Texas-Sized Trouble
Delores Fossen
A local girl comes home to face the cowboy from her past—and finally claim her future…Lawson Granger loved Eve Cooper once, but her dreams were grander than anything his Texas-cowboy destiny could provide. Letting her walk out of his life and into television stardom was a mistake he made eighteen years ago. Now everything’s changed. Eve is back—pregnant and desperate for someplace to hide. And their desire is just as stubborn as they are.Escaping to the comforts of home is Eve’s one shot at giving her baby a safe life. Earning Lawson’s trust is her one chance at making amends for the past. But the long-buried secrets and unintentional damage she fled from aren’t far behind. When the truth finds her, she’ll stand to lose the man she loves and the only place she's ever called home…this time forever.
A local girl comes home to face the cowboy from her past—and finally claim her future...
Lawson Granger loved Eve Cooper once, but her dreams were grander than anything his Texas-cowboy destiny could provide. Letting her walk out of his life and into television stardom was a mistake he made eighteen years ago. Now everything’s changed. Eve is back—pregnant and desperate for someplace to hide. And their desire is just as stubborn as they are.
Escaping to the comforts of home is Eve’s one shot at giving her baby a safe life. Earning Lawson’s trust is her one chance at making amends for the past. But the long-buried secrets and unintentional damage she fled from aren’t far behind. When the truth finds her, she stands to lose the man she loves and the only place she’s ever called home...this time forever.
Also available from Delores Fossen
and HQN Books
A Wrangler’s Creek Novel
Lone Star Cowboy (ebook novella)
Those Texas Nights
One Good Cowboy (ebook novella)
No Getting Over a Cowboy
Just Like a Cowboy (ebook novella)
Branded as Trouble
Cowboy Dreaming (ebook novella)
Texas-Sized Trouble
The McCord Brothers
What Happens on the Ranch (ebook novella)
Texas on My Mind
Cowboy Trouble (ebook novella)
Lone Star Nights
Cowboy Underneath It All (ebook novella)
Blame It on the Cowboy
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Texas-Sized Trouble/Cowboy Dreaming
Texas-Sized Trouble
Delores Fossen
Cowboy Dreaming
Delores Fossen
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08230-3
TEXAS-SIZED TROUBLE/COWBOY DREAMING
Texas-Sized Trouble © 2018 Delores Fossen Cowboy Dreaming © 2017 Delores Fossen
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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Praise for USA TODAY
bestselling author Delores Fossen
“This is much more than a romance.”
—RT Book Reviews on Branded as Trouble
“Nicky and Garret have sizzling chemistry!”
—RT Book Reviews on No Getting Over a Cowboy
“Clear off space on your keeper shelf, Fossen has arrived.”
—New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde
“Delores Fossen takes you on a wild Texas ride with a hot cowboy.”
—New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels
“You will be sold!”
—RT Book Reviews on Blame It on the Cowboy
“This...series...has gotten better and better with each new installment.”
—RT Book Reviews on Holden, part of
The Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch miniseries
Table of Contents
Cover (#u2efed550-1013-5dcf-af9b-e4c40f2c140f)
Back Cover Text (#u0d86ccd9-cf2b-5dd2-a225-e7d91d688fae)
Booklist (#uf11fd159-2257-581a-8c2d-be4be24d32a5)
Title Page (#u0a413d97-6d58-5ed2-8ed5-8173b8de620b)
Copyright (#u70ecc55c-5c1e-556e-bf06-b1165bef35ed)
Praise (#u386c048b-99c6-5995-8d37-c5578d5ccbd8)
Texas-Sized Trouble (#ulink_d82cd05d-e9cb-54de-a05a-8ab63127309c)
CHAPTER ONE (#u249c49ff-ec6e-5f59-99e3-b2310d8a5468)
CHAPTER TWO (#ueddf7781-9ae7-5985-aa85-62d9de23c6d5)
CHAPTER THREE (#u8cd14c79-d13c-5875-9de8-2db31d02db49)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u0b765a1e-2d2f-56ab-9f45-885c423cf3df)
CHAPTER FIVE (#ud6f2eacb-5f9f-5d75-8903-1fb1bea09da8)
CHAPTER SIX (#u8bf527af-6b2d-5f1c-96bf-7cf7e08bbad6)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ue326f223-6853-5248-a566-e1b3da991479)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#uc0d5486c-fe58-5357-9be6-ebc4adb075e0)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
Cowboy Dreaming (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
Texas-Sized Trouble (#ulink_79eb6656-74d6-5843-bcde-ff70d12d1003)
Delores Fossen
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_939e452d-acef-5b71-9431-0218f0335119)
“YOU’VE GOT A curse on you, Lawson Granger,” the woman said the moment that Lawson stepped from his pickup. “A curse the size of elephant balls.”
