Wild Card (Texas Titans #5)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  Gasping when she heard Brett’s voice behind her, Carly turned. “What are you doing here? Where are the Morrisons? Mrs. Morrison called and asked me—”

  “Why don’t you come in and I’ll explain,” he said, reaching for her hand.

  She stood in the entrance, awed by what she saw: high ceilings with impeccably stained molding, a polished wood banister that appeared to be original, a crystal chandelier hanging above them. It was traditional in every sense of the word yet perfect. Carly knew Mrs. Morrison wanted to modernize the house, but she thought it was flawless as it was.

  Brett reached around her to close the heavy wood door with original stained glass inserts. “What do you think? Is it everything you thought it would be?”

  “What do you mean?” She sneaked a peek at the baby grand piano in the sitting room. She knew Mrs. Morrison was a piano teacher who’d spent most of her life fostering a love of music in young children.

  “Sophie told me how much you’ve always loved this house, sweetheart. So you tell me, is it everything you thought it would be?”

  “More,” she whispered, taking a tentative step toward the formal dining room. The dark wainscoting should have made the room dark, but the high ceilings and large windows made it feel cozy instead. She could imagine all of the holiday dinners the Morrisons had enjoyed around the huge antique table. “It’s incredible.”

  “Take a look around.” He gestured toward the swinging door that led to the kitchen.

  “I still don’t understand what you’re doing here,” she said, stepping past him. “And where is Mrs. Morrison? She was supposed to be here to meet me.”

  Brett said nothing as he followed her into the kitchen. “You like?”

  “I don’t understand.” She turned in a slow circle. With French white cabinets, slate tile floor, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances, the kitchen had obviously been updated recently. “Mrs. Morrison called because she wanted me to consult on a design project, but so far, I haven’t seen a single thing I’d change. It’s perfect.”

  “Tell me why you love this house so much. I want to hear what it means to you.” Brett leaned against the counter as he folded his arms over his chest.

  She’d never shared the dreams she’d spun around this house with anyone, not even Sophie, but standing in the middle of the house she loved so much with the man she loved even more, she felt compelled to share her story. “After my father died, we lost our little house.” Her hand glided over the dark granite countertop as her eye caught the old-fashioned cookie jar, making her smile. “Mama had never worked outside the home, didn’t have any skills, and was having a hard time getting a job. She tried at first, but before long, she sank deeper and deeper into depression. She told me she couldn’t do it alone, that she needed help, she needed a man. She said it wasn’t fair of Daddy to leave her alone with nothing and no way to support herself.” She shrugged, trying to forget how difficult those days had been.

  “She blamed him for dying?” Brett frowned.

  “You know my mother. It’s always been all about her.” Carly had learned a long time ago to accept people for what they were.

  “She had to have known how difficult it was for you to lose your daddy at such a young age.” He shook his head. “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”

  Gripping the upholstered chair in front of her, Carly said, “I remember being really scared. When we lost the house, we had to move into this little one-bedroom apartment in a really sketchy part of town.”

  Brett frowned. “I don’t think I ever visited your house. It seemed you were always at ours.”

  “There was a reason for that,” she said ruefully. Brett and Sophie’s house represented everything her little one-bedroom apartment didn’t: safety and comfort. “I was too embarrassed to invite people over. Mama took the bedroom, and I slept on the pull-out couch in the living room.”

  “For how long?”

  “As long as we lived there.” She set her purse on the chair, unable to meet his eyes. “Until I came to live with you guys, I didn’t have a room of my own.”

  “That must have sucked.”

  She smirked at his assessment of the situation. “Pretty much, but the worst part was…” She didn’t like revisiting her childhood, especially with Brett. It was embarrassing and made her feel ashamed. “I always felt so scared.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like I said, it was in a bad area. My mother wasn’t always home. There was just this flimsy lock on the door, and sometimes the neighbors would get drunk or high and try our door instead of theirs. I was always afraid they’d get in and try to hurt me.”

  Brett pulled her into his arms. “Forget this. We don’t have to—”

  “It’s okay.” She stepped back and patted his chest. She didn’t want him to think she was still broken or unable to move beyond her own sad past. “I don’t mind. It’s not like anything really bad happened to me. No one ever broke in. No one ever hurt me.”

  “But you were left alone a lot?” Brett asked, stroking her hair. “That couldn’t have been easy.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Actually, I sometimes preferred it. Mama used to bring strange men home at all hours and they’d…” She cleared her throat. She wasn’t six years old anymore. She should have been able to talk about it without falling apart. “Have sex. The first time I heard all that screaming, I thought someone was hurting her, but when I asked her the next morning, she told me to mind my own business.”

  Brett swore softly. “I had no idea things were that bad at your home.”

  “I didn’t like to talk about it.” She ran her hand over his chest, taking comfort in his warmth and strong body. “Especially since y’all had this perfect family.” She hesitated, afraid that saying more would make the tears come. “I think I always knew the day would come when my mama would find another man to take care of her. She’d been looking since the day my daddy died. I just never thought she’d be so willing to leave me behind.”

  Brett’s expression was pained. “You still haven’t explained your fixation on this house.”

