“No excuses,” it read. “The female population of Boston will just have to do without you for one weekend.” The words were emphasized by a bold capital C, and softened by the drawing of a tiny heart.
He couldn’t help laughing. The note was from his stepsister, Caitlin, who’d figured out years ago that the only way to handle her stepbrothers was to be every bit as tough as they were. Not that it was going to get her anywhere, this time.
An eighty-fifth birthday party for the old man? Yeah, it was a shocker. Not the party; Catie, sweetheart that she was, would surely want to do something nice to celebrate the event. It was the fact that Jonas was so old that caught him by surprise. Last time he’d seen him, a couple of years ago, his father had looked as tough and hard and lean as ever. He was ageless—except, he wasn’t. The invitation proved that. Still, Slade’s decision was definite. He wasn’t going to the party. No way. His life was crazy enough lately, without adding a weekend with dear old Dad to the mix.
Slade glanced at the clock. He had the feeling he wasn’t the only one looking at a birthday party invitation just about now…
His private phone rang, just as he reached for it.
“Slade, my man,” Travis drawled, “how you doin’?”
Slade smiled, picked up the vellum card and tilted back his chair.
“Well,” he said, in that same Texas drawl, “I was doin’ fine—until a messenger turned up at my door.”
Travis laughed. “That’s our Catie, efficient as always. She even took the time difference into consideration. I’ll bet Gage is lookin’ at this bombshell right about now, too.”
“I was just about to call you. That auction was the other night, wasn’t it?”
There was a tiny pause. “So?”
Slade’s eyebrows shot skyward. “Trav, my man, don’t be so testy.”
“I’m not being anything. I called to discuss this invitation.”
“What’s to discuss? I ain’t goin’.”
“I’ll just bet your high-priced architectural clients love that down-home talk.”
“They’re never lucky enough to hear it, and stop changing the subject. How’d the auction go?”
“It went. Somebody bought me.”
“Lucky lady. She have a name?”
“Alexandra. And that’s the end of the story.”
“How much did you go for? More than the dude from that other law firm? Was this Alexandra good-lookin’?”
“I went for enough, I beat the pants off the other guy, the lady was okay, if you like the type.”
“Oh, my.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, sounds to me as if my big brother struck out for a change.”
“Think again, pal.”
“She’s there with you, huh?” Slade grinned. “Trav, you old dog, you.”
“Slade, do you think you could get your mind on something else?”
“You really want to talk about this birthday party, huh? Well, there’s nothing to talk about. I’m not going. I already told you that.”
“Jonas is coming up on eighty-five. It’s a milestone.”
“I don’t care if it’s a century stone. Why would any of us subject himself to a weekend of misery?”
“It won’t be so awful.”
“Says you.”
“There’ll probably be a couple of hundred people there. The old boy won’t have the time to chew us up. Besides, I hate to disappoint Caitlin.”
“What’s with you, Trav? It almost sounds as if you’re lookin’ to get out of town.”
Travis cleared his throat. “It’s just—I wouldn’t mind a change of scene.”
“Woman trouble,” Slade said, and sighed.
“Yeah. I guess.”
“I might have known.”
“No way, kid. You couldn’t possibly know. Gage and I are the ones with experience. We’ve both been married, and don’t you forget it.”
Slade wondered what his brother would say if he told him that marriage wasn’t the only thing that gave a man woman trouble, but he knew better than to set himself up. Besides, he didn’t have “woman trouble.” A woman had to be part of your life to give you trouble, and Lara wasn’t even part of the scenery. He gave what he hoped would pass for a laugh, and told Travis he was trying to change the subject.
“Maybe. Trust me, kid. You don’t want to hear the details. Look, about this party—”
“Forget it,” Slade said firmly. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going. I really don’t have time to go back to Espada right now, okay?”
“That’s that, then. Heck, you’re too big for me to lock in the feed bin anymore.” The brothers chuckled, and then Travis cleared his throat. “Just do me a favor and stay on the line while I phone Gage.”
Slade leaned back, put his feet up again and crossed his booted ankles.
