Their Lusty Little Valentine [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  “We’re not going to spend the rest of our lives alone and growing dotty,” he said. “She called Thursday night and Father said she sounded almost desperate. Hang on to that. It’s too late to qualify for the US Olympic team in conclusion jumping for these next games in Munich.”

  “Ha-ha.” Charlie sighed, and then put his head back against the car seat’s headrest.

  They’d been on the road for an hour. Preston checked his watch again. Coming up on eight thirty, they should be at Samantha’s apartment in less than twenty minutes. He began to relax when he saw the exit signs for Austin.

  “You’re right,” Taylor said. “I never thought I’d ever know this achy, anxious feeling in my gut. I hate it. It’s been growing ever since we kissed her good-bye last Sunday. I hope she’s happy with the news we have.”

  Charlie sat up, then looked at Preston, and back at Taylor. “Talking about unexpected things, did you ever think that Granddad would fire us?”

  Preston laughed. “I think Grandma put him up to it. And he didn’t exactly fire us. He just gave us our notice.”

  “The good side is that we’re going to be busy as hell over the next couple of months. Setting up a new office here in Austin, juggling our cases in Houston, and loving on our woman.”

  “All of it is good,” Preston said. They’d only packed what they would need for overnight. They’d head back to Lusty Sunday evening, and then get serious about their move to Austin.

  “As devoted as I am to the family firm,” Charlie said, “I vote we look for a house, first. We need a place where we can be alone with our woman at the end of the day. A place where we can enjoy privacy—and that is not, in my opinion, truly possible in an apartment.”

  “There are three of us,” Preston said. “So we divide up what all has to be done. One of us will look for suitable office space, one of us will look for a house—I’m in total agreement there. Let’s see if we can get something on the outskirts of the city. No more than a thirty-minute commute for our woman, I think. Um, I also think whoever takes that one on needs to consult with Samantha. And one of us will make an analysis of the cases pending in Houston, and a schedule for who’s going to take what.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” Charlie laughed. “Actually it sounds like a better plan than we had last Sunday.”

  “Just so we’re all on the same page here,” Taylor said, “I’m all for incorporating some of the advice Grandma had for us.”

  “How many other men in our position, do you think, would seriously entertain lovemaking advice from their Grandmother?” Preston chuckled. “Our way of life in Lusty is different in more ways than one.”

  “That’s true.” Charlie started looking at the highway signs, and it seemed to Preston that he was getting tenser the closer they came to their turnoff. “I’ve noticed a lot of dissension in the world,” he continued. “In our own state, even, and it has to do with more than that damned war over in Southeast Asia.”

  Preston flicked on the turn signal. “I overheard the granddads talking the other day, when we pitched in over at the ranch. I’d say our sense of being on the cusp of new things isn’t new. I think every generation goes through its own crucible of change.”

  They exited the highway, and Charlie, playing navigator, consulted the city map he had to find Samantha’s address. They weren’t as familiar with Austin as they were with the other major cities in their state.

  But they would learn. Since this was where their woman wanted to be, this was where they’d be, too.

  Preston knew his brothers hoped, as he hoped, that eventually she would want to make Lusty her home. But for the time being, their home would be wherever Samantha was.

  “There. Turn left right there!”

  Preston followed Charlie’s directions. Five minutes later they were parked a block from her apartment.

  “Let’s leave our bags in the car for now,” Taylor said. “In case she has nosy neighbors.”

  “Good thinking,” Charlie said.

  They didn’t run, but it was close. Preston had trouble quelling the nerves in his belly. With his brothers behind him, he knocked on the door.

  And got the surprise of his life when a woman who seemed slightly familiar, but wasn’t their Samantha, opened her door.

  The blonde looked to be mid- to late-thirties. Her startled expression morphed into a wide smile. “You’re not the phone company technician.”

  “No, ma’am. I’m…we’re lawyers. Is Samantha…Miss Kincaid in?”

  She leaned against the door frame, folded her arms in front of her, and tilted her head to the side.

  “A single woman, a stranger in a strange land, doesn’t need her friends giving her whereabouts to strangers.”

  Preston read the laughter in her eyes, and then he recalled where he’d met the lady before.

  “You’re absolutely right, Mrs. Patterson, and I know I speak for all of us when I say that we’re grateful our Samantha has such a good friend here in Austin.”

  “She needs more than that, Mr. Kendall…I’m sorry, don’t recall which one you are.”

  “No, ma’am, we are hard to tell apart. I’m Preston. Taylor is on my left and Charles is on my right.”

  “Gentlemen.” She nodded to them.

  “As to your point, yes, she does need more than a good woman friend here in town. We’re working on that very thing,” Taylor said.

  “I’m sure you can understand that we’d prefer to discuss our news with Samantha first, before sharing it with you.” Preston had been feeling pretty good about this exchange so far. But he and his brothers were still out in the hallway, and not inside their woman’s apartment.

  Mrs. Patterson chuckled. “Of course. As it should be. Her mother isn’t here, nor her father. May I ask one more question, on their behalf?”

  “Of course,” Charlie said.

