“Flor is a skilled and capable rider. She’s learned well, no doubt thanks to you,” Gary tells Gustavo diplomatically. The disgraced entrepreneur is clearly drunk, stumbling around the family room, nearly emptying the decanter. He was tempted to suggest that Gustavo go out and look for her himself but thought better of it. They don’t need three missing people out in a thunderstorm.
“You don’t have a daughter, do you?” Gustavo slurs, tripping over the leg of a chair. Fortunately, he lands in the seat before hitting his head on the armrest. Gary coughs into a fist to stifle a laugh. “If you did, you would be worried all the time.”
“Your daughter is a remarkable person. She’s responsible and smart. She can take care of herself,” Gary assures him. He feels almost guilty for trying to keep Collin and Flor apart. She’s probably the best person for his son and god knows Collin probably won’t be able to find better.
Gustavo brings his hand to his forehead. His dramatics are beginning to give Gary a headache. “Girls are different. They are precious. Imagine what it’s like to hold her as a tiny baby and be the only man in her life. Then one day she starts to like boys and doesn’t want to be around you, so you’re forced to watch her grow up at a distance. I worry that she’ll waste her potential or throw everything away for a guy. A horse trainer at that! I sent her to the best schools in the world only to see her throw it away on a goddamned horse trainer!”
Before Gary could say anything, Gustavo sees something behind him and bolts upright. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in hell!” He shouts.
Gary turns to see Gecimar standing by the kitchen. “I got a message that hell isn’t ready for me yet,” the older man replies calmly.
Chapter 47
“There’s no easy way to explain what happened with Suzann,” Collin begins.
Flor raises an eyebrow. “I imagine not, but I deserve to know.”
He nods and takes a deep breath. “I didn’t love her when I married her.”
The young woman wants to roll her eyes. She could only imagine her father saying that about her mother to one of his many mistresses. Then again, her father never had to offer an excuse.
“I thought I could love her, like I had back in high school. The woman you saw is just a bitter version of the person I knew then. She was so incredible. The only word I could use to describe her was that she was alive. Suzann had so much energy and seemed like she owned the world. It felt good to be chosen.”
“Oh, so one day she just said, ‘be my boyfriend?’”
Collin makes a face. He’d rather not talk to Flor about Suzann, but she deserves his honesty. “Not quite, but close. And I was happy to oblige. It was fun. But I went away to Berkeley and things just fizzled. I didn’t miss her, and she resented me for it. She didn’t want to move on without me, and I just wanted to be as far away from her as possible. She made it hard to walk away completely though, coming around whenever I came home.”
He pauses, running a hand through his hair before he continues. “We hadn’t really been together that much after I left. It was casual, at least on my end. I realize how selfish I was being now, not wanting to see how she was trying to stay in my life. Then, sometime after I started law school, we hooked up, just a sloppy thing that came out of a night of drinking. A couple of months later, she called to tell me that she was pregnant and I was the father. Boom! In no time, I became responsible for everything. She told me she was considering an abortion but couldn’t do it to our child.”
“The boy she was with at the market . . . ,” Flor surmises. “Then why marry her if you didn’t love her?”
“Eddie asked me that many times. The only reason I have is that it seemed like the right thing to do. I thought I’d take a year off and help out with the baby then go back, but she convinced me to help her start her coffee shop. Shortly after, she had the baby, and I knew right away he wasn’t mine.”
A bolt of lightning illuminates the dark gray sky. Rain slips through the cracks in the shelter above, wetting them both.
“Why didn’t you get divorced and leave?”
“I left her, but I couldn’t go back to school. I had law school debt and then debt from the shop. It didn’t seem right to stick my parents with the financial burden since they had already paid for college. At some point, Eddie made me realize I was ashamed. It was hard for me to admit that I had made a serious mistake and hurt a lot of people. I just wanted to shut down and pretend it didn’t really happen.”
Flor approaches and leans against the rail next to him. “Ignoring the truth is far easier than facing it.” She’s spent the last few years doing the same thing.
