He hurried to do the same.
They hadn’t gotten within ten yards of the porch when Brock erupted.
“Where the hell have you been with my little girl?” he demanded. “And why the hell haven’t you started packing?”
Beside him, Carly stumbled to a halt. She looked at him, her eyes wide, her face pale. “Packing?” she echoed. “Luke?”
“If I had known you were going to stoop to this,” Brock said, “I wouldn’t have given you a week’s notice. I’d have kicked your ass off my ranch the day I fired you.”
“Fired? Luke? Why didn’t you tell me?”
He could see the dismay in her face and the pain in her eyes, just as he had years ago. Then, she had accused him of using her to get what he wanted. Of betraying her for the sake of a job.
Was that what she thought now? That he’d betrayed her again? That he’d slept with her last night to try to save his position at the Roughneck?
Unable to ask those questions in front of his soon-to-be-ex-boss, he simply shrugged.
“What the hell has been going on?” Brock demanded.
“That, Daddy, is exactly what I want to know.”
Luke looked from Carly to the older man and back again. The answer to Brock’s question was between the pair of them.
Luke nodded his farewell, then turned and walked away.
* * *
FOR THE FIRST TIME in her life, Carly closed the door of the den without waiting for the direction from Brock. At this hour of the early afternoon, only Anna would be in the house. She loved and trusted Anna, but this was one conversation she didn’t want anyone to overhear.
She held on to to the doorknob, trying to rein in her thoughts. Trying not to envision Luke walking away from her without another word. Again.
Yet, after what she had told him last night, how could she expect anything else?
After a moment, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face the room.
Still in his wheelchair, Brock sat behind the desk. His eyes, piercing and blue, met hers calmly, but in the tight skin at their corners and the deep furrows in his brow, she could read his anger clearly.
She hoped he could read hers. “Why did you fire Luke?”
“I don’t need a reason—”
“Of course you do. You’re a tough boss, but you’re fair. You wouldn’t let anyone go without cause.”
For a moment, she thought he would refuse to answer. Finally, he said, “You’re right, there. And I don’t keep anyone on my payroll I can’t trust. Catching that bastard in the barn with his hands all over you doesn’t fit my definition of trustworthy.”
She couldn’t hold back a gasp. “You saw us in the barn?”
“Funny, that was his first question, too. Are you planning to try to lie your way out of it?”
“Did he?” And was an outright lie any worse than just refusing to talk about something? He had kept the news about getting fired from her.
Just as she had kept her secret from him.
“No, he didn’t lie,” Brock said in a grudging tone.
“You can’t fire him for what you saw, Daddy. I was as involved as he was. In fact, I started it.”
He said nothing.
“Who did you tell about firing Luke?”
“No one.”
“Not even Julieta?”
“I said, no one.”
“Good.” She moved to stand opposite him and placed her hands flat on the desk. “You need to retract that.”
“I’ll be damned if I will.”
“I’ll be damned if you won’t.”
He reared back, gripping the arms of the chair. “You watch your mouth, little girl.”
Despite her anger at him and her concern for Luke, his final words took her temper down a few notches. She shook her head. “He’s never given you any reason not to trust him before now, has he?”
He looked back at her without speaking.
“I know he hasn’t, or he would have been long gone.” She sighed. “You can’t blame him when it wasn’t his fault. And I know you don’t want to hear this, but you can’t make him pay for something I wanted.”
He said nothing, but his grip relaxed.
She waited.
He slapped the arms of the chair. “I’ve always said you’ll be the death of me, Carly.”
The tic in his cheek told her he’d swallowed a smile.
She released the breath she’d been holding. She didn’t hold back on her smile. “And you’re probably going to make me gray before my time. We’re two of a kind. Now...Luke’s still ranch manager?”
“Yes, dammit.”
She leaned across the desk to kiss his cheek. “I’ll always be your little girl, Daddy,” she said softly. “But you’ve got to let me live my life. There are times you have to let up on wanting to protect me. This is one of them.
“And now, there’s something else we need to get settled.” She took a seat in one of the visitors’ chairs. She felt grateful it had arms for her to hang on to just as Brock had gripped the wheelchair. “I know you won’t want to hear this, either, but I need your help. I want to find Mom.”
His shoulders stiffened again. His face lost all expression. “There’s not a thing I can do about that.”
“I think there is. I need contact info for her.”
He shook his head. “I have none.”
She stared at him. He held her gaze. He could have any number of reasons for hiding the information, yet she felt certain he had spoken the truth.
She told him about her visit with Mrs. Lewis and what the woman had said about Delia planning to contact him. “I need whatever information you have about her.”
“Can’t help you there, either.”
This time, she sensed he was holding back. “Can’t or won’t?”
He didn’t respond.
