Lone Star Valentine (McCabe Multiples)

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Her eyes grew stormy. “I wanted us to use that first year to build a foundation for whatever came next, assuming something came next, not just jump heart-first into an affair that was pretty much guaranteed because of the pressure-filled circumstances we were in, as first-years, to crash and burn!”

  “You see, Lily?” Gannon shot back. “That’s the difference between us. Because I never thought a relationship between us would end in failure. And if you had been brave enough to start something with me, regardless of the timing, you would have discovered what I already knew—that we would have been the exception to the rule. The couple everyone else looked up to because we had made our relationship work in the face of impossible odds.”

  Briefly, Lily looked as crushed as he had felt back then, when she had turned him down. As though her heart had been broken.

  As usual, however, she bounced back fast.

  With an angry sniff, she folded her arms in front of her and asserted, “Not that we ever had a chance to find out, since you went on to pursue everything in a skirt that came your way over the next three years. Thereby unwittingly proving my point that relationships forged in the maelstrom of professional school do not last.”

  Acutely aware his serial dating had been a mistake, embarked on because he was still smarting from Lily’s rejection, and knew she would never do anything more than hold him at arm’s length, no matter what she said, Gannon shrugged.

  “So sue me for not wanting to sit on the sidelines while you soldiered on bravely alone!” Gannon volleyed back. Because, true to her self-flagellating vow, Lily hadn’t dated anyone until the very last few weeks of her law school years.

  Lily stuffed papers in her briefcase willy-nilly. “You always were an all-or-nothing kind of guy.”

  His gaze swept over her, head to toe. Reminding him all over again what a lithe, beautiful body she had. How she was determined to let the satisfaction he could bring her go untested. “Whereas you live your life in all half measures,” he retorted just as stubbornly.

  “You’re right. I do see the value in compromise.” Lily zipped her briefcase shut with quick, jerky motions. Hunted around for her purse.

  Finally finding it, she flung it on her desk next to her briefcase, then defiantly marched toward him, chiding him all the way. “And if you’d grown up the way I had, as the fifth-born of six daughters, you, too, would be happy to get whatever you could—whenever you could—and never ever expect too much because...”

  Recognizing another We Can’t Do This speech coming on, Gannon decided the time for treating her with kid gloves had passed. Lily was all woman. He was all man. And the attraction between them was tantalizingly real.

  Wordlessly, he closed the remaining distance between them and took her in his arms. Flattened one palm over her spine and threaded his other hand through her hair.

  Smiling at her gasp of surprise, he tilted her head up, lowered his mouth slowly and deliberately over hers.

  “What are you doing?” Lily sputtered, her turquoise eyes flashing.

  Just this once, Gannon decided to stop putting his own wants and needs aside. “Showing you exactly what you could expect if you ever let down your guard with me.”

  Chapter Four

  Lily saw the kiss coming. Knew she could have prevented it simply by flattening a hand over Gannon’s broad chest. But she didn’t push him away. Didn’t do anything to keep his head from lowering, ever so deliberately, to hers.

  She had dreamed of this moment for years. Yearned for it. Been afraid of it. And the sensation of his lips and body pressed against hers was, she quickly found out, everything she had ever worried and wanted and dreamed it would be.

  He was just so darn hard and warm and strong. All over. So tall. So comforting. So alluring.

  He tasted good, too. Like mint and man. And desire.

  And, oh, sweet heaven, she wanted him in that instant more than she had ever wanted anything or anyone in her life. Which was why she knew she had to end this now.

  Hands against his chest, she pushed.

  He lifted his head, as she knew he would.

  If there was one thing Gannon was to the core, it was a Texas gentleman.

  “See?” he teased, sifting a hand through her hair. “That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”

  Bad! It had been artful. Seductive. And enthralling. It was all she could do not to groan out loud. Lily gathered her wits and pushed the rest of the way away from him. “I never said I wasn’t attracted to you.”

  He caught her about the waist and reeled her back to him. Ran a hand lovingly over her spine, eliciting new tingles of awareness everywhere he touched. “Good to hear,” he said gruffly, grinning at her prickly manner. “Because I never said that, either.” His hot gaze skimmed her face. “In fact, just the opposite is true.”

  His stubborn words mirrored her own wistful feelings. Which was why she had to be practical. “And that’s exactly why we can’t take this any farther than we have.” His eyes narrowed in response, but Lily forged on. “My life is here. Yours is in Fort Worth. I have a son. You love living the bachelor life.” If that wasn’t enough to make them put on the brakes, she didn’t know what was!

  Deep grooves formed on either side of his mouth, and he studied her grimly. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

  Lily drew a bolstering breath. “I don’t want to get hurt again, Gannon. The biggest mistake of my life was starting something with someone who I was never destined to be with.”

  The mention of her former lover was enough to throw a bucket of cold water on his desire. “Bode,” he said, letting her go.

  Lily nodded sadly. Figuring she might as well tell him the truth about this, she looked him in the eye and admitted, “It wasn’t just you who had reservations from the get-go.” She pressed a thumb to her sternum. “I knew I wasn’t meant for him, any more than Bode was meant to be with me.”

