Texas Rebel

by Jean Brashear

  He knew he shouldn’t bait the man, but the outlet for all that churned inside him was too inviting to resist. “I have a team of lawyers at my beck and call. Do your worst.”

  Fury flashed in Tank’s eyes. “Screw lawyers. I’ll make you sorry if you bother her.” Visibly, he fought for control. “She’s got it hard enough, damn you. Don’t make things worse. If you ever cared about her, you’ll leave her be.”

  Zing. With unerring instinct, Tank had hit at his weak spot.

  She might have turned to another man almost before the sound of his footsteps had faded, but still…he had loved Veronica to the furthest reaches of his eighteen-year-old soul.

  Had never truly forgotten her.

  “I don’t want to hurt her. I’d help her if I could.”

  “You can’t,” Tank snapped. “Just go back to wherever you’ve been hiding and leave her alone.”

  Jackson tensed, but the arrow hit its mark.

  Had he been hiding? He hadn’t thought so. He just didn’t much like being around lots of people.

  His phone buzzed insistently, saving both of them.

  “I have to take this.”

  Tank snickered. “Sure you do. Go ahead—run again, rich boy. You can hide wherever you want now.”

  Jackson’s jaw clenched. He leaned in. “Just because I hate this place doesn’t mean I’m hiding. Feel free to look me up anytime,” he ground out.

  Another text tone demanding his attention.

  “Damn it,” he muttered. And shot Tank a glare. “We’ll finish this later.”

  “You bet we will.”

  Furious, Jackson hit speed dial while walking toward the darkened courthouse for privacy.

  “Ty? What’s up?”

  “Your signal sucks. Where the devil are you?”

  Jackson glanced around. “Nowhere special. Why the emergency code?”

  “I’ve been trying to get through to you for an hour. Where’s your sat phone? I need you available.”

  “It’s on the plane.” He hadn’t expected coverage to be this spotty…and truth to tell, he wanted to keep his world separate from this journey into a past that he’d tried so hard to forget. “I’ll get it delivered tomorrow. What’s going on?”

  A deep sigh from his closest ally. “I’m tracking it down, and maybe it’s nothing, but—”

  “But what?”

  “I received an anonymous text I haven’t been able to identify, directing me to a pirate site.”

  “Someone’s got our game?” That would be disastrous. It wasn’t ready yet, and beta testing had revealed a flaw they were scrambling to fix in order to meet the much-anticipated launch date.

  “I can’t tell. It appears to be only a rumor, someone claiming to have played it, saying it’s a dud.”

  “Rumors always fly.”

  “But they can do damage. We ramped up big-time for this one, J, and the company has a lot of money tied up in it. You didn’t want to use a publisher for it so someone else could help finance this huge launch.”

  “I don’t like depending on anyone else—or giving away a stake.”

  “We’re balls to the wall, J. If we don’t deliver the kickass experience everyone’s salivating over…”

  “Enigma will survive. I’ve kept us on solid footing for exactly that reason. We self-finance. Going into debt is not acceptable.” He and his father might disagree in fundamental ways on virtually every aspect of life, but this lesson had been drummed into his head from birth. Never mortgage your land—in Jackson’s case, the company that he’d scratched his way out of poverty to build.

  “Maybe we’ll survive, but we can’t afford any steps backward. If we don’t knock this one out of the park, we won’t be able to come out with anything so ambitious the next time—and the franchise could be ruined. We should get ahead of this. Speed up going public with the stock.”

  Ty kept pushing to go public, but Jackson didn’t want to lose control to shareholders any more than he wanted a publisher calling the shots. Right now, he held the reins, with Ty and Steph owning a piece. Yes, the three of them would make a boatload of money going public, but they were already very well compensated.

  And with this rumor, realistically, it was too late to go public, even if the timeframe would fit.

  “Tell me what you’re doing to track this down.”

  “Telling me how to do my job now? We’re all on it—but where the hell are you?”

