Marriage at Any Price

by Lauren Canan

  Twelve years had only given his good looks a more rugged edge. She took in the sharp angle of his jaw, the facial scruff that hadn’t been there before, the length of his hair, whipped back and shining like black ink. None of it mattered. She was merely observing. She’d turned off all her buttons, leaving him none to push anymore.

  “You look good,” he said.

  The compliment slid off her back.

  “Drew will be glad to have you home.”

  “It’s temporary,” she said, closing the clasp on her briefcase.

  “Still, it’ll be good for him.”

  She looked away. What about what was good for her? What about all those days and nights when she’d had to be the adult because her father was passed out drunk on the floor? What about the dinners he’d never cooked, the clothes he’d never washed? What about a twelve-year-old kid having to baby her own father? And what about the heartsick motherless girl who’d desperately needed...love?

  “We’ll see.”

  “You haven’t been home yet?”

  She shook her head. “No, I came here straight from the airport.”

  “Drea?”

  She couldn’t look at him, even though there was something pleading in the way he’d said her name. Instead, she continued fiddling with the closure on her case.

  “It’s good to have you home,” he said finally.

  Chin down, she nodded. “I have a job to do.”

  “Yeah, about that. We should probably coordinate on the events you have planned. We could look at them over dinner one night or—”

  “No.” Her voice was sharper than she’d intended. So much for being professional. He was staring at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had, thinking she could come home in hopes of doing something good for the community, something to honor her deceased mother, even if it meant working alongside Mason. Were her emotions so tangled up that she couldn’t separate her professional life from her private one?

  Goodness, but she had to. She’d committed to this fund-raising campaign. She was being paid to see it through. And she had to remind herself over and over that she was doing this to honor her mother. It was time she came home. At least temporarily.

  “No?” Mason narrowed his eyes.

  “I mean, I’ll email you. I really am very busy, Mason. I have a lot on my mind today.”

  She gave him a plastic smile, one he immediately picked up on as bullshit. He nodded. “Yeah, I get it.” His mouth curled in a frown and there was an edge of annoyance in his voice now. Ha! He had no right being annoyed with her. Not when the last time she’d been with him, he’d treated her like dirt.

  He slipped a business card into her hand, his long lean fingers skimming over her knuckles. Immediately her heart beat faster, her nerves jumped. The shock of his brief, warm touch strummed through her body. “Email me when you find time. We have exactly one month to pull this off.”

  His urgency wasn’t lost on her. This was as important to him as it was to her. They had that in common. Both wanted a special cardiac wing of the hospital built in Boone Springs. But all of a sudden one month in Texas seemed like an eternity.

  Not to mention she’d be living at the cottage on Rising Springs Ranch again.

  On Mason’s home turf.

  * * *

  “Yum, this is just as delish as I remembered.” Drea swallowed a big hunk of her Chocolate Explosion cupcake. Unladylike, but Katie Rodgers, her bestie from childhood and owner of the bakery, would expect no less.

  Her friend laughed and removed her apron. She put the Katie’s Kupcakes is Klosed sign on the door and joined Drea at the café table.

  “You do not disappoint,” Drea said. “And you remembered my favorite.”

  “Of course I did. Can’t forget all those times you’d come over and we’d bake up a batch. We were what, ten at the time?”

  “Yeah, but ours never came close to these marvels you crank out at four in the morning. Gosh, you always knew what you wanted to do with your life. I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished, Katie. I bet you’ve got all of Boone Springs wrapped around your sugary fingers, with lines out the door in the morning.”

  “I have no complaints,” she replied. “Business is good.” She sighed sweetly. “It’s great to have you back in town. I’ve missed you.”

  Drea grabbed Katie’s hand and squeezed. “I’ve missed you, too. I couldn’t drive out to Rising Springs without seeing you first.”

  “I’m glad you did. Only I wish it wasn’t temporary. I kinda like seeing you in person instead of on Facetime.”

  “Well, let’s try to make the most of my stay here. We’re gonna both be busy, but we have to make a pact to see each other a few times a week,” Drea said.

  “Pinkie promise?” Katie curled her last digit, and they linked fingers just like they had when they were kids.

  “Pinkie promise.”

  “Good, then it’s settled.” Katie began to rise. “Would you like a cup of coffee to wash down the cupcake? I could brew up a fresh pot.”

  “When did your cupcakes ever need washing down?” She smiled. “No thanks. Any more coffee today and I swear I’ll float away. Let’s just talk.”

  Katie smiled and plunked back into her seat. “Okay. So, you’re working on the hospital fund-raiser.”

  She nodded.

  “With Mason?”

  “Yeah, which is the major drawback to my coming home. I have to make the fund-raiser my high priority, so I’m enduring the Boones for as long as it takes.”

  “I get that it’s hard for you, Drea. I really do. It was hard on Mason, too, losing Larissa and the baby. From what I hear, he’s only just starting to come out of his grief.”

  “It’s a tragedy. But let’s not talk about the Boones. Because if we do, then I’ll have to ask you about Lucas.”

  Katie’s eyes rounded. “Lucas? We’re just friends. If that anymore.”

  “Uh-huh. So you say.”

