9781631054723LucasDavis

by Susan Fisher-Davis

  “It’s none of your business, Tinker.”

  “I just wanted to know if you still had plans to breed Cinnamon with Blue, since Blue belongs to Lucas.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Lucas wanted them to have a foal together but if he tore out of here, what he wants don’t much matter. I think you should sell his horse anyway. We don’t need him here anymore than we need Lucas here.” He practically marched from the office.

  Emily knew he was hurting too. Tinker loved Lucas and he was upset Lucas was gone. She sat back in the chair and stared out the window. Even though Tinker shouldn’t be surprised Lucas was gone since she’d heard Tinker trying to talk him out of it. Tinker probably thought he’d convinced Lucas to stay and was angry he hadn’t been able to talk him into it. They’d get through this. They had to. Whispering Pines would go on without the other owner. Once Lucas let her know where he was, she’d mail him his checks. Even that was going to be hard on her. Writing his name on a check and envelope. She wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

  * * * *

  Two weeks later, it seemed as if she worried for nothing. Lucas hadn’t contacted her at all. Where was he? Did he miss her at all? Like she missed him? Emily hadn’t slept at all and it was catching up to her. She dragged her feet out to the barn in the mornings and practically crawled to the house at night. Tinker kept an eye on her but didn’t say anything until the day she almost passed out. He caught her before she hit the floor.

  “I’m all right, Tinker.”

  “The hell you are,” He roared. “You’re not sleeping or eating and you’re killing yourself out here. I don’t know what happened between you and Lucas but it’s obvious you’re falling apart without him.”

  Emily jerked away from him. “Don’t you tell me you don’t know what happened. I heard you. I heard you both,” she shouted.

  Tinker frowned. “Heard us? Heard us about what?”

  “He said he was restless and you tried to tell him to give it time. I told him to go so I wouldn’t have to hear him tell me he was leaving me.”

  “Wait. You told him to leave?” At her nod, he took his hat off and threw it to the floor. “I can’t believe you. You know I love you, you’re like a daughter to me, but if you’d have just come in and asked what we were talking about instead of jumping to conclusions, Lucas would still be here,” his voice rose as he ranted.

  “What are you saying, Tinker?” Emily whispered.

  “Damn woman! He was talking about wanting children. He was getting restless thinking about them but he wasn’t sure you were ready. I told him since you hadn’t been married long to give it time. You were both young.”

  Emily put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. “No.”

  “Yes. Now he’s gone and we’re all miserable, especially you.” Tinker picked his hat up. “I don’t know how, but you need to find him. I’m sure you broke his heart. That man loves you more than anything. I know that, even if you don’t.” He strode away from her.

  The tears in her eyes overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. How could she have been so stupid? Why had she doubted him? He loved her. Lucas wasn’t the type of man to say it if he didn’t mean it. He didn’t need to say it to get anything from her, he already owned half the ranch. He had more than enough money of his own, he didn’t need hers. When he told her he loved her, he meant it and she made him leave. She groaned. The things she’d said to him were unforgivable. He had protected her from Adam. He kept her safe and she’d told him he hadn’t. What kind of wife says those kind of things to her husband? She could see the look on his face as if he stood in front of her now. The hurt was plain to see but she hadn’t seen it then. The hurt blinded her as it surely did him. Emily picked up her cell phone and called his friends. They all said they had no idea where he was, until she called Mont.

  “Agent Bradford,” he answered.

  “Mont…” She cleared her throat. “This is Emily…Taggart. Do you know where Lucas is?”

  “Don’t you?” Came his snappish response.

  Emily winced. “No. I was hoping you did. He…left here two--”

  “He left or you told him to leave?”

  “I told him to leave but it was a misunderstanding.”

  “I always thought married couples worked things out instead of giving up.”

  “Mont, please. I need to find him,” Emily pleaded.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” He disconnected the call.

  Emily stared at her phone, not believing he’d hung up on her. She was positive all of Lucas’s friends knew where he was, they just weren’t going to tell her. Apparently, Lucas had told them what happened.

  Later in the evening, she saw truck lights coming up the driveway and her heart hit her stomach when she recognized Lucas’s truck. He was home! She ran toward the kitchen and waited for him to enter the house. She planned to throw herself at him. A few minutes went by and he still hadn’t come in. Emily moved toward the door and peered out. His truck sat at the entrance to the barn, a horse trailer on the back. He was there to pick up Blue, not to see her. Well, if he thought it was going to be easy, he was in for a shock. Emily ran out to the barn and moved around his truck to stand at the back of the trailer.

  * * * *

  Lucas led Blue from the stall and stopped in his tracks when he saw Emily standing by the trailer. He took a deep breath and moved forward. Lord, it hurt to look at her. The closer he got to her the more he wanted to pull her into his arms and never let her go, but she didn’t want him or his horse. He shook his head.

  “If you would have just told me the day you made me leave to take my horse, I wouldn’t have had to come back.”

  Emily frowned at him. “What?”

  Lucas huffed. “I didn’t think you’d want me to take Blue or I would have.”

  She shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

  Lucas clenched his jaw. “Mont told me you called him and said to tell me to come get Blue.” He shrugged. “I would have taken him when you first told me to leave if you’d have let me know.”

  “Mont told…” Emily laughed then slapped her hand over her mouth.

  Lucas narrowed his eyes at her. “Is that funny?”