  He wanted to be on his plane first thing in the morning. He had no business being in the back of beyond if things were going sideways.

  He blinked. A faint white light flitted at the corner of the courthouse, near Sweetgrass Spring. It brought to mind Veronica as she’d fled last night.

  Veronica, pale and fragile, as he’d seen her inside tonight.

  “Jackson?”

  “Send me that link. And keep me posted.”

  “You’re not coming back yet?”

  If he left now… Penny’s haunted expression, Rissa’s bluster even as she leaned into him…Aunt Ruby’s request that he stay…

  “In a couple of days, unless things get worse. I’ll have the sat phone in two hours, max.”

  Ty’s tone was perplexed. “It’s not like you to go off the radar.”

  “You’re kidding, right? I’m always off the radar.”

  “Not from me. You sure you want to be out of touch? The company needs your full attention. Tell me where to find you, at least.”

  He wasn’t sure why he was so resistant to revealing where he was—except that he never spoke of this part of his life, not to anyone. He wanted no trace of that scared, confused kid, that pariah, to smear his reputation.

  Everyone thought he was invincible. He wanted to keep things that way.

  “I’ll be reachable in two hours.” It was his company.

  Insult shaded Ty’s tone. “Yes, sir. I’ll be in touch.”

  The phone went dead.

  Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose. What the hell was he doing here, anyway?

  Love strong enough to stay, he thought he heard.

  His head swiveled to find the owner of the voice. It seemed to be coming from the direction he’d seen that white light that was surely a hallucination.

  You promised…then you left me. You never came back.

  Jackson blinked. He shoved his phone in his pocket, then cursed and yanked it back out. Dialed his pilot and issued curt instructions before pocketing the phone again.

  He was losing his mind. It was this place, this town he’d never wanted to see again.

  You could free me.

  As he neared, the glow increased. He rounded the courthouse and looked toward the spring.

  And blinked. It couldn’t be.

  A woman stood there, ethereal and beautiful.

  They always go.

  Her voice seemed to reach right down inside him, reverberating to his bones.

  “Who are you?”

  Remember…she said. You were dying.

  Inside him, a chill grew. “You’re not real. And that’s only a legend.” Every child born in Sweetgrass had heard it. He wasn’t asleep, was he? He pinched his forearm and knew he was not.

  “Listen, I’d like to help you, but…”

  Help her. She needs you as I needed you. Remember us. Come back for us.

  “Who?” But in the deepest part of him, he knew. “How—? It can’t be. It doesn’t make sense.”

  You must be ready. I’ve been lonely so long. Do not fail me this time.

  Her face filled with sorrow and despair, with desperate longing.

  And for one second, past and present blurred. One face morphed into another, and he was almost there, almost sure…

  Something in his soul reached out to the sad, lonely, lovely figure.

  As his hand reached out to touch her.

  In an instant, she was gone.

  Jackson stood in that spot, transfixed, for a very long time.

  “Hey, Boo,” Veronic
a greeted her dog the next morning as he returned from his perimeter patrol. She and David had chuckled over his single-minded devotion to duty, protecting them from rabbits and birds and anything else that might trespass on his territory.

  Including, a few times, rattlesnakes. She shuddered to remember. His snout still bore the scars from the one that had gotten under his guard and struck. If they hadn’t heard the yelp…

  Poor guy had had a face swollen like a balloon for a couple of days, but he’d recovered fully, only two little fang scars marring his coat.

  She’d wanted to pen him up to keep him safe, but David asked if she’d rather one of the children had stumbled over the rattler.

  She shivered at the thought. She’d worked to give her children all the free rein possible in reaction to how circumscribed her own life had been by a father bent on controlling them all, but she knew too much about how danger lurks beneath the surface, how you could never be sure what lay in wait to attack.

  But every day of David’s love had helped her relax and understand that their children had nothing to fear. That the caution that had ruled her life didn’t have to be theirs.

