Texas Fire Page 9

  “I can speak for myself, King.” Megan must have seen how close Rowdy was to losing his temper at the rancher’s high-handed tactics. “Two o’clock isn’t the middle of the afternoon when you’re on the clock. I bet you don’t see it that way when you’re the one signing the paychecks.”

  Sanders laughed. “You’ve got me there. So, how much longer you going to be?”

  “We planned to work till five or six, didn’t we?” She waited for Rowdy’s nod. When a happy King tried to hug her, she held him off. “I’d appreciate a better place to stay, but I won’t do it unless you offer both of us rooms.” She smiled at Rowdy.

  “Well, I guess I could do that. I have a bunkhouse with plenty of space.” King nodded. “I don’t know who foisted that hunk of junk on you, Baker, but I wouldn’t ask my least-favorite hunting dog to sleep there.”

  “We were desperate. Got caught in a tornado south of here, and our old rig was blown to pieces.” Rowdy thought about the offer. Hell, why not? He bet even the bunkhouse in this man’s place was a damn palace.

  “What? Megan, you weren’t caught in that twister outside of Tuleta, were you?” King grabbed her shoulders and studied her face. “Honey, that’s the talk of South Texas. Fella was killed when his truck and trailer got caught in crosswinds down there. His truck rolled and flung him into a ditch. Broke his neck.”

  “No! I hadn’t heard.” Megan let her fear show on her face for a moment when her lips trembled and she grabbed the rancher’s hands.

  “Why, you must have been scared to death.” He glanced at Rowdy. “What the hell happened?”

  “Rowdy saw it coming and got us out of the truck in time. We hunkered down in a low spot until the tornado passed. I was terrified.” She closed her eyes as if she was remembering the scene. “We had to lie there while the sand hit us from all sides and we couldn’t breathe. The dog was under us. It was crazy.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “You should have seen what it did to our truck and trailer. If we’d been inside? Well, I’ll never forget it.”

  King pulled her in and she let him hold her. He stroked her hair, his eyes meeting Rowdy’s. His voice was rough when he spoke. “Good on you, Baker. To get her to safety. Thank God you’re okay.” Megan eased back from him and he crossed himself.

  Megan sighed. “Yes, thank God.”

  “Just goes to show. Live for the day, sugar. You never know what tomorrow will bring.” King looked up at the cloudless sky, then shook his head. “So, how about that offer? Stay with me while you wait for new orders. I’m pretty sure there’s no way you’re going to be shutting down my wells.” King’s confident smile proclaimed he was used to getting his way. “I’ll even feed you breakfast and supper while you’re here. Wait till you meet Carmelita. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven when you taste her cooking.”

  “I guess it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest. As long as you understand, Sanders, that putting us up won’t influence what we’re here to do.” Rowdy figured the air-conditioning in the trailer wouldn’t be worth a damn and it was still hot here. Not unusual for September in these parts of Texas. Great food? He wasn’t stupid. “Let me talk to the super here and get things lined up to start inspections tomorrow, then we can follow you to your place.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” King straightened his tan Stetson. He’d pulled it off as soon as he’d seen Megan. A gentleman. Rowdy had to like him for that, even if he was arrogant. “I’ll get out of your way. Be in my truck with the AC going and making some phone calls. Can Megan come with me, or does she have to stick with you?”

  “I’m learning the job, King. I’ll stick with Rowdy.” She patted King’s arm. “Thanks for the invitation to stay. I’ll admit I was dreading tonight and figuring out our sleeping arrangements.”

  “Just relax and do your little job, sugar. Leave those sleeping arrangements to me.” King winked, then sauntered over to his truck, an expensive model that seemed to resist the dust that covered everything around them.

  “What are you looking at?” Megan wiped sweat and dust from her forehead, then gave Rowdy a narrow look.

  “Me?” Rowdy grinned. “Are you getting defensive? Your buddy there is imagining sleeping arrangements that’ll make him happy. How that shakes out is up to you. I’m just glad we don’t have to stay in that trailer. Thanks for including me in the plan to go to his ranch.” He strode over to the office trailer, where the superintendent of the well site stood anxiously waiting on the top step. “Listen while I discuss the plans for the next few weeks with the super here. This is the kind of thing we’ll be doing at every site. We inspect what’s going on, even if we don’t have orders to shut down wells.”

