His Callahan Bride's Baby

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Falcon left with Xav strapped in the passenger seat, quiet and pale. Taylor didn’t know what to think about anything that had just happened. It was clear from Ash’s face that she was shaken by Xav’s condition.

“Come on, Fiona,” Storm said. “I’ll give you a lift.”

“Thank you.” Fiona sniffed, then allowed herself to be helped into the saddle behind Storm. “I think my nephew has a very salient point about you being around whenever there’s trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Storm said, and the two of them went off like bristling porcupines.

“Come on,” Ash said to Taylor. “Let’s get back to the ranch before my brothers come yelling at me.”

Taylor took a hand up from Ash into the saddle. “Xav will be all right, Ash.”

“I know.”

Her voice was tight. Taylor could tell Ash was really worried. Xav hadn’t looked all that good, sort of pale and obviously in pain.

“So what’s going on with you and my brother?” Ash asked suddenly. “I thought the two of you were supposed to avoid one another until December.”

“Falcon seems pretty good at bending the rules just enough to stay this side of honest.”

Ash snorted. “Living outside the rules is pretty much a Callahan family trait. Serves us very well at times. The thing is, I don’t know if my big brother’s what you need in your life, Taylor.”

Ash took off for the house, letting her horse run, soon galloping past Fiona and Storm. Taylor hung on, not sure what Ashlyn’s words had meant—and not sure if they were friendly or not.

Chapter Five

Ash and Taylor slid off the horse as soon as they reached Rancho Diablo. “Galen!” Ash yelled at the top of her lungs. “Galen!”

Galen, Tighe and Dante came out of the barn closest to the house. “What?” Galen asked.

“Get to the hospital quick. Xav’s been shot. Falcon took him there in the jeep.”

Galen looked at Taylor and his sister. “Shot?”

“Yes. Would you hurry?” Ash’s voice was desperate.

“I’m going.” Galen glanced back just once. “You weren’t in the canyons, were you?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Ash snapped, and Galen disappeared.

Taylor thought it was a good time for her to disappear, too. Ash clearly wanted to tear out to the hospital, and she didn’t want to be in the way. “When Fiona gets here, I’ll catch a ride home with her. You go on,” she told her.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Ash said. “Don’t go slinking off just yet. You and I are going to take a small drive. You know how to shoot, don’t you?”

Taylor blinked. “Yes. Aren’t you going to the hospital?”

“Not quite yet. We’re going back to the canyons before anything’s covered over. I want to find out who shot Xav. Wait until I get his horse some TLC, and then we’ll head off.”

Ash led the horses to the barn while Taylor stared after her. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to get caught up in Callahan issues.

Just then, Fiona and Storm rode up and Taylor helped Fiona slide down off the horse.

“Thanks for the ride,” Fiona said.

“My pleasure,” Storm replied.

“You’re like some kind of funky genie, Storm,” Ash said, appearing at Taylor’s side. “You’re always around when something’s amiss. Just like Aunt Fiona said.”

“Perhaps I was a bit harsh,” Fiona said. “Storm has been very helpful.”

Taylor thought Falcon’s sister looked as if she wanted to debate the comment. But Ash clearly had other things on her mind.

“Are you going to the hospital, Fiona?” Ash asked.

“I’m going to get Burke, and then I’m off. Thanks again, Storm.” Fiona went inside the house.

Storm tipped his hat to them and turned his horse.

“I’m watching you, Storm,” Ash said. “Even if I accept your invitation, it doesn’t mean we’re going to suddenly be great friends.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said mildly, and cantered away.

“I probably ought to get to Banger’s,” Taylor said.

“Do you have a shift?” Ash demanded. “Need to check on your mom?”

“No.” Taylor didn’t have anything pressing. All she’d planned to do was ghost-bust with Falcon, which in retrospect seemed like a bad idea. The only ghosts around here were the ones in Falcon’s head. “I have a date—”

“Good,” Ash said, interrupting her. “You can cover me. Come on,” she said, climbing into the jeep.

“If I’m going to cover you,” Taylor said, “you can explain what you meant about your brother not being what I need in my life.”

Ash started the ignition. “There’s a small gun in that box,” she said, pointing to the jeep floor. “It’s basically a pop gun, it’ll give you a chance to create a diversion. As for my brother, all I’m saying is that Falcon’s very bright. Very courageous. Thinks too much. Really, it’s his only fault.” She sounded very cheerful about Falcon’s list of defects. Her platinum hair blew in the breeze, her curls dancing. “A little out there. I know he proposed to you. That’s what I mean. Very odd, right? While you,” she said, glancing over at Taylor, “strike me as being a bit more pragmatic. Conventional.”

“Are you saying I’m too boring for Falcon?”

Ash drove a bit faster, flying over ruts in the rough ground. “Yes.”

“So you’re trying to talk me out of accepting his proposal.”

“No. I’m just saying opposites attract, but likes stay together.”

“Just so long as it’s not personal or anything. Or your opinion isn’t based on that ranch all of you want so badly. I mean, you wouldn’t be trying to knock your brother out of the competition, would you?”

“Maybe knock is a harsh word. Beat my brothers competitively, of course. But if you’re crazy about Falcon, then far be it from me to dissuade you from accepting him.” She seemed pretty blithe. “They’re so protective of me that I feel it’s my duty to be protective of them in return.”

Taylor grinned. “Sure you do.”

“We’d be sisters, you know.” Ash halted the jeep near the bunkhouse that had recently been completed near the canyons. “I hope you’re as good a shot as I’ve heard. Wolf’s buddy is still complaining that you shot his toe off. We hear about these things at Rancho Diablo.”

“It wasn’t his toe.” Taylor put the binocs to her eyes and scanned the seemingly endless landscape. “It was barely the tip of his boot. If I’d wanted his toe, I’d have hit it.”