“Like you?”
“Yes, just like me. It’s just that so many people think they know everything about me that I hold my close friends to a different standard,” she said. “They really have my back.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. He wanted to be cool and just make small talk, but he had never been that kind of guy. He was someone who got answers; it was what made him so good at his job. He solved problems and helped companies by researching their digital imprint and finding ways to clean up the bad stuff.
“I’m glad you’re glad,” she said, a soft smile playing around her lips.
“I stink at small talk,” he said.
“You do,” she agreed. “What’s on your mind?”
“Why did you come to Cole’s Hill?”
Her face lost all color and she chewed her lower lip before wrinkling her nose and sort of shaking her head. “I’m not ready to talk to you about that yet.”
So it was something... But what?
* * *
Scarlet enjoyed meeting the Velasquez family and their friends. During the lunch, Alec took a lot of good-natured ribbing from his family members about pretending to be Mo. Scarlet wished she could laugh about it but she wasn’t there yet.
After they were done eating, Alec’s nephew, Benito, and Penny, the daughter of Kinley and Nate Caruthers, wanted to ride the ponies, so the group went back downstairs so the kids could ride. Billie was deep in conversation with Ferrin Caruthers, the daughter of illustrious college football coach Gainer.
“Hey, Scarlet, come over here,” Hadley called out.
She sat down next to Hadley, who was engaged in an intense conversation with her sister and her sister’s fiancé. Hadley leaned closer to Scarlet. “So, I figure you and I are the only ones who don’t think the fact that Mo and Alec switched places is funny.”
“Yeah. I mean I get that this family likes to joke but it was kind of a dumb thing for grown men to do,” Scarlet said.
“I agree. Do you know why they did it?”
“No. Alec has promised to tell me when we’re alone,” she said.
“Well, it’s totally Mo’s fault. You should know that to begin with. He got sick with food poisoning and didn’t want to cancel. So, he asked Alejandro to accept the award for him, and read the prepared speech.”
“It sounds so reasonable when you say it like that,” she said softly, almost to herself.
“It does. But, of course, I saw the photo of the two of you kissing and I thought it was Mo. He and I have some history, so it caused problems for us. Once we talked, I got why they did it, but it still hurt to see his name and yours linked together everywhere on social media,” Hadley said. “I think... I can’t speak for Alec but once he realized the photo was everywhere, he rushed to Mo to try to fix things. Still, I know that doesn’t make him a good guy in your eyes.”
Scarlet leaned back in the chair and tipped her head up to stare at the summer sky. It was hot, and she felt sticky and tired. Hearing Hadley’s explanation of the lie didn’t make her feel better. She was more confused than ever.
Alec should have said something to her at some point that night.
“Thanks for sharing that with me,” she said, realizing that Hadley was waiting for a response from her.
“It didn’t help, did it?”
“No. I’m still ticked.”
“Me, too,” Hadley said. “Half the town thinks I took Mo back after he kissed you.”
“They think we just kissed?” Scarlet asked.
“Well, probably more, but I’m not giving them any of my time. The thing with Mo and me is more complicated because we have a long relationship. So, I’ve definitely seen the real guy behind the hottie that everyone in the town thinks he is. I’ve seen him angry and sad and apologetic. He’s real to me. I don’t think that Alec is that way for you yet.”
“He’s not,” Scarlet admitted. “I don’t know that he ever will be.”
“If you need someone to talk to,” Hadley said, “I’m here. In fact, I’m hosting book club at the Bull Pen on Friday night if you want to join us.”
“What’s the Bull Pen? What book are you reading?”
“It’s a bar and music hall on the outskirts of Cole’s Hill. We never read a book but just call it book club so our moms won’t be on us about going out too much. Funny how a weekly book club is fine, but drinks aren’t.”
Scarlet had to smile at the way Hadley said it. “Who will be there?”
“Let’s see. My best friends, Zuri and Belle, and Helena if her fiancé, Malcolm, is working late,” Hadley said. “You can bring Billie if you want.”
“Let me talk to her and see if she wants to come. My friend Siobahn is here with me, as well,” Scarlet said. “Your book club sounds like her kind of thing.”
“Great. So, I’ll put you down as a maybe.” Hadley reached for her phone. “What’s your cell? I’ll text you, so we can keep in touch.”
After Hadley sent her her number, Scarlet realized she was starving. She hadn’t been able to eat at the buffet mainly because everyone at the table had been asking her questions and her stomach was in knots. But now she wanted to eat.
“Do you know where I can get something to eat here?”
“I’m heading there now.”
“Scarlet, this is my sister, Helena,” Hadley said. “Hel, this is Scarlet O’Malley.”
“Hello, I love your show. And I have to be honest—you’re gorgeous in person,” Helena said.
“Thank you,” Scarlet said. “Your fiancé is playing with the Velasquez team?”
“Yes,” Helena said. “He grew up hanging out with the Velasquez brothers.”
“There was tons of food left from the brunch. Come on, I’ll show you the kitchen.” She followed Hadley and found Bianca was already in there eating a plate of enchiladas.
