Texas Roads (A Miller's Creek Novel)

by Bryant, Cathy

  He hoisted his lanky frame onto Biscuit and clopped past her to the cloudy water. With no further comment he rode away, her heart shattering in a million tiny pieces.

  ~~o~~

  Dani’s legs reduced to jelly. She lifted a hand to her face, collapsing into a chair at the daycare as the kids lined up for time outdoors. Their cheerful chatter made it difficult to hear, so she pushed the door closed. Surely she’d heard Andy wrong. “Say that again.”

  “Steve just called. He came back to work today and found the construction crew loading their equipment on the truc—”

  “But why?” Even as she voiced the question, she knew the answer. Howard had to be behind this, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. With Steve out the past two weeks, she’d logged triple overtime taking care of funding requests, and trying to keep the work moving ahead. The finish line was in sight, but not if they didn’t have a crew.

  “That’s why I called. I thought you might know.” Andy’s frustration flowed through the phone.

  “No, I don’t. Let me give Howard a call. I’ll meet you at Mama Beth’s in fifteen minutes.”

  Her hands trembled as she punched speed dial, the queasiness in her stomach shoving its way to her mouth. After the last conversation with Howard she should’ve seen this coming.

  “Hampton Enterprises.”

  She nibbled her thumbnail. “This is Dani. I need to speak to Howard, please.”

  “He’s in a meeting, Mrs. Davis. Can I have him return your call?”

  Her temper rose, and she struggled to keep her voice calm. “No, I need to speak with him now.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  A minute later Howard picked up. “I’m busy, Dani. Can I call you back later?” The edge to his voice revealed his agitation.

  She took a deep breath to slow her racing pulse. “I need answers and I need them now.” Muted voices sounded on the other end. What meeting was he in?

  “I’m transferring your call to my private line.” A few seconds later he came back on the phone, his tone now loud and belligerent. “I know what you want, Dani. This is about the crew I pulled, isn’t it?”

  “Why are you deliberately going against my orders?” She tugged on her ponytail with her free hand.

  “Because your pet project has run up thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses. As CEO, I have to act in the best interest of this company. Giving away our services hurts the bottom line. Didn’t you learn that in Business 101?” His tone held a swagger.

  “Careful, Howard, would you like to lose your job?”

  He laughed. Not a joyful laugh, but one of sarcasm and ridicule. “Go ahead and try. We’ll see who the executive board endorses—you or me.”

  Her brain raced. He was right. The only way to get rid of him was to go through the board, and based on the current membership, she’d lose. She tried to feign an advantage she knew she didn’t have. “You won’t get away with this.”

  “Don’t be so sure.” The phone clicked in her ear.

  After checking out at the daycare, she sped toward home, knowing she had no time to waste. The sooner they got a new crew on the job the better. Five minutes later she steered into the driveway, Andy right behind her. She bolted from the car and hurried to him.

  “Well?” His green eyes held worry.

  “Howard yanked the crew. I’d fire him, but I can’t make that decision without board approval. I’m certain they’ll support him, not me.”

  Andy’s forehead wrinkled. “What about getting rid of the board?”

  “That will entail a meeting with the shareholders. I don’t own enough of the company to make that call on my own.”

  He groaned and raked a hand through his sandy curls. “Now what?”

  “I’m going to give him a fight.” Dani shook her head at the thought. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle it and take care of business here, but I don’t see that I have much choice.”

  “And the next step?”

  “Call a board meeting. But in the meantime, we need to find a construction crew for the park. We’ll just have to pay them out of the foundation funds.”

  “Do you have any idea how costly this little battle could be?” He grimaced, his mouth taut. “Just for the record, I think you’re making a huge mistake.”

  The exasperation and fatigue lining his face tugged at her heart. How would she have made it this far without him? She grabbed his hands and peered into his eyes. “Thanks for hanging in there with me and being such a good friend. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  Andy glowered, leaving no doubt about how he felt.

