by Sara Orwig
“I’d love to meet the other Calhouns.”
She turned as Nick greeted her with an infectious smile. “I enjoyed your interview and was delighted that all was harmonious between the Milans and the Calhouns,” Nick said.
Destiny nodded her thanks. “I think it was entertaining and interesting. While Lindsay said the feud was still alive, she was quite pleasant.”
Nick grinned. “I think Lindsay and Tony were on their best behavior for their families’ benefit.”
“I’ll second that one,” Jake said. “I suspect she was being nice to her newlywed brother and sister-in-law.”
“I was happy with the interview and the audience we had,” Destiny said.
“Have you seen the Wrenville house yet?” Jake asked her.
“Oh, yes. We plan to go back again while we’re here. We might look around a bit for any hidden letter or fortune. That would be quite a discovery,” she said, smiling, glancing at Wyatt, who looked amused.
“Don’t get your hopes too high,” he cautioned. “A lot of kids have searched that house.”
“I’m surprised it’s not more than kids,” she said.
“According to rumors and gossip,” Jake stated, “Lavita Wrenville was an eccentric old maid who lived on a pittance left by her father. People are divided on opinions about Lavita Wrenville, but the majority think she started the rumors of saving her money and living a miserly existence shut up in that old house. Most people think she died penniless just as she had lived in poverty. From the time she was young until she died an old woman, there was no money coming in, only what her father left for her.”
Wyatt added to the story. “According to the old-time bankers, Lavita drew the money out of the bank and kept it at the house, so no one really knows, but with it going out and no more coming in, I don’t expect we’ll ever find a fortune there.”
“Stories abound, although they’re beginning to die out because we’re far enough removed from Lavita’s generation that there’s little interest,” Nick stated.
“I find all of it rather fascinating,” Destiny said. “I saw her portrait that hangs in the historical museum along with her mother’s and father’s portraits. It was painted when she was a young woman and she looked pretty in the painting.”
“I think it’s a good thing no one painted her picture in later life,” Madison remarked. “From all we’ve heard, she didn’t take care of herself or her home.”
“I still think it’s an intriguing story,” Destiny said. She caught Wyatt looking at her intently and she let her eyes lock with his. Whatever he thought, there was no way to tell by looking at him. His expression didn’t change, yet in gazing at him, she felt that flash of attraction that made her forget Lavita and everyone around her for a few seconds as she felt shut away with Wyatt.
Someone was talking and she realized they might be saying something to her. She tried to shift her attention from Wyatt, feeling a faint flush because she had lost the entire train of conversation.
She heard greetings and laughter and turned to see Tony Milan enter the room and stop to talk to one of servers who approached to take their drink orders. Tony looked like the epitome of a Texas cowboy in jeans, boots and a red Western shirt. She was certain he had hung his hat when he entered the house. She seemed to remember Wyatt once saying that Tony was a rodeo rider, and she could easily see him in that venue.
“You can always tell when Tony arrives because his enthusiasm spills over. He doesn’t make a quiet, unobtrusive entrance,” Wyatt remarked, greeting his brother as Tony joined them.
“Hi, Destiny,” he said and she smiled at him.
“I’m glad to see you again. Thanks for adding a nice touch to the interview.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he said, grinning. “Good luck in making a story out of that old Wrenville place. That all happened a long time ago.”
“If it isn’t interesting, it won’t be a show. Right now, I’m just looking into it.”
She was delighted to find out he was a fan of her show, and knowledgeable about the mysteries they’d covered. While she liked talking about them, she turned the tables on Tony. “So I hear you’re the rodeo performer.”
Tony grinned. “I love the challenge. It beats politics.” He elbowed Nick beside him. “I keep trying to talk my brother into taking up bronc riding but he won’t bite. Now, Wyatt’s deal is calf roping.” Tony’s blue eyes twinkled as he spoke and with his good-natured ribbing of his brothers, he looked ready for fun and interested in everyone.
Nick laughed. “I can’t find riding a bucking bronc quite in the same league as dealing with the laws of the land and making decisions that may help our quality of life. I like the challenges of politics, too, but I will admit they’re a far cry from trying to stick on the back of a contrary horse.”
“Ask Madison about her barrel racing,” Tony suggested to Destiny.
Madison laughed. “That was short-lived,” she said. “Too hard on the legs and my art became a lot more important. Tony is definitely our family’s rodeo performer.”
“To each his own,” he said, smiling at Destiny. Standing close to him, she could see flecks of green in his blue eyes. Handsome and charismatic, he would be fun to have on her show if she could think of a way to work him into the program, assuming there was one.
Over drinks Destiny listened to the Milans and Jake talk about Verity and telling funny stories about the locals, and she realized Wyatt had a warm, close-knit family with compatible siblings.
She sat beside Nick, who didn’t have the exuberance of his younger brother, but had his own friendly manner.
