by Sara Orwig
“Some terrible things brought you home to Texas, but we have this, and, to me, this is marvelous,” she whispered. “I know it can’t last, but, Luke, it’s so good. In your arms is the best place to be.”
“At least I can help right some of the terrible things, and you’ve already helped me make it right. You saved so much of my livestock.”
“The little calf is getting stronger each day. I hope you took care of the mama.”
“I did,” he assured her. “There are cowboys out there now taking care of the animals. I don’t even need to go every day, but I have been. When I go back to the hotel, I’ll go back to work. I hope we can nail Rich on the money. Cole is bringing me all sorts of info. That, my love, is absolutely for your ears only.”
“So your antifraud software is working?”
“We haven’t found anything so far, but we’re just getting started and putting in the info we have. I think we’ll find something eventually.”
Running his fingers lightly over her breasts, he sighed. “Ah, Scarlett, this is even better than my memories of us. I didn’t know that was possible.”
“I quite agree,” she said, caressing him, thinking she could never get enough of touching him, kissing him, being with him. Too soon he would be gone forever. At the thought, she tightened her arms around him and held him close.
* * *
It was two in the morning when he stepped out of bed. “I think I better go back to my hotel now. I don’t want to impose on your mom’s hospitality. Her cooking improves with age. She’s a fabulous cook, while you, my darling, are a fabulous sexpot. You’re wonderful in bed.”
“Stop that, Luke Weston!”
He laughed. “You love me to tell you how sexy you are, and you know it. Scarlett, you have to be the sexiest woman in all of Texas.”
“Now, that is such a stretch that it’s absurd. You better stop your exaggerations about me being sexy, or I’ll stop doing all those sexy things to you that you love to have done—like this,” she said, stroking him.
“You convinced me,” he said, drawing a deep breath. “You’ll be in town tomorrow. Call me when you can have lunch, and I’ll buy you a burger at the Royal Diner, and it’ll be like old times. Afterward, let’s go up to my hotel, and let me introduce you to my bedroom and my shower.”
She grinned. “I might take you up on that offer, although a bedroom and a shower? Nothing new there.”
“I might have some new tricks to show you in the bedroom.”
“Now that does catch my interest.” They both laughed and kissed, and she held him, looking up at him and smiling. “We can have fun still, Luke. We used to have a lot of fun together.”
He gazed at her and he suddenly looked solemn. “We sure did, Scarlett.”
“I don’t know about old times, but I’ll take you up on that lunch. I’ll call you.” She dressed as he did, but she watched him and drew a deep breath. She wished she could go right back to bed and spend the whole day making love with him. He was the most handsome man she knew, and she still had the best time with him of anyone ever.
As she reached for the door to leave, he caught her wrist. Surprised, she turned, and when she saw his face, her breath caught. His arm went around her waist, and he drew her to him, leaning down to kiss her. He covered her mouth possessively, kissing her thoroughly, with hot, fiery passion. Finally, he stepped back. His blue-green eyes were dark and stormy as he gazed intently at her.
“I better go, Scarlett,” he said gruffly, turning to hurry out into the darkness. Outside lights burned and in seconds he was on the path back to the main house, where she caught up to walk beside him.
“It’s been fun, Luke.”
“It’s been perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.” At his pickup, he turned, hugging her tightly, and bent down to give her one last mind-blowing kiss. When he released her and climbed into his pickup, she watched, dazed, her lips tingling while she wished once again that he wouldn’t ever leave her.
She stood there until his pickup’s red taillights faded from sight. She was hopelessly in love with him, but he hadn’t given her any indication that he wanted her for keeps. She sighed. For Carl’s sake, it was for the best. She might end up with a broken heart, but at least her son’s heart was safe. Still, how much hurt was she going to have when Luke left Texas?
* * *
Later that morning, Luke got a text from Will to meet him at the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Once again, Luke went to a private room, where this time he found Will waiting.