“Nothing good comes of keeping secrets, Daddy.” Didn’t she know that only too well? “Tell me, at least, why she met with you.”
As Luke had said, they couldn’t prove Delia had even followed through on her intention. And even if she had, Brock could deny ever having seen her.
She held her breath and waited. And waited.
He pushed aside a notepad, centered his pen on top of it, folded his hands on the desk. His movements were controlled, his face calm. Only his white knuckles gave away his tension. “She wanted to get in touch with you kids.”
She gasped. “To come home?”
“No. She asked for visitation rights. I denied them—as any judge would once he was informed a woman had abandoned her children and made no attempt to see them in over a year.”
“There might have been reasons—”
“Damn her reasons.” His voice had grown colder than she had ever heard it. “She had walked out, and Lizzie and Savannah were finally coming to terms with that. You and Jet had no memory of her.”
That’s not true!
He shook his head. “There was no way in hell I would let her waltz back in and get everyone all riled up again.”
She heard the finality in his tone and knew the time had come to quit pushing him. She had gotten all the concessions she could hope for in one day.
Chapter Eighteen
Brock was sitting in the den when his wife arrived home from the office. He had turned the desk lamp on and sat staring at the file folder containing the list of equipment his ranch manager recommended they purchase.
As usual, Luke had done a damned good job. The info was complete, well organized and within budget for the ranch.
He heard Julieta’s footsteps, and a moment later she stood in the doorway.
“What are you doing sitting here in the gloom?” she asked.
“Paperwork.
It wasn’t dark when I started.”
She turned on a table lamp and took a seat on the edge of the desk, close to him. She touched his cheek and smiled. “You look broody. What’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking deep thoughts.”
“Such as?”
“The need a man has to protect his family.”
“Ah. Even when they don’t feel the need for that protection?”
“Especially then.”
“We’re talking about Carly, I presume.”
“Danged girl. She said I’m going to make her gray before her time. And that we’re two of kind.”
Julieta laughed. “She’s right. Isn’t it just what I’ve been trying to tell you?”
He rested his hand on her leg. “I’ve also been thinking about the importance of a man’s word. When he lays down the law with another man, he shouldn’t go back on that decision.”
“I don’t know... That would depend on the circumstances when he made it, wouldn’t it?”
“How so?”
“His state of mind. The firmness of his conviction. How much knowledge he had of the situation.”
He nodded.
He’d gotten firsthand knowledge of Luke’s shenanigans in the barn in broad daylight. Still, to hear Carly tell it, she carried the brunt of the responsibility.
She would never sacrifice anyone else for something she’d done. He believed that. On the other hand, there were plenty of days he’d called her and the other kids one by one into this very room, trying to get to the bottom of some mischief. After all the times she’d stood closedmouthed in front of him, he also trusted she wouldn’t have taken on blame she didn’t own.
“A man’s word might be his bond,” Julieta added, “but all those issues have to come into play.”
“I see why I hired you to work at Baron Energies.”
She laughed. “For the same reasons you married me? Looks and brains—a combination you couldn’t pass up.”
“Those. And heart.” He took her hand. “Especially heart.”
He thought about what Luke had said the day he’d fired him.
I love Rosie as much as you love Carly. And I admit, in your shoes, I’d probably do the same.
You had to respect a man who could see both sides of a situation.
When the circumstances warranted.
He thought of the questions Carly had asked about Delia and the answers he’d given her. Sometimes, there was no need to doubt your convictions.
Still, he had to admit he’d been damned proud of his little girl. She had stood up to him over firing the man who had become like another son to him. And she’d given him the knowledge he’d needed to change his mind.
* * *
CARLY CALLED LUKE to let him know his job was safe. She owed him that. But before he could ask any questions, she had said goodbye and hung up the phone.
A short while later, at the Peach Pit, she shared with Savannah and Travis the results of her meeting with Mrs. Lewis.
“That’s encouraging news, Carly,” Travis assured her. “At least it tells us Delia might not have left the state. I’ll see what I can find in the Fort Worth area.”
She had also told them about her discussion with Brock.
He made a note on the pad in front of him, then looked at her again. “Do you think it’s worth pressing your dad for information?”
She shook her head. “Not now. I think I’ve gotten everything from him he’s willing to give.”
“There’s still hope Mrs. Lewis can find an address,” Savannah said.
“Yes,” Carly agreed, trying to sound optimistic. Trying to sound as though she had any enthusiasm at all. The new information the trip to Lubbock had provided only strengthened her determination to find her mom.
But what had happened with Luke on their arrival home had broken her heart.
Considering all the touchy subjects they had covered in just the past few days, she would have thought he could tell her the truth about being fired. But, obviously, he still hadn’t trusted her enough.
After what she had told him the night before, she couldn’t blame him if he never trusted her again.