  Easy for him to say. His parents had loved him wholly. Coddled him and Beth, wrapping them securely in love, devotion she’d been hell-bent to duplicate, even though she’d never experienced it. Her mother had been weak and unwilling to shield her children. Tank had cared for her, as much as a fellow victim could, but he’d been wrapped up in his own struggle to survive their father, and he’d had little affection to spare for his sister.

  He’d shielded her, though, she was sure of that. Had taken beatings in her place. No matter how he might have grown up to be a difficult man with a temper, she would forever owe him a debt for what he’d endured for her sake.

  Her first experience with love had come from Jackson.

  She loaded up a stack of buckets and her secateurs, then let Boo jump into the passenger seat before she got back in the beat-up van and headed for the field where the gold and yellow marigolds and the varying reds of celosia exploded the landscape with color.

  But Jackson dogged her thoughts.

  He’d watched her last night, as she’d watched him, but the original terms of their relationship had held, and they hadn’t acknowledged one another in public.

  Ben was another matter. As soon as he’d learned what Jackson did for a living, he’d burned to meet the man and had been headed to get Ian to introduce them when Jackson had abruptly left, checking his phone.

  Ben’s disappointment had been clear when Jackson never returned. He’d wanted to wait, but it had been, after all, a school night.

  She wouldn’t be able to put him off forever, she thought, as she bent to clip another stalk of marigolds, laying them down beneath the rows. Steadily she moved down one side, choosing only the straighter stalks to harvest, then rising up, sidestepping down and bending once more.

  Hamstrings of steel, she thought with a smile. A behind that didn’t need a gym to be firm, David had been quick to remind her, his eyes hot on hers.

  She missed sex. Their love had expressed itself in many ways, one of the best being those intimate hours they could snatch between children and chores. David had been a thorough and attentive lover, one who’d learned her body as if studying for an exam his life depended upon, whereas Jackson—

  She straightened abruptly. Stared across the fields and cursed herself for not bringing her iPod so her thoughts wouldn’t stray into dangerous territory.

  Sex. And Jackson.

  They’d been so young, and he’d been her first.

  It had been…earth-shattering. She’d been terrified and uncertain, afraid she wouldn’t measure up, scared because she didn’t know what to do.

  They’d fumbled at first, Jackson little more experienced than her.

  But they’d clicked immediately.

  Just as their gazes had clicked after Ruby’s wedding. In that one instant had arced something elemental between them, some bond deeper than conscious thought or planning…

  Old news. Not relevant anymore. That was before, when she’d been a fanciful girl denied the ability to dream. Of course she would have found him her Prince Charming, dreamed of flying away on a white steed, out of the life that had always been one dark day after another, spent merely surviving.

  They were grown now. She’d been loved by the best of men, and loved him right back.

  She’d only imagined that the click had survived. She didn’t need it. Didn’t want it.

  She glanced at the sun. She had to get this row done, then one of celosia, so that she could get them packed tonight for delivery tomorrow.

  No daydreams, she reminded herself grimly. Life is not about dreams. You have a family to feed and a business to run.

  She began singing to block out any wayward thoughts before they could intrude.

  Jackson awoke with the intent to return to Seattle, planning a quick trip by Veronica’s on his way to the plane this morning. Not that he’d slept worth a damn.

  And it wasn’t whatever he’d hallucinated last night by the spring.

  He shook his head. Surreal didn’t cover it. He blamed this place for the illusion, this blasted town he’d never wanted to see again.

  No, rumored ghosts weren’t his problem—though other rumors were. He’d received his sat phone in record time, and the report he’d downloaded, with a link to the pirate site Ty had mentioned, had been disturbing. He truly was in the boonies here, and he was responsible for hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars. To linger felt irresponsible, no matter that Ty and his very able staff were all over the situation.

  Jackson Gallagher was never irresponsible. Not since that fateful day when he was barely eighteen and bent on driving impaired.

