“Thanks,” Karlee said. Her voice was cool, but Lucian doubted anyone would notice but him. “I already have a date, though.” She checked the time. “He should be here any minute.”
“Oh.” Bianca’s extreme surprise would cause Karlee to silently bristle, too, along with causing Bianca to look embarrassed. “Oh,” she repeated. “Good.” And this time she finally headed out.
“Since you’re leaving for your business trip right after the wedding, I wanted to go over some things with you,” Karlee said the moment Bianca was gone. She put a blister packet of meds on his desk. “An antihistamine,” she explained. “You’ll be in a meeting on Monday with Helen Jenkins, and her liberal dousing of Chanel number whatever always makes you sneeze.”
It did, and it was something he never remembered until he was in a closed room with the woman.
“I’ve loaded all your notes and reports on your phone,” Karlee went on. “Remember to eat a big lunch on Tuesday because you’re going to the Watersons’ for dinner.”
He groaned. The Watersons were business associates who had tons of money to spend on catering or a chef, but yet they insisted on cooking inedible meals that they served to their guests. The last time they’d served what he was certain was boiled shoe leather with a side of greasy grass.
“Tessie’s bringing her new boyfriend to the wedding. He’s a hand at the Granger ranch so don’t scowl at him,” Karlee added. “Lawson will scowl enough, and the kid already looks spooked.”
Lucian appreciated the update, but he’d still scowl. Tessie was his nineteen-year-old niece, and Lucian wanted the guy to know that there’d be consequences if he dicked around with her.
“You want me to round up Bianca and have her come back in?” Karlee asked. She wasn’t smiling, or scowling, but Lucian got the feeling that she might want to do one of those things. With Karlee, though, he never knew which thing it was.
“No. I wasn’t going to have sex with Bianca,” he assured her.
“I figured as much. It’s her twenty-ninth day. The consensus with the Lucian pool is that you’ll end things with her today. Which brings me to something else. I ordered roses to be delivered to her on Monday. It’s her birthday. And the card just says Happy Birthday. If you want to cancel the order or have it say something else more intimate, the number for the florist is in your phone.”
He’d cancel it. Because Karlee and the Lucian pool were right. He would be ending things with Bianca today, and then Karlee would automatically send the woman a second batch of flowers to signify a parting of the ways.
“Do you really have a date?” he asked.
“Yes.” Karlee frowned. Don’t you dare look as surprised as Bianca. His name is Chad Preston, and he’s the owner of—”
“The new feed supply store we’re using,” Lucian finished. He didn’t actually know the man because Dylan was the one who’d been dealing with him. Apparently, Karlee, too. But Lucian would make a point of meeting him today.
Karlee gathered up some of the signed contracts and proposals that were on his desk, and she started for the door. Just as Dylan stormed in.
Jordan and his mom were right behind him.
“We need to talk,” Dylan snarled. “Now.”
That appeared to be code for I’m mad and want to bust your ass. There definitely was nothing wedding-ish or festive about their expressions.
“Did you do a DNA test on Corbin?” Dylan demanded the moment Karlee was out of the room. Though Dylan spoke so loud that Karlee and half of Kansas would have heard the question.
Lucian fully intended to answer him but first he went to the door and made sure Corbin wasn’t there. He was in the general vicinity. Tessie had him in her arms, but she was taking him toward the sunroom, and Karlee was following her. Though Karlee did shoot Lucian a warning glance. Later, she’d chew him out for this, but the first chewing would come from Dylan. Then Jordan and his mom. They were all clearly pissed, and it’d been a while since Lucian had seen that many flared nostrils in one room.
Lucian shut the door and turned back around to face them. “Yes, I did do a DNA test. Yesterday morning. It’s at the lab now.”
Both Dylan and Jordan cursed. Regina attempted it, but it came out as sputtered anger with some syllables thrown in. Lucian thought he caught the word asshole in the mix.
Since this wasn’t going to be easy for any of them to hear, Lucian got started. “Adele has an arrest record, and she’s not exactly a beacon of credibility. She lied to the cops on four occasions,” he quickly added when the trio opened their mouths to protest.
“She wouldn’t lie about this.” That was from Jordan, but Dylan and his mom said variations of the same.
That was a nice sentiment, that Adele would be truthful when it came to her son’s paternity, but Lucian preferred to get some backup proof. He was just funny that way.
“It’s important that we know,” Lucian went on. “Just in case the question of custody goes to court. You don’t want Theo coming forward to make a bogus claim on the boy.”
Or a legitimate claim after Dylan had put every ounce of emotional investment into fatherhood. Lucian suspected his brother had already come close to doing that, but if he could stop the floodgates, he would.
Maybe.
Dylan leaned in, putting his fisted hands on the desk that was in between them. “You’re way out of line on this. Way out. If and when I want a DNA test done, I’ll be the one to make that decision. Cancel the test.” He didn’t shout them this time, but that only seemed to make his words stand out even more.
Lucian huffed. “The test is being processed.” Probably. The lab had said it would take a week or so, but he didn’t want Dylan calling this off. “What harm would it do just to go ahead and get the results?”
