“He is finding his full potential, but in his way, not yours. If you don’t let him go, Warren, he won’t come back to us. I’ve come to realize that, and you have to, too.”
She took his hand again and squeezed it. “We do love each other. And we’ve been happy, haven’t we?”
“Those first years were rough, when the company wasn’t doing well and we didn’t have much. But yes, we’ve been happy.”
“How can you deny Chase that?”
“You know I don’t want to deny him anything. That’s the whole problem. How can he find happiness with her when she’s not even in the same country?”
“Her sister lives in Horseback Hollow with her rancher husband. Don’t you think Lucie is made of the same kind of stuff?”
“They’re pretending they don’t know each other. Chase hasn’t stopped the lawyer from proceeding with the annulment.”
“Maybe that’s because they’re not listening to their hearts yet. Maybe the time’s not right. But that’s not for us to decide. Think about giving your son your blessing, would you?”
Warren sighed and pulled his pie back in front of him. “I’m sure you won’t let me forget thinking about it.”
Her husband’s voice was resigned, but his mood seemed lighter.
Watching a child find his happiness could do that.
* * *
It was noon on Sunday when Chase tried to coax one of his rescue horses to eat from his hand. He wasn’t having much luck. The horse could feel the tension oozing all around him, or the frustration. The situation with Lucie had him tied up in knots. Pretending not to know her yesterday had seemed like sheer stupidity.
When you gentle a horse, you have to be calm, he reminded himself. He wasn’t calm. He’d wanted not only to talk to her yesterday, but to kiss her silly. Especially after they’d finished the ride on the hay wagon. But she’d disappeared, practically vanished into thin air. He’d texted her, but she hadn’t texted back. That was her way of dealing with their situation. He had to be levelheaded about it and respect her wishes, but he didn’t like being levelheaded, not after the night they’d spent together. He wanted a repeat. Didn’t she?
His mother had reminded him conversations could be overheard on all phones for someone like Lucie. Who knew what devices were out there that a tech-smart press spy could use? With Lucie’s mother in the country probably reminding her of her Chesterfield duty, her sister’s fiasco not all that far behind her, Lucie was trying to be supercautious.
Chase heard the sound of tires on gravel and figured it was Tomás’s truck. But after another attempt to feed the chestnut mare and getting nowhere, he heard a male voice determine, “She’s not ready for that yet.”
Chase spun around, and when he saw he had a visitor, he smiled, immediately left the fence and approached Graham Robinson, Ben’s brother.
“I came to see how your plans are coming along,” Graham explained.
Chase nodded to the doorway leading into the barn. “Let’s go into my office in there, and we can talk about your plans, too.”
Graham was six feet tall and every inch a cowboy. He wore his light brown hair short under his Stetson. Even though he was only thirty-two, the lines around his blue eyes told a story that had sobered the man because of an unfortunate teenage escapade. Graham’s best friend had died in his arms when they were only teenagers. Graham’s father, Gerald Robinson, hadn’t been the best father, so Graham had sought out another role model, his best friend’s dad. They’d helped each other through the grief, and now Graham was working with Roger Gibault on the Galloping G Ranch. The two men had developed the same dream and wanted to help troubled teenagers find their place in the world.
Once in the office, Chase sat behind the battered desk in an old-time wooden chair that creaked as he adjusted his weight in it.
Graham took a seat on the other side of the desk.
“It’s been a while,” Chase said. “Would you like a beer?”
“Sure,” Graham agreed, and Chase pulled two from the small refrigerator back in the corner. He handed the long-necked bottle to Graham.
“I’ve been busy,” Graham said. “Roger and I are trying to get the place in shape. We’re remodeling a bunkhouse and thinking about adding a cabin or two. We’re going to have kids coming in around June first and we want to be ready.”
“Do you feel ready to handle troubled kids?”
“I once was one.”
Chase nodded sagely, not pushing. He knew Graham would say what he wanted to say in his own time.
Graham removed his Stetson, ran his hand through his hair and plopped the hat back on his head. “Roger and I are consulting with a professional, too. We’re smart enough to know there are a lot of things we don’t know.”
“Good idea,” Chase agreed.
“How about you?” Graham asked. “I heard you’re buying the old Schultz place. I thought maybe we could help you out, take a horse or two off your hands once they’re ready to go to a good home. If kids have something to care about and care for, it helps. Gentling a horse could teach them a lot of life lessons.”
“I have one or two now that you might be interested in. Maybe by June I’ll have my ranch up and running, and we’ll have more to choose from. I hit a roadblock that’s stalled me.”
“Something serious?”
The Galloping G wasn’t that far from the Bar P. He and Graham had known each other for a long while. In fact, Graham was one of the few men he’d consider a friend, a friend he could trust. Maybe he could cope with the whole situation a lot easier if he could talk to someone about it.
“Can I trust you to keep what I tell you confidential?”
“You know you can,” Graham assured him.
“I’m married. I have been for ten years and didn’t know it. We both thought the marriage had been annulled, but it wasn’t. When I tried to get a loan approved, I found out.”
