by Mary Leo
Janice didn’t hesitate. Instead she whispered, “Yes, but you didn’t get that info from me.”
Reese figured as much, but the news still startled him. Why the hell would Chuck be Pamela’s guardian and not her own husband? Something stunk about this whole thing, and he hoped in the coming days, he and Avery could figure it out. But right now, she had enough of a problem trying to cope with the fact that Chuck and her dad had lied to her for twenty years.
He knew exactly how she felt, and if it was anything like he’d felt when he learned about Chuck being his bio dad, Avery was in for a whole lotta hurt . . . especially with the latest news. Reese knew she idolized Chuck Starr, maybe more than her own dad, and now what? He’d lied about her mom for twenty years. It was enough for Reese to want to rip up any and all agreements with Chuck Starr. The man was everything his dad had said he was, and more . . . much more.
Avery didn’t react. Instead she stood there like a statue, not even breathing. Reese grabbed her hand and led her back out of Bell House.
“How could Chuck do this to me?” Avery asked, as he guided her down the front steps. “How could he be my mother’s guardian? What the fuck is going on, Reese? What are they covering up?”
“Like I said, Chuck isn’t who you think he is.”
“But he knew Kaya gave me those pictures and he didn’t fire her for it. That has to mean something. That has to mean he wanted me to know the truth. Doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him, and get more info on that date-stamped picture.”
“It all makes sense now. That horrible picture, and the file he had on Bell House. Why didn’t I connect it sooner? Why didn’t I put it all together? It’s what I do for a living. I get paid to find these things, to put the facts together. Why didn’t I see this?”
“Wait. You saw a file that Chuck had on Bell House?”
“Yes, it was in his office and when he knew I saw it, he immediately put it away.”
At once Reese knew there was something much bigger going on here. “You’re too close to this, and you love both your dad and Chuck equally. I’m sure you never for one second thought either of them would perpetrate such an elaborate lie for twenty years. What the hell, Avery . . . this has to all be somehow tied together. Chuck being my bio dad . . . your mom. Something reeks in all of this.”
“And I intend to find out just where the fuck that smell is coming from.”
“You sound angry.”
“Damn straight I’m angry, at both of them. You were right about Chuck. Machala warned me. You warned me. Hell, this whole town tried to warn me in one way or another. But I refused to listen. Well, believe me, I’m listening now. Let’s get out of here,” she said, now leading the way back to his truck. “I’ve got a zero birthday to celebrate, and I think I know exactly how to do it.”
AVERY STOOD ON the top metal rail of the Navajo Bridge inside Marble Canyon, located near the Grand Canyon, harnessed and attached to a bright orange bungee cord, getting ready for her first jump. They had stopped at a clothing store on the way over, and she had outfitted herself in jeans, sneakers, and a fluorescent pink T-shirt that said BADASS.
Reese watched from the sidelines as the Jump Master told Avery what to expect and how to jump head first off the bridge. Reese figured if she dove off to her death, someone had to be able to drive back to Wild Cross and tell somebody. Of course, the real reason why he wasn’t able to join her was the Jump Master only had time to set up one more jump today, and because it was Avery’s thirtieth birthday, she won the spot. Not that Reese was all that upset to give up the adventure. The whole idea of it made him more than uncomfortable, despite Avery’s questionable enthusiasm for it.
“In honor of my mom, I need to do something to commemorate turning thirty,” she’d told him on the way over once she and Machala Livingston had made all the arrangements by phone while she was working the bar at Around The Bend tavern.
“Couldn’t we just blow out candles on a cake to commemorate the occasion?” Reese had reasoned. Unfortunately, Avery wasn’t in the mood for candles. Apparently, she was in the mood for something much bigger.
“That’s fine for regular digit birthdays, but when you celebrate a zero birthday, it needs to be life-changing.”
“And hurling yourself off a bridge will accomplish this life-changing goal?”
“Yes. Besides, I’ve been thinking about doing it ever since the day I met Machala.”
“I thought you said you could never jump off a bridge.” He had thought that reminding her of what she’d said might sway her to reconsider.
“That was before I learned that my mom is alive and Chuck is listed as her guardian.”
“I don’t understand. How did that make you think of bungee jumping?”
“I wanted to fly away from the situation, wanted to be in someone else’s skin, and all of a sudden it came to me in a flash. What better way to put all of that behind me for a while than to worry about jumping off a bridge.”
“And is it working?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure once I get there, it will,” she’d said.
They’d driven the rest of the way in relative silence, Reese listening to country music on the radio while Avery dozed. Apparently, after not having slept very much in the last few days, deciding to bungee-jump off a bridge had rocked her to sleep.
Now, as she focused in on everything the Jump Master said, Reese could tell she was operating on all eight cylinders.
“Are you in the moment now?” Reese yelled over the sound of the wind rushing through what seemed like an endless canyon. He must have snapped a hundred pictures with her phone already. He’d left his own phone in his truck since it was almost dead anyway. He’d forgotten to charge it last night, and of course, hadn’t brought the charger with him. She’d told him how she didn’t want to miss a second of it, and had asked him to take as many pictures as he could. Hell, he’d even take a video of the event.
