Love Under Two Accountants [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  “So, you can serve food and drinks in a restaurant-bar and do the books for the business, too.”

  Bailey wondered at the strange turn of the conversation, but she answered Laci. “Yes, I guess you’re right. I can serve in a bar and do basic books—but I’m not qualified as an accountant. I don’t have those credentials.” The sound of a service bell stopped her from saying anything further.

  “That’s your lunch.” Laci once more headed to the kitchen. She returned moments later and set a plate before her that Bailey knew had way more food on it than she’d be able to eat.

  “Thanks, it looks wonderful!” Bailey added just a bit of salt to her food and then tucked right in.

  Laci set a second glass of sweet tea in front of her. Bailey may have been in Texas only for a couple of weeks, but she already loved sweet tea. Laci returned her attention to the bar—it appeared as if she was getting ready for the later crowd. They traded comments for a time, just casual talk.

  “Are weekend nights your busiest time here?” Bailey asked. She’d eaten all she could and set her plate, cutlery, and napkin to the side.

  “Actually, from Thursday night to Monday night, inclusive. The restaurant in town is closed on Mondays, so we get a lot of extra traffic then.”

  Bailey frowned. “Gatesville? I was sure I passed more than one restaurant as I drove through.”

  Laci laughed. “No, not Gatesville. Lusty. If you keep going on the road that brought you here, and then turn at the first left, it’s a small town about three minutes in that direction,” Laci said as she pointed.

  “Lusty?” Bailey took another drink from her tea. “That’s an…um…interesting name for a town.” She hadn’t seen it on her map, so she guessed it wasn’t a very big town at all.

  “Those I know who live there—and I know a lot of them—proudly proclaim the town has earned its name, time and time again.” The deeper, almost sultry female voice came from a woman who sat down on Bailey’s left. Blonde-haired, with eyes of light blue, she appeared just a bit older than both herself and Laci.

  “Bailey, this is my boss and the owner of Angel’s Roadhouse, Angela Monroe. Angela, this is Bailey James.” Laci met Bailey’s gaze. “I happened to mention you when she called a few minutes ago.”

  Bailey saw the mischief in Laci’s eyes. Bailey mentally shrugged and turned toward Angela. She extended her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ms. Monroe.”

  “Just Angela, please. I’m hoping that we’ll get to be good friends.”

  Bailey’s astonishment must have shown. “Good friends?”

  “Hmm. I like to make friends of all my employees.” Then Angela gave her a big, bright smile. “So, tell me, Bailey James, would you like a job?”

  Chapter Two

  Chance and Logan Benedict stood silently, reading the inscription on the headstone marking the final resting place of their paternal great-grandparents…all three of them. There was no denying reality, not when it was standing there, etched in stone, right in front of their faces.

  Shockwaves still reverberated within Chance’s body. Then, as he looked back over some of the groupings of markers he’d viewed over the last half-hour, something else occurred to him. “They’re all alone in this section,” Chance said. “Grandpa Christopher told us he had four brothers…” He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them as the names came to him. “Howard, Lincoln, Emerson, and Edward. But it doesn’t appear as if any of them are here.”

  “Maybe none of them have died yet.”

  Logan’s observation was valid. Chance closed his eyes and tried to recall…it was useless. He’d never met any of his great-uncles. Only his Great-Aunt Kate. “I honestly don’t know if any of our great-uncles are alive, or not.”

  They’d walked through the entire cemetery, planning on just making a quick turn, to honor their ancestors. But that quest had turned into something else, entirely.

  “Neither do I. Maybe Grandma Kate will have the answers to our questions,” Logan said. He squatted for a moment, his attention on the large stone. “Because, brother, I have more of those now than when we checked out of the convention in Dallas and headed west to visit her.”

