“Let me get this straight, man. You actually weren’t divorced all this time? And Caitlin found out she was pregnant after you’d left for Australia?”
“That’s about it, Trev.”
Trevor shook his head. “Talk about a rather interesting story. You could have found yourself in one hell of a mess had you married someone thinking you were divorced. It’s a good thing you never got involved with anyone.”
“I never wanted to get involved with anyone.”
Trevor knew that Clayton had tried fixing Dex up with a number of nice-looking sisters, and he’d never shown an interest in any of them. Dex’s work had been his constant companion. “Why? Because you’ve never gotten over Caitlin?”
“No, because getting hurt once was enough.”
“Then pardon me for asking, but why are you here now? Seems like the two of you are pretty much back together.”
Dex took another swig of beer before answering. “Caitlin and I have decided to try to make a go of things for Jordan’s sake.”
“For Jordan’s sake? Yeah right, man,” Trevor said, grinning. “I saw the way your woman was looking at you, and I also saw the way you were watching her. And I guess you want me to believe your decision not to go to Austin has nothing to do with leaving her behind.”
Dex frowned. “My decision not to attend Remington Oil’s meeting has everything to do with Caitlin.” He then told Trevor everything, beginning with Halston’s letter and ending with him having Alex investigate Malone Land Developers.
“Is the man crazy or what?” Trevor asked, shaking his head. “People can’t go around forcing others to do anything against their will. Doesn’t Malone know a contract isn’t binding if either party was forced into it?”
“I really don’t know what the man knows, except the fact I made it absolutely clear he was to leave Caitlin alone. The land is not for sale and that’s final.”
“Still, bro, if I were you, I’d be careful. Some people don’t get messages, even clear ones. Did you report the telephone call to the police?”
“Yeah, I spoke with a Lieutenant Williams yesterday and again this morning. He’s reopening the case.” Dex didn’t add that the officer hadn’t been too pleased that he had taken matters into his own hands by confronting Duncan Malone.
“Lieutenant Williams and I have decided the best way to handle things is to keep a low profile since I’m moving Caitlin and Jordan to Houston in a few days. I told him that I’ve hired a private investigator to do some checking into Malone Land Developers.” Dex smiled inwardly. Lt. Williams hadn’t liked that move on his part, either.
“But enough about my personal woes, Trev. Are you ready for your meeting with Remington Oil tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’m flying directly to Austin from here. I should get there this afternoon around six. I’m going straight to the hotel from the airport.”
“My reservations are at the Hilton,” Dex said. “Since you’re taking my place tomorrow, the hotel accommodations and the rental car are yours, courtesy of Remington Oil.”
“Did you let the people at Remington Oil know of the change in plans?”
“Yes. I spoke with Adam today. Corinthians took the day off so I didn’t get a chance to talk with her.”
“Who’s Corinthians?”
“Corinthians Avery is a geologist with Remington Oil. And according to Adam, she’s now the head geologist. We used to work together a few years back.” Dex smiled. “She’s a real nice lady, man.”
Something about Dex’s voice when he’d made the last statement made Trevor raise a brow. “Was there something between the two of you once?”
Dex shook his head, grinning. “No. There’s never been anything between Corinthians and me other than friendship. I always considered her like one of my own sisters. She’s someone with easy charm and polished manners. A real prim-and-proper, well-bred sister. She’s nice. You’ll like her.”
“Corinthians. Mmm,” Trevor said, taking his index finger and running it alongside his cold can of beer. “Sounds like her name was taken straight from the Good Book.”
Dex chuckled. “It was. Corinthians’s father is a Baptist minister, and he named his son and daughter after books in the Bible. I’m sure you’ve heard of her brother, Senator Joshua Avery.”
Trevor’s smile faded. “Who hasn’t heard of Avery and his aspirations to one day become Texas’s first black governor.”
“Do I detect you have a slight problem with that,” Dex said, eyeing his friend.
“Let’s just say, I think Avery has his priorities screwed up. He’s a prime example of a brother who’s so focused on where he’s going, that he’s forgotten where he came from.”
Dex nodded. “Well, enough of politics. Give me those papers you have for me to sign. I don’t want you to miss your plane to Austin.”
Trevor laughed. “Are you trying to get rid of me before your gorgeous wife gets back?”
Dex joined him in laughter. “That hadn’t crossed my mind, but now since you’ve mentioned it, that’s not such a bad idea.”
Walker rapidly strode down the long hallway to his office. When he reached his destination, he grabbed the knob and opened the door, letting himself inside.
He removed his jacket before sinking into the well-padded chair behind his desk. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He fully understood the unique nature of running a land development company. He’d discovered that most people didn’t know their own minds, and the majority of their decisions could be made more quickly with other people’s help and influences. A prime example was the Parker deal. Halston Parker had claimed he hadn’t wanted to sell the land. He’d also said he hadn’t had any plans to develop the property himself. That didn’t make sense. Why would anyone in their right mind let a piece of land just sit there when it could bring them a bunch of money?
