by Myla Jackson
“Now, that’s what I like to hear. A man who is confident in the kitchen.”
“I don’t know about that. After Jessie’s numerous failures in the kitchen, I’ve had to figure out a few things. I think I can manage eggs and bacon.”
“Then I’ll grab a quick shower.” Fancy stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips, lingering to taste his tongue. “Umm. Better than bacon.”
Colin chuckled, his gaze following her as she left the kitchen.
Smiling, he switched the stove on and finished frying the bacon, then scrambled eggs in a bowl and poured them into the pan.
A buzz sounded behind him and he turned to find Fancy’s cell phone skittering across the table on vibrate.
Colin caught it before it fell to the floor.
The screen lit with a text message. If he hadn’t saved the phone from falling, he wouldn’t have seen who the text message was from.
Maggie McFarlan.
Colin frowned, his gaze scanning the message, a twinge of guilt burning in his chest for snooping into Fancy’s business.
Why was his mother texting her? An image of them sitting at the table in the diner came to him. His mother had shoved papers into her purse to keep him from seeing them.
His mother’s message read: Still on for lunch to go over plans?
Plans? What plans were his mother and Fancy cooking up? Then it hit him.
Fancy was a realtor.
Was his mother going ahead with her plan to sell the ranch? His hand tightened around the cell phone. In the back of his mind, he’d been positive his mother wouldn’t go through with her threat to sell the ranch if he and his brothers didn’t come up with fiancées or wives in the two months she gave them.
His heart dropped to his stomach. He’d be all right. He owned his own construction company and could find land and build his own house. But Angus had all his horses. Finding a place large enough would be time consuming and expensive. And he had a fiancée with a child to consider.
Then there was Brody who’d made an art studio out of the old hunting cabin in the middle of the ranch. He’d have to find a place big enough for a studio.
Not that they couldn’t adjust, but…it was the Rafter M. M for McFarlan. The ranch had been in the family for one hundred fifty years. All that history. The generations of McFarlans. All that would be lost. Some corporation would purchase the acreage and make it something depressing, a part of a conglomeration or something.
“Is breakfast ready?” Fancy’s voice came to him from her bedroom.
Colin dropped the cell phone on the table as if it had scalded his hand.
Fancy knew what his mother was up to, but she hadn’t bothered to tell him. Keeping a secret as big as that was almost as bad as betrayal.
After the crazy, wonderful night and morning they’d just spent together, Colin didn’t know how to feel. One thing was for sure. He didn’t feel like eating.
He scraped the scrambled eggs onto a plate, put the bacon next to it and set the table for one.
“Yum.” Fancy entered the kitchen dressed in a baby-blue sundress that came down to mid-thigh. Her blond hair lay damp against her head, the ends curling as they dried.
Damn she was so fresh-faced and beautiful, it hurt to look at her.
When she looked into his eyes, her brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“I got a call from one of my job sites. I have to go,” he lied.
“On Sunday?”
He shrugged. “It’s behind schedule and the workers are putting in overtime to try to finish on time.” Colin waved at the table. “You should eat while it’s hot. I’ll get dressed and show myself to the door.”
“Are you sure it can’t wait until after breakfast?”
“No. They had a hiccup and need my advice. I want to make sure they don’t mess it up to delay even longer.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Her frown deepening, she gripped his arms. “Will I see you later?”
“I’ll call,” he said, forced a smile and then left her standing in the kitchen.
Colin hurried through the house to the bedroom where he gathered his clothing, dressed and slipped into his shoes. He needed to know the truth and he couldn’t confront Fancy and confess he’d been reading her private text messages. He’d ask his mother. The sooner the better.
As he headed for the front door, Fancy stepped in front of him.
“Is this it? Is this the part where you dump the girl you’re seeing?” She crossed her arms. “If so, tell me now so I don’t spend the rest of the day waiting for your call.”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. I really have to get to the job site.” He bent and kissed her hard on the lips. “We’ll talk later.”
Fancy stared at the door that closed behind Colin. What had just happened? One minute they’re making love on the kitchen table, the next he was running out the door like a scalded cat.
She turned back to the kitchen, scraped the scrambled eggs and bacon into the trash, rinsed her plate and the pan and put them in the dishwasher. Her hunger of a few minutes ago had completely deserted her. She moved about the kitchen, forcing herself to continue to breathe and keep moving.
Maybe Colin was telling the truth. Maybe he really did have an emergency on the job site. That would explain why he looked like he had a lot on his mind. How could he switch from the loving, sexy man to the preoccupied one so quickly? Fancy couldn’t. Ever since they’d rocked the kitchen table, she’d been walking around in a sex-induced haze.
Until Colin walked out the door.
With the kitchen clean, she had no reason to linger. Since it was Sunday, she didn’t have any house or land showings that morning. Maybe a drive in the country would help clear her mind and settle her twisted stomach. By lunch she’d be okay for her meeting with Mrs. M. If she got up the courage, she’d ask the McFarlan matriarch what the hell was wrong with her son.