  A muscle worked in Gannon’s jaw. “Then why did you embark on a whirlwind affair with him?”

  A hard question that deserved an honest answer. “The excitement of it all. I was at the end of my law school years. Thirty-two months of nonstop studying and stress, and the worry over whether or not I would pass the bar exam and/or get a job upon graduation.”

  “Which you did,” Gannon reminded her.

  “Yes, but at that time, I was so overwhelmed. It all seemed like an impossible quest.”

  He stepped behind her and kneaded the tense muscles of her neck and shoulders. “You should have come to me.”

  His touch was heaven. Lily melted into it. Closing her eyes, she reminded him softly, “You weren’t available. I think you were dating Melinda. Or was it Cassandra—or Marilyn then?”

  He shrugged. “Can’t remember.”

  Lily bit down on an oath. “Exactly.”

  He stood there, patient and evidently ready to turn back the clock again. “Those relationships weren’t important to me.”

  Lily moved off again, determined not to be another one in his long line of women. “Even more on point,” she said, exasperation coloring her low tone. “I have responsibilities now, Gannon.” She stepped behind her desk. “I can’t afford to get involved with the wrong guy for all the wrong reasons.”

  He studied her, arms crossed over his broad chest. “So you’re offering me what exactly?”

  She slayed him with her best don’t-mess-with-me look. “The same thing I was offering you before. A good enduring friendship—if you want it. And that’s all.”

  * * *

  GANNON WAS STILL thinking about what Lily had offered him, or rather not offered him, the next day, when a disreputable-looking pine-green pickup truck made its way up the lane and parked next to the stable. He smiled as Clint McCulloch, a childhood friend and next-door neighbor, got out and ambled toward him. At
six foot four, Clint was an inch taller than Gannon, and athletically fit as ever. Like Gannon, Clint had dated a lot but never come anywhere close to settling down. A fact that frustrated the heck out of the available interested women in his path.

  “Heard you were back.” Gannon extended a welcoming hand.

  Clint shook hands firmly. “For good,” he said. “And since you’re here, too, at least temporarily, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

  Gannon slipped bridles over the heads of the three horses remaining on the ranch. Attached reins. “Name it.”

  Clint moved back to give him room to work. “I need some volunteers for the pony rides at the chili festival. I saw you’re judging on Friday and Saturday evenings, but the kiddie stuff is all being held Saturday morning.”

  Given Lily’s decision to stay as far away from him as possible, at least when it came to any physical encounters, Gannon figured the busier he was, the better. It would help him avoid temptation.

  Not that this situation would go on for long. As soon as he wrapped up the sale of the Triple M Ranch land to the development company, he would be headed back to Fort Worth. There, his demanding work as partner in a top-notch law firm would not leave room for much else.

  And wasn’t that ironic.

  In law school, Lily had been all work and no play.

  Now she was ready to kick back and enjoy more out of life in the small town where they’d both grown up.

  Whereas he was focused only on success, to the elimination of most everything else that was distracting—and pleasurable.

  Who would have figured...?

  Realizing his friend was still waiting for his answer, he opened the stall doors. “Count me in.”

  “Thanks.” Clint accepted the reins on a mare, then followed Gannon and the other two horses out of the barn to the pasture.

  It was a nice February morning. Temperature in the low fifties, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The kind of day that could make Gannon wish he still lived in the country. Or at least had enough time off to enjoy the great weather, and wide-open Texas ranch land.

  They unhooked the reins and stepped back to let the horses move freely about. A chestnut, speckled white and inky black, they were all a beautiful sight.

  “Heard you’re going to sell to Rex Carter,” Clint continued.

  Gannon pumped water into the troughs. “The land, maybe—depending on how much he offers and what he plans to do with it. Not the house. My mom is set on keeping that and at least one hundred of the five hundred acres surrounding it.” But the rest of the land was his to sell.

  Clint studied the unkempt condition of the ranch land, along with the even more overgrown property to the south. “Think you’ll regret it somewhere down the line?”

  Gannon turned to the man who’d ridden the junior rodeo circuit with him when they were teens, then gone on to become a champion in the adult circuit while Gannon had quit competing altogether and went on to college and law school. “Are we talking about you now—or me?” he ribbed.

  Clint’s demeanor grew remorseful. “I wish I had held on to the place when my four sisters and I inherited it ten years ago instead of selling it to city folk who let the entire ranch go to seed. And then have to use all my savings and negotiate like the dickens to buy it back.”

  Gannon slapped him on the shoulder, aware they all had their regrets. His own was chiefly Lily. “Well, it’s yours now.” And Gannon was happy for his pal.

  Clint helped Gannon put out some feed. Then eventually asked, “What about your horses? Are you planning to keep them or are you going to sell them, too?”

  That was a tricky question. Gannon exhaled. “I hate to—these three have been part of our family since I was a kid. But on the other hand, although they’re being well cared for, they’re not being exercised enough. But if you’re interested...?”

  Clint shrugged. “I could board them for you, if you like. Free of charge—if you’ll let me use them in some of the riding and roping lessons I’m planning to give. That way they’d still be yours, and you could still ride them whenever you did come back home.”

