As Big as Texas by K.N. Casper

Author:K.N. Casper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

KAYLA HAD JUST STARTED her car when her cell phone rang. Digging the instrument out of her purse, she flipped it open. Her dad calling from home.

“Good news,” he said.

“You found us a tractor.” The one he’d checked on the previous week had been too big, and the cultivator that went with it needed too much work.

“Something else.”

“Hey,” she said, “I’ll take whatever I can get.”

She hadn’t told her father yet about her plans to become a foster parent for Heather and Brad. For one thing, she didn’t want him giving her all sorts of reasons why she shouldn’t do it. For another, he’d be leaving in a few months, so ultimately the decision wasn’t his. Besides, it hadn’t been made yet. She was simply exploring the idea.

“I just got off the phone with Mata in Longview,” Boyd explained.

Mata Koroniakos owned one of the biggest and most productive vineyards in the Columbia River valley. “She’s willing to sell us chardonnay cuttings at a really good price, but she wants me to go and personally take charge of the harvesting and packing.”

That relieved Mata of liability if they didn’t take, but it was also in Kayla’s best interest. There was no one she trusted more to handle this than her father. “When would you have to leave?”

“Right away. Today, in fact, but I don’t like leaving you and Megan alone with all the stuff that’s going on—”

“Don’t worry about us, Dad. We’ll be fine.”

“Ethan is only a few minutes away. I know he’ll help in any way he can.”

“We’ll be fine,” she repeated, remembering her neighbor sitting at their kitchen table two evenings before and the sense of security she felt having him around. Well…maybe more than just a sense of security. The truth was she’d been thinking about his kiss far more than she should.

“There’s a flight out of San Antonio in three hours.”

“We’d better get moving then. That’s not much time. Confirm your reservations and pack. I’ll be home in a few minutes to drive you.”

“I hate to put you to all that trouble. I can take my truck and leave it at the airport.”

“I need to go to San Antonio anyway. Besides, I might want to use the truck.”

He was waiting for her, a small suitcase at his feet, when she pulled up in front of the house. He climbed in without her turning off the engine.

“Considering the price Mata’s offering us,” he said, once they were under way, “I didn’t think we’d want to pass this up.”

“She has good stock, the best. How long do you expect to be away?”

“Probably not more than four or five days.”

Kayla bypassed Loop 1610 on the outskirts of the city and proceeded to the inner ring of Loop 410. Daytime traffic was heavy even between rush hours; fortunately it was moving. She took the exit at McAllister Freeway north to the international airport.

“Call me when you get there,” she said, dropping him off at the airline terminal.

“I will.”

“And Dad, thanks.”

“No need for that, honey.

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