Collin kicks the heel of his boot against a rock. Flor is the first person he’d told about what happened. His parents and Eddie knew, but he didn’t bother to tell anyone else. He had allowed his friends from college and law school to assume that he had gone back home to ranch life by choice. And as much as he had chosen it, it was by default. The truth is, he had given up on himself.
“Do you think that maybe you’ll finish school?”
Collin shakes his head. “Being here was a good restart for me. I look at some of the people I knew at school and even the smart ones are struggling to find jobs. It’s not a good time to have a J.D. and be knee-deep in debt. Maybe, if I feel it’s right, I’ll go back to graduate school but for something I’m really passionate about.”
“Like poetry?”
“Yeah,” Collin turns his head and smiles. Flor has only seen this smile a few times, like when they were at dinner and he was talking to Eddie. It’s a smile born out of happiness. And it’s exactly what he feels right now. He has nothing else to hide from Flor, at least nothing that involves him directly. She knows everything, and she’s still there. Granted there’s a storm keeping her where she is, but he knows that if she were really angry, she wouldn’t be standing as close as she is right now.
“It wasn’t right that I didn’t tell you before we got involved.”
Flor shakes her head slightly. “You had plenty of opportunities.”
“Yes, I did. Except I was too proud and embarrassed to tell you.”
“Being exposed as a liar is far more embarrassing than admitting to being duped into marrying someone,” she replies pointedly.
“True.”
Flor doesn’t respond, expecting Collin to say more, but he doesn’t. They stand quietly, watching the rain continue to pour down around them, both of them wondering who will take the first step.
Chapter 48
“How long has she been out there?” Gustavo runs his hands over his face.
Gary checks his watch. “About an hour.”
The uninvited guest looks over at Gecimar, his eyes radiating a hatred for the man he blames for ruining his life. “You should be out there looking for her.”
“I’m an old man. I don’t see so well now. Besides, Flor is an excellent rider like your father. She will be fine.”
“I tracked the storm, Gustavo. It should pass in another hour, hour and a half at most.”
“That’s too long. I cannot believe you two just sit here while she is out in this,” he yells, motioning toward a window rattling in the wind. “There could be a flood.”
Neither cowboy nor trainer has it in them to argue. Gustavo is far too inebriated to be reasoned with at the moment. Gecimar showed up merely as a courtesy to Gary to keep him company, even though he knew Gustavo would probably give himself a stroke when he saw the old man. A part of him wanted to see if it would happen. He can’t help but take some perverse pleasure in making Gustavo miserable. Seems only right after the way he treated Gecimar’s family after Gustavo Sr.’s death. Plenty of people knew what happened that cold July day on the fazenda. Gecimar wasn’t there, but his wife was because she had worked as a housekeeper. They were all paid handsomely for their silence, except his wife who had gone missing two days later.
Gary lifts himself out of his chair when he hears the sound of footsteps becomi
ng more pronounced the closer they get. Relief floods over him when he sees his wife accompanied by an old friend. The expression on Marjorie’s face is grim. Even though she knows better, she can’t help but worry about Collin. When she’d heard he was out with Flor, she nearly collapsed. She was always so protective of her only son. Gary figures it was because of the multiple miscarriages she’d had before giving birth to him. She would blame Gary if anything terrible happened to their son.
Sapphire eyes greet him warmly. No smile, just a glance in his direction. Less than two minutes after hanging up the phone, she was in a helicopter bound for the East Hampton airstrip. The plane had been diverted to Sacramento, but rather than wait out the storm, she insisted on reaching Belo Horizonte as soon as possible.
“Poppy,” Gustavo mumbles. “I guess I can’t be surprised that your lackeys would run and tell on me.”