“Thanks for coming. News has come back from the handwriting analysis of the note Megan Phillips received, the note that her brother was supposed to have written. Jason Phillips has been excluded by a margin of 99.9% of being the note’s author. Consequently, Richard Lowell has not been excluded as the person responsible for Jason’s disappearance. In fact, now he’s the prime suspect.”
“Wow. We’re beginning to get proof. Oh, damn. It’s great you’re alive, but I’m sorry because it isn’t looking good for Jason.”
“No. We won’t have a positive answer until we get the DNA report on the bone fragments in the ashes in the urn. Ashes that were supposed to have been mine. If you can find some ties to the stolen money and Rich, we will have absolute proof that he’s responsible.”
Luke scoffed. “He may be far, far away on some island, enjoying his ill-gotten gains and planning his next crime.”
“We’ll get him. We have to. I wanted to tell you in person. Also, even though no one knows where Richard is, we’re all beginning to learn what he’s capable of doing, so be careful.”
“I will. I’ll let you know what I find about the money.”
“I want proof so he can’t ever wiggle out of facing the consequences for what he did. Especially if those are Jason’s ashes, and right now it’s not looking good. Poor little Savannah. She’s only six years old, and I know she misses her daddy terribly. At least she has her aunt Megan and her uncle Aaron.” He shook his head. “I’d better take off, but let’s keep in touch.”
Luke followed his friend to the door. “You can count on it, Will.”
As soon as Will departed, Luke went back to his computer to work on following Richard’s money trail.
* * *
The next day, with more information from Cole, Luke was able to trace some of the money taken from the Texas Cattleman’s Club back to the accounts Richard Lowell had used when he’d been pretending to be Will. He sent a text to Will to inform him to let him know that now they had proof.
* * *
In the afternoon Luke drove to the Double U to meet with his new builder. Scarlett had looked at the house plans with him Tuesday night, and he’d had another dinner at her house. Why did it feel so right to be with her, to be at her family home? And it amazed him how much fun he had with her little baby. Every time he was there, it also made him wish things were different, that his family legacy wasn’t one of destruction.
It made him feel better to go to the Double U now because the animals were looking a degree better. When he drove up where the house once stood, the land had been cleared. Since the house was in such terrible shape, he was relieved he didn’t have to keep looking at the wreckage.
On Thursday, when he drove back out to the Double U, Reuben Lindner had hired cowboys. Again, Luke was amazed how much better the animals looked each time he drove to the ranch. He felt another stab of gratitude to Scarlett and admiration for her dedication and ability. He thought of the moments of passion, of holding her in his arms after making love, of her sexy, soft, beautiful body that set him on fire. If only he didn’t come from the family he had. There was no way he could tie his life to hers. Scarlett was absolutely off limits for him forever.
He didn’t know why he was even thinking about marriage. He would go back to Silicon Valley, and everyone in this town, including Scarlett, would all fade from his life
once again. He had asked her to go with him to see his dad, something he dreaded, but felt it was his duty to do. He had gifts to take—chocolates, a basket of fruit, a new shirt, two books he thought his dad would like. He wondered how his dad was because he couldn’t count on what he said on the phone.
* * *
The following morning, Luke held Scarlett’s arm lightly as they walked into the assisted-living facility. People sat in the lounge in groups, some playing cards, others just talking or watching TV. Luke stepped to the desk to sign in, and then they headed to his father’s apartment.
Scarlett went with him as they rode the elevator to the second floor, and they walked down a long hall before Luke stopped and knocked on a door.
“I haven’t seen your dad since your graduation,” Scarlett confided.
“Your mom doesn’t look that different since I graduated. I suspect my dad is going to look very different because of the liver disease. I’m going to have to tell him about putting everything in my name.”
“He should be relieved that you saved the ranch,” Scarlett said.
“Knowing my dad, he won’t view it that way. He always wanted control, even when he was the reason he lost control.”
