by Sara Orwig
“I was home waiting for you,” she said in a strangled voice filled with anger.
“Don’t put on an act with me,” he snapped in disgust. Why was she doing this now? He had never known her to lie to him.
“What I’m feeling is no act. I’m as truthful right now as I can possibly be.”
“I called repeatedly and never got anyone.”
“My dad? I sat beside the phone and never got a call from you. You’re lying, Jake,” she said, grinding out the accusation.
Fury made him shake. He closed the space between them and wound his fingers in her hair to turn her head up so he could look directly into her eyes. “Your dad told me that you had agreed you would not run away and get married. You agreed not to elope when he offered to put two hundred thousand dollars into a bank account for you and it would be your money for college and later. He offered to jump-start your art career and get you in the best galleries in Texas and on the West Coast if you would not get married.”
All color drained from her face and she narrowed her eyes. But anger blazed in him, hot and ferocious, because she obviously had taken the money, later got help with her art career and agreed to what her father wanted.
“Yeah, you did,” he spat out. “You wanted money more than wanting to marry me.” He pulled her closer, his grip tighter on her hair. “I don’t know why you started this charade, but it’s a damn poor one. There’s no need to dig up our past. Not now.”
She jerked her head away from him. “Let me go,” she snapped and he turned her loose. He strode across the room, wanting to get away from her before he said hurtful things that he’d regret. She had started this and now it was like a monster within him; he had to get away before it broke free. He reached the door before her voice stopped him.
“My dad gave me that money for college and he wanted to help me get my art career started,” Madison said stiffly. “He didn’t do it to get me to call off our wedding.”
Jake stopped and turned to face her again. She hadn’t moved, just stood where she had been. “It didn’t have anything to do with you. He told me he had opened an account for me, that he hoped I took only what I needed and perhaps a little for extras, but kept most of the money intact so I would have it when I got out of college. It had nothing to do with you or with marrying you. Absolutely nothing.”
“The hell it didn’t. It was a payoff. He flat out told me that he offered it to you and told you to make a choice between me or the money.”
“He would never do any such thing,” she said fiercely.
Pain, sharp and intense, stabbed him. Had he been bluffed by her dad? Even worse, had he been gullible enough to believe her father?
“Madison, if you’re lying now—”
“I’m certainly not. Why would I? Dad gave me money for college.” She frowned and stared at Jake as if she had never seen him before in her life. “My father would never hurt me that way. He wouldn’t do such an underhanded thing.”
Shocked, Jake stared at her. Her father had lied to him. A man who was a pillar of the community, a leader. Judge Milan had lied to him and to his daughter. And since he was regarded as so ethical and honest, he had expected to get away with the lie.
Rage made Jake clench his hands and grind his teeth. How much Pete Milan must have laughed to himself at how easily he had put that over on the two of them.
“My dad would never have hurt me like that,” she repeated, her voice shaking with anger. “I don’t know what you hope to gain.”
“Your dad did exactly what I said he did. The judge had a reputation for honesty. Everyone in the county trusted him. I trusted him. If you’re telling me the truth, I was suckered in, a gullible kid that he easily manipulated.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said. Her fists clenched until her knuckles turned white, and the color in her cheeks now suffused her entire face. “My father would never, ever hurt me like that. He would have come to me and tried to talk me out of eloping.” She shook her head as she frowned. “There’s no point in going over all this. We’ll finish our hunt and then I hope I never see you again,” she said sharply. She spun around to hurry out of the room and he let her go.
He stood there, shock and rage warring within him alongside disbelief and acceptance. Had her dad tricked him into believing she had taken the bribe? Or would she not admit the truth—that she’d taken the money and the promise of a boost in getting her art shown instead of marriage?
If he believed her now, it would be the second time he had been taken in by a Milan. No, he wasn’t going to accept her explanation. It had been a payoff, pure and simple. She had to have known the conditions and agreed to them. How else would she have not figured out what her dad was up to?
Jake’s fists clenched until he realized what he was doing and opened his hands. If only they could find the treasure, the bones and the deed. He would be happy to flash the deed in her face and take her land from her.
He strode to the suite she had given him and slammed the door, standing in the center of the living area to take in deep breaths and blow them out. He had to get out and move, to work off his fury and frustration.
He left again, heading outside to jog down the ranch road toward the highway. He swore quietly when the back gate stuck and made a mental note to repair it when it was daylight.
Though he jogged faster, the memories of that fateful night caught up with him. In his mind he relived the painful hours when he’d called her repeatedly and no one had answered until he finally gave up and stopped calling. “She’s lying,” he mumbled to himself. Why hadn’t she answered the phone if she had been so innocent?
Darkness enveloped him even though the moon shone bright. She had to know that she couldn’t hide the truth or keep saying that he had never called her.
