Since Lucky had already opened his mouth to lecture him, he closed it. Because Logan was right. It was something he should have already checked on. Dixie Mae had a good BS meter, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have been duped and then unknowingly passed that duping onto Cassie and him.
“The girls are legit,” Logan went on. “It was just as Bernie told you. Both their parents are dead. Grandparents, too, and that’s why they’d been staying with Dixie Mae and then Scooter. But according to one of the late grandmother’s neighbors, there’s an aunt, the mother’s half sister, who I’m trying to track down. The neighbor didn’t know the half sister’s full name, but her first name is Alice.”
An aunt. That was definitely a close enough blood relative. Lucky had figured they might have to resort to looking for distant cousins.
“The girls never mentioned an aunt,” Lucky said.
“Because I doubt they know about her. Neither did Dixie Mae. That’s why the custody agreement reads as it does. She wanted the girls to go to a suitable relative, if one could be found. If not, they’re to remain with Cassie and you. But this aunt could be the fix to all of this.”
“Thanks.” Lucky paused. He apparently wasn’t the only one who hadn’t gotten any sleep. Neither Logan nor the person he’d paid to do these checks had, either. “But what does all of this have to do with me staying away from Cassie?”
Logan tipped his head to the paper.
Lucky wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was there, and he didn’t get a chance to read it. That’s because Cassie’s door opened, and she came out into the hall with them. Logan immediately took one of the cups of coffee from Lucky and handed it to her. He also glanced at the paper that he’d given Lucky, and even though Logan didn’t say a word about it, Lucky got a clear signal—don’t let Cassie see that yet.
Cassie had a big sip of the coffee, as if it were the cure for everything, and it was only after she had several more sips that she mumbled a “Thank you.”
“A reporter from LA called the local newspaper,” Logan told her. “He talked to Marlene Holland and was asking questions about you.”
Cassie didn’t seem especially surprised about that. She just sighed. “What did he want?”
“I think he was sniffing for a story, that’s all, but Marlene did say he wanted to know about the girls. She didn’t have any facts to give him, but he wanted her to call him if she learned anything.”
Cassie didn’t ask how a reporter hundreds of miles away would have found out about their custody situation. Probably because she was aware of how fast and far gossip traveled. Added to the fact that Cassie was a celebrity of sorts, and it would make a juicy story if the LA press picked up on the fact that she was a temporary guardian to someone who looked and dressed like Mackenzie.
“I instructed Marlene to call me if the reporter contacts her again,” Logan added. “I think this guy’s running background checks on all of us. Someone is anyway, and I need to find out who.” He glanced at his watch, stood. “I have to leave for work, but if I hear anything more about the girls’ aunt, I’ll let you know.”
“Aunt?” Cassie said, looking at the paper. “Did Logan find something?”
Evidently, but Lucky didn’t want to share what was on that paper until he’d had a chance to read it. “Logan’s looking for their mother’s half sister.” And Lucky had no doubts that he’d find her.
As long as Mackenzie was in the house, there was potential for bad press, something that Logan would want to avoid. For once, though, Lucky was glad his and his brother’s agendas meshed.
“Good.” Cassie had more coffee, and since her attention kept going to the paper, Lucky stuffed it in his jeans pocket.
Out of sight, however, didn’t mean out of mind, since Cassie’s gaze just went in that direction. Which meant it went in the direction of his crotch. She quickly looked away, but not before it got Lucky to thinking.
Why would Logan warn him about getting involved with Cassie?
And why did that warning only make him want to get involved with her even more? Because he was stupid, that’s why. Of course, he hadn’t needed a warning to make him remember the attraction.
Not with the attraction sitting right next to him.
Even though Cassie probably hadn’t slept, she still managed to look amazing. Hair done, makeup. But that was just surface stuff. Beneath that, she was beautiful, always had been. That wasn’t only limited to her face. Her body was a sizzler, too. Not overly curvy but more than enough to catch and hold his attention.
Especially those legs.
She was wearing a skirt again today, a slim white one. It hit several inches above her knees, and with the way she was sitting, the skirt had ridden up even more. Not as much as the night before when she’d had the panic attack, but he could see plenty of her long legs and had no trouble imagining where those legs stopped.
“You’re wondering about the shoes,” she said.
Uh. No.
But he would take to the grave what he had been wondering about.
However, she was indeed wearing shoes. Heels about four inches high and pale pink, about the same color as her mouth.
“This isn’t about what happened yesterday with Livvy,” Cassie continued. “I really do wear shoes like this—often.”
Lucky had no idea how to respond to that so he just nodded. That was enough of a cue to keep Cassie talking.
“I only wear those flat shoes when I’m traveling. Because I twisted my ankle once while running to catch a flight. And that gray outfit I had on yesterday? Again, just for traveling.”
Of course, that only made him notice her legs again. And the fit of her top. Snug in just the right places.
“Anyway, I thought you should know,” she added. Cassie drank more coffee, fast, as if trying to give her mouth something else to do other than talk.
“Wanna know something?” he asked.
She didn’t jump to answer that. Cassie stayed quiet for a while, studying his face and no doubt trying to figure out what this was about. She finally nodded.