  Preston could feel his youngest brother vibrating. Charlie was really good at appearing insouciant when he wanted to.

  “Are your intentions toward Samantha honorable?”

  “We love her, and we plan to marry her,” Taylor said that quickly, and Preston nearly held his breath to see how that went over.

  Most people who didn’t come from Lusty didn’t have a very good view of ménage marriage.

  Kimberly Patterson’s smile brightened. “Wonderful! I now feel free to let you know, you’ve just missed Samantha.”

  “Damn it, our timing really stinks,” Taylor said.

  “From what I’ve heard, so does hers,” Mrs. Patterson said. “You only missed her by about twenty minutes. She’s on her way to Lusty.”

  Everything inside Preston went right. If Samantha was on her way to Lusty—to them—then she hadn’t changed her mind about them.

  “Thank you.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “For telling us that, but especially, for being here for Samantha. We’re grateful.”

  “You’re welcome. Now you go on, after her.”

  Preston nodded. It was the best advice he’d received that day. He turned and saw that his brothers were already on their way out of the building.

  Chapter 22

  Samantha did a pretty good job of holding everything together until she pulled into the driveway at the cottage and realized there was no other car parked there. Thinking they might just be out, running a couple of errands, she went up the porch steps and put her hand on the doorknob. If they’d gone shopping for groceries, or even into Waco, they’d be back soon. She could wait inside for them.

  The door was locked.

  A sob escaped Samantha’s soul. She was locked out of this house! Was she locked out of their lives, too? Was that why she couldn’t reach them?

  As she struggled to hang on to hope with both hands, she tried to be logical. A locked door probably meant they hadn’t just stepped out. They’d gone someplace from where they expected not to be back anytime soon. That had to be it. There was, of course, one place where she could go and one person she could ask, i
nstead of letting her negative fears and emotions get the better of her.

  Something inside her began to break loose as she got back into her Mustang and headed over to the New House. Only one vehicle was parked there—the white Cadillac she knew that Miranda drove.

  Samantha nearly tripped going up the stairs. Rather than reaching for the doorknob, she let second thoughts choke her, and she knocked. And then she sighed with relief when she heard footsteps approaching.

  Miranda opened the door. For one instant she looked shocked. “Samantha! Oh, this is almost too funny.”

  Samantha burst into tears. In the next instant, Miranda wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight.

  “Shh, now. Shhh. Come inside, darling. Come and sit in the kitchen. We’ll have some hot tea to soothe your nerves and you can tell me what’s wrong.”

  Samantha felt like a child being coddled by her mother—Miranda wasn’t her mother, but she felt like one to her just then.

  The older woman led her into the house and set her down in a chair, handed her a wad of tissues, and put the kettle on. Then she sat next to her and took her hands in hers.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart? What’s upset you?”

  “Nothing has been going the way it was supposed to go.” Samantha didn’t think, she just let the words tumble out. “I thought I knew what I wanted, and even when I fell in love with them I kept stupidly clinging to my plans because they were my plans and I was so damned determined to see them through only…”

  “Only your heart has changed. It happens to us when we fall in love. All you need to do is to alter your plans so that you can follow your heart.”

  “Yes! But I have the worst timing in the world. I can’t seem to reach them by phone and just now, I went to the cottage and no one was there and the door was locked. Miranda, where are your sons?”

  “I’d wager that by now, they’re pretty ticked with themselves. They left early this morning, determined to show up at your door first thing and surprise you.”

  “Oh!” Samantha took a deep breath. They hadn’t rejected her, they’d gone after her! And here she sat… “That’s what you thought was almost funny.”

  Miranda nodded, and then tilted her head. “You’ll discover as years go by, that sometimes I come out with things that can have more than one meaning. I keep telling my husbands it’s a rare and unique talent I have—right after it mucks things up.”

  Samantha grinned. The kettle whistled and Miranda got up to make the tea.

  “I’m going to just stay here, if you don’t mind, until your sons show up.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. I wonder how long it will take them to figure out where you’ve gone to.”

  “Likely not long at all. My friend, Kimberly Patterson, is at my apartment, waiting for the phone company tech to arrive to install my phone.”

  “Ah.” Miranda grinned. “In that case, I do hope Preston doesn’t get a speeding ticket heading home.”

  Miranda poured out the tea, and Samantha reached for the cream. Was it really only two weeks ago that she’d sat at this table in this wonderfully homey kitchen for the first time? It was hard to believe that a person’s life could change so dramatically in just two weeks—and as the result of a simple wrong turn.

  Or maybe that was the right turn. Maybe I was meant to be right here, in this place, at this time, all along.

  That was certainly a discussion to have with Charlie someday soon. Whether or not we are where we are because of who we are—or whether we become who we are because of where we are.

  She almost laughed out loud thinking about it. They could beat that horse for hours.

  Miranda set the teapot back on the stove and joined her at the table. The house seemed unusually quiet, today.

  One of the things Samantha loved best about this family was the noisy meals and the almost constant teasing.

  “Where is everyone today?”

