The Bachelor Project

by Victoria Chancellor

  Her car wasn’t in the drive or the garage. The house was closed up tightly. With the key he’d used that morning to lock up, he let himself inside.

  “Robin,” he called out.

  No answer. He strode through the house, taking in the tidy appearance of each room. The breakfast area was cleared of dishes, and the Sunday paper they’d shared was in the trash. Even the old-fashioned, white-iron bed where they’d made love so sweetly, so many times, was neatly made with a floral comforter and lots of lacy pillows. He hadn’t even noticed the furnishings last night.

  None of Robin’s things seemed to be out of place, but he really couldn’t tell much because he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Not too many cosmetics were in the bathroom, but perhaps she simply didn’t use a large variety. However, one clue was the lack of standard toiletries. He didn’t see deodorant, shampoo or a woman’s razor.

  Could she have packed and left? But why, after the weekend? They’d been great together. He’d left with the pledge to call her later, and she’d seemed fine with his promise.

  Why would she have left? Where would she go?

  “Not back to Gig,” he growled. No, Robin hadn’t given any indication she wanted to get back together with her former fiancé. As far as Ethan knew, she didn’t have any other friends around the area. Which left Houston.

  Surely she hadn’t run back to Houston after two nights in his arms. Surely he hadn’t misread her reactions so completely. If he had, he was just about the worst FBI-trained lawman in Texas.

  If anyone knew where Robin was, he felt her great-aunt Sylvia would. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember Sylvia’s last name. Ethan sped back to his house to search the address book his aunt kept by the phone in the kitchen. Letting out an impatient sigh, he began with A and started looking for Robin’s aunt.

  His sense of anxiety grew with each passing minute. Robin wasn’t the type of person to just up and leave, especially after a night like last night.

  Everything had been perfect, hadn’t it? He tried to recall anything that might have upset her, but couldn’t come up with any clues.

  Finally! Sylvia Murphy with a Houston area code. He punched the numbers into the wall phone, then drummed his fingers along the door facing until someone answered.

  “Dammit,” he cursed when the answering machine kicked in. He listened impatiently to the greeting, then left a message for Sylvia to call him collect as soon as she returned.

  He grabbed a beer and slumped into his recliner. He’d thought he’d been frustrated before, when Robin was walking back and forth across his living room. He’d been wrong. Knowing now that she was out there somewhere and being unable to find her was the true definition of frustration. He just hoped he found her soon. He had something very important to tell Robin Cummings.

  ETHAN PACED, wearing a path in the carpet between the living room and kitchen. Good thing he was getting his house redecorated, he thought, since he was about to ruin the flooring!

  But the project would never be finished unless he found Robin. He hadn’t seen her in more than twelve hours, and his anxiety grew each minute. He knew she’d contacted the station earlier in the day, but she hadn’t left a message with the dispatcher. Ethan had insisted Ben look again for one of those pink message slips Susie always completed. Nothing. He’d even called Susie at home, just in case she knew something, but he only got her answering machine. Where was everyone on a Monday night?

  After witnessing a dozen horrible crashes on the highways, or helping search for missing persons, he had a little experience with anxious situations. Right now, his imagination was shifting into overdrive. If he didn’t hear from Sylvia, Bess or Robin within the next thirty minutes, he was going to put out an APB for a missing person.

  He didn’t approve of using his professional capacity to augment his personal life, but losing Robin qualified as a disaster. He’d do whatever necessary to find her quickly.

  He’d need her driver’s license number and license plate, he mentally cataloged. He could go down to the station to get that information, or he could—

  The phone rang, interrupting his speculation. “Hello!”

  “Good evening, Ethan. This is Bess.”

  “I know! Have you found Robin?”

  “Why, yes, we have. She’s with her parents.”

  “Why?”

  “I have no idea. I haven’t spoken to her yet.”

  “Give me the number, and I’ll call her there.”

