Texas Trio Pt. 02 - Becky's Debt Ch. 35-36a

Becky laughed—a high, clear sound that made the blood in the lower half of Brody's body thrum in tempo. His heart sped up, and he swallowed, trying to keep his mind on Bob, Lily, and Clancy, instead of the woman standing on the porch with him, so close he could smell her heat.

"Well, Clancy did smack him on the nose. That probably didn't help."

"What?!?" Brody couldn't imagine anyone getting close enough to smack Bob unless Bob was dead.

Becky frowned. "Brody, you haven't heard any of this? Don't you talk to anyone but me?"

"I don't talk about Clancy," he answered truthfully.

Becky sighed and told him what he thought was the whole story, which was how Brody learned that Clancy wasn't actually related to anyone on the KCW.

"I thought he must be a cousin or something," he muttered, irritated that he hadn't known.

"With that red hair?"

"Well, he's always at the house."

"He saved my sister's life—Lily's, too, at least we thought so at the time."

Brody frowned again.

Becky explained, "Catherine thinks that if she hadn't tackled Lily, Bob probably wouldn't have hurt her. He was just hopping around a little until Cat got in there and laid down on top of Lily, that's when he really started kicking. He would have killed them for sure if Clancy hadn't run by and gotten his attention with that slap. That's how he lost the leg, you know."

No, he hadn't known that, either. Brody was even more irritated later on, when he asked Cap Jackson about the story.

To hear that Clancy had been in Liberty Falls for only two years was surprising, but hearing that he'd made an insulting remark about Mrs. Connor and been beaten half to death by Kendall and Wilson was a complete shock to Brody, in light of Clancy's reaction to Brody's own comment.

"He isn't—I mean, I thought—" Brody was momentarily tongue-tied at the news. Finally he formed a coherent question. "How did he go from there to practically living in the main house?"

The foreman snorted. "Missus Connor, o'course."

"Ahhh," Brody nodded.

"You wouldn't think it to look at him, would you?" Cappy grumbled. "That the little bastard's something of a hero?"

Jackson wasn't overly fond of Clancy, either, it appeared.

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Catherine was back on speaking terms with her husbands by then, too, thanks to Colt.

He'd showed up in the kitchen one night especially ragged, thinking that the cut-throat world of finance was about a thousand times easier than raising cattle. Hell, calculus was easier than cattle. His heart gave a happy leap when the twins ran to greet him, the two small pairs of arms embracing him—

His dawning glow of happiness was killed by dual shrieks of feminine outrage as Nanny and Yan descended on him, yelling. He gathered their objection was that the boys were clean, while he was decidedly not clean, but he had to intuit that fact, as neither woman was speaking his language at the time.

"Can just one person talk to me in English?" Colt bellowed. "Is that too much to ask? So far today I been cussed at in Cherokee and Mex, shooed outa my own bed in Cajun, and now I'm getting' kicked outa the kitchen in Chinese. Least you people can do is irritate me in American!"

Seeing how upset he was, Cat forgot her anger and hurried forward to stand at his side. She changed her mind halfway and adjusted her flight, landing with her face firmly planted against her husband's chest, ignoring trail dust and whatever that was coating his trousers from the knees down.

Colt wrapped his arms around her without thought and tipped his head down to kiss the top of hers. Cat's arms around his waist tightened as she lifted her face. In less than a minute, Colt was soothed, though he was perfectly aware that had been his wife's intention from the start. She lay against his chest while he stroked her back, resting his chin on the crown of her head.

Everyone returned to doing what they were doing before the ruckus started, while Yan took the boys upstairs to wash. Becky automatically checked to make sure Lily was within arm's reach, since there were hot pans on the stove. She glanced back at her sister once more, and when Colt looked up, he winked at her.

Becky's eyes widened.

Colt's eyes crinkled at the corners.

In disbelief, Becky turned back to the table. Her sister wasn't the one who'd been manipulating the situation! She was impressed; she never would have guessed Colt had it in him!

Catherine could hardly ignore Jeremiah after she'd forgiven Colt for the same offense, so that night she slept between them, allowing her husbands to beg her forgiveness in many delightful ways.

Becky took her pillow downstairs and slept on the big comfortable leather sofa in the parlor, which didn't really help, since she could still hear them every so often, and the sofa was the first place she'd seen Brody.

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NOTE: As usual, thanks for the hearts, stars, and comments, and check out my bio for info on upcoming chapters! Incidentally, the story Becky told about Clancy rescuing Lily and Cat appears in much more detail in TT3.