The Charmer in Chaps

by Julia London

  Maybe it was her. Maybe she was just too damn stubborn, too fearful.

  He was driving himself crazy trying to figure it out.

  He drove to the ranch, went to his room, and sat on the end of his bed, his note cards clutched in his hand. He should review them again, but he couldn’t get his mind off Ella. He was crushed by her, but he was also furious with her. She’d let him go down a path, knowing he was blinded by his feelings for her. And then, when he wasn’t looking, she’d pushed him off a cliff.

  He jumped a little at a knock on his door. Before he could answer, Hallie pushed the door open and stuck her head in. When she saw him sitting there, she bounced in, her smile beaming. “This is going to be amazing,” she said. “Did you see the magnolia trees we brought in?”

  “Yep.”

  “It looks like we’re going to have three hundred people, Luca! Are you ready?” she asked, and hopped onto the bed beside him.

  “As ready as I can be,” he said.

  Hallie’s smile faded. She peered closely at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit, Luca. Don’t lie to me.”

  There was no hiding anything from his twin. “I’m a little bummed because Ella isn’t coming.”

  Hallie stared at him, her brows slowly sliding into a vee. “Ex-cuse me?”

  He shrugged. “She broke up with me.”

  Hallie’s eyes widened. “She broke up with you just before your big event?”

  “Don’t make a big deal of it, Hallie,” he said wearily.

  “Make a big deal of what?”

  Nick appeared in the doorway of his room. He had a garment bag slung over one shoulder.

  “Ella broke up with him,” Hallie said with incredulity. “Just before his big event!”

  Nick looked from one to the other. “Who’s Ella?”

  “Nick, seriously?” Hallie complained. “Are you really so out of touch? His girlfriend!”

  “I’ve had a lot going on, Hallie,” Nick said defensively, and to Luca, “You have a girlfriend?”

  He was silenced with a glare from Hallie.

  “Man, that sucks,” he said.

  “Well, I’m not having it,” Hallie said, and stood up.

  “Hallie. Leave it alone,” Luca warned her. “Go arrange your magnolia trees.”

  “Nope,” Hallie said, and marched to the door, pushing Nick out of the way. “This isn’t going to work for me,” she said, and flounced out of the room.

  Nick watched her go, then turned back to Luca and winced. “I am sorry, bro,” he said. “Maybe when this is behind you, you can fill me in.”

  Luca forced a smile. “Plenty of other fish in the sea.”

  “Well . . . hang in there,” Nick said awkwardly, and walked on.

  Luca got up and quietly closed the door. He turned his back to it, folded his arms across his chest, and sighed. Then doubled over. He felt empty. Nothing felt as if it mattered. This fund-raiser didn’t matter. It was grief all over again, pushing him down, making him want to sleep and drink and forget about the rest of life. But his grief was different than he’d experienced with the loss of his father. This felt like the kind of grief that he couldn’t get over.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Stacy had packed up her few things, but she couldn’t get her band mates to respond to a call or a text. She paced around the house, in and out of the bedrooms, in and out of the kitchen, that throwaway cell phone to her ear.

  “What are you going to do with the gun?” Ella asked for the hundredth time when Stacy threw her phone at her purse with a grunt of frustration.

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Where are they? Why aren’t they answering?”

  The sound of tires on the drive brought Buddy out of a dead sleep, and he leapt up and raced for the door. He missed Luca more than Ella did.

  Stacy ran to the window and looked out. “Oh my God,” she said. She suddenly lunged for her bag and pulled out the gun.

  “Put that away!” Ella shrieked as Buddy began to bark frantically. “Do you want to get us killed?” She hurried to the window to look out. It was a white Range Rover. “Who is that?” she muttered. The door swung open and the driver stepped out. Ella let out a sigh of relief. “It’s Hallie Prince.”

  “Hallie! What the hell is she doing here?” Stacy demanded.