  “Rowdy! How are you doing?” A tall man with salt-and-pepper hair held out his hand. “Come on in where it’s cool. This must be our honored guest. Rumors are flying in town, I have to tell you. Never expected to see another Calhoun out here after Conrad died.” He jerked open the metal door behind him, smiling and gesturing for them to precede him.

  “Megan, this is Vince Claypool.” Rowdy shook his hand, happy when cold air hit him. “Glad to see your AC is working.”

  “Not that I get to hang out in here when the roughnecks are sweating outside. That wouldn’t be great management.” Vince bent down and patted Lucky. “You brought a dog.” He smiled. “That’s new.”

  “He’s mine.” Megan followed him up the wooden steps. “Megan Calhoun. I’m sorry if Lucky is a problem.”

  “Happy to meet you. You can bring in a herd of camels if you wish, Ms. Calhoun. Your company, after all.” He took off his hard hat, stuck it under one arm, then held out his hand. He shook Megan’s as if it were made of glass. “Sorry I didn’t greet you when you drove up, but I saw King Sanders approach you like he was an old friend. Didn’t want to interrupt.” Vince shuffled his feet, clearly nervous.

  “Has he been giving you a hard time?” Rowdy looked around the office. It was in pretty good shape. Typical. There was mud on the floor, a mass of paperwork on the desk, and a table full of charts. A map on the wall showed where the current wells and future well sites were scheduled. He hated the fact that one of his best superintendents was acting like the queen was visiting. Vince had walked over to the desk and was busily trying to straighten a pile of papers.

  “He’s anxious for us to drill more wells, of course, not shut any down. It’s money in the bank for him.” Claypool jumped when the phone on his desk rang. “Sorry, but I have to take this. You know we’re not drilling new wells. Be surprised if you weren’t here to shut some down. Sanders pitched a royal fit when he found out that might happen. Make yourself at home.” He answered the landline, which was connected to a computer on his desk.

  Megan frowned at Rowdy. “If King has a contract . . .”

  “That could cause us problems. Usually we can do what we want once we arrange for the oil leases. He and your dad must have worked out some kind of sweetheart deal.” Rowdy heard his name called.

  “Rowdy Baker’s right here. Yes, sir.” Claypool held out the phone. “He wants to talk to you. It’s a lawyer at Headquarters.” His smile was strained as he slapped the receiver into Rowdy’s hand. “Seems Sanders got on the horn right away.”

  “This is Rowdy Baker.” He wasn’t surprised when a lawyer introduced himself.

  “William Pagan. King Sanders had his lawyer call us and raise holy hell. We’re going over the Sanders contracts now. Don’t do a thing yet about shutting down any wells. Wait for word from us. Apparently you have a new number?”

  “Yes, got it an hour ago. You can reach me anytime.” He told him the number. “We can do our usual inspections while we wait to hear from you. But that shouldn’t take us more than a day or two.” He saw Vince pulling cold drinks out of a mini-fridge. Then he set a bowl on the floor and poured a bottle of water out for the dog. Megan was drinking a Coke and trying to put the super at ease. You’d never take her for an oil heiress in her loose pants and T-shirt with those clunky bo
ots. Her hair was loose around her head and her face pink from the sun she’d gotten the day before. She shouldn’t look beautiful but, damn it, she did. He realized Pagan had been talking about legal clauses and lease agreements and he hadn’t heard a word.

  “Are we clear? You don’t stop drilling.”

  “Got it.” Rowdy made himself look away from Megan and concentrate on the phone call.

  “Fine. We’ll know by tomorrow whether you can proceed with the shutdowns or if you should move on. Apparently Conrad cut quite a deal with Sanders. There are cash penalties if we don’t drill a certain number of wells on his place. We’re treading close to that now. Price of oil isn’t mentioned as a factor. It’s a damn shame, but there it is.”

