Cowboy Undone

by Mary Leo

  Chuck poured more wine into his glass then drank down a third of it. “Yes. I gave up all my rights. Reese Sr. adopted him.”

  “But did you sign anything that kept you from telling Reese Jr. the truth?”

  “No. I merely promised Cathy that I wouldn’t. But now that Reese Sr. has died, well, I figured it was time.”

  Avery leaned in. “And what did you think you would accomplish by dropping this bomb on a man who clearly loved his father?”

  Chuck leaned back in his chair. “I thought it was time he knew the truth.”

  “Now? When he’s grieving over his dad, and legally, Reese Sr. was and still is his dad.”

  “Yes.”

  She decided he was lying to her again, so she pushed her chair back, getting ready to leave the dining room, and his house if need be. No way would she remain under the same roof with Chuck now, not after she’d met Reese Jr., who she desperately wanted to see again.

  “I don’t know how other people in your circle handle your lies, but let me be perfectly clear. I will not deal with you, not now, not ever, if you’re going to keep things from me and flat out lie to my face.”

  She turned away from the table, determined to leave his house and never look back. She could forgive a lot of things, but she refused to forgive purposeful deception, especially from someone she loved. It was the one thing she had no tolerance for. Not in her clients, and most certainly not in Chuck, a man she once had wished was her dad instead of her real dad, who purposely kept himself distant from her.

  “Wait! Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Seems to me you’ve got your own set of lies to deal with. Lies that may get you permanently disbarred. I’ve done a little digging and you can come down from your high horse any time now.”

  Anger surged through her, and caught in her throat, squeezing it tight. She turned back to face him, raw fury pulsing through her veins. Somehow she managed to keep her cool, keep her voice at a natural pitch. “For your information, I did nothing unethical. I don’t know who’s filling your head, but my client used me for his own gains, and I assure you, I will be vindicated once all the facts are turned over to the board. You, on the other hand, broke a trust, not only with me, but with Reese’s mother. Did you love her?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I just want to know if you always betray the women you say you love.”

  She pushed her chair back in, turned and headed for the door, trying to breathe normally as she went. Her temper was getting the best of her, and she didn’t like when that happened. All it did was cause her to say things she didn’t mean. Although, this time, she knew her emotions were tangled up in hurt more than they were anger. Everything she’d said to Chuck, she’d meant.

  “I’m not the man you think I am,” Chuck said, as she reached the doorway. “Never was. Probably why your dad and I get along so well. We’re two of a kind.”

  His words caused her to reconsider her exit. She whirled around to face him, took a couple steps and leaned on the table, hands splayed out on the polished wood.

  “My dad is the most honest man I’ve ever known. His ethics are beyond reproach. Do not put him in the same category.”

  “A few minutes ago, you thought the same thing about me.”

  Her stomach tightened, but she wouldn’t back down, and refused to think any less of her dad, who wasn’t there to defend himself.

  “Let’s forget about my dad for now. Tell me who you are, because obviously I’ve been wrong about you. Just who are you, Chuck Starr, and why should it matter to me?”

  His features seemed to tighten, his jaw clenched, and his right hand, that rested on the table, suddenly curled up into a fist. If she was a guy, she’d be worried he was going to slug her. But this was Chuck Starr. Perhaps she didn’t know some of his more underhanded schemes, but she knew for a fact, he would never physically hurt her.

  “I’m someone you wouldn’t like very much, and that single fact is tearing me apart.”

  She let out a heavy breath, and stood up straight, her eyes moist with tears. “Why? What have you done?”

  “It’s not any one thing. It’s a series of smaller things . . . things I’m not proud of,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s like to have a daughter, but I’ve always thought you were as close to one as I was ever going to get. I loved the way you admired me, looked at me like I could do no wrong, like I was your favorite uncle. I couldn’t stand it if that ever changed.”

