by Jodi Thomas
“If I do, I’ll order it.” She took the chair Rose had vacated and shoved their tea glasses aside. “I’m not here to socialize, Mr. Holloway. I understand you are interested in getting married as soon as possible.”
“Yes. We could spend a few weeks dating, getting to know each other, but a date before Christmas would be nice.” He thought of adding give you time to change your mind, but that didn’t seem a positive comment.
“That won’t be necessary,” she answered as she finished removing her gloves and waved the waitress over. “Anytime, as long as it’s soon, will be fine.”
Griffin studied her as she ordered a water with lime, not lemon. She was really beautiful in an untouchable way and confident like people with loads of money sometimes were, but maybe she wasn’t too bright if she was considering his offer.
“I believe in being completely direct. Why do you want a wife, Mr. Holloway?”
He felt like he was on the witness stand. He wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled out a Bible for him to swear on. “I’m thirty-four. It’s time I settle down, but I work fifteen to twenty hours a day seven days a week. I asked the Franklins to help me find a wife.”
Sunlan didn’t react. She just stared at him. Griffin decided he was sounding like a nitwit.
“You’re in debt.” She didn’t blink when she spoke.
It wasn’t a question, so he nodded. “We hit a dry spell, but you probably understand that. You were raised on a ranch.”
“Only until I was twelve. Then I went to boarding school. From there, college in Colorado. I have two degrees, one in art restoration and the other in European art history.”
“You must enjoy the work.” He hoped she didn’t ask him what degree he had. Ranch management didn’t sound nearly as interesting.
To his surprise, she smiled. “I don’t work, Mr. Holloway. As an only child of an only child, trust funds run deep in my family.”
He decided to turn the tables. “Why would you want to marry me, Miss Krown? Sounds like you’re set for life.”
For a moment, he saw surprise in her eyes, then a kind of deep sadness settled in again. “I’ve checked you out. Your father invested heavily in upgrades that didn’t prove profitable. Your parents’ long illnesses drained reserves. Eighty percent of your pasture was wiped out by prairie fires six years ago.” She raised a perfect eyebrow. “Should I go on?”
“No. I obviously know the whole story. Once a ranch gets behind, it’s hard to climb out. Interest on the loans drains profits.”
She nodded, then lowered her voice. “Despite the money troubles, you appear to be a good man, Griffin Holloway. You deal fairly with your men and, as near as I can tell, you are a man of your word. You have never committed a crime. You’ve finished raising your brothers while taking care of sick parents. You come from sturdy stock. An old Texas family. My father would approve of you.”
For once, she sounded like a rancher. Only this time she was buying a husband by the breed, he decided. “I have a feeling that has nothing to do with why you want to get married. Am I right?” Funny, he could read her emotions in her eyes. Light blue, the color of the plains sky. Hauntingly beautiful.
“Correct. If we marry, I’ll move enough money to clear your debt completely, not just pay on the loan. That should put the ranch in good standing for a year. Each year we remain married, I will deposit the same amount on our anniversary into the ranch accounts to insure further growth.”
“Fair enough.” She was offering exactly what he was wanting, only not for one year but for as long as they were married. For the first time since he’d been old enough to study the ranch accounts, he wouldn’t have to worry about money. “What’s the catch?”
“I will allow no restraints on my time after we are married, but I will keep you informed when I travel. We will not share a bed or a checking account. Your accounts, as well as the ranch accounts, will be yours. My accounts will be mine. When I am on the Maverick Ranch, we will also not share a bed. I’d like my own suite of rooms, if possible. I’ll need a bedroom, an office and a living area. From the size of that barn of a headquarters, that should be no problem.”
“I can handle that. My grandpa thought he’d have a dozen kids. Turned out after four wives, he fathered only my dad. Half the house is closed off or used for storage.” Too much information, he decided. Keep it simple. “We’ll make room for you.”
He didn’t want to keep up where she was anyway, and the three bedrooms in the attic hadn’t been used for years. She’d have her own bath and he could clean out every room up there if she wanted a study or maybe, from the looks of her, she’d be one of those women who needed a whole room for extra closets. When she did come home, she’d have the best views of his ranch from those high windows.
His room was completely across the house from her. He probably wouldn’t even know she was on the ranch. Griffin was so pleased with the plan he didn’t realize she was talking again.
“...agree to a few public appearances with me each year. My choice. No more than six a year, at the most I’d think, but you may have to fly to Austin or Washington. My father usually doesn’t want to talk to me, but he needs to parade me around.”
She hesitated.
“All right, I’ll go with you,” he added but it was obvious she had more to say.
Those blue eyes filled with tears, but her voice was so low he had to lean across the table.
“Tell me what you want, lady. If this is going to work, we got to lay it all out before either of us agrees.”
She nodded. “As far as the world is concerned, we’ll be happily married,” she said, speaking up. “True to one another for the duration. The marriage must never have any hint of scandal. I’ll have your word on that before any other details.”