“Why would that be?” The Baron matriarch replies. “Is it that your visit is entirely unexpected, and completely unwarranted?” Her mouth spreads into a cold, insincere smile. He had worn out his welcome after his affair with her daughter, Lily. It hurt her to help destroy the empire his father, and the love of her life, had built, but she was tired of Gustavo’s games. Poppy was beginning to feel too old and too tired to deal with the antics of a Brazilian playboy who didn’t want to grow up. It’s not his fault, entirely. His mother raised him to believe he was the center of her universe and, by extension, the rest of the world. As far as Poppy’s concerned, that woman is to blame for everything.
Chapter 49
“Did you know my grandfather?” Flor asks Collin.
The cowboy nods. The heavy rain continues to pour as warm winds begin to whip through the trees.
Noticing a worried look on Flor’s face, Collin says, “These trees are old and well-rooted. We comb through and cut down weak ones every year.”
He can feel Flor relax her posture next to him. He wants to put his arm around her, keep her as close to him as she’d allow. Instead, he grips the wood, feeling a splinter enter his palm.
“I only remember meeting him a few times. He and my dad were friends, but he didn’t spend a lot of time at our house. One thing I liked was that he always had candy.”
Flor laughs. “Caramel, right?”
Collin chuckles. “Yeah, that’s right. As nice as he was, he always seemed really big to me, intimidating, you know. So I always felt like I had to prove myself, show off my skills as a rider whenever he was around.”
“He was a perfectionist,” Flor agrees. “He used to tell me that if you expect the best out of people, the most worthy ones will always show you who they are.”
Collin lets out a long breath. After a few moments he says, “I’m sorry, Flor.” He looks over at her, his expression sincere and open. “The way I’ve been to you this summer . . . .” He falters. “I haven’t proved to you that I’m worthy.”
Flor turns to face Collin. For a moment she glimpses the boy he had once been with his dark hair matted to his forehead, his brown eyes narrow and full lips drawn and serious. She finds him utterly adorable and undeniably beautiful.
“It’s not so different than the way I’ve been.”
“That’s not true,” Collin argues.
Flor drapes her blanket over the rail and rings out her hair. “It’s entirely true. I didn’t tell anyone my name or where I was from, or anything about me. I tried to be Flor from some random country in South America or whatever, deflecting any personal questions. We can both say that we purposely omitted important details about ourselves.”
“Why did you do it?” Collin asks. He raises his hand to remove the splinter.
“Like you, I let my pride get in the way. It’s not easy being the sad charity case or poor little rich girl. Just once, I wanted to go somewhere and leave my past behind. Little did I realize . . . .”
“That you were walking straight into it.” The cowboy finishes her sentence.
Flor nods. “Why didn’t you mention you knew who I was?”
“I figured that you would’ve said something if you wanted people to know. In any case, I had to swear that I wouldn’t.”
The young woman’s eyes go wide. “Who made you promise?”
“My parents,” Collin answers reluctantly.
“Why?”
Collin looks away, his jaw set and tense.
“It’s not your secret to tell, is it?” She touches the back of his hand.
He shakes his head before looking at her. “If I could, I would tell you everything.”
Chapter 50
“Marjorie, could you please make us some coffee?” Poppy asks. “Looks like our guest could use a cup.” She pauses and studies Gustavo carefully, “Or five.”
Marjorie goes into the kitchen and pulls out a French press while Poppy walks further into the room and sits on the sofa across from Gustavo. “You might want to go shower and sleep it off.”
He shakes his head vehemently. “Not until Flor is back here safe.”
Poppy looks over at Gary who shakes his head, telling her it hasn’t happened yet.
“Right, well, I’m sure once the storm passes it will all be sorted.” She gets up and approaches Gecimar who speaks rapidly to her in a low voice. Once he’s finished, he turns abruptly and leaves, unwilling to spend another minute in Gustavo’s presence.
“I’m assured that your daughter is fine. Gecimar is confident that she’ll return when the storm blows over. In any case, she’s not alone, which I’m sure you’ll find reassuring.”
Poppy couldn’t keep that last part to herself. She wanted to see Gustavo’s expression, which made it worth upsetting Gary. Seeing Gary’s jaw drop, she could tell he didn’t want Gustavo to know. Oh the stupid games men play. It’s far more fun to play with the truth.
