Texas Heat by Bárbara McCauley Page A

then Emma’s laughter rang through the clear Texas air. “You-ou-ou can’t catch me,” she sang. “You can’t catch me.”
    Emma burst through the front door, followed closely by Jessica, who scooped up the child and swung her. Emma wiggled out of Jessica’s hold and took off again, through the kitchen and out the back door. Jessica ran past Savannah and Jake. “Hi, guys. See you later.”
    Jake stared after his two sisters, listening to the sound of their play. His mouth set tight, he finally turned back to Savannah. “Tomorrow is Saturday and I have to go to town for supplies. I’ll take you and Emma out to the land on Sunday after I get the animals fed.”
    He grabbed his hat off the peg by the front door and jammed it on his head. The front door slammed behind him.
    Savannah stared at the closed door for a long minute, wondering what in the hell she’d gotten herself into.

Five
    E mma and Savannah rode in to town with Jake on Saturday, with Emma chattering the entire way about Betsy, the calf she’d been bottle-feeding. Excitement danced in the child’s eyes as she told them that Jessica was going to help her enter the animal in the Cactus Flat Roundup. Savannah was thankful for her niece’s incessant conversation. It not only filled the silence, it eased the tension.
    She and Jake had not discussed Emma’s property since Myrna’s visit three days earlier. In fact, they’d barely seen each other for more than a few minutes. Jake was gone before the sun even rose and wasn’t home till well after dark. He’d eat whatever Savannah left for him, then tuck Emma in and read her a story. Last night he’d even fallen asleep in the chair beside Emma’s bed. Savannah had walked in and found him like that, the book hanging loosely in his hands and his head forward. Emma was sound asleep, as well, and the picture of the two of them brought a tightness to her chest.
    She glanced at Jake now, watching him as he tilted his head toward Emma, patiently listening as the child described in animated detail her encounter with a mouse in the barn. He seemed truly interested, but was it all part of a plan? Had Emma’s visit been a carefully orchestrated strategy on Jake’s part to gain control of her land, or had he sincerely wanted to become acquainted with his newly found sister? Though he’d never said so, she knew he was having financial problems. He’d admitted he would do whatever he had to in order to keep his land and family together. Did that include manipulating a nine-year-old child?
    â€œAunt Savannah.” Emma tugged on her sleeve. “Can we buy a bell for Betsy after we go to the grocery store?”
    Savannah saw the corner of Jake’s mouth twitch. “Maybe Jake can tell us where we can find one.”
    â€œI need to stop at the feed store when we get into town.” Jake grinned down at Emma. “How ‘bout you come with me and you can pick one out?”
    Emma’s face lit up and Savannah had to rein in the rush of emotion that swept over her. She didn’t want to believe that Jake would use Emma to keep Stone Creek intact, but when it came to a man like Jake, denial was a dangerous thing. She couldn’t afford to let herself be caught off guard.
    Cactus Flat was a town straight out of an Old West travel catalog—right down to the wooden sidewalks and general store. The Cactus Flat Motel boasted twenty rooms with cable TV and the adjacent Bronco Diner boasted the biggest steak in west Texas. In front of the bank, two weathered-looking cowboys waved to Jake as he drove by, and in front of the beauty parlor an attractive redhead smiled, her gaze following them down Main Street. Much to Savannah’s annoyance, she found herself wondering who the redhead was.
    Jake parked in front of a small café called the Hungry Bear, and the scent of grilled hamburgers had Savannah’s stomach