Love's Lingering Doubts (Love's Texas Homecoming Boo 1; First Street Church #9)

by Sharon Hughson

  “This sheet of paper changes everything,” Sheriff Grant said when she’d barged into his coffee break at Mabel’s. By now, everyone in town knew the latest development.

  The game-changing page lay innocently on her passenger seat. Bailey’s dad had come through for them. In his own handwriting, he bequeathed the ranch and the personal property on it to his children.

  I know of a blood relative who will make a claim, but Honey Campbell (or whatever her married name might be) has no business on my property.

  Jaz could feel the malice through the rough cross on that final T, and having met the woman in question, she understood it, too.

  Finally, the archway marking the ranch drive came in sight. She slowed and turned onto the rutted road. A white Jeep blocked the stairs to the porch.

  Jaz stopped her car behind Bailey’s truck under the breezeway connecting the barn and shed. The thrill of competition rolled through her stomach as she snatched up the precious will and scrambled out of the car.

  Bailey and Honey faced off to the side of the paddock. Tess rushed outside, sending the screen door banging against the house.

  Bailey’s crossed arms emphasized his firm biceps. Jaz blinked and focused on Honey, still parading in the too-tight navy-blue dress and stilt-like heels from the funeral. Her arms flailed like branches in a windstorm, but Bailey’s face was stone.

  “Jazlyn.” Tess latched onto her arm. “Is that it?”

  Jaz handed her the paper they’d been turning their world upside down to locate. As the pale blue eyes stared at the page, tears welled and spilled. Tess caught them with her fingers before they could mar the paper.

  “Let’s get rid of her.” Jaz stepped forward, and Tess matched her pace.

  The police cruiser turned into the driveway.

  Jaz marched up to Honey and planted herself between the woman and Bailey. “Time for you to leave.”

  Tess waved the yellow page.

  “I’m not leaving.” Honey’s garish mouth hardened.

  Jaz stiffened and edged closer, the toes of her sandals touching the points on the uncomfortable-looking pumps. “This will clearly bequeaths this property—land and personal effects—to Bailey and Tess.”

  “They’re nobodies. I’m Fritz’s niece.”

  Tess cleared her throat. “Honey Campbell, right?”

  The woman bobbed her head.

  “Dad mentioned you in the will, too.”

  The lined eyebrows screwed up, and the hot pink lips formed an O. “Let me see.”

  Jaz intercepted Tess’s hand as she tried to make the exchange. Sheriff Grant strolled up to the group.

  “Miz Campbell, you seem to be a smart lady. Let’s not have any trouble.” The sheriff tipped his hat at Tess.

  Honey stepped back and fluttered her eyelashes at the lawman. “I’m mentioned in the will, and she—” Honey made an angry gesture toward Jaz. “—Won’t let me see it.”

  Jaz handed the document to the sheriff. “This is the original, sir. I couldn’t let her take it and possibly try to destroy it.”

  A sneer twisted the woman’s pink mouth. Jaz had been around her share of people who attempted to destroy evidence, and Honey fit the type.

  “She won’t try anything in my presence.” The sheriff glared with sternness. “Besides, there’s a photocopy at my office.”

  Honey snatched the paper from the sheriff. Her heavily mascaraed eyes scanned down the page. Jaz knew when she read the portion of the will addressed to her because her teeth ground together.

  “Well, I never.” She dropped the paper like it was contaminated.

  Jaz snagged it from the air.

  Honey turned a false smile on Tess. “You still need investors for your little guest ranch.” The syrupy drawl was back. “I’d be happy to partner with you.”

  Tess huffed and crossed her arms.

  Bailey edged up beside Jaz. “Thank you.” He added his own drawl, allowing an extra-long pause before saying, “But no thank you.”

  Honey’s vicious fingernails dug into the side of her legs. Sheriff Grant gestured toward their vehicles.

  “After you, ma’am.”

  Honey glared at each of them in turn, her eyes narrowing dangerously at Jaz. “This is no way to treat family.”