And as far as Walker was concerned, his uncle Duncan had become soft in his old age. It was time for him to retire and let Walker take over. He was certain he could get the Parker’s land for Remington Oil if he could do things his way, without any interference from his uncle.
He smiled and began flipping through the pad he’d placed on his desk. He stopped when he came to the likeness of the woman he’d drawn that afternoon in the park, Halston Parker’s daughter. He’d been parked outside her house since morning and had followed her to the park.
His smile widened. Once he used a few more scare tactics on her, she’d be glad to get rid of that land. Unlike his uncle, he wasn’t afraid of her “wanna-go-for-bad” husband. If he had to, he would deal with him later.
While his uncle continued to sit around pondering what to do, he would have already finished the job.
“How was your afternoon in the park?”
Caitlin smiled as she loaded the last plate in the dishwasher. “It was nice. Jordan got plenty of playtime, and I got to do some reading. How was your meeting with Trevor?”
“Okay.”
Caitlin sat down at the kitchen table across from Dex, “I’m sorry that I’ve placed you in an awkward position with your friends, Dex, with you having to explain our marriage and all.”
Dex leaned back in his chair. “Don’t worry about it.”
Caitlin cleared her throat before continuing. “I know Clayton knows, but have you told the rest of your family yet?”
“No.”
“I see,” she said quietly.
A shadow of something Dex couldn’t quite put a name to flickered across Caitlin’s face, then was gone. It had happened so quickly, he wondered if he’d imagined it. “My parents are vacationing in the Bahamas. And I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to Justin or my sisters.”
Dex paused for a moment, then went on. “My family will be happy about Jordan. And I have a feeling they’ll be even happier to know that we’ve gotten back together.”
Caitlin picked up an empty coffee cup off the table and slid her chair back to stand up. “What makes you think th
at?”
“Because I know them.”
“But they won’t know the truth, Dex. The truth that we really haven’t gotten back together at all. The real truth is that we’re farther apart than before.”
Dex stared at Caitlin for a moment. “I disagree. We’re getting along just fine.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“And what’s yours?”
“There’s no love in our marriage, Dex.” Caitlin regretted saying the words the moment they had left her lips. He was looking at her, fixing her with an angry stare.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, Caitlin?” he said finally in a deceptively calm voice. “You’re the one who took my love and threw it back in my face. I can’t believe you have the nerve to even talk about love.”
“Because of what you consider as my one big mistake?”
“No. Because of mine,” Dex answered. “I should never have fallen in love with you. I should’ve known better.”
“Why?” Caitlin was baffled by his bizarre statement.
“My best friend killed himself over a woman while we were in college.”
She heard the pain in Dex’s voice. It filled the hushed quiet of the room. “But what does that have to do with us?”
“After seeing how Greg suffered over a woman, I vowed never to fall in love. Then I met you and did the one thing I vowed never to do.”
Caitlin shook her head. “You never gave us a chance, did you?”
His gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Because of what happened to your friend, we were doomed from the start. You took a chance and fell in love but you never actually believed in what we shared. A part of you had expected to get hurt. That’s why you gave up on me so easily.”
Rage swept through Dex. He stood. “What do you mean, I gave up on you? Have you forgotten it was the other way around? You’re the one who called it quits, Caitlin. You’re the one who wanted out.”
“Yes, but you never should have given up on me.”
Fingers of steel closed around Caitlin’s arm as Dex pulled her to him. “What did you expect me to do?”
“You should have come for me,” she said softly. “I was your wife.”
“A wife who didn’t want me,” he grounded out through clenched teeth.
“But I did want you, Dex. Had you gotten that letter I sent telling you about Jordan, you would have known that.”
“What are you talking about?”
Caitlin sighed. It wouldn’t do any good to tell him that once she’d discovered she was pregnant, she had wanted to come to him and hoped he would take her back. She had written him telling him about her pregnancy and asking if he was willing to give their marriage another try. When she didn’t get a reply to her letter, she had assumed he hadn’t wanted her or his baby.
“It doesn’t matter now, Dex. It’s all in the past.”
“Daddy! Daddy! See my picture!”
Dex released Caitlin’s arm when Jordan raced into the room with a piece of paper in her hand. He caught Jordan up in his arms, taking the paper from her. “What’s this?”
“It’s a picture of me. Isn’t it pretty, Daddy? The nice man also drew a picture of Mommy, but he kept it.”
Dex lifted a brow. “What nice man?”
“The one in the park today, Daddy.”
He frowned as he placed Jordan down out of his arms, and watched as she raced back out of the room to finish watching her Disney video.
Dex turned to Caitlin. She was wiping off the kitchen table. “Who was the man in the park?”
She shrugged her shoulders and continued with her task. Her earlier conversation with Dex had taken a toll on her. “Some guy. I think he did a real good job, don’t you?”
“Why didn’t he give you the one he did of you?”
“He was kind of rushed for time and left before thinking about it.”
Dex shook his head. “Caitlin, has anyone ever told you never to talk to strangers?”