  “I don’t know,” Ella said. What was Hallie doing here? Ella’s heart suddenly climbed to her throat. She wouldn’t be here unless something had happened. To Luca? Maybe he’d been in a car accident. She threw open the door. “Hallie!”

  Her abrupt door opening startled Hallie, and she swayed back, staring at Ella.

  “Ah . . . hi,” Ella said. She pushed open the screen door, and Buddy bounded out to greet Hallie.

  “Don’t hi me,” Hallie said, and paused to pet the dog, then marched up the steps, pushed past Ella, and walked into her house. She twirled around, her hands on her hips, and glared at Ella.

  “Is everything okay?” Ella asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “You are what’s wrong,” Hallie snapped. But then she drew such a deep breath her shoulders lifted, held up a hand, and slowly released the breath. “Okay, allow me to rephrase that. It has come to my attention that you are not coming to the fund-raiser tonight.”

  “Umm, no,” Ella said.

  “May I ask why the hell not?” Hallie snapped.

  “Hallie,” Ella said. “I’ve had some stuff come up—”

  “No,” Hallie said firmly, and shook her head. “I’m not interested in your excuse. Just tell me why you can’t or won’t be there for Luca.”

  Ella was struck speechless. Where did she begin? She drew a breath to steady herself. “There is a lot you don’t know—”

  “Hello, Hallie.”

  Hallie whipped around. Ella groaned. Stacy stepped from behind the bedroom door, folded her arms, and smirked at Hallie.

  “What are you doing here, Stacy?”

  “You should know that Ella is moving to Nashville with me and my band.”

  “You’re what?” Hallie nearly shouted as she twirled back to Ella.

  “No, I’m not,” Ella said, and glared at Stacy. “Stop saying that. It’s not true.”

  “But you might,” Stacy said.

  Hallie’s anger was suddenly confusion. She looked at Ella with Luca’s eyes. “Does Luca know about this?”

  “No!” Ella said, waving it off. “I haven’t made any decision.”

  The fury went out of Hallie, and she dropped her arms. “But why?”

  A better question was why not? “Look, I don’t know if I will. But all I’ve got here is an old house that needs an awful lot of repair I can’t afford. My accounting business is not going anywhere. I guess part of me wonders what I have to lose.”

  “That’s not all you’ve got here,” Hallie said. “What about Luca? He really cares for you, Ella. He seems . . .”

  Ella’s heart began to pound. “He seems what?”

  “Heartsick.”

  That was a solid kick to her gut.

  “Come on, Hallie,” Stacy said angrily. “You went to school with us. You know who we are. We have nothing,” she said. “Do you really think it’s going to end happily for Ella and Luca? Do you really think there would be some big society wedding like yours? Does your family even know that Ella’s mother is in prison for trying to kill someone?”

  “Okay, all right, Stacy,” Ella said. “That’s my business.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Hallie said softly, and fixed her gaze on Ella. “But I know my brother. Yeah, Stacy, you’re right, I can promise you my mother would not like that. And obviously I don’t know what’s going to happen with the two of you, but I have faith in Luca. And I know that he cares about you Ella, really cares, and th
e last time he cared was so long ago that I can’t remember. He has spent his whole life hiding behind a pretty face, but then he found you, and he found purpose for his life, and this is so important to him, and I can not believe that you would be so cruel that you’d abandon him now, of all times.”

  Ella’s heart felt like it was spinning. Her limbs felt tingly, the air thick around her. She felt almost ill, because yes, she knew how important this was to Luca. She had never wanted to hurt him. “I know, I know,” she said tearfully.

  “Then come,” Hallie begged her.

  Ella shook her head. “It’s too late. I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “I figured as much,” Hallie said, and quickly pointed a finger at Stacy. “Not a word from you, please.”

  “I didn’t say anything!” Stacy said.

  “Wait here, Ella,” Hallie said, and hurried out of the house and down the porch steps. She returned a moment later with a long garment bag. She laid it on the couch and opened it and withdrew a dress. Not just any dress, but a pale pink, tea length, spaghetti strap dress. The pale pink silk was covered with a layer of sheer pink nylon that had been festooned with an explosion of red tulip appliques around the waist that faded as they went up the bodice and down the skirt. Under the silk was tulle to flare the skirt.

