by Carsen Taite
Peyton wanted to laugh, but there was a grain of truth in Carmen’s words that couldn’t be denied. “If their power is so great, you won’t be safe in prison. Maybe despite my threats, the judge will go easy on you. You think Sergio and Arturo will believe you didn’t talk to get a good deal? Then you’ll be all on your own.” She leaned closer. “I have a feeling you’ve been all on your own for a while now. Your father’s in prison, your brothers are dead, the father of your children only shows up when it’s convenient. Let us help you. All we ask is that you help us in return.”
Carmen’s eyes widened as Peyton recited the litany of personal detail, and Peyton prayed she would see the light.
“I need more than your spoken word. I need your promise in writing that no harm will come to my family.”
Peyton hated this part. She looked up at Dominic and then over at Bianca. When she finally turned back to Carmen and opened her mouth to speak, she heard Bianca’s voice.
“You have our word. Whatever it takes.”
Peyton rose, the only thing on her mind now was getting out of the holdover and giving Bianca a piece of her mind. She calmed her temper long enough to shake Carmen’s hand and tell Dominic they would be in touch. She strode back into the now empty courtroom and up the aisle to the double doors in the rear. She could hear Bianca huffing behind her, but she didn’t slow down.
“Peyton, wait!”
She stopped and turned slowly as Bianca finally caught up with her.
“Where are you going?”
Peyton looked at her watch. “I have an appointment.” She waited, hoping Bianca might use a touch of self-reflection to hit on exactly why she was pissed.
“I thought we could talk, you know, plan how to approach this.”
“By this, do you mean the way you promised that young woman nothing would happen to her or her family when you know full well you have no control over that?”
“It wasn’t like you hadn’t already led her to believe that.”
“Maybe, but there’s a fine line between outlining the probabilities and making promises you know you can’t keep. You as much as told her she’d have full protection. I’m not in a position to make that guarantee which means no way are you. We have a chain of command. I don’t know who was running this team before me, but from now on, every decision has to go through me. Understood?”
Bianca’s expression was stubborn, sullen, but she nodded her tacit understanding.
“Great. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Let’s meet then and go over strategy. Have whoever’s available from the team join us.” Peyton didn’t wait for a reply before she turned and walked to the bank of elevators leading directly to the ground floor. When she burst through the doors of the building, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number she’d programmed in earlier that morning.
“Virginia, it’s Peyton. You ready for lunch?”
*
“Lily?”
Lily looked up into sapphire blue eyes. “Yes.”
The blonde with the eyes stuck her hand out. “I’m Skye Keaton. Morgan set up the appointment. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
“No, not at all,” Lily said. “Not like the Adolphus is a bad place to wait.”
“You’re right about that. You hungry?”
“Starving.” Lily’s meeting with Erica had run longer than they had expected, and she’d had to push out her meeting with this private investigator. Skye had suggested they conduct their business over lunch and suggested the Aldophus. Lily wondered at the choice. With so many restaurants in Dallas, it seemed odd to meet at a hotel.
Skye seemed to catch her looking. “You mind if we eat at the Rodeo?” she said, referring to the more casual eatery located at the opposite end of the hotel. “They have amazing hamburgers.”
Within moments, they were settled in. Skye placed her order without looking at the menu and Lily followed suit with a simple, “I’ll have what she’s having.” When the waiter left, she asked, “Come here often?”
“I hate to admit this, but I’m double-booked. I’m on a surveillance job. I have someone relieving me right now, but I wanted to stay close.”
“Let me guess, husband cheating on wife or vice versa?”
Skye shook her head. “If you hire me, part of what you pay me for is discretion.”
“That’s a good thing. If the rest of my family found out what I’m up to, it would be sure to cause an uproar.”
“Morgan told me you want to locate your mother’s family and that’s about it. I told her I’d rather hear the rest directly from you.”