Raising an eyebrow, he whispered, “So I get to keep my ranch, but I become a monk?” He was willing to compromise, but setting forever rules seemed harsh. He’d never thought of having an affair after marriage, no matter what the ground rules were. He might have hoped that with marriage came a few benefits. Maybe even a closeness after a while. But that option didn’t seem to be on the table.
Hell, why was he complaining? It had been so long since his last one-night stand he couldn’t remember the woman’s name. He was already living a monk’s life.
“Those are my terms. You’ll have your ranch. I’ll have a husband I can trust.”
Griffin pushed his hat back. He had so many questions he didn’t even know where to start. “I’ll think about it. In the meantime, do you want a tour of my ranch?”
“No. I saw the land before I considered the man.” She smiled slightly and he thought Sunlan Krown was not the kind of woman who’d ever need to buy a husband.
“How’d we measure up?” He didn’t know whether to be impressed that she cared about the ranch or insulted that it came first.
“You’ve got good grazing land and the plowed fields don’t look overworked. Plenty of water year-round, I’m guessing. You could easily run double, maybe triple the cattle on your open pastures.”
“That would take money.”
“Of course, and good management.” She looked him straight on. “Which you can provide. Everyone my investigator talked to said you run the place better than anyone could.”
“My brothers help.” Before he could add more, she changed the subject.
“Are you making use of that huge barn north of the headquarters?”
“You drove across my place?” He found it hard to believe she’d explored the whole ranch without anyone noticing.
“No, I flew. The barn and corrals surrounding the white barn didn’t seem to be in use.”
Of all the things she wanted to talk about, he never thought the fancy barn his father built would interest her. “No. No one uses the barn. My father thought to board racehorses, but it didn’t happen. He kept
pouring money into the place, but his dream never panned out.”
“I understand.” The waitress delivered her water and refilled his coffee. Griffin thanked her, but Sunlan took the time to stare at him.
“I’m glad the land measured up,” he said, “but that still doesn’t tell me why you want to marry.”
Sunlan didn’t reach for her glass. She simply sat still as stone until she was sure the waitress was out of hearing distance.
“I have to marry because I’m pregnant. My father will disown me if I bring even a cloud of scandal to our name this year.”
Griffin remembered hearing the great Winston Krown might be running for office, but news like that didn’t matter much in Griffin’s world.
“If we do this, you claim the baby and no one, not even your brothers, will ever know it is not yours. I’ll raise my child, but he or she will have your name.”
“How far along are you?” He took her news calmly. He should have expected a few catches in the plan. A woman like her would never give a man like him a second glance.
“A little over two months. I might be showing by Christmas, I’m guessing.”
“Women raise babies alone all the time. You don’t have to marry anyone.” He almost felt sorry for her, doing something so drastic when it wasn’t necessary. “Or I’ve heard there are reasons to end the pregnancy.”
“Will you marry me without asking questions? You need to understand from the first that you have no right to ask questions or make any demands. This is a bargain between us and only us. No one will ever know the details. We will seal the deal with a handshake. We’ll marry and then go on living our separate lives, only my child will have your last name. You’ll have your ranch, and you’ll never bring any shame on my child’s last name. Understood? You don’t have to love my child but he should be able to respect you.”
“Understood.” Holloways never caused trouble. Forgetting to vote now and then was their only crime.
She’d said twice that the child would carry his name, he realized. For some reason that was important to her. Maybe the most important part of the bargain. Only, why would she need his name? She already had the powerful Krown name.
“One question,” he added. “You planning to divorce me as soon as the kid is born? Right? Am I just your temporary stand-in? I’m all right if that’s the way it is, but I’d like to know the truth from the start.”
“No. If I marry you, it will be for life. I’ll not be the one to end it. Should you wish to end, we’ll do so quietly but my child will always be a Holloway.”
He thought of asking if she meant the end of the marriage or his life, but he didn’t want to give the lady any ideas.
Lowering his head, Griffin pulled out a notepad he always kept in his pocket and stared at the back-flap calendar. She was watching him, waiting, but he needed to think. There were about a million ways this setup could go wrong, but she seemed to be taking most of the risk.
When he looked up, he thought he saw fear in her eyes again. He wasn’t sure if it was because he might say yes or no. “If either of us does want to end this, I agree we do so quietly, no yelling or blaming each other. We just tell people we grew apart.”
“No interviews. No news account. If you walk away, you’ll do so silently.”
“I won’t walk away,” he whispered more to himself than her. If she could stay in this, so could he. No matter what. Clearing his throat, Griffin began his new life’s story. “A few months ago, I was in Fort Worth at a horse show. We had a one-night stand. I got you drunk, so you can blame it all on me. I didn’t use protection, but I want to do the right thing now. How does that sound?”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t drunk. We’d been having a secret fling for several months. I fly my own plane, so I’d meet you places. You’d drive up to my horse ranch in Denver when I was there. We fell in love almost at first sight.”
“Right.” He studied her as he made up their past. “We were into each other but keeping it quiet.” Fat chance of that, he thought. “I insisted we marry when I found out you were pregnant.”