  “Oh my God, it’s gorgeous,” Ella said.

  “I wore this to a charity function in New York,” Hallie said. “Which means I can never wear it again, because I was photographed. The trolls are so brutal if you wear something twice.”

  “That is a beautiful dress,” Stacy said. She picked up the dress and held it up against Ella.

  “Perfect,” Hallie agreed. She cocked her head to one side as she eyed it, then dug in the garment bag and pulled out some red stilettos. “I hope these fit,” she said.

  It was the most beautiful dress Ella had ever seen. “I can’t wear this,” she said.

  “Like hell you can’t,” Hallie said. “This isn’t about you, Ella, or about all your noble reasons for breaking it off with my brother. This is about the one time he’s ever really needed anyone, and by God, I’m going to take you if I have to drag you out of here myself.”

  “I’ll fix your hair,” Stacy said.

  Ella looked at Stacy with surprise. “You want me to go?”

  Stacy shrugged. “I haven’t changed my opinion. He will never marry you. He’ll end it when he’s had his fun. But we’ve been dying to see that ranch forever, El. Go. Have a good time. You deserve it.”

  “You deserve more than a good time, but never mind that now,” Hallie said. “I’ll send a driver for you at six.” She looked at Stacy and said, “Yes, I am rich and privileged, and I can send a car, and my mother is not in prison, she’s probably stomping around Three Rivers right now and will probably be a bitch to Ella, but then again, she’s pretty bitchy to everyone she meets.” She looked at Ella again and smiled warmly. “Don’t worry. You can handle my mother, Ella. You, of all people, can handle her because you’ve already handled much worse. Now, I’ve got to go. I’m in charge of the setup.” She started for the door.

  “Wait!” Stacy cried, and when Hallie turned around, she said, “Please don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me.”

  Hallie rolled her eyes. “No chance of that.” And with that, she was gone.

  Ella looked at Stacy, then at the dress. Her heart was racing along at such a clip she could hardly breathe. She was going to see Luca again.

  Just an hour ago, she had believed with everything that she might never see him again.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  There were so many people, so many black ties and glittering dresses beneath the lights strung through the trees. Luca was dressed in a tux and had allowed Hallie to pull his hair into a man bun after she swore on the blood oath they’d taken when they were six that it was the fashionable thing to do when one was wearing a tux. He’d trimmed the scruff of his beard, but he hadn’t had the energy to shave.

  He spotted Karen in full mother-of-the-bride armor, her hair in very tight gray curls. She was with her husband, Danny, who slapped Luca congenially on the back and made him stumble.

  “I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but don’t forget those golden cheek warblers,” Karen said.

  Luca smiled—Karen had come around to his choice of reading material after all and had turned into an advocate for the nearly extinct golden cheek warblers.

  “Hey, man, great turn out, huh?” Brandon was in the company of a pretty young blonde he briefly introduced. He dated about as seriously as Luca had before he’d met Ella.

  Luca saw Blake wandering around behind Brandon, a drink in his hand. Luca hadn’t remembered inviting him. They’d spent a lot of time on the guest list, sure to include all the deep pockets in their circle, as well as friendly faces. He had no doubt Blake had badgered Brandon for the invitation.

  “Great turnout,” Luca agreed.

  “Damn sure is. Are you ready?” Brandon asked.

  “Yep. You?”

  Brandon shrugged his shoulders like a football player getting ready to play a down. “Ready.”

  Luca moved on, greeting people he knew, being the charming host that his mother had insisted they all learn to be as part of their societal duties. He had to hand it to Hallie and his checkbook—the setting was beautiful. Her magnolia trees had pink flowers and had been strung with white Christmas lights. Peacocks wandered the grounds that had been manicured to perfection. That was especially commendable since Martin had reduced the grounds staff to save costs.