  There was no denying that she’d loved Chuck at times even more than her own dad. He’d been the voice of reason when everyone else around her could only deal in emotions. She could always depend on him to help her make the big decisions in her life. He’d helped her decide on her major in college, and was there when she graduated. It was as if she had two dads who she had loved equally without question. She didn’t want their relationship to end, not like this.

  “If we’re telling the truth here, I admit that’s how I’ve always thought of you, Chuck. I knew you were there for me, no matter what. When my mom died, you helped my dad and me get through all the tough times. I’ll always love you for that, but you should have told me about Reese, that he’s your son. You used me, and lied to me. I don’t know how to forgive you for that.”

  He was standing now, his eyes dry, but she could tell he was holding back the dam that wanted to break inside of him. She’d never seen him so emotionally drained. Apparently, their love for each other was in fact mutual. She couldn’t walk away from him now, not when he was so vulnerable.

  “There’s a lot of things I should tell you, but I don’t know where to begin,” he said, a slight crack in his voice. Chuck was one of those old-fashioned man’s man, a cowboy who didn’t break no matter what happened around him. She knew this had to be slowly killing him.

  She softened, willing to give him another chance. She pulled out her chair and sat down. “Promise me no more lies.”

  “I promise,” he said, but she felt he was still holding back.

  Nonetheless, she was willing to listen to what he had to say, hoping that somewhere in his confession she’d hear all the truth, and not just the things he thought she should hear.

  “How about if you start at the beginning. With you and Catherine. We have plenty of time. I’m not going anywhere tonight.” She drank more of the luscious wine, then put her glass down on the table and topped it off. “Can we eat while we talk? I haven’t had an appetite all day, but I seem to have one now. And Kaya has worked hard on this meal. I think she’d be disappointed if we shoved it in the fridge.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” he said, a smile pressing his lips together. “Kaya’s food will relax us both. Let’s start there.”

  REESE COULD BARELY breathe, let alone speak after he’d listened to what his mother had to say about his biological dad, Chuck Starr. Reese had refused to tear up the letter that had been tucked inside the envelope, and instead demanded that she tell him its contents.

  At first, he thought the letter contained another offer of some ridiculous sum of money for their land. He assumed Chuck had decided to go around him and appeal directly to his mom now that his dad was gone. But when his mom assured him that wasn’t what the letter dealt with, Reese couldn’t let it go, even though his mom tried her best to convince him otherwise. Reese was indeed his father’s son and the same stubborn streak that had caused his dad to go on that roundup even though Catherine had begged him not to go, propelled Reese to insist she tell him the contents of Chuck’s letter.

  “No. Mom. You can’t be serious. This is some kind of twisted joke that Chuck is trying to pull, right?” Reese said, once his mom explained the facts. “You would not have purposely kept this from me. You’d have told me when I turned eighteen or certainly by the time I turned twenty-one. Not now. Not when I’m thirty-one years old, and we just had a memorial service for my father this afternoon. Not after all the crap that’s gone
on between Chuck Starr and Dad for all these years. You wouldn’t be this cruel.”

  Reese couldn’t help the anger and the hurt that bubbled up from deep inside him. He could hardly believe what she was saying, could hardly believe she’d . . . they’d . . . lied to him for his entire life.

  Not his parents.

  Not his dad.

  “I’m sorry, Reese, but yes, Chuck is your biological father, but that in no way changes anything. Please let me explain.” He could tell his mom was struggling to hold it together. Part of him wanted to comfort her, and tell her not to be so upset, but he couldn’t get past his own hurt to justify acting on hers.

  In the last two weeks, ever since his dad had passed, his mom had not only lost enough weight to cause her clothes to look several sizes too big, but her face had become gaunt. Reese and his siblings worried and fussed over her, spent more time with her, trying to never leave her alone, and prompting her to eat. Reese knew this argument wasn’t helping her situation. He could see it in her face, but the blow had been too much for him to withstand, and he needed to try to lessen its impact or he’d explode.