She stopped wiping the table. Her gaze shot sparks at him. “I’m not some little child. The park was crowded and there was no other place for the man to sit except next to me. There’s nothing wrong with me being friendly.”
“Look, all I’m saying is—”
The sound of Jordan calling for her daddy to come and watch the video with her interrupted what Dex was saying. “We’ll finish this conversation later.”
He turned to leave, paused and turned back around. “Going back to our earlier conversation, Caitlin, just for the record, when you began avoiding my calls from Australia, I figured out what your father was probably trying to do. I put in for an emergency leave with my job to come back to the States to get you. I was walking out the door on my way to the airport when the postman arrived with the divorce papers and your ring.”
He turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Chapter 12
Dex had been coming back for her…
Caitlin leaned back in the kitchen chair as thoughts of what Dex had said ran through her mind. She closed her eyes and remembered when she had begun avoiding his nightly calls from Australia. At the time, she’d been filled with so much doubt and uncertainty, that she couldn’t think straight. Instead of telling him over the phone of her decision regarding their marriage, she had taken the coward’s way out and had sent him a letter; a letter that had accompanied divorce papers and her wedding ring.
And he had received them on the same day that he had been coming back for her.
Caitlin reopened her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. What she had done had hurt him deeply. But there was one thing she hadn’t realized until this afternoon. Her actions had also trampled his pride.
She rose out of the chair and went to stand before the window. She could smell the fragrance of the bluebonnets that grew around the back porch. But even that didn’t have her full concentration. Her thoughts were on the man she had met in a café four years ago; a very proud Texan whom she had fallen deeply in love with. Of all of the things she had doubted and been unsure of, it had never been about her love for him. There had never been any question in her mind that she loved him. But in the end, her love for him hadn’t been strong enough. And because of that, she had let him down.
“Caitlin?”
She shivered upon hearing her name from Dex’s lips. She hadn’t heard him reenter the kitchen. Turning around, she looked at him. Intense dark eyes held hers. “Yes?”
“I told Jordan that I’d come ask if you wanted to watch the next video with us.”
Caitlin swallowed. “I’d love to.”
He turned around to leave.
“Dex?”
He turned back around. “Yes?”
There was a moment of charged silence. “Dex. I…”
He took a hesitant step toward her. “Don’t, Caitlin. It’s in the past. Just let it go.” He turned and walked out of the room.
Caitlin took a deep breath. She wondered if he would ever realize that he had just asked her to do the one thing that she couldn’t do.
“We hope your stay at our hotel is a pleasant one, Mr. Madaris.”
Trevor was about to tell the hotel clerk he wasn’t Dex then quickly changed his mind. If he told them he was not Dex, there would probably be some paperwork required for the change, and he was too tired to deal with any type of hassle now. Because of thunderstorms, his flight into Austin had been delayed an hour. All he wanted to do was to go to his room, take a shower and go to bed. He needed to be well rested for his meeting with Remington Oil tomorrow.
“Thanks. I’m sure it will be,” he replied to the perky hotel clerk.
Upon reaching his room, Trevor was pleased to see that Remington Oil had reserved Dex a suite. He immediately went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He came back out and noticed the message light flashing on the telephone. Picking up the phone, he dialed the hotel operator. A message had been left for Dex from Corinthians Avery telling him she’d be joining him for dinne
r at eight.
Trevor frowned, glancing at his watch. It was a little past six now. Dex hadn’t mentioned anything about having a dinner date with Ms. Avery. Undressing, Trevor went into the bathroom to take his shower, closing the door behind him.
“This is Ms. Avery. I’d like to know whether or not Dex Madaris has checked in yet. Yes, I’ll hold.”
Butterflies floated around in Corinthians’s stomach and had been ever since she thought she had heard movement in the room adjacent to hers. “Yes? Oh, he has? Thanks for taking the time to check.”
Corinthians smiled nervously. Dex had arrived.
When she’d made plans for the evening, everything had seemed simple. Now she was becoming a nervous wreck and was having second thoughts about pulling off what she’d planned. When she’d made reservations for Dex, she’d also reserved the suite next to his. And since Remington Oil was picking up the tab, she had been given access to both. Her plans were for them to have dinner together. But what Dex didn’t know was that she intended on being the appetizer.
She took a deep breath, deciding to make a move before she lost her nerve. Her breath caught in her throat when her ears picked up the sound of the shower running in Dex’s room.
Corinthians opened her robe and looked at herself in the mirror. Her outfit looked more scanty on her than it had on the mannequin yesterday. She felt awkward wearing it, having never dared pulling such a stunt like this in her life.
She touched the silk material of the outfit, liking the way it felt against her skin. How would Dex handle seeing her in something so outlandish? There had never been anything romantic between them before. Would he want to begin a different sort of relationship with her? Or would she scare him away as Brenna had suggested?
A number of uncertainties crept into her head. Quickly closing her robe, she walked to the connecting door. Before opening it, she checked the pocket of her robe for the packs of condoms she’d purchased earlier that day. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked into Dex’s room.
Whispered Promises Page 14
