“She was the most beautiful woman who ever lived, Vanny. She had this light about her that’s so hard to describe. Mom was always happy. She used to yell at Dad when he’d try to toughen you up. I can still hear her.” He raised his voice an octave. “Hal, she’s a girl. G-I-R-L. She doesn’t need to know how to climb onto a roof and bang a nail. That’s what men are for.” He laughed at the memory.
“She did?”
“Oh, yes. You were always treated like a girl by Mom. She’d want to dress you in frilly pink dresses and make your hair all pretty, and Dad would say she was raising a sissy.”
Savannah pulled away from him and scrunched her nose. “Pink dresses? I can’t even imagine. I loved growing up as a tomboy. I always thought Dad did such a good job with us.”
“He did. So did she. She loved us like we were all precious. Even when we were bad. She would give it to you like fire for about a minute, and in the next breath, she was laughing and joking like you were a blessed angel who could do no wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You know it was Mom who started the whole backyard grilling thing, don’t you?” He watched Rex approach. His jeans stretched tight across his massive thighs, and his hat was still pulled down low. He looked every bit like the quintessential cowboy.
“I never knew why we did it. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“It was Mom.”
Rex stepped onto the porch and sat beside Savannah. “What was Mom?”
“She was the one who started the outside barbeque tradition,” Savannah answered.
Rex took off his hat and ran his hand through his thick, collar-length black hair. He set his hat back on his head and wiped his face with his hand. “Remember that? She said we were only nourishing our bodies if we ate inside all the time and that we also had to nourish our souls.”
A warmth softened Rex’s hard exterior, and for a brief moment, Treat saw the sweet little boy Rex had been before their mother became ill. “Because that’s what the sun, wind, snow, and rain were for,” Treat added.
“I wish I’d known her then, like you guys did.” Savannah tried to push the frown from her lips.
“You’re just like her.” Rex touched his sister’s shoulder, then headed for the door. “You doing night chores with me?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Treat answered.
After the door closed, Treat and Savannah remained on the deck. It was nice, just being with his family, without donning a suit and tie, without needing to be “on” all the time. Treat had a lot to figure out, but he’d instinctively set up his resorts to function well without him on site, so he wasn’t worried. He’d always made sound business decisions. If only I could figure out what to do about Max.
“Why did Max leave?” Savannah asked.
Treat picked up a rock from the lower step and tossed it into the yard, wondering if he was so transparent that Savannah could read his thoughts. “I’m not really sure. I’m still trying to figure that out myself.” He wiped his palms on his jeans, wishing he could talk to Max.
“I really thought, after she came here, and then tracked you down at the Cape, that she was the one, you know?” She scooted closer to him again. “I want that for you. I want you to be with someone who adores you. Someone who would go anywhere to be with you.”
“Then that makes two of us. Only I want Max to be that one. No one else. Just Max.”
“So, why don’t you go find her? Tell her?”
Savannah was goading him, and Treat knew it. She’d love nothing more than to spur him into action and stake claim on being the impetus for his actions forever. He smiled at her and touched her nose like he had when she was little. She smiled up at him. Her long auburn hair blew away from her face with the late-afternoon breeze, and for an instant, she was the spitting image of their mother.
“She wanted the distance between us. I can’t keep pushing myself on her,” he answered.
“Treat, you’re such a fool. All men are. No matter what we say, we want the night in shining armor. We want Richard Gere riding up in his white limousine. We want Leonardo DiCaprio to tell us that he’ll never let us go.”
Why did Treat feel like she was talking about what she wanted and not necessarily Max or other women?
“Not when they tell you otherwise, Savannah. Don’t women want respect? Don’t they want us to respect their space so they can think clearly?” Savannah’s energy was finding its way into his body, and he was actually wondering if he was wrong. Maybe he should go after Max.
“Nope. We want you to read between the lines.”
“Read between the lines? She didn’t leave much for interpretation.” Treat had dissected every word Max had written, and still he came up empty as far as figuring out what to do.
“Trust me, big brother. Every woman wants her man to read between the lines, and because of that, she leaves a bread crumb trail.”
“Savannah, do you want Connor Dean to follow your bread crumbs?”
A shadow passed through Savannah’s eyes. “I’m not sure. Most of the time, I think I do. Sometimes, though, I’m not sure if I’m only setting myself up to be hurt.”
“Please tell me you don’t mean physically hurt, because I’d hate to be known as the guy who killed Connor Dean.”
“He’s a butterfly, really. He’s not a fighter.” She pulled her hair over to one side.
“Well, you are a feisty thing. Is that the problem? That he’s not a fighter?”
“It’s just schedules and craziness.” Savannah took his hand. “Let’s analyze you instead. What exactly is the problem? What did Max say? I know you listened to her. You’re the best listener there is. Besides Josh, I mean. He’s really the best.”
Treat poked her arm. “She said I’d resent her if I changed the way I did business.”
“And you said you wouldn’t, but she’s convinced you will.” Savannah rose to her feet. “Oh, brother of mine.” She pulled him up by his hands. “You, my dear, are missing something. She definitely left a bread crumb trail for you to follow. You just have to find it.”