  A diesel engine roared behind her, and Steve pulled into the driveway. She stepped away from Andy as Steve climbed from the truck and approached them. His eyes, dark and brooding, skipped past her to Andy. “What did you find out?”

  “We’ll have a new crew before the week is up.” Andy’s tone and stance expressed disapproval.

  Steve let out a puff of air between pursed lips. “Well, that’s a big relief.” He pointed over her shoulder. “Whose car is that?”

  Dani turned to see the little red sports car and her stomach rose to her throat. Oh no, it couldn’t be.

  ~~o~~

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Hurricane Cecille

  Her skin stinging like she’d bedded down with a bunch of red ants, Dani entered the front door of Mama Beth’s house. She stared at her mother and aunt, so much alike and yet so different. Mother circled, a lion going in for the kill, while Mama Beth’s face contorted with a myriad of emotions.

  Mother waltzed across the living room and gave her a light hug, flaunting practically every piece of jewelry she owned. “Darling, I’ve missed you.” In her cultured socialite voice no less. Who was she trying to impress?

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Like a toothache.

  Next she gravitated toward Andy, plunging Dani’s heart rate to sub-zero. “It’s good to see you again, Andy. I must confess you’re the last person I expected to see here.”

  “Hello, Cecille.” Andy seemed unperturbed by her mother’s theatrics.

  Chomping on her lip, Dani glanced at Mama Beth, whose eyes held troubled confusion. Steve put an arm around her aunt’s shoulders, his expression darkening like a black thundercloud. The stormy glare he sent made her knees go limp. Now he knew the truth. But it wasn’t like she’d lied. She just hadn’t corrected his assumptions, and with good reason.

  A frown crinkled Mama Beth’s forehead. “You two know each other?”

  Mother had the gall to appear surprised, her eyes wide. “Well, didn’t Dani tell you? She and Andy are old college buddies.” Her saccharin voice matched her saccharin smile.

  Dani went cold all over and hurried to her aunt’s side. This information could ruin the fragile trust they’d rebuilt over the past week. “I can explain, Mama Beth.”

  “Mama Beth?” The cold anger on Mother’s face was enough to freeze an entire lake.

  “J-just a name Steve gave me when he was younger.” Her aunt stumbled over the words and wrung her hands. “Cecille, this is Steve Miller, Bo’s son.”

  “We met at the hospital.” Mother stalked toward him, her expensive perfume cloying, and her glittering fingers extended, obviously very much enjoying the havoc and upheaval her presence caused.

  Steve maintained a calm façade, but Dani sensed his tension. Like a guitar string about to snap. “Nice to see you again, Mrs. Hampton.”

  “I can tell we’re going to be good friends, Steve.” Her mother purred the words and narrowed her eyes to tiger slits, sending Dani a knowing glance.

  She shrank back, daggered by the insinuation. Her relationship with Steve was already in jeopardy. Would her mother intentionally destroy the tenuous threads of hope she’d discovered in Miller’s Creek? Did she want her back in Dallas that badly? Dani’s blood steeled, and she straightened. Well, she wouldn’t go down without a fight. “May I speak to you alone, Mother?”

 
“But of course, dear.” She smirked and lifted a painted-on eyebrow.

  Dani stormed to the porch, her mother’s heels clicking behind her. Moving to the side yard so they wouldn’t be heard, she pivoted, her fists clenched in two tight wads. “Exactly what are you trying to prove?”

  “I’m not trying to prove anything. I came to talk some sense into that addled brain of yours. This little game has gone on long enough.”

  A tremor started in the pit of Dani’s stomach and sent the tinny taste of acid to her mouth. She gulped in the dry August air. “What are you referring to?”

  “I know you’ve been funding renovations to Miller’s Creek, using company resources and money from the inheritance.”

  “And how would you know that?”

  “Howard.”

  The tremor traveled to her legs. So Howard had decided to exact revenge through her mother. Or was it the other way around? “Howard should be careful before he loses his job.”

