He hesitated, then shook his head. “I’m not sleeping with you to make my grandmother happy.” His throat moved in a long swallow. “But there is something important I need to tell you once we’re alone.”
Ten
The three hours since Alex had said they needed to talk had passed at a torturous snail’s pace. Nina wondered how much longer she could hold out waiting to hear what Alex needed to tell her. Good or bad? But if it had been good, wouldn’t he have told her right then?
Her mind raced with darker possibilities. Had she allowed herself to get too excited over him? Overanalyzed his gestures? Made too much out of a few days?
She swiped sweat from her brow, searching for the restroom to make sure her mascara and eyeliner hadn’t dripped into raccoon eyes after all the dancing she’d done. The live country band had started their first set with a Garth Brooks classic and Nina had thrown herself into the fun with both feet, telling herself to enjoy every moment she could before her time with Alex ended. She’d had fun, but after almost an hour on the dance floor, Nina was certain she looked like a train wreck.
She slid around tables full of guests enjoying after-dinner drinks and coffee. The desserts were all shaped and decorated like jewels. The event was lavish but personal, and touching, reminding her of all she’d once dreamed of having when she started her life with Warren.
Her imagination had been running wild all evening through dinner. Coveted camp slots? Lowerys competing with McNairs? A grandmother who wanted to see her grandchildren settled before she died.
Nina’s instincts shouted that something was off, but she couldn’t figure out exactly how she fit into the picture. And this wasn’t the first time Alex had said he wanted to talk to her. Her heart beat faster, her chest going tight.
She tugged open a door and instead of a bathroom she found an office, with a desk, chairs—and Amie sprawled on the rust-colored velvet sofa. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly awake. Tear tracks streaked through her makeup.
Nina stepped into the room and closed the door quickly behind her. “Amie?” she asked, walking to the sofa. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
“Hell no.” She peeked out of one eye, dragging in deep breaths. “But I will be.”
Kneeling, Nina touched her arm. “Is there something I can do? Get you a tissue? A drink?”
“How about a pair of lead shoes, preferably men’s size twelve?” Amie said bitterly, sitting upright and swinging her feet to the floor, tucking her feet back into her high heels.
“Ouch. Sounds bad.” Sounded man-bad.
“Nothing I can’t handle. I’m usually better at controlling my emotions, but there’s so much going on...” She eyed the dartboard, strode over with determination and grabbed a handful of darts from the tray and plucked three from the target. “Next best thing to lead shoes? A dart, right in the face.”
Nina winced. “Um, I’m not sure that’s legal.”
Amie backed away from the board. “I’m not going to stab him literally. Just imagine his face right there...” She lined up the toss. “...Bull’s-eye. Every time. Rage does funny things like that.”
“Remind me never to make you mad.” Nina raised her hands in surrender, offering Amie a playful smile.
“Ah, honey.” Amie turned fast and gave Nina a hard hug, one of the darts in Amie’s fist scratching a little against Nina’s back. “I would never hurt you. You’re too nice.”
“Do you mind if I ask which man made you mad? Family?” She saw a no and finished, “Or someone else?”
“Someone—” Amie pitched a dart “—else.” She launched another.
“I’m sorry. I know how much it hurts to be betrayed by a man.” Nina’s ex-husband had left a river of pain in his wake, one she was still fording.
Amie avoided Nina’s eyes, charged up to the board and pulled out the darts one at a time. “You’re a strong, beautiful woman. Don’t let anyone in my family walk over you.”
Nina’s nerves gathered into a big knot of uncertainty about Alex’s secret. She churned over a million possibilities, but regardless of which one was true, they all led to the same ending.
Alex was going to break things off with her. Of course he was. He’d clearly just needed a date for the night. He had something to prove to his mother. To Johanna. Nina was just arm candy.
She’d wanted a fling, and Lord, she’d gotten it. This one week and one week only. And it was over. Her stomach plummeted worse than when Zircon had spooked.
What a time to realize she wanted more. What a time to realize how easy it would have been to have a life here with Alex.
* * *
Alex guided Nina out onto the dance floor, having ached to have her in his arms all night long. He had feelings for her that were about more than sex. He cared about her. Admired her even.
And he had to be honest with her, even if that cost him the ranch. He wanted his grandmother to be happy, but he couldn’t do that at the expense of his honor. Seeing the strength and commitment—and love—Nina showered on her son made Alex realize he needed to man up.
“Let’s dance outside, where it’s less crowded,” he said, clasping her hand and steering her into a dance under the lit oak trees.
The night was beautiful, the air cooler and the music a little quieter outdoors. Two people sat on a bench talking, and another couple danced, but none of them were close enough to overhear.
She was stiff in his arms, reserved and dodging his gaze. His mother had clearly done damage as usual. God, where did he even start?
“Nina—”
“Go ahead,” she blurted out, her legs brushing against his.
He paused, angling back to look into her eyes. “Go ahead and what?”
