“Even better, he wants to remember a great deal more, if you’ll let him.”
“I have only just begun even thinking about dating another man, but it can’t be Jeb Garrett. This is only old friends reconnecting, nothing more.”
Vicki made a low choking sound that almost drew Virginia’s gaze up to her face. Almost, but not quite. “Why on earth not? The man obviously adores you. Just think about him pining away all these years—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Virgina broke in. “We were both happily married.”
“That’s it, isn’t it,” Vicki said slowly. “You think that it’d be cheating on Daddy again if you start things up with Jeb.”
Virginia flinched before she could hide the reaction. She didn’t have an answer.
“Oh, Mama,” Vicki breathed out. “You do have feelings for him, or you wouldn’t feel guilty.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to,” Vicki said tartly. “Now you listen to me. Don’t you think Daddy forgave and forgot that kiss about a million years ago? So why can’t you enjoy rekindling that old flame now?”
“I’m not rekindling anything!”
“You must have felt something. He must have meant something to you or you wouldn’t be so reluctant to talk about it.”
“He means nothing to me.” Yet her words rang with untruth, a heavy ugly jarring note that set her teeth on edge. “He was my best friend until I was married. Nothing else.”
“And your husband’s been in heaven for twelve years.” Vicki said it gently, her hands settling on Virginia’s shoulders. A firm, steadying weight. “If he were here, what would he say?”
She knew, thanks to the vision she’d had after the accident. You’ve been alone too long.
“It doesn’t have to be him. It shouldn’t be.”
“What better man could Daddy recommend than your best friend?”
The very idea made Virginia groan and cover her face with her hands.
“Mama, give Mr. Garrett a chance. I think Daddy would approve. For all you know, he’s using his angel status to bring Mr. Garrett straight to you.”
Her eyes burned but she made herself snort. “You think your daddy was an angel? Honey, you’ve got no idea.”
“Only a saint could have put up with you all those years,” Vicki retorted, her tone lightened by the sparkle in her eyes.
“Ain’t that the truth.” Virginia stood and faced the mirror one last time. The stranger looked back at her, eyes dark and eager. Did Jeb have any idea what kind of pain and darkness lurked inside her? He’d only had a small taste of how hard and demanding she could be.
In the end, that was the rub. Her first kiss with Tyrell had determined exactly what kind of relationship they were going to have, and until that kiss, she hadn’t even known she could find pleasure in hurting him. That such a thing was even possible.
That long ago kiss with Jeb… What had it told her? That he’d been too damned afraid to make a move until someone else threatened to take her away? That wasn’t fair. Jeb was a lot of things, but not afraid.
Nope. I’m the one who’s afraid. It’d be my luck to regain the best friend I ever had outside of marriage, only to lose him when he realizes how wide my cruel streak is.
7
March 1974
Her stomach twisted into knots, Virginia shot to her feet as soon as she heard Ty’s slow, measured pace down the aisle. She figured the best place to lose him would be the first place she’d found him. In the stable, her true home. So she’d camped out here all night so she wouldn’t miss his predawn arrival. Daddy was willing to let him start work at five a.m., and most days he worked until six p.m., or later, before going to a second or third odd job around town. It’s a wonder he hadn’t killed himself yet.
He’s doing it all for me. For us. And I had to go and ruin everything.
It took all her courage to step out of Dancer’s stall and face him.
“Mornin’, Princess.” He tipped his hat back and smiled, but it wasn’t the same easy grin she’d become accustomed to. Tyrell Connagher was no dummy. She didn’t sleep in the barn and she hadn’t called him last night.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Figured as much. You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything at all. Ain’t nothing but death going to change how I feel for you, darlin’, and even then, I’ll be waiting in heaven until you finally show up so I can love you some more.”
She had to blink the tears away, determined to get the whole ugly truth out before she broke down. “So you say. Wait until you hear it all first.”
He pulled a small pouch of tobacco out of his shirt pocket. With practiced ease, he took out a paper and rolled a thin cigarette by hand. He didn’t smoke it, but simply held it in his mouth. He’d light it later as he rode out to check the fence line or count calves or whatever else the boss told him to do. “I’m listening.”
“I made a mistake last night. You know how I said I was going to go to Texas A&M with Sissy Garrett? She’d been nagging me to go because she didn’t want to drive alone that far, and she’s just dying to get to college and out of Crystal Springs as fast as she can. So I agreed to drive her. And there was a party. I didn’t drink or anything. But…” She took a deep breath and said the rest in a rush. “I kissed her brother.”
“Hmm.” Ty made a noncommittal sound, rolling the cigarette over to the other side of his mouth.
“Jebadiah Garrett. We’ve been friends forever. I guess he got to thinking that maybe it was too late and all, and he kissed me. That’s it.”
“He got to thinking it was too late? Or you?”
She swallowed hard. “Well, he’s my best friend. I guess… Some people thought we were a couple.”
Ty removed his hat and tucked the cigarette into the band. “I asked if you were promised to anyone.”
“I wasn’t. I’m not. No one but you. I never dated him. I never even kissed him or anything, not until last night.”
“And?”
