Runaway Temptation
Page 14
“It’s not enough. You were a guest at my son’s wedding and left with the bride.” Simon looked him up and down with one quick, dismissive glance. “What does that make you? Or her?”
“Now, just a minute,” Shelby said.
“Father, you’re making this worse.”
“You keep your mouth shut,” Simon snapped. “You’re a damn traitor to your family.”
“Hey, there’s no need to punish Brooke,” Shelby protested.
“Simon,” Caleb warned, ice dripping from his words. “You should leave. Now. You don’t need to be here.”
“I’m here to deliver this tramp’s money.” He reached into his inner suit pocket and pulled out a check. Then he tossed it at her and watched as it fluttered to the floor.
“Pick it up.” Caleb’s voice was cold. Tight.
“Damned if I will,” Simon said.
Brooke bent to pick up the check and instantly handed it to Shelby. “I’m sorry for all of this,” she whispered.
“Sorry? You’re sorry?” Her father’s eyes wheeled. “This woman smeared your family, your brother and you would apologize to her?”
He looked back at Shelby, a sneer on his face. “There’s your damn money.” He shifted his gaze to Caleb. “I brought it because I had to see this tramp myself. To tell her that she should leave Royal because a life here will be a misery for her.” He looked at her. “I’ll see to it myself.”
“You’ll do nothing.” Caleb moved in on the man and Shelby noticed how quickly Simon backpedaled.
Still, she didn’t want to cause even more chaos in this house. This town. “Caleb, I told you I don’t need to be defended.”
“There is no defense for you, young woman,” Simon blustered.
Caleb ignored him and focused on Shelby. “You think I don’t know you can handle this? I do. But I’m damned if I’m going to stand in my own house and listen to insults.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Shelby insisted. “Not to me. Not anymore.”
Brooke put one hand on her arm and shook her head slightly, as if silently telling Shelby to let Caleb handle it.
“It matters to me,” Caleb said. “I’ve seen more of the Goodmans in the last week than I have in the last year and I can truly well say that but for Brooke, I’ve had more than enough.”
“You would insult me? Your father wouldn’t stand for this,” Simon said.
“Well then, that convinces me I’m doing the right thing.” Caleb took another step closer to the other man. “You’re fired.”
“What?” He genuinely looked surprised.
“Should have done it years ago, but it’s done now.”
“Caleb,” Shelby said.
“You’re going to let this woman ruin a good working relationship?” Simon was clearly stunned at the idea. “Are you blind, boy? She’s just a city girl come looking for a rich cowboy. She turned my boy loose and she’s aiming at you, now.”
“Oh, for...” Shelby muttered.
Caleb never glanced at her. “You should leave, Simon. Your business is done here.”
“You’ll regret this, boy.”
“Not a boy,” Caleb reminded him. “And the only thing I regret is waiting so long to fire your ass.”
“Brooke,” Simon ordered, “you go get in your car. We’ll not stay and be insulted.”
“Brooke,” Shelby said quietly, “you don’t have to go.”
“Now,” Simon roared.
“It’s better if I go,” Brooke said. “Don’t worry. He’s all thunder, no lightning. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Simon stomped from the room and Brooke was just a step or two behind him. She turned at the threshold and gave them one small smile before following her father out to the yard.
Caleb and Shelby stood side by side, watching as the Goodmans drove off. Shelby was more than a little rattled by the encounter, but her suitcases were in her room and she held a check in her hand. She glanced down at it, making sure the total was right. It was.
Caleb looked at it, too, then caught her gaze with his. “So, guess there’s nothing holding you here now, right?”
She lifted her gaze to his and wanted to wail when she saw the blank look in those icy-blue eyes. Just a moment ago, he’d stood in front of her, defending her. Now it was as if he’d erected a wall between them, closing her off, turning her back into the outsider she had been when she’d first come here.
“I don’t know,” she said simply. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Come on, Shelby.” He shook his head, his gaze locked with hers. “We both know what you’re going to do.”
“No—” She didn’t. How could she know when everything inside her was in turmoil?
“You’ll go back to Chicago, now that you’ve got the means to do it,” he said in a clipped tone that carried a sheen of ice. “Your reason for staying’s gone. Probably best all the way around. No point dragging this out, is there?”
God, it was as if he’d already said goodbye and watched her leave the ranch. Was it so easy for him, then? To let her go? Would he not miss her? Even a little? “Caleb...”
He spoke up quickly as if he simply didn’t want to hear whatever she might have said. “I don’t blame you for leaving. Royal’s not your home. Nothing holding you here anymore. Sorry you had to go through all of that, but at least it’s finished now.” He took a step back from her.
“I’ve got things to check on,” he muttered. “Don’t wait on me for dinner. Don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Shelby watched him go and knew he was doing more than walking out of the room.
He was walking out of her life.
Ten
Two days later, Shelby was still in limbo, and it was a cold, lonely spot.