“Go ahead and break things off with me. That’s what you wanted to tell me, isn’t it?” she asked, her face void of expression. She’d already built a tall wall between them. “You don’t have to make this any more awkward than it already is. We had a fling and it’s over. You don’t need me to be your plus one at the wedding tomorrow. Dance with your sister, enjoy your family.”
He pressed his fingers to her mouth. “That’s not what I wanted to say at all.”
A flicker of uncertainty sparked in her green eyes. Something that looked like cautious hope. “Then what is it?”
“I owe you an apology for not being up front at the start.”
“I thought we discussed that already. You hid the fact that you weren’t just a ranch hand. But we moved past that.” Her fingers clenched, bunching his shirt in her hands. “It was a minor misunderstanding.”
This was tougher than he’d expected but long overdue. “When my grandmother’s cancer was first diagnosed, stock prices dropped because of concerns about the future of the holdings. My cousin and my grandmother thought they’d tracked the purchasers of those stocks to make sure no one group amassed a portion large enough to risk gaining control of the company.”
Her eyes went from wary to resigned. “Something went wrong.”
“Lowery Resorts has been buying up McNair stocks.”
Her feet stopped moving altogether. His words hung between them, his gut heavy with guilt.
“My in-laws.” Her hands fell to her sides; her fists clenched.
“In a sense. Your son’s trust fund uses the same investment broker. He used shell corporations to buy up stocks for your son as well as your in-laws. The stocks that went to your son slipped under our radar.”
“Until now.” She sagged to sit on a rustic wooden bench. “It’s no accident that I’m here, is it?”
He sat beside her, his hands clasped between his knees. “No, my grandmother made sure you received the brochure and the scholarship.”
She met his gaze full on, her chin set but her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “A
nd your role in this?”
“My grandmother wants me to encourage you to sell those stocks back to us.”
Her eyebrows pinched together. Her face was impassive. The wall from earlier sprang back in full force. Damn. “Why didn’t you just say that from the start? We could have negotiated.”
“We didn’t think you would agree.” How had this ever made sense to him? He should have known this was a train wreck in the making from the start. He should have passed it over to the lawyers and accountants and let them handle it. Emotions screwed up business. “It’s a great time to buy but not a good time to sell. In all honesty, it wouldn’t be in your son’s best interest to sell.”
“Why is there an issue with having other stockholders?”
“Think about the resorts your in-laws build and look at Hidden Gem.” The thought of his home being turned into a tourist trap made him ill. “We have a problem.”
“More than one apparently.” Sighing, she blinked fast and slumped back against the bench. Her mouth opened slightly, allowing a breath of words to escape. “How much of what we shared was even real, Alex?”
“God, Nina, how can you even ask that? My grandmother not only wanted me to persuade you to give up those stocks, but she led me to believe my inheritance depended on it, like a test to prove how badly I wanted my piece of the family business. But I couldn’t do what she asked. I pursued you in spite of her test. I’m being honest with you now. I never wanted those stocks to come between us.” He reached for her only to have her flinch away. His worst nightmare come true. He’d told her the truth and she hated him for it. Not that he could blame her. It sounded awful when he laid it out. If he could only make her see he cared about her. About her kid. It wasn’t about the stocks anymore. It never had been. He was falling for her and her son.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and Nina looked over his shoulder, distracted. He glanced back to find his sister racing toward them, a ringing purse in her hand.
“Nina, you left your bag back on the sofa. The sitter has been trying to reach you. She called me too.”
Nina shot to her feet, her eyes wide with alarm. “Did Cody wake up? I need to go to him.”
Alex knew his sister well, and even though she appeared poised, he could see the signs of blind panic. Something was wrong, very wrong. He stood beside Nina.
Amie clasped Nina’s hands. “No, it’s not that. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Cody is missing.”
Alex’s nightmare just got a whole lot worse.
* * *
“Cody!” Nina shouted into the night, her voice hoarse, her heart raw. Holding a flashlight, she walked alongside Alex into woods.
The staff was checking every inch of the lodge and the cabins. The family and guests were searching the grounds. She was running on fumes and fear. Other voices echoed in the distance shouting her son’s name, but she knew too well even if he heard, he very well might not be able to open up enough to answer.
Her world was collapsing. Her son had wandered off. The sitter had put him to bed, and she was positive he hadn’t gone out past her. His window was open. And he was gone.
Nina had been frantic and tried to bolt out to begin searching, but Alex had remained calm, held her back and reminded her that an organized approach would cover more ground faster. Ranch security had been notified and a grid search was under way.
Knowing that everything possible was being done hadn’t made the last hour any less horrific. She’d allowed herself to be charmed and distracted by a man who was only using her, and now her child was in danger. She would never forgive herself. Served her right for believing she was in another fairy tale.
Alex swept his larger spotlight across the path leading to the creek they’d once soared over on a horseback. Nausea roiled. The thought of her son drowning...
She bit back a whimper.
Sweeping the spotlight along the creek, Alex stepped over a log. “We’ll find him. We have plans in place for things like this, grid searches and manpower. We’ll find him before you know it.”