“And you just remember, two against one won’t do it anymore. Even if Gage says he’s going, with bells on, I’m not changing my mind.”
“Fair enough.”
Slade whistled silently to himself while Travis punched in Gage’s number. Gage must have been sitting right next to the telephone, because he picked up right away.
“Baby,” he said gruffly, “Natalie, I love you so—”
Travis laughed. Slade did, too.
“I love you, too, precious,” Travis said in a falsetto, “but my husband’s starting to get suspicious.”
“Travis? Is that you?”
Slade grinned. “And me. How are you, bro?”
“I don’t believe this! What’s with you guys? Are you havin’ a reunion out there in California? Or are you both in Boston, livin’ it up in that mansion my little brother calls home?”
Travis chuckled. “This three-way brotherly phone call is comin’ to you courtesy of the marvels of modern-day science.”
“And it’s probably the only three-way ever done by telephone,” Slade said. The door to his office opened and Betsy entered with his mug of coffee. “Thank you, darlin,’” he said, without thinking, saw the look on her face and immediately regretted it.
Travis laughed in his ear. “Don’t you darlin’ me, pal, or I’ll fly straight to that fancy-pants mansion and beat you up the way I used to, when you were twelve and I was thirteen.”
“Uh-huh. You an’ who else, Mr. Attorney?”
“Me an’ Gage. ’Course, it’ll have to wait until the sun gets up in the sky apiece, so my brain starts workin’ right.”
All three brothers laughed. Slade took a sip of his coffee and sat back. He felt better than he had in days.
“Okay, guys,” Travis said briskly, “I wish we could avoid the topic but it’s time for a reality check.”
“The invitation,” Slade said. “I agree.”
“You got yours, too?” Gage said.
“Was there ever any doubt? It arrived, bright and early.” He chuckled. “Bad timing, right, Travis? I mean, yours must have interrupted you and your, ah, your guest.”
“Oh, yeah,” Travis said lightly, “it did. There’s nothing like being awakened with an invitation to purgatory when you’re, ah, otherwise involved.”
Slade laughed. “The man leads a tough life.”
“I’d expect some compassion from you, kid,” Travis said with a smile in his voice. “None from Gage, of course. He gave up his freedom years ago. How’s my girl, by the way? You still treating her right, or is she about ready to use that pretty head of hers and ditch you for me?”
“She’s fine.”
Slade’s brows lifted. Gage’s answer had seemed strained. Travis must have thought so, too.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” Slade added. “Gage? Is everything okay? You don’t sound…”
“Listen, maybe you guys can horse around all day,” Gage snapped, “but I’ve got things to do.”
Silence hummed over the lines. Something was wrong, Slade thought, but he knew better than to try to pump Gage for answers. They were all cut
from the same cloth. You shared your problems if and when you wanted. Otherwise, not even torture could make you talk.
“Right,” he said briskly. “Well, then. Trav already laid out the agenda. We need to decide what we’re going to do about this command performance the old man’s got planned for the middle of the month.”
“Ignore it,” Gage said firmly. “I’ve got—”
“Things to do,” Travis said. “I know. And I don’t have any greater desire to go back to Espada for a dress rehearsal of King Lear than either of you guys, but—”
“I hate to tell you this, my man,” Slade said, “but this is Texas we’re talking about, not Stratford-on-Avon.”
“What I meant was that Jonas is starting to feel mortal.”
Slade snorted. “Our father’s figuring on making it to one hundred, and you know what? My money’s on him.”
“Still, I bet he’s looking around, taking stock of that little spread of seven zillion acres he calls home, sweet home, and figuring it’s time he made plans on how to divvy up the kingdom.”
“Well, I don’t need to spend a miserable weekend at Espada to know that I don’t give a damn how he does it,” Gage said gruffly. “You two enjoy the party without me.”
Slade could feel Travis waiting for him to say something. Dammit, he was making him feel guilty about cutting out on Catie, and leaving Trav to face the old man all by himself. He flipped the pages in his appointment book, searching for something substantive. A trip. A conference. Anything…
His stomach dipped. He’d almost forgotten. There it was, in black-and-white. His meeting with Dobbs.