“Destiny, tell me what politicians you’ve had on your show or worked with in California.”
“There have been quite a few.” She named several. “They were cooperative, easy to work with.”
“That’s because they were probably looking for votes,” Nick said, smiling at her. “Goes with the job.”
“You didn’t get interviewed for the show. How do you feel about the feud?”
“It doesn’t exist for me,” he answered easily. “I don’t have a quarrel with any of the Calhouns. Not until one runs against me for public office,” he added, drawing a smile from Destiny.
She looked at the three brothers. “All of you are so different, but then I’m different from my sister. Wyatt is the quiet one, I see.”
Nick agreed. “Wyatt is our rock. Our dad was a busy lawyer and later a judge. By high school if we had problems to take to Dad, we’d take them to Wyatt instead. He’s levelheaded, smart, able to work through problems. He would have been a hell of a trial lawyer, but he’s a cowboy at heart. He loves his ranch and he has the resources to do what he wants. Wyatt likes a simple life. He has an island where he spends time occasionally in the cold of January or February, but otherwise, he’s on his ranch if he can be.”
“True,” Wyatt said as he clapped his brother on the back. “Can’t think of any place I’d rather be.”
Destiny turned to Wyatt, looking into his blue eyes and shutting out the others. For a moment she could only think about being alone with him later in the evening.
Through a delicious barbecue dinner with platters of ribs and afterward, she enjoyed the Milans and Jake and was surprised when Tony stood to go. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was almost midnight.
Madison and Jake stood next, saying they hadn’t realized the time, and Nick followed.
It was another thirty minutes before each one finished telling her goodbye and they all went out the door. She stood on the porch with Wyatt as they left.
“So now do I get my purse to go?”
“Don’t even think about it. I’m just waiting until they get underway.”
“What a nice family you have,” she said. “You’re fortunate, Wyatt.”
“I love her art. She’s very talented.”
“Yes, she is.”
“So you and Tony are the ones who’ll be here all the time.”
“Probably. There they go,” he said as the last car pulled away. He draped his arm across her shoulders. “We’re alone. The cook has gone to his quarters, and his staff has left for the day.”
They entered the house and Wyatt locked up, switching on the alarm. She watched as he moved around.
He took her hand. “Come let me give you a tour—we’ll start with my bedroom.”
“I can’t wait,” she said breathlessly. “It was a delightful evening.”
“I enjoyed it, but I was ready for them to go home about two hours ago so we could be alone.”
She smiled at him as they held hands and climbed the winding stairs to the second floor.
“You looked gorgeous tonight, but that’s nothing new,” he said.
“It’s new to hear you tell me and I love to hear that from you. I want to dazzle you, Wyatt, to break through that armor you keep around yourself. You only give so much and no more.”
“I’ve told you why and I didn’t think there was anything lacking in our relationship. Is this a complaint?”
She smiled at him and ran her fingers across his chest as they walked down a wide hall together. “I think not. Absolutely no complaints over being with you. I just want to dazzle you is all.”
“Believe me, I’m dazzled. I can barely get my breath. Here’s my room,” he said, switching on lights as they entered a large living area with a rolltop desk, bookshelves, a big-screen television and other electronic equipment, leather sofa and chairs, another huge rock fireplace, and a built-in fish tank with exotic fish.
“This is marvelous, Wyatt,” she said, turning to face him.
“You’re marvelous and I’m spellbound,” he said in a husky voice as he slid his arm around her waist. “I’ve waited way too long for this,” he said before he silenced her reply with a kiss.
Her heart thudded and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly, wanting him more than she would have guessed possible. She, too, felt as if it had been days she had waited for this moment. She wanted to be in his arms, making love, holding him close the rest of the night. She didn’t want to think about how different they were, or the way he’d closed off his heart. She didn’t want to think about parting with him or Wyatt going out of her life. The realization startled her momentarily.
Was she falling in love with him?
Seven
She felt caught in a dizzying spiral as desire for Wyatt consumed her. She wanted him with her whole being and felt she couldn’t get enough if they loved for hours.
She kissed him passionately, pouring out her feelings, wanting to break through that barrier he kept around his heart. Each time they loved, it was hot, sexy, but there was always a part of him that he kept to himself, a shuttered look in his eyes. As slight as it was, she could feel it as they loved and she wanted him to lose that with her, to let go and pour himself completely into loving, to stop being afraid to give of himself completely.
Clothes were a barrier and soon tossed aside. She caressed him, determined to drive him as wild as he drove her.
Later, as Wyatt kissed her, he picked her up to carry her to his bed. He trailed kisses along her throat and over her breasts, his mouth following his hands as he caressed her, over her waist, her hips, her legs, taking his time as if he cherished her. Then he reversed the trail of kisses from her feet to her neck. No man had ever done this, kissed her like this, as if every part of her was special and deserving of attention. And she reveled in it.
