by Ciana Stone
“You can cook?”
“I can.”
“Works for me.”
“Where’s the munchkin?”
Cody smiled and pointed to the table, whispering. “Hiding.”
“As in scared?” he whispered in return.
“As in I think she has a crush on you and hopes you’ll find her.”
Riggs grinned and spoke loudly, “I sure was hoping to see Bernice. Where is that girl?”
“Well, I don’t know. She was here a minute ago,” Cody said. “Hmmm, I guess we’ll have to look for her.”
They made a show of looking in the cabinets, the pantry and behind the door. Finally Riggs pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. “Well, I just don’t know. Where could she be?”
“Here me am!” Bernice climbed out from under the table and threw her arms wide. “Me right here.”
“There’s my girl.” Riggs picked her up and Bernice wound her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. When she let him, go she looked at Cody. “Me him girl.”
The sight of that sweet face, so happy and the way Riggs smiled at Bernice touched something inside her and Cody wished this moment could stretch on through time. “Why yes you are, honeybun. And do you remember his name?”
“Jats.”
“Close enough.” Riggs said and gave Bernice a kiss on the forehead then put her down. “You gonna help me cook, Bernice?”
“Me help, me help. Me need tool.”
She took off for the pantry and Riggs looked at Cody. “Tool?”
“Stool,” Cody said and hurried to the pantry to help Bernice get the small step stool.
“Ah, I see.” Riggs went to the sink to wash his hands. “Okay, girls, let’s get cooking.”
Cody smiled and took the stool to the counter for Bernice. Her phone rang and she picked it up to see who it was. It was Cade.
“I need to take this.”
“Go.” Riggs waved her away. “Bernice and I have it under control.”
“Thanks.” Cody answered the call. “Cade? Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just wanted to check with you. Hannah was supposed to open but she hasn’t shown up. I called Callie and she said she’d fill in tonight. Debby and Randy both said they’d come in.”
“I’m really sorry about this, Cade. I was sure Belinda would be back today. I really hate to—”
“Cody, it’s fine. Roxy’s here with me and Dini is coming in too. We’ll have enough staff, I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay with you and Hannah.”
“With me, yeah. I don’t know that anything’s wrong with Hannah but I’ll give her a call. Thanks again, Cade. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“You bet. Bye.”
Cody put her phone down on the countertop and washed her hands. “Okay, what can I do?”
“Cut up those potatoes?”
“Wedges, strips?”
“However. We’ll put them around the roast.”
She got a knife and cutting board and set to work. Riggs had Bernice arranging grape tomatoes, cucumber and zucchini slices, celery and carrot strips and hunks of cheese on a plate.
“So, you said on the phone that you and your sister had a moment this morning,” Riggs said in a conversational tone.
“You could call it that.” Cody told him about the conversation.
“You could be wrong. About how she feels, I mean.”
Cody shook her head. “I know my sister and honestly I don’t see why I didn’t get it sooner. At first Hannah was crazy about Cooper and all she talked about was how smart he was, what a good sense of humor he has and how good the sex was. Then it started to change and when she’d talk about him it was about his money—all the places she wanted to see, the kind of places she wanted to live, and all kinds of stuff like that.”
“People can get excited when they suddenly come into money and marrying a Quinlan is a little like hitting the lotto.”
“I’ve never known money to make anyone happy.” She paused her potato cutting to look at him. “I mean it. Happiness comes from loving the life you live and the people in it. Some of the poorest people I’ve ever known in terms of dollars and cents have been the happiest and that makes them the richest of all.”
“You’re one in a million, darlin’.” Riggs gave her a smile. “But not everyone is immune to the lure of money and you can’t judge ‘em too harshly for that. In fact, didn’t I hear you tell Cade you were going to call Hannah?”
“Yes, but I can do that later.”
“Why don’t you do that now? Bernice and I can handle dinner.”
“I can’t leave you to—”
“Go.”