She searched his face, wondering how he could be so calm about it all. Wasn’t he jealous? If he loved her like he said, wouldn’t he need to rant and rave and beat the shit out of something?
Or is that just me?
“How was it?”
She could feel the dull heat spreading across her chest, the telltale red crawling up her throat toward her face. That’s why she’d worn a sweater and a pretty scarf. Somehow she managed to shrug. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s kissed much at all.”
“You had to break him in some. Gentle him to your touch.”
She squeezed her eyes shut a moment, trying to forget. Then she opened her eyes and glared at Ty as mean as she could. “Don’t talk about your fiancée that way.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not right.”
Ty snorted and shoved the hat back on his head. “Now there’s the prim and proper snooty princess coming out to play. So old Jeb laid one on you and you felt the need to wait out here all night to tell me that. All right. What’s the problem?”
“Aren’t you mad?” She sounded bewildered, but she couldn’t help it. Nothing was making sense to her. Here she’d thought she’d lose him entirely, and he wasn’t even angry. “Don’t you want to yell at me? Make me feel bad?”
“Darlin’, I can tell by the redness of your eyes that you already feel bad enough. Why would I want to hurt you more?”
“I want you to make me feel badly for what I did, though I’m already miserable.”
“I can see that.” He strode over and tugged her close, though he didn’t let her hide her face against him. He used his knuckles to keep her face tipped up to his. “That might make you feel better for a while, but that ain’t what you need, darlin’. Not really. After kissing him, do you still want me?”
She nodded, sniffing to keep the tears at bay. “More than ever. I thought I’d lost you and I couldn’t bear it.”
“You’ll never lose me.” He held her steady, his eyes lo
cked on her face. “What about Jebadiah? Do you want him?”
She blinked rapidly, afraid to move, afraid to think for fear that her face would betray her.
“You’re a lot of woman, Princess. I know exactly why he wants you. Any man in his right mind would like what he saw when you sashay by. But the only question I care about is whether or not you want him.”
“He’s my friend. My best friend.”
“Uh-huh. You’ve known him your whole life. Everyone saw you two hooking up one day, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Including him. Maybe including you. Until I showed up. So tell me true, Virginia soon-to-be Connagher, ’cause I’m marrying you one way or the other assuming you’re still willing. I’m only going to ask you this one time, and I’ll never mention it again unless you do. Do you want Jebadiah Garrett?”
Usually she could think things through, see how scenarios would play out in her mind, but this time, everything was a tangled mess. If she said yes, then Ty’s next question would be whether she wanted him more than Jeb, and then she’d be back to possibly losing them both. She’d have to choose one over the other and someone was going to end up terribly hurt. If she said no, then she’d still have Ty, hopefully, but she’d lose her best friend. I’ve already lost him. We crossed a line that we can’t ever go back across again.
She lifted her chin, steeled her heart and pushed the memory of Jeb on his knees deep into the darkest, most secret pit of her soul. “No.”
Ty held her a long moment, studying her face, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t disappointed in her. Not like she’d expected. He rubbed his knuckles underneath her chin lightly and stroked his fingers down her neck. “Nice scarf. All right then, if that’s the way you want it. Dawn’s coming so I’d best get to work. You want to grab a bite of dinner tonight? It’ll be late. Probably eight before I’m free.”
“Sure,” she replied slowly, her mind completely hollowed out. “That’s it?”
“Yep, that’s it. Except for this.” In a rush, he backed her against the stable wall and planted his mouth on hers. He kissed her like he was trying to find the other side of her and sail right on into oblivion. When he finally lifted his head, she could only stare up at him, panting. “I swore I won’t ever let you down, and I meant it.”
“I love you, Tyrell. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
He released her and gave her a playful shove back toward the house. “And I love you, Princess. Now get that cute butt to bed before I lose my better judgment and risk Colonel Healy’s wrath by dragging his sassy daughter off to wrestle in a hay pile.”
He fetched his rangy bay and started to saddle up.
She hesitated, biting her lip. “What about Jeb?”
“Don’t you worry about him none.” Ty led his saddled horse outside and she closed the stable door for him. “He’s a man of his word and so am I.”
“What does that mean?”
Ty stepped up on his horse and gave her a heavy-lidded look that made her nipples pebble against her shirt. “I’ll let him down real gentle like.” His horse broke into a lope, but she heard his parting words clearly. “As gentle as you broke him in last night.”
8
Standing outside the front door, Jeb straightened his tie one last time and slipped his right hand into his coat, checking the inner pocket. The box was still there, tucked away and out of sight. Just feeling it there gave him hope that someday she might say yes, even if it was months or years away yet. Assuming, of course, that I ever find the courage to broach the question.
He raised his hand to knock on the door, but when he saw his fingers shaking, he lowered his hand. His stomach was even worse. There wasn’t any way he was going to be able to eat a single bite of food at dinner.
In fact, he even started to turn away and head for his car, but the door swung open so hard it almost knocked him flat on his ass.
“Goodbye, Mother.” Virginia’s voice was even and calm, but he knew her too well. Even if she hadn’t practically knocked him out with the door, she only called Miss Belle that when she was so furious she wanted to curse. “Jeb.” She strode toward his waiting car without even sparing a glance at him. “Nice Caddy.”