“I’m a very wise and wealthy man, you know,” he teased as they walked inside. “I’m pretty sure that if there were a bread crumb trail, I’d see it. In fact, I’d have seen it before she realized she left it.”
Savannah opened the refrigerator and began taking out food to cook for dinner. “Don’t fool yourself. You’re wise when it comes to business, but maybe not so wise when it comes to the mysterious ways of women.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“KAYLIE, I NEED YOU.” Max was almost back to Allure when she realized what she needed to do.
“Why, Max, I never knew you were into blond women,” Kaylie joked.
“This is serious. I need help, and I need it now. I know I’ve been a big old pain lately, and I’m sure Chaz is not going to be pleased, but I need your help, Kaylie.”
“Oh my God, you’re serious.” Kaylie’s voice softened. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Well, something. Something big. But I can’t go over it now. Can you meet me at the mall?”
“You hate shopping.”
“No shit. That’s why I need you. Please, Kaylie? I hate myself for sounding like a desperate, needy woman, but I am, so will you meet me before I change my mind?”
The situation with Ryan could not have been anticipated, but, Max realized as she drove home, it couldn’t have gone any better, either. The pieces were starting to fall into place, clearing a path for her to understand what she had misconstrued years earlier. Ryan hadn’t been in control of his actions when he’d hurt her, and he hadn’t made a cognitive decision to do so. And although she felt horrible for what he’d gone through, the fact that he hadn’t been in control made her release from the guilt even more clear.
She’d been nurturing self-imposed guilt for all these years. The reasons that he’d hurt her had nothing to do with compromises they made in their relationship. She could no more take responsibility for
causing his actions than she could for Treat wanting to change the way he ran his business in order to make their relationship work.
She’d messed up big-time, and now she was dead set on making things right.
“Be there in fifteen,” Kaylie said.
“Meet me at Victoria’s Secret.”
“WHO ARE YOU and what have you done with Max?” Kaylie looked around Max’s right side; then she peered around her left side. She spun in a circle with her hand shading her eyes; then she lifted up Max’s arms and looked beneath them. “Max? Where are you?” she teased.
“Shut up before I change my mind.” Max had purposely never stepped foot in a Victoria’s Secret store before. She’d stayed away from places that encouraged the idea of women being seen as playthings. But now, as she walked through the brightly lit, far-too-pink shop, with half-naked mannequins donning barely there, sexy lingerie, she saw it all much clearer. The lingerie wasn’t about being a plaything; it was about owning—and enjoying—her sexuality, not exploiting it.
Max was bound and determined to own Treat-worthy, seductive, take-me-all-the-way attire.
“Max, I’m scared,” Kaylie teased.
“I’m getting Treat back, and I want a wardrobe that will turn him on. All of it, from my head to my toes.” She looked at Kaylie with a serious face and said, “Kaylie, make me hot.”
“Girlfriend, just saying that makes you hot.” Kaylie dragged her to the rear of the store, where she fingered through racks of lacy lingerie, holding up corsets and camisoles, lace bras and barely visible thongs. “What are we talking here, a few nights, a weekend? Seasonal?”
Max held up her credit card. “Whatever it takes. Whatever you would wear, I want to wear. Then we’re going to buy clothes to go on top of the naughty bits.”
“Max, you’re talking about a lot of cash. Are you sure?”
Max rolled her eyes. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in all my life. Besides, I’ve had the same jeans and shirts for years. I have a five-digit savings account that I’ll never spend. For Treat? Definitely worth it.”
“But you can buy a few nights’ worth and just use those over and over.”
“Kaylie, I want to be sexy all the time. I don’t mean that I’ll stop wearing jeans and T-shirts, but I want to know that what I have on underneath my jeans, seven days a week, is appropriate for making him lose his mind. I want to walk into my closet and find something that begs me to pull myself out of efficient Max and morph into seductress Max. I wanna have options. The guy has a social calendar. I want to make him proud.”
That’s all Kaylie needed to hear to let loose. Max tried on so many outfits that her head was spinning. She stood in front of the mirror in a pink, lacy baby-doll nighty. “Wow,” she said. She turned to the side. “Look at my butt. And look at these.” She grabbed her breasts and lifted them up. “They’re kinda hot, huh.”
“Steaming.” Kaylie took the elastic from Max’s hair, and Max watched as her hair billowed around her shoulders. “Now you’re steaming hot and entirely too fuckable for him to turn away.”
“Oh, turning away hasn’t been an issue,” she said with a coy smile.
They left Victoria’s Secret with several large bags and sexy lingerie for every occasion. Kaylie took her hand and dragged her into Hot Allure, a trendy clothing store known for upscale and sexy clothing.
Kaylie and Max picked through the racks, plucking outfits off the racks and carrying enormous piles of clothes into the dressing room.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this,” Kaylie said. “This is like every girl’s makeover dream come true.”
“Now I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I really appreciate your help. I would never pick out half these things. I’m still not sure they’ll fit.” She held up a red formfitting dress that looked too thin to fit over one leg much less her whole body.
“It stretches. Trust me,” Kaylie said. “I have an eye for fashion and figures and, girlfriend, we’re going to feature your figure in fabulous fashions.”