What worried her were all the warnings she’d received from her old friends. Colin was a player. Mr. Hit-and-Run. Love ’em and leave ’em was his motto. They’d warned her and Fancy had chosen to ignore them. Just like she’d ignored her plan for flushing him from her system. Her heart overruled her head, telling her she was different. He would fall in love with her and stay with her forever.
If Colin truly had hit and run, she had no one to blame but herself.
What a fool she’d been.
Chapter Eight
“Angus! Brody! Mom!” Colin yelled as he stomped through the house. Where was everyone?
The kitchen was empty, dishes were put away and the smell of bacon lingered in the air.
A note on the refrigerator explained. Gone to church.
They wouldn’t be back until after noon, which meant Colin wouldn’t have any answers until then. With too much pent up energy, too many unanswered questions, Colin couldn’t sit around and twiddle his thumbs.
He changed into work clothes and hit the barn where he mucked every stall, fed and watered the animals and still had an hour and a half until noon.
Saddling his buckskin gelding, he rode out across the pastures, hoping the wind in his hair would blow the concerns and feelings of betrayal out of his head. He’d thought what had happened between him and Fancy last night had changed everything.
He’d even begun to think she might come around to believing in a future with him. Then wham! That text message, his mother’s threat coming true and him hopelessly in love with the woman who’d keep something like losing the family ranch from him.
No matter how hard he rode, the words on that text circled around and around in his mind. The implication settling heavy in his heart. He turned the horse around and headed back to the ranch. Maybe his mother had some documents in the house that would clear up the confusion.
Back at the barn, he quickly stowed the saddle, blanket
and bridle and brushed the horse. He settled the gelding in his stall, gave him an extra bucket of feed and then headed to the house and into the ranch office. He searched through drawers, file cabinets and boxes and found nothing that indicated any sale of property. But he did find an envelope from a local attorney. The seal had been broken, so he pulled the letter out and read.
Thank you for your inquiry into the legal transfer of property. We would be happy to assist you in your endeavors. For a personal consultation, please schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience.
Colin’s head spun and his stomach clenched. Legal transfer? Holy hell, what was his mother doing? And how was Fancy helping? Was Carl Landers behind all of this? Had he convinced their mother to sell so he could get his hands on the cash? Colin didn’t want to believe Fancy could be involved in a scam like that. But the man was her uncle.
He showered and changed into clean clothes and checked the clock. Twenty minutes until noon. Exactly the amount of time it took to get from the ranch to the diner in Temptation. He’d confront his mother and Fancy at the same time. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. His only regret was that it would be in public.
“Church got out early, today.” Mrs. M smiled at Fancy. “Thank you for coming earlier.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I can help with the plans.” Fancy stared down at the designs and samples she’d brought with her, her heart not at all into the conversation. But Mrs. M had insisted on helping and she was doing it as a favor to her Uncle Carl.
When Mrs. M offered to assist, Fancy was glad to let the older woman dig in and come up with the best alternatives to satisfy her uncle.
After Colin’s hasty departure that morning, Fancy couldn’t concentrate on anything. Nothing made sense, especially one moody McFarlan who’d seemed to be as infatuated with her as she’d been with him last night and early this morning. She’d gone over and over everything that had happened and couldn’t identify anything she could have done that he might have misconstrued.
Mrs. M reached across the table at PJ’s Diner and laid her hand over Fancy’s. “What’s wrong, dear? You look sad.”
For a long moment, Fancy stared at the older woman’s hand on hers. She was like the mother Fancy had lost too early in life. And she really needed someone to talk to. But she was Colin’s mother.
She sighed for the hundredth time. “Why would a man shower you with attention one minute and run away from you the next?”
“Sometimes men show you what you want to see until they get what they want. Then their real nature comes out.” Mrs. M’s brows puckered. “You were with Colin last night at the fair.” Her eyes widened and she bit her lip. “Has my son said or done anything to hurt your feelings?”
Fancy shook her head and looked away as her eyes filled with tears she’d been holding back all morning. “I thought we had something going.” She sniffed. “Then he left. No, he practically ran out the door.” She raised her hands and stared across at the older woman through the tears. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Honey, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re beautiful inside and out. The question is what’s wrong with that thickheaded son of mine?”
“Oh, Mrs. M, don’t tell him I said anything. Please.” Fancy dabbed at the tears on her cheeks. “Rejection is bad enough without the embarrassment of asking why.”
“Are you sure he rejected you?”
“One minute he was totally into me. The next he was running out the door, claiming he had an emergency on a job site.”
“He’s been known to have emergencies on a job site.”
“I know where his job sites are. I drove by. Nobody is working today.” Her bottom lip trembled and she bit it to make it stop.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t know what’s gotten into his head. Maybe he got cold feet at the last minute. I’ve been pressuring the boys lately to get on with their lives. This could all be my fault.”