There were actually two steel and suspension bridges that arched from one side of the deep canyon to the other. Just looking down at the river far below made Reese dizzy, and he couldn’t even imagine what he would be like if he was getting ready to jump down into the abyss.
“Yes,” Avery yelled back just before she leapt off the railing, arms outstretched, as if she had no fear whatsoever. He caught it all on video.
Reese stared over the railing, his adrenaline pounding his heart against his chest, his hands sweaty, a lump the size of a boulder in his throat as he silently prayed to every god in the universe that the cord was the right length, and the harness held.
In what seemed like forever, Avery flew out over the emerald green water of the pink rock canyon, screaming her way down, seeming as though she had taken flight, until at long last the cord bounced her up with her feet still tethered to the end of it, thank you very much.
At once his body let go of the tension it had been harboring, and his jaw actually ached as his entire body finally began to relax. Yes, it looked like fun if you were the type who liked that sort of extreme thing, but for Reese, give him a fast horse, and the wind at his back any day of the week.
As Avery was being pulled back up, she and everyone on the bridge sang a rousing version of Happy Birthday. Never had that song had more meaning than at that very moment. No way would he ever sing it again without remembering this moment. Avery and her mom were right about one thing, marking a milestone birthday with something that changed your life sure made it stand out from the rest of them.
Avery would never be the same . . . hell, he would never be the same again.
SIXTEEN
It was late, almost ten o’clock when Reese drove his truck onto the Circle Starr Ranch again. The party had long since ended and all evidence of it had been taken down and cleaned up. Avery’s thirtieth birthday had begun with a party she never wanted, surrounded by people she didn’t know, and had ended with a kiss from a cowboy she had fallen in love with.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” Reese asked as he pulled up just a few feet from her private bedroom door.
She smiled and shook her head, knowing that she needed to confront Chuck on her own. He acted differently when he was anywhere near Reese, probably wanting to make a continuous good impression. She wanted to deal with the real Chuck. The Chuck she’d known since she was a little girl, the guy who had more or less taken her dad’s place in her life at times, and apparently in her mother’s life as well. The guy she could talk to about almost anything and he would always be honest . . . until it came to her mom, she now knew. Then all bets were off.
“Thanks, but you’ve done enough for me today. I have to talk to Chuck alone. I know he’s in there now, sipping brandy, sitting in his office. My dad already texted me that he had to get back, so at least I don’t have to confront both of them at once. Besides, I really don’t want to see my dad right now. I might say something I can’t take back.”
“But you’re okay with Chuck?”
She nodded. “Yeah, Chuck’s always been a pushover, and if I play him right, I should be able to get anything I want. It’s a different game now and I need to be the one in control, not Chuck or my dad. I still think Chuck would’ve told me the truth a long time ago if I’d ever known what to ask him. There’s a reason why he’s my mom’s guardian, and not my dad. I want to know that reason. Plus, I have a strong feeling I’m not on that approved guest list at Bell House because of my dad. I can’t imagine that Chuck had anything to do with it.”
Reese looked skeptical, his forehead furrowed and his eyes grew dark.
“And what if he did?” She knew for all the handshakes and negotiating, Reese still didn’t trust the man. Neither did she, but she wasn’t ready to give up on him totally. At least not yet. Reese couldn’t erase decades of distrust in a couple of weeks, just as Avery couldn’t erase her loyalty to Chuck. She needed a few more answers before she tossed him overboard along with her dad.
“Then he’ll tell me why, but he won’t do that if you’re there.”
Reese gazed out the windshield for a moment, as if he was trying his best to cope with what she was saying . . . that she didn’t want his help. A concept she knew drove him crazy. Reese was the kind of guy who enjoyed helping the people he cared about, most of the time to his own detriment.
He stepped out of the truck, walked around to her side, and opened her door . . . always the gentleman.
“Will you promise to call me if you need anything?” he asked as she moved out of the truck and tumbled into his embrace. “Call if this doesn’t go well or if you want me to come over or want me to join you at Bell House tomorrow or whenever you want to return. I’m here for you, no matter what.”
“I absolutely want you with me when I see my mom. I don’t know if it will be tomorrow, though. I think I want to know more about her condition first. I need to know what to expect. It might have been a blessing not getting in to see her today.”
“Whatever you want to do, I’m here,” he said. She wanted to believe him, and a big part of her did, but right now, with all the lies that had swirled around her for the past three decades by men she’d trusted, she couldn’t afford the luxury of complete trust . . . even with Reese.
They kissed then, and as soon as his lips touched hers, she wanted nothing more than to melt into him, to run away with him and never look back. But she knew that wasn’t an option, at least not now, not tonight.
“Good luck in there,” Reese said as she stepped away from him, genuine concern staining his face, causing his eyes to darken again.
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing the bag with her party clothes she’d changed out of for her badass-jumping-outfit. “See you tomorrow?”
“Sure,” he told her then slammed her door shut, walked around to the driver’s side, hopped in and drove away, leaving her to confront the man who had helped keep her dad’s secret for twenty years.
