The Texan's Secret by Linda Warren Page B

away he called Aunt Etta, to let her know he was okay and adjusting. He made a mental note to phone every week to make sure they were all right. That was the only drawback about moving to Houston—hewouldn’t be there to help them. One of the Belle sisters would call, though, if anything happened.
    He traded his cowboy boots, Stetson and horse for a hard hat, steel-toed work boots and a helicopter. He’d forgotten how much he liked to fly. Roscoe’s helicopter was a top-of-the-line Bell with all the trimmings. It was blue and white, with Shilah Oil written on each side. The man did like to spend money.
    Chance flew to each well and introduced himself to the tool pusher and driller, the men in charge of the rig and workers, and then met some of the roustabouts and roughnecks. He couldn’t meet them all, because they worked in eight-hour shifts seven days a week—night and day. After two weeks of work, they had a week off. By the end of his first week on the job, though, Chance had met just about everyone.
    Taking over wasn’t in his plan. That would make everyone a little touchy. He always went to the tool pusher’s trailer first, where the technical equipment was located. He checked the drilling log to see how many feet had been drilled, and to make sure the operation was on time. Through the small window he could see the workers on the rig, looking like tiny ants.
    There were two mobile trailers on-site where the workers slept and ate. One well wasn’t far out of Giddings, and sometimes when their shift ended they’d bathe and go into town to drink. Chance didn’t like that and decided he’d have to talk to them. Nursing a hangover on a rig was too dangerous.
    On his way back to Houston that day he looked at his phone to see if he’d gotten a call from Shay. He couldn’tcount the number of times he’d done that. Why hadn’t she phoned? Had he misinterpreted the kiss? Was the emotion, the passion, all on his side? Or maybe she hadn’t taken the test yet? Had she chickened out?
    By the time he got back to his office, the lab was closed. First thing the next morning he called, and found Shay had taken the test last Tuesday—a week ago. That pretty much said it all.
    He had to get Shay Dumont out of his mind. It had ended before it had even started. Besides, the situation between her and Judd was a sticky one. It was best for Chance to forget the whole thing. There was just something about her, though.
    Cadde walked into his office not long after. “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector will be here next Wednesday at eight o’clock, so show her around.”
    Chance looked up. “Isn’t that your job?”
    “No. It’s yours.” His brother walked out.
    “Oh, no, it isn’t.” Chance followed him to his office.
    Cadde sank into his chair. “It’s a woman, and you handle women better than I do.”
    “Oh, good grief. Why don’t you send Kid then?”
    “No,” Cadde snapped. “If she’s younger than forty he’ll make a pass at her and screw up the whole thing. This is serious because of the two accidents we’ve had.”
    “Okay, I’ll do it. But I hope she doesn’t have green eyes.”
    Cadde frowned. “What?”
    “Nothing.” Chance shook his head dismissively as Kid strolled in.
    “What’s going on?” Kid slid into a chair and propped his feet on Cadde’s desk.
    Chance told them about Shay and Blanche and their connection to the Calhouns. “So you see, I’ve kind of been the go-between.”
    “But you like this Shay despite what she did?” Cadde asked.
    “Yeah,” he replied. “It’s hard to explain, though my first loyalty is to Cait and Judd.”
    “Hmm.” Cadde was eyeing Kid’s new haircut.
    Their brother leaned back and placed his hands behind his head, causing the big chair to teeter on two legs. “Ol’ Jack sure was a ladies’ man.”
    “I know someone else just like that.” Cadde knocked Kid’s boots off his desk and they landed on the floor with a