“The harm is that you stuck your nose where it didn’t belong.” That didn’t come from Dylan but rather his mother. She put her hands on his desk, too, and leaned in. “You run the family business, but that doesn’t give you the right to run Dylan’s personal life.”
Lucian wasn’t sure who looked more surprised at his mom sticking up for Dylan—Jordan, Dylan or Regina herself. Dylan was usually their mom’s whipping boy, mainly because he was the only one who would let her do it. Or maybe because Dylan thought he deserved it.
“Call off that test,” Regina added, “or so help me, your dad and I will move back here permanently, fire you and take over running the family business.”
Now, Lucian was sure he was the most surprised person in the room. It was true that his parents legally owned the majority share of not only the ranch but also the collection of companies that were part of Granger Enterprises. But neither of them had shown a thimble’s worth of interest in stepping up to be in charge of anything.
And he was certain they wanted it to stay that way.
What he did was way too much work for them, so that meant this was a bluff.
His mom just didn’t want him to ruin the fantasy family she was building in her head, and her possible fantasy grandson was at the center of it. Still, he knew when to call a bluff and when to fold. This was a folding the cards kind of moment. Or at least his idea of it anyway.
“All right,” Lucian finally said. “No test results.”
There were no loud breaths of relief and certainly no thank-yous. Lucian just got a trio of glares and some under the breath mumbles that he didn’t catch. Didn’t want to catch, either.
He hadn’t totally lied to them. The three of them wouldn’t get any test results on Corbin.
But Lucian would.
* * *
KARLEE SAW THE look on Lucian’s face when Regina, Jordan and Dylan came out of his office. Whatever Lucian had done, he must have convinced them that it hadn’t been as big of a deal as they’d thought.
Or else Lucian was covering up something.
She sighed
and started toward him so she could get to the bottom of whatever was happening, but then she saw the familiar face coming toward her.
Her youngest brother, Mack.
What now?
Sadly, that was always her first reaction when she saw him. That question, followed by a boatload of memories that Karlee didn’t want. Her other brothers had managed to find success or at least an even keel in their lives, but Mack hadn’t quite managed it.
She blamed herself for that.
That’s the reason she didn’t point toward the door and tell him to get out.
Mack had been just three when their mother had run off with Lucian’s father, Jerry. It hadn’t helped that her mom had taken most of her “old money” with her. Overnight, they’d gone from being respectable to being poor and the family that everyone else gossiped about. Mack had grown up believing that he’d somehow been the cause of what had become the tawdriest scandal in the town’s history. Since Karlee had been thirteen years old when it’d happened, she knew the truth.
That the blame was solely on their mother’s and Jerry Granger’s shoulders.
However, Karlee had never managed to convince Mack of it. That’s why she’d gone through life believing that she owed him. Along with feeling plenty sorry for him.
Their mother certainly hadn’t tried to convince Mack of that no-fault responsibility. Once things had fizzled out between Jerry and her, she’d remarried one of her old money family friends and had cut her children out of her life. Karlee’s father, Whitt, had ended up dying a short time later.
That hadn’t helped to fix her kid brother, either.
It’d been a little over a year since she’d last seen Mack. That’s when he’d shown up on his twenty-second birthday to ask for five grand to pay off what he called a “bad loan.” Even though that still riled her, it was hard to totally give up on him. After all, he was her baby brother despite the way he was throwing away his life.
“I didn’t know there’d be a wedding going on,” Mack greeted.
Then he hadn’t been anywhere near Wrangler’s Creek, since everyone in town knew that Lawson and Eve were finally tying the knot.
“You look really nice,” he added. “A definite wow.”
It should be a wow on steroids considering how much she’d spent on the dress and shoes. Definitely splurge items. Stupid ones. Because in the back of her mind, she’d thought that since Lucian would be winding down things with Bianca that he would finally notice her as something more than just his assistant.
He hadn’t.
Lucian had mentioned her date. Briefly mentioned it anyway. But he’d had no reaction, which was probably for the best since it wasn’t a real date anyway. When she’d been talking to Chad about a feed order invoice, he’d asked about Lawson’s wedding, and she’d invited him as her plus-one. Mainly because Chad was new in town and this way he could get to know folks.
She certainly hadn’t bought this outfit for Chad.
And now she was in a dress that required body-shaping underwear and wearing shoes that sardined her toes. She really needed to rethink her choices when it came to getting Lucian’s attention.
“I know you’re busy so I won’t keep you long,” Mack continued a moment later.
Since she didn’t want to spoil the day for anyone, especially Eve and Lawson, she motioned for Mack to follow her to Lucian’s bedroom. It was the only room on the bottom floor where they were certain not to run into any arriving guests.
“I’m not giving you any more money,” Karlee told him right off.
He nodded as if he’d been expecting her to say that, and he gave her that lopsided smile that always made her love him a lot more than she should. It was his little boy smile, the very one he’d used to get his way out of some situations that she didn’t want to know about.
“I’m not here for money,” Mack answered. “I need a job.”
She had to shake her head to that, too, because Karlee had once gotten him a job here at the ranch, and he’d quit without notice after just a week. “Lucian and Dylan won’t hire you again.”