When he ran back to the ranch after his third circuit to the highway, he returned to his suite to shower. Afterward he hurried to the library to spread out the maps and papers to look again for a likely place for the hidden treasure and deed. One thing was certain: he would never get another chance to search after this one.
If he found a deed to part of her ranch, it would help ease his anger and regrets. No matter what happened, he would never be able to forget her.
* * *
Jake looked on the new day as another day of opportunity. He dressed quickly and left his room.
As he entered the front hall, tempting smells of hot bread and steaming coffee enticed him. He followed the scents into the kitchen and saw her seated in the breakfast area, with her back to him. He looked her over, taking in the snug jeans that fit her sexy backside and long legs. She wore her brown boots and a long-sleeved green shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail, tied with a green scarf, and he remembered when she had worn ponytails as a high school cheerleader.
Helping himself, he carried his plate of scrambled eggs with fresh basil, toast and a bowl of berries to the breakfast area. “May I join you?”
“I’m finished,” she said, standing and picking up her plate that still had a lot of food on it. “Here’s the paper.”
He caught her wrist. She stopped instantly, her eyes narrowing. “What?”
“Let’s try to get through the rest of this week in a civil manner the way it has been between us. Then we’ll go our separate ways and probably avoid seeing each other for years again.” He wanted to stand, move close and be more commanding in his request because his patience was frayed and she was obviously holding her temper in check.
“Of course,” she said, jerking free, but annoying him because he would have released her anyway.
He watched her hips as she left the room until he realized what he was doing and looked away. Why did she still attract him? After last night he didn’t want to be around her, yet physically, he was as attracted to her as he had been when he had been an eighteen-year-old the y
ear they started dating.
Memories tugged at him of her leading cheers, dancing and jumping, turning flips, smiling with her ponytail swinging behind her or bouncing with each step. He had been so in love, he wouldn’t have thought he would ever get over wanting her. Now all he felt was anger and lust.
He ate in silence, looking at the paper, but still lost in thought about her. When it was almost time to leave, he got up, chastising himself. There should be only one thought in his head. Finding that deed.
* * *
Madison came down the stairs and saw Jake getting ready. His brown wide-brimmed hat was squarely on his head, his gloves were half tucked into his hip pocket next to the pocketknife she knew he always carried. She walked in silence beside him until they reached the back door. As she started to punch in the code for the alarm, Jake stepped in front of her to block her.
Furious, she lashed out at him, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Jake stood too close, his proximity disturbing her. Her heart raced and in spite of all the anger she felt, there still was a running current of awareness of him as an appealing man. How could she be furious with him and want him so badly?
More than ever, he towered over her, seeming inches taller than he had been when they had dated. In spite of his appeal, she wanted to get away from him and never see him again. She wanted him out of her life so she could forget him forever, instead of being in constant turmoil and having a reaction to his mere presence.
“Before you spend much time being even angrier with me than before, why don’t you ask your dad what ultimatum he gave me? Just ask him what he told me you had agreed to do. While you’re at it, ask him what threats he made, too.”
She shook with anger and clenched her fists. “You’re saying my father threatened you with physical harm?”
“No, more like financial problems. He had the power. You ask him what threats he made. And you should know me well enough to know that I would never make any such statements to you if they weren’t true. I’ve never lied to you, Madison,” he said, his dark brown eyes holding fiery anger that seemed to match what she felt.
She glared back at him another few tense seconds before he stepped away. She punched in the alarm and as he reached around her to open the door, she stepped outside without looking back. Adding to her anger, she had been aware of brushing her shoulder against him, of his arm almost touching her as he held the door.
She climbed into her truck and watched him walk to his in his long-legged stride that covered the ground swiftly. He was a tall, handsome rancher, his boots adding to his height. He was also a powerful energy mogul from an old-moneyed family. There was no way her father could have done anything to really hurt him financially.
When everyone was ready to go, she took the lead again. It was an effort to think about the coming day and searching for a buried treasure that most likely did not exist. She wanted this search to be over and done and was tempted to give it up now, tell him to get off her land and let it go.
He would accuse her of giving her word and permission and then backing out of it because of spite. He’d be right, and she didn’t want to stoop to spite. His confrontation before they had left her house worried and shook her. Jake had never lied to her until that night, when he hadn’t shown up after asking her to elope with him.
Otherwise, he had always been honest with her, and she had always trusted him. Her father had kept his bargain—from the time of her college graduation, she had risen to prominence in the Western art world, having showings in the most ideal galleries for her work and then opening her own successful galleries. She had a name and a following early in her career. If Jake was telling the truth, she had achieved it all at the cost of the love of her life.
She couldn’t believe her father would ever stoop to doing what Jake accused him of. Never. He was a judge, had been a banker, was trusted and respected by family, friends and people from all over the state of Texas. There was no way he could have done what Jake had said. Her insides churned. How could Jake accuse her father of doing those things and then tell her to ask her father?