  Jaz blinked and innocently widened her eyes. “Since you say they aren’t your family, what did you expect?”

  Honey huffed. The sheriff placed a large hand on her shoulder. Together, they marched toward the house.

  Moments later, Honey’s engine revved and the Jeep bounced like popping corn down the drive. The sheriff followed at a more sedate pace, raising his hand to them.

  Tess squealed and spun around. She brushed past Jaz and hurled herself against Bailey’s chest. He caught her.

  A sense of isolation pinged against Jaz as her lips trembled into a smile at the joyful sight. Tess and Bailey deserved a little happiness.

  Tess whirled and hugged Jaz, knocking her back a step. A waft of vanilla embraced Jaz, who gripped Tess’s sides to keep from crashing to the ground. She patted Tess between the shoulders. Behind her, Bailey’s sexy half-grin parted his kissable lips, and a shudder rumbled through her.

  “I’m going to call the investors.” Tess narrowed her eyes at Bailey, flashing a sibling communique his way. When she turned back, her smile widened. “We can never thank you enough.” Another glare at Bailey. “Although Bailey is about to give it his best shot.”

  The girl dislodged the will from Jaz’s grip and trotted toward the house.

  Bailey shuffled from foot to foot. “So, thank you.” He stared over her shoulder as the words tumbled out.

  Jaz crossed her arms. “That is not your best shot.”

  He closed his eyes. Praying? When his eyelids opened, those gem-like orbs riveted to her face. “There are no words.” He glanced to her mouth.

  Jaz stepped toward him, and he closed the remaining distance. He gently braced her shoulders instead of sweeping her into his arms. Jaz furrowed her brow and gave him a questioning stare.

  Troubled waters stirred behind his eyes. The man thought too much.

  Jaz slid her hands behind his neck, pushed onto her tiptoes, and pulled his face down. His mouth responded to hers. Shivers pelted her stomach. She inched closer until their chests molded together.

  She lost herself in the taste of him—honey and sweet grass. Their lips melded, and her face flushed. The kiss rendered her senseless.

  With a groan, he stepped back. Her hands slid across the top of his shoulders and down his muscular arms, stopping on his forearms. His rancher hands burned into the skin at her waist. Jaz blinked the stars out of her vision, and his serious expression pummeled her.

  “I like the way you show your appreciation.”

  His fingers tightened for a moment before relaxing again. His breath feathered across her cheekbone. “I know you’re not staying.”

  The words scorched away the haze of pleasure inspired by his kiss. That’s the conversation he wanted to have?

  “Deena isn’t expecting me until next Saturday.” His jaw clenched, and she laced her fingers through his. “Austin’s not that far away.”

  Bailey tugged her toward the paddock fence, leaning on the freshly painted white rails. The brilliance made the peeling barn seem even shabbier.

  “There’s so much work around here. Tess wants to open this summer, and I don’t know how…” He stared at the dappled gray horse tugging grass from under the bottom rail at the far side of the corral.

  “What was she saying about investors?” Jaz leaned her hip against his, needing to touch him.

  “She’s lined up some silent partners. Owners of the resort she worked at. But what she needs is people to move walls, mend fences, and repair these buildings.” He motioned with his free hand.

  Unease limped into her gut. Was this a letdown speech?

  “And the horses we have aren’t right for green riders.” He shoved his hat higher on his head and shifted
an inch away from Jaz.

  Her hand tensed in his. I’m so stupid.

  “It’s a relief that you won’t have to fight for the ranch, then.” Her eyes darted in his direction.

  He shrugged. “Tess’s dream isn’t ruined.”

  “What about your dreams, Bailey?”

  His thumb flicked across the back of her hand, sending a lightning-strike of awareness up her arm. She ground her teeth.

  “I’m her brother. She needs me to run the ranching part of things.” He glanced toward Jaz and away.

  “Brothers can have their own dreams.” The words nudged the secret “Drew closet” of her heart. He joined the Army and put himself on the line for others. Was Bailey the kind who never left home?

  “Maybe someday.” His tone said he didn’t believe it.