  It was the perfect solution to yet another problem of downsizing. So why was he hesitating? Why was he once again yearning to saddle up and ride whenever he wanted and thinking about how his life had been in simpler times? He had made his decision about where his future lay. Hadn’t he? Was okay with the hefty price extracted from working 24/7?

  Clint looked at him.

  “Let me mull it over,” Gannon said.

  In the distance, another vehicle turned into the lane and sped toward the ranch house.

  “Expecting someone?” Clint asked.

  Gannon caught sight of the satellite dish affixed to the top of the white-and-blue van and swore. Just what he did not need.

  He wondered if Lily had her hands full, too.

  * * *

  “YOU HAVE TO get that statue out of the town square,” Marybeth Simmons declared. “Sooner, rather than later!”

  Lily looked at the delegation of fifteen community leaders standing on her front porch. Farther down the block, a vehicle came to a halt; a door opened and closed. But from where she was standing, Lily could not see who it was.

  Deciding to concentrate on those already there, she lifted a calming hand. “Look, I know it wasn’t what we all expected. But I think we ought to give it a chance, maybe—”

  Rex Carter interjected angrily, “The entire dedication ceremony, complete with fire, is on YouTube! It’s had twenty thousand hits so far! And that’s just in one twenty-four hour period.”

  “It’s made our whole town—not to mention the chili festival—out to be a joke!” Sonny Sanderson added. Which was a problem for him and his family, because he’d been hoping his barbecue restaurant would sell a lot of food at the event if attendance was even moderately high. Now that might all be for naught—for all the restaurateurs and food vendors planning to take part.

  A familiar low male voice joined in. “It gets even more interesting. A Dallas TV station news crew is interviewing my mother as we speak.”

  Everyone moved to make way for Gannon Montgomery. He’d thrown a leather jacket over his usual shirt and jeans. With a black Stetson slanted across his brow, he looked sexier than ever.

  “Sorry,” Oscar Gentry, another retired teacher said. “No disrespect meant for your mother, son.”

  “But we don’t want to see her or her art ridiculed, and the way things are going,” Yvonne Gentry, another retired teacher, kindly concurred, “Harriett will be made out to be a laughingstock.”

  Lily—who’d had no time to pull on a coat herself before meeting with the crowd—searched desperately for a solution. “Maybe if we put up a framed explanation beside it, letting people know it’s part sculpture and part performance art—”

  Around her, everyone paused, exchanged looks, slowly shook their heads. “It’s got to be moved to a less conspicuous place than the town square,” Miss Mim insisted.

  Emmett Briscoe, oilman and art collector extraordinaire, joined them on the front porch of Lily’s Craftsman. Nearing seventy, he was still a big, robust, handsome bear of a man. As well as a community and state leader. “Why not put it at the fairgrounds?” he said. “Where the chili cook-off and festival is going to be held? We can put it behind glass in the exhibition hall, along with the explanation that Lily suggested. And then decide what to do with it once the festival is over.”

  “Given all the publicity we’ve already had, festival-goers are going to expect to see it.” Lily looked at Gannon for support. “We may as well capitalize on that.”

  Rex Carter scoffed. “How much money is it going to cost to move it?”

  “Since it’s just from one place to another, and is only the one sculpture, I’m sure it won’t be much,” Lily said. At least she
hoped that was the case.

  More grumbling followed.

  “Give me until Monday afternoon to come up with a definite plan,” Lily urged.

  Marybeth Simmons, the leader of the local PTA, huffed, “Well, see that you keep us informed. All our organizations are relying on the money we hope to raise Valentine’s Day weekend to fund our projects for the rest of the year.”

  “I will.” Lily thanked everyone for coming, and slowly the crowd dispersed until it was just Lily and Gannon on her front porch.

  Shivering, she decided to take the conversation inside her Craftsman-style bungalow. The downstairs had been remodeled into one large space—living room, kitchen and dining area, with a laundry room, half bath and screened-in porch at the rear. Upstairs, she had two bedrooms and a full bathroom.

  “How is your mother doing?” Lily asked, grabbing her heavy red wool shawl-collared sweater and slipping it on over her turtleneck and jeans.

  Gannon removed his hat before stepping across the threshold and left it on the coatrack in the foyer. Then he followed her over to the fireplace, looking as tense and frustrated as she felt. “Let’s just say she’s had lots of phone messages and emails, not all of them complimentary.”

  Lily poked at the fire already burning in the grate. “I don’t think anyone understands it, or what it represents.” She slid the poker back into the stand, then turned to face Gannon. “Not the way your mother meant anyway.”

  He stood, hands braced on his hips, pushing the edges of his jacket back. “Even worse—I don’t think my mother cares if they do or they don’t,” he said.

  Deciding she could use a hot beverage, Lily headed for her kitchen. “That is the mark of a true artist.”

  “Or an eccentric,” Gannon countered mildly as he looked around, taking in the comfy denim furniture, distressed wood floors and multicolored area rugs. There were toy bins and books galore, most stored in a built-in shelving system on one wall of the living room, as well as a nice entertainment center, complete with stereo TV and DVD player.