The Real Deal (It Started in Texas Book 4)

by Lee, Liz

  And then he’d come home. And she’d fallen in love with him all over again. Then he’d picked up the damn phone.

  “Maybe you should just call him,” her mother said.

  She couldn’t. She didn’t want to hear his voice. Didn’t want to feel guilty for how she ended it. Didn’t want to talk to him because it made her ache for what could never be. Made her remember the kids they’d been and how she’d helped heal his heart and how he’d ripped her heart out and thrown it away.

  “I’m going to ignore it,” she said sure of her answer.

  “We love you,” her dad said.

  “Do you want us to fly up?” her mom asked.

  A part of her did. “No. You guys are going on a cruise, and I’ve got work. I’ll be fine. I’m just freaked out a little. Sam could always do that to me.”

  “You take care of you, Patty. You struggle with that, but it’s important.”

  She smiled at her father’s words. Calling her parents had been the right thing to do. They’d given her perspective.

  “Thanks, Daddy. I will. I love you both.”

  When she hung up the phone, she was determined. Ignore Sam. Easy.

  Chapter 4

  Jason’s presence should have made pushing Sam out of her brain easy.

  He showed up a little early, with a bouquet of red roses. Okay, so she’d rather have daisies—or anything really—than roses, but they smelled great.

  She ran to the kitchen and put the flowers in a crystal vase that had been a wedding gift a million years ago.

  “You look nice,” Jason said following her to the kitchen looking out of place in the space that had been hers and Sam’s first.

  Damn Sam and those stupid chocolates. He’d ruined one of her favorite traditions.

  “Thanks,” she said wiping her hands on the new navy maxi dress. She’d picked it and the chunky silver necklace up at Nordstrom Rack on a rare shopping trip with her friends from school.

  Jason smelled like Nordstrom actually. All spicy and citrusy and a little overdone, which was crazy because she loved his cologne usually. Loved it even though she wondered if he were trying a little too hard with the whole cowboy swag he had going on.

  Tailored sports coats and pressed jeans and starched shirts and handcrafted cowboy boots screamed oil tycoon. He was the real deal, so why scream it with appearances? It was like he had something to prove.

  Which, again, never bothered her. Only now it did.

  Damn Sam Jackson.

  Blowing out a deep breath she stepped into Jason’s space and leaned in for a quick hug.

  His eyebrows raised in surprise at the move, but he lowered his arms around her bare shoulders and held her and she closed her eyes, pressing her cheek into his chest and wishing more than anything that she felt something, anything, other than awkward.

  “So about that chocolate,” Jason started, his voice going lower and…just no. She couldn’t. Not now.

  She stepped away from him and shrugged, hoping the movement came off as playful. “All gone.” Time to change the subject. “So I bet we have reservations.”

  Because with Jason, they always did. Patty thought his secretary probably helped keep him organized, but his calendar was as planned out as hers. He even had a color coded system. He was perfect for her. Perfect.

  “You’re going to love it,” he said.

  And she did. The dinner at The Old Warsaw in downtown Dallas was everything Patty could ever want. Sorbet to cleanse the palette between each course, steak cooked to perfection, key lime pie to die for.

  Easy conversation about her work at school and his in the family office. Candlelight and a violinist to give the perfect touch of romance. Wine, wine and more wine.

  Still, when he pulled his Porsche into her driveway, she felt nothing but relief to see Cadyn was home. The porch light was on. Patty knew it was an excuse when she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss goodnight. But Jason being Jason didn’t press for more.

  When she let herself inside the house she walked to the kitchen where the roses sat mocking her and made herself inhale their sweet scent. Jason was a good man. A true friend. Reliable. Not the least bit dangerous to her heart. And that was a very good thing. So why did she feel so empty?

  Monday morning Patty reported to duty bright and early, took care of the stack of office referrals for everything from cursing students to the couple who insisted on getting busy under the stairs in the math wing. Gross, nasty, eww. When she finished the last parent phone call and opened the door, her secretary and friend Becky held out a giant Sonic cherry limeaid and Patty’s stomach dropped. “Super sexy, not Jason. Left this for you and these for all of us.” She held up a sleeve of free drink coupons.