“You’d look good in anything,” Lucky admitted.
“Oh,” she said. Yeah, that was definitely a surprise. Because it threw the attraction right out there. And there was no doubt about it now—there was an attraction. If there hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have cared what he thought about her clothes and shoes.
“Oh,” Cassie repeated, tearing her lingering gaze from his. “Well, thanks. Now, to what we really should be talking about. The girls,” she clarified. Probably because he looked at her breasts, she clarified even more. “Mia and Mackenzie.”
“What about them? Mia and Mackenzie?” he clarified, too.
“I don’t have any experience counseling or dealing with troubled children, but I have a friend who does. Dr. Sarah Dressler. I called her last night and asked her to come. She might not make it here before it’s time for the girls to leave, but just in case this lingers on...”
No need to finish that. If this lingered on, they’d need help and lots of it. Lucky wasn’t about to turn down anything or anybody, especially when that anybody might know how to deal with Mackenzie.
“I suspect Mackenzie’s acting out because she has abandonment issues,” Cassie added. “It’s fairly common with children who’ve lost their parents. They challenge authority, break rules, run away. They run because they fear abandonment again, and they believe running will fix the problem. If they don’t stay in one place, they can’t be abandoned.”
Lucky replayed all of that. Word for word.
Well, hell.
Was Cassie analyzing him now, or Mackenzie?
“There’s no quick, easy solution,” Cassie went on. “She’ll need lots of love, reassurance. She’ll need to believe she can fit into a new life where someone will love her... What?”
“What?” Lucky repeated.
“You’re looking at me funny,” Cassie said.
Lucky quickly tried to fix that. “Just thinking, that’s all.” And comparing.
But he ditched the comparison. He was nothing like Mackenzie despite what Cassie had just said. Despite, too, what Riley had said the day before about Mackenzie reminding him of Lucky.
Cassie stared at him a while longer. “Anyway, I thought maybe you could talk to her about what it was like to lose your own parents.”
This would have been a good time for him to nod and agree. He didn’t. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to dredge up all of that.”
More staring at him. “Okay.” Lucky figured what she was doing was using a therapist’s ploy: waiting for him to spill more.
He wouldn’t.
“Why don’t you check on the girls?” he asked. It was time to get to his feet and head out. “I’ll see about getting us some more coffee and some breakfast.” Lucky walked away, hoping that was the end of the subject for Cassie.
It’d never be the end of it for him, though.
Lucky had plenty of memories of that night he’d become an orphan, and he didn’t intend to share them with Cassie or anyone else. He hadn’t been able to save his mom and dad.
They had both died in a car crash that could have been prevented.
And it was all his fault.
* * *
CASSIE WATCHED AS Lucky walked away. She didn’t need any psychology degrees to know something was bothering him. Maybe something on that piece of paper that he’d shoved into his pocket.
Something he clearly hadn’t wanted her to see.
For just a second she had considered trying to talk him into showing it to her, but it was his own business and had nothing to do with her. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t have anything else to do. She had to deal with the girls, and that started with her knocking on the door of the guest room where they were staying.
No answer.
It wasn’t exactly late, just after eight, but she couldn’t imagine the girls—well, Mia anyway—ignoring a knock. Cassie knocked again. Still no answer, and she was about to test the knob when the door opened. Relief flooded through her when she saw Mia. Panic came just as fast, though, when she didn’t see Mackenzie.
“I can’t tie my shoes,” Mia said. She tried to stick out one foot and nearly lost her balance. Cassie caught onto her to stop her from falling.
“I’ll tie them for you. Uh, where’s your sister?”
“Bathroom. It takes Kenzie a long time to do stuff in there.”
Yes, it had to take time to spackle on that much makeup. The bathroom was en suite, but the door was closed and Cassie didn’t hear anyone moving around. Since there was a window in there, it was possible Mackenzie had used it to get away. But Cassie rethought that. She wouldn’t just abandon Mia. Well, she wouldn’t if Cassie’s theory was right.
Of course, that theory was just as likely to be wrong. It wasn’t as if she had a stellar track record when it came to doling out diagnoses.
Cassie set Mia on the bed so she could tie her shoes. She hurried, too. All in all, the little girl had done a good job dressing herself in a pair a pink overalls with a white shirt beneath.
“I pulled up my own panties,” Mia volunteered. “And I didn’t get ’em bunched up.”
Cassie wasn’t sure if that was a big accomplishment or not for a four-year-old, but she said, “Good girl,” and made her way to the bathroom door. She leaned in, pressed her ear against it and almost fell when Mackenzie threw it open.
“I’m still here, all right?” Mackenzie snarled. “And I wrote that stupid apology to the old woman at the ugly lawyer’s office.”
Since it had worked with Mia, Cassie went with another mumbled “Good girl,” though it didn’t have the same effect on Mackenzie. Mia had smiled at Cassie. Mackenzie was sporting her usual scowl and a fresh slathering of makeup. Sheez, considering the amount she used, her entire suitcase had to be filled with the stuff.
Mackenzie thrust a Post-it note at her. “Take it. It’s the apology.”
Cassie did take it and saw the two words scrawled there. “I’m sorry.”
