The Cinderella Rules

by Donna Kauffman

  “He’s yummy,” Pepper said, beaming. “And he stood right up to Daddy, didn’t he? Even with a gun on him. I think I’d have to hang on to a guy like that. What was it he said about not letting people screw around with what was his?” She hummed. “Did you see that look he sent you? Had ‘you’re mine’ stamped all over it. Definitely a keeper.”

  Darby didn’t know whether to laugh or burst out crying. Her heart competed with her stomach to see which could squeeze more tightly. She had to get out of here. She felt like she couldn’t suck in even one more breath of this stuffy, rarified air—and she’d long since taken off that corset. She wanted to go home. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

  “Can’t you two work something out? I mean, I know Dad is being an ass as usual, but he’d probably be cool with you staying on at the house—” She broke off at the glare from Darby, lifting her hands in defense. “Okay, okay, just a suggestion. Shane has more than enough room here. And given that look I mentioned, I’m thinking he wouldn’t mind you shacking up with him.”

  Darby went back to packing. With a vengeance. It was that or break down completely. “It’s more complicated than that, Pep. He’s got an enormous responsibility to sort out here and I’ve got a life of my own, a ranch to run, two thousand miles away. I don’t want to leave it. And, except for Shane—and you, of course—I have no reason to be here. I don’t like it here now any more than I did when I was a kid. I don’t belong. And, no insult intended, I don’t want to belong. What I want is to go home. And that, for me, will always be Montana.”

  “So, what about when he gets done sorting it out? You heard him say he wasn’t cut out to run the company. He’ll get this all worked out and then he can come to Montana.”

  Darby smiled, even as the ache inside her grew. The more Pepper tried to make it sound doable, the more she realized what a sucker bet it would be for her to buy into even one shred of it. “He’s not any more cut out to sit on a ranch than he is to be CEO of Morgan Industries. He’s a wanderer. I don’t think that’s going to change.”

  “I swear,” Pepper said, shoving a carefully folded shirt in the duffel. “You jump all over me for not taking initiative, and here you are, just giving up on something that could be the best thing in your life. Maybe Dad was right about you running away.”

  Darby gasped, then turned her face away for a moment when Pepper looked stricken, lifting a hand to ward off her apology. “No,” she said, struggling to get a grip on her emotions. “He was right, and I caught on to that downstairs.” She looked back at Pepper. “But I’m not running anywhere now. I’m just going home.”

  “Without me?” came a voice from the doorway.

  Darby and Pepper both swung around to find Shane filling the doorway. “I knocked this time, I swear. I guess you didn’t hear me.”

  Pepper stood up, smoothed her hair and clothes in that instinctive way she had whenever a man was present. “I guess I’ll leave the two of you alone.”

  Shane smiled at her. “Thanks. You might want to get back there. I passed a couple of agents in the hallway. Seems Bjornsen slipped past the authorities at the airport.”

  “Dammit!” Pepper scooted past him to the door, then paused and placed her hand on his arm. “Could you please talk some sense into her?” She jerked her chin toward Darby. “She’s hardheaded as hell and she’s in love with you, even if she won’t admit it.”

  “Penelope Pernell Landon!”

  Pepper just sent a little pinky wave back at her sister. “That would be me. But you know? I’m thinking it’s time I lose the whole Pepper thing. I’m a woman of intrigue now. What would sound exotic, yet professional?” She tapped a French-dipped nail tip against a still perfectly painted and outlined bottom lip. “I’ll have to think about that.” Eyes twinkling with renewed excitement, she reached up and kissed Shane on the cheek. “I’ll welcome you to the family, even if no one else will. And honestly, we don’t always point guns at one another or act so melodramatically. Okay, so we do that last part. But I promise to keep the firearms out of Dad’s reach whenever possible.”

  “That’s reassuring,” Shane said with a smile.

  Pepper giggled and turned back to Darby and blew her a kiss. “Don’t leave without saying good-bye, promise?”