Through the still open door, he called, “Good evening, Miss Belle. I’ll have her home early.”
“Don’t you dare, son,” Miss Belle said with a wink as she closed the door.
Son. Now that was a first. Shaking his head, he started to follow Virginia, but then he took a good look at what she was wearing.
Good God Almighty. That designer daughter of hers ought to have her own shop on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The silk flowed and hugged Virginia’s body perfectly, managing to be provocative and sexy without the skirt cut too high or the bodice too low. She’d even managed to disguise the cast Virginia had been so worried about with a cascade of thin, gauzy material down to her wrists. Deep, rich red against the evening sunset, glowing brighter than the fireball slipping into slumber for the evening. “Wow.”
She paused at the passenger door and looked back at him. She’d pulled her hair back with a simple clip at the base of her neck with a few waves free about her face to soften the angular lines of her cheekbones. Her eyes were hard, her mouth tight with whatever argument she’d had with her mother, but in his head, he might as well have been taking her to her senior prom. Just a few decades later than he’d expected.
“Are you coming or not?”
“First you didn’t want to go to dinner with me, and now I’m taking too long.” Deliberately, he kept his pace to a leisurely amble instead of flying to her side and flinging the door open like the anxious, overeager teenager inside him thought he should do. He opened the door for her, trying not to show how much it affected him to see her sliding into his car. To know that she was his for the evening. Finally. After too many years to count. “Thank you.”
Eyes narrowed suspiciously, she searched his face. “For what?”
More emotion echoed in his words than he’d planned, so he gave her a big smile. For giving me a chance, no matter how slim. “You said you liked the car.”
She relaxed back into the seat and the barest of grins cracked her stony demeanor. “I always did like a Cadillac, even though they’re pretentious enough that’s all Miss Belle ever drives.”
He shut the door and walked around to his side. That’s exactly why I bought this beast as soon as I set my mind on coming back to find you.
He buckled his seat belt and then noticed she was having a hard time buckling hers with one hand. Not that Virginia Connagher would ever deign to ask for help. He leaned over and pulled the belt for her. “Do you remember the first time you drove a Caddy?”
As he hoped, the question distracted her long enough that he was able to get her buckled in safely without her biting his head off. “Not really. Miss Belle’s was off limits and she was too damned psychic. If I even thought about touching the door handle, she’d march up and wallop me with that deadly parasol she used to carry around to protect her precious porcelain skin from the Texas sun.”
He drove down the driveway to the main blacktop into town. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she didn’t remember. He’d treasured so many precious little moments, while she’d apparently blocked everything from her memory. “You were going crazy that you couldn’t drive Miss Belle’s car when you liked it so much. So one day I borrowed Dad’s car while he was seeing patients and took you for a ride.”
“Borrowed? Weren’t we pulled over and practically arrested?”
“I was practically arrested. Until the new deputy called Dad to the scene and he realized I’d taken the car.”
“But wasn’t I driving?” She frowned, as if she was only just letting the scene play through her mind after all these years. “I didn’t even have my license yet. Good God, Jeb, why the hell would you do such a fool thing? What if I’d wrecked that car? Daddy would have—”
“Paid t
o have Dad’s car fixed,” Jeb broke in gently. “Miss Belle would have grounded you for a century, or so she would have claimed, but deep down, they would have really just been relieved that you were okay.”
“Didn’t you get in trouble?”
“Sure did. I was grounded for two months and had to clean Dad’s clinic every night after dinner. Plus I lost my driving privileges.”
“You rode your bike to school,” she said softly. “Why on earth did you do such a thing?”
He glanced over at her, catching her gaze for just a moment. She honestly doesn’t know. He sighed and turned his attention to the road. For not the first time in his life, he wished Tyrell hadn’t bought land so far out in the middle of nowhere. “I did it for you.”
“But why? I mean, honestly, I never asked you to steal a car and risk so much trouble for both of us. Though I guess you sure didn’t have to twist my arm to get me behind the wheel.”
“Nope,” he replied, smiling at the memory of how her eyes had lit up with excitement. She’d even thrown her arms around his neck in a quick hug before hopping behind the wheel. “Just like I didn’t have to twist your arm when we got caught sneaking into Mr. Tolson’s orchard and stealing peaches. Or when a bunch of us skipped school to go to the beach.”
“Oh, man, I remember that. None of us had suits but that sure didn’t stop us from stripping down to our skivvies and jumping in. We were crazy fools, weren’t we?”
“Indeed.” He didn’t dare look at her again because he’d be remembering what she’d looked like in her simple bra and panties. Or how he’d worried that his interest would be too visible in his boxers. Thank God it’d been chilly that day and they’d barely been able to last an hour in the water. “I don’t think Miss Belle ever figured that one out, did she?”
“Not that I know of. It was senior skip day anyway.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but you weren’t a senior, Ginny. Not that one year slowed you down any. You hopped in my car with everyone else and away we went.”
“Jebadiah Garrett, why on earth did you let me do such a thing?”
The Connaghers Series Boxed Set Page 74