  “But you can’t make that decision, can you?” A wry smile curled her mother’s blood red lips. “Your father never meant for you to have the company—Richard, yes—but not you. Why, you never even had an interest in the company until a few weeks ago.”

  Words intended to hurt. They had. “What’s your point?”

  “I will not stand by while you run your father’s company into the ground and spend your inheritance on this dried-up little town.” Fine cold lines developed around her mouth like cracks in a glacier.

  A shiver inched up her back. There was more Mother wasn’t saying, but what? Her mind traveled to the last time she’d seen her, the disheveled lawn and absence of servants. A light bulb flickered on in her brain. She relaxed her stance, and her voice softened. “You’ve already spent the money Father left you.”

  Crimson flooded her mother’s face.

  So it was true. Dani shook her head with a cynical snort, then pivoted and strode toward the porch.

  “We are not through discussing this.” Mother’s voice rang out behind her.

  She kept walking. “Oh, yes, we are.”

  “Would you like me to inform your new friends you’re the one financing their little fix-up?”

  Like molten lava, fury bubbled to the surface. Would she be so cruel? The answer landed in her stomach like a brick. Well, one thing was about to change. She’d no longer back down. No longer stand there and take it. It was time her mother got a taste of her own medicine. Dani strode back, cheeks on fire and fingernails cutting into her palms. “That’s it! I’ve had it!”

  Mother’s eyes rounded.

  Dani didn’t give her a chance to speak. Instead she stalked closer, allowing the repressed anger from thirty-five years to flow from her lips. “I’m tired of you treating me like a five-year-old. I’m not your punching bag or your bragging rights. I’m a person, and I will not let you treat me this way anymore.”

  The words seemed to bounce off her mother. “I know about your little foundation, though I can’t for the life of me understand why you’d want to keep it a secret.”

  “Because I refuse to buy my friends like you do.” She wished the comment back in her mouth, but it was too late.

  Mother’s eyes glowed, her face now inches away, her breath hot on Dani’s face. “You’d better watch your step, missy, or I’ll tell them everything I know.”

  The tremor inside burgeoned into an earthquake. “And you’d better watch yours, or I’ll be out of your life so fast you won’t know what hit.” Her heart thumping like drums at a Friday night football game, Dani stomped up the steps and into the house, making her way to the kitchen. When she entered the room, Steve and Mama Beth immediately stopped talking.

  A look of saddened betrayal resided on her aunt’s face. “Where’s Cecille?”

  “Outside.” The sullen silence in the room made her antsy. “Where’s Andy?”

  “He left.”

  Dani brought both hands to her temples and closed her eyes. Think, Dani. Crew. Howard. Shareholders. Mother. So much to do. Where did she start?

  Steve rose to his feet, the chair scraping over the wood floor. He hugged Mama Beth, planting a kiss on her curls. “I’ve got work to do, but I’ll call you later.”

  He exited with no acknowledgement she even existed.

  ~~o~~

  Steve strode from the pickup to City Hall, his mind in an uproar over Dani’s deceit. His blood alternately ran hot, then cold. The guilty look on her face when her mother revealed the truth about her friendship with Andy was all the proof he needed. Why had he been so foolish to fall for her lies in the first place? Mike Brady would hear about this.

  Dani’s face flashed in front of him, pale, like the night of the rodeo, her eyes bluebonnet blue in a field of white when she’d asked to speak to her mother privately. One second earlier she’d been a wilted daisy, but before his eyes had morphed into a steely ball of resolve. Maybe there was more to the story he didn’t know. Once he calmed down, he’d at least offer her a chance to explain, that is if he could ever rid himself of the fiery anger which currently threatened to burn him alive.

  A voice called out his name and he turned. Cecille Hampton climbed from her sports car and sashayed down the sidewalk, her smile glinting like her gaudy rings. The physical resemblance to Mama Beth was uncanny, but the comparison stopped there. He didn’t trust this she-cat for one second. On the other hand, if it helped him find answers he’d gladly play along. “Hello, Mrs. Hampton.”