  Chance nodded. The decision to take a week’s vacation after their CPA convention in Dallas before heading back to New York, to look for the place where their family began—an oddly named little town called Lusty—and to visit Kate, had been a decision long overdue for all that it had been spontaneous. They hadn’t put it into so many words, between them, what they hoped to find on this personal quest of theirs. At the heart of it, and very simply, they wanted to know their roots. “I distinctly remember Grandpa once said that his mother’s name was Rosie and his father was James Jacob.”

  “Looks like he should have said James and Jacob.”

  Chance looked over at his brother. “That little gem sure would have been nice to know back when we were in college.” He didn’t need to explain himself to his twin. They’d attended the same college, shared a major, a dorm room—and, for one memorable semester, they’d shared Melissa North, too.

  To this day, Chance hadn’t found another relationship that had felt as right as that one, though he’d never shared another woman with his brother. At the time, they’d been too young to think in terms of anything permanent, and it had turned out Melissa only wanted the experience for her bucket list. But still.

  Chance knew his feelings were echoed in his twin because they’d spoken about that relationship often. Unsaid at the time and since, and yet definitely felt, was the fact that there had to have been something wrong with them to prefer a relationship where they could share a woman. Now, it appeared that proclivity had been genetic.

  “No kidding. Think of the self-recriminations we could have avoided.” Then he looked back at the headstone. “I never imagined we had this kind of a family secret. Did you?” He got to his feet.

  “Can’t say that I did.” They’d noticed that small irregularity right away. They were standing in the Lusty, Texas cemetery. Most of the stones here bore the name of Benedict, Kendall, or Jessop—or some combination thereof. And most, though not all of the graves, featured one woman and two men. At first, they’d both thought that the women had all been widowed and then married again. The truth, however, was apparently not that at all. “Can’t say I’m bothered by that fact, either. I’m mostly just curious.”

  Logan shot him a wide grin. “Curious and relieved.”

  Yup, he and Logan were definitely on the same page. “Very relieved.” Chance grinned.

  “Grandma Kate’s expecting us,” Logan said. “We shouldn’t be late.”

  Chance nodded. “Let’s go, then. It’s really not much farther.”

  They walked through the neatly kept cemetery, back to their rental car, and then continued on their journey, their GPS guiding the way. The remainder of their drive took only a couple of minutes. When the number on the very large house on the left matched the address they’d written on Christmas cards and letters over the years, Chance eased the car into the driveway. Several vehicles sat in a parking area to the side, and for a moment, he wondered if this was a private residence—or a nursing home.

  He looked over at his brother, who shrugged.

  They got out of the car at the same time and headed toward the large wrap-around porch and the front door…a door that opened before they’d taken the first of the steps up. Before them stood an elderly woman neither of them had any trouble recognizing.

  “Grandma Kate! You look…you look really good!” Logan immediately put that smile on his face their mom used to tease could persuade an angel from God himself.

  “You do!” Chance understood his brother’s surprise.

  Kate didn’t look a day older than she’d been the last time they’d seen her, nearly twenty years before! They’d missed her last two visits to New York, and he’d convinced himself that she would be frail by now. He took the steps quickly and then bent down to kiss her cheek. She wasn’t technica
lly his grandmother, for she’d been married to his grandfather’s first cousin. Or was that, maybe, cousins? That made her either a cousin or an aunt or something—but they’d long ago taken to thinking of her as an honorary grandmother.

  Grandma Kate gave him a very firm hug and then hugged his twin in turn. “And you two are just as handsome as I knew you would be! There’s no doubt at all that you’re both Benedicts. Chance, you have the look of your grandfather, Christopher…and Logan, you hold a very strong resemblance to his youngest brother, Edward.”

  “The brother who died in the Second World War,” Logan said.

  Kate sighed, a touch of sadness in her eyes. “Indeed. Well, come inside. Bernice and Abigail, my daughters-in-law, have lunch nearly ready for us all. Oh, I am so glad you boys came to visit!”

