Texas Mum. Roz Fox Denny

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ rare. Dario and Lorenzo liked theirs a punto, or medium. Maria Sofia didn’t like meat, and so Consuelo served her a crisp ensalada before she set the family-sized salad bowl in front of Arturo, along with a newly opened bottle of red wine. The old man tasted the wine, approved of it, then passed the bottle to Vicente to pour for the others. Each night, Arturo’s sour expression showed his anger that the accident had left him unable to walk around the table to fill everyone else’s glass. No one spoke until after their father offered up a short prayer to the Blessed Virgin. Since the accident, mealtime discussions had become restrained.

      But this evening everyone quit eating when, seconds after the prayer, Dario picked up his glass of wine and casually announced, “I banded all the bulls today. Tomorrow Marcus and Jesus will start castrating the animals we culled out. Then I’ll be going to America for a week or so to take care of some private business.”

      Maria Sofia clapped her hands and squealed. “I knew you’d do what’s right. And I’m going with you, Dayo,” she said in English.

      Their father’s head shot up, and his upper body stiffened. “What is this nonsense? You can’t go anywhere during calving.” His Spanish was precise.

      Vicente let his fork clatter against his plate. “How did the woman find you? I ordered her to leave the property when she buzzed at the gate.”

      “Who buzzed?” their younger brother Lorenzo asked. “What woman? Are you holding out on us, Dayo?” he added with a laugh.

      “It’s the Blair woman from Texas,” Vicente spat. “The one whose father screwed us over and cost us a bundle in money and prestige the month Papa had his accident.”

      “Oh. Her.” Lorenzo scowled at Dario.

      “I repeat, how did she find you?” Vicente sneered as he shoved aside his plate.

      “I took her to see him,” Maria Sofia said lightly. “She had good reason to be here. And Dayo has good reason to make this trip. Tell them,” she said. “Papa, you won’t let me sell bulls, so I’ll go have a look at Texas.”

      Arturo pounded his fist on the table. “Enough,” he roared. “There is nothing the Blair woman could possibly say or do to warrant Dario going to see her. If she’s come sniffing around, she’s probably discovered that you’re now a full partner in the estancia, son. And Maria Sofia, you only just got home from London. You need to enroll in a dance class and volunteer at the museum. I already spoke to the curator on your behalf. We’ll stop this talk and everyone will eat the flan Consuelo prepared.”

      Anger simmering, Dario wadded his napkin and dropped it on his plate. For some reason he didn’t like his family tearing into Delaney. “I don’t recall asking permission to take a week off, Papa. I’m going, and my business with Dr. Blair is personal.”

      “I’ll say,” Maria Sofia purred. “Delaney Blair claims she has a four-year-old son, and Dayo’s the boy’s father.”

      Everyone’s utensils clattered against their china. Stunned silence hung in the air. Suddenly, Arturo swore in rapid-fire Spanish, and Vicente and Lorenzo shouted questions in Spanglish—which wasn’t uncommon as they frequently switched from one language to the other for business.

      “Why now?” Vicente’s voice rose above the others.

      “I told you,” Arturo snapped, “she’s somehow learned that I divided the estate between you three boys, which makes Dario a wealthy catch.”

      “Stop it,” Dario shouted, rising from his seat. “You’re all bad-mouthing Delaney, and none of you know what you’re talking about. None of you know her.”

      “I met her,” Maria Sofia chimed in. “I think she’s nice. Her son is sick. Dayo needs to take a test of some kind for him.”

      “A paternity test, I hope,” Vicente said.

      Dario glowered. “I’m not a fool. That’s one thing I insisted on. All of you are no more shocked than I was. I thought it was impossible at first, but I need to know the truth. I’m going to do this,” he finished, clutching the back of his chair.

      “I took down her phone number,” Maria Sofia said, holding up her cell phone. She scrolled through a list of numbers, stopped on one and offered the phone to Dario. “I can go along as your chaperone,” she said cheekily. “To stop you in case you’re tempted to take up where you two left off.”

      “Maria Sofia, you must start acting like a lady!” Arturo thundered.

      Glaring at her, Dario snatched the phone out of her hand and turned away, pressing the send icon, ignoring his brothers and father telling him to ignore Delaney.

      * * *

      BY TEN THAT NIGHT, Delaney gave up hope that she might hear from Dario.

      While she’d waited, she had phoned Nickolas. He was such a perceptive kid. One of the first things he’d asked was, “Why are you sad, Mommy?” She’d tried to cover, telling him she was happy that she was coming home early and would see him the next day. She hadn’t talked long after that, because of course she felt sad and her voice conveyed it.

      She decided to pack so she’d be ready to check out at first light. She was half in the closet with clothes draped over her arm when her phone rang. Panic raced through her at the late hour, and her first thought was that something had happened to Nick. She dropped the clothes and raced to the bedside table. The number on her phone display wasn’t from Texas, thank heaven. But her speeding heart didn’t slow. Maybe it was the airline calling to say there was a change or worse, a cancellation of her flight.

      “He...llo,” she managed. Her hand shook so much she was in danger of dropping the phone.

      “Did I wake you?” a deep male voice inquired.

      Delaney heard an explosion of other men talking in the background, some in Spanish, some English. “Excuse me?”

      “Delaney? Don’t hang up. It’s Dayo.”

      She gripped the phone more tightly, listening more closely to the background comments. Dario was catching heck from his family. She flinched when one man’s derisive tone rose above the others in clear English, saying, “Dayo, you are a fool to drop everything and dance to the tune of a woman who didn’t have the decency to tell you before this that you might be a father.”

      Delaney thought it sounded like Vicente, the man who’d answered the intercom.

      A gruffer man broke in angrily in mixed language. “I’m ordering you to stay here, Dario. That woman hurt our family. Can’t you see she’s la maliciosa?”

      Delaney didn’t know the term, but she was willing to bet it wasn’t good.

      Dario shouted, masking the others. “I need a few days to wind down projects on the estancia, then I’ll fly to Texas. You mentioned Lubbock. Is that where you’re living now?”

      “I’m staying near the hospital there. Nick is waiting for a slot to open up in a study in San Antonio. So you’re really going to be tested?”

      “First, I want DNA checked. Tell your doctor to order that. The next step depends on the results.”

      “It’s an extra СКАЧАТЬ