“I can’t,” he said. “I’m going to be in Baltimore that weekend.”
“Or in the Antarctic,” Travis said, “anywhere it takes to avoid this shindig, right?”
“Wrong,” Slade said—and hesitated. If he went to Espada, he couldn’t go to Baltimore. He wouldn’t have to spend two days in the same city as Lara, thinking about her, wondering where she was and who she was with…“Listen,” he said, with all the conviction he could muster, “I just put in eight weeks on plans for a new bank.”
“Dammit, Slade.” Travis took a deep breath, then blew it out. “Sorry, kid. I have no right to twist your arm.”
“Forget it. Truth is…”
Slade hesitated. The truth was, he really could blow off the Baltimore weekend. A quick meeting, just to touch bases, would be enough. Ted or Jack could go in his place. Dobbs would understand. Who wouldn’t? An eighty-fifth birthday celebration was a big thing. And it wasn’t cowardice making him do it, either. Catie had planned a big party. Gage sounded definite about not attending. Could he really let Travis get trapped at Espada for a couple of days, without moral support?
Slade sat up straight. “The truth is,” he said briskly, “I was lying through my teeth. I can get out of the Baltimore trip.”
“Amazing,” Gage said. “Three grown men, all of us falling over our own feet in a rush to keep clear of the place where we grew up.”
“The thing is,” Travis said, “eighty-five is a pretty impressive number.”
“The old man was never impressed by other numbers,” Gage said bitterly. “Your eighteenth birthday. Slade’s two years in grad school.”
“Or your fifth anniversary party. I know, but what the hell, gentlemen, we’re bigger than that, right? Besides, we’re young, he’s old. That’s a simple fact. And then there’s Caitlin.”
“Trav got that right,” Slade said. “I do hate to disappoint her.”
“Me, too,” Gage muttered, “but I just don’t see a choice here.”
“Right,” Travis said. “There isn’t any choice. We have to show up. We’re not kids anymore. Jonas can’t get under our skin and make us miserable. And think of the plus side. We get to swap war stories and put a smile on Catie’s face at the same time. Is that really so much to ask?”
“I’m in,” Slade said.
“Not me,” Gage said. “I don’t have a weekend to spare.”
“Gage,” Travis said, “look—”
“No, you look! I’m too busy for this stuff. I have some sensitive things going on here. You got that, or do I have to put it on a billboard in Times…Oh, hell. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. But I can’t go. I just can’t.”
“Sure,” Travis said, after a minute.
“Understood,” Slade said, a beat later. “Well…”
There was silence, the sound of a throat being cleared. “Well,” three voices said, and then there were hurried goodbyes and the brothers all disconnected. Slade waited a second, then punched the button that automatically dialed Gage’s number.
“Are you okay?” he said, without any preliminaries.
“I’m fine,” Gage said, in a voice that didn’t sound fine at all.
“You sure? Because if you need anything—”
“I’ll call you.”
Slade frowned. “Just remember that.” He disconnected, waited a minute, then hit the button to phone Travis. “I called him back,” he said, without bothering to say hello.
“Uh-huh. So did I.”
“Something’s wrong, Trav. I’ve never heard Gage sound like that.”
“Yeah. But whatever it is, he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Trav? You don’t think there could be trouble between Gage and Natalie, do you?”
“No way. That marriage was made in heaven. Natalie’s wonderful.” Travis’s tone flattened. “She’s not the sort of woman who’d ever make a man jump through hoops. She’s like an open book. No games. No secrets.”
And no attitude that said, “You were good enough to sleep with but now I can’t bear the sight of you,” Slade thought, and forced a laugh.
“Tell me about it,” he said.
“They’re all impossible. They run hot, they run cold. A man never knows what to expect.”
“You’ve got that right,” Slade said darkly. “No matter what you say or do, it’s never enough.” He hesitated. Now that he thought about it, Travis sounded pretty glum, too. “Trav? Uh, are we talking about your ex?”