“It’s fairly simple, really, since I don’t know much. My birth mother died within moments of my birth.” She pulled a copy of her birth certificate from her bag and handed it to Skye. “This should give you a starting point.”
Skye gave the document a once-over. “No father is listed.”
Lily heard the many questions contained in Skye’s simple statement. “I’m told she knew who he was, but he was killed before they could be married. You can’t list an unmarried father without a signed Acknowledgment of Paternity.”
“Any clues about his identity?”
Lily shook her head. “Not much to go on there. The only lead I can think of is the church that handled my adoption, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Apparently, they took me in because my birth mother and father, I mean, her boyfriend, were both dead.” The terms never seemed to fit. Her mother was Rose and her father was Cyrus. She’d never known these other people, and maybe it was a mistake to think that finding out more about them would give her some kind of closure. She looked up to meet Skye’s questioning gaze. “I think I may be wasting your time.”
The waiter showed up with their drinks, saving her from more embarrassing proclamations. When he left, Skye spoke first.
“Here’s the deal. You’re not wasting my time. I’m on a stakeout and I’ve got to eat sometime. May as well have company.” She smiled. “I understand where you’re coming from. You love your parents, the people who raised you, and you’re worried that looking for these blood-relative strangers would somehow diminish those feelings.”
Lily raised her glass in a toast. “So far, you’re spot on. I’m just not sure I can reconcile this strong pull to know more about my past, about my roots, with how I feel about the only family I’ve ever known.”
“What if you hold off on all that for now? Let me see what I can find out, and if I’m able to find some of your other family, then you can decide what you want to do with that information. Sometimes just knowing is the thing that matters.”
“You may be right. Kind of reminds me of something my father always says—don’t borrow trouble. I suppose I can just wait and see.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
The waiter delivered their food, and between bites of burgers and fries, Skye asked her more questions about her family, the ones she knew and the ones she didn’t. When the check finally came, Lily felt like she’d been through the ringer.
Skye started to reach for the bill at the same time that Lily did, and Lily’s hand wound up on top of hers. She moved her hand quickly away, self-conscious at the unintended touch. At that moment, she heard a throat clear and looked up into a familiar face.
“Hello, Lily.”
Peyton was looking down at the table where her hand had just touched Skye’s, and Lily could swear she detected a hint of jealousy in her eyes. Fine by her. Peyton was the one who’d blown her off. If she was jealous, it was her own damn fault.
“Hello, Peyton. I haven’t heard from you in a while. I hope you’re doing well.”
A slight blush reddened Peyton’s cheeks. “I’m fine. And you?”
“Oh, I couldn’t be better.” She watched as Peyton gave Skye a pointed glance. “Peyton Davis, meet Skye Keaton.” She watched as Skye reached out a hand, catching Peyton off guard, certainly a rare event. Peyton’s expression was curious, but Lily wasn’t about to let Peyton know the striking blond
e was an employee and not a date.
“Nice to meet you,” said Skye.
“You too.” Peyton didn’t move, and Lily was almost tempted to ask if she wanted to join them. As mad as she was at Peyton’s radio silence over the last week, she missed the moments they’d shared. Had it only been her imagination that Peyton had enjoyed her company too?
“Peyton, I’ve got us a table.”
Lily didn’t need to look past Peyton’s shoulder to see who was speaking. She’d know that voice anywhere, especially since the last time she’d heard it, the speaker had warned her away from Peyton. Well trained in Southern charm, Lily buried her discomfort beneath a broad smile. “Hi there, Virginia. I was just talking to Peyton. I hope you don’t mind.” She smiled even brighter when she saw Virginia’s glaring eyes.
But Virginia was trained in Southern combat too, and she slid an arm around Peyton and smiled brightly at Skye. “Oh, hi, Lily.” She offered a hand to Skye. “Where have you been keeping this gorgeous woman?”