But the warmth he elicited was nothing compared to the fire he ignited in her when he placed her legs on his shoulders and used his hands and tongue to stir a tempest in her. She enjoyed the sensations, allowed herself to bask in them, until she hovered near release. She didn’t want to find that ecstasy alone; she wanted Wyatt with her. She lowered her legs and pulled him into the V they created, a special space just for him.
When he finally entered her, she held him tightly, her long legs wrapped around him, moving with him and trying to make their loving last as long as possible.
Her head thrashed, her long red hair spilling over her shoulders in wild disarray.
Sweat beaded on Wyatt’s forehead and on his broad shoulders as he tried to keep control, to love her. She felt wound tighter and tighter until she crashed into release, her hips rocking with him as his control vanished and he pumped furiously.
Pleasure poured over her and she felt him shudder with his climax. She held him as close as possible and in that moment, she felt in love for the first time in her life.
Her eyes flew open. As if he sensed something, Wyatt slowed and turned his head to kiss her. She held him tightly, kissing him, even as she felt a sense of panic because she was in love with him and it was something that couldn’t be and she never intended to have happen.
In his arms she’d found rapture, satisfaction and now an added factor. Love that couldn’t be stopped or avoided because it had already happened. She was in love with a tall, Texas cowboy, a rancher, a man whose heart was locked away and a man as different from her as a city sidewalk from a country lane. “I love you.” She mouthed the words, but didn’t even whisper them.
She loved him. She trusted him. She wanted to be with him. He brought calmness to her life she didn’t have. With Wyatt, as nowhere in her busy life, she wasn’t always the one in charge. In her job, hers was often the final call, and in her life, it seemed as if she’d been taking care of her family forever, her mother, her grandmother and her sister. Wyatt made her feel that the decisions didn’t all have to be hers, that everything wasn’t resting on her shoulders alone.
She didn’t want to tell him goodbye and return to Chicago and go on with her life without ever seeing Wyatt again.
How had she let this happen?
“You’re fantastic,” Wyatt whispered, kissing her lightly again as his weight came down more on her. She held him tightly still, absorbing the moment, putting off separation from him. For right now, she loved him and she held him against her heart and this was a good moment. But he didn’t feel what she did. Wyatt’s heart was locked away and there hadn’t been a change in him. For Wyatt, theirs was a lusty relationship. For her, the relationship had changed and grown deeper.
She stroked his back. “Wyatt, this is so good,” she whispered. “So very good.”
He rolled over, keeping her close in his embrace and then he looked into her eyes. She gazed back, wondering how much he could see of what she felt.
He kissed her gently, carefully and then looked at her again, smoothing her damp curls away from her face. “This is all I could think about. I want you in my arms, in my bed all night long and tomorrow. You don’t have to go back to town, do you?”
“I don’t have appointments.”
“Good. I don’t want to let you go.”
In due time she knew he would let her go. This was not something Wyatt wanted permanently. She’d been so sure she wouldn’t fall in love with him. She had never really been in love before, but she could recognize it when it happened. She loved this tall cowboy and there was no undoing what was done.
“You’re fantastic, Destiny. I just can’t let you go. I want to hold you close all night, love again as often as we can. You’re the sexiest woman on this earth.”
“Ah, Wyatt, this is good. We should be together. You don’t have to let me go. We’ve got the rest of the night, part of tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow might not be quite enough,” he said.
“You’ll still have to go into town tomorrow, won’t you?”
“No. That’s why I have deputies. Without you there, everything will be quiet and peaceful,” he said, smiling at her.
She looked up at him and laughed. “I haven’t upset your life or the town that much. Don’t tell me you don’t ever have crime or anything going on in Verity?”
“Oh, sure. Fred Baines parked by the fire hydrant last week and within the hour the J.B. Grill caught on fire. The fire truck couldn’t get up to the hydrant at first until we got the car moved. The next day I had to get the Wilcoxes’ cat out of their chimney and the dead bird he carried in there.”
She smiled. “I still don’t think I’m the biggest problem that Verity has for the sheriff.”
“You’re definitely the most delightful problem,” he said, nuzzling her neck and making her laugh again. She stroked his smooth back, relishing touching him, feeling the solid muscles beneath her palm.
“This is good,” he whispered.
“I agree. It’s perfect.”
“What do you plan to do after this show? Few shows run forever.”
“I have ideas for more books I want to write, and some other avenues I’d like to explore. I want to get back to California. If Desirée stays happily married, that’s a responsibility I won’t have, but I still try to help my grandmother. Chicago is far away from my family and I’m tied down by the show. What about you? Do you plan to retire as sheriff after the Wrenville house is taken care of and go back to being a rancher for the rest of your life? Will you be a hermit on your ranch—living out your life all alone because of something someone did years ago? You seem too full of life for that.”
“I’ll probably marry someday. Maybe a marriage of convenience even—”