Even though it had been two years since he’d seen his dad, Luke wasn’t prepared for the man he faced when the door opened. His father’s gray hair had thinned, and Bruce Weston looked shorter. Luke guessed his dad had lost sixty or seventy pounds from the way his clothes hung on him. Instead of the ruddy complexion he always had from working outside, his skin was wrinkled, yellowed and pale. Shocked, Luke had another stab of guilt for not coming home more often and keeping up with things.
“Dad?” Luke said, reaching out to shake his father’s hand.
“So you really did come home.”
“There wasn’t much home left to come back to, Dad. You remember Scarlett McKittrick.”
“Joyce McKittrick’s girl. You’re all grown up now, Scarlett. I heard you’re a vet. Imagine that, a woman vet. Y’all come in and have a seat. Sorry the place is not cleaned up for you.”
“I brought you some things,” Luke said, setting them on a table.
“I don’t suppose a bottle of whiskey is in there?”
“No, Dad, there’s not,” Luke said, knowing his dad had not been kidding. They walked into an apartment that had papers on the sofa and dishes on tables. “Dad, don’t they clean your apartment for you?”
“Yes, someone comes. I tell them to leave things alone. I don’t want them messin’ with my stuff.”
“I think you should let them clean. You’ll be in a swamp before long if you don’t.”
“My friend, Charlie, his girl works for the city and saw the papers. I heard from Charlie that you put the Double U in your name. You took my ranch away from me.”
Luke drew a deep breath, wondering when his dad had gotten so quarrelsome. “The sheriff’s office was going to auction the ranch, and we wouldn’t have owned it any longer. It’s been the Westons’ land since the early days of Texas settlement. I thought it should stay in the family, and, yes, it’s in my name now. Which means I’ll take care of the bills for the ranch and your bills here. You won’t have to worry about any of it.”
“Well, I can’t stop you from taking it away from me. I’m not surprised. You’ve gone out to California and become a rich, successful hotshot. You’re going to live life your way, and you’ve got the money and the means to take the ranch from me. I’ll get out of here someday, but I guess I won’t go home to the ranch. Or are you going to let me go back to the Double U?”
“If you get well and move out of here, you know you can go back to the ranch,” Luke said, hanging on to his temper because his dad was old, ill and not thinking clearly. And sober, he was mean and bitter now. With some drinks, he became jolly.
“Do you feel better? I talked to Dr. Gaines, and he said you don’t want the rehab nurse to help you get a little exercise.”
“That quack. What I’d like is for you to bring me one bottle of whiskey. One bottle wouldn’t hurt, and it would be the one and only bottle in almost a whole year. Now, that is long enough for anyone to go without a drink. If you want to be nice to your dad, come back by while you’re here and bring me a bottle.”
“I don’t think that’s good for you, Dad. You don’t want to end up back in the hospital.”
“Indeed, I don’t. Get a bottle and bring it by. That isn’t going to put me back in the hospital.”
Bruce turned to look at Scarlett. “You’ve joined the Texas Cattleman’s Club, haven’t you, missy?”
“Yes, sir, I did. They’ve included women for some time now.”
“Oh, I know they have. They have a nursery for screaming kids and a playground. The minute the females got in, they took it over, which I figured they would. The Club has been going to hell since they let women like you into the club, greedy single mothers, too hard and unwomanly to keep a man.”
“Dad, that’s uncalled for and absolutely unfitting for Scarlett, who has spent hours saving Double U livestock that you didn’t take care of and left to starve to death. I think we’ve paid our visit, and we’re not doing any good here, so we’ll say goodbye,” Luke said, standing, trying to hang on to his temper.
“Let’s go, Scarlett.” He took her hand and led her toward the door. “We’ll let ourselves out. You just keep your seat.”
“Luke, you come back by and bring me a bottle of whiskey. That’s the least you can do when you’ve got the ranch now.”
