They could all do with a change of clothes. All they had here was what they’d worn last night. “We’ll grab a bite at the inn, then head to our place to change.”
“No walk of shame for me.” Tessa flashed her hand over her attire. “I don’t want anyone seeing me wearing the same clothes from last night.” She ducked past him and snagged one of the mugs. “All things considered, it would be best if we stayed here for the duration. Nate’s going to need a place to stay too. This suits all our needs.”
She blew the steam off her mug and gave him a sly smile from under her lashes. Rex’s cock stirred with interest. He was doomed to a perpetual erection whenever she was around, and even when she wasn’t.
“I’ll run over to my place and get your things.” He had to put some distance between them, or he’d have her up against the counter, dry-humping her. “Mine too.” He tilted his head Tyler’s way. “And you?”
“I’ll go with you, grab my stuff and some food.”
“There’s no food?” Tessa opened the refrigerator and just as quickly shut it. “I’ll make a list. Busy day. You’ll find the key to the plane in my stuff. I’m sure Nate would appreciate having his things here when we come ho…uhm…back.”
“Got it.” Rex left his coffee untouched and headed for the door.
“You going to be all right while we’re gone?”
Tyler’s question pulled Rex to a stop. He glanced around to find Tyler wedged up nice and tight with Tessa.
“I’ll lock the doors.” She stretched on tiptoe and gave him a kiss. “Besides, I know the combination to the gun safe.”
“Then arming yourself before we leave might not be a bad idea,” Rex said.
“Nor would arming yourselves,” she replied.
She had a point. “Let’s go.” Rex led the way to the basement door under the staircase. He nearly slammed into it when the door wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.”
“It’s the storm cellar. That doesn’t make any sense,” Tyler said.
“Does anything make any sense? Maybe he felt the steel building we installed under the aviary was safer.” Rex pulled his keys from his jeans. Maybe the key to the ranch house fit this one. It didn’t. “Goddammit!”
Tessa skimmed her hand over his back. “It’s all right. I’m sure he had his reasons. The key should be with his personal effects. We’ll get those when we go to town. Come.” She tugged him away from the door. “Let’s head to your place. We’re better together anyway.”
God, they were. Rex wrapped his arms around her, holding on for dear life. Begging her to never leave was on his lips. He kissed her hard and long to keep from saying it.
* * * *
Nothing like the headache from hell to add to his growing frustration. Tyler busied himself making breakfast, hoping coffee and food would make it go away. One thing after the other conspired against that. Frustration, confusion, and that unrelenting want for Tessa churned his emotions into a whirlwind of epic proportions. He had a lot of nerve, calling Rex on his actions, when his were no better. He kept his thoughts to himself, which might explain the damn headache. At least they’d made it back to the ranch house in one piece, possessions and food in hand.
“Here, let me.” Tessa slipped her hand over his, relieving him of the spatula. “Making scrambled eggs goes better when you turn on the stove.”
“I guess that makes up for burning the bacon.” Tyler happily relinquished the job and sank into one of the kitchen chairs.
“It’s not burned, just extra crispy.”
He appreciated the positive outlook but wondered if she really felt that way. She looked killer hot dressed in a navy blue sleeveless shift complete with pearls at her throat and ears. Her hair was woven into some type of a fancy braid and tucked neatly up. Tyler had also caught sight of the little white purse and heels that completed the outfit. He’d give anything to be taking her out on the town rather than to a funeral home. Maybe before she left… Because she would leave. He gave himself no illusions about that. Honestly, if he’d been in her shoes, Tyler might feel the same way about the ranch. There were a thousand different ways Mike could have handled the news that she was his daughter. Luring her in, making her his friend, getting her involved without full disclosure… Dirty pool.
“I expected Rex would be back by now.” She pulled one of Mary’s aprons from the linen drawer and tied it around her waist. “You should have gone with him.”
