by Alexa Davis
“But you’re keeping it?”
“Nah. It’s going to the back pastures, where the lift and dual tires will be handy. Dad found room in the ranch budget for three new trucks for the fleet, all with back-up cameras, for general use.” I laughed.
“You got not one truck, but three of them, citing infant safety?” Danny stretched, his arms above his head.
“And now you know why I got the ranch.” I laughed.
“I hear you, though. I feel… different when I’m around them. Like we’ve always been a family, and I would do anything to protect them.”
“Well, don’t you go blowing your top at Carl, then. You guys have a long and miserable history as it is. His peeping extracurriculars need to be handled in court, not with your fists.” I started down the stairs without answering. The truth was, I had no intention of risking one minute of my future with Libby and Olivia by punching the stuffing out of Carl Jameson. I couldn’t help it if I fantasized about it on the drive home, or dreamt of it that night. But there was nowhere better for me to attack him than in the courtroom. I was the better lawyer. The Committee needed to see that, no matter how satisfying the crunch of broken facial bones under my knuckles would’ve been.
I waved to him one last time as he watched me pull away from the house. He was going to be a great father, I had no doubt. Dad had been right. If I wanted to be a good parent, there was no better way than to watch and learn from Libby. I considered his suggestion that I ask Olivia if she was okay with me marrying her mom, and my heart hitched a little. If she said “no,” I would have to honor her feelings. I just didn’t think I could handle hearing it from her any more than I would from her mother.
The drive back to Austin was supposed to be an extra hour I spent going over arguments and framing answers for the partners, who would surely want to see me ready for the hearing when they met with me the next day. Instead, my mind was on Libby. She deserved happiness and joy and contentment in her life. I had always been a part of the hardships she faced. With the hearing and her judgment finally getting passed, we’d have a chance to leave it all behind and write a new chapter in the story of us. One where she was safe and loved and appreciated, and I was the man she looked to and trusted to lift her up when she needed it. Again, I felt a vague sense of unease in the pit of my stomach.
I could hope and wish for everything good in the world for Libby and Olivia, but my dad was right. There was a chance for something to go wrong in the hearing. My plan to dissociate the process from Carl’s manipulations could backfire. They could still lose their court case, and be out the money for their lawyers, and the cost of the countersuit. I breathed deep and squared my shoulders, as the lights of the city came into view.
There was nothing I could do to back out of my own choice now. No matter what, I had Libby and everyone at Lago Colina who would stand by me. If the worst happened, and there wasn’t a lawyer in Austin who felt the same, I would survive. As would Libby and company. Too bad that didn’t quash the heavy stone of worry in my gut or make me feel prepared for any of the consequences for the choices I’d made, professional or personal.
Tomorrow would define not only my career, but whether I got to start my family. If I couldn’t provide, then the conversation with my father was moot. Mentally, I pushed my doubts down deeper. I had turned a blind eye to Carl Jameson. I had even tried running away. He was a bully, and he’d come after Libby because of her connection to me, not to Andrew—of that, I had no doubt. I stiffened my spine. I had no choice but to answer his challenge, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Libby
I had spent a portion of the morning pacing while everyone else ate breakfast. Then, after I helped clean up behind them, I’d paced some more. I was wearing a path down in the shiny hardwood floor and sipping coffee while I worried. I had already waved off Danny and his sweet wife, Rachel, when Hannah Hargrave appeared in the doorway to the library where I was stalking back and forth past the windows, watching Olivia play while I worried about Tucker.
“Libby, I was wondering if you’d like to go for a ride this morning. I have mares who need the exercise, and a break from their foals. Want to come along?”
“Oh, I’d love to, but I’m too worried. The way I feel right now, I’d just make the poor horses nervous, too.” She nodded and patted my shoulder.
“May I take Olivia and Kristy out?” Olivia was at the bottom of a dog pile out on the grass, shrieking in glee.