  “Promise,” Darby said, already shaking her head as she watched her sister close the door behind her. Look out world, was all she could think.

  And then she was alone with Shane.

  He moved into the room, but didn’t come directly to her. Instead, he leaned against the wall beside the bed. He nodded to what she was wearing. “I like you in that best, Cinderella.”

  Darby knew she had to be strong, be rational, not give in to silly emotions that would only make things harder down the line when the end inevitably came. And still, his words started a warm flush inside of her. Might as well soak ’em up while I can, she thought. It wasn’t likely Tugger or the horses were going to be dispensing compliments anytime soon. “Thanks. I finally feel like me again for the first time in eons.”

  “I don’t know, you felt a whole lot like you last night. And early this morning.”

  “Yeah, well.” She paused in her packing. “Even that seems like eons ago.”

  Shane motioned to her activities. “Looks like it’s going to be another eon or so before it happens again. Unless you’re just planning on moving all this to my wing.”

  “Is that an invitation to stay?”

  Shane pushed off from the wall, all his casual, laid-back charm disappearing in a blink. He took her by the arms, not entirely gently, and spun her to face him. “I guess I didn’t think you’d need one,” he said with a quiet calm that belied the storm in his eyes. “I thought I’d made it pretty damn clear that I don’t want our time together to end.”

  “Until when? Until you get things done here? Until you get itchy feet and take off again to parts unknown? And then what do I do? Just forget about you? Wait around for the postcards?”

  His anger dissipated in the face of hers. His hands stroked her arms, then he pulled her roughly against him, enveloped her against his chest. He buried his face in her hair and held on as if for dear life.

  Darby’s heart leaped foolishly in her chest, and yet she was simultaneously terrified. Because she wanted, more than anything, to hold on to him, too. She pushed his head back, framed his face with her hands, made herself look him in the eyes. Made herself say the words she didn’t want to say. “I don’t want to end this, either. But I don’t see where it could go. Pepper’s right. I’m falling for you. Hard. And the longer it goes on, the more devastated I’m going to be when it ends. I’m not used to caring about anything but my horses and my ranch. And occasionally, my sister.” Her attempt at dry humor bombed. “I’m not used to relying on anyone, or counting on anyone other than myself. Until you. You make it damn easy to care. It scares the hell out of me.”

  “It scares me, too.” He stroked her cheek, and looked at her with such tenderness that the tears that had been threatening before rose once again. “Yes, I wander, but mostly because I never had anything, or anyone, that made me want to stay. I know the timing is awful. That things here are too complicated to even begin to think about. But I know I have to see it done, and see it done right. If not for me, or for Alexandra, then maybe for the ones before her . . . and the ones after me.” He brushed his fingers over her hair, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the pads of his thumbs. “I don’t know what that means, or what it’ll take to see it done, to make sure it stays right, after I’m done and gone.”

  “You know I can’t just hang around here while you do that,” she said, her voice trembling. “I have a life to run, too.”

  He pressed his forehead to hers and sighed heavily. “I know. I don’t know what to say. Except wait for me. In Montana if you have to.” He framed her face again, locked gazes with her. “Just . . . wait. I know I have no right to expect that from you. But I’m asking anyway.”

&n
bsp; “It’s not like I have anyone else I’m running back to. But I . . .” She trailed off as her heart caught, cracked a little. She looked back at him. “I’m not sure I can just sit around, with hope in my heart, that one day you’ll come riding across the horizon.”

  He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Eyes that were filled with fear—and with something that looked a whole lot like what she was feeling . . . and trying damn hard not to. “You know, they have this invention. It’s called a telephone. And E-mail. You do have a computer, don’t you? I don’t plan to lock myself into seclusion here.”

  Darby tried to squash the little leap of hope. Dangerous things, those little leaps. “So we have a long-distance relationship. And then what? You’re planning on moving to Montana?”

