Free (Calahan Cowboys 08) The Cowboy Soldier's Sons by Tina Leonard Page A

niece or nephew.”
    “Yeah,” Kendall said. “So tell me what you decided to do about the wild-to-wed fiancée, Xav, while we’re waiting on Tempest.”
    “I phoned her and told her I thought we should call it off,” Xav said, and Shaman checked his brother’s face for any signs of regret. There was none. “She was a gold digger, like you said, Kendall.”
    “I knew you’d figure it out,” Kendall stated. “Women can be tricky.” She slid a glance at Shaman, who grinned at her.
    “Uh-uh,” he said. “You’re not running Tempest out of my life like you ran Xav’s woman out of his.”
    “I did no such thing,” she said haughtily. “Xav decided he loves the rural countryside more than he loves a trollop. Or his family, apparently.”
    “Hi,” Tempest said, sitting down next to Shaman, interrupting Kendall’s complaining.
    The dark, circular booth they were in was well placed and away from the late-day sunlight streaming in the windows, just right for the mood Shaman was in. He didn’t want people staring at them.
    “Am I really going to be an aunt?” his sister demanded.
    Tempest smiled. “Seems like it.”
    Kendall looked as if she wanted to say something rude, then shook her head. “I guess only a pretty wonderful woman could get my brother to settle down.”
    “I don’t want to settle him down,” Tempest said.
    Shaman gazed at her. “Well, you have, sweetie. Get used to it.”
    “Because of a baby?” she said. “Come on, Shaman. I have no father to take a shotgun to you, to make certain you marry me in the town square by sundown.”
    Shaman nodded, and accepted a menu from Blanche when she came by to take their orders. “We’ll talk about wedding plans later. Blanche, do you ever not work?”
    She put glasses of water in front of everybody. “Oh, the ice cream shop is all Shinny’s deal. I just hang around in there with him because I love him. This is my real job. What can I get you folks?”
    They all ordered, then Shaman took a deep breath. “Cupertino, awkward as this may be, you’re going to have to marry me,” he said. “Believe it or not, you were meant to be my wife.”
    “Not if she doesn’t want to be,” Kendall stated.
    “Yeah,” Tempest said, glancing at his sister with a glare of suspicion. “A baby does not mean marriage. I have contracts I can’t get out of, Shaman, and dreams of my own. I don’t want to live in this backwater.”
    “You see?” Kendall told Xav. “Most people can’t wait to get away from this place.”
    “Oh, he’ll be happy here,” Tempest declared. “It’s the perfect place for a single man avoiding matrimony and commitments.”
    “Oh, boy,” Shaman said, signaling for a bottle of wine. “I think those are words likely to start a debate.”
    “No,” Tempest said. “Ask Kendall if she’d like to live in Tempest.”
    “Absolutely not,” Kendall said, horrified. “I’m always delighted that my sojourns here are brief.”
    “I like it,” Xav said, his tone sure. “Gage is going to teach me how to breed horses.”
    “What’s to learn? You just need a syringe and a quick hand,” his twin said with disgust. “Tempest, please tell my brothers that they are being blinded by the lure of the unknown.”
    “I don’t know,” Tempest said thoughtfully, staring Kendall down. “This town has a lot of charm.”
    She frowned back at her. “That’s not what you just said.”
    Shaman grinned, realizing Tempest was trying to get under Kendall’s skin, and was succeeding. His sister didn’t even realize that she was needling her.
    “Heaven on earth,” Tempest said, and Kendall let out an unladylike snort that Shaman thought he’d never heard from his refined sister.
    “All right, girls,” he said. “Let’s change the subject.”
    Blanche brought over the wine. Kendall was in no mood to be good company. “I don’t see what you two have in common, besides a baby,” she said, deciding to do a little needling of her