Graham gave a low whistle. “So this isn’t just a business mess.”
“No, it isn’t. And to make matters worse, this woman is in the public eye. If our marriage leaked out, it could cause a major scandal for us both.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Nope.” Chase blew out a breath. “The marriage happened in Scotland. A lawyer’s trying to get it resolved, but we have to keep everything quiet or there will be a scandal to end all scandals. I haven’t been celibate and she was engaged.”
Graham’s gaze suddenly fell on the printout that lay on the corner of the desk. “Why are you printing out ads for engagement rings if you’re seeking dissolution of your marriage?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Believe me, I understand complications.”
There was a look in Graham’s eyes that told Chase much was going on beneath the surface. But Graham would tell him what that was when he was ready.
Obviously not wanting to talk about himself, Graham asked perceptively, “Are you thinking about staying married?”
Chase shook his head. “It’s an impossible situation. She’s leaving Texas in a week. She has commitments. I can’t ask her to stay to see what develops because her work’s her life. Even if we could somehow compromise on that, if she gives up her present job, wouldn’t she resent me for it?”
Graham took a long swig of his beer, then shook his head. “I never thought about getting married myself, and I can’t see that ever happening. But I sure wish you luck whichever way it goes.”
Chase suspected he needed a lot more than luck.
Chapter Eleven
Amelia’s long dark hair swayed across her back as she cooed and rocked Clementine on Sunday evening. “Who’s the cutest little girl in the whole wide world?”
Quinn Drummond, who claimed he was a small-town rancher who merely wanted
a simple life, responded for his child. “You are, Clementine Rose Drummond, and no one else.” His thick dark brown hair fell over his suntanned forehead as he said it, and his hazel eyes twinkled.
Clementine Rose wiggled and wiggled until her mama put her down. She toddled over to Lucie and held up her arms.
Lucie, of course, obliged, sweeping her off the floor. “So, what hotel are you staying at?”
Quinn answered, looking smug, “We’re staying at the Dominion.”
The Dominion was an old Austin hotel with lots of history and a presidential suite and bridal suites that could rival any posh resort.
“I reserved the bridal suite for a mini second honeymoon,” Quinn said, looking proud of himself. “I got a fine deal on it, too. An old friend from high school is in a management position now. This was last minute because they had a vacancy and a cancellation, and he wanted to fill it.”
“Your bargain is my good luck,” Lucie said, nuzzling Clementine. “We’ll have a grand time here and you’ll have a grand time there,” she teased.
A look passed between Amelia and Quinn that said it all. They were still deliriously happy.
“Since Mum is back in Horseback Hollow, she offered to babysit.” Amelia rooted in her purse. “But I told her you wanted to spend time with the baby, and we’d be back tomorrow night and she could see Clementine Rose all she wants then. She’s catching up with Jeanne Marie and everybody else while we’re out of town. She likes her place at the Cowboy Condos to have people in for an intimate conversation or to have a group party. She’s much less stuffy than she used to be, don’t you think?” Amelia asked Lucie.
Quinn came up behind Amelia and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’re much less stuffy than you used to be, don’t you think, princess?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. How many times had her sister told Quinn she wasn’t a princess? But he still treated her like one anyway.
He said now, “Amelia is a wonderful mother and doesn’t take a break from Clementine, except to do chores. So now and then, I like to indulge us both.”
“Taking care of Clementine and helping you make the ranch succeed is what I intend to do with the rest of my life,” Amelia assured him.
Clementine pulled on Lucie’s hair and babbled. They all laughed.
“Are you ready to go?” Quinn asked Amelia.
“We have such little time to visit,” she said to Lucie, handing her a sheet of paper. “This has all the emergency numbers. You have my cell and Quinn’s, but this is the hotel number, too. And a pediatrician in Austin who I spoke with, just in case Clementine would need a doctor.”
“Look at her,” Lucie advised. “She’s perfectly healthy. It’s just going to be overnight. We’ll be fine. I have all the food you brought for her in the refrigerator and on the counter. Quinn set up the crib in my bedroom and I have this cute little collapsible play set in here that she can nap in, too. I have the monitor set up in the bedroom so I can hear her if I’m in here and she’s asleep. Her toys practically filled up her crib. She has enough clothes for the next three weeks.”
Amelia brushed Lucie’s conclusion away. “Don’t exaggerate. Babies can go through three or four outfits a day. Just wait until you feed her. You might not only have to change her outfit. You’ll have to change yours, too.”
“You didn’t put red beets in as part of her diet, did you?”
“They’re an essential part. I gave you a variety of foods to use. I marked them breakfast, lunch and supper, and you can vary them.”
Lucie checked with Quinn, “Does she plan this much with you, too?”
“She tries to, but most of the time, I get her to roll with the punches. Just go with the flow, Lucie, and you’ll be fine. Clementine does have a fussy time, though. When she’s like that, we just carry her around and try to entertain her, no matter when it is.”
“I’ll remember that. I have a couple of lullabies up my sleeve.”
Quinn said to Amelia, “Time’s a-wastin’.”
