by Joss Wood
* * *
“Do you know how many boys named Daniel were born in the greater Dallas area in ’91?”
Rose looked from her kitchen at The Silver C to the informal dining table in the open-plan entertainment area and caught Gus’s eye. How handsome he looked, she thought. How lucky she was to be married to him.
“How many?” Gus asked Hector Lamb, pushing the bottle of red wine in his direction. The red wine came from Ed’s cellar. He’d collected the expensive wines because he thought it a classy thing to do but never drank the stuff. He’d never allowed anyone else to drink his collection, either. In the years since his death, Rose had sold the more collectible bottles and given away other bottles as gifts. She intended to drink the rest.
Rose pulled the cheesecake out of the fridge and looked around her immaculate kitchen. It was large and spacious and far too big for her and Gus. On the fridge was a magnet Ed had brought back from New York City, inside that drawer were his steak knives. She kept the flour in the same canister his mother did, the sugar in another. The windows were too small, the storage space badly designed.
Rose yanked open the second drawer and cursed when it became stuck before it was fully out. She was sick of sticky drawers and old furniture and poky rooms. She hated this house and was finally in a place where she could admit to it.
“Five thousand six hundred and sixty-two little boys were born during September and October of that year,” Hector replied. “I knew the dates when Stephanie and I slept together—it happened over a week, so I gave Stephanie a little leeway in case the baby decided to be late.”
Daniel was, in fact, early. “Hold on, boys, I want to hear how you tracked Daniel down,” Rose told them, expertly slicing even portions of cheesecake. She scowled down at the half-cut dessert. When had she become so pedantic, so perfectionistic, so boring?
Rose defiantly cut the cake up into oddly shaped, differently sized pieces and wrinkled her nose. That didn’t make her feel any better. She knew exactly what would...
After picking up the cake and three side plates, she walked over to the table and banged the cake down in the center of the table. She darted a quick glance at Hector before dropping an openmouthed kiss on Gus’s lips.
Gus looked at her, shocked. No wonder. Regal Rose never ever engaged in public displays of affection.
“Are you okay, darlin’?” Gus drawled, surprise quickly turning to concern.
Rose nodded. “I hate this house.”
Gus leaned back in his chair, rested his hands across his still-flat stomach and lifted his heavy gray eyebrows. “Do you now?”
“I don’t want to live here anymore.”
Hector cleared his throat and pushed his chair back. “Excuse me, please. I need to visit your bathroom.”
Rose smiled, grateful to be able to speak to Gus alone. “Hurry back, Hector. This won’t take long.”
Hector nodded and walked away from them to the powder room just off the hall. Rose sat down next to him and placed her chin in the palm of her hand.
Gus smiled at her, a sweet, slow smile that was part devil, all charm. “Now, where are you wanting to live, Rosie? With me? My wife might have something to say about that.”
She knew he was teasing but she was too nervous to smile. He’d adored Sarah. How was he going to react to her suggestion?
“You can tell me anything, Rose.”
“I want to move into Sarah’s house. I feel at home there, like she would be happy I was there, happy that I made you happy.”
Gus’s hands covered hers. “She missed you so much, Rose.”
“I know. I missed her, too.” Gus’s wife, Sarah, had been her closest friend and Rose didn’t know if she’d ever forgive herself for walking away from Gus and her best friend, the two people who knew and loved her best. How stupid young people could be! And that was why she felt no compunction in meddling in Daniel’s and Alex’s lives. If they couldn’t see the wood for the trees, she’d damn well provide them with glasses and a chainsaw.
She had more to say and she might as well get it all out there. “I’d like Alex and her brother to choose what pieces of Sarah’s furniture they’d like, and if there’s anything special of hers you’d like to keep, I’d understand but—”
“But?” Gus asked gently.
“But I’d like a house of my own. I inherited most of everything that’s in this home from my parents and great-grandparents and Ed didn’t see the point of buying new when old worked as well as new.” She was being silly but maybe Gus would understand. “I want my own stuff, Gus, new stuff. Our stuff.”