  “Explain? You want to explain why you never told me?” His fists tightened until his fingernails dug into the fleshy part of his palms. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to stop the pressure. “Just tell me one thing. Did Dad know the truth?”

  Reese and his mom stood inside Reese Sr.’s office, a room filled with memories and furniture that had seen better days. The wooden desk his dad had bought at a ranch liquidation sale, to remind him of what could happen if he wasn’t diligent about managing his ranch, still dominated the room. Its hand-carved ornate front panel depicting cowboys herding wild mustangs was now chipped and in need of refinishing, much like everything else in the office, in the house, and on the ranch. Times were hard, and they were about to get much harder if this bombshell was in fact true.

  His mom sat in one of two tattered brown leather armchairs that she and his dad would often sit in to discuss ranch business. “Come sit with me. Let me explain. Everything isn’t as cut and dried as you might think.”

  “Did Dad know the damn truth? Just answer the question.”

  He could tell she was trying her best to hold it together and not break down, and it killed him to see her like this. Still, he couldn’t back down, couldn’t allow himself to think of her feelings when his were in shreds.

  “Yes, but you know how much he loved you,” she said, pleading her case. “How he loved all his children. Equally.”

  “But I’m not his child. Why the hell did he name me his junior if I wasn’t even his son?”

  “But you are his son. You two were like peas in a pod. Same temperament. Same views. Heck, you two even had the same walk. You are as much his child as any of your siblings.”

  Reese tumbled into the chair opposite his mom feeling as though he didn’t have the strength to stand any longer.

  His mom continued. “It was a different time back when I met your father and Chuck. I was rebellious, full of spit and vinegar, much like your sister is right now, wanting a different life. One that has nothing to do with ranching. I met Chuck first, and in those days, he was a sweet boy. I say boy because that’s what he was, even though he was in his early twenties. There was something about him that drew me to him. Don’t ask me what, but as soon as we met, I knew we had a connection. Almost like fate had prearranged our entire lives.”

  Reese thought of Avery, and the impact she’d had on him that afternoon. And he couldn’t help thinking about the dream image of her, too . . . and how that connection, though strange, for sure, was something he didn’t feel he could fight—just like his mom was describing how she felt. The thought that his mom had felt the same intense pull towards Chuck Starr tightened his chest and caused his stomach to sour.

  She pressed on. “Before I could come to my senses, we were intimate with each other. I knew better, but the attraction was overpowering. During that time, George and Louise had introduced me to your dad. You know how much I owed them for taking me in after my parents were killed in that horrible accident. They loved your dad, and encouraged me to date him. He ran his own ranch, had money in the bank, and could provide not only a future for me, but for them as well. Chuck was a drifter back then. He didn’t have two nickels to rub together. He certainly wasn’t the man he is today, and I saw no evidence that he would ever be more than a wandering cowboy looking for a ranch to work. Once I started dating your dad, I broke it off with Chuck, but by then, I learned that I was pregnant.

  “Your dad never once wavered in his commitment to me, and proposed right there on the spot when I told him I was pregnant with Chuck’s child. I said yes, of course, and your dad hired a lawyer. Papers were drawn up that relinquished Chuck of any future financial obligations plus those papers allowed your dad to adopt you. Chuck promised me that he would never tell you he was your biological father, but I guess he decided to break that promise now that your father has passed. I’m so sorry, son, that it has come to this.”

  Reese couldn’t speak for a moment, and instead tried to quell his shaking. Then after he leaned forward in the chair and slid his fingers through his hair, he looked at his mom. “What you’re saying is you wouldn’t be telling me now if Chuck hadn’t sent you that letter and I hadn’t insisted on knowing its contents. It was his threat that caused you to finally tell me the truth.”

  Her eyes brimmed with tears. Her lovely face contorted with anguish. “There are some things that are best left in the past.”