“No, we’re not. And, before you ask, I don’t feel like discussing it any further.”
Slade sighed. Three grown men with problems, and he’d have bet his life the problems all wore perfume.
“Okay,” he said, trying to sound unconcerned, “suit yourself, pal.”
“Slade?” Travis’s voice softened. “I’m looking forward to seeing you, kid.”
Slade smiled. “Yeah,” he said, and cleared his throat. “Yeah, Trav. Me, too.”
He hung up the phone, swung his chair around and gazed out the window at the river. Sighing, he steepled his fingers against his lips. He hadn’t wanted to go back to Texas but now he was almost looking forward to it.
A weekend with the old Los Lobos pack—Gage, and Travis and, once her mother had married Jonas, Caitlin had become a pack member, too.
Slade smiled. Hey, it was just what he needed. Swimming in the creek. Sprawling in the grass for some lazy talk. Goofing around on the deck. And, best of all, having a logical reason not to keep that appointment in Baltimore.
Not that he was afraid of seeing Lara Stevens again. It was just that a man who wanted to hang onto his sanity could do nicely without any further run-ins with a woman who seemed intent on messing not just with his sex drive, but with his head.
CHAPTER FIVE
“MS. STEVENS?”
Lara looked up from the notes she’d been reading. Her secretary stood in the doorway, smiling ruefully.
“Don’t tell me,” Lara said, and tossed down her pencil.
Nancy grinned. “Okay, I won’t. I’ll just point out that you told me to let you know when I was leaving. And, if I’m leaving, it must be six o’clock.”
“Yes, okay.” Lara sighed, propped her elbows on the desk and cupped her face in her hands. “Thanks, Nancy. Is Mr. Dobbs back yet?”
“No. I just checked. His secretary says the plan is still for Mr
. Haggerty to meet you here, and for the two of you to go on to The Flying Fish. Mr. Dobbs will join you as soon as he can.”
“Great,” Lara said glumly.
“Too bad it’s not that Mr. Baron flying in for this appointment.”
Lara shot the other woman a look. “Why would you say that?”
“Well, the guy is hunky. I mean, if I had to stay late on a Friday night for a business dinner, I’d at least want to enjoy the view.”
“This is a business meeting,” Lara said, more sharply than she’d intended. “I mean,” she added, softening her words with a smile, “who cares what a man looks like when you’re looking at him over a plate of shrimp and discussing the cost difference between marble and granite?”
“Ah, the joys of a romantic evening.” Nancy rolled her eyes. “I guess it won’t matter even if this Mr. Haggerty ends up bearing an uncanny resemblance to a Wookie.”
Lara grinned. “Be careful, or I’ll report you to Wookies Anonymous. Good night, Nancy. Say hi to Kevin for me. And have a great weekend.”
“Same to you, Ms. Stevens. G’night.”
The door swung shut, and Lara let the smile slip from her face. It had been a long week. A long two weeks, actually. The last thing she felt like doing was spending a couple of hours making polite small talk with some guy named Jack Haggerty from Baron, Haggerty and Levine, but she was stuck.
Dobbs had been apologetic when he’d called this morning. He’d launched into a lengthy explanation that came down to the fact that he had a dinner appointment with one of the partners from Slade’s firm but that he was going to be delayed and would she kindly greet Mr. Haggerty, take him to The Flying Fish and keep him occupied until he, Dobbs, could join them?
No, Lara had longed to say, sorry, but I can’t. I just want to go home, to Michael.
Lara sighed, propped her elbows on the desk again and rubbed her temples.
Yes, she’d said, lying through her teeth, it would be a pleasure.
At least it wouldn’t be awful, considering that she’d be dealing with a man named Haggerty and not Baron. If Dobbs had said Slade was flying in, that she’d have to spend even two minutes alone with him, she’d have said no and to hell with the consequences. It wasn’t that Slade was a problem. She simply didn’t like him. All that ego. That—that disgusting machismo.
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