  “For heaven’s sake, he was engaged to my sister. And he broke Shelly’s heart when he went off and joined the Marines.”

  “But I hear he’s back now.” Drea took another bite of cupcake, certain she’d die from an overdose of decadence.

  “Don’t remind me. Shelly still hasn’t healed from him running out on her like that. It was such a shock. Luke seemed true blue. After the breakup, Shelly hit some rough patches. Mom’s convinced it’s all Luke’s fault. I mean, it sounded more like something Risk would do. Not Luke.”

  River “Risk” Boone, heartthrob and one-time famous rodeo rider, was the player in the Boone family.

  “Yeah, well, we can’t forget he’s a Boone. It’s part of his DNA,” Drea said.

  Katie’s right brow rose and she shook her head. “So, after all these years you haven’t gotten over it, either?”

  “Over what? The fact that the Boones preyed on my father’s grief and then stole Thundering Hills out from under him? Our families had been friends for years, but as soon as my dad hit a rough patch, the Boones swooped in, stole our ranch and we were reduced to living at the cottage on Boone property. They gave Dad a pity job as caretaker. Then there’s Mason and all that he put me through... Oh, never mind. I don’t want to rehash it.” She waved her hand, ending her rant.

  Katie gave her a serious knowing look. But Katie didn’t know everything. Drea hadn’t told her best friend what had happened after her debacle with Mason. How she ran into the arms of the first willing man and gave up her virginity. How she’d gotten pregnant and lost her baby. It had been the worst time of her life.

  “I guess we need to put the past behind us, Drea. That’s what I keep telling my sister.”

  “Yeah, easier said than done sometimes.”

  She was through talking about the Boones. She polished off the cupcake and licked the frosting from her fingers,
closing her eyes as she relished every last morsel of goodness. “Mmm.”

  “So, I hear your dad is struggling a bit. The fall he took last week was pretty bad. When I heard about it, I stopped by his place with a batch of apricot thumbprints and half a dozen cupcakes.”

  “Ahh, you’re the best. He loves your thumbprint cookies. Thanks for checking in on him.”

  “He’s very excited to have you home.”

  “I know.” She couldn’t say too much; her emotions were curled up in a knot about going home to Drew MacDonald. Maybe that’s why she was procrastinating. She’d missed her father, and she loved him. But she was a realist. Her dad would never win a Father of the Year award. Hard fact, but true.

  “He’s changed, Drea. He’s trying very hard.”

  She sighed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” She glanced at her watch. “Which is what I should do just about now. I hate to go, but I’ve really gotta get on the road.”

  “Will you text me later?”

  “Of course.”

  They both stood and then Katie went behind the counter. “Just a sec. I’m not sending you home empty-handed.” She packed up a white box with goodies and sealed it with a pastel pink Katie’s Kupcakes sticker. “Here you go,” she said, handing over the box. “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks, friend. My hips will never be the same.”

  “Your hips and my thighs. We’re all doomed.”

  Drea chuckled and kissed Katie on the cheek. “At least we’ll both go down together.”

  After she excited the shop, a sense of real doom flashed through her system.

  She couldn’t procrastinate any longer.

  It was time to go to the place she’d never considered home.

  * * *

  Drea parked her car in front of her father’s house just as the autumn sun was setting. Splashes of deep pink and purple painted the sky overhead. She’d forgotten the stunning sunsets in this part of Texas. How many years had it been since she’d seen a horizon so rich and vibrant? These wide-open spaces were tailor-made for such amazing spectacles. Texas was known for doing things large and the sight brought a little peace to her jittery heart.

  Lordy be.

  She chuckled at the slang that had come back to her after crossing state lines.

  But she wasn’t that Texas girl any longer.

  She gazed toward the cornflower-blue cottage trimmed in white, and saw her father sitting in a rocking chair on the front deck. As soon as he spotted her, he made an attempt to rise. His face turned a shade of red, not from pain, she assumed, but from frustration as he faltered and slid back down onto the seat. On his next try, he pulled himself up and leaned against a post. His hair was lighter gray than she remembered, his body chunkier, but he was still a handsome man, and there was a spark in his green eyes as he waved to her.

  She waved back, holding her breath. She reminded herself this wasn’t the same drunken man who’d given up on life after her mother died. He was trying to be a good father. He’d honed his skills on a smartphone so he could send her text messages. He called her every week to talk. He never once made her feel guilty for not coming to visit. He never once asked her to give up her adult life to be with him. But she’d felt bad anyway.

  She got out of the car and retrieved her luggage from the trunk. As she approached, wheeling her suitcase behind her, a big smile surfaced on his ruddy face, making him look ten years younger than his sixty-five years.

  “Hi, Daddy,” she said. Wow. Whatever possessed her to call him that? She hadn’t referred to him that way since she was a kid.

  “Hey there, my girl. Welcome home.”

  As far as she was concerned, Thundering Hills, a large parcel of land to the west that was now incorporated into Rising Springs, had been her true home. Before the Boones got their hands on it. “Thank you.”

  She climbed the steps to come face-to-face with her father. He was pale and moving slowly but the light in his eyes was bright with excitement.