  She squeezed his hand and tugged him closer. Their gazes collided, knocking her windless. But his eyes whispered the truth.

  Something hot bubbled from a chasm that had long been empty.

  “Tell me what you really want, Bailey.” Her fierce whisper broke on his name. She gritted her back teeth and ordered her emotions to cease fire.

  His face lowered to hers. The gentle brush of his lips exploded in tingles along hers. His grip tightened, and she returned the squeeze. His mouth lifted a centimeter, and hot breath caressed her face and neck. She stilled her fluttering eyelids.

  He kissed her again, a firm, decisive motion that didn’t linger. “I want you to be free.” His gruff voice awakened the beast in her chest.

  “What do you want? Not for Tess or for me. For you.” She glared at him, but his gaze strayed toward the ground.

  She pulled her hand free and used both hands to force his chin up. His eyes were a barren sea. Her pounding heart fled into her stomach, and she nearly gasped at the physical pain seeing his raw grief caused.

  “To do my duty.”

  Jaz understood about that. She’d joined the military to fulfill a sense of duty to her brother. She came home because her mother expected it. But dreams and duty couldn’t coexist. She wanted acceptance and an opportunity to help people.

  She blinked and bit back a barrage of words. It wasn’t her place to berate him. Who was she to determine what would make him happy? Not the woman who completed a man. A lifetime of experiences proved that.

  Jaz kissed his chin, close enough to his lips that she felt them tremble. “You know where to find me.” She held her breath. Please, God, aren’t I worth loving?

  When he blinked and dipped his head, shading his eyes from her sight, she heard the loudspeaker announcement.

  Goodbye. It was always goodbye.

  12

  The Subaru kicked up dust, and a tether on his heart tugged Bailey toward the woman inside. When the car turned the bend on Armstrong Road, the thread of longing snapped against him with physical force. He gulped and massaged the aching spot on his chest.

  Shamgar snorted, spooked by the sudden movement. The horse tossed his head and danced away from the fence. Bailey’s frame folded against the rail. The barn dogs circled his legs, whining.

  The screen door slammed. A few moments later, Poppet scratched at his ankle. Bailey’s arms were too heavy to reach for the dog.

  Another grunt sounded behind him before Tess punched his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

  Bailey glowered at her, but without heat. Emptiness swelled to fill the hole Jaz left behind, an abyss deeper than when MaryAnn died. He hadn’t experienced anything so devastating for twenty years. Nothing could hurt as much as hearing his grandmother pass him off to the state because he was too much trouble. Until now.

  Shamgar trotted to the far side of the paddock.

  “I’m standing here with my sister.”

  “Don’t be a jerk.” Tess faced him, arms hugging her waist. “You shouldn’t have let her leave.”

  The words were like a slam to his heart.

  “She has a job. In Austin.”

  “Did you even ask her to stay?”

  Poppet whimpered at his feet. Wide brown eyes stared up at him. Bailey crouched to tousle the dog’s ears. She leaned into his knees, eyes closing in pleasure.

  “Why would she stay here?”

  Tess huffed. “Because she’s falling for you. Because you two make a great couple.”

  Pressure built in his chest. A couple? He wished. But it was safer for her to avoid his whirlpool of doom.

  “Sweet Grove is just a stopping point for her. She doesn’t want to live here.”

  Tess tossed her hands in the air. “So go to Austin.”

  Bailey patted Poppet’s head and stood. “I can’t leave you, Tess. You’re the only family I have left.”

  His sister glared at him, her light blue eyes glinting with icy resolve. This was something new, something she’d learned in the years away from him. What happened to the easygoing girl who wanted to please everyone?

  “I love you, Lee, but you’re being an idiot.”

  Heat flushed his neck. “Standing by my family is idiotic? I don’t think so.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Not when you’re all I’ve got.”

  Her hand gripped his forearm, cool somehow in the gathering heat of the day. “And you’ll still have me if you’re in Austin. Right? We didn’t stop being family while you were in college.” She squeezed. “Or I was.”

  The ranch was his responsibility. She had a solid business plan, but it would take a ton of work before she could make a profit.