  The scent of her overpowering perfume bowled him over with an instant headache. “Please call me Cecille. I insist.” She lifted her gaze to the buildings. “I cannot believe all the work that’s been done here. Why, it almost looks the way it did forty years ago.” Her voice dripped honeyed hypocrisy.

  “Yes ma’am. The people have worked hard.”

  Her complexion turned pasty in the glare of the noon-day sun, her lips dark red in contrast. “Improvements like these don’t come cheap. How did the people ever come up with that kind of money?”

  He forced a polite smile. “Donations.”

  Cecille angled her head. “I’m very impressed.” She hooked an arm in his like they were best friends and pulled him down the sidewalk. “Beth told me you’re the mayor. I can tell you’re doing a marvelous job.”

  Alarms clanged in his brain. Did she really think he couldn’t see through her flattery? He’d met rattlesnakes he trusted more. “Thanks. Would you like me to show you around?”

  Her mouth curled in at the corners. “I’d be delighted.” They strolled down Main Street toward the park. “Now tell me, what do you think of my daughter?”

  He struggled to keep his composure. Where did he begin? Imposter? Pretender? Hurting seeker? “She’s nice.” He kept his comment and tone intentionally vague.

  “That’s all?” Her perfectly arched eyebrows rose.

  “Should there be more?”

  “Well, an available man about the same age as my available daughter . . .”

  What game was she playing? He maintained a straight face. “I’ve been very busy with this renovation project, as I’m sure you can imagine. I don’t have time for a relationship at this point.” And even if he did, there was too much polluted water between him and Dani. The thought sobered him, and he steered the talk to the renovation instead.

  They reached the corner, the blackened park and piles of debris stretching out before them, and Cecille gasped. “Beth told me about the fire, but I had no idea it was this bad.” Something akin to a smirk landed on her mouth, but quickly dissipated, like the changing colors of a chameleon. “Do they know what caused the fire?”

  Her look of pseudo-innocence made Steve’s skin crawl. “It’s still under investigation.” He turned around, and they ambled back to the car with her still latched to his arm like a bad case of the hives.

  “No suspects?”

  “A few.”

  Cecille came to a stop beside her sporty car. A strange glow flickered in her eyes, and she placed a well-manic
ured hand on his arm. “I want you to know Dani isn’t . . .” Her bottom lip quivered then disappeared behind her teeth.

  Steve’s interest piqued. “Isn’t what?”

  A frown lined her forehead as if what she was about to say actually bothered her. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding like I’m taking sides against my daughter. I assure you, I’m not. It’s just that . . . well, Dani’s not always as innocent as she appears to be.”

  A knot formed in his gut. Poor Dani. What kind of mother said those kinds of things about her daughter? “What do you mean?”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve probably said too much.” She seemed flustered. “I just don’t want to see her take advantage of the people in this town, especially Beth.”

  A minute later, when Cecille backed the red sports car away from the curb, he still hadn’t been able to unravel her comment or the motivation behind it.

  Maybe Mike Brady could.

  ~~o~~

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Buried Treasure

  “Well, where are they? I’ve had three people here in the last ten minutes asking if their applications have been approved.”

  Dani flinched at the barrage of angry words sounding through the cell phone, Andy’s implication smarting. “Sorry, I’ll look again, but I don’t think the papers are here.”

  She winced at the loud click and yanked the phone from her ear. He obviously needed sleep as much as she did. As the renovation neared completion, everyone existed on caffeine, adrenalin, and precious little sleep. Keeping up with the applications was difficult enough, but factoring in the expense accounts made life sheer craziness.

  Dani stuffed the cell phone in her pocket and rifled through piles of papers stacked around the room. Andy had given her the applications weeks ago, right after the rodeo, but she’d laid them aside because of other priorities. No papers meant no money. No money meant disappointed people. No, make that angry, disappointed people.