He looked at Misty, who was looking suddenly ill. Then, he looked back at all the brothers. “Uh, yeah, I know who I married.”
The brothers all shared a look.
“You have heard of the Eldridge Ranch, right?” Chet asked.
Of course, he had heard of the ranch. It was one of the biggest, most powerful ranch families in Texas. Hell, everyone knew about the Eldridges. Their family was the stuff legends were made of, and more than one tall Texas tale had included their ancestors.
“The Eldridge Ranch?”
They all nodded. He studied their expressions, and knew they weren’t screwing with him. He looked at Misty. She was staring at her hands.
“You’re a freaking heiress?”
She sighed and looked up at him, regret filled her expression. She didn’t have to answer the question for him to have the answer. It was written right there all over her face.
Damn.
Chapter Nine
A s Misty walked beside Smith less than thirty minutes later, her brothers were leaving. She thought she might never get rid of them. She was antsy to talk to Cooper alone. They had ignored all her pointed hints, so Misty had just told them to leave.
When they reached his vehicle, Smith stopped and turned to face her. He was shaking his head.
“What?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him.”
“I couldn’t. I mean, I just assumed he knew who I was. Everyone mostly does. Even in San Antonio. Then it was pretty nice not to be known. You know what I mean?”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Yeah, I understand. Doesn’t mean it is going to be any easier for him to take.”
“I don’t know why it is such a big deal. So we have money.”
He shrugged. “Some people are funny about that, especially guys.”
Misty rolled her eyes. “That makes no sense.”
“Men don’t make sense.”
She chuckled. “Truth.”
“We’re staying at the usual hotel. I want to talk to you later, but I have a feeling you and the fireman have things to talk over.”
She nodded and gave him a hug. “I’ll text you.”
“You better.”
“I will,” she said, stepping back and looking at him. “I can’t believe y’all used my own app thing against me.”
“We aren’t against you. We never are.”
She sighed. “I know. I know. But who else would go to these lengths to find their sister?”
“Who hadn’t called us back in over twelve hours. That is why we are here. Next time, answer your damned phone.”
She smiled as she watched him join her other brothers in the SUV, and she watched them drive away. She stood there for a few moments trying to decide if she should hide or face Cooper head on. When she turned, she found him standing on his porch. He said nothing, his face an expressionless mask. It was the same look he gave her the day she left him.
“I guess you want to talk.”
“You guess right.”
He turned and went back into the house. Dread settled in her stomach as her muscles knotted. She didn’t like these kinds of confrontations. Misty liked a good fight, but not one like this. Mainly because she knew she was on the wrong side right now. It wasn’t as if she killed baby seals, but she hadn’t been honest before they ended up in bed again.
Misty squared her shoulders, then followed him inside. After closing the door, she leaned back against it and tried to come up with an explanation. How had everything gone so wrong? Because she had lied. It was always wrong to lie, and she definitely got taught a lesson.
“So, do you want to explain to me why you never told me about your brothers?”
“I did tell you about them. I said I have three older brothers.”
That was a tiny fib. She had said she had brothers, but she hadn’t explained who they were. When Cooper didn’t figure it out by her last name, Misty had just let it slide. It was refreshing being with a man who had no idea who she was. It wasn’t easy dating in the shadow of the Eldridge family name.
“But your brothers are the Eldridge brothers.”
Good lord. He made them sound like rock stars. “They’re just my family. That’s all.”
Why did this make her feel like crying? Oh, yeah, because he was practically yelling at her. Why was he yelling at her? He should be yelling at her idiot brothers.
“Yeah. From one of the biggest ranches in Texas.”
She shrugged. She knew her family was legendary, but they were just family to her. Men especially seemed to fixate on her brothers and the power her family had in Texas. In college, she had learned the hard way that men would try to use her, and with her last name, it was hard to avoid.
She sighed. “They’re just my brothers. My family.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t know.”
“Well, that makes a lot of sense.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, really. I had a hellish time finding a man who wanted me for more than just my last name.”
“Were you ever planning on telling me?”
“Yes. Sometime. I mean, they are my brothers. It was difficult to avoid.”
“But you didn’t tell me for over a year.”
“We were together for six weeks before we decided to get married. Then another six weeks after that. It’s not like we had a lot of time to get to know each other. And, if you remember, I tried to tell you. I tried to get you to come home with me to meet them. You avoided it.”
“Then maybe that was your plan all along.”
The venom in his voice made her blink. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you had no plan of sticking around. I always wondered what had you running so fast.”
“Oh, you wonder? You wonder?”
He nodded.
“Is that your theory today? That I ran away because I didn’t want you to know who I was?”
“Seems to make sense to me.”
“That’s because you’re stupid. If I hadn’t wanted you to know who I was, I wouldn’t have used my real name to begin with.”
“Why the hell did you leave me then?”