“I think she would love that. Thank you.” She turned to go, and I touched her arm to stop her. “Do you think Tucker’s okay? I feel like all this trouble he’s going through is only because of me, and I’m worried that he bit off more than he could chew. Is it my fault?” She pressed her lips together in a thin line and furrowed her brow.
“I think this fight has been a long time coming. Tucker avoided it for a long time, but now he’s committed to seeing it through. Just because you were the final straw doesn’t make it your fault. It just means he knew you were worth the fight.”
“No wonder this feels so strange,” I laughed mirthlessly. “It’s just been that long since someone wanted to fight for me.” Impulsively, I hugged her. “Thank you for taking us in, and treating us like family. You have all been so good to us; I wish I could bring everyone I love here to meet you, too.” She tilted her head to one side, a thoughtful look on her face.
“I’ve done weddings here before, you know. I’m getting quite good at utilizing what we have for events, too.” She shrugged and patted my arm. “Tucker told me your business plan. Who knows, maybe we’ll partner up and make my hobby of hosting parties more official someday.” I grinned.
“I would love that. How would Mr. Hargrave feel about it?” She threw her head back and laughed.
“If he finally saw us have a party and end in the green? He’d be shocked and delighted,” she giggled.
“Well then, we will have to include Lago Colina Ranch at the top of the list of exclusive and expensive venues, for the very elite of Texas,” I suggested, making her smile again. “Enjoy your ride. I’ll get Olivia put together and send her to the stables.” She nodded and left quietly, and I headed out the side door to collect Olivia from the wriggling mass of canine ecstasy she was playing with.
She needed no extra prompting, and took off for the stable after I corralled her for a quick hug and a big kiss on the cheek. I watched her pigtails bounce as she ran, smashing her little pink cowboy hat on her head, and it made my heart feel too big for my chest. I watched her until she disappeared around the corner of the cabins the ranch hands used as quarters when they lived on-site, and shortly after, Pete, the horse master, stuck his head around and waved at me to let me know they had her with them.
I wandered back into the kitchen, where Patty was just finishing the last of the lunches, and cleaning up after Jake, who was boxing them up to take out to the fields. I watched him add small tablets and water to each lunch. I picked up a packet of tablets and turned them over in my hand, looking for markings.
“Those are salt tablets, ma’am,” Jake informed me. “They help the men stay hydrated, keep their water on the inside, when it gets hot out. I dropped the packet into the sack in front of me.
“You guys take good care of your employees, don’t you?” Patty beamed and Jake nodded his grizzled head.
“That’s why so many of us stay on for so long. We may not be Hargraves, but we’re a family, all the same.”
“That seems to be a common theme in the Hargrave code of conduct, no matter which brother you talk to,” I chuckled. “I hope Tucker’s finally got a place that keeps the same code he does. Maybe I should talk him into coming back here.” Patty laughed, shaking her head.
“Not unless you want to see him and Danny go rounds. Those two are sides of the same coin. Too much alike, and opposing each other every chance they get.”
“Well, I remember Danny and Tucker dating the same girl without k
nowing it. That couldn’t have helped.” I had hated Daniel Hargrave for a long time, after I found out Tucker’s fiancée was cuckolding him with his brother.
“That was the beginning of his trouble with that Mr. Jameson, too.” I remembered. I knew that their personal history was why Tucker had to jump through so many hoops with the Ethics Committee. If Sara hadn’t chosen to sleep with both men, and with so little discretion, then Carl’s actions on my case would probably have been dealt with internally, and no real trouble would’ve been made for him or Tucker.
“I wish he was back already. I’m on needles trying to wait patiently for news about his place in his own firm. He needs them to stand behind him as character witnesses at the hearing. Tucker may not have wanted to talk to me about the hearing, but I had been an attorney’s wife for a decade. It would’ve been impossible not to pick up a thing or two. “I wish I could call everyone I know and make them attend. If enough people show up, who can attest to his integrity, it matters to them. Ethics can be a very grey area to judge. Personal character witness are how they determine the ‘why’ behind decisions, sometimes.”
