Free Tex Times Ten by Tina Leonard

family!”
    When this was all over, he was going to become a hermit. Once he’d delivered Cissy from Marvella, as Hannah had pleaded with him to do—and did what he could to find out what happened to Cissy’s family—he was going to buy his own hundred acres and live there. Alone.
    He’d had enough of family ties.
     
    O N THE WAY TO THE CAFETERIA , the brothers ran into Cissy Kisserton. “Hey, Cissy,” they said.
    “Hi,” she replied.
    They smiled at her with sneaky enthusiasm. “Guess where Tex is?”
    She looked at them. “Why should I care?”
    “Because he’s rolling around in bed claiming you poisoned his cookies with laxatives,” Last said cheerfully. “He thinks you want him to lose tonight.”
    Navarro grinned. “Or that you didn’t want him to go out with those ten rivals of yours. So we’re going to do it for him.”
    “Yeah, it’s a total sacrifice on our parts,” Archer said. “He’s such a pig that he ate every one of those cookies, and then he wonders why he’s got a boiler-maker between his ribs. His loss, our gain.”
    “What a dope,” Last said. “We sure hope you don’t feel compelled to feel guilty about this, Cissy.”
    She backed up a step. “Well, not really. Where is he?”
    “Upstairs in a room at Delilah’s. Feeling sorry for himself, mostly. If you go up the backstairs, you’ll find him in the third room on the right. You’ll know it by the sound of pain,” Last said cheerfully. “See ya tonight, and good luck to your salon’s bull.”
    “We woulda said Tex would win tonight, but now we figure the handicap is in play,” Archer said. “All bets are off due to irregular circumstances.”
    “I see.” Cissy flew up the stairs.
    Last glanced at his two brothers. “Hey, did it seem like she was in a hurry?”
    Archer stared after the beautiful woman. “Yeah, it did.”
    “Almost as if she…cared about our pinheaded brother?” Last wondered.
    “It did seem as if she was in a rush to get up there.” Navarro stared at his brothers, sharing their surprise.
    “Then again, didn’t Tex mention that she took care of her nieces and nephews? Maybe he arouses her mothering spirit.”
    “What else would she see in him?” Archer asked. “Tex doesn’t have the first clue about romancing a woman.”
     
    C ISSY HURRIED UP THE backstairs and went to the door the Jefferson men had mentioned. She knocked on it. “Tex?”
    “What?”
    “It’s Cissy. Can I come in?”
    “No.”
    Either he really thought she’d poisoned him, or he was in pain. She doubted he had company, but it was probably best to clear that hurdle. “Are you alone?”
    “Yes, and staying that way for the rest of my life!”
    “Whatever,” she said under her breath. “Here goes nothing.” Opening the door, she poked her head in. The room was dim, and in the bed she could see a lump. Quietly, she shut the door. “Tex? Are you all right?”
    “Funny you should ask. How did you get in here?” he demanded, rolling over to look at her.
    “Same way you got into my room when you weren’t welcome. Can I get you something?”
    “I think you’ve done enough.”
    “I did not poison you.”
    He turned to look at her again. “What makes you think I think that?”
    “Your brothers told me.”
    “Of course. Judases to the core.”
    She sat on the bed next to him. “Can I get you some Tums or something? I’m sure Delilah’s got something I could ask her for.”
    “I’m fine now. In fact, I’m starting to feel much better. ’Course, there for a while, it was touch and go.”
    She smiled. “I’m sorry.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re happy to see me miserable.”
    “Well, maybe just a little. It takes your attitude down a notch.”
    He looked at her. “I ate every one of those damn cookies. Every single one.”
    “And then you wonder why you got a stomachache, Einstein.”
    “Actually, I’ve decided it was something else I ate that had been sitting in my truck too long.”
    “With all