“Collin is quite the expert, so as you can see, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.” Poppy thinks to herself that she really shouldn’t be enjoying this part of the situation as much as she is, but Gustavo deserves it. She had to cut short a Pilates session with an incredibly flexible and fit Italian trainer named Gianluca to come here and sort out Gustavo’s mess—again.
Marjorie had kept Poppy up-to-date with what had been going on at the ranch, although she obviously played down Flor and Collin’s budding relationship. Naturally, Poppy understands why she would considering what Collin knows about Flor’s grandfather and the ranch. However, Poppy likes the idea of two people finding love or lust at a place where those feelings were so entwined. As a matter-of-fact, Poppy can’t help but feel a bit proud of Flor for embracing a fun, summer fling. God knows as uptight as that girl was when she saw her in New York, she really needed a good lay.
“You’re returning to Paraná tomorrow.”
Gustavo shakes his head.
“That wasn’t a request,” Poppy admonishes. She accepts a cup of coffee from Marjorie, then hands it to Gustavo.
“You don’t get to dictate the terms.”
Poppy scoffs. “You are not a child, Gustavo.”
“Then do not speak to me as if I were.”
“You behave like one, then I will treat you as such.”
Gary and Marjorie watch from the side, as if spectators in a tennis match, the players volleying insults and old hurts back and forth. They’ve seen this before, the last time Gustavo visited four years ago. He had hoped to escape his woes in Brazil and hide out until it all passed. Poppy refused him then as well, telling him that his father would’ve faced up to his responsibilities, just as he always had, like agreeing to stay with Gustavo’s mother when she told him she was pregnant with his child. The timing, like everything that Gustavo’s mother did, was dubious. Poppy, however, refused to step aside when Gustavo Sr. decided to stay with Tatiana, and for better or worse, she’s been helping rescue his son from himself for years. Now Poppy’s had enough.
It goes on for several minutes, the blame, the accusations, who was responsible for the collapse of the de Lima empire, who kept Gustavo
Sr. from his real family in Brazil. It’s not new, except this time Poppy is ready to end it.
“Tell me why you’re really here, Gustavo, and don’t give me some bullshit about your daughter hooking up with the Taylor boy. Your daughter’s love life has nothing to do with you leaving Brazil.”
Gustavo regards her over the rim of his coffee cup. Fucking hell, of course she knows.
Chapter 51
“What can you tell me about Belo Horizonte?” Flor asks.
Collin looks past Flor to consider what details he can filter without revealing too much. “Your grandfather bought this place a few decades ago. I’m not sure how he found it or why, but my father told me that your grandfather had a good eye for real estate.”
“Sounds like him,” Flor says. It warms her to hear someone else talk in a flattering way about her grandfather. In trying to ignore her father, she had all but pushed out the memories of the rest of her family who had been wonderful to her.
“I think he’d planned to live here when he retired.”
Flor stops smiling. “I hadn’t heard that before. I had always understood that he would live in Rio or Paraná.”
Collin shakes his head. He doesn’t want to upset Flor, so he says, “It’s all I know. I think the rest you’ll have to get from your dad.” He purposefully leaves out Poppy’s connection to the ranch. That will have to come from Mrs. Baron directly. And his father all but promised that she would arrive sometime today. Until then, Collin couldn’t be any more grateful for this storm. He wouldn’t have been able to have time alone with Flor. As far as he’s concerned, it could last all night.
Flor touches his hand, but this time doesn’t let go. “Thanks for your apology, and for trusting me.”
Collin looks down at her hand. Her touch sends sparks throughout his entire being. Every. Time. He recalls the first time, at the market and then again on the path outside her house. Being around her is exhilarating. He doesn’t have to feel her to become infused with her energy. He’s made a concerted effort to be still next to her, to not betray his desire for her. Collin knew she needed time. Now he can’t help but wonder, exactly how much does she need?
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