Cody put down the knife and gave him a grateful smile as she grabbed her phone. The call when straight to voicemail. “Hannah? Just making sure you’re okay. You were supposed to open the bar. Call me.”
She put the phone back down on the counter and picked up the potato knife. Her phone rang and she answered. “Hannah? Are you okay?”
“I am. And I’m sorry. I just need the night off.”
“Are you sick?”
“I’m… I can’t talk about it now. Call me in the morning?”
“Sure. I love you.”
“Love you.”
Cody put down the phone and returned to her task. “Well, she’s alive and sounds okay.”
“Good, then let’s get this meal ready to go into the oven. And while we wait, maybe we can take a ride?”
“Horseback?” Cody looked at him in surprise. “You ride?”
“I do.” His smile carried more than a hint of promise and damn if it didn’t hit her right in her libido like a freight train.
“In that case, why don’t you and Bernice finish up here and I’ll go saddle up?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Cody grinned, gave him a kiss and then kissed the top of Bernice’s head. What had started as a pretty shitty day was turning out to be darn nice.
*****
Cooper turned to look behind him as his father said, “Ah, here they are now.”
Lucas had surprised him with an invitation to go to San Antonio and have dinner with the Texas Congressman and an oil lobbyist. Since he and Hannah were doing nothing but fighting of late and she’d said she didn’t want to see him tonight after all, he’d accepted. It never hurt to broaden one’s network.
“Jim.” Lucas stood and extended his hand to the heavy-set man in the expensive suit and ten gallon hat. “Good to see you.”
“Pleasure is all mine, Lucas. I believe you know Fred Bookman?”
“Indeed.” Lucas shook the lobbyist hand. “Good to see you again, Fred. Let me introduce you to my son, Cooper.”
“It’s an honor.” Cooper stood to shake hands and then gestured toward the table. “Please, sit.”
A server hurried over to take drink orders. Once the server left, Jim McMann opened the conversation. “I hear you boys are making out like bandits down there in Hays County.”
Lucas smiled. “This has the potential to be the biggest strike in history in the continental United States.”
“And you’re riding lead in that parade, eh Lucas?”
Lucas cut a look at Cooper. “Actually, I’d say I’m sharing the catbird seat with my son here. And his partners, of course. Cooper’s the one to make the initial find.”
“Chip off the old block,” Fred Bookman said.
Cooper smiled but didn’t comment. He still wasn’t quite sure why they were having dinner with the Congressman and the lobbyist.
Their drinks arrived and talk turned to Jim’s upcoming re-election campaign. Cooper suddenly got it. Congressman McMann wanted to dip into their coffers. Bookman was there to appease Lucas with assurances that he was working right alongside McMann to protect the rights of the oil industry.
The talk turned to a recent gala fundraiser and Cooper’s attention wandered. He thought about taking Hannah to such an event. No doubt she could charm those old farts.
/> “Cooper.” His father’s voice jerked him back to attention.
“Oh sorry. You were saying?”
“I was telling Jim and Fred about your upcoming nuptials. I’m sure you’ll want to add them to the guest list.”
“Yes, of course,” Cooper said and smiled at the men.
“So who is your bride to be?” Fred asked.
“Hannah Sweet.”
Fred frowned and looked at Jim. “Sweet? I don’t recognize that name. Jim?”
Jim shook his head. “She’s a Texas gal?”
“Yes. She grew up in Cotton Creek”
“Oh.” Jim smiled. “A down-home little gal who likes to bake pies and keep house? You might want to rethink that, boy. You’re going to need someone by your side who’s used to running with the big dogs.”
“Hannah’s a remarkable woman. Smart and beautiful and—”
“And good in bed?” Jim asked and laughed as he looked around the table. “We all know those, don’t we boys? They’re great to have on standby when we need some rest and pampering but for the public, we need a woman who knows the game and how to play it.”