As she walked up to the front door, she could see the light on inside Chuck’s office, and when she opened the front door, he stood right next to the front door holding a filled cocktail glass in one hand, and a grisly scowl on his face, obviously waiting to pounce.
“Next time you want to betray me, maybe it would be better if you weren’t sleeping under my roof, enjoying my hospitality,” he said, his voice terse and abrupt. “I think your little visit is over. You need to get your things together and make plans to leave. I’m heading out in the morning for a couple days. I expect you to be gone when I return.”
He didn’t wait for her rebuttal, which she immediately tried to formulate in her head. She had absolutely no idea why he was so angry or why he needed her to leave. She wanted to ask him why, but before she could utter one word, he turned on his heel, drink splashing on the floor with his abrupt movement, and marched off to his office, completely closing her out by slamming the door shut behind him.
EVERY LIGHT WAS on inside the Cooper house. His mom had texted him that something important had happened, but didn’t want to discuss it on the phone. He normally would have called her right back, but his phone had been almost dead and by the time he’d gotten the chance to call her it had gone completely black. He would have used Avery’s phone, but hers was on its last bit of power because of all the pictures and videos he’d taken, then he’d played everything back for her afterwards. He’d decided that whatever was so urgent could wait until he got home.
But now that he was home and saw all the lights, along with Chase’s truck parked outside, he knew whatever this something was had to be more than just important . . . it was critical. He only hoped someone wasn’t hurt or worse.
As soon as he opened the front door, along with the dogs greeting him, wanting some attention, Chase’s surly disposition instantly put Reese on the defensive. “Where the hell were you? And why haven’t you been answering your phone? We must have called you a dozen times.”
“Where I’ve been is none of your business, and my phone was dead. Why? What’s so important?”
Reese gave the dogs equal amounts of pets and chin scratches, and when they were satisfied with his attention, they trotted back into the living room, each curling up near their favorite Cooper--Duke next to Catherine and Clint next to Hunter, who didn’t seem to care about anything other than his own undercurrent of anger.
“We received the report from the private geologist your dad hired,” Catherine began as she scratched Duke under his right ear.
“Wasn’t that addressed to me?” Reese asked, a bit miffed that she’d taken the time to notice the report had come in and apparently told everyone to stay until Reese came home. He wondered what they would have done if he’d chosen to spend the night with Avery. Reese could just imagine the angry phone calls he would have gotten from his irate siblings . . . and his mom.
“Apparently there were two reports. Yours is on the kitchen table. But this one is addressed to me as well as your dad.” His mom suddenly seemed forceful, as if she wanted to make a point.
“So, what’s it say?” Reese asked, removing his hat, then hanging it on one of the hooks next to the front door. Five hats hung from a lineup of six hooks, including his dad’s. No one had had the heart to remove it, not even their mom.
“It says you’ve signed away our fortune,” Draven said, then he took a long pull from his long neck bottle of beer. He sat on the sofa next to Shiloh, who was also drinking a beer, and from the looks of all his siblings, they’d all been drinking for quite some time. Even his mom had a glass of red wine sitting on the end table next to her chair.
“For the record, I haven’t signed anything. I haven’t even seen the final agreement. And Mom would have to sign the papers as well.”
“I already called Chuck’s lawyer earlier today and told him I wouldn’t be signing anything,” his mom said. “Ever. He wouldn’t tell me if you’d already signed, so I just assumed that you had.”
“Now why the heck would I do that without you?
” Reese asked, not understanding any of this, especially the hostility that seemed to ooze from everyone in the room.
“Because you and that girl you can’t seem to get enough of, took off from her party this afternoon. Chuck told mom she’d gone over the new partnership and would be presenting it to you both at the party. We just figured she sweet-talked you into signing,” Chase said using a churlish tone that instantly got under Reese’s skin. He knew his brother was cruising for another big blowout, but Reese wasn’t in the mood to bite. What he was saying made no sense. Avery had been far too upset over what she’d learned about her mom to care about the new agreement. And even if she’d read it, she’d never mentioned it to Reese. Chase was making this shit up. Reese was sure of it.
“How do you know she had copies of the new docs? She never mentioned them. Not once.”
“Not only did she have copies of the new docs, but she and Chuck have known what’s under our land for a while now,” their mom said. “And it’s worth more money than anything any of us could have imagined. It’s natural gas, Reese. It could be millions of dollars’ worth of natural gas. From what we can understand from the seismic testing your dad did, it just may be the biggest discovery of natural gas in the entire state. That’s why Chuck has been trying to get this piece of land. He must have suspected it for years, but kept that information to himself.”
Reese tried his best to turn this information over in his head. He could accept that Chuck may have known, may have suspected, but he couldn’t accept that Avery knew anything about this. Not after everything they’d shared, not after today. It wasn’t possible that she could be that cold, that calculating . . . using him to get what Chuck wanted.
No, he wouldn’t even consider the possibility. His mother was wrong, they were all wrong about Avery.
“Chuck Starr is everything our father said he was, and more,” Draven added as he gazed up at Reese, his normally easygoing disposition replaced by an intensity Reese had rarely seen before.