Amelia gazed over at her baby daughter. “I want to be with you, but I hate leaving her.”
“Call me whenever you’d like,” Lucie said. “Or text me.”
After waves all around and blown kisses, Amelia and Quinn left.
Lucie half expected them to pop back in, but they didn’t.
Clementine toddled over to a stuffed toy Amelia had left for her on the sofa. She picked up the pink dog and gurgled at it. Just as Lucie was about to pick her up again—she loved holding her niece—her cell phone beeped. When she glanced at the screen she saw an unfamiliar number. She could let it go, but the call might have to do with her trip.
She answered. “Hello.”
She was surprised to hear Chase’s voice when he said, “I bought a burner phone that can’t be traced. You should, too. I want to see you.”
She thrilled at the words. But she was hesitant to repeat them back. If she and Chase kept up an affair, they were going to get hurt.
“I’m babysitting Clementine,” she told Chase, regretful yet also, in some ways, appreciative for the excuse.
After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Does that mean you’re tied up, or would you like a visitor?”
“You can visit if you’re ready to babysit. Clementine Rose needs all my attention.” That type of dedication usually warded off men’s attention.
“I’ve never been around babies,” he admitted in a low voice.
She expected him to back off. Some men were downright afraid of babies because they considered them to be little alien creatures. You never knew what they were going to do next. Chase had been good with older children, but this was different.
However, this was Chase Parker, who didn’t seem to know what backing off meant. “I’ll borrow Tomás’s truck so no one recognizes mine, and I’ll sneak in the back way.”
Lucie’s heart sang a little that he was willing to join in her babysitting efforts. Or was he?
“Chase, I really meant it when I said Clementine needs all my focus. We can’t—” She stopped, unable to put their passion into words. She had no doubts that if they were here alone, they’d be in each other’s arms in her bed.
“I understand, Lucie, I do. And it’s all right. I’ll be there in a half hour.”
Keeping to his word, Chase arrived precisely at her door a half hour later. She laughed when she opened the door to him. He was wearing a baseball cap instead of his Stetson, and he had that fake mustache pasted on above his lip again.
“You went all out,” she joked.
“I did.”
Once inside, he captured her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the forehead, his mustache tickling her skin. Then he leaned away and said, “Introduce me to Clementine.”
Amelia and Quinn’s little girl didn’t seem to mind strangers, maybe because of the big family in Horseback Hollow. She was used to many people fussing over her as if she were a little princess. She was too young to be really spoiled yet; Amelia and Quinn thought that was okay and so did Lucie. Children needed to know they were loved, and Clementine Rose did.
Chase took off the ball cap and tossed it to a nearby table. Then he peeled off the mustache and stuffed it in his pocket. “I’ll let you see the real me,” he teased as he approached Clementine.
“Have I seen the real you?” Lucie asked as Chase smiled and held out his hands to the little girl.
“You saw the real me on that country road after I learned about my dad’s betrayal.”
Yes, she did. She’d seen the Chase who really cared and was passionate about family and loyalty and maybe everything else.
He picked up a green elephant that rattled and wiggled it in front of Clementine. “What do you think of this, honey?”
Clementine grabbed at it and he laughed. Then he picked h
er up at the waist and held her high in the air. “Do you like it up there?”
Clementine giggled.
Maybe he’d never been around babies, but he sure had a way with them. Lucie suddenly felt...odd.
Almost to herself, she said, “The tabloids have called me conservative and stiff, or maybe even a little frozen. Sometimes I feel that way when I’m around you.”
He cast her a quick glance over his shoulder and plopped Clementine into the crook of his arm. Instead of saying, Oh, no, the tabloids don’t see you that way, he asked, “Do you see yourself as conservative and stiff?”
She considered his question. “I see myself as unusually cautious, and I try to stay calm, no matter what the circumstances. I never know when my photo’s going to be shot, even from a long-lens camera. So almost every moment I’m outside and with people, I have that in the back of my mind. Hence, the pasted-on smile that might look frozen.”
“Your smile is anything but frozen,” Chase said vehemently, “and as for seeing the real you, that night on the country road, you were pretty free yourself. Don’t beat yourself up over the public you and the personal you. As long as you’re genuine with the people who love you, that’s what matters.”
She’d always thought that, but she wasn’t so sure sometimes. “I try to be genuine when I do an interview, but almost every word is turned upside down and sideways, so it’s hard.”
“I saw the one you did after your father died. You were quite genuine, and the reporter thought so, too. She even had a tear in her eye. Don’t you see your public life as a job?”
“Do you show one personality at work and another at home?” she inquired, really wanting to know.
He thought about it and sat with Clementine on the sofa. The baby was suddenly fascinated by the buttons on his shirt.
“I try to be professional at work and watch my words. So yes, I guess I’m different there than I am at home. Maybe that’s another reason I want to run the horse rescue ranch. I can just be who I am.”
She liked who Chase was and who he’d become.
“Speaking of the press,” he said, “I’m doing that interview tomorrow with Norton Wilcox.”
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