“How?” Jake slid an empty box toward me and I started checking the lunches in front of me, closing them up, and boxing them. I remembered how Andrew had described it to me, and shared the same analogy with Jake and Patty, glad for someone to talk to without feeling like a nuisance.
“Andrew described it for me once. He said it was like going before the Committee because you let a dog die by the side of the road after you saw a car hit it. Now, by itself, that’s despicable. But a witness states that you had to let the dog die, because you were rushing the little boy who was also hit to the hospital. Your actions may not have been perfect, but you acted with the best intention, and not out of negligence.”
“I doubt Tucker has ever left anyone behind, even to save another, though,” Patty chided.
“Maybe not, but I think Kristy would disagree. He helped to sink her chance of inheritance, because he was more concerned with Olivia. The Ethics Committee has to decide if his timing was an attempt to sway the court, or to protect not only Olivia and I, but Kristy as well—from her own attorney’s manipulation.”
“Doesn’t seem too hard to see what he was about,” sniffed Patty, as she hung up her apron on the pantry door.
“Because we know him. Exactly why he needs people in that courtroom.” I hefted the box in my arms. “Where am I taking this?” Jake pointed out the back door.
“The truck’s just outside the gate, girlie.” I carried my one box of lunches out to the truck, and returned in time to see Jake coming through the door with the rest. “You should go rest up, read or have a walk in the garden. You could use a spell of peace,” he suggested as he strode by with three boxes piled in his arms, the top of which was above his white hair. I held the gate for him, and followed his advice. The library seemed like a good place to pass the time, and I headed back there, so I could read and watch for when Olivia was done with her ride. It didn’t hurt that the library overlooked the sweeping front lawn, and the drive. Tucker still hadn’t checked in, and I wanted to know the moment he returned.
I picked out a paperback detective novel from one of the shelves and curled up in a deep-seated chair to read, only looking up when Patty brought me her mouth-watering sweet tea and a sandwich for lunch. The book wasn’t so much holding my attention as it was filling time, as I read and reread pages due to my inability to focus. When I heard a truck coming up the drive, the book fell to the floor and I jumped out of my chair, ready to run out and greet him.
The truck was one I didn’t recognize until it rounded the driveway enough for me to read the “Hargrave Construction Co.” printed down the side. Patty poked her head in just as I leaned over to pick up the book.
“It’s just George and Callie, bringing the baby up for us,” she crooned. “Have you seen her yet?” I pushed the book back into place between its mates and shook my head.
“I didn’t know they were pregnant,” I admitted. “Tucker has mostly been all about me, when we’re together, at least recently.” I was embarrassed to admit that I’d been so focused on myself, but Patty was understanding.
“Oh, no, they adopted the little thing. Her name is Colleen Rebecca. But don’t you worry, it’s that fight or flight thing you’re going through. Now that Tucker has it almost squared away, you can put all that energy back into the things you used to love.” I agreed heartily. There was certainly more fun in holding a precious new baby than in thinking about my old problems, or anticipating possible new ones.
“Well, I am going to go hold a sweet little Hargrave and stop borrowing trouble,” I concluded to myself out loud after Patty had left the room with the same urgency she’d whisked in to. I made it all the way to the door, when I heard the purr of a familiar engine, and immediately picked up my pace.
The George Hargrave family was still unloading baby effects when I ran out the front door and skidded to a stop before I embarrassed Tucker in front of his brother by wrapping myself around him like a child. Tucker was just getting out of his car, and I took a step toward him, just as George’s wife slid a soft, pink bundle into my arms. Dark, feathery hair framed her little round face, and she looked up at me with serious black eyes.
“Oh, will she have brown eyes?” I cooed. She blinked slowly at me then continued to stare at my face.