Gus nodded once. “Then that’s what we shall do, darlin’. And maybe Daniel and Alex can move in here. Alex will want to renovate and redecorate, do all that stuff new wives want to do but old wives don’t let happen.”
Rose grinned. Hearing Hector approaching her, she turned her attention back to him and smiled. “I am so sorry. We’ve been so rude. Tell us how you tracked down Daniel. And why did it take you so long?”
* * *
Alex looked out of the window of the private jet and saw the familiar landscape of Texas thousands of feet below her. In a half hour they’d be on the ground, and she and Daniel would be hurtled back into real life.
Dammit.
Real life meant deadlines and doctor’s appointments, conversations with Gus and Rose, meetings with Mike. Real life wasn’t lazy mornings, waking up tangled in Daniel’s arms, listening to the sound of gently lapping waves and a gentle, fragrant breeze blowing across her skin. Real life wasn’t fresh fish caught straight from the ocean, skinny-dipping in the cove or in the pool, making love in the outdoor shower.
Real life was grown-up life and she wasn’t ready for it. On the island it seemed a lot easier to imagine staying in Royal, commuting to Houston for work, creating a life with Daniel. Now, a half hour out from that life, Alex once again questioned whether staying in Royal was the right option for her and her child. Was she taking too big a risk believing that she and Daniel could make this work?
Had she been seduced by spectacular sex on a sun-kissed island?
Alex drummed her fingers on the leather-covered armrest of her seat and gnawed her bottom lip, wishing that Daniel would look up, see her nervousness and say something, anything, to reassure her. But ten minutes after leaving Galloway Cove, he’d connected his cell phone to the in-flight Wi-Fi and hadn’t stopped working since.
“Dammit to hell and back,” Daniel muttered.
At least he was talking to her. Sort of. “Problem?”
Daniel lifted his head and grimaced. “More responses to that interview I did on being one of the state’s most eligible bachelors. I have a thousand emails asking for a date.”
“A thousand, really?” Alex asked, skeptical. He was a hot, sexy guy and there were a lot of desperate, lonely women out there, but that had to be an exaggeration.
Daniel turned the phone toward her and she saw the stream of emails on his screen. Okay, there were a lot of emails. “I thought you were picking up emails on the island, so why didn’t you see these then?”
Daniel looked down at the screen again. It took him a while to answer as his finger flew over the small keyboard. “After deleting that first batch, I only checked my private email account on the island. This one is more of a general and PR account.” He flashed her a quick grin. “I’ve opened a few emails and a couple of women did make a contribution to your charity to bribe me to date them.”
Sex sold and, dammit, Daniel was sex on a stick. Alex tipped her head to the side and looked at him, dressed in his white button-down shirt and khaki pants, designer sunglasses hanging off his shirt pocket. If he ever became sick of being a cowboy/businessman, he could find another career as a male model. She could easily see him diving off a cliff, into a blue sea, swimming up to a boat and crawling all over a sexy, skinny model...
&
nbsp; Modeling... Hmm...maybe next year she could do a skin calendar featuring Daniel and all the sexy, sexy men of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. God knew there were a bunch of them.
Daniel narrowed his eyes at her. “No. Whatever you are thinking, just no.”
Alex just smiled and didn’t bother to argue. When the time came, she’d have him posing naked, maybe against a tractor or one of his fantastic quarterback horses, his Stetson covering his essential bits.
“Forget it, Slade,” Daniel muttered, now looking nervous.
Alex handed him a coy smile and glanced at her watch. “So, what are your plans for today?”
Daniel tapped his index finger against his thigh. “I need to catch up with my foreman, get my PA to reschedule some meetings I missed, return calls. You?”
“Pretty much the same. Except that I am scheduling some time to kill my grandpa.”
Daniel laughed. “Come on, honey, I thought we’d partially forgiven them. After all, we are back together.”