  “You’re right about that.” Rowdy was ready to hang up when the lawyer asked if Megan was with him. “Yes, she is.”

  “Put her on the line. We’re old friends. Tell her it’s Billy Pagan.”

  “Of course. Megan!” Rowdy handed her the phone. Another man who’d been “friends” with Megan. Had she run away from this man’s bed, too? One of her legion of lovers? And how many had Rowdy had in his past? The number could fit on one hand. Damn it.

  “What? I don’t know anything about contracts.” She took the receiver as if it might sting her hand.

  “An old friend. Billy Pagan?” Rowdy frowned when her face lit up and she grabbed the receiver eagerly. Was there any man whom she didn’t have a history with? He picked a hard hat from a line of them on hooks by the door. “I’ll leave you to him while I take a quick tour with Vince. Stay here with the dog. You’re not dressed for the rig.” He stepped out of the trailer and into the heat. Stupid to feel like the whole world had been with Megan Calhoun at one time or another. He had just made it to the bottom of the steps when Megan called his name.

  “Wait up! I’m going with you. I can change pants in the trailer.” She hurried to join him.

  “Not so fast, Ms. Calhoun.” Vince was on her heels, a brown grocery sack in his hands. “Can’t go anywhere on the site without a hard hat. When we heard you were coming, the fellas decided to make you something special. Pedro, one of the hands, has a little artistic talent. I think he did a fine job, especially considering he only had one day to put this together.” He thrust the sack into Megan’s hands. “See what you think.”

  Megan peeked into the bag. “Oh, I couldn’t.” She flushed. “Really. I want to be one of the guys.”

  Rowdy exchanged looks with Vince. “Megan, there’s no way you could ever be mistaken for one of the guys. What is it?”

  She pulled a hard hat out of the bag and handed the empty sack to Vince. Rowdy bit back a laugh, pretty sure work was stopping nearby as the men watched her reaction.

  “Now, that’s a hard hat.” Rowdy clamped down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood so he wouldn’t laugh.

  “It’s beautiful.” She lifted it up for the men on the closest rig to see, then set it on her head. “Honestly, tell Pedro he has real talent. It’s really too pretty to mess up on one of these sites. I’d be sick if I scuffed it up when I climbed on a scaffold.”

  “Oh, he sprayed it with polyurethane. It should be pretty indestructible.” Vince laughed. “You really like it?”

  “Love it.” She turned to Rowdy. “Seriously. Did you see the way he wrote my name in fancy lettering? It’s not easy to keep it even on a round surface. I used to own a boutique, and I could have sold things decorated like this for big bucks.”

  Vince turned to give two thumbs-up to the watching crew, who broke out in a cheer. “I’ll be sure to tell him. He does all kinds of artsy-fartsy stuff. Maybe you’ll have time to see some of it while you’re here. Let him know if you think he has a way to make money with it.” Vince cleared his throat. “The oil business being what it is, he might need a fallback income, sooner than he thinks. He’s got a wife and three kids at home.”

  “I’d be happy to take a look if he has some samples. I have connections in Houston who could help out if he has pieces ready to go.” She laughed. “Not hard hats, but jewelry, boxes, the kinds of knickknacks that people use as decorations.”

  Rowdy held out his hand. “Let me see that.” He took the hot pink hat with its design of trailing vines with exotic flowers in all the colors of the rainbow. Examining it, he could see that the workmanship was meticulous. “What does this man do on the job?”

  “He’s our mechanic and electrician. Pedro can fix just about anything. Keeps our generators running, that’s for sure.” Vince pointed with a blunt fingertip. “I told him I thought it was art, too, so I made him sign it. On the back. He put his initials. PG.”

  “Yeah, it is art. Obviously he’s good with his hands.” Rowdy reached for the bag. “Give her a regular hat for when we get on the rigs. It would be a shame to get mud on this one.” He laughed. “Now you have a dressy hard hat, Megan.”

  “Don’t put it away.” Megan reached for it and put it on again. “Can we go meet Pedro and get a picture? I want to send it to my sisters at Headquarters. They’ll get a kick out of it and wish they had one. Just give me a few minutes to change into jeans.”