  His aunt recited Robin’s phone number and address before adding, “Ethan, this doesn’t sound like you at all.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Aunt Bess, but I’ve been sick with worry since this afternoon. Robin had been in town looking for me earlier, then she left without seeing me or even leaving a message.”

  “That does sound rather irresponsible. Not like her at all.” His aunt paused, then said, “What did you do to make her upset?”

  “Me! I didn’t do a thing.”

  “Hmm. Nothing’s changed in your relationship, and suddenly she just runs off?”

  Ethan felt his face grow warm. How could he explain to his beloved aunt that he and Robin had had the greatest weekend of lovemaking in history? After all, she’d accused him of getting less action than men in the retirement home. Now Bess was in Houston, staying with Robin’s aunt, and he just couldn’t tell two elderly ladies that Sylvia’s great-niece and Bess’s nephew were the hottest thing in bed since electric blankets.

  “Ethan, are you still there?”

  “Yes, Aunt Bess. All I can tell you is that Robin and I had a turning point in our relationship. I thought everything was wonderful.”

  “And then she left.”

  “Yes! Without a word.”

  “She must have had her reasons. She’s a very levelheaded young woman.”

  “I know that. That’s one of the things I lo—I admire about her.”

  His aunt paused. “I think Robin is talking about her wedding with her parents right now. I’m sure they had a lot of issues to discuss. I’m not sure what she’s going to be doing tomorrow, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she wanted to see that fiancé of hers.”

  “That Gig fellow? She doesn’t need to see him. They’re finished.”

  “Hmm. Well, I’m sure you’re right. But tell me, Ethan, did you confess to Robin how you felt about her?”

  He thought back to all the time they’d spent together in the last 48 hours. Had he said the words? He was pretty sure he hadn’t. They hadn’t talked a lot. Maybe at the time he wasn’t one-hundred percent sure how he felt. He was now.

  “No, I don’t think so, Aunt Bess, but that doesn’t mean—”

  “Ethan! A woman needs to hear these things. If she doesn’t hear them from you, then…”

  “Are you telling me that Robin is going to turn to some guy named Gig if he suddenly professes his love?”

  “I’m not certain. I’m just saying that she broke off the engagement rather suddenly, and I’m sure there are a lot of unresolved feelings on everyone’s part.”

  Ethan scowled at the phone, greatly annoyed at his aunt for putting such ridiculous thoughts into words. Of course Robin wasn’t interested in getting back together with her former fiancé. She’d realized she and Gig weren’t right for each other. She’d grown beyond some frat jock who still used a childish nickname.

  “Ethan, I think Sylvia needs to use the phone. Call me later when you decide what to do, all right?”

  “Yes, Aunt Bess, I’ll do that.”

  What to do…He was, after all, a man of calm and deliberate action. An officer of the law couldn’t be rash and irresponsible.

  But at the moment, he wanted to rope and hogtie Gig Harrelson, then drag Robin across his saddle and ride off into the sunset.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Robin perched on the edge of her empire reproduction sofa, her fingers nervously fingering the mahogany detail that gave the piece such distinctive style. Gig was goi
ng to be here any moment, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to see him. Maybe she should have suggested they meet in a public place, but she had been a bit concerned he might make a scene. If she’d stayed with her original plan of waiting two months before coming back to town, he would have had time to cool off. At three weeks—and just three days after their wedding was supposed to have taken place—she wasn’t sure he would be receptive to her explanations.

  And apology, she added. She had to tell him again how sorry she was to have put him and his family through this mess and expense.

  The buzzer from Security sounded. Robin jumped up and answered.

  “Yes, send him up,” she said to the doorman. She smoothed the simple lavender sheath dress and praised her decision to wear flat sandals. She wouldn’t have been able to pace nearly as well in heels.

  Within a minute or so, a knock sounded. Smoothing her hair and dress one more time, she opened the door.

  “Come in, Gig,” she said as evenly as possible. “Thank you for coming over.”