Caleb had cut her out of his life with the smooth efficiency of a surgeon. Yes, she was still living at the ranch, but she might as well have been on the moon. Caleb didn’t come to her in the middle of the night. They didn’t share dinner in a quiet kitchen, telling each other stories of the day. She hadn’t been back in his room since their first night together.
In the mornings, he left at first light, so she didn’t even see him over the coffeepot. And Shelby tried to avoid the kitchen altogether now, since the sympathy in Cam’s eyes simply tore at her.
“If you had any sense, you’d just leave,” she told herself firmly.
She’d taken her check and opened a bank account in town. But that didn’t necessarily mean she was going to stay, she reminded herself. She could always have the money wired to another account. In Chicago. Or maybe New York. Or even Florida. Somewhere far away from Texas so she didn’t have to be reminded of what a nightmare the month of August had become.
“Sorry,” Meg said as she hurried back into the twins’ bedroom. “Sometimes I hate that phone.”
“It’s okay,” Shelby said, putting on a smile and a lighthearted tone that she didn’t feel. No reason to depress Meg. Especially since the woman was giving Shelby something to do. Something to focus on besides her own broken heart. “Gave me a chance to look around, get some ideas.”
“Thank God,” Meg said, doing a slow circle to take the room in.
Just like the main ranch house, Meg and Mitch’s place quietly spoke of money. There was nothing overt, but the furnishings were all high quality and the house itself had obviously been built with care. Hardwood floors gleamed in slashes of sunlight that speared through wide windows. Heavy rugs dotted the floors, giving warmth to the space and the twins’ beds were side by side, divided only by a child-sized table holding a grinning, cow-shaped lamp.
The space was huge and Shelby’s imagination raced with ideas for making the space more like a child’s dream room.
“You know, with the new baby coming, I really want to get Jack and Julie’s room redone. And with
the miracle you worked at the big house, who better to help me?” Meg walked over, picked up a pair of Julie’s pink sneakers and stowed them neatly beneath the bed.
Shelby nodded thoughtfully as her mind whirled with idea after idea. “I love how it is right now. It’s decorated beautifully.”
“It is, but it’s more adult pretty than kid pretty, you know?”
Shelby knew just what she meant. The furnishings were lovely, but there was nothing about the room that sparked a child’s imagination.
Meg looked around again. “We had a designer come in originally, but—” she winced “—the woman didn’t actually have children, so she set the room up as if kids never move or do anything. I mean, it’s pretty and I do like it, but the toys and clothes and just the general flotsam created by two tiny humans is staggering. Even the housekeeper is ready to throw up her hands.”
Shelby grinned. “Well, I don’t have kids, either, but I know what I’d like. I think there are a few simple things we can do to make it all easier on you and them.”
“I’m all ears,” Meg assured her.
“Organization first, and then we can spruce it all up and make it more...fanciful.”
“I like it already,” Meg assured her.
Shelby walked to the wide walk-in closet and threw the doors open. “This for example. There’s a lot of wasted space. On hangers, kids’ clothes don’t hang down very low. We can put a shelving system here and add wicker baskets on the bottom. That way the kids can put their own toys away in the baskets while you’ll have the top shelf for shoes, sweaters, whatever else you need, but don’t hang.”
“I like it,” Meg said, nodding as if she could see it.
“And, we can have beds made that come with storage beneath, so the twins can have their own treasure chests, keep things that are important to them stored away.”
“Oh, they’d love that,” Meg agreed.
Shelby gave an inner sigh. Those children were adorable and pulled on every one of her heartstrings. Along with giving her own biological clock a good, hard kick.
She shook the feeling off and concentrated on bringing her imagination to life. “And in the corner, we can put in a table and chairs, kid-sized, where Julie can practice her drawing. With a series of smaller shelves and small baskets there, we’d have a space for her paper and crayons and markers.”
Meg grinned. “Oh, my God, this is great. Keep going!”
Laughing now, Shelby turned and pointed to the far corner. “This room is so big, we could build a playhouse there for both of the kids and make it like a tree house.” She was thinking as she spoke and smiled when another idea hit her. “You know, Brooke Goodman is an excellent artist. I bet she’d love to paint a tree mural on the wall and we could build the house to look as though it’s hung on the tree branches. With little steps and ladders and secret passages... Oh, and maybe a place inside where they could nap.”
“I love it. I love all of it,” Meg said, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I can’t even tell you. It’s perfect. Honestly, Shelby, you’re brilliant.”
“Thank you, but sometimes, it just takes an outsider to look at a space and see it differently.”
Meg frowned a little. “You’re not an outsider, Shelby.”
Shaking her head, she ignored that because the truth was that Caleb had cut her out. Pushed her out.
“I just love to bring a room together and make it functional, you know?” She looked around and could almost see what it would be like when it was finished. A sharp pang settled around Shelby’s heart when she realized she most likely wouldn’t see the completed project. How could she stay when Caleb was making it clear he didn’t want her there?
“This is more than functional,” Meg said. “You’re talking about building a kid’s dream room.”
Shelby smiled. “For now. Then, when they want their own rooms, you could make this one a shared play space and decorate other bedrooms for them.”