She had been scared and she had waned to run away. He was right about that. She had been so afraid of what he would say when he found out about her family. But there was another part of him, a part that had scared her more than that.
“I left because you wouldn’t talk to me. Ever.”
A beat of silence followed her announcement, then he shook his head. “That’s it? If that’s the reason, there would be about a hundred percent divorce rate in the country.”
“Oh, you could talk. Talk about a lot of stuff. And you were really good when sex was involved. But then I realized the man I loved could never show any emotion outside of the bedroom. Hell, I doubt if I had moved up here with you, I would have met anyone you worked with. You wouldn’t share. I couldn’t find out anything else about you, and you refused to meet my family.”
He gave her a sneer that almost had her taking a step back from him. So much anger was in his expression, it made her physically ill.
“You were out the door so fast, how would you have found out? You were probably just slumming it with the fireman.”
“Slumming it? Slumming it?”
“You heard me. Jesus, it was just a good night of sex that stretched out to six weeks, and we made the mistake of getting married. You know as well as I do. We aren’t meant to be together.”
She knew a lot of people would think that way. They would look at her background, her family, and think Cooper wasn’t good enough for her. But he was. He was better than good enough for her. He was strong and smart. At least when he was working. Now, though, he was an idiot. She understood why he was lashing out at her, and part of her understood she deserved it. But even knowing that, it still hurt to have the accusations hurled at her.
“How can you say that?”
“I can say it
easily, Misty. I know women like you. Always jumping one of us for a fun ride for a night or a few weeks. But in the end, you end up back at the country club and guys like me are just a distant memory.”
For a second, she could not speak. Her temper was legendary, but it was worse when she was wounded. He had stabbed her right in the heart, and while he might not see it, she was bleeding. Just like the last time.
“So, you’re on to me. That’s why I flew to Vegas and married you, I guess?”
For a long moment, he stared at her, and she saw something shift in his gaze. Something that made her ache to run to him and tell him that it was all stupid. They were meant to be together and this was just insane.
But the look dissolved into another sneer. There was so much anger in his expression, she almost took a step back from him.
“How do I know? Women like you get their kicks in weird ways.”
“Women like me?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Something cold was now swirling in her stomach, and she couldn’t seem to warm herself. “What kind of woman do you think I am?”
“Rich, entitled, always think you’re owed a good time. And why should you tell the truth to a working-class idiot like me?”
She wanted to yell. She wanted to fight, but she had never seen that particular look in his eyes before. It wasn’t anger…it was hatred. He hated her for her family. Did she already know this would be his reaction? Is this why she had hidden the truth for so long?
That really didn’t matter, did it? What mattered was the look on his face as he watched her. A chill danced through her blood, then spread through her body. Misty didn’t think she had ever been this cold in her life. She would not beg. Not anymore. She did still have her pride, barely. But it was still there.
She gave him what she hoped was a nasty look and shrugged. “Like I said, you’re on to me. Well, I guess there is nothing else to do.”
“What do you mean?”
She went to her purse and pulled out the papers she had brought with her. She held them out to him. “Sign the fucking papers, Cooper. Then I’ll leave.”
He hesitated, clearly unsure of her tone. She didn’t blame him. Right now, Misty couldn’t precisely pin down what she was feeling. She was just numb. He grabbed the papers out of her hand and hobbled over to the table. She didn’t help him, even though every fiber of her being told her to. He turned and handed her the papers. She didn’t look at them.
“I’m going now. Do you need me to call anyone?”
He shook his head.
She walked to the door, then she remembered her rings. She yanked the chain out from beneath her shirt and pulled it over her head. As calmly as she could, she strode back to him and dropped the rings on the table beside him.
“Have a nice life, Cooper,” Misty said. She was thankful her voice didn’t shake and that she hadn’t started to cry. Then, she turned and walked out of the house.
She made it to her car but didn’t know how, then she drove to the hotel where her brothers were staying. It only took her twenty minutes since it was the middle of the day on a weekend. After a text to Chet, she had their room number. Leaving her car with the valet, she took the elevators up to the suite level of the hotel and then to their room. The door opened before she could knock. Smith was standing there, with Chet and Ryan behind him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth.”
Smith shook his head and opened his arms. At the moment, she let the pain and anger take over. Tears poured down her face as she took the comfort her brother offered her. Tomorrow she’d figure out what was going to happen, but right now, she just needed this.
Chapter Ten
C ooper spent a long night fighting the need to go find his wife—soon to be ex-wife—and hating himself for wanting to find her. He picked up his phone to call her more than a dozen times. And more than once he had dialed her number. He had hung up before she had answered, though. She never called back.
He knew he could call Mike, but he didn’t want to talk to anyone about what had happened. At the moment, he didn’t know how to explain the situation he was in. Hell, he still hadn’t worked through all the emotions that had made him be such a bastard to Misty.