“What are you, on a fashion high or something?” Max laughed.
An hour and a half later, they collapsed onto a bench in the center of the mall, surrounded by bags of dresses, slacks, sexy skinny jeans, heels, lingerie, even accessories.
“Your man is going to be so excited. Every night of the week!” Kaylie squealed.
“Uh-oh. Kaylie.”
“What? Oh no. You look like something awful happened. Did you spend more money than you meant to? I’ve done that. Should we return it all? Well, except the baby-doll nighty. Every girl needs a baby-doll nighty.”
Max shook her head. “I have no idea where Treat is. I left him in Wellfleet, and my phone won’t get here until tomorrow. His number is on my phone.”
“How did you get his number last time?” she asked.
“I got it from Scarlet, but I don’t want to bother her again.”
Kaylie and Max both wrinkled their brows.
Kaylie took out her cell phone and started texting.
“What are you doing?” Max asked.
“I have an idea. He’s Blake’s cousin, so I’ll text Danica. She’ll ask him, and he’ll know how to find out where he is.” Kaylie looked up at Max while she waited for a return text.
“Thank God for the sister network,” Max joked.
“Max, what was your plan? Once you got the clothes, what were you going to do?”
“I hadn’t thought it out that far. I forgot I didn’t have my phone. I was sort of thinking about calling him.”
Kaylie’s phone vibrated. “She said hold on a sec.”
Max sighed and threw her head back. “How can I be so together at work and so disorganized with my personal life?”
Her phone buzzed again. “It’s part of being a woman. We can’t be perfect all the time.” She read the text. “Girlfriend, fate is on your side. He’s at his father’s ranch.”
“In Weston?” Max jumped to her feet. “It really is fate.” Her eyes grew wide.
“Settle down, doe eyes. Now what?”
Max gathered as many bags as she could carry and started for the exit. Kaylie scrambled to pick up the remaining bags and hurried behind her.
“Max!”
Max held up her bags and made a beeline for the exit. Every determined step brought her closer to Treat. “Home. Shower. Sex it up. Ranch,” she called over her shoulder to Kaylie.
Chapter Thirty-Six
SURROUNDED BY HIS FAMILY, Treat was beginning to see his life a little more clearly. Yes, he was successful—more than successful. He’d started with one resort and now owned twenty-seven, each one more successful than the last. Of course his father was proud. But there was also no doubt in his mind that he’d done it to escape his guilt. If it were not for Max, he might never have dealt with what had been hanging over his head for too many years.
Max hadn’t returned his calls. Each hour that passed was like a slow, torturous draw of his fingernails from his nail beds.
“Dude, you gotta stop moping,” Dane said as he patted Treat on the back.
“Moping? Pfft. I’m fine. Just worried about Dad,” he lied. They’d had to wrestle their father back into submission more than a few times. The man was an ox and would probably outlive them all.
“Right. Like I can’t smell woman troubles a mile away.”
Treat shook his head, but he knew Dane could see right through his veil of denial. Hell, everyone probably could. You don’t find a woman like Max very often; she was smart, competent, loving, and sexier than she could ever know. There was something else that he couldn’t put his finger on, but he was pretty sure that it had to do with the fact that Max loved him—and yes, he was sure that beneath that feisty, stubborn exterior and her fears about relationships, she loved him—for him. Not for his money, or for what he stood for, or any of the other ridiculous reasons that beautiful women had clung to him over the years.
He carried apple cider out to
the table, stopping when he caught sight of his father and Rex walking down by the barn. Rex had a pinched look on his face, and his father suddenly stopped walking and put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. Treat could practically feel that secure weight on his own flesh. He knew the look his father was giving Rex, and he would bet the discussion had something to do with him.
He’d better go face it head-on.
Savannah touched his arm before he could take two steps. “Leave them,” she said.
“I’m sure it’s about what I said last night.”
“No, it’s not. Let them be.”
Treat narrowed his eyes at his sister. “What don’t I know?”
Savannah took the apple cider from his hands and set it on the table, ignoring his question.
“Savannah?” He stared her down. He’d be damned if his little sister would tell him what to do.
“Leave it alone, Treat,” Hugh said as he approached from behind. He set plates and silverware on the table, then turned to Treat. “Rex seems tough, but he’s not as tough as you might think. He’s having a hard time with Dad’s health issues.”
Treat shot another glance at Rex, who was looking everywhere except at his father, while his father's stare never wavered.
“Why wouldn’t he tell me? We worked in the field for hours, side by side, and all he did was snap at me.”
Hugh shook his head.
“Would you tell you?” Josh asked. He brought the burgers to the table and motioned for everyone to sit down. “Think about it, Treat. He’s here every day, slaving to help keep the family business alive, and suddenly you sweep in and expect him to just accept it. Meanwhile, the one person he loves the most lands in the hospital. It’s a lot to deal with.”
I failed him again? “So, what? I should have asked his permission to come back to my own father’s ranch and help out? I thought it was what he wanted all these years.”
His three siblings exchanged a look that said perhaps that’s exactly what he should have done.
“All right. I get it. I’ll talk to him.” He started for the barn.
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