Skye shifted in her seat as she looked around at the three of them. Feeling a tad bit guilty at including Skye in the game, Lily shrugged her answer. Skye looked at her watch. “I didn’t realize what time it was. You all mind if I step away to make a call?”
Peyton moved over and Skye slid out of the booth and walked away. Virginia leaned down and faux whispered to Lily. “She’s a keeper. Trust me, I know one when I see one.” She cast a pointed look at Peyton and then tugged at her arm. “Come on, sugar, I’m starving.”
Peyton sidestepped Virginia’s clawing grasp. “I’ll be right there.”
Virginia pouted but walked to a table across the room.
Lily watched her go. “You should hurry. Your date looks like she might die without you.”
“Your date seems nice.”
“My date is none of your business.”
Peyton raised her hands in mock surrender. “Sorry.” She put her hands down. “I really am sorry. I should’ve talked to you in person.”
“It’s not like you owe me anything. We barely know each other.”
“I wanted to get to know you.”
“What stopped you?”
Peyton glanced over her shoulder. Lily couldn’t tell if she was looking for Virginia or Skye. She tried not to care. Peyton obviously hadn’t thought much of the time they’d spent together, so why should she? “Go, have lunch with Virginia. It’s clear you already know exactly what you want and I’m not it.”
Peyton backed up a step, shaking her head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is. If you think it isn’t then we’re better off with you over there and me…” Lily floundered for just a moment. “I was doing fine before I met you, and while I enjoyed the time we spent together, it wasn’t life-altering.” She employed her most dismissive tone. “Enjoy your lunch.”
After a few seconds of hesitation, Peyton turned and walked the length of the restaurant to where Virginia waited. Lily tried not to watch, but she couldn’t help it. If Peyton wanted the likes of Virginia Taylor, then she didn’t know her at all.
“Everything okay here?” Skye took her seat.
“Sorry about that.”
“I sense a little history.”
“Just a little. Not enough to merit the display I just put on. Please forgive me.”
Skye smiled. “No hard feelings. I won’t tell my wife you were using me to make someone jealous.”
Lily cocked her head. “Is there anything that doesn’t get past you?”
“Not much. She likes you too, you know.”
“Who? Peyton?” She shook her head. “I’m afraid you’re wrong about that, but I’m going to hire you anyway. Can you start right away?”
“Absolutely.”
Maybe this project was exactly what she needed to distract her from Peyton Davis. As she and Skye left the restaurant, she shot one last look in Peyton’s direction. Peyton was staring right at her while Virginia chattered on about something. Lily raised her eyebrows, but Peyton merely shook her head, telling her all she needed to know. She left the building and left behind any lingering hope that she’d have a chance to get closer to Peyton.
*
Peyton did her best to appear interested in Virginia’s ramblings, but it was hard. Seeing Lily had been completely unexpected, and she’d been caught off guard. Poor planning on her part. She should’ve expected she’d run into Lily at some point, and she should have had some excuse to offer for her caddish behavior. Something less specific than my office is investigating your family business for possible money laundering.
If she could’ve figured out a way to do so gracefully, she would have begged off lunch, but she needed Virginia’s help. If she could get it. She’d invited her to lunch to get information, but so far she hadn’t had a chance to wedge a question into the conversation.
“How well do you even know her?”
Peyton looked up, certain she’d missed at least a paragraph or two in the Virginia Taylor show. “What?”
Virginia dropped her voice to a whisper. “You do know Lily isn’t a real Gantry, don’t you? I mean, you only have to see her with the rest of her family to tell.”
“It’s pretty clear she’s adopted, but that’s really none of our business. Have you always been so shallow?”
“I thought you liked my honesty.”
“There’s honesty and then there’s mean.”
Virginia shrugged. “Always the virtuous one, aren’t you? I would’ve thought a few years in the big city would have jaded you.”
“When it comes to gossip, D.C. is smaller than Dallas, but you know I’ve never been prone to gossip.”
“Precisely the reason I’ve been wondering why you wanted to see me.”