  “You said it was important.” He appeared irritated as he strode through the small foyer into the living room. He unbuttoned his suit coat and settled back on her couch. “I thought we’d said everything that needed to be said three weeks ago.”

  She poured them each a glass of iced tea, then set the drinks down on the coffee table. She settled back on a chair opposite the couch, not too close to Gig. “I suppose we did, at the time. But I’ve had a little time to think, and I—”

  “Good God, you’re not suggesting we get back together, are you?” he asked as he sat forward. “Because I’ve got to tell you that would be a really bad move.”

  Robin almost chuckled at the alarmed look on his handsome face. “No, Gig, I’m not suggesting that. I think we both came to the conclusion that we’re not suited.”

  “That’s one way to put it,” he agreed, sitting back once more. “Besides, my parents would have a fit.”

  Yes, she supposed they would. And Gig did love to please his parents. “I’m sure mine would, too.”

  “So what’s this about?”

  She took a sip of her tea. “I came to a lot of realizations while I stayed in Ranger Springs. One thing I discovered was that I was still blaming you in some way for not being the type of man I needed. That was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. If you’re saying I’d make a lousy husband, I have to disagree. I thought we had a lot of things in common. Friends, interests, backgrounds.”

  “Yes, on the surface, we did. But what I meant was that I wanted—no, at the time, I needed—a man who would make me the center of his world. I was coming at the relationship from a somewhat childish perspective. All my life, I’d wanted my parents to put me above their social obligations and their own needs. When they didn’t, Great-aunt Sylvia filled that void.”

  “I know you’re really close to her.”

  “Yes, I am. She was wonderful to me when I was a child, and now as an adult. To tell you the truth, she’s a lot warmer than my own mother.”

  Gig just shrugged. Obviously, all this “touchy feely” stuff was going right over his head.

  “What I wanted to tell you, Gig, was that you weren’t to blame for being exactly who you were. I just had unreasonable expectations of being a couple, and of marriage in general.”

  He frowned. “I never thought I’d done anything wrong.”

  Robin chuckled. “Then I guess you’re one step ahead of me.” She sobered, then added, “Another thing I realized is that if we’d gone ahead with the wedding, we would have made each other miserable. In the end, either I had to become more like my own mother, or you would have been besieged with requests from me to be more emotional. I don’t think either one of those scenarios would have made us happy.”

  He shrugged again. “I suppose you’re right. I just thought all along that you were one of us, Robin. I mean, you fit in so well.”

  One of us. What an odd way for him to explain her position in the universe of their friends and family. Us and them. Perhaps that had been the problem all along: she’d been more like her less wealthy, warmer, more loving aunt than the social elite.

  She smiled. “I tried, Gig. I really did. Fitting in has always been important to me, but I think I’ve finally found someplace that really suits me.”

  Gig stood up and buttoned his coat, signaling this meeting was over. “I’d better get back to the office. Dad is having a department meeting this afternoon.”

  And Big Gig wouldn’t want his son to miss anything related to the family banking business, Robin silently added.

  “I’m just glad we could sit down for a few minutes,” she said aloud. “I’ve really felt bad about canceling the wedding, but I think it was the best decision for us in the long run.”

  “You’re probably right. I’ve been seeing a little of Bitsy Monroe. You remember her, don’t you?”

  “The Monroe’s younger daughter, right? I went to college with her sister.”

  “Right.” Gig shrugged, then grinned. “She’s kind of in the market, if you know what I mean.”

  Robin impulsively touched his arm, then gave him a big hug. He seemed startled, then hugged her back. He was big and solid, but he wasn’t the man she loved.

  “I’m really happy for you, Gig. I’m sure getting back—”

  The door burst open. The opening was filled with about six feet two inches of enraged Texas lawman.

  “Ethan!” She couldn’t believe he was here, in Houston! Dressed in his uniform, sporting his badge and that big firearm he carried in a black leather holster, he looked downright dangerous. Not at all the gentle, loving man she’d known for weeks.