“Her birth mother is Hispanic, so we think so.” I nuzzled her neck and breathed in the warm, fresh scent of her blanket and the milky scent of newborn. I watched Tucker approach, jealously hoarding the baby, and glaring at him until he laughed aloud.
“Grandma is going to make you give her up,” he reminded me.
“She’s out riding with Olivia, so I have a minute to enjoy this,” I retorted. “You look good, Tuck. Everything went well?” I wasn’t sure what to say, or not to, but I couldn’t wait until we had the chance to be alone to find out if I could release the breath I’d been holding.
“I have the best employer on the planet, so yes. Things are good,” he told me, smiling. He leaned down to kiss his niece and inhaled deeply, making me smile, too. “But,” he added, “the day after tomorrow is go time for you—nine o’clock sharp—so it’s stressful, too. The Committee has already taken depositions and we will hear them tomorrow afternoon.” I exhaled sharply.
“Wow. That went from hurry-up-and-wait, to race-to-the-finish-line, really fast.” He nodded and stroked the baby’s cheek.
“They’re so soft. I’m glad my brothers are having babies.” My stomach filled with butterflies and I went very still as he looked into my eyes. “You’re blushing.”
“Well, I’ve had some time to consider all the things we haven’t had the energy to discuss, and that happens to be a fairly important one,” I blurted. “I mean, pretend it’s next Saturday, and everything went well, and Olivia has her inheritance, or not, it really doesn’t matter anymore,” I paused to breathe and he chuckled.
“I’m listening.” I glanced around and saw little Colleen’s parents watching patiently from the veranda, waiting on us.
“Well, would you want to have a little Hargrave, all your own?” His eyes gleamed possessively as he looked down into mine, then softened as he gazed at his niece instead.
“If the right woman married me, I would expect to at least try,” he drawled. “I mean, with a lot of practice….” I made a rude sound and spun on one heel, turning my back on him.
“Men.” I cursed when I reached Callie at the top of the stairs. “One-track minds, no matter how the situation around them.” George hid his laugh behind a cough, and hung back with his brother while I followed his wife inside. It didn’t matter if he teased. I had seen his face when he looked at Colleen, as protective and fierce as he’d looked when he was holding Olivia. My heart swelled and ached with desire for him, but I knew it was out of my hands until I proved that I was as loyal to him as he was to me. Now I knew how I could show him how much he meant to me.
Hesitantly, I gave tiny Colleen back to her mother, and excused myself from the growing party, as Kristy and Patty joined us, trailing Jake, who had finished his deliveries. Tucker looked at me questioningly, but I kissed his cheek and told him I just needed a few minutes. It wasn’t a lie, either. It didn’t take long to make some necessary calls. It was time to show Tucker, and the Committee about to judge his character and decide his future, what he meant to our community and the people he served.
Cynthia was first on my list, and when I told her how I wanted to show support for Tucker by having people he had helped show up to the hearing, she informed me that the entire local firm was already going to be there. She told me she’d look into his case log and see if any clients wanted to help, and we scheduled to suggest a meeting time of thirty minutes before.
I then called Paul, who agreed to head to the courthouse as soon as the last morning student was picked up, and he patched me through to Mrs. Dunham, who, after I calmed her down explaining my absence was related to Jameson’s continued stalking, happily offered to join us. I suspected it was for the rich gossip she’d pick up, but let her know how deeply we appreciated her being there. Shaunte promised to send Dale, since she’d have the kids. She then gently reminded me that even though I was trying to leave her out of it, Kristy needed to be there, too. I secretly agreed, but only she could make that decision. I worried that she was still fragile and needed to be careful with her health.
When I rejoined the family on the giant back terrace, the crowd had grown, as men came in from the fields to finally meet the baby on her first outing. Tucker sat in the middle, his niece in his arms, playing keep away from Danny, before finally giving her up to the soon-to-be dad and joining me on the fringe of the group.
“It sure feels like everything is going to be okay, today,” he said softly, pulling me into his arms. I relaxed against his hard chest and breathed deeply.