“And leave you alone? No way.” Tyler refreshed their mugs. “Don’t worry. He stopped off at the inn after he went to the plane for Nate’s duffel. He wanted to see if Hannah had the key to the basement.” Just as his words died, Rex walked in the front door.
“Smells good.” He dropped Nate’s duffel inside the door and headed their way. His stride faltered as he passed a long gaze over Tessa. “Wow, you look…”
Tyler laughed to himself. Finding an appropriate word for the occasion wasn’t going to be easy. Considering how often Rex had put his foot in his mouth the last two days, he was wise to think first.
“You look very nice,” he finally said.
“Thank you.”
She smacked the spatula on the side of the pan, twisted off the burner, reached for plates—essentially multitasked like nobody’s business—and served up breakfast before Tyler could budge to help her.
“You’ve got some catching up to do in that department if we’re going to get out of here in time.”
“It won’t take me long,” Rex replied.
“Did Hannah have any idea why Derek has the door locked?” she asked.
“Not a one. She said she never thought much about it. With the larger storm shelter under the aviary, she didn’t see it as a problem. It wasn’t part of what her staff cleaned. And she doesn’t have a key.”
“Clearly there’s something down there he wants to keep private.” Tyler crumbled the extra-crisp bacon over his eggs.
Tessa picked up a slice, snapping it in two with one bite. “Maybe the light bothered him, and he preferred complete darkness whenever he could get it. It’d be easier than putting blackout shades throughout the house.”
Made sense. Since he was secretive about his illness, he’d hide the fact he was living down there too.
“But he’s also not stupid.” She scooped up some eggs. “He’d have an extra key around for emergencies. While you pretty up, Tyler and I can search through the house to see what we can find.”
Rex snagged some toast from the stack in the middle of the table. “There aren’t enough hours in the day to help me look half as good as you.”
“Tell me about it.” Tyler felt like a schlub next to her, even wearing gray trousers and a pullover. Hell, he could be decked out in a white tux and still wouldn’t match her.
“I got a phone call from Nate a while ago.”
Pinky out, she helped herself to some toast. Yep, classy all the way.
“We won’t be picking him up after all. One of his people is picking him up. They’ll stay here tonight and then head back to California. I told him to get the key from Hannah if we’re not here.”
Rex looked up from under his eyebrows. “His people?”
She shrugged. “Something to do with his job. I’ve never pried, and always respected his need to remain silent on that subject. It was one of the reasons we got along so well.”
“For your booty calls.”
There went Tyler’s headache again. He braced himself for Tessa’s counterattack. Instead, she grinned.
“A good friend is hard to find. A hard friend even better.”
Rex burst out with a laugh and high-fived her. “Won’t argue there.” Then he sobered. “You realize you might not see him again for a while, Tessa. Maybe never.”
“I know. I accepted that from the start. As long as he’s alive, that’s all I care about.”
Rex slipped his hand over hers. She laced her fingers through his, holding on tight. Tyler’s tension drifted away, taking the fucking headache wi
th it.
* * * *
Tessa stared at the closed door leading to Mike’s room. Had he really done such a horrible thing? Didn’t everyone make mistakes? In retrospect, she’d behaved like a spoiled child when the truth came out. She’d shut out Rex and Tyler, became estranged from her family. Any excuse she could have made for her behavior became just that—an excuse.
“Want me to look in there?” Tyler asked from behind her.
“No, I’ve got it. I’m good.”
She waited until he ducked into Derek’s bedroom, then opened the door to an empty room. The wood floors gleamed, reflecting freshly painted white walls. Nothing of Mike’s presence remained. Tessa walked over to the closet but found it empty as well. She ran her fingers around the door frames and windowsills. No key.
“Got it,” Tyler called out. “I think.”
They met in the hallway. “Found this in a bowl on the dresser.”
A single key dangled off a ring attached to the braided leather holder. “That’s rather obvious.”
“Maybe he meant it to be.” Tyler motioned her to precede him down the stairs. “Let’s see if it fits.”