Another nod, but it wasn’t so much of a smile this time but a slight wince. “Yeah, I really messed up, and I figured they wouldn’t take me back. It’s the same for our brothers. They won’t hire me, either.”
Karlee hadn’t needed him to add that last part. Unlike her, their brothers had indeed washed their hands of Mack.
“I was hoping, though, that you knew somebody else. Somebody who might take a chance on me. And before you say anything—this time I promise I’d try very hard to make it work out.”
It was a knee-jerk reaction to point out that he’d said “try” instead of a stronger word to let her know that he was serious, but she’d already lectured Mack enough that she was no doubt the voice in his head. The one that kept harping on him to do a lot better than he had been doing.
“I’ll talk to Garrett Granger,” she finally said.
That got him smiling again, and he went to her and put her in a bear hug. Mack was a big guy with plenty of muscles so he had no trouble twirling her around. Something that Karlee wished he hadn’t done because her shoe went flying and smacked into Lucian as he was coming through the door.
Lucian wasn’t alone, either. Bianca was right behind him, her hand sliding over his butt. Lucian wasn’t the sort to have a quickie right before his brother’s wedding, but there was a first for everything. This definitely looked as if it might turn into a first.
Mack took his time standing Karlee back on the floor, and despite the slight dizziness she was experiencing from the twirling and the breath-robbing underwear she was wearing, she saw the disapproval in Lucian’s eyes. He knew what a pain in the ass Mack had been. Also knew that she’d shelled out plenty of cash and favors over the years.
Karlee stopped her own disapproving look from appearing on her face. She hoped. No way did she want Lucian to see that it bothered her that he was with the likes of Bianca Turley.
But it did.
God, it bothered her.
“Is everything okay?” Lucian asked Karlee.
Karlee put on a smile. It wasn’t charming like Dylan’s or Mack’s, but it was effective enough. And just in case it wasn’t, she hooked her arm through Mack’s and got them out of there as fast as her toe-vising stilettos would carry her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DYLAN STOOD BACK and watched Jordan “dancing” with Corbin. She had him in her arms and was twirling him around, causing the boy to laugh.
Regina was right there on the makeshift dance floor, and she was snapping pictures along with the photographer. Eve and Lawson were dancing, too, but their moves weren’t as robust as Jordan’s. They were swaying to the music while gazing in each other’s eyes because they were caught up in the moment of just having said their “I do’s.”
Dylan was caught up in a different moment.
And he could blame Lucian for part of his mixed shit bag of a mood. His brother had really stepped in something he shouldn’t have been stepping anywhere around. But even if Lucian hadn’t pulled that stunt about the DNA test, Dylan figured that other blue memories would be playing into this.
For the past fourteen years, any wedding he’d attended came with memories of his own. Jordan had danced that day, too. With him. And they’d been just as wrapped up in each other as Lawson and Eve were now.
Of course, there was one huge difference between today and that past wedding. No one was glaring at the newlyweds, but there’d been plenty of glaring going on at his and Jordan’s celebration.
The general consensus that day was they had rocks for brains and that it wouldn’t last.
The consensus had been right.
But in that moment Dylan had thought it would be like this forever. That’s why the consensus was right about the rocks-in-the-head part, too.
&nbs
p; When the song ended and a new one started, Jordan handed Corbin off to Regina so she could have her turn dancing. Jordan immediately glanced around the room, and the glancing stopped when her attention landed on him. She managed a smile. Not a good one, though. It was the kind of smile you gave someone who’d lost a race. An unspoken “oh well.”
Jordan gave Corbin another look before she started toward the bathroom. Dylan was about to go closer to his mom and Corbin so he could have the next dance with his son, but then he saw Eve making her way toward him. Dylan made sure he put on a big smile for her.
“Lawson and I are about to head back to my house so we can get ready to leave for the honeymoon,” Eve said. She brushed a kiss on his cheek and looked back at her groom, who was making his goodbyes to Regina and their cousins, Roman, Sophie and Garrett. “No family feud today,” she added in a whisper.
No. The feud had preceded the nuptials and hadn’t involved the cousins but rather Lucian. Dylan kept that to himself, though. No need to put any kind of damper on this day for her.
“Lawson said I should give this back to you,” Eve went on. She handed Dylan the wedding band that he’d lent his brother. “And if you don’t mind, would you please give this back to Jordan?” Eve pulled off the ring she was wearing and handed it to Dylan.
Dylan hadn’t gotten a good look at it during the ceremony, but he sure looked at it now. And recognized it. It wasn’t Jordan’s navel ring but rather the wedding band he’d given her fourteen years ago.
“Yes, it’s the same one,” Eve said with a knowing little smile. A smile that smacked of all sorts of things—like are you surprised Jordan has kept it all this time? And—why do you think she did that?
You’re dang right he was surprised and wanted to know the answer to both of those unspoken questions. Jordan had not only kept it, she’d had it on her when she’d come to the ranch.
“My advice?” Eve said when he started to walk away and find Jordan. “When you ask her about the ring, use your charming voice. It might make her remember why she accepted it from you in the first place.”
Lone Star Blues Page 16