  “You noticed.” Miranda laughed. “It’s a rare day indeed that my entire family is out of the house. Let’s see, Chelsea and the granddads are over at the Big House, visiting with Mattie and Charles. And Martin and Nick are there, too, but they’ve gone riding with Gerry and Pat. Kate went into Waco early this morning—she’s taking some upgrading courses through the school of nursing, there, on Saturdays.”

  “Keeping her hand in?”

  “Yes, she is. Adam and James Jessop have opened their doctor’s office at the other end of town, and Kate volunteered to help them out a few days a week.”

  “This town has a lot going for it, considering the size of it,” Samantha said. “I like it here.”

  “We’re proud of how far we’ve come. Mother will tell you that when she was a young girl, there were mostly just a collection of houses and farms here. The businesses came slowly, primarily from family members. The Parker-Joneses began the furniture business, and they had all they could handle making the extra-sized beds and, in the beginning, wooden bathtubs, too. Warren and Amanda moved their office here from Waco just before the First World War. Warren had gained a reputation for being an astute and very honest lawyer, and Amanda, of course, was a private investigator with a couple of agents working for her by then. Adam retired from the Texas Rangers, but not from being a lawman.”

  “Kind of like Jeremy, his son.”

  “Exactly so,” Miranda said. “So they built a sheriff’s office, and he became the first Sheriff of Lusty, Texas. There was no man prouder of any wife, than he was of Amanda. I miss her, and wish I’d known him and Warren.”

  Samantha sighed. “I guess it’s no wonder that your sons have the attitudes they do about women. I was a little skeptical at first, but they really do respect my right to have a career.”

  “Yes, they really do. I was a teacher when I married Martin and Nick, and in those days, if a woman who was a teacher got married, she could no longer ‘work’ in her chosen field. It was expected that a wife would stay home and take care of her husbands.”

  “I know it was that way for nurses, too, until congress changed that in 1942.” Samantha took a sip from her cup. “I’m a student of history,” she explained, “and most especially woman’s role in society through the ages.”

  “I remember when we heard about that law changing,” Miranda said. She smiled, and Samantha knew she was looking back at good memories. “Kate was here then and had already become my new best friend. She was in charge of the convalescent home that the town sponsored.” Miranda sat back, as if to get more comfortable in her chair. “I was already married, and missing my men something fierce. Kate faced the dilemma of marrying her men, and relinquishing her position—or putting off getting married, and continuing to serve her country. It would have been a damn shame if she’d had to quit. You should have seen her—she had those wounded men well in hand. Watching her work was simply amazing. Thank God the law changed! That happened in October, and they wed Christmas Eve of that same year.”

  Samantha opened her mouth to say that she was looking forward to getting to know Kate better, when a loud knock at the front door made her jump.

  Miranda frowned, even as she got to her feet. “Has to be a stranger,” she said. “Friends and family just walk right in. By the way, you remember that, young lady.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Samantha poured herself a bit more tea while Miranda went to the door. She didn’t intend to listen in, but it was Miranda’s annoyed tone as much as the name she said that jolted her.

  “What do you want, Mr. Robbins?”

  Samantha left the table and headed to the door. She joined Miranda, who stood toe-to-toe with a man she presumed to be Morton Robbins.

  “I want to speak to you about your husband.” Then he looked over at Samantha. “You must be married to the other brother, although you look awfully young for him. Shouldn’t surprise me—a cradle robber, to boot.”

  “Mr. Robbins, I can’t imagine what you could possibly have to say about my husband that
would be of any interest to me. Why don’t you just leave?”

  “I’ve got a talent for reading people, Mrs. Kendall, and I know that you’re afraid of what I have to say.” His tone changed, and Samantha imagined he thought he sounded sincere.

  To Samantha, he sounded conniving and smarmy. Not only that, she had the oddest sense that he was teetering on the edge. He was sweating, and didn’t seem to notice it. His eyes—there was a kind of eerie look in his eyes that made her want to shiver.

  She had the strongest urge to pull Miranda back into the house and lock the door. She moved subtly closer to the older woman and kept her total attention on Robbins.

  “Mrs. Kendall, your husband and his brother have been playing you false, all these years! I lost my beloved wife recently. It grieved me that all the years we were married, try as I might, I was never able to have a deep and enduring connection with her. I suspected that she carried a torch, during our entire marriage, for two young Navy officers she met in the spring of 1942. One of them I now know was the father of her babies. Triplets she had, three little bastards that I treated as my own kin. I knew she was in the family way when we met, but I fell in love with her, married her, and adopted those babies. I believed in time, she would come to love me, too.

  “And I will believe to my dying day, she would have, had your husband not been carrying on with her behind my back!”

  “How do you know it was my husband? Perhaps it was his brother.”

  “To be honest, madam, I do believe it was both of them. Yes, it’s shocking and immoral! I know a lady such as yourself cannot possibly conceive of a woman carrying on with two men at the same time—two men who are brothers. But I am here today to tell you it’s true. Don’t judge my late wife too harshly for her wanton behavior. Those two men enslaved her with their immoral ways!”

  “I cannot imagine why you would come here.” Miranda looked beyond him to the car that was in the drive, and Samantha thought she was looking at the license plate. “All the way from New York, no less, to tell me such a preposterous tale.”