What did that mean? Was she now his girlfriend, his partner, his lover? Alex looked out of the window as the plane started to descend. They’d only spoken in general terms about her staying in Royal... Did he still want her to move in? Was she supposed to look for a house to rent in Royal itself? What did they tell Gus and Rose?
Where, exactly, did they stand?
All she knew for sure was that she’d agreed to stay in Royal. Was she sure that was the right thing to do? For her and the baby...?
The baby. Alex frowned. “What’s the date today?”
Daniel tossed out the date and she slapped her hand against her forehead. “Dammit, I nearly forgot that I have an appointment with the ob-gyn this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?” Daniel demanded. “Didn’t I put that into my calendar?” he glanced at his cell phone and nodded. “Yeah, here it is, five thirty.”
Alex nodded. “She’s fitting me in as her last patient of the day.”
He sighed, ran a hand across his face and glanced down at his phone. He quietly cursed. “Can you reschedule? I’ve got a crazy day.”
“I don’t think I should. I should’ve seen her already and I won’t be able to get an appointment for another two weeks if I miss this one,” Alex told him. She lifted her hands and lied. “I can go on my own—it’s not that big a deal.”
“It’s a very big deal and I told you I want to be there,” Daniel retorted. “Today is just not a good day.”
“I can’t help that,” Alex pushed back, becoming annoyed herself. “When I made this appointment, I didn’t know we were going to be kidnapped and out of touch for a week.”
Daniel scrubbed his hand over his face before speaking again. “Okay, let’s calm down. You said the appointment is at five thirty? Where?”
Alex gave him the doctor’s address before adding, “I’ll understand if you can’t make it, Daniel.” Well, she’d try to understand.
Daniel leaned forward and covered her hand with his. “I said that I’d make you and the baby a priority, Lex, and I mean it. It would help if I could meet you there.”
Alex linked her fingers in his and squeezed. She felt the warmth his words created and instantly relaxed. This was going to be okay; they were going to be okay. “Sure, we can do that.”
Daniel leaned forward, brushed his mouth against hers and smiled. “Ready to go home?”
Alex smiled against his mouth. “No.”
“Me neither. And please don’t kill Gus. Prison orange is not your color.”
Ten
Much later that day, Daniel gripped the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. A headache pounded at the back of his skull and his shoulders were flirting with his ears.
It felt like he’d been back in Royal eight months instead of eight hours and he didn’t know if he could fight another fire. He had cattle missing, he’d had to call the vet for a sick mare and one of his best men—who also happened to be one of his most experienced hands—had suddenly decided to retire.
On top of all of that, his PA had a stack of messages he needed to return, he had a pile of checks to sign and his accountant needed to speak with him urgently. Damn. He needed another vacation. But more than that, he needed Alex. Needed to see her smile, hear her voice.
Daniel looked at his watch. It was four twenty, which mean he’d need to leave the ranch by five to be on time for Alex’s doctor’s appointment. An image of Lex, rounded and beautiful, carrying his baby, flashed through his mind. He smiled. His woman was staying in Royal and in a few months’ time, he’d meet the first of what he hoped would be a few children they’d make together.
Daniel heard the knock on his office door, jarring him from his thoughts, and looked up to see his grandmother’s face between the frame and the door itself. He forced himself to keep his face blank, refusing to allow her the satisfaction of knowing her plan had worked out. Sort of.
“Can I come in?”
Daniel folded his arms as Rose stepped into the room. She looked good, he thought, and content. He liked seeing her happy but dammit, he wasn’t going to smile at her...yet. “I’m not happy with you.”
Rose didn’t look even a little intimidated. “I don’t care. I did what I needed to do.”
Daniel spread his arms open. “Do I look like a little boy who needed your help?”
“You looked like a man who was going to allow the best thing in your life walk away from you.” Rose walked over to his desk and placed her hands on the back of a visitor’s chair. “I was not going to let her and that baby walk out of your life. And ours.”
He couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of his lips. “Be honest, you just want to dote on the baby.”
Rose’s smile made her look fifteen years younger. “I so do.” She bit her lip and looked up at him, her eyes luminous. “So how did it go?”
Daniel smiled. “Do you use that look on Gus? Does he just fall at your feet and agree to anything you ask?”
“Of course he does,” Rose replied. Daniel laughed and Rose surprised him by walking around the desk and winding her arms around his waist. He knew Rose loved him, but she wasn’t given to spontaneous bursts of affection. Closing his eyes, Daniel gathered his grandmother close, resting his chin in her hair. This woman had been his rock and his safety net, his moral compass and his true north. He might not have had a father or much of a mother, but she’d filled the gaps with her no-nonsense attitude and her integrity. And her love. She wasn’t a hugger but he’d always known that he was loved.
But yeah, he was going to hug the hell out of his kid.
Daniel dropped a kiss on Rose’s head and started to step away. He frowned when his grandmother’s arms tightened to keep him in place. “Gran? Everything okay?”
Rose stepped back and he was shocked to see tears on her face. Bending so that he could see into her eyes, he gently held her biceps. “Are you okay? Is Gus okay? Did something happen? Crap, something has happened! Alex, is she okay?”
“Alex is fine, darling.” Rose smiled and waved her hands in front of her face. “Do you have a handkerchief?”
Who used those anymore? Daniel cast an eye over his desk, saw a marginally clean bandanna and scooped it up. He found the cleanest corner and gently wiped away Rose’s tears. “What’s going on, Gran?”
Rose held his hand and led him to the leather couch that stood against the far wall. Daniel waited for her to sit before taking the seat next to her. Rose immediately took his hand in both of hers.
A million butterflies in his stomach started to beat their wings. What the hell was going on? “Okay, you are starting to scare me.”
Rose stared down at his hands before releasing a sigh. “Have you checked your emails lately?”
Weird question. “I’ve been keeping up-to-date, mostly on my private email account. I glanced at the emails on the general a
ccount and now know that there are a lot of desperate women in Texas. Who sends an email asking a perfect stranger out on a date just because they read an article about him in a magazine?”
“Lonely girls who want to marry a good-looking, rich cowboy. You’re a real-life fantasy.”
Daniel snorted his disagreement. The only person he wanted to fantasize about him was Alex. The thought of Alex reminded him that he had to get this conversation moving or he’d be late. “What’s your point, Gran?”
“You might have missed it but there have been a couple of messages to you from a Hector Lamb.”
Hector Lamb? He recognized that name. “Did he send me a message on the ranch account, saying he wanted to meet me to discuss a mutual acquaintance?” The butterflies started to take flight. “I presume he is talking about Stephanie.”
Rose nodded.
Daniel ran a hand across the back of his neck. “What does he want? Does he know that we haven’t had any contact with her since I was a kid?”
This wasn’t the first time one of Stephanie’s marks showed up at their door, demanding restitution. When he was younger, it had been a common enough occurrence—money frequently changed hands to keep Stephanie out of jail—but even after she broke off communications, there had been a few men who tried their luck trying to extort money from them.
“He doesn’t want anything,” Rose replied. “No, that’s not true. He wants to meet you.”
“Me? Why?”
Rose’s eyes brimmed with tears again. “Hector was in Austin for business. He met your mom. They had a weeklong affair. He left and when he returned five months later, it was obvious that she was pregnant. Your mom told him that the baby was a boy, that it was his and that she was going to name him Daniel.”
Daniel felt the room tilt, his vision go blurry. He forced himself to concentrate on Rose’s words, to make some sort of sense of what she was saying.
“Stephanie was still married to her loser ex and she was using his name. Hector offered to look after her and his baby, and he returned to Houston to rent her a flat, to buy furniture and a car. She was supposed to arrive in Houston two weeks later but—”