“Busted,” Bianca said. “I’m going to be on a water and carrot stick diet after I give birth but right now I don’t even care.”
Hadley, Helena and Scarlet laughed with Bianca as she took a huge bite of her food. Scarlet made herself a plate.
Hadley left the kitchen to take a call. Bianca wiped her mouth as Scarlet and Helena sat down next to her and started eating. She was so hungry she ate too quickly, and she didn’t realize it until she felt the food start to come back up.
Crap.
Glancing around trying to find the bathroom, she got out of chair, pushing it back too forcefully. Bianca glanced over at her as she tried to be cool and walk out of the room, but she felt the bile in back of her throat and no amount of swallowing was going to keep this down. She looked around and saw the sink. She ran toward it, getting there just as she threw up. This was the worst. She rinsed her mouth and straightened, taking the towel that Bianca was holding out to her and Helena had gotten her a cup of water.
“So... How far along are you?” Bianca asked.
“What are you talking about?” Scarlet knew there was a slim chance that Bianca was going to let her get away with pretending she wasn’t pregnant.
“Okay. I guess it was the pork. Sometimes it doesn’t agree with me. Especially when I’m meeting new people,” Helena said.
“No,” she said, not wanting to add another lie to her life right now. “You were right. I’m six weeks...maybe seven. When was that gala in Houston?”
“No wonder you were so upset when you found out he lied,” Bianca said.
“Yeah. I’m not sure if I should tell him or not,” Scarlet said. “I know you don’t know me, but would you mind keeping this between us for now?”
“You have my word,” Bianca said. “And my ear if you need a friend.”
Scarlet nodded. She hadn’t expected to find women like the ones she’d met here in Cole’s Hill. No one wanted her social connections or felt the need to be catty; instead they seeme
d to just accept her as she was.
For the first time in her life, someone else was really depending on her. Not for a paycheck or entrée into another world, but for something way more important. She needed all of the emotional support she could get as she tried to figure out what kind of man Alec was and if he’d be a good father to their unborn child.
Four
This day wasn’t going at all the way he planned. And when he felt someone tugging at the hem of his blazer and looked down to see Penny, his five-year-old niece, he knew the surprises weren’t over.
“What’s up?” he asked as he stooped down to bring himself to her eye level.
“Tio, can girls play polo?” Penny asked.
“Yes, they can,” he answered her. “Why do you ask?”
“Daddy said girls can’t.”
Oh. Polo was a dangerous sport and he could understand why Nate wouldn’t want his daughter to play, but he had a feeling Kinley would lose it if she heard that Nate had said girls couldn’t play.
He figured Nate for a smarter man than that.
“Let’s go find your daddy and I’ll show him some of the safety equipment that’s available. I think he just wants you to be safe,” Alec said, standing and taking Penny’s hand in his as he walked over to where Nate and Kinley were talking to Bart and some of the other players.
“Daddy, Tio Alec said girls can play polo,” Penny announced as they joined the group.
“Did you tell her girls couldn’t?” Kinley asked.
“No. I didn’t say that. I said she couldn’t because it’s not safe. I even showed her a video of Zaria playing,” Nate said, bending over to look his daughter in the eye. “Didn’t I?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Penny said. “But Beni can play.”
“His uncles are teaching him. And right now, he has to ride with one of them every time,” Nate said.
“But I’m a better rider,” Penny said.
“Maybe so, scamp, but for right now that’s the rule,” Nate said, scooping her into his arms and standing up.
“I’m happy to have you ride with me, Penny,” Alec said.
“Can I?”
“We’ll discuss it at home,” Kinley said.
Penny made a face at Kinley and looked very unhappy. “You lied about what Daddy said, girlie. You know that there has to be a consequence.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Penny said.
As the three of them left the group, Alec noticed Scarlet watching him and realized he had no idea what she expected of him. They were strangers. It didn’t matter that he knew about the birthmark on the small of her back just above her buttocks or that he couldn’t forget the way her tongue felt in his mouth when they kissed. They were still strangers.
Intimate strangers.
He needed to change that. Well, need might be too strong a word, but he wanted to change that. He wanted to know her better and to find out why she was here.
“Ladies,” he said as he approached them. “Scarlet, would you like to spend the afternoon with me so we can have a chance to talk?”
Billie stepped closer to Scarlet. Scarlet hugged her friend and then smiled at her. “Why don’t you go home and I’ll meet you there.”
“Sure. But if you change your mind, text me and I’ll come and get you.”
Billie walked away but not before giving Alec a warning glance.
“I think it’s safe to say she doesn’t like me,” Alec said.
“Yeah, I think so,” Scarlet said. “So what did you have in mind?”
“I can give you a tour of the town. We have a nice Main Street with one-of-a-kind boutiques. Or we can take a drive out toward my family’s ranch, Arbol Verde,” he said. “Or we can go back to my place and I’ll have my housekeeper make us an afternoon snack and we can sit by the pool and talk.”
He thought he might be pushing it by inviting her back to his house but he wanted a chance to really be able to talk to her and clear up the mess he’d made. But he didn’t want to coerce her or rush her in any way.
