by Dale Mayer
He hadn’t explained to anybody what had happened. But to think that was how his mother still saw him was really irritating. He stared out at the greenery with the sunshine beating down, taking several deep, long, slow breaths. When a male voice washed over him, he sighed and turned to face his father.
His father studied Reyes’s face for a long moment. “So, your ex-fiancée or your mother?”
A grin slipped out. “Both?”
His dad smiled. “Unfortunately there’s an awful lot of similarity between the two of them. The thing is, volatile, high-spirited, passionate women don’t understand men who are calmer, quiet, and not full of drama. It took me a long time to figure out how to handle your mother. I don’t think you had enough time with Reana to figure it out.”
“No, I didn’t,” Reyes said. “Thank God.”
His father laughed. “Good point. We worried about you when you were engaged. She’s many things, but she’s not easy.”
“Considering that relationship is over and done with, why don’t we find something more pleasant to talk about?” He motioned at all the greenhouses lining the sides of the property and the acreage that stretched out in front of him. “I can’t believe you’re still growing this business.”
“I can’t believe it still needs to grow,” his father said. “Our bottom line has doubled in the last three years alone. The supply is incredible, and we’re having trouble keeping up with the demand.”
The two men walked down the aisle, comfortably switching their discussion to business, away from the unpleasant topic of women. They’d never been much for father-and-son talks. Reyes had been the youngest, a little bit less sure of himself, following his big brother around, who always seemed to know everything and exactly what he wanted to do. Finding his own way had been a little harder for Reyes. It was one of the reasons he’d joined the navy. He’d become his own man while he was in the service.
Maybe there he’d gained enough confidence to make him feel like he could handle Reana, and that was one of the biggest mistakes of his life. “Why does Raina still work here?”
“Why not?” his father asked. “We’d be lost without her. She’s the best damn worker we’ve got, and she’s the only one who understands plants the way she does. She’s better with them than both your mother and I am.” His father looked at him. “Why the hell couldn’t you have picked her over her sister?”
“I might have,” Reyes said, “if she had ever showed me any interest. She was my first choice, but she ignored me. Her sister seemed to think I was something worth going after. When she did, I fell into her grasp. Feels very much like a butterfly into a spiderweb now, though.”
His father laughed out loud. He punched his son gently on the shoulder. “At least you’ve grown up and freed yourself from that mess.”
“I have indeed.” He looked around, then turned toward his dad. “What about Raina? Is she married? I didn’t see a ring.”
His father looked at him for a long moment, then shook his head. “Interesting that you even looked.”
Self-consciously, he shrugged. “Hey, it’s been a couple years since I was here. Of course I looked.”
“Well, no one is in her life now. She’s not showing any interest in settling down.”
“Is my ex?” Reyes asked in a dry tone. “She just belted the hell outta my face back there.” He reached up to touch his cheek.
His father’s gaze narrowed. “Again?”
“Yeah. Again. I didn’t even see it coming this time,” he said. “Two years later and my reflexes apparently have slowed when it comes to registering her attacks.”
“That girl needs to watch herself,” his father warned. “If she hit me, I’d be really hard-pressed not to hit her back.”
“Really? You’ve never hit Mom back.” He laughed when his father rolled his eyes; then the laughter died.
“And yet, your mother is still judging me for it.” His words held deep regrets.
Reyes realized his mother was who she was, but it was still frustrating.
His father nodded. “Yeah, she’s not gotten any easier either. Although Annemarie and Reana are usually best of friends, they’ve had a few arguments. Once Reana raised her hand to hit your mother. Your mother threatened her with a lawsuit, and Reana seemed to step back. I think both your mother and Reana are probably frustrated that you won’t find a way to stop both of them yourself.”
“And maybe I should,” Reyes said. “But honestly I can’t be bothered. I’m only here for a couple days. I had hoped to make it a fun, peaceful two days, to see everybody before I head home again.”
His father shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “I’ll be sad to see you go. It’s kind of nice to have you around.”
“Yeah, but, as you can tell, I don’t belong here,” Reyes said, something settling deep inside him. “You know what? I wasn’t sure about being in Texas, but, now that I’m back here, if nothing else, it’s made me realize San Diego isn’t home. I’m more than happy to leave again.”
“Don’t hold it against your mother, son.”
Something unsettling was in his father’s tone. Reyes turned to look at him. “No, I won’t. She is who she is, and, as long as the two of you are happy together, then I guess that’s what I can hope for. But she’s just as abusive in her own way as Reana is.” He walked off with a shake of his head. When he reached the far end of the greenhouse, he turned to see his mother standing beside his father, a shocked look on her face.
He shrugged and walked on. Maybe it was time for the truth to be told. He didn’t know. Everybody in the family thought Reyes had the perfect relationship with both his parents. But Reyes was more like his father, and sometimes he only saw his father as a long-suffering husband. Reyes thought a lot of love must be there for his father to stay through all the abuse. But, as Reyes saw Reana again, he was just damn happy his life had gone in a different direction. He wanted peace in his world. Passion too. But he didn’t want all the pain that went with living with certain people.