Desperate to keep herself from thinking of him, she stayed at the store until closing time.
Afterward, she didn’t go directly home. Halfway there, even as she coasted up the long drive to the ranch house, she finally acknowledged to herself the decision she had made the minute she had said goodbye to Luke.
She had to talk to him. But not over the phone.
His job was safe now. He would stay here as manager.
As for what she would do...
She had just begun to let herself dream of returning to the Roughneck permanently. Of going into partnership with Savannah at the store. But the thought of living on the ranch and having to face Luke and Rosie was almost more than she could bear.
She had slept with Luke, opened her heart to him, confessed the secret she’d kept from him all these years. He had held her last night—held her all night. She hadn’t wanted that to end. She didn’t want her reunion with Luke to be over, either. And yet, this afternoon, he had rejected her, refusing to answer her questions and walking away.
No matter how hard it would be to face him now, she had to. They could never have a relationship. She would have to leave. But she didn’t want to let everything end the way it had the first time.
She had to find out why he hadn’t told her Brock had fired him and whether he had planned to leave the ranch without telling her. To walk away without a word, just as he had that afternoon and as he’d done years ago.
Outside his house, there was no sign of Tammy’s small car. Luke’s truck sat in its usual space near the back porch.
When he answered her knock at the door, he looked stunned to see her.
“Can I come in?”
He stepped back from the doorway.
In the living room, he took the chair and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and linking his fingers together.
She wanted to curl up on his couch with her knees close to her and her arms wrapped around them. A defensive pose, she realized now. Just another way to hide.
She took a seat on the couch and stretched her booted feet out in front of her. “This afternoon, you wouldn’t answer me. After...after last night, I had hoped we could tell each other anything.” She took a deep breath and continued, “What’s going on? Why wouldn’t you tell me about getting fired?”
To her surprise, he gave her a half smile and shook his head. “‘What’s going on?’” he repeated. “That’s what Brock said. You really are Daddy’s little cowgirl, aren’t you?”
“Yes. And I always will be.”
“Not a surprise. You always were.” He was thinking of the past.
“This afternoon, why did you walk away without answering me?”
He hesitated.
Her heart sank. “It’s because I never told you about the baby, isn’t it?”
“You were almost a kid back then yourself. How could I blame you for not telling me?”
“You could be unfair about it,” she said honestly, her voice breaking. “Just as unfair as I was to you.”
“Two wrongs?” He shook his head. “Some folks might go for that, but you already know I don’t work that way.”
He rose and went to stand by one of the curio cabinets. She could see his reflection in the mirrored wall inside. He had something he didn’t want to tell her. But whatever it was, she needed to hear it.
“No more secrets, Luke.” When he remained quiet, she continued, “I didn’t talk much on the ride home this morning, partly because I was thinking about having to talk to my daddy. I could feel you backing off, too.” She swallowed hard. “I apologiz
e again for not telling you everything until last night. I’m sorry about the baby. So very sorry. If I could change that...if I could change anything that happened...I would.”
“You can’t take all the blame on yourself. I’m just as much at fault. If I had given you my reason for wanting the job with your daddy, I could have saved you all that hurt you went through.”
“Luke—”
He turned to face her. “It’s true. If I’d told you, we might still be together now. And...”
“And we might still have our child.” She had to blink to see him clearly through her tears. He looked as miserable as she felt. “I’m more guilty than you are for jumping to conclusions and not giving you a chance to explain.”
He shrugged again. “When it comes right down to it, guilt doesn’t matter. Neither does the past.”
“What does, then?”
“The future.” He sighed. “I can forget the idea of giving Rosie a brother or sister or two. But there’s more. I backed off from you because there’s no way I can have a relationship with someone who can’t accept Rosie in her life.”
“Oh, Luke.” Her laugh sounded more like a sob. “I know I told you marriage and family weren’t in my plans. That was only because I didn’t think I deserved them. Not after losing our baby. But another reason I didn’t talk on the ride back is because I was starting to panic.”
“Panic?”
“At the thought of leaving here again. Leaving you and Rosie. She won my heart this week,” she said softly. “And you won it a long time ago. If you don’t already know that.”
He smiled.
“You were right,” she admitted. “To find out where I truly belong, I had to figure out where I’m happiest. Now I have.” She laughed. “We already know it’s not on the back of a bull. And it’s not in Houston, either.”
“I’ve always known that.”
She smiled. “I can’t hide behind a mask now. And I can’t act like a wild child with you. I can only be myself and tell you what I really feel. I love you.”
“I’ve always known that, too.”
“Luke!”
“I’ll tell you one more thing I’ve always known.” He crossed the room and pulled her to her feet. Then he took her into his arms. “I love you, too. And no matter what happened between the day we met and now, I’ve always known you belong with me.”
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