That probably wasn’t something most men heard in their entire lifetimes, but most men didn’t live in Wrangler’s Creek, Texas, where the occurrence was slightly higher. Lawson had lost count, but he figured this was his third or fourth curse in the past year.
It was the first for the elephant balls’ part though.
“Good morning, Vita,” Lawson greeted her, tipping his Stetson. His upbringing forced him to be polite to his elders even if this particular elder fell into the batshit crazy category.
Vita Banchini.
The town’s resident fortune teller–weirdo who lived just up the road from the Granger Ranch, which Lawson helped run. Other towns had likely skipped the pleasure of having such a colorful character who sold love potions, chanted and foretold curses. Heck, most towns probably didn’t have anyone who used the word foretold, but it was a staple in Vita’s vocabulary.
“Did you put the curse on me, or was it somebody else’s doing?” he asked. He didn’t wait around for the answer though. Lawson hoisted his brand-spanking-new saddle from the truck seat and started for the barn.
“Not me. I don’t do curses unless someone’s wronged me or mine.” Vita followed him, of course, and she was wearing enough beads and bangles that she sounded like she was hauling Jacob Marley’s chains. “And by somebody else, are you talking about the woman whose heart you broke into a million little bitty pieces?”
There was no good answer to that since anything he said would give Vita unnecessary details about his ex, Darby Rester. So, Lawson just went with confirming it. “Yep, that’s who I’m talking about.”
“Hmmp,” Vita snarled.
For something that wasn’t even a real word, it had some stank attached to it. But then, the only person in town who’d thought it was a good idea for him to break up with Darby had been Lawson.
“Well, it wasn’t Darby,” Vita said. “It’s the fates who did this one. I know I get the signs wrong sometimes—”
“The last time you said I was going to need stitches on my right butt cheek. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.”
“You’re sure?”
He gave her a flat look. “I’m sure.”
She plowed her fingers through her tangled mess of sugar-white hair and scratched her head. “Well, I must have misread the signs. But I didn’t misread these. They were foretold to me in a dream.”
Vita had jumped pretty quickly into “foretold” territory, so in her mind this must have been a serious matter. A lot of things in her mind were probably off-kilter.
Lawson kept walking, nodding a morning greeting to a couple of the ranch hands who worked for him and his cousin Garrett. It was a good fifty yards from the main house where Lawson had parked to the tack room in the barn where he was heading, but he doubted the little walk in the muggy ninety-five-degree heat would stop Vita from following him.
It didn’t.
“The curse involves horns,” Vita continued, keeping up with him.
Lawson couldn’t even muster up a sound of surprise. They were on a large Texas cattle ranch where horns were plentiful. If that was the gist of the foretold stuff, then he’d been living under a curse since he’d started working here when he turned eighteen. But if so, it was good juju, too, because being a cowboy was the only thing he’d ever wanted to do.
“Lawson?” someone called out. Jake Walter, one of their top hands. He was on a corral fence and was about to get in with a new cutting horse they were training. “Garrett’s looking for you. He said it’s important.”
“It might have something to do with the curse,” Vita concluded.
Not in a million years. More likely it was about quarterly taxes or expenses. “Did Garrett tell you what it was about?” Lawson asked Jake.
The ranch hand shrugged. “Nope, but he said you should see him before you go to the guesthouse.”
Lawson frowned. He had a master key to all the buildings on the ranch, including the guesthouse. But since he didn’t normally have a reason to go in there, it was a strange comment. It went along with the strange woman who was still trailing along beside him.