They paused long enough outside the second bathroom to hear the shower still running. Rex would have to catch up.
“Did you check Derek’s phone for messages?” she asked as they trotted down the stairs.
“It wasn’t there,” Tyler replied.
He would have kept it on him for emergencies. It made it more obvious that Derek meant for them to find this key.
At the bottom, Tyler blew out a breath, sidestepped her, and ducked around to the door beneath the stairs. Tessa held her breath, clutching her hands before her.
“I feel like I’m invading his privacy,” she said softly.
“I’m more concerned with how the grief’s going to hit us when we see what’s down there.” Tyler slid the key into the lock. “There was very little evidence of him in his bedroom. It hurts my heart to think he suffered in silence.”
She pressed her hand against his back. “Even if that was his wish?”
“I’m sure he had his reasons, but I can’t help but feel he was being selfish.” A twist of his wrist opened the door. Cool air drifted up from the darkness below. Tyler reached around to flick on the light, then started down. Tessa was right on his heels.
She’d only been down here a few times in the past. Mike had been insistent she know where the gun safe was and how to access it. He’d been equally determined Rex and Tyler made sure she knew how to shoot. She’d learned well. In fact, she’d learned every facet of the ranch in the times she’d spent here, working on the aviary and renovations to the inn. Mike had groomed her well to take over. So had Derek. She wondered if he’d been as helpful if he’d known…
Tessa shrugged the thought aside. She wasn’t going to waste any more energy picking the issue to pieces.
“Damn.” Tyler stopped so quickly she nearly smacked into him. Then she saw what he meant. The basement had been transformed into a studio apartment.
Cinder-block walls had been painted cream. Derek had a full-size bed in one corner next to two recliners. Both faced a small console with a TV, stereo, and game system. A laptop rested on the end table between the two chairs. There was even a refrigerator and microwave next to a dinette set. The only thing out of place was the big black gun safe.
“I don’t know whether to cry or be happy he’d made himself comfortable,” Tyler said.
“Be happy,” Tessa replied. “Crying gets you nowhere.” She’d learned that the hard way. “There’s a photo album on his bed.” Center stage, right where it would be seen. She walked over to it, paused, then flipped the cover open. So much for not crying. Pictures of Derek and Robert. Happy pictures. They’d spent a lot of time at the beach. Galveston, from the look of it. Sad too, because they showed Derek’s gradual decline over the months.
“There’s an envelope addressed to the three of us.”
She glanced around to where Tyler stood at the dinette set. He sliced it open with the key, then pulled out the letter. Even from this distance, she could see Derek’s perfect handwriting etched with the black felt-tip pen he loved.
Tyler cleared his throat. “It says, ‘I love him. Make sure he knows that. Do right by him. I couldn’t without causing him more trouble than it’s worth. You’ll find more answers than you ever wanted in the gun safe. Please understand. I had to do this my way. I was happy. I love you all. Best friends ever.’”
“Maybe Robert would like to meet us at the funeral home.” It seemed right he be as involved as possible.
“I’ll call in a bit.” Tyler slipped the letter back into the envelope.
They turned for the safe at the same time. Tessa hovered over Tyler while he twirled the combination lock. Behind them, Rex’s footsteps thundered down the stairs. He said nothing, but she felt his heat surround her when he edged closer. The last tumbler clicked into place. Tyler pulled the heavy door open. Tessa’s gaze fell on the spaces where two guns used to be. One was Derek’s and in the sheriff’s custody. Where was the other one? Was it the “smoking gun” that had killed Derek?
“What’s that?” Rex’s pointed over Tyler’s shoulder to the gray lockbox at the bottom.
Tyler glanced at the key still in his hand, pulled the box from the safe, and unlocked it. The quitclaim deed she’d given Derek lay in shreds on top of a stack of letters.
“Now we know what happened with that.” Tyler riffled through the envelopes.
“And I’m guessing those will explain why,” Rex said.