  Rowdy figured that would shoot the hell out of the workday, but he went along with it as a morale booster for the workers. Picture taking and introductions took another hour, then King Sanders hunted them down.

  “Well, would you look at this?” He smirked as he checked out Megan in her pink hat. “If it isn’t Oil Rig Barbie.” He whipped out his own phone. “With mud on your boots and a smear on your chin, the gang at the country club is going to have a fit over this.”

  “King, stop it!” Megan turned to Rowdy. “Seriously? Mud?”

  “Just a little. Shows you’re taking this seriously.” Rowdy pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it off. He wasn’t going to notice how her smooth skin felt against his fingers or the way she laughed when he explained how his mother made him carry the piece of cloth.

  “You really care what those slackers sitting by the pool back home think?” King busily added text to the picture and sent it off. “A gentleman should always carry a handkerchief.” He pulled a snowy one out of his own back pocket. “See? I was taught the same thing.”

  “Okay, you two. And those slackers are the very ones who might notice the workmanship and start clamoring for Pedro Galvan’s fine hand-painted pieces.” Megan pulled off the hat and shook out her hair. “Can we go now, Rowdy? Those derricks are the filthiest places I’ve ever seen—and noisy! My head is pounding.”

  “You’d better get used to that, Megan.” Rowdy remembered his first exposure to a rig when it was in full operation. He’d find some aspirin for her.

  “I know. First, I need a shower.” She looked down at her mud coated boots. “How do you ever get your boots clean?”

  “Come over here, Megan.” Vince had finally relaxed enough to call her by her first name. “Wash them off at the faucet here.” He was spraying mud off his own boots. “My wife would tan my hide if I came home with my boots full of mud.” He handed her the hose and nodded at Rowdy. “I take it you’re done for the day?”

  “Guess so.” Rowdy followed Megan and soon had his own boots clean enough to get into his truck after Vince helped him unhitch it from the trailer.

  “All right, then. Heard from my lawyer. Looks like you won’t be shutting down any wells this trip.” King slapped his jeans with his hat. “Sorry if that disappoints you. But I guess you have other things to attend to here. So, let’s get going. I called Carmelita and she’s cooking up a feast for us, Megan. Baker, you can come join us. My sister is at the ranch this week, and I think you two might hit it off. Unless, that is, you have a wife waiting for you at home?”

  “No wife. A feast sounds good.” Rowdy didn’t like the way King gloated as he steered Megan to his truck. But he was hungry and he wasn’t turning down a chance to have a decent meal. A fix-up with a millionaire’s sister? Hey, maybe he’d see where that went. Certainly his ex had found love with a rich man. What did
they say? What was sauce for the goose, was sauce for the gander. Or maybe he had it turned around. Whatever.

  He could see at every turn the power that money bought. Lawyers on speed-dial. Feasts, too. Sanders was even telling Megan about his private plane as he helped her into his truck. Rowdy glanced back at the wells pumping oil nearby. Even at historically low prices, they represented money. Whoever owned the land got a nice percentage. Vince had told him the Sanders ranch had been in the family for generations. They raised cattle and farmed spinach, of all things. When oil had been discovered in these parts, it must have seemed like hitting the jackpot.

  So, what the hell? He’d give this rich woman a chance. Pride had bought him nothing but a bruised heart. As he followed Sanders’s truck along a bumpy road through fields that were dotted with cattle and past a surprising orchard with rows of some kind of fruit tree, he decided to keep an open mind about this sister. Why not? How bad could she be? He turned to the dog, sitting happily in Megan’s seat for a change.

  “If I’m lucky, I’ll fall in love with this rich woman and she’ll fall for me. We’ll raise rich little kids and spend our lives together traveling the world and throwing her money around.”

  The dog just gave him a look, then licked his hand. Yeah, it didn’t sound right to him, either. He wasn’t cut out for the easy life of the idle rich. Couldn’t imagine it.

  “Don’t tell Megan I talked to you.” He patted the dog on the head. “I still don’t think we should have a dog with us when we’re working.”

  Lucky whined and lay down on the seat. He’d gotten the message.