  He took a plate from a passing waiter and helped himself to the buffet. Salmon and cucumber twists were served alongside skewers of lamb and tomato, and gulf shrimp with wasabi on rice crackers. Champagne flowed from two fountains at either end of the pool, in addition to the two full-service bars.

  Luca spotted his grandmother, dressed in a flowing blue gown, and for some bizarre reason, a tiara. He saw Nick, too, also dressed in a tux, with one arm on the bar as he eyed the crowd with a gimlet eye.

  There were many people he knew vaguely or didn’t know at all. People he and Brandon had met over the last couple of months, including professors from the local Texas universities they’d approached for funding and the North Texas rancher who had successfully turned much of his land into a conservation preserve. A gentleman from the EPA in the company of a woman from the USDA.

  There were people Luca had known all his life—rich people, powerful people. People who had foundations or who guided grant processes for big companies. He’d even extended an invitation to Tanner Sutton, hoping that he’d at least consider doing something similar with the acreage his dad had left him. Tanner was dressed in a tux, but he looked uncomfortable and stood off by himself.

  There were so many people gathered tonight who could make their foundation that it made Luca feel a little ill. He’d spent thousands of dollars on this event, had drawn the right crowd. Now all he had to do was read in front of them.

  He was not nervous—he was numb.

  It was almost time to begin, so Luca decided to have a drink, see if that might loosen him up and let him feel. He walked to the bar where Nick was standing. His brother smiled as Luca ordered a bourbon. “You’re looking sharp,” Nick said.

  “Thanks,” Luca said, and downed his bourbon. “So are you,” he said. “Another one,” he said to the bartender.

  “Drink enough to take the edge off, but not enough to slur,” Nick advised.

  Luca smiled and tapped his glass to Nick’s. “Got it.”

  “Knock ’em dead, cowpoke,” Nick said.

  Luca started toward the temporary stage the catering company had erected. On the way, his grandmother intercepted him. “There’s my handsome grandson,” she said.

  “You look very pretty tonight, Grandma,” he said, and looked to the top of her head. “The tiara is an intere
sting choice, but it does compliment your pink and blue hair.”

  “Thank you,” she said, patting her hair.

  “Have you seen Mom?”

  “No, but I’m sure she’s here somewhere, getting all liquored up to face this crowd.” She grinned. “Now listen, Luca,” she said, for once using his true name. “I know your mom can be a bitch sometimes—”

  “Grandma,” he said, his voice full of warning.

  “Well, she can,” she said with a shrug. “Cordelia Prince has a sharper tongue than Satan. But she’s got an awfully big heart. You get that from her, you know. She loves you, Luca, and she is proud of you. She’s just not very good about saying it.”

  That was a gross understatement. But he appreciated his grandmother telling him.

  “Your father would be so proud of you tonight,” she said, her blue eyes welling. “Oh, how he loved you.” She suddenly patted Luca’s cheek and shook her empty champagne flute at him. “Time to see if I can find a man to fill my glass,” she said, and waggled her brows.

  Lord, this family.

  Luca carried on to the stage. There were chairs for the other speakers and an outdoor screen the audiovisual service had installed.

  It was show time.

  Luca stepped up to the stage and looked out at the crowd as someone began to tap a fork against a glass to gain the attention of the crowd.

  He stepped up to the microphone. Because of the light on him, he couldn’t really see much past the dark shapes of people gathered in front of him. It was strange—he didn’t feel as jittery as he had in Karen’s living room. He felt nothing. Like his mind had separated from his body. “Thank you all for coming tonight,” he said when he’d gained their attention. “Brandon Hurst and I have been looking forward to this for a very long time.” He pulled the note cards from his pocket and looked at them. For a moment, the letters danced all over the card, rearranging themselves, and he felt a moment of panic. But he drew a breath and glanced up—and his eyes caught the colors pink and red splattered on a dress. He was stunned to see Ella standing just off to the side. She was wearing a beautiful dress unlike anything he’d ever seen her wear. She looked like a dream.