  “Jesus, you make things hard.”

  She started to push out of his arms, but he held her tight. She didn’t bother struggling. “I’m just trying to be logical.”

  “Well, what I feel isn’t logical, okay?” he said, almost at a shout. “What I feel is huge. It’s overwhelming. And it’s not going away, goddammit.”

  Darby couldn’t help it. She smiled. “So . . . what? I’m just supposed to cave to the greater power of your love for me?”

  He looked poleaxed for a moment. And if she wasn’t feeling the exact same thing, she might have called him on it.

  “I do love you, Darby,” he said, almost in awe. “I want a life with you. On whatever terms you’ll have me. You want me to walk away from all this right now, pledge my life to you on that ranch of yours, sight unseen? Fine. I’ll do it. Just tell me one thing. Do you love me? Could you love me? Like that? Enough to walk away from that ranch of yours and live with me here? Or anywhere?”

  “I—I—” She couldn’t answer that. Not about the love part, that part she knew. She was pretty damn sure the absolute joy and gut-wrenching pain that were blooming inside her was exactly what love felt like. But the rest . . . he’d caught her off guard. And she believed him. He’d do it. For her.

  “Okay,” he said quietly, when time spun out and she just looked at him helplessly. “I guess that’s my answer.” He leaned down, kissed her once, hard, on the lips. Lingered over another one, until she began to sigh, and he began to deepen it. Then he pulled away. “You’re one hell of a woman, Cinderella. And don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.” And then he turned and walked out of the room.

  Cinderella Rule #24

  Occasionally, the right thing does happen at the right time. And you do get a second chance. For heaven’s sake, don’t screw it up!

  —VIVIAN

  Chapter 24

  Darby sat on her back deck, feet propped up on the railing, and refolded Pepper’s latest letter before tossing it on the table next to her. She smiled as she absorbed the beauty of the sun setting behind the distant snowy peaks. Fall was one of her favorite times of the year. It was only October and there was already a bite to the air. It was going to be a heavy winter, she predicted.

  She sipped her beer and thought about what Pepper had said. Stefan’s last-minute escape had haunted her sister these past months. She’d felt responsible, but helpless, and more than a little miffed that he’d gotten the best of her. The last they’d heard, he’d somehow managed to get his men out of Brazil, and was reported to be involved in some new deal in Russia. Which had been the final nudge Pepper had needed to take the plunge. Her sister was now in official training to be a real, bona fide agent. God help them all. But Darby smiled. “Go, Go Power Rangers!,” she murmured.

  Of course, other than promising her sister that this mysterious agency she worked for only took on “good guy” assignments, Pepper still couldn’t tell Darby where she was training, or even the name of the agency itself. But it was clear she was having the time of her life. Even if the uniforms they made her wear made her butt look big.

  Pepper had gone on to say that, while their father would still rather she marry wealthy and chair committees at the club, he’d grudgingly admitted that she was a grown woman who could make her own mistakes. Darby and Pepper both knew he was holding out hope that they’d flunk her from training and she’d have to give it up.

  Darby also knew that was likely the one thing that would keep her sister from failing. She sighed and closed her eyes. At least their father was trying. In his own way. She recalled the day, a little over three months ago, about a month after she’d come back, when a long black car had pulled down the drive. And her father had shocked her by stepping out, hat in hand. It hadn’t exactly been a heartwarming homecoming. He was clearly uncomfortable being there, and their conversation had been both stilted and heated at times. He’d only stayed one night, and that at a hotel. She’d met him in town the following morning for breakfast before he left. He’d refused to talk about his other life, other than to ask her to talk some sense into her sister. She’d made some smart-ass comment. And they’d parted, not really any closer than they’d been when he’d come.