“This is my fault.” And there was nothing anyone could say to convince her otherwise. She walked alongside the water, shallow, probably not deep enough to be a worry, but everywhere was dangerous to a boy with little understanding of fears or boundaries. “I should have been with him tonight.”
“It’s impossible for you to be with him every minute of every day,” Alex pointed out logically. “The sitter has excellent credentials too.”
And yes, he was right. But that meant nothing to a mother in the grip of her worst nightmare. “That’s not making me feel any better.”
“This kind of thing happens even when there’s a houseful of adults watching.” His spotlight swept over a trickling waterfall, no sign of her son. “You can’t be attached at the hip.”
“Intellectually I know that. But in my heart? I’ll never forgive myself.”
A rustling in the woods drew her up short. She struggled to listen, to discern...A rabbit leaped out of the brush and scampered away. Disappointment threatened to send her to her knees. Alex’s arm slid around her to bolster her.
She drew in a shaky breath and regained her footing. “You can relax. I’m not planning to sue the camp. I just want to find my son.”
“Nina, God.” He took her arm. “Lawsuits are the last thing on my mind. I’m worried about Cody.” His voice cracked on the last word.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” She pressed her fingers to her throbbing head. “I’m terrified and on edge.”
“Understandably so.” Having reached the end of the creek, he turned back, sweeping the light ahead of them, up along trees with branches fat and low enough for a child to climb. Owl eyes gleamed back at them. “Later we’ll figure out if there’s fault and if so, that employee will be dismissed. Right now we can only think about one thing.”
“I appreciate that you’re able to keep such a cool head.” She swallowed down her fear and forced herself to think about the search for her son.
“You know, Stone and I wandered off once.”
She realized he was likely trying to calm her by making aimless conversation, but she appreciated the effort, grounding herself in his deep steady voice. “Really? Where did you go?”
“Into these woods.” His footsteps crunched as he backtracked toward the ranch again. “We planned to live off the land like cowboys, catch fish, build a fire and sleep in a tent.”
“Obviously you made it home all right.”
“A thunderstorm rolled through and drenched us. We got sick on the candy we packed, since we didn’t catch a single fish.” Flashlights from other searchers sent splashes of light through the trees, voices echoing. “And we had so many mosquito bites Gran made us wear gloves to keep from scratching.”
“What gave you the idea to try such a dangerous thing?” she asked, on the off chance that would give her some insight to where her son might have wandered off to.
“We were boys. Boys don’t need a reason to do stupid things,” he said dryly.
“While I can agree on that,” she answered with a much-needed smile, brief, then fading, “I think something made the two of you run off.”
Alex sighed. “Stone’s junkie mom had just threatened to take him again, and when I asked my parents to file for custody, they said no,” he recounted with an emotionless voice at odds with his white-knuckled grip on the massive flashlight as they drew closer to the corrals. “Gran even asked them once too. But no go. Anyhow, that day, we decided for twenty-four hours we would be brothers.”
His story touched her heart with a sense of family she’d never had, and while it didn’t excuse his keeping secrets from her, she could sense the conflict he must have felt over the stocks and the ownership of a place that meant so much to him.
She leaned against the corral
rail, her flashlight pointing downward. “Thank you. For trying to distract me while we search—”
Alex held up a hand. “Shhh...Nina. Listen.”
She straightened, tipping her ears to catch sounds carried on the breeze, to parse through the people shouting for her son, the four-wheeler driving.
And puppies mewling.
She gasped. “Puppies. He’s—”
“With the puppies,” Alex finished, already sprinting toward the barn where the children had played with livestock.
Where he’d shown Cody the litter of puppies.
They’d checked here earlier and hadn’t seen him. Could they have missed him? Or maybe he hadn’t made his way here yet when they came through the first time?
Nina raced past him and yanked open the barn door. “Cody? Cody?”
Alex waved to her. “Over here. Asleep behind bales of hay holding a puppy.”
She tore across the earthen floor, dropping to her knees and soaking in the sight of her son curled up around the fuzzy black puppy. He wasn’t with all of the puppies. He just had one and they’d missed him. Somehow they’d overlooked him, but she wasn’t going to second-guess. Not now. She was so damn grateful to have her child safe. Tears of relief streaked down her face, mixed with pent-up emotion from the entire week. She slid down to the ground, unable to escape reality.
She’d found her son—and now she needed to leave.
Eleven
Perched on the edge of Cody’s bed, Nina tucked her son in for the night. He stared back at her as he rhythmically touched the top of his blanket, completely unconcerned. She should never have left him this evening. Shudders pulsated as her thoughts wandered on what could have happened. But Cody was here.
Safe.
She didn’t take that gift of safety for granted for even an instant. This evening could have ended so horribly. She should be happy. Relieved. But she was still so shell-shocked by Alex’s revelation and the hour of terror looking for her son that she could barely function. Nina let out a breath she didn’t realize had been locked in her chest.
Pursued by the Rich Rancher Page 14