“Hmm... I’m not sure,” she said.
“I’m not trying to pressure you but I have to go to Seattle in the morning to meet with one of my clients and I’ll be gone until Saturday, so if we don’t talk today... I’m not sure how long you will be here,” he said.
“Fair enough. I’ve rented a home here temporarily,” she said. “After seeing the town, it seems like a good place to invest. It’s growing fast and I don’t have any property in this part of Texas.”
“It is a good place to invest.” But something about her interest in buying here didn’t ring true. She didn’t have a reputation for hanging out in small Texas towns. She was more about big-city, red-carpet events. But he wasn’t going to question her. He was simply glad she was here. “So should we go to my place?” he asked.
“Uh, no,” she said. “I don’t even know you, Alec. I mean, the first time we met you lied about you who you were.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “I just thought someplace private might be better so we could talk and get to know each other. But I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. I really screwed up, Scarlet, and if there’s anything I can do to make this better, I want to fix it.”
“Where is your house?” she asked. “A conversation someplace where we have our privacy might be good.”
“I have a house in the newer section of the Five Families neighborhood. I just finished renovating it.”
“I’d love to see your home,” she said. “My house is in the Five Families, as well.”
“It’s a really nice community. But I’m sure I don’t have to sell you on the amenities. Who was your Realtor?”
“Helena’s fiancé. Small world, huh?”
“Definitely. I think I’m related to everyone in this town either by blood or marriage,” he said. “And it’s not just my family. All of the five families are like that.”
“What are the five families?” she asked as they walked to his car. He opened the passenger door of his Maserati and helped her in as he told her about the members of the original five families who’d founded Cole’s Hill. His ancestor Javier Velasquez had been a rancher in the area thanks to a land grant from the Spanish king before Jacob Cole, for whom the town was named, settled here with his stepdaughter, Bejamina Little. The other three families were the Carutherses, whose ancestor Tully Caruthers and his sister, Ethel, had built a house where the Five Families clubhouse stood today; the Abernathys, who’d been rustlers before settling down and becoming ranchers; and the Grahams. Their ancestor had been the undertaker, and his descendants had turned their old ranch on the outskirts of town into a microbrewery.
Cole’s Hill had history and charm, and as he drove through the small town toward the Five Families neighborhood she saw families walking together on Main Street. She wanted that for her child. This kind of slow-paced, ideal life. And Alec, even though he’d lied to her, seemed to be a decent guy after all.
The kind of a guy who might even be a good father, but was she simply fooling herself again? Seeing what she wanted to see in him? She wasn’t going to take a chance on her child’s future. Alec Velasquez was going to have to prove to her the kind of man he was.
* * *
Scarlet walked around Alec’s pool while he spoke to his housekeeper about preparing some food. Apparently he hadn’t had a chance to eat at lunch, either, because his family had been questioning him about her. As far as she was concerned, that was his own fault, so she couldn’t muster much sympathy for him.
She took her strappy sandals off and walked barefoot on the pool deck, which was smooth and warm under feet. She took off the hat she’d been wearing at the polo grounds as well, tossing it on the coffee table in the conversation area of the patio. There was a solid stone fireplace, surrounded by a love seat and large armchairs. There was even a dining area in the shad
e of some large oak trees. The pool was magnificent; it had a two-tiered water feature that kept the water flowing and a separate hot tub in an elevated corner nearby.
The yard was lush and looked like a lush, landscaped paradise nestled right in the heart of southern Texas. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected of Alec... Well, honestly nothing, but this still surprised her. She thought it was because he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d lie about who he was.
She remembered Hadley’s explanation. That Mauricio had been violently ill... And she wanted to believe that was the truth. But she was still hurt. And it didn’t explain why Alec hadn’t come clean once they’d been together.
It was just one example of the universe having a laugh at her expense. She knew that she was being melodramatic but hey, she was pregnant by a stranger in a town where she really knew only two people, so she felt justified.
She glanced at her watch, wondering what she was doing here. Usually she followed her whims, and though Tara had said that it was the same as following your instinct, Scarlet had never truly believed that. She always felt like she was jumping from one extreme situation to the next.
And this calm and tranquil backyard didn’t feel right. It was actually too serene. Too...weird. She needed to hear horns blaring, the thumping base beat of her DJ neighbor trying out some new tracks or even just the sound of Billie talking out loud to herself.
If her intent in coming to Cole’s Hill was to find someone to help her decide what to do about her situation, she was pretty sure Alec was the one.
Don’t ask for answers if you’re not going to listen. Tara’s voice danced through her mind.
She just shook her head. She wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable.
It would be easier if she saw some signs of Alec’s depravity or anything that she could latch on to get mad at him about so she could just leave and then make her own decisions about the baby.
She looked around the backyard. Alec had a nice house. It was the kind of place she would have loved as a child. There was a willow branch tunnel on one side that she and Tara would have loved to explore as girls. The O’Malley gardens had all been formal, laid out in the style of Versailles, so there hadn’t been any hidden spots to play.
One Night, Two Secrets (One Night Book 2; Velasquez Brothers Book 3 Page 4