“Anything else on this curse?” he asked Vita. Best to finish this conversation so she could leave.
“Concussion and babies,” she readily answered.
Lawson stopped, turned to her and frowned. “Are babies going to get concussions?” He reminded himself there was only a remote possibility of that, but it did trouble him because his cousin Sophie had twins who were toddling all over the place.
Vita huffed as if that was the dumbest question in the history of dumb questions. Lawson huffed as if her huff was the dumbest sound in the history of dumb sounds.
“They’re separate things,” she said. “Just like the horns. The final part of the curse is water.”
He started walking again. Since the ranch was near the creek and it’d been raining on and off for two days, water was a given. Still, it gave him a split second of concern. He was having a house built close to that very creek, and it was possible the land could flood. Of course, if that happened, it’d have nothing to do with a curse, but Vita would likely take credit for the fates foretelling it.
“Horns, concussions, babies and water,” Lawson repeated. “Sounds as if the fates had a little too much time on their hands when it came to me. Four things instead of just the butt stitches.”
She wagged her bony finger at him. “Don’t sass the fates, young man. And I only said concussion as in one, not multiple. But I am sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. If you need any soothing potions or such, just let me know.”
Lawson made a grunt of agreement, knowing there was nothing that could make him turn to Vita for that, but he did manage a polite goodbye and thank you before she scurried away toward her bicycle. It was her standard mode of transportation, and she’d “parked” it in the side yard.
He dropped off the saddle in the tack room so he could head to the house to find Garrett. Then he could go over the schedule and take care of some paperwork. Not his favorite part of the day, but later he’d be able to work in a ride to see how the new herd was doing. And check on the progress of his house. The sooner the construction was done, the sooner he could get out of his place in town and move closer to the ranch.
There was plenty enough to do if he wanted to beat the next wave of rain that would hit in a couple of hours. But knowing it still didn’t cause Lawson to keep walking when he reached the guesthouse. It wasn’t as if he’d gone out of his way to get there. It was in the backyard between the main house and the barn.
Everything seemed normal—making him wonder why Garrett had issued the warning. Or rather it seemed normal until Lawson had a closer look. There was something brown on the welcome mat. At first Lawson thought it was an animal turd, but no.
It was a horn.
“What the hell?” He nudged it with the toe of his boot. Yeah, definitely a horn. Not from a cow though. His guess was maybe a goat, and there weren’t any of them on the ranch.
It was impossible for him not to think of the curse. Impossible, too, for Lawson to see this as anything more than a coincidence. Heck, Vita could have put it there before he even arrived. After all, she’d been waiting for him when he’d first pulled up. And she was fond of leaving weird gifts and offerings.
Just in case Vita had left something inside, too, Lawson reached for the doorknob to have a look around the place. But reaching was as far as he got.
“Wait!” Garrett called out to him. His cousin was on the back porch of the sprawling main house, and Garrett barreled down the steps. “Don’t go in there.”
Lawson had worked on the ranch for seventeen years, and as best as he could recall, it was the first time any of his cousins had told him something was off-limits. It was one of the reasons this place had always felt like home. Ditto for Garrett seeming more like a brother to him than his own brothers did. But that wasn’t exactly a brotherly look Garrett was giving him now.
“Uh, someone’s staying there,” Garrett added.
His cousin seemed to have a lot of urgency for something that wasn’t that out of the ordinary. Plenty of people stayed in that guesthouse. Garrett’s sister, Sophie, had a lot of college friends who came and went. So did her mother, Belle. However, Lawson was pretty sure that wasn’t just an ordinary FYI that Garrett was giving him.
His cousin stopped directly in front of him and was a little out of breath from his sprint across the yard. He opened his mouth, no doubt to start explaining, but his attention landed on the horn.
“Shit. How’d that get there?” Garrett asked, but it seemed rhetorical since he just kept talking. “I tossed one just a half hour ago.” He glanced around as if looking for the horn-dropper before his attention came back to Lawson. Garrett’s eyebrow lifted.
“Hey, I didn’t put it there. I think it was Vita’s doing. She said my curse has something to do with horns.”
Garrett kept looking around. “You’re cursed again?”
“Appears so. It’s becoming a quarterly