  Emily nodded. “Yes, since I didn’t tell Mont any such thing.”

  “What?” Lucas scowled at her. “Of course you did. Mont wouldn’t lie…” Lucas swore. “If this is his idea of a joke, he’s a dead man.”

  “I did call him but to see if he knew where you were.”

  “Of course he knew. I was staying with him. I think I found some property in Butte I might buy.”

  “You can’t buy it.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “You own land here,” she said softly.

  “I’ll sell it back to you. I don’t want it.” He led Blue into the trailer. When he came back out and started to close the door, she stood in his way.

  “I don’t want your half, Lucas.” She gazed up at him. “I just want you.”

  “You told me to leave.”

  “I heard you tell Tinker you were restless. I thought you meant you needed to take off. I sent you away before you had a chance to leave me.”

  “I was talking about children.” He shook his head.

  “I know that now. Tinker told me. It’s why I wanted to find you. To apologize and ask you to forgive me and come home.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

  Lucas reached out and caught it then he pulled her into his arms. “I never want to go anywhere you aren’t, Emily. I love you. I want to have children and then I’ll have everything I could ever want in this life.” He gazed down into her face and lowered his lips to hers. Her arms circled around his neck and her legs around his waist when he lifted her up.

  “I’m so sorry for jumping to conclusions.” She rained kisses over his face.

  “You should have asked me what I was talking about,” he growled.

  “I will from now on. I promise
not to jump to conclusions. I love you, Lucas.”

  They jumped when a throat cleared behind them. They turned to see Tinker smiling at them.

  “I sure am glad to see you home, boss.”

  Lucas laughed. “I’m glad to see you and be home too, Tinker. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, could you take Blue out of the trailer for me? My wife and I have some catching up to do.” He chuckled when Emily blushed. “And we’ll work on those kids,” he whispered.

  Epilogue

  Christmas Eve Day

  “You look so beautiful, Shelly,” Emily said as she fixed Shelly’s veil.

  “I’m so nervous. What if he doesn’t show up?”

  Emily laughed. “Oh, please. Nathan will be here. He loves you.” She knew it was just nerves talking. Shelly didn’t doubt Nathan’s love. Emily strolled to the door when a knock sounded. She opened it to Shelly’s sister, Kathy, who was her maid of honor.

  “Hi Emily. Is she still nervous about him not showing up?” Kathy smiled. The sisters were both blonde and beautiful but where Shelly was petite, Kathy was statuesque.

  “Yes. I told her not to worry, he’d be here.”

  Kathy moved to her sister. “You look so beautiful. He’s here. I just saw him so now you can smile.” Kathy laughed when Shelly beamed.

  “I’ll just slip out and leave you two alone.” Emily smiled. She knew the sisters wanted time alone.

  “Emily,” Shelly’s voice stopped her. She turned to look at her. “Thank you for being a friend. I’m so glad we met over the summer. You’ve been a tremendous help to me.”

  Emily grinned. “My pleasure. I’m so happy you’re marrying Nathan and I hope you’ll be as happy as Lucas and I are.” She softly closed the door and headed for the church. She spotted Lucas standing in the vestibule, talking on his cell phone. He stuck it in his pocket and frowned.

  “Are you all right, Lucas?”

  “Mont said he’s going off the grid for a while. I won’t be able to contact him at all.”

  “Does he do that often?”

  “First time I’ve heard of it.” Lucas shook his head. “He said he’ll call me when he gets back. I don’t like it.”

  Emily kissed his cheek. “He’s FBI. He knows what he’s doing.”

  Lucas ran his eyes over her. “You look beautiful in your green dress, Missus Taggart.”

  Emily glanced down at the skintight green dress. “I won’t be able to get in to it much longer.”

  “Are you telling me you’re gaining weight, darlin’?” Lucas chuckled.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying, Mister Taggart.” She kept her gaze fixed on his face.

  Lucas frowned then his eyes widened as dawning set in. “Pregnant?”

  “Yep.” Emily almost squealed when he grasped her hand and led her down a hallway. He put her back against a wall.

  “You couldn’t have told me this earlier?” he growled.

  Emily laughed. “No. I know you. We wouldn’t have made it to the wedding and I had to help Shelly with her gown.”

  Lucas buried his face in her neck. “You’ll pay for that.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Let’s go sit down. We won’t ruin their day by telling anyone until tomorrow, but tonight, you and I are celebrating. I love you, Emily Taggart.”

  “I love you, Lucas Taggart.”

  Lucas kissed her quickly and led her into the church pew. They sat and waited for the ceremony to start. Emily leaned over toward him.

  “Did I tell you twins run in my family?” She laughed when Lucas groaned.

  *The End*

  About the Author

  Susan Fisher-Davis was born and raised in Cumberland, MD. She moved to Tennessee in 1996 with her husband and two children. She now lives in a small town outside of Nashville, along with her husband and their three dogs. Susan is a huge Nashville Predators hockey fan. She also enjoys fishing, taking drives down back roads, and visiting Gatlinburg, TN. She would love to hear from her readers and promises to try to respond to all. You can visit her Facebook page and website by the links below.

  https://www.facebook.com/skdromanceauthor?ref=hl www.susanfisherdavisauthor.weebly.com

  Other books by Susan Fisher-Davis

  Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1)

  Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2)

  Secret Cravings Publishing

  www.secretcravingspublishing.com