  Kate’s enthusiasm and bright smile were contagious. She led them into a house that was definitely not only a private residence. It was more everything than Chance had expected. He knew wealth when he saw it. Their own home had been larger than some, and his parents, who’d taken over the profitable dairy farm their grandfather Christopher had begun, knew how to manage both cattle and money. Their dad had always said he’d learned how to do both from his father.

  Chance had to wonder, now, if his grandfather had learned those qualities from his own parents.

  The entrance hall, wide and airy, showed an elegant staircase leading up and a dining room to the right. Between that room and the stairs, a hallway ran toward the back of the house, with doors to the left and right, and a brightly lit room at the end of it. Immediately to his left was another what appeared to be a very large room. He didn’t have time to explore because Kate was leading them into the dining room.

  The table appeared big enough to seat more than a dozen people and took up not even a half of the space available. Currently the table held place settings for nine! Beyond the dining room—where Kate was still leading them—was another room, this one large and open, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the vast pasture beyond. Chance couldn’t help but notice a large barn to the right, not a hundred yards from the house, and wondered if it was currently in use.

  His attention was caught when four older men got to their feet. “Chance and Logan, I want you to meet my sons. This is Caleb and Jonathan and Carson and Michael.” She’d pointed to each man in turn. The men stepped forward one at a time, arms outstretched.

  “Welcome,” Caleb said. “You’re the first of the New York branch of the family to visit here in more than twenty-five years.”

  “We’re happy to have you,” Jonathan said. “I do believe I met you boys once, but you were quite young at the time. How’re Chris and Sonja doing?”

  It didn’t surprise Chance to hear his parents’ names. “Very well, thank you, sir.” Chance did have a slight glimmer of a recollection. “You’re a rancher, aren’t you?”

  “Well, retired now, but yes. I’m the rancher of my generation.”

  Carson and Michael also shook hands, and something about the name Carson Benedict rang a bell with him.

  “Why have I heard your name before, sir?” Chance asked.

  Logan shook his head, clearly having a better memory than he did. “Oh, man. Benedict Oil and Minerals? Is that you?”

  “That’s us.” His accompanying hand gesture included Chance and Logan. “I did have the privilege of heading that particular family company, but I, too, am retired. Caleb and Jon’s two youngest boys are the honchos there, now.”

  “I’m the staid one,” Michael said as he shook their hands. “Also retired, but from the field of academia.”

  “He’s actually Doctor Benedict,” Carson said. Chance heard the pride in his voice. “Michael holds a degree in literature and taught at a local private university for more than thirty years.”

  “Why don’t we all sit down for a few minutes,” Kate said. “Caleb?”

  “Of course, Mother. Gentlemen, what can I get you to drink? Beer? Whiskey? Sweet tea?”

  Chance grinned at the offerings. “Beer would be good, Mr. Benedict, thank you.”

  “That’s Uncle Caleb to you, young man.” The older man grinned then turned his attention to Logan, his one eyebrow raised.

  “Beer for me, too, Uncle Caleb. Thank you.”

  In short order, they were sitting amongst a collection of chairs and two small sofas that made a circle, as if they’d been placed together to allow a small group to chat intimately. Chance noticed there was another grouping closer to the windows and a third at the back of the room.

  Caleb delivered the drinks. The other men were also having beer, but it appeared Grandma Kate held a glass of sweet tea with a slice of lemon.

  Chance sat forward. “Grandma Kate…we noticed the cemetery as we drove into town. We thought…well, we thought our great-grandparents would be there, so we stopped to pay our respects.”

  Kate tilted her head to the side. “Everyone in that cemetery is kin to you.” Then she grinned. “So, too, is most everyone currently living in Lusty.” She took a sip of her glass and then set it on a side table. “I imagine you have more than a few questions to ask us after that visit.”

  “How did we not know that our great-grandparents were three, instead of two?” Logan’s tone alerted Chance that his brother was in the same place emotionally as he.