He only wanted to be alone and drink, but he couldn’t even do that. He had to make sure he didn’t mess with the pain meds they had him on. When a man couldn’t get drunk to forget losing the woman he loved…that was just wrong. He turned off the TV and then sat in his chair staring at his reflection on the monitor. He knew he was sinking into a depression and the woman hadn’t been gone for even a whole damned day.
There was a knock at the door, and Cooper wanted to ignore it. He just wanted to sit there and feel sorry for himself. But, whoever it was, they wouldn’t go away. He lifted himself out of the chair and hobbled over to peer out the peephole. Of course, it was one of his brothers-in-law. Smith, the oldest and meanest one. He opened the door.
“She’s not here.”
“I know,” he said, he pointed over his shoulder, and it was then that Cooper saw Misty’s car. “She showed up at our hotel and has been crying all over us.”
Cooper realized it was raining, so he stepped back. “Come on in.”
“So, you decided to finally divorce my sister,” Smith said, as he eyed Cooper as though he were a snake.
“Yeah, I thought you would be happy about it.”
The older man said nothing for a long moment, then he sighed. “That girl has been moping around the hotel room since she left here. No, I’m not happy about it.”
Cooper shook his head. He’d had enough of the Eldridge siblings and their insane behavior. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s like she was when she showed back up at the ranch eight months ago. Moping around as if her favorite dog had died. It took her months just to get back to normal. Well, somewhat normal. She hasn’t been feisty in a long time.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s because of you. When I first found out about the marriage, I wasn’t all that happy.”
“Yeah, remember. I was there.”
He shook his head and sat down on the sofa. “You think I didn’t know about my sister getting married until I came here?” He snorted. “Please. My sister drops off the face of the earth for a few months, you think I’m not going to go hunting for her?”
He studied his brother-in-law. “I guess not.”
“If you had family, I bet you would do the same. When I found out she married you without telling us, I was pissed. Beyond pissed.”
And he saw it there. When their parents had died, Smith had become her father figure. He had thought it earlier, but now he understood even more. He felt responsible for the girl he had raised. “And your feelings were hurt.”
“Not at first. See, Misty didn’t always have the best choice in boyfriends. There was that one in high school. Brent. He was a douche.”
Cooper couldn’t help himself. He laughed.
“Then, her college boyfriend. Good lord, he was a loser. But there was one thing about them that told me they didn’t stand a chance at lasting with my sister.”
“Yeah, what was that?”
“She pushed them around.”
“She’s a pushy woman.”
He smiled. “Yeah, but see, they were afraid to push back. You aren’t. You stand up for yourself and Misty likes that.”
“She has a funny way of showing it.”
“She came here, didn’t she? She didn’t have to.” Before he could respond, Smith continued. “I checked you out when I found out about the marriage. No kin to speak of, but you have a long record here in Texas. Everyone speaks highly of you. Good man. That is how they described you. So…I let it go. I figured she’d show up with you in a few weeks and introduce us.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No. She showed up alone, crying all the time. God, the woman makes the worst crier. Have you ever seen it? Been that way
since she was a kid. And snotty. So much snot. It is ugly and it makes me unhappy. Then I have to deal with Chet, who can’t stand to see any woman cry.”
“She doesn’t cry.”
Smith shook his head. “Son, you need to learn a thing or two about women. They will cry on someone else’s shoulder if they’re afraid of rejection.”
He narrowed his gaze at him. “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you married?”
“Because I am smart. Relationships are too much trouble.”
There was a commotion outside. A car door slammed, then there was a lot of yelling. He turned toward the door, but Smith caught his attention.
“Good, they made it,” Smith said. “Now, she’s not happy with us, but truth is, the woman needs to accept that she’s going to be married to you. You love each other, and well, we don’t want her.”
Cooper blinked. “What?”
“We brought her back. Once you fix this, you’re more than welcome to come live at the ranch. You can do your recuperation there. And we have a local fire department that is always in need of experienced men and women. But if you want to come back up here, we’re cool with that too. She can do most of her work from here. She proved that these last weeks.”
“But, she doesn’t want to be married to me.”
“Good God, man. The woman has been crying nonstop since she left here yesterday. She cried when she left you before. I can’t take it. I don’t have the time. I have a damned ranch to run and things to do. She’s your problem now, so take care of it.”
Just then, the door burst open with such force, it flew back and hit the wall, bouncing off it. Damn, there was probably going to be a damned hole in the wall.
“If you don’t put me down right now, Ryan Frederick Eldridge, I’m going to make you pay for it.”
Ryan said nothing, but he set her down.
“Where’s Chet?” Smith asked.
“In the SUV. He said he couldn’t take any more of her whining.”
“You pig-headed goat.”
“You have to pick one animal, sis,” Smith said with a smile. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Call if you need anything.”
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