  Carly knew he was trying to distract her, but she decided to indulge him. “I had a paper route in this neighborhood when I was about ten. Sometimes I even took the long way to school so I could walk by and admire this place. I think that’s why I bought a house just a few blocks from here. I knew I couldn’t afford this house, but being in this neighborhood felt right to me.” She still hadn’t explained her attachment to the house, but it wasn’t easy to put into words. “Like I said, I hated being so close to the front door in our apartment. I was always afraid of someone breaking in. So I started to pretend I lived in a big house like this one, where all of the bedrooms were on the second floor, far away from the front door.”

  He chuckled. “So you liked this house because it was a two-story?”

  “That was just one of the reasons. There’s a warmth about this house. Whenever I came to the door to collect money for the newspaper, I’d hear the TV blaring, kids laughing, smell dinner cooking…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Those are the things I associated with a real home. I sneaked a peek inside once, and while it didn’t look the way it does today, it took my breath away.”

  “This is a beautiful home,” Brett said softly, linking his hands behind her neck.

  She knew it probably didn’t make any sense to him. He lived in a ten-thousand-square-foot new house built in one of the most sought-after areas of town. A hundred-fifty-year-old home with creaky floorboards and an old-fashioned sunroom probably seemed quaint, at best, to a man who could live anywhere.

  “Anyways,” she said, turning away from him, “you wanted to know why I loved this home. There it is. That’s the reason.” She was looking out the window above the kitchen sink when his arms circled her. Sighing softly, she leaned back into his chest.

  “When I left your place yesterday, I knew I’d screwed
up again.”

  She curled her hands around his forearms. “It’s okay. I was tired. I overreacted.” After her initial hurt and frustration had faded, she decided to give this thing between them another chance. If she didn’t, she’d always wonder if they could have gone the distance.

  “No, you were right to react the way you did.” He kissed the top of her head. “It must have seemed like I hadn’t been listening to a word you’d said. You told me you needed me to give you reason to trust me, to believe in me, and I let you down again.”

  “You were being a good friend. I can respect that.”

  “That doesn’t excuse the fact that I didn’t call.” He kissed her cheek. “There are no excuses for disappointing you or letting you down, baby. You deserve better than that. So I left your place feeling a little lost and confused, and I turned to the only person I felt could give me answers: my sister.”

  “You went to see Sophie? Why?”

  “Who knows you better than Soph?”

  She smiled and kissed his arm. “I don’t know. You, maybe?” She felt his smile against her neck.

  “Maybe. But there are still things Sophie knows about you that I don’t… like how much you’ve always loved this old house.”

  “I was hoping we would get around to that,” she said, turning in his arms. “Are you ready to tell me what we’re doing here?”

  “I wanted to do something that would prove to you that I’m not only in this forever but I’m committed to making every one of your dreams come true.”

  Carly’s heart raced as her breath got trapped in her throat. She didn’t know what he was about to say, but she had the sense it would change everything.

  “I know you don’t need a man to take care of you—”

  “You don’t understand,” she said. “That’s the reason I worked so hard to be a straight-A student and earn scholarships. That’s why I worked eighty hours a week to build a successful business and ate macaroni and cheese for five years so I could pay off my mortgage—because I never wanted to be like her. I never wanted to be so desperate that I’d forsake my child just to have someone, anyone, take care of me.”

  “You have no idea how much I respect you,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But it’s okay to lean on people sometimes. It’s okay for you to lean on me.”

  She wanted to believe that, but it would take more than days or weeks to convince her. It would take years of trials, pain, tears, laughter, love, and happiness to prove to her that Brett finally believed she was his soul mate.

  He trapped her hands in his as his warm, minty breath caressed her face. “You’re just about the strongest woman I’ve ever known, and your example has made me braver and stronger.”

  She laughed, thinking he had no idea how weak she felt sometimes.

  “I’m serious. You figured out what you wanted, and you made it happen,” he said. “You wanted an education, so you worked hard to get scholarships because you knew there was no other way. You wanted a career you enjoyed, that would allow you to support yourself, and you worked your butt off to be the best damn designer in the state.”

  “I appreciate—”

  He kissed her softly. “I’m not done. You wanted a home of your own, so you scrimped and sacrificed until you made your dream a reality. You wanted a baby, and you figured out how to make one without waiting for someone else. That takes guts.”

  Carly felt the burn of tears stinging her eyes. She hadn’t worked so hard because she wanted Brett’s respect or approval, but knowing she had it made the rewards so much sweeter. “Thank you.”

  “But I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to try so hard anymore. Part of being in a relationship means sharing life’s burdens and building dreams together. I’ve been damn lucky in my life. Thanks to the success of High Rollers, there’s very little I can’t have.”

  “What does this have to do with…?” She couldn’t say me. It sounded too presumptuous, as though she were expecting so much more than she was. Carly bit her lip as she tore her eyes from his. Her hope was growing, but the memory of too many disappointments warned her against expecting a happy ending. Just being with him was more than she’d hoped for even a few months ago. They were lovers, and for now, that was enough. Maybe someday, when and if he decided he was ready, they could be more.