  Reese jumped up, his anger red-hot again. “Mom, do you realize what you’re saying? What else are you hiding from me? What else did Dad hide from me . . . from all of us? Are my brothers and my sister from the man we buried out in the cemetery, or were you attracted to other men along the way?”

  She stood, walked over to him, and for the first time in Reese’s entire life, she struck him. Slapped him right across the face with everything that was in her. The sting soared through him in more ways than he could withstand. Emotion dampened his eyes and caught in his throat.

  “You will not disrespect me or your father. I told you the truth. There’s nothing more to it, and nothing more behind it.”

  They stared at each other for another moment as a flood of hurt spun around inside Reese. Never in his adult life had he felt more anger and grief. His dad, whom he had admired and loved more than he could ever express, had hidden a secret from him that he had deserved to know. What gripped Reese’s soul was the fact that he couldn’t confront his dad, couldn’t ask him why he chose to expunge the facts so completely that Chuck Starr had been made out to be the devil.

  When Reese finally turned and left the room, there was only one person he wanted to talk to . . . Chuck Starr, the man who had done everything in his power to destroy the Cooper ranch, and who had forced his mom into admitting the truth.

  Chuck Starr might have been the man who impregnated his mom, but he was not, nor would he ever be, Reese’s father.

  BY THE TIME Reese drove his ten-year-old pickup truck along Chuck Starr’s private ranch road, evening had taken over the moonlit sky. Stones and red dirt billowed up behind him as he sped towards the sprawling ranch house ready to confront his deceased father’s lifelong nemesis. He didn’t know what Chuck intended to do about the situation, but Reese wanted nothing to do with him . . . ever. And he intended to tell him just that.

  He’d gone over his argument several times on the drive to the Circle Starr, but the scenario always ended up with Reese punching Chuck in the jaw for all the pain he’d caused his dad. Their innate animosity made sense now, but still, why did Chuck have to be such a bastard?

  Reese pulled his rig up to the front of the house just as a woman stepped out on the porch, a woman he thought he might never see again, at least not this soon, and not on Chuck Starr’s front porch. Seeing her in this situation both saddened and elated him at the same time

  Avery Templeton approached him, her red hair pulled ba
ck in a ponytail, face clean of makeup, eyes piercing right through him. This time she couldn’t hide behind a hat. He could see her beautiful face as it reflected both the moonlight and the soft light coming from the porch. She wore tight jeans, tan-colored cowgirl boots, and a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt. The concern on her face said everything Reese needed to know.

  “What are you doing here?” Reese asked as he ascended the three steps.

  “I’m staying here,” she said in that sultry voice of hers. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have a score to settle with Chuck Starr. Are you his keeper?”

  “No. Just a guest who’s concerned about my host.”

  “Your host has a bad reputation in this town. Did you know that before you came to stay with him or are you consistently attracted to everything that’s bad for you?”

  Reese noticed the perfect curve of her face, the gentle slant of her eyes and the way the corners of her mouth turned up whenever she readied to speak.

  “Only when it benefits me.” A slight smirk creased her full lips causing him to momentarily lose his resolve to speak to Chuck.

  “So tell me, how does staying with Chuck Starr benefit you?”

  “It brought you here, didn’t it?”

  This time he smirked, but it was short-lived.

  “Only because of that letter you delivered for Chuck today.”

  “You shouldn’t have come,” she told him, her voice getting even lower. “Nothing can come of you confronting him tonight.”

  He didn’t like that she apparently knew the contents of the letter. He wondered who else knew about it. The entire town, perhaps?

  “Not much choice in the matter.”

  “There’s always a choice.” She walked over and leaned against the railing, pushing her legs out and crossing her ankles, forcing him to gaze at her long legs that now stretched out in front of him.

  “Seems we both like to live on the edge. Are you related to Chuck? Is that why you’re here?” Reese asked, hoping there was no blood relation between them.