  Patty looked around, but Becky shook her head, her blonde hair brushing her shoulders. “Long gone Miss All Work, No Play. Who was that man and where has he been all my life?”

  Cherry lime. Patty’s mouth watered. “You can have it,” she said pointing to the drink. “And him.”

  “Please and thank you,” Becky said taking the paper off the straw and sipping her drink. “Good stuff. Figure he’s pretty good stuff, too.”

  Patty rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be outside the cafeteria breaking up Baby’s Daddy fights. Call if you need me.” She held up the walkie talkie they used to communicate and started to walk away. But she didn’t escape fast enough.

  “So that was Sam?” Becky asked the question quietly and far more seriously than she ever did anything.

  Patty stopped, hand on the door. Everyone in the office, shoot everyone in the school knew about Sam. Everyone in the freaking country knew about Sam. Most people didn’t know about her or Cadyn.

  “That was Sam.”

  Becky waved her hands in front of her face. “Hot, hot, hot. And Mr. Hottie left you this.” She held out a piece of paper, and Patty took it reluctantly. More numbers. Different this time. 195072.

  She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. “The guy used to write some awesome love letters. This is different.”

  “I wish he’d write me love letters,” Becky said with sigh.

  Yeah. Sam had that effect on people. People who weren’t his wife. EX wife. She tossed the paper with numbers in the trash. “If he starts that again, I’ll send them your way. If Cadyn comes in tell her where I am.”

  Becky took her words as a back to business sign and turned to the computer at the same time she slid her headset back on to take parent calls.

  “Sure thing, Boss Lady,” she said.

  Patty had been at her main hall post less than five minutes when she heard Cadyn’s voice down the hall.

  “Mom! Mom!”

  Her daughter sounded happy. Excited. Something other than surly for a change.

  Patty relaxed and turned to see Cadyn holding a large Sonic drink. “Guess who just stopped by?”

  Terrific. She’d play dumb.

  “Someone who doesn’t know outside drinks aren’t allowed on campus?”

  “Mom. Geez. Lighten up. Dad stopped by to tell me he wants to take me to dinner tonight.”

  Of course. Patty bit her tongue to keep from saying don’t get your hopes up, baby girl.

  “You can go to dinner. But you can’t go to class in that outfit.”

  Cadyn’s yoga pants and off-the-shoulder 80s throwback sweater were clearly dress code violations.

  “Mom. Come on.”

  Surly child reporting for duty.

  “You know the rules.” Patty couldn’t back down on this. If she did none of the kids would follow the rules, and that wasn’t a mess she wanted on her hands.

  Cadyn frowned and turned away. The last thing Patty heard was her daughter’s undisguised complaint.

  “She is such a witch. I swear. It’s no wonder my dad left.”

  Not worth fighting. That’s what Patty told herself as she tried to remember what it was like when fighting with Cadyn had been something other than the norm.

  Later that ev
ening Patty told herself the nerves fluttering through her were perfectly normal. Cadyn was in the kitchen making coffee and singing at the top of her lungs about foxes talking.

  Jason had promised to stop by while Cadyn went to dinner with Sam, which was why Patty had changed into her favorite black dress. It was soft and simple and made her feel sexy. And she hadn’t thought about Sam at all when she’d chosen it.

  Sam who would be here any… the knock at the door made her jump.

  “Cadyn, your dad’s…”

  “I’ve got ears.”

  Cadyn’s constant anger toward her hurt, but Patty tamped down the emotion. Now wasn’t the time.

  When Cadyn opened the door Sam stepped inside. Patty told her heart to simmer down. He looked… Tired. Hurt. Wary. Not her problem. Not anymore.

  “Sam.” She forced his name. Told herself not to notice the way his jeans still fit perfectly or how the green in the Polo shirt probably brought out the green in his eyes. Silver streaked through his hair above the left temple. Captivity had done that to him.