  He looked exciting, intense, and she wanted him more than ever.

  “Robin, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not going to stand by and let you reconcile with…him,” he said, pointing to blond, wide-eyed Gig.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked in a shaky voice.

  “I don’t care if he did hold you in his arms and promise he’d take you back. I’m not letting you go without a fight.”

  “What?” Gig asked, clearly confused.

  “This is between me and Robin,” Ethan stated, glaring at Gig.

  “You’re nuts,” her former fiancé announced.

  “Wait a minute!” she ordered, throwing up her hands. “Gig, please be quiet for a minute. Ethan, would you please tell me what you’re saying.”

  Ethan stepped into the room, totally ignoring Gig. “I’ve been going crazy, thinking about you here in Houston with your friends and family, but especially—” he hooked a thumb in the general direction of her awestruck ex-fiancé “—with him.”

  “Ethan, you have the wrong idea.”

  “No, I don’t, Robin. We’re meant to be together. I don’t care that our backgrounds are different, or that we both have a history of not making it to the altar. All that matters is how we feel about each other.” He paused when he reached her, then took her shoulders in a gentle grip. “Robin, I love you.”

  Her mouth gaped open. “You do?”

  “Yes. And I think you feel the same way about me.”

  “I do,” she said quickly, reaching for his handsome face and framing his jaw with both hands.

  A discreet cough sounded behind them. She’d forgotten Gig was in the room. At the moment, she still needed to explain her abrupt departure to Ethan. “I was going to tell you as soon as I got back to Ranger Springs, but I didn’t want to leave it in my note.”

  “Note?”

  “The note I left at your office.”

  He appeared totally baffled.

  “On your desk, in a Ranger Springs Police Department envelope with ‘personal’ written on it.” She frowned. “You didn’t get my note?”

  “No. I haven’t been to the office since I left to herd the emus right after lunch. I called in several times, but no one had seen a message slip from you.”

  “He
rd emus?” Gig repeated.

  They both ignored him. “Then how did you find me?” Robin asked.

  “I called Sylvia, then I talked to Bess. She gave me your number and address. I wanted to call, but I didn’t know what to say, so I just got in my car and drove to Houston.”

  “Oh, Ethan.” She hugged him close.

  “I suppose congratulations are in order,” Gig said behind them.

  Was he still in the room? Peering around Ethan, Robin smiled at her ex. “Maybe. First, I have to get a good offer.”

  “An offer?” Ethan asked, ignoring Gig and focusing on her.

  “A proposal, Officer Andy,” Gig taunted.

  He might not hold any grudges against her any longer, but he obviously hadn’t taken a shine to Ethan, Robin noted.

  “It’s Ethan,” Robin said quickly. “Police Chief Ethan Parker.”

  “Right. Well, I’m out of here. Good luck on getting the rest of it right.”

  Ethan glared at him. Gig had the good grace to leave without another comment.

  “How did you get in this building?” she asked.

  “Not right now. I think Gink is right. I have to make this official.”

  She hid her grin at Ethan’s intentional mispronunciation of her ex’s nickname. “Okay.”

  He glanced around the apartment. “Sit over here,” he said, guiding her toward the couch.

  She sat.

  To her surprise, he pushed her ottoman-style coffee table out of the way and knelt on the plush red-and-gold oriental inspired rug. On one knee, he took her hands in his.

  “I didn’t plan very well for this. I don’t have a ring with me, but I’d like us to pick one out later. Something you love, because your taste is a lot better than mine.” He paused and swallowed. “That is, if you’ll marry me.”

  She looked into his beautiful and intense blue eyes, her love for this strong, gentle man nearly overwhelming. “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want to spend my life with you. I want to raise our children in Ranger Springs. I want to find a way to compromise with your career. Most of all, I want to love you forever.”

  “Oh, Ethan,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “Yes. Yes to everything.”