Fancy gave Mrs. M a weak smile and patted her hand. “You didn’t make him lie.”
The older woman frowned. “I taught him better than that.”
“Exactly.” Fancy sat up straighter, brushing the moisture from her cheeks. “And I’ll just have to get over it.”
“Sorry I’m late.” Uncle Carl slipped into the booth beside Maggie and kissed her cheek. “How are my two favorite girls?”
Maggie blushed. “I haven’t been a girl for over forty years.”
“You’ll always be the prettiest girl in the state of Texas to me.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “When are you going to marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
Both “girls” gasped.
“Carl, is that your idea of a proposal?”
“Well, it kind of slipped out. I’ve been waiting for the right time, but the right time seems to be now. I’ve waited for over thirty years, please tell me you won’t make me wait longer.”
Maggie opened her mouth to respond when another voice interrupted.
“Mom, what the hell’s going on?”
Fancy turned to find Colin striding across the floor to stand at the end of their table.
Mrs. M frowned at her son. “Colin, that was rude to interrupt.”
“I want to know what’s going on. I believe I have every right to know.”
His mother glared at him. “Until you approach me in a reasonable tone of voice with a reference to what you’re talking about, I have nothing to say.”
“Colin, perhaps you could wait until your mother is home to question her,” Uncle Carl suggested calmly.
Colin grabbed Carl by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. “If you had kept out of our business and lives, none of this would be happening.”
“Colin McFarlan, let go of Carl,” his mother said. “If you’re talking about the ultimatum, that’s all my doing and I’m done talking about it.”
Colin released Carl and planted his hands on the table. “I know what you’re doing, Mom. And I know why you and Fancy have been meeting secretly.”
“We haven’t been meeting secretly. We’ve had lunch a few times here at the diner. Since when do you care what I do in my spare time?”
“Since you’ve contacted a lawyer and realtor to sell the Rafter M.”
“What?” Three voices said the same word at once.
Colin stared from his mother to Carl, his gaze finally landing on Fancy. “You aren’t helping Mom list the ranch?”
She crossed her arms, her brows drawn together. “No, I most certainly am not.”
He turned to his mother, her face stormy. “And you’re not getting with a lawyer to sell the ranch?”
“I’m getting with a lawyer, but not to sell the ranch.”
Colin faced Carl, frowning. “Are you dating my mother to get your hands on the ranch? Because, if you break her heart, I’ll be the first in line to rip you apart.”
Carl laughed. “Your brothers being the rest of the line?”
“Damn right.” Colin bunched his fists, waiting for the man’s answer.
His mother slid out of the booth and stood beside Carl. “Carl suggested I hire an attorney to transfer the property into a trust.” She paused and added, “In my sons’ names. I haven’t made up my mind.”
“I don’t want your ranch, Colin.” Carl drew Colin’s mother into his arms. “All I want is your mother. The woman I’ve loved since she was a girl in pigtails.”
His mother’s look reflected disappointment in her son. “Carl has more money than everyone in the tri-county area…put together. He doesn’t want or need our ranch. I was helping him with the designs and remodeling of his home. Those were the plans I was working on with Fancy.”
Colin wanted to hold onto his anger, but he couldn’t. All his theories had been debunked. His mother would forgive him, and so would Carl to appea
se his mother.
Fancy was another story all together. Her jaw was set and her lips were pressed into a firm line. “Is that why you ran out on me this morning?”
Colin confessed, “Your cell phone went off with a text from my mother. I happened to see it.”
“First of all, you had no right to read my texts.”
“I know.” Now he wished he’d followed his original instinct and not read the message. Only hindsight was that clear.
“Secondly, how could you believe I’d be so underhanded? Your mother has every right to do with the ranch what she wants, but I wouldn’t have taken the listing unless I could tell you what was happening. I believe a relationship won’t last until both parties can be open and honest with each other.” Her voice broke and her bottom lip trembled.
Colin had screwed up, royally. “Fancy—”
“You should have asked.” Her eyes filled. When he reached for her, she pushed past him and ran for the door.
“Fancy,” he called out.
“Colin, she’d not going to listen to you now,” his mother said behind him. “Go home. We’ll talk when I get there.”
He strode for the exit. “I have to do something.”
“Trust me, Colin,” Carl said. “You have to give Fancy time.”
Colin turned back to the older couple. “I screwed up.”
“Yes, you did.” His mother held Carl’s hand, her chin titled upward. “Call your brothers, tell them to meet me at the house. I have an announcement to make and I want all three of you there to hear it.”
Carl lifted Maggie’s hands and held them to his lips. “We’ll talk later.”
Colin’s mother nodded.
Colin stood by, helpless to make things right. The best he could do was notify his brothers their mother wanted to see them. “Mom, I’ll be at the house.”
As soon as he stepped out of the diner, he dialed Brody’s number, gave him the news and then dialed Angus. The men agreed to be at the house in an hour. Both wanted to know what was happening.