  Kate appeared completely unfazed by the question. “I knew that Christopher had told his family that his father’s name was James Jacob. This was a decision he made when you boys were small because his wife, your grandmother Laura, insisted. I always abided by his wishes and never said anything different. That was his choice to make, and I honored that choice.”

  “Is that why he left Lusty? Why he never returned in his last years?” Chance asked. “Was he somehow…embarrassed at having two dads?” Hell, Chance was embarrassed just asking the question.

  “No, not at all. I don’t recall Christopher ever being anything but loving and respectful to his mother and fathers, his aunts and uncles, and grandparents, all of whom had ménage marriages. I think when he left, it was more a case that he needed to prove to himself that he didn’t need the financial backing of the family to be a success in this world.” Kate picked up her glass again. “There was a reason for that quest, of course. Now, this happened before I came to live here, but I recall Grandmother Sarah telling me that your grandfather, Christopher, went through a period, in his teens, when he had quite the air of entitlement about him. Nothing would irk that good woman more than that. He changed, apparently, after we all received the news about Edward. He did come back several times to visit his parents, and he once brought your grandmother with him. His last visit was for his father, Jacob’s funeral.” Kate paused, as if visiting that time in her mind once more. Chance recalled, by the dates etched in stone, that Jacob had been the last of them to die. “Once you hear the entire story of how Lusty came to be, you’ll understand Sarah’s opinion. She was firmly of the belief that having money didn’t make a body any better than anyone else.”

  “That was what grandfather always said, too,” Chance said. “Dad told us once that he’d had to work for every dollar his parents gave him, even though they had plenty.”

  Two women entered the room. Chance and Logan immediately got to their feet, as did the other men. Caleb introduced the brunette as Bernice—his and Jonathan’s wife. The beautiful blonde was Abigail, and she was apparently married to Carson and Michael.

  “Come and eat,” Bernice said. “I hope you’re here for more than just a meal. This house has plenty of space, and we’ve taken the hopeful step of preparing two guest rooms for you.”

  Chance looked over at Logan. His brother nodded.

  “Thank you, Aunt Bernice. I think we’d like to stay here for a few days.” They’d planned a sightseeing trek through as much of the Lone Star State as they could cram into the time available. Chance thought that plan would be put on the back burner for now. More than anything, he wanted to take the time to get to kn
ow these new relatives and really understand his family’s past.

  * * * *

  Bailey wasn’t certain if she believed in destiny or not. What she couldn’t deny was that, over the last few days, a lot of stuff had happened—good stuff, for a change—and she sure wasn’t willing to spit in the face of fate. She already knew what could happen if fate spat back.

  Still, what she was looking at couldn’t possibly be right. Her intrinsic honesty compelled her to speak up, even though it would likely prove not to be in her own best interests, at least in the short term.

  “Mr. Kendall, I think there might be a typo on this lease form.”

  The lawyer tilted his head to the side, a look of interest on his face. “Oh? Where, exactly, Miss James?”

  “Right here.” She turned the simple document around so he could see the line she pointed at with the pen. This lovely one-bedroom apartment in this mid-sized building, set amidst such a beautiful park-like setting, could not possibly only cost the amount per month quoted on the lease. Why, that figure included not only electricity and water but Wi-Fi, too!

  Jake Kendall focused on where she pointed then looked up to meet her gaze. “No, ma’am. That figure is correct. Things are a mite less expensive here in Texas than what you may be used to paying.”

  “A mite? Do you have any idea what this apartment would rent for in the Big Apple?”

  Jake Kendall looked around the very clean and tastefully furnished one-bedroom unit. It was on the ground floor, one of thirty units in this three-story apartment building.

  “I’m thinking easily over three thousand,” Kendall answered, laughing. “Bet you’re happy you’re not there right now.”

  Bailey just shook her head. “Okay, I was honest and told you this wasn’t enough rent. You say it is, so I’m signing the lease before you change your mind.” She turned the paper around and did exactly that. “There. It’s a done deal now, sir.” She couldn’t help but return his smile.