  He opened his arms and took a step toward her, a shadow of fear crossing his face for a moment. He didn’t trust that she’d embrace him. There’d been so many times in her young life when she’d needed a hug from him or a kind word, and he hadn’t been there. For right now, she put that behind her. Well, as much as she could hope to. That kind of rejection was hard to forget.

  She stepped into his arms and gave him a brief hug before backing away.

  “It’s good to see you, Drea. You look so pretty, just like your mama. You’ve been well?”

  “Yes, I’ve been well. How about you, Dad?”

  “Ah, I’m doing just fine.”

  She didn’t believe him. He’d taken a fall and had downplayed it to her when she’d questioned him over the phone. He’d blamed it on a bad case of arthritis, but according to Katie he’d refused to go to the doctor for a health screening.

  Back in the day, her father would lose his balance and crumble in a drunken stupor a few times a day. Now he probably feared she wouldn’t believe he was clean and sober if he admitted to falling down the steps.

  God, she hoped he wasn’t backsliding. Not after all this time.

  “We have a lot to catch up on, girl.”

  “Yes, we do. Let’s go inside. I’ll make us some dinner.”

  Her father’s eyes brightened. “It’s already done. I made your favorite, pot roast and red potatoes. I even attempted your mama’s special biscuits.”

  “You did?” Nobody made homemade biscuits like her mother. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe her father was really trying. She could count on her fingers and toes how many meals her father had actually cooked for her as a child.

  “Well, let’s go inside and try them out,” she said. “I’m starving.”

  “Sounds good to me. My stomach’s been growling. But mostly I’m just pleased to have my little girl back home.”

  She was twenty-nine years old, hardly a little girl anymore, but she was here now and she’d have to deal with old memories and the pain those reminders evoked.

  She forged into the house, wheeling her suitcase easily as her father followed behind her.

  * * *

  The next evening, Drea breathed a sigh of relief as she arrived back at the cottage after a very productive Mason-free day at the hospital. All day long she’d held her breath, thinking she’d run into him and have to make nice for appearance’s sake, but he was a no-show and she was glad of the things she’d accomplished without having to deal with him. She’d gone over some important aspects of the fund-raiser with the supervisors of various departments and had called to confirm donors for the art sale. The rest of the event details involved the Boones and she had no other option than to deal with Mason on that.

  She walked into her bedroom, left untouched since she’d lived here, and shed her business suit and high heels for a comfy pair of washed out jeans and an I ♥ New York T-shirt she’d received for running a 5K race. After pulling her hair up in a ponytail, she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Man oh man, she thought, glancing in the mirror. There was no denying she looked like a schoolgirl again. It was amazing how a little makeup and a sleek hairstyle could transform her appearance. But inside, she was still that unsure, guarded little girl.

  At least it wasn’t horrible living here, and her father was making a gold-star effort on her behalf. She was trying like hell to keep an open mind, trying to put the past behind her, but her scars ran deep and it wasn’t easy to forgive and forget all she’d gone through here in Boone Springs. Not a day went by that she didn’t think about the baby she’d lost, about the child she would never know. It wasn’t Mason’s baby, yet she’d blamed him for rejecting her, destroying her confidence and causing her to run into the arms of the first man who’d showed interest in her.

  A knock at her bedroom door shook her out of her thoughts. “Drea, can I speak to you?�
��

  She opened the door and glanced at her father. Beyond him, down the hall, she saw four men standing in the parlor. What were Mason and Risk Boone doing here? The ranch foreman, Joe Buckley, and Dwayne, one of the crew, were also there. “Sure. What’s going on?”

  Her father shook his head, his expression contrite. “I forgot about the poker game. We, uh, the boys usually come here on Tuesday nights. I’m sorry, Drea. I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in you being home, it slipped my mind. Should I send them away?”

  “No, Dad. Of course not. I don’t want my being here disrupting your routine.” The irony was that as a kid, she’d always felt like a disruption in his life. She got in the way of his drinking.

  “They brought dinner. Pizza from Villa Antonio. Will you come out and eat with us?”

  What could she say? She liked Joe; he’d always been decent to her, and Dwayne was her age. They’d gone to school together. She didn’t like breaking bread with the Boones, but she was hungry and she couldn’t hide out in her room all night. “I suppose I can do that.”

  She walked into the parlor with her father and the men took off their hats. Everyone said hello but Mason. Hat in hand, he gave her a long stare and nodded.

  “You still breaking hearts in New York, Drea?” Risk asked, his wide smile almost infectious. Risk was a charmer and she’d always been a little wary of him. He was too smooth for her liking.

  “I don’t know about that, but I like to think I’m killing it in other ways.”

  “I bet you are.”

  “Good to see you, Drea. You’re looking well,” Joe said. “It’s been a while.”

  “Yeah, it has,” she said. “How’s Mary Lou?”

  “Doing fine.”

  “Please tell her hello for me.”

  “Will do,” he said, smiling.

  “Hey, Drea,” Dwayne said. “Missed you at the ten-year reunion.”

  “I know. I just couldn’t get away, but Katie caught me up to speed on everyone. Congrats, I heard you just had a baby.”