Peyton faked a smile. “Maybe I just wanted to have lunch with an old friend of the family.”
“Try again. I called you a dozen times after you left, even sent flowers to your new office. All I got was a thank you card in the mail. No note, just, ‘Thanks for the flowers, Peyton.’ Is that how you brush off all your ‘old friends’?”
“I’m sorry you thought I was rude, but you’re lucky I responded at all. Things were bad enough with Neil. There was no point in making it worse.” She didn’t expect Virginia to get it, but then again she’d never given her a chance and that wasn’t really fair either.
Peyton flashed back to the week before she’d accepted the offer from the attorney general’s office in D.C. She’d never intended to take the job, but things had gotten increasingly heated between her and Neil since their parents had finally revealed the family tradition of passing the ranch down through the women in the family. The tradition wasn’t a legally binding part of her great-grandmother’s bequest, but none of her progeny had broken the trend. Her mother and father had explained the history in a family meeting called when they found out Peyton had been offered the position in Washington. Peyton knew they’d expected her to say no to the job and stay put in Texas, working the law while overseeing her inheritance. How had they not foreseen how their news would affect their oldest son who, despite his professed childhood dreams to share the responsibilities of the ranch with his sister, secretly harbored fantasies of being the master of the Circle Six all on his own? Peyton’s up-and-coming career as a prosecutor likely reinforced his belief.
When Neil discovered that the family plan involved Peyton gaining full ownership of the ranch and that he’d only ever be a hired hand, his fury was uncontainable. He’d always been prone to temper tantrums, but Peyton had never seen him so angry. She tried to assure him with promises that she’d never let family tradition displace him or his family. He and his heirs could run the ranch, live on the land, share in all the profits—she’d never leave him or any of her family to want for anything.
“But I’ll still have nothing to show for it. The ranch will always be yours.”
“Ours. Screw tradition. I’ll have papers drawn up tomorrow. We’ll split the shares. You, me, and Zach.”<
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“You would do that?”
“Of course. You’re my brother.”
“What about Mom? What will she think?”
“Have you met our mother? Sentiment is not a word in her vocabulary. She won’t care. I get why the tradition was important once, but we of the weaker sex no longer need the protection. If anyone will get that, she will.”
For the first time in days, the light returned to Neil’s eyes. “Stay here and run it with me. Like we talked about, you know, when we were kids. Virginia and I will be married soon. I want you to be around when we have kids of our own, help me teach them to ride.”
But the shiny new job in Washington had beckoned. The position with the attorney general’s office was a coup for a young lawyer, and it would place her well up on the ladder to success. On the other hand, there were things about the move that didn’t appeal to her at all. Cold winters, complicated politics, cramped quarters. Neil’s urgings were tempting. She could find a job here, stay with her family under wide-open skies.
She looked into her brother’s hopeful eyes. They’d grown apart, and maybe that had been more her fault than she’d realized or wanted to admit. Family meant unconditional love, unflinching loyalty. Neil was reaching out, and she owed him at least a meeting in the middle. “I’ll think it over.”
“How is Neil?”
Peyton shook off the yoke of musings about the past and faced Virginia. “The same. What did you expect?” Virginia flinched, and Peyton was instantly sorry for her harsh tone. She softened her next words. “When’s the last time you spoke to him?”
“That night. He wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. I returned the ring via messenger since he wouldn’t return any of my calls. I’m certain your parents hate me and would be happy if I never showed back up in any of your lives.”
Peyton would never forget that night. She’d never seen Neil in such a dark place, but when he’d walked into Peyton’s room and found Virginia half-naked on the bed, she could hear him come unhinged. A second later, when Peyton emerged from the shower dressed only in a towel, it had been fuel on the fire.
The night had started innocently enough, a simple dinner at the ranch with the family. It had been Neil’s idea, part of his campaign to convince Peyton to stay in Texas.