  “Patty.” He nodded and his throaty voice slid over her like silk on cotton.

  “Dad, I got the lead in the musical.”

  Cadyn walked between them breaking the connection, and Patty took a deep breath, focused on the sales circulars she’d gathered. Makeup, appliances, Midnight Madness.

  “So tonight’s a celebration,” Sam said, moving closer to the table. Their table. In their dining room. In their house with the paint color they’d chosen together at Home Depot.

  “Papadeaux right? The one downtown?” The restaurant had always been Cadyn’s favorite. Cadyn who looked beautiful tonight in her red a-line mini dress and black heels, her blonde hair caught back in a simple ponytail. Cadyn who was growing up too fast.

  “You sure you don’t want a burger?” Sam teased, winking at Patty causing the fluttering nerves to kick back in gear.

  “Da-ad!” Cadyn huffed and Sam smiled and Patty’s heart cartwheeled as her breath hiccuped somewhere in the vicinity of her solar plexus.

  His chipped tooth caught just barely on his bottom lip when he smiled. She couldn’t see the scar under his left eye anymore. But the new one under his right eye made her cringe. She wanted to ask him if he was okay. If the physical therapy was working. If he’d lost his mind with the chocolate and cherry limeade.

  When a new knock sounded at the front door, she wished more than anything she felt something other than dread.

  “It’s mom’s boyfriend, Jason.” Cadyn said the words with ice in her voice, which was strange because Cadyn liked Jason usually.

  “Oh, really?” Sam said and damn if that one word didn’t sound like a challenge.

  Cadyn opened the door and let Jason in while tugging on Sam’s arm to get him to leave. Sam stood firm.

  Patty walked forward and performed the awkward introductions. Cringed when Sam and Jason shook hands. Took a relieved–not disappointed, no way, no, no, no–breath when Sam and Cadyn left and she could finally breathe again.

  Jason looked at her from concerned eyes.

  “You okay?”

  Why couldn’t sparks fly with him?

  After Sam’s wink and her response, the lack of heat with Jason was more than a little pronounced.

  “I’m fine,” she lied. “Just tired.”

  Jason pulled her in for his signature friendly hug, and she knew her time with Jason was done. She couldn’t go on pretending they had a future. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

  When she didn’t respond, he dropped his arm and pulled back.

  “Patty?”

  She looked at the floor and swallowed her grief. He was a good man. He deserved so much more.

  “I guess we’re not getting married.”

  The easy way he said the words should have made it clear why.

  She shook her head and forced herself to face him. “I’m sorry, Jason.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t be sorry, Patty. You’re one of the best women I know. At least you’re being honest here.”

  Was she? She didn’t know. “I really wish I could marry you.”

  He smiled sadly. “I wish you could, too. Plenty of great marriages are based on friendship.”

  She looked down again. She didn’t want to hurt him.

  “But I guess you want more.”

  He understood. Of course he did. He always understood.

  She nodded. He paused and the coffee pot from Cadyn’s coffee gurgled and a siren sounded from somewhere outside and the scent of Sam’s aftershave lingered here in the doorway even though Jason was the man across from her.

  “I’ll let myself out,” Jason said taking one step then another before turning and walking out the door leaving Patty alone with her regret and old heartbreak she’d wanted to heal with him.

  She needed to get over Sam. Ida Mae was right, though. Using another man wasn’t the way to do that.

  Chapter 5

  When the knock sounded on the door, Patty knew who she’d find. She called herself twenty kinds of fool at the thrill skittering through her heart.

  She opened the door to find Sam alone. She’d been right. The green of his shirt did make his green eyes burn brighter.

  “I dropped Cadyn at a friend’s. She said they had spirit poster duty. Should be home by 11.”

  11. Two hours. Far too much time.

  “I knew about the posters. I should’ve told you.”

  She hated how awkward she sounded. This was Sam. Her Sam. They might not be together, but they’d spent more than half their lives as friends and more. Her heart mourned the loss.