  “You don’t need my help to get ready for guests?” He blinked. “Didn’t you say I’d be the one in charge of the dude ranch aspect?”

  She shrugged. “I can work it out. Mr. Wells and his son have been helpful.”

  “For a fee.”

  She pinched his arm. “Stop changing the subject. I’m a big girl. I can handle a guest ranch.”

  “The bills won’t pay themselves while you’re fixing things up.”

  Her glare could have frozen a steaming pot of coffee. “This isn’t about me. It’s about you.” She swallowed, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I want you to be happy.”

  Bailey hugged her to his chest. Happy? What did that even feel like? His entire life had been about making himself useful so he wouldn’t be sent away. There had been moments when the weight of responsibility had pressed so hard he could barely draw a breath, but not on the ranch. Not since his mother died.

  Tess stepped out of his arms. She shook his shoulders. Or tried. Her petite frame wasn’t moving him. “Does Jazlyn Rolle make you happy?”

  Life sparked in his chest. His stomach bounced into his heart. She made him feel alive in too many ways to count.

  Tess grinned. “The way your eyes lit up tells me all I need to know.” She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the house.

  “Tess,” he chided, but followed anyway because he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “You’re going to get in your truck and drive over to her house. You’re going to ask her to stay.”

  His heart plunged into free fall. “She won’t.”

  Tess stopped and shoved his shoulder. “You’re blind. I see the way she looks at you.”

  His pulse pounded. He hadn’t imagined those heated gazes. It seemed like wishful thinking to hope someone as smart and beautiful as Jaz would see anything worthwhile in him. He gulped.

  Tess jerked open the door of his truck. “Go already.”

  The pounding increased inside his skull. He couldn’t do this. For too many reasons to calculate, but two rose to the surface.

  “She’s better off without me.” He shrugged off his sister’s grip. “And her dream isn’t in Sweet Grove. I’m not asking her to give it up.”

  He’d walked away from his design job so Tess could attend college. It was what he did for the people he loved.

  The people he loved? Pale green eyes and a squared-off chin flashed before his eyes. His heart skidded against his flipping stomach. Fine. Maybe he did think he was half in love with her, bu
t that was all the more reason to let her go.

  Tess circled him and yanked his arm again. This time she marched them toward the house.

  “I can walk.”

  “But not in the right direction. Or fast enough to keep Jaz from getting away.”

  Bailey stopped, and Tess’s hand slipped off his arm. “What are you talking about now?”

  Tess twirled and slammed her hands on her hips. “Get upstairs and pack a bag. Then go to her house and ask her if you can go with her.”

  His jaw dropped. “You’re addle pated.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m the only one who’s seeing sense here.”

  “We haven’t even dated, and you want me to move to Austin with her?”

  Tess shook her head. “Not like that.” She stomped up the steps.

  Bailey followed, Poppet at his heels. His sister had lost her mind if she thought Bailey could move two hours away with a girl he’d only been hanging out with for a couple weeks. And yet, his lips buzzed at the memory of the searing lip-lock they’d shared at Mill Pond and the ones by the paddock.

  He thrust the visions away and caught the screen door before it slammed in his face. Tess marched straight down the hall to the study. Bailey and Poppet trailed her.

  She whirled on him, hip resting against the side of the big oak desk. “You weren’t planning to stay here when Dad passed. Tell me the truth.”

  Bailey’s throat dried. What did his plans matter? He shook his head because his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

  She snatched the drawings for the farmhouse renovations and additions to the barn from the desk. “You love drawing plans, using your education to design things. When you showed me this—“ Her voice cut off and moisture sprung to the corner of her eyes.

  He stepped forward, arms outstretched. She backed away, holding the plans like a shield.

  “The only time I’ve seen this spark is when you’re working with the animals, drawing these changes, and when you’re with Jaz.” She lowered the plans. “Bailey, I want you to be happy.”

  The words strained past the lump in his throat. “I’m not leaving you.”

  She straightened to her full five feet three inches. “I don’t want you here.”