“I’ll call the funeral home and tell them we’ll be delayed.” Because she sure as hell wasn’t leaving without reading these.
Chapter Twelve
“Damn.” Rex summed it up nicely.
Tessa didn’t have any words, but she needed to find them. This wasn’t something she could shove under a rock. In truth, why would she want do? This was beautiful in its own way. Sad too. It sure helped her understand her parents’ silence more. Funny. She had more in common with them than she or they realized… Unless Mike had told them about Rex and Tyler.
One thing at a time.
“Robert doesn’t want to meet us at the funeral home.” Tyler stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “We really need to get going.”
“Having the Suburban detailed can wait.” Rex put the envelope Derek had left to them in the box along with the rest and locked it. “I’d prefer we stay together.”
Tessa did as well. “Sounds good.” She watched Rex put the box inside the gun safe. Derek’s photo album was under it. They’d find a way to give them to Robert without witnesses. How sad and touching that Derek always left his room this way, just in case he died suddenly.
She touched Rex’s shoulder before he locked the safe. “I’d feel better if those were with us for now. Maybe we could put them in your safe-deposit box.”
He gave a single nod, retrieved the box, and secured the safe. “Did you tell your parents Derek had died?”
“No, I didn’t think it mattered.” But it did. After all, Derek was their son. Or rather her father’s son. No, not her father. Tessa didn’t want to think about it anymore. It was right they be notified. “I’ll call once we’ve made arrangements.”
This was going to get damn confusing. Mike was Mike, despite their biological tie. Her dad was her dad, plain and simple. Tessa was sure Derek had felt the same way. Mary and her dad. Her mom and Mike. Looked like ménage ran in the family. It certainly explained their strained response when she’d told them she’d been hired by Mike Ford to design an aviary. She couldn’t begin to imagine how they agonized over that. All their secrets and fears had come to pass. Nothing mattered now except healing the rift.
She slipped into her white heels once they reached the first floor and grabbed her purse as they walked toward the door. All of it in a haze.
Tyler opened the front passenger door of Rex’s car for her. She shook her head. “I want to sit i
n the back and read the letters again.”
Neither argued. Tyler opened the back door. Rex placed the box on the seat beside her. Tessa had the first letter out before Rex started the car. The one from Mike telling all. It made her smile, especially his It was the 80s, and everyone was doing it. The four of them had met during their last year at UCLA and hooked up. Crazy times, he’d said. After graduation, her parents went back home to San Diego. He and Mary returned to Texas to take over the family ranch. Yet they’d still kept in touch, even hooked up once or twice in Vegas. Pregnancy had been a big oops and a wake-up call that permanently separated them. They’d known early on who had fathered which child, since looks didn’t lie. As Tessa and Derek got older, they resembled their mothers more. They left things as is because it didn’t matter…until Derek got sick.
That was when things got tricky. Tessa still didn’t understand Mike’s logic or Derek’s either. If Mike wanted an heir, who better than Rex and Tyler? Why seek her out? Why violate the understanding between the two couples that had existed for thirty-some years? Her parents must have been furious. Her own reaction to the news had only made things worse.
She stuffed Mike’s letter away and retrieved Derek’s. He’d known his parentage since his mother died. She’d wanted to go with a clear conscience. At least she and Mike had that in common. He and Mike agreed the land should go to Tessa. Given his terminal diagnosis, Derek hoped she’d understand now why he’d torn up the deed. She did and she didn’t. Again, why not give it to Rex and Tyler? No one had more of a claim on the land than they did. And once the dust settled, she was going to see that happened.
“Mike changed his will as soon as he found out Derek was terminal.” She locked the box and stared out the window. “They had this planned well. The only thing they didn’t anticipate was Mike dying before Derek.” Heart attacks were sneaky little bastards.
“Imagine how conflicted Derek felt,” Tyler said. “Better to have you pissed off at Mike over the news than him.”
She gave a short laugh. “That’s true.”
Lies That Bind Page 12