Chapter 3
Raina tried to keep herself busy. She’d heard way too much of the family dynamics—both hers and his. But then she wasn’t new to any of it. She’d often wondered how Reyes had stayed at home as long as he had. But then she’d often wondered how Harold had stayed married to Annemarie too.
Annemarie had mellowed with time. Raising two sons had probably been better than raising daughters. Reyes’s older brother, Ron, had had enough temper to fight back. But Reyes was like his father, a gentle giant.
Raina wondered how Reyes had fared in the military, if the bullying had been bad there too. She’d often wondered if he would grow up to be a man with a backbone because, as a kid, he’d taken the brunt of Annemarie’s temper. But Raina was proud to see he stood tall and firm today.
Even when her sister had belted the hell out of his face, there hadn’t been that instinctive flash to strike back.
He’d taken it and just looked at her with cold disdain. True, his mother had stepped forward and had snapped at her sister this time, but then that was the way it had always been. The years in the navy had been good for him. And obviously Ice held a lot of respect and admiration for him. For that Raina was glad. Growing up in the Drere household had been hard on Reyes. Everybody thought that, since the family business had been a success, then the family was also a success. But she often thought Reyes got the raw deal. Harold and Harold’s father, old Ben, who was still around and still putted up and down the property, were very much like Reyes. They survived by being quiet and forceful in their own way—but never aggressive.
Then again she understood. The Drere family situation was very similar to the living conditions with the Woodcroft sisters. It had been exhausting. Raina had chosen to go the quiet route, to find peace in her own world, in her own time, in her own way. But it hadn’t been easy, and it hadn’t been fast. It was funny because she’d always assumed she and Reyes would be better friends than her sister
and Reyes were—had hoped for more, in fact—but that almost deadly attraction between Reyes and her sister had made it even harder to watch.
It seemed that the minute her sister had understood Raina’s interest, Reana had been all over taking Reyes away from Raina. At the time Raina figured it was her own fault because she hadn’t fought for him but quickly realized he hadn’t even seen her anyway, like the two of them were together in a darkened room. When her sister had stepped into the relationship, it was like all the lights had turned on for him.
Raina had to admit to a little quiet satisfaction when it all fell apart, but she’d gone her own way and hoped they’d both healed and moved on. She still loved her sister.
That didn’t mean she liked her very much.
But nothing Raina could say would make her sister change.
The end of the day was finally drawing to a close. She closed out the registers and locked the front door and headed into the back room to check on her plants. She set the temperature on the thermostats and closed the overhead greenhouse vents, gave them one extra mist, then walked out toward her vehicle.
As she approached, she watched a limousine pull up. Ice and Reyes were waiting for it. A man got out of the back and hugged Ice.
The two men shook hands. Trying not to watch, and finding it hard not to, Raina smiled as they all got into the back seat. It seemed Reyes had finally landed on his feet. First the navy and now with Ice’s company. Raina was happy for him. It also reminded her of how far she hadn’t come.
She’d worked for the Drere company since she was a teenager. She’d been more like a puppy following behind Ron and Reyes growing up. Her presence had almost been taken for granted, like part of the furniture. She hated to even think of it that way, but it was hard not to. Now she had her own arborist license, worked as a private contractor and consultant for a couple big tree-pruning-and-cutting companies in town, and yet, she worked here at the garden center still.
She was a little lost, figuring out where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do. All she knew was that she needed to keep working with plants. That was where she found her peace. That was where her soul smiled. Something about seeing Reyes again, how he had finally settled into something for himself, made her realize she needed something better for her own future too.
As she got into her car, her sister ripped through the parking lot again. Reana still handled the company’s accounting. She’d started years ago, when she was a student in bookkeeping; then she’d gone on to get her CPA.
Raina hated bookkeeping; she preferred to sit among the trees in the back property for her breaks and have nothing to do with people. Harold and Ben used to join her, bringing out cups of tea, sitting down, discussing the latest black currants or the new hollyhocks that were coming.
Years ago Reyes had joined them—whereas Ron and Annemarie would be in the front, dealing with customers, talking, laughing, and joking loud and proud.
But then that was what the world was all about. It took many kinds.
Sighing heavily, she got into her vehicle and drove home. She lived in a small apartment a half mile away. Often she walked to work. Reana had a big brownstone of her own, but then she made a lot more money than Raina did. Money was important to Reana, much less so to Raina.
When she got inside, her mother was already calling on the phone. She did it every day to make sure her daughters got home. “I’m home, Mom,” she answered. “Everything’s fine.”
“Is it though?” her mother asked worriedly. “Your sister called. She’s horribly upset. She said seeing Reyes was terrible.”
“I don’t know how it could have been,” Raina said quietly, hating how her sister had to blow everything out of proportion. “She didn’t even give him a chance to say a word, and she smacked him hard across the face. Then she and Annemarie got into yet another spat, and Annemarie ordered Reana off the property.”