  But he hadn’t made it to Veronica’s yet. Instead he’d been hijacked for a tour of the courthouse.

  “I can’t believe this is the same place,” he said, glancing down at Scarlett. “This is one freaking astounding makeover.”

  Scarlett laughed. “You are not kidding. It’s like taking an eighty-year old who’s smoked for sixty years while consuming only Cheetos and gin, and making her over to be camera-ready for Vogue.” She shook her head. “But it’s Nana’s dream, to bring back Sweetgrass, and I’d do anything for her.”

  “She’s certainly happy you’re here. You really never knew about her?”

  “Not one clue. I don’t know why my mother did that. How she could leave this wonderful place behind and never look back—oh.” She bit her lip. “Sorry.”

  He shrugged. “Your mother never killed anyone. I have no idea why she left, either—well, that’s not true. I always planned to leave. This town was never for me. I couldn’t wait to get away.” He stared off into the distance. “And once you’re gone…even the things you loved about the place…it’s just easier to stay away. Not to remember. Because you know you can’t go back.”

  “You didn’t kill her, Jackson. Ian says it was an accident.”

  He shook his head. “I never intended it, no. I should never have offered her a ride…God, how I wish—” He cleared his throat. “Old news. I don’t blame everyone for hating me.”

  “Seriously? Because I would. You deserved some sympathy. You were one of the Four Horsemen, after all.”

  “Yeah, that and a couple bucks will buy you a cup of coffee.” He grabbed for a change of topic. “So tell me about this events center.”

  She grimaced. “That’s a long way off, I’m afraid. First I have to make the restaurant succeed and hope I can make it bankable enough to get a loan for the rest.”

  “I ate at your place in New York once, you know. Food was amazing. So’s what you’re cooking with Ruby, but Mirelle was extraordinary. You have a gift.” He chuckled. “And imagine—my own cousin was the chef. Small world.”

  She touched his arm. “I so wish I’d known. I would have loved to have met you. And to know I had family…you can’t know what a dream it is when you’ve always
been alone.”

  But he did. He knew exactly. The only difference was that he’d always been aware of who and what he’d left behind. “I’d bankroll this in a heartbeat. Would you let me?”

  A startled glance. “That’s not why I told you.”

  “I’m sure that’s true. Doesn’t change the fact that I believe in your talent, and I’d like to help. I told Aunt Ruby I’d send her money for whatever she needed. I offered her a retirement home anywhere she wanted, but she kept insisting she needed to be here.”

  “Thank God she was. What if I’d never found her? I can’t bear the thought.”

  “You’re really happy here, even with what you know you could have out there?”

  “Crazy, right? That I’d love this more than Paris or New York?” She stared into the distance. “I didn’t have love in any of those places. Affairs, sure. Brief flings, even what I thought was the real deal once. But that was before I met Ian.” Her gaze rose. “He’s…everything.”

  “He’s a great guy, that’s for sure. My best friend when we were kids, and it’s clear he’s grown into a really good man.”

  “You hurt him. Hurt Rissa and Pen and so many others when you vanished.”

  He ground his jaw. “Maybe.” He stared over her head. “I guess so. I couldn’t see it that way. When I left, it was only the Horsemen and my sisters who stood beside me and…” Veronica. But he couldn’t say that.

  “Nana was on your side. That’s a lot of people.”

  “My father hated me. We would’ve killed each other if I’d stayed.”

  “I’m sorry. I never knew my father, don’t even know who he was, so I can’t truly imagine, but…” She exhaled. “I have no business saying what you should or shouldn’t have done. Life isn’t that easy, and planning never works the way we think it will.”

  “Some of it does. I built a company on plans and discipline.”

  “A very impressive one, at that. You should be proud.”

  “I am, but…”

  “It’s not enough?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “I’m stepping way out of bounds, I know, and I promise I’ll stop, just—”

  “Just what?”

  “May I ask you a favor?”