“God knows the house is big enough for it,” Meg said, nodding. “And Mitch is already talking about adding on another wing. The Mackenzies are big on wings,” she added with a laugh. “He wants a lot of kids, but then, so do I.”
“It sounds wonderful,” Shelby said and, though she thought she was being stiff-upper-lippy, Meg must have caught something in her tone.
“What’s going on, Shelby?”
“Nothing. Really.” Even she heard the lie and Shelby wished she were better at it.
“Is it you and Caleb?”
Shelby shook her head. There really was no point in pretending, when she’d have to leave the ranch soon. Everyone would know the truth then. “There is no me and Caleb.”
“What? Why? Since when?” Meg walked closer. “I can see the way you look at each other. Your eyes practically devour him when he walks into a room. And he’s clearly crazy about you, Shelby.”
“No, he’s not,” Shelby said and looked down into the yard. From the kids’ bedroom, she had a good view of the corral where Caleb was working with one of the horses. He held the reins as the huge, black animal trotted around the perimeter. Mitch and the three-year-old twins stood at the fence, watching, but Shelby couldn’t tear her eyes away from Caleb.
Everything about that man called to her. Sadly, he obviously didn’t feel the same about her. Otherwise, he never would have been able to simply ignore her existence as he had the last couple of days.
“What happened, Shelby?” Meg asked, her voice soft. “Did you guys have a fight?”
Shelby laughed, but it hurt her throat. “No, we didn’t. That’s the hardest part to accept. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. No fight. No huge, defining moment that tore us apart. It might be easier to take if there had been a big blowup.” She sighed a little and kept her gaze locked on Caleb. “He just...shut down. Shut me out. The Goodmans gave me my money and Caleb assumed I’d be going back to Chicago. He actually told me it was probably for the best.”
“Idiot,” Meg muttered.
Shelby smiled sadly at the camaraderie. “After that, he simply closed himself off. For the last two days, he’s ignored me completely. Avoided me. He won’t even talk to me, Meg. I don’t even know why I’m still here.”
She turned to look at the other woman. “At this point, I think maybe Caleb was right and it would be for the best if I just left. For both our sakes.”
“Oh, God, I was afraid of this.” Meg sighed and moved up to stand beside her at the window. “This isn’t about you, Shelby. This is about me.”
Confused, she turned to look at her friend. “What do you mean?”
“God, it’s like a Karmic circle.”
“What are you talking about?” Shelby asked. Misery was stamped on Meg’s features but her eyes simmered with a low burn.
“This is about me. And Mitch and what happened four years ago.” Meg turned around to look at Shelby. “Once upon a time, I was engaged to Caleb.”
Stunned, Shelby stared at her. She hadn’t known what to expect, but this was still a shocker. Caleb was always so cool with Meg, it was hard to imagine the two of them engaged. “Really?”
“I know. Weird to think about now. It’s funny, but Caleb never even really proposed.” Meg sighed, reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears. “It seemed like a natural progression, you know? We’d known each other forever. He wanted family and so did I and...” She sighed. “That sounds so lame, but—”
“It’s okay,” Shelby assured her. Hadn’t she done the same thing with Jared? Given in to her need for family, for home and then come to regret the decision? “Believe me, I understand.”
Meg gave her a weak smile. “Thanks. Anyway, long story short—a few weeks before the wedding, Mitch and I discovered we loved each other. But what could we do? I was engaged to his brother for heaven’s sake. Neither of us wanted to hurt Caleb, but that’s what we did.”
“At the time, I tried to find a way to talk to Caleb, but he’s so damn single-minded he wouldn’t listen.” She held up one hand. “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that any of this was his fault. Mitch and I were in love and it seemed like there was only one way to be together. So, the night before the wedding, Mitch and I eloped.”
“Oh, God.” Shelby shifted her gaze to the man in the middle of the corral.
“Yeah.” Meg stood beside her. “I left Caleb a letter, trying to explain it all, but of course it wasn’t enough. Apologies weren’t enough. And for the last four years, Mitch and I have tried to make it up to him, but that’s hard to do when the man won’t acknowledge your presence.”
“I know that, too,” Shelby murmured.
“Caleb and Mitch kept working together, but they used to be close and that ended when we eloped. I still feel guilty about that. I know that it hurts Mitch daily. And I think Caleb misses his brother, too.” Meg took a breath and sighed it out. “Just the other day, though, Caleb and Mitch talked and it might be getting better between them. But he’ll never forgive me.”
She turned, and her gaze locked with Shelby’s. “So when you ran out on your wedding, it really hit home with him.”
“Of course it did.” Shelby’s heart actually sank. She felt it drop to the pit of her stomach where it sat like an icy stone. This was why she couldn’t get past the wall he’d built around himself. This was at the heart of the darkness she’d glimpsed in his eyes a few times.
No wonder he couldn’t trust her. She understood how it had to seem to him. Shelby had done to Jared exactly what Meg had done to him. He’d already experienced betrayal and didn’t want to risk it again.
“I’m so sorry, Shelby. He’s being an ass because of something I did.”