Her mother gasped. “I don’t think that’s quite true. She said she argued with Reyes outside first.”
Raina pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t think so, Mom.” The trouble was, she really didn’t know herself because one of the gifts that Reana had was confusing the issue with half lies and small truths. “She just walked in the front door, took one look at him and hit him. I was standing right there, Mom.”
“Well, we can’t be thinking that of your sister now, can we?” her mother said in a soothing voice. “You know how upset she can get.”
“I do,” Raina said. “But I’m really tired, Mom. If you don’t mind, I’m going to make myself some dinner.”
She hung up before her mother had a chance to argue. Raina did not want to go over the day’s events. It seemed like she’d spent her life dealing with Reana’s issues. Her mother used to call Raina all the time to discuss all the terrible things in her sister’s life, asking why wasn’t Raina doing more to help her sister.
The trouble was, Reana had caused all this, and it wasn’t Raina’s job to fix it. But it had taken her a long time to figure that out. And, now at twenty-seven, she figured it was well past time for her sister to handle her own crap.
*
Reyes shouldn’t have been surprised at the appearance of the limousine. He knew Ice’s father was a doctor with his own private clinic. The introductions had been easy and quiet. He really liked Ice’s father. The man was knowledgeable, capable, and obviously adored his daughter. The two of them had very similar features, but Ice was a more feminine version, and her father was steely-gray-haired now versus Ice’s Viking blond looks.
Dinner was a royal affair at his home, with a manservant and a house that rivaled any movie star’s. “Your place is truly beautiful,” Reyes said sincerely. He picked up his glass of wine. “Thank you so much for letting me stay here.”
Ice’s father laughed. “Nice to be appreciated but you’re more than welcome. Most of the Legendary Security team has stayed here at one time or another. Anytime cases in California arise, I always open my doors. At least that way I get to see my daughter sometimes.” He sent a knowing look in Ice’s direction.
Apparently she wouldn’t be swayed. She grinned at him. “We talk on the telephone all the time,” she said. “Besides, if I’m supposed to come here more often, then you have to come my way more often too.”
He rolled his eyes. “Now if only I could get away from the business.”
“Exactly,” she said gently. She held up her glass of wine. “To making the most of these moments.”
They all gently clinked their glasses together.
“Do I understand that you’re here just for plants this time?” her father asked in amazement.
Reyes chuckled.
“Yes. I’m fixing up the big outdoor pool area,” she said, “and I wanted to do it right.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t an excuse to return to California?” her father teased. “You know what? If you want, you can take the plane back, and we can fly the plants home.”
She stared at him in surprise. “What plane? Do you have a plane now?”
He shrugged self-consciously. “Well, it’s not really mine but …” He let his voice trail off.
She glanced at Reyes. “It’d be easier on the plants, wouldn’t it?”
He nodded slowly. He didn’t live in a world where people had their own planes, particularly one big enough for a huge order of plants. He faced Ice’s father. “Sir, what size is the plane? I think Ice is hoping for some rather large plants.”
He raised an eyebrow at his daughter. “Are you going higher than ten feet?”
Ice pursed her mouth, turned to Reyes. “Are we?”
Reyes shook his head. “They’d be too hard to transplant. As it is, we’ll need Bobcats for some of them.”
She thrummed her fingers on the table. “Let me think about it. A flight would be a lot faster, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the health of the plants so much.”
“But you said you were supposed to take the reefer back for somebod
y?”
She waved a hand in the air. “I’ve got lots of guys who could drive it back. It would save us a long trip and be better overall for the plants. Let me take a look, Dad. What size plane and how much cargo space is there?”
He laughed. “There’s lots. I highly doubt you’d come even close to filling that space.”
She gave him a look of satisfaction. “Great. In fact, perfect,” she said. “So that’s probably a yes.”
He smiled. “I’ll tell the pilot he can plan a trip to Texas in the near future.”
She glanced over at him. “You might as well come back with us. You can spend the night, see the place, and you can fly home the next day … or two.”
He looked at her in surprise, lifted an eyebrow and said, “You know something? I think that’s a hell of a good idea.”
Reyes smiled. It would be fun to see these two together at the compound. After his day, Reyes would be more than happy to get back home to Texas and to forget about this visit—forever.
Chapter 4
Raina settled into her couch, her feet up on her coffee table, her laptop open on her legs and the TV on. It seemed like she needed multiple distractions tonight, and still nothing worked. Her mind kept returning to the look on Reyes’s face when her sister had slapped him. There was anger, a cold disdain, but, more than that, there was almost a world weariness.
Reana was many things, and temperamental was just the start.
Raina had known that, once Reana decided to go after Reyes, there wasn’t a hope in hell of him looking at Raina. And she’d been right. It was so typical of every male on the planet. Reana’s stunningly incredible figure and her vibrant personality with passion oozing from her made her come alive like no one else.