cutting hay. Donovan said they should have heeded the weather report and waited for clear weather. Instead, they had a field of cut, wet hay that couldn’t be baled until it dried. Even now it was losing its nutrients.
    Another costly mistake.
    Beau threw himself into his work, but his thoughts returned again and again to his children. Did they get jobs, or were they spending the last of their money foolishly? What would they do without funds? Without a roof over their heads? Would they come to him and try to get their old life back?
    He didn’t think so. Both were proud. If only they could learn to be as independent as they were stubborn.
    Today, Beau’s thoughts were dark; his voice surly when Gordon asked if Beau thought the hay had dried enough to bale. “You’re the foreman. Check it out.” Gordon turned to do as ordered. “If you screw up and bale it wet, it’s your job.”
    Gordon didn’t acknowledge the threat. Instead, he mounted the tractor, gunned the motor, and took off.
    “There goes another mistake,” Beau mumbled. But he didn’t know where he’d find someone to replace the man. The kid he’d hired, Joe Hammond, wasn’t experienced enough.
    Beau let his gaze sweep over the horizon. Why had it been so important to take on sixteen hundred acres, plus a herd of cattle, and half a dozen horses at this stage of his life? He could have kept his comfortable home in Connecticut, kicked back, and enjoyed his retirement in peace.
    Swinging into the saddle, he patted Taro’s head. Taro needed no further encouragement. He trotted out of the yard and started across the field.
    Beau took a deep breath. The air was pure and bracing, everything quiet and peaceful. In the distance, he saw part of his herd and wondered at the sense of accomplishment they gave him.
    He’d just had a country breakfast. He felt stronger than he had when he’d strode the senate halls or even his younger days when his thoughts were on how fast he could make another million. He soon learned that the more he made, the more he wanted. After declaring he had enough, he’d run for and won the senate seat. Soon, the behind-the-door deals had made him re-think his choice. One day, he woke to wonder how his lifestyle was shaping his children.
    And didn’t like the answer.
    As a kid, he’d loved to watch any kind of western movie or sit-com. The open plains called to him. When he opted out of the senate, his decision to satisfy that deep-seated desire to live on a ranch had seemed the perfect solution.
    Rey and Dani would benefit from the change, he’d convinced himself. But the openness, the sky that went on forever, the deep sense of place, didn’t suit everyone. Tastes differed. Rey and Dani had hated the thought of ranch life.
    Now, they were furious with him.
    The thought brought a sting to his eyes.
    Spurring Taro, he raced across the field, trying to rid himself of the thought that his children were lost to him. Not in the sense that he didn’t know where they were. They kept in touch with Lela. He knew they were still in San Antonio. He knew they’d rented an apartment in a low-rent district and had jobs. Dani worked at a restaurant; Rey captained a boat on the Riverwalk.
    At least they were trying. That thought made him feel somewhat better. But how long would they last? Both liked to sleep late. Neither liked a fixed regimen. They had to be miserable.
    That wasn’t what Beau wanted. He wanted them to be