  “Money’s never meant very much to me. I could use it to buy houses and cars, take trips, but I’ve never used it to help anyone else or do something that made me feel good. I’m hoping to rectify that today.”

  “I don’t understand.” She felt as though he was talking in circles, and she was desperate for him to get to the point.

  He kissed her hands before dropping to his knee.

  Breathe, girl. Just breathe.

  He pulled a satin pouch out of his back pocket, but instead of handing it to her, he closed it in his fist. “There are things money can’t buy, Carly. It can’t buy love. It can’t buy happiness or forgiveness or trust. So I need to know, do you love me?”

  “Yes.” There was no question in her mind about that and never had been, in spite of her claims to the contrary.

  “I know I’ve hurt you and I’ve disappointed you, but can you forgive me?”

  He was imperfect, but so was she. He’d made mistakes, and so had she. He was man enough to own them, and she would be brave enough to believe he was sincerely sorry. “Yes.”

  “Are you happy when you’re with me?”

  “Happier than I’ve ever been,” she whispered.

  “Most importantly,” he said, lowering his head, “do you trust me? Do you believe that I’m gonna be there for you no matter what? That I’ll be your rock?”

  Carly closed her eyes, thinking about the implications of trusting Brett completely and questioning whether she could. “I do.”

  He grinned, making her smile. “In that case, I’ve figured out what I can buy.”

  “You don’t have to buy me anything.” In a world that valued material things, she needed him to know she valued him more. “I just want you.”

  His lips slid into a cocky half-smile. “You’ve got me.” He released her hand to slide a gold key out of the pouch. “And now you’ve got your dream home too.”

  Carly’s hands covered her mouth to conceal her shock as she shook her head. “No, you didn’t.” She looked around the kitchen, trying to comprehend what he was telling her. He’d bought this house for her because Sophie told him how much she loved it? “I can’t accept it. It’s too much.” The fact that he was still on one knee wasn’t lost on Carly, but she was still trying to process the news about the house. She couldn’t think beyond that or what it meant.

  “I happen to think it’s perfect,” he said, resting an elbow on his bent knee. “Perfect for raising a family. The Morrisons raised four kids here. That sounds about right to me. How ‘bout you?”

  Carly closed her eyes, and tears trickled down her cheeks. The man she’d loved her entire life was not on bended knee in the middle of her dream home asking her if she wanted to have a family… with him? This had to be a dream. Any minute she’d wake up and realize her subconscious was playing another cruel trick on her.

  “Of course, if you think that’s too many, I’m cool with three kids, even two.” When she couldn’t respond, he said, “Carly? Baby, tell me you want that too. Tell me you want to marry me.” He slipped a large emerald-cut diamond out of the pouch and gripped it between his thumb and forefinger, trying to contain the telltale tremor. “I know I’m not perfect. I know I’ve screwed up time and again. You could probably do a hell of a lot better than me, but you’ll never find a man who’ll love you more or work harder to make all your dreams come true.”

  She tugged on his hand, pulling him to his feet. Her chest clenched when she saw hurt and disappointment flash across his face, but she had to tell him what was in her heart. “I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. I love that you’re moody, because I am too. I love that you’re stubborn.
If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be so successful. I love that you’re protective, even if you do cross the line sometimes, ‘cause that means you’ll be a great dad. I even love that you lost your way for a while ‘cause that means you’ll appreciate what you have even more now.”

  He touched the hand she held against his face. “I’m not gonna lie. You’re scarin’ the hell out of me. Are you gonna marry me or not?”

  Carly wanted to throw her arms around his neck and scream yes, but she couldn’t let the moment pass without setting him straight. “You talked about the times you screwed up, but those mistakes made you a better man. They made you smarter. They’ll make us even stronger.”

  He took a deep breath. “Us? Does that mean…?”

  She took his hands. “You said I may be able to find someone better for me than you, but I’ve spent my entire life looking for a man who could love me as much as I loved you.”

  “Sweetheart,” he said, hanging his head, “I hate that—”

  “Ssshhh. I told myself that if you didn’t love me, it was because there was someone even better waiting for me. It turns out I was right.”

  “Carly… don’t tell me there’s someone else. Please, you can’t tell me that. It’ll kill me.”

  She could almost see his heart beating through his thin cotton shirt. “The man you used to be wasn’t a man who could have made me happy for the rest of my life. You didn’t value family the way I did. You didn’t want a life partner. You didn’t want a home like this or a houseful of kids. You were happy with your life exactly as it was.”

  “That was then,” he said, his voice raspy. “I can’t be happy without you anymore. I need you.”

  “I need you too. The man you are today is so much better for me than the man you used to be, and I’m grateful that I was smart enough to wait for you.”

  He heaved a sigh. “So am I. You have no idea.”

  “Brett, you’re my best friend. You know me like no one else. I always prayed you’d want the same things I do, that you’d look at me the way you are right this second.” She smiled, her hand trembling as she laid it against his chest. “You talked about making my dreams come true, but I never dreamed for a big house or a diamond ring. I just prayed that you would fall in love with me, and you have. That’s all I want. It’s all I need.”