“And if she comes from money or power, even better,” Fred added. “Contacts matter in our world. You know that.”
“Of course,” Cooper agreed.
“Well, I don’t blame you a bit for having a little sweetie to keep you company while you’re down there in Hays County,” Jim said. “But I’m willing to bet that when it’s time to leave, you’re going to be wishing you hadn’t jumped into marrying her. She’s liable to do more damage than good for your career. And while women can be a blessing, everyone at this table knows that they’re a dime a dozen. It’s power that counts. Am I right boys?”
“That you are,” Fred agreed immediately.
Cooper looked at Lucas, who smiled. “I support my son in whatever decision he makes and have full confidence that he will do what’s right for his career and future.”
Cooper didn’t know what else to do when Lucas said, “To Cooper,” and raised his glass, but lift his own.
Was this what he would face every time he attended a function with industry leaders or politicians? Would Hannah be made fun of, talked down to and generally regarded as inconsequential and out of place?
That thought bothered him. He wouldn’t want her to be embarrassed, and even more, he didn’t want the embarrassment for himself. What did that say about his feelings for her? Did he really love her or did he love the idea of her? He’d never made a secret of wanting a woman who could stand by his side in any situation and he’d thought she was the one.
This evening had slapped him rather rudely in the face with the fact that however smart and beautiful Hannah was, she was a small town girl whose family ran a bar and a bakery. She’d never be able to walk in the same circles Cooper had tread his entire life. She didn’t have the connections, power or money.
In short, unless he planned on spending his life in Cotton Creek, she wasn’t the woman with whom he could have the life he wanted. In the eyes of the other power players, she would always fall short. And good or bad, Cooper knew he’d never be able to live with that. He was meant to run with the big dogs. It was his birthright and of late, he’d realized that it was what he wanted the most.
One day he would be as powerful as his father. No, he’d surpass his father in every way, business and personal. He’d have a wife and children who adored him. There was, however, no way he was going to have that with Hannah if the people who moved in his circles would not accept her.
Which meant that despite her beauty, sweetness, the mind-blowing sex and the fun they had being together, he had to call off the wedding. It was the right thing to do—to spare them both from suffering misery down the line.
He just didn’t know how he was going to tell her.
*****
Pressley stopped just inside the front door and Bronson nearly knocked her down as he ran into her back. “Damn, sorry.” He caught her and they both froze at the scene inside the house.
Hannah was standing on the coffee table with a wine bottle in one hand, waving both arms and talking a hundred miles an hour to Bryson, who was sitting on the couch looking like a trapped animal.
Bryson saw them and leapt to his feet. “Pressley, hey.” He hurried over to her. “You need to do something.”
“What’s wrong?” Pressley asked, cutting a look at Hannah, who had turned on the coffee table and was now facing them with the bottle raised up to her lips.
“She’s had a…a realization I guess but she’s kind of gone off the deep end. That’s bottle number two,” Bryson said.
“A gold digger,” Hannah yelled. “That’s pretty much what she called me.”
“Who?” Pressley asked.
“Me.”
“No, who called you the gold digger? Can you come down from there?”
“No. I like it here.”
“But it’s hard to talk with you up there,” Pressley argued and took a seat on the couch, patting the cushion beside her. “Come on. Come sit and share that wine with me.”
“Get your own bottle. Don’t you know that greedy people like me don’t share? Hey, what happened to the music?” She jumped down from the coffee table, stumbled but righted herself and weaved her way across the room to the sound system.
“Hey there, fireball.” Bryson jumped over and caught her as she whirled around and started to fall.
“I shoulda dated you.” Hannah kept a death-grip on the wine bottle, but wrapped her free hand around Bryson’s neck. “Why didn’t you ever ask me out?”
“Well, I didn’t think you were much interested, darlin’, seeing as how you’re engaged.”
She drew back and blew a raspberry that showered his face. “Engaged, ensmaged. She said I don’t love him anyway, just his money.”