Maybe Jake was counting on the fact that he knew she would not ask her dad.
Then again, if there was no truth in what Jake said, he wouldn’t push her to quiz her father.
The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw Jake at the wheel of the truck behind her. Was he telling the truth? Knowledge of her father made her say no to her question instantly. Knowledge of Jake yielded an affirmative answer. Lost in thought, she hit a rock and the truck bounced badly. “Sorry,” she said to Stoney and Darren, her passengers.
Embarrassed, she glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jake avoid the rock.
When they reached the place where they would leave the trucks, she retrieved her hat and her backpack, and turned to face Jake, who approached her. He had left the motor running in his truck and the door open and she wondered why.
“I studied the maps again last night and there’s another place I want to look that isn’t far from here, in an arroyo that may no longer exist. I’ll go by myself so as to not waste everyone’s time, but I thought you might want to send one of your hands with me.”
All the time he talked, she looked at his lips and remembered his kisses. Realizing what she had been doing, she looked away.
“Stoney, do you mind going with him?”
“’Course not. Be glad to. Maybe I can help.”
“I’ll show you the map and what we’re looking for,” Jake said as the two men walked away.
She wondered how late he had sat up studying the map and if he had been unable to sleep because of the harsh words said between them. As she retrieved a shovel from the truck, she glanced back to see Jake turn around to head back the way they had come and she wondered where he was going. She would ask Stoney tonight.
The men who worked for her had been with them for a long time and were as familiar with the ranch as she was.
She wouldn’t have a chance this week to go to Dallas to see her parents. It would have to be next week when the search was over and Jake and his men went back to the Calhoun ranch. Not by any stretch could she imagine her father threatening Jake. She couldn’t imagine a threat that Jake would have responded to at nineteen. It all was impossible, but she had to know and the sooner, the better.
She realized she was supposed to lead the way and without Jake she would have to give everyone orders, including the men from his ranch.
She tried to focus on where she had intended to start digging today and realized she must have walked right past the place because she had been so lost in thought over Jake.
Embarrassed, she stopped to look around and turned to Darren. “Sorry, but I think we have to turn back. I think I’ve passed where we should start digging today.”
“Whatever you say. We’ll follow you.”
Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, she headed back to walk toward where they had parked. In minutes she held up her hand and everyone stopped.
“This is the area for today and all of you have a rough map of where you’ll look.”
The men fanned out to where each one thought he was supposed to search. She studied the copy of the map she had marked and moved closer to the creek. She began to dig and in seconds Russ, one of Jake’s men, blocked her way. Pausing, she looked up at him.
Stocky with sandy hair that seemed to be swallowed up by his oversize hat, Russ faced her. “Ms. Milan, you don’t need to dig. We’ll do that.”
“I can dig with the rest of you.”
He shook his head. “My boss will have my neck if I let you dig. May I use your shovel?”
She didn’t want to argue with him because his intentions were nice and she didn’t want him in trouble with Jake, although at this point, she didn’t care
for Jake to have any say about how she lived her life. Handing Russ her shovel, she walked over to start moving away a pile of river rocks. She watched Russ dig swiftly, moving more dirt faster than she had been able to do. She really wanted to find the treasure, the bones and be done with this.
If they didn’t find the treasure and bones, Jake would never be satisfied and she could imagine that he would think she would continue searching without him after this week or two.
By the end of the day, she was exhausted. She had moved smaller rocks so others could dig, trying to concentrate on the physical labor and forget the fight with Jake. By quitting time, she was worn out. When her cell phone jingled and she heard Jake’s voice, her heartbeat quickened. She still reacted physically to him in the same manner she had before their fight.
“Ready to head back?” he asked. “It’ll be dark before we get there.”
“Yes. We’re leaving now. We’ll meet you at the house.”
He clicked off without a goodbye. She didn’t want to spend the evening with him and intended to get something to eat and take it upstairs. At some point in the course of the day she’d made the decision to drive to Dallas tomorrow and talk to her father so she could settle this once and for all.
She refused to contemplate how it would be if Jake had been truthful. She had believed, loved and relied on her dad all her life. Her parents had done so much for her, she couldn’t imagine her father doing anything to hurt her and to threaten Jake.
When they arrived at the house she went inside without waiting for him. She didn’t want to be with him another minute. Nor did she want to hear about his day. If he had found anything significant, he would have told her or Stoney would have.
When she reached the back gate, the latch stuck. Determined, she jiggled it and tugged at it. He came up beside her. “Let me try,” he said.
“I can’t remember to have that fixed. We can go to a side door.”
“I’ll fix it as soon as I can. In the meantime—” He jumped over the fence, clearing the gate and landing on the other side. Before she realized what he intended, he turned, his hands closing on her waist, and he lifted her up and over the gate easily.