  Except . . . Darby had watched him, that one evening he’d been on the ranch, when he wasn’t aware of it. She’d been upstairs in her room, changing into clean jeans, and she’d spied him from her window as he’d walked out back to the stables. She’d watched as he wandered in and out of the barn. He hadn’t so much as glanced at the property, or asked anything about the place during their conversation down in the living room. So it had surprised her to see him back there. Until she’d remembered. Duh. That was probably where he’d met her mother. Right out in those stables. And it explained a great deal about why he’d kept the stables filled and running back home.

  He was not a man to show emotion. Much less grief. She’d found herself wondering what he was thinking as he wandered the aisles. Was he remembering the good times, about how it had felt to fall in love? Or had he cursed her, like he’d done when Darby had been a child, for daring to leave him like she had? As if she’d died young just to make his life difficult. He’d been back in the living room when she’d come downstairs. He didn’t mention his stroll, and she hadn’t brought it up.

  She sighed now and tilted her chair forward. She supposed she should be happy that he’d made any effort. Perhaps, over time, they’d figure out a way to communicate with each other. “Yeah,” she muttered, “a century or two might do it.”

  She stood, finished off her beer, and scooped Pepper’s letter off the table. Pepper had asked the same question she always asked: When was Darby going to stop “being as hard-assed as Dad” and fly back to see Shane? Somehow, despite being holed up in some super secret training facility, she’d managed to keep track of Washington society. Pepper was probably the only trainee who had convinced the brass to send in Town & Country and People magazine, she thought dryly.

  Her smile faded as she let herself into the kitchen. She stared at the phone, then shook her head. Pepper made sure she kept up on how Shane was doing. And tortured Darby with every last detail.

  He’d apparently made good on his promise to talk with her father and his team. Pepper had said that, in return for his complete cooperation, and because the Celentrex technology had remained secure, they’d made sure no scandal had ever surfaced. Darby knew he’d gone on to accomplish what he’d promised, which was to dismantle Morgan Industries into a number of successful, smaller companies, none of them with any ties to him.

  Thanks to Pepper, she also knew he’d kept Four Stones in the family by turning it over to the Morgan Foundation, to use as their base of operations, with the clause that he, or any future family member could reclaim it for personal use whenever they saw fit. And God knew what contacts her sister had used, but she’d also found out that although he’d conceded to maintaining his obligatory position on the board of the foundation, which demanded he be directly involved in decisions about how the money was granted, he’d gotten a major concession of his own: His first order of business had been to insist the quarterly board meetings be held poolside at Four Stones, bathing suits mandatory. Thinking back to some of the
foundation mucky-mucks she’d run into at the party, she shuddered at the visual that had accompanied that little revelation.

  She also knew he’d auctioned off the other Morgan assets, funneling the money into a trust for the maintenance of the house. For a guy who didn’t think he was cut out to run an empire, he’d sure done a bang-up job of preserving the best parts of the one he’d been given, she thought, rubbing at the nagging ache in her chest.

  Darby never responded to her sister’s comments or stories about Shane. She didn’t want Pepper to know that she shamelessly clung to every tidbit. Or that, from the moment he’d walked out of that room in Four Stones, she hadn’t heard from him. Not once. No phone calls. No E-mails. Not one telegram. Or a single smoke signal. Not that it mattered, of course. It was what she’d wanted. Right? A clean break. So her heart could mend.

  Which was such a crock of shit. Her heart was as stupidly, foolishly caught up in Shane Morgan as it had been from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. She told herself time and time again she’d done the right thing. For both of them. She’d be miserable in D.C. He’d hate being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him. And wondering what if . . .

  Apparently her malaise was more apparent than she’d thought. Tugger hadn’t said anything at first, but he’d finally told her to either get over it, or get on a goddamn plane. Pepper had said much the same thing, not because she had a clue how her sister still felt, but because—as she’d just relayed in this very letter—Shane had wrapped everything up and would probably be leaving town soon. And she’d have no way of keeping track of him any longer. Darby had already thought about that. A lot. And it didn’t take Dr. Phil to explain what that constant little clutch in her chest was trying to tell her.