“Sorry, Dad. Not until Dr. Gaines tells me to bring you a bottle.” He opened the door, and they stepped out, then he closed the door behind him. A moment later, he heard something smash against the door and fall. Luke shook his head.
“The last few years, he’d get meaner when he was sober, but that happened so seldom when I was around that I didn’t give it much thought. He wasn’t ever this mean. He must have run the men that worked for him off the place. Sorry, Scarlett, that he tore into you. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
She reached up and gently cupped his jaw. “I’m sorry for you. He doesn’t bother me. I haven’t seen him in years and probably won’t see him again. The active members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club don’t seem to share his views. There are two or three who still object to women belonging, but otherwise everyone seems okay with it.”
“I’m definitely okay with you belonging,” he said and smiled, but his smile faded. “Seriously, you see what I mean about bad genes running in my family.”
“Luke, you don’t have bad genes, and you’re not like your dad, and you’re not an alcoholic. I haven’t seen you drink anything. You don’t inherit being mean, either.”
“I have the same blood in my veins, and it worries me. And despite what you think, I know deep down that I’ve been a terrible son to him. I neglected him and the Double U and failed to do what I should have done.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “Luke, I will keep telling you this until it gets through your thick skull! You can’t blame yourself for what your dad did, and besides he told you over and over again that everything was all right.”
“I hear you, Scarlett, I do. It’s just a bitter pill to swallow.” He took her hand again, and they headed back down the hallway to the elevator. “He had no business to call you greedy and talk about single moms ruining things. Too hard and unwomanly—that doesn’t fit you and never will. I shouldn’t have taken you with me to see him.”
“Stop worrying about it. It doesn’t mean anything to me. You got here in time to save the ranch and you own it now and you’re getting it back in shape. That’s all that matters to me.”
He sighed as they stepped into the elevator and headed back down to the lobby. “Ahh, Scarlett, you’re so forgiving.”
“About some things.”
“Why do I think that remark is dir
ected at me?”
“No. You’re wrestling with a guilty conscience, so things just strike you that way.” She squeezed his hand. “Let’s go to my house and talk to Mom and see Carl. My little boy will cheer you up.”
“I’ll bet he will,” Luke said, smiling as they left the elevator, headed to the exit and then climbed into the back of the waiting limo. “Before we do that, let’s have a stop at my suite in Royal. That will cheer me beyond measure,” he whispered, brushing a light kiss on her lips and then looking into her big, hazel eyes. “Okay?”
“Of course,” she whispered back, sliding her arm around his neck. He picked up the phone to tell Jake to take them to the hotel in Royal and later they would go to Scarlett’s ranch.
He turned to wrap his arms around her to kiss her. She would cheer him up. So would going to the McKittrick ranch and seeing little Carl. Why did being with Scarlett seem so right? He was missing work in Silicon Valley, missing making megadeals that he had loved to do. He felt drawn to this Texas town and to hanging with Scarlett and her baby. Was it the near loss of his family legacy that had upended his world and changed his priorities? Or something else far more personal? He sighed, once again reminding himself that he couldn’t start dreaming of a future with Scarlett and her little baby because he might wreck both their lives. All he had to do was look at his dad and what his dad had done. And was still doing. He had been terrible to Scarlett.
He had bad genes, and Scarlett and her eternal optimism couldn’t convince him differently. She saw the world through rose-colored glasses, and she didn’t see the reality in his life at all. Not even after his dad criticized her so much.
“Luke, you’re quiet, and I know what’s worrying you. You’ll never ever be like your father, and it is just absurd for you to worry you will.”
He gave her shoulders a slight squeeze as he forced a smile. “I hope you’re right,” he said, but he wasn’t feeling particularly optimistic right now.
As soon as they were in his suite, he drew her into his arms. “I don’t know much right now but I do know I want you in my arms now more than I could want anything else on this earth.”