“I told Kenzie to say it like she means it, and that’ll make the lawyer lady feel better,” Mia said.
“I do mean it!” Mackenzie growled. “I mean it because I want to get everybody off my back.”
It probably wasn’t the heart-wrenching regret and promise that she’d never do it again that Wilhelmina would be looking for. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep the woman from going through with filing those charges, though. Cassie hated to think that Lucky might have to kiss Wilhelmina, or something more, just to get Mackenzie off the hook. There was also the added problem of Mackenzie not learning anything if Lucky paid for her crimes.
Of course, Lucky wouldn’t want to have to pimp himself out to pay for those crimes, either. It wasn’t as if Wilhelmina were a tasty morsel like Livvy.
“Cat!” Mia squealed.
Cassie whirled around, expecting to see Ethan’s yellow cat, but this one was black. And it was one that Cassie recognized.
Oh, no. He hadn’t.
Cassie hurried toward the stairs and encountered another cat. Yet another one she recognized. Both of them had belonged to Dixie Mae, which meant her father had dropped them off.
Or rather he was still dropping them off, she realized, when she spotted Mason-Dixon in the foyer.
He was in the process of letting a third one out of a kitty kennel. The moment the Siamese was free, she shot toward the hall. Her father stood there, smiling, the trio of kennels now at his feet. And he wasn’t alone. Della was there.
“Mason-Dixon let himself in,” Della said, sounding about as pleased with this visit as Cassie was. “I should have locked the door after I brought in the newspaper.”
Her father offered no apology for that. “This’ll teach Dixie Mae,” he said. Which was a stupid thing to say.
“Gran’s dead,” Cassie reminded him. “You can’t teach her anything now. Besides, you gave me two days to find homes for the cats, and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”
“What’s going on here?” Lucky asked, coming into the foyer.
He was holding the folded piece of paper, the one he’d had in the hall earlier, and he stuffed it back into his pocket. Judging from his expression, whatever was on it was bad news. Or maybe the expression was simply for the bad news right in front of them.
Her father.
“I’m delivering the cats.” Her father looked as if he wanted to add some profanity to that, but he must have changed his mind. Maybe because he spotted the kids who’d followed Cassie down the stairs, but it was more likely because Lucky was giving him a “make my day” kind of glare.
“You could have called me first,” Cassie scolded. “Or at least knocked.”
“I’m tired of being polite.” Laughable since Mason-Dixon was rarely polite. “I was also tired of waiting for you to do something about this mess your idiot grandmother made.”
“I’ve been busy,” Cassie grumbled.
“Yeah, I can see that.” Her father’s attention landed on Mackenzie. “Dixie Mae left you a mess, too.”
That was not the right thing to say. Lucky stepped forward as if he might slug him. Cassie wouldn’t have minded that so much—Mason-Dixon deserved a good butt-whipping—but she didn’t want that to happen in front of the girls.
“Just leave,” Cassie told her father. But then she paused and glanced at the three kennels again. “Where are the other three cats?”
Her father smiled.
Oh, no. That couldn’t be good.
“Here’s how this will work,” he said. “You get the rest of the cats, and I get half of whatever D
ixie Mae leaves you. Up front. I don’t want to wait weeks for her will to be read. Find out what she left you and write me a check for half. I’m giving you two days. If not, you’ll never see the other three cats again.”
Cassie glanced at Lucky and Della to make sure she’d heard her father correctly. Apparently, she had, because they looked just as bewildered as she felt. Well, Della did anyway. Lucky looked ready to start that butt-whipping.
“You’re holding the cats for ransom?” Lucky asked.
“You’re damn right I am. Dixie Mae didn’t give me a choice. She’s the one who started this by giving me those cats. Well, I’m the one finishing it. Pay up.”
Cassie shook her head. “It’s possible that Gran didn’t leave me any money in the will.”
“Oh, she left you plenty all right. And if she didn’t leave it to you, she left it to him.” Mason-Dixon shot Lucky a glare. “Either way, I want to get paid, and I want it to happen sooner than later.”
Lucky stepped closer. “Or?”
Mason-Dixon smiled again. “That’s the thing, Cassie won’t know what the or will be. And I know she wouldn’t want to see anything happen to her grandmother’s precious cats.”
“I’ll call the sheriff,” Della volunteered.
But that only caused her father to laugh. “Dixie Mae left those cats to me. They’re mine now. The sheriff can’t take my property without cause, and for now I’m not giving him any cause.” He headed out the door and down the porch steps. “Pay up,” her father added in a growl as he left.
Lucky started to go after him, but Cassie took hold of his arm. “Don’t give him the fight he wants. I’ll figure a way to work this out.” Though at the moment she couldn’t think of how to do that.
So much was hitting her at once, and all Cassie wanted to do was curl up somewhere and calm down before she had another panic attack.
Thankfully, Lucky didn’t go after Mason-Dixon. They all just stood there and watched her father drive away while the cats darted around the room. Cassie shut the door to keep them from darting outside, and when she turned Mia was there, her hand outstretched. She had the gold star that Livvy had given her in her palm.
Lone Star Nights Page 10