“Who says?”
“Cody. I told you.” Tears suddenly spilled from her eyes and a sob erupted from her lips. “She said she’s ashamed of me. Ashamed.”
Hannah threw both arms around him and when she did, the wine poured down his back.
Pressley hurried over and snatched the bottle from her hand. “Bronson, grab a dish towel out of the kitchen, would you?” She then turned her attention back to Bryson, who was holding a sobbing Hannah in his arms. “Can you get her into her room?”
“I can.” He untangled himself from Hannah’s arms and swept her up in his. She squeaked in protest, then wound her arms around his neck and buried her face against his neck as he turned and carried her from the room.
“Just put her on the bed.” Pressley directed as she hurried to precede him.
She stripped back the covers and stepped out of the way. Bryson tried to put Hannah on the bed, but she wouldn’t let go of him and pulled him down on top of her.
“Let go there, girl.” Bryson tried to get up but she grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down.
“No. Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”
“You’re not, honey. Pressley is here.”
“Don’t want Pressley. Want you.” She took hold of his face and held him tight. “I want you.”
Bryson pulled away when she tried to kiss him and that just made her cry again. “You hate me. You think I’m a gold digger too and hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t want you doing anything you’ll regret—”
“I won’t regret it. I won’t. You know there’s something—something between us. There has been all this time we’ve been working on the church.”
Bryson peeled her hands off him and got off the bed in a hurry. He cut a look at Pressley. “God as my witness, I’ve never done anything to try and come between her and Cooper.”
“I didn’t think you had,” Pressley assured him and went to the bed to pull the covers over Hannah, who had her face buried in her pillow, crying.
“Just get some sleep.” Pressley gave Hannah’s shoulder a pat. “I’m here if you need me.”
Pressley
motioned for Bryson and together, they left the bedroom and returned to the family room. Bronson had finished cleaning up the spilled wine and was sitting on the sofa. Pressley took a seat beside him and gestured to the chair adjacent to the sofa.
Bryson sat and blew out a breath. “Well, that wasn’t what I expected when I showed up to go over the latest changes to the building plans.”
“How long have you been here?” Bronson asked.
“All day.”
“Good lord, she’s been drinking all day?” Pressley asked.
“No, at first she just had a good cry, took a shower and we went over the plans. Then she had another cry and a couple of glasses of wine. When she started getting tipsy, I took her to the diner for lunch and then to the site. We spent the whole afternoon there and then I brought her home. She started drinking again and finally broke down and told me what was bothering her.”
“Obviously it has something to do with being a gold-digger.” Bronson said.
“Well, it’s actually a little more than that. Seems that the gal staying with Cody—the one with the little girl? Well, as it turns out she knew Cooper up in the Dakotas and claimed he was the kid’s father. He paid her off and she left and ended up back here, broke and from what Hannah says, claiming to be dying if she doesn’t get a kidney transplant.”
“No.” Pressley sat up straight. “You can’t be serious.”
“According to Hannah, that gal asked Cody to be the child’s legal guardian in case she died, but Cody convinced her to get a DNA test done on the kid and Cody talked Cooper into having the test done too.”
“Oh god, you know that had to have hit Hannah hard,” Pressley said and looked from him to Bronson. “She was probably really upset when she found out.”
“Yeah.” Bryson drew her attention back to him. “Neither she nor Cooper were keen on the idea of starting married life with a kid. But his father came to the rescue and said he’d pay for the kid to be put in the best boarding schools in Europe and they’d never have to see her.”
“But she didn’t go for that, right?” Bronson asked.
“Actually she did.”
“No.” Pressley couldn’t believe it. “Hannah would never approve something like that.”
“Well, apparently she did and when she told Cody, Cody hit the roof, called her heartless and said she was ashamed of Hannah. Hannah jumped in her car and ran home to hide and I was here and, well, you know the rest of it.”