“I agreed. We were getting serious anyway. We both figured that a hurried marriage was just moving up the wedding date that we both knew was about to be set.”
Griffin nodded. “I like that. It makes it sound like neither of us got trapped.”
“Then it’s a deal?” She offered her hand. “You got me pregnant a few months ago in Fort Worth. I was actually in Dallas at the time, so the story will stand.”
Griffin felt like he was stepping off a cliff, so he might as well jump. He was saving his ranch, and in a small way, he felt like he was saving her. He liked that feeling. “It’s a deal. You set the date, and we marry at the Franklins’ place before Christmas.”
She opened her mouth to object, then hesitated. “I agree to the location, but I decide all the other details about the wedding. I see no point in bothering you.”
“Your way or the highway, right, lady?”
“You guessed it, cowboy.”
“You’re going to be a bossy wife, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but the good news is you won’t have to see me often. I run my life, you run your ranch. When I’m with your family, I’ll play the loving wife. When we’re around my father, you play the loving husband.”
Watching her closely, he added, “When I’m with your family, I’ll stand with you. I’ll always have your back. I promise.”
She smiled for the first time. “Thanks. It may not be as easy as you think.”
“I can handle it, Sunlan.” The words seemed simple, but he felt like he was swearing an oath. “Any other details?”
She relaxed and picked up her straw without bothering to put it in her drink. “I’ll deposit the full amount of the loan payoff the day we marry and you will give me that big barn as a wedding present.” She smiled again for only a fraction of a second. “Since I’ll be coming back and forth the next two months, I’d like to clear a strip near your place where I can land. I’ll stay at the bed-and-breakfast until we’re married and I’ll remodel my space at your headquarters.”
“Fair enough, but that barn won’t fit on your finger and you’ll have to leave it if you leave me.”
“I won’t leave you, Mr. Holloway. You’re exactly the man I’ve been looking for.”
He found that hard to believe. Any single man breathing would take this deal. She was offering a full payoff of a loan he’d been dealing with since he inherited and all she asked for was a barn no one was using.
They stood. He dropped a twenty on the table and they walked out together as the few people in the café stared.
Griffin noticed two men standing in the back of a pickup. They were trying to lift a plastic reindeer onto the light pole at the corner of the café’s parking lot.
“What’s that?” Sunlan asked.
It is time running out, he almost said before answering, “First sign of Christmas decorations. Seems those old reindeer go up earlier every year. Town starts decorating in November and last year it was almost Valentine’s before they came down. Crossroads goes all out for Christmas. Lights in the gazebo. A town Christmas tree. We even have wagon rides full of carolers.”
“Sounds like a great time of year for a wedding.” She almost smiled.
While he was trying to decide if they should shake hands, she hugged him.
“Everyone in the café is watching.” She fit against him. “It’s time we began playing the happy couple.”
“Right.” He kissed her on the mouth, which felt as awkward as if he’d kissed Rose Franklin.
He pulled away, noticing she looked surprised but not angry.
“I’ll try to get used to that. It’s something married people do, I guess,” she said so low no one could have heard her. “But warn me next time.”
“I’ll remember that.�
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She patted him on the shoulder as if understanding that he’d probably need house-training. “I’ll be staying at the Franklins’ place another day or two. Could you arrange to have breakfast with me, Mr. Holloway?”
“I can and if you have time, I’d like to invite you over tomorrow night to meet my brothers. They are part of the ranch. Part of my life.”
“I understand.”
“Should I meet your parents?” He had no idea how to move forward.
“No. My father will be at the wedding. You’ll meet him then.”
Several pickups pulled up, parking all around them. Cattlemen, obviously stopping in for afternoon coffee and pie. Griffin knew them all, but two seemed to know Sunlan, as well. Both tipped their hats to her and one winked at Griffin.
Once they went inside, Griffin leaned close. “They’re still watching, aren’t they?”
“I’m afraid so.” She lifted her chin slightly and shrugged.
“Then we’d better make it look good.” He grinned, thinking his part of the agreement wouldn’t hurt a bit. “I’m planning on kissing you again, if you’ve no objection.”
She moved her arms over his shoulders and pressed against him.
The kiss was quick, light, but not awkward. When he pulled a few inches away, he saw that bone-deep sadness again in her eyes. “We can do this,” he said. “We’ll work it out.”
She didn’t look like she believed him. “I can’t give this baby up. I won’t.”
“I’m with you on this, Sunlan.” Odd, he thought. This beautiful, rich lady was broken. Deep down broken. And he wanted to help. For a moment, he wished he could tell her that the marriage, the money, didn’t matter. He just wanted to help.
He watched her drive away, trying to decide if he’d just signed on for a ride through heaven or hell. Then he realized he didn’t really care. He had no plans of getting off.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Johnsons
JAMIE JOHNSON CLIMBED from her old white Dodge Caravan feeling as if she’d been run over by the school bus while it was loaded with screaming teens. From noon Friday until sundown Sunday, she’d been in charge of thirty-seven high school drama students. They all practiced on the two-hour bus trip to Lubbock for regionals and either celebrated or cried all the way home.