  “You didn’t need to stop by to tell me. A phone call would suffice.” Awkward turned to bitchy. Great. What was wrong with her?

  “I didn’t actually stop by to talk about Cadyn’s schedule.”

  His easy smile made her traitorous heart careen through her chest. Patty silently told her feet to stay planted on the floor, her hands to stay firmly on the door.

  “It’s probably better we don’t talk right now, Sam.” Because I’m confused. And frustrated. And not in my right mind.

  He reached up and his hand settled directly above hers. She didn’t miss his wince or the puckered scars around his wrist. His pain hurt her.

  “Come on, Patty. I don’t bite.”

  Her pulse kicked up yet another notch at his challenge.

  Decision time. Push him away like a chicken or be the adult that could converse with an ex who’d shattered her. Prove to him she’d moved on.

  Against her better judgment Patty stepped back and invited him in.

  “Cadyn made coffee earlier. It should still be hot.”

  Sam willed himself not to show pain as he dropped his arm from the door. He couldn’t stop the sharp exhalation of breath that followed the roll of his shoulder. Damn that hurt. The assholes had dislocated his shoulders on purpose. The rotator cuff injury wasn’t his first. He wouldn’t let Patty see the weakness, though. He didn’t want her thinking he wanted a convalescent nurse again.

  He wanted his wife back, dammit.

  Maybe he’d gone about this all wrong, though. Staying away so long then acting like being in her presence was normal. Like he hadn’t hungered for a single moment with her for over a year. He’d been a fool to answer the news director’s call when it came. A fool to say yes to the assignment and leave her and Cadyn here alone after he’d sworn his days working on stories from the front lines were over.

  He started to follow her into the kitchen, but she waved him away. Her silver charm bracelet ringing as she did. God, she’d had that thing as long as he’d known her.

  “Sit. I’ll get it.”

  Unspoken message–you don’t belong here. You’re company. He deserved that.

  As he sat, he spied the red tops of wilted roses in the trash and worry hit hard. “Cadyn got a boyfriend I need to know about?”

  She looked over her shoulder at him confused. “Cadyn’s way too young to date. Why?”


  The way she said the words so emphatically, Sam wondered if he might ought to remind Patty they’d barely been older than their daughter when Patty had pursued him until he’d finally given in and let her have her wickedly innocent way with him.

  But then he decided he’d be a fool to add that worry to his wife’s shoulders when what he wanted was her naked.

  The way that black dress hugged her backside while she reached for a cup cemented the thought. The peek of her blue lace bra strap did so even more.

  “No reason,” he said clearing his throat. “Just saw the roses. You don’t like them so….”

  Her hand stilled. “I don’t dislike them.”

  Ohhhhhh. So the roses were from her boyfriend. “You told me red roses were the ultimate cliché when I got them for you senior year. I never made that mistake again.”

  He could still remember that night. The way she’d challenged him to be himself, be unique, woo her. He could do that again. And Jason Adams would be nothing but an afterthought when he was done. Sam knew the way to Patty’s heart and bed. He’d hurt her terribly, but he would make it up to her. Somehow. Someway.

  Her hands barely trembled when she brought the coffee to him in her Princess Kate and Prince William Royal Wedding cup.

  The tiny shake told him she wasn’t unaffected. Maybe he hadn’t screwed tonight up after all.

  “When I saw your lights on and the Porsche gone, I thought this might be a good time to talk.”

  Patty didn’t answer right away and hope bloomed.

  “Sam.” She stopped and stared at her hands clasped tightly together in front of her on what used to be their table. He wanted to touch her. To tell her it would be okay. To say he was so damn sorry.

  To beg her to take him back.

  “The Porsche won’t be around again.” She looked down at her hands. Sam wanted to cheer. To make his move. But he knew now wasn’t the time. He focused on the table in front of them. At those hands that knew every inch of his body. Her fingernails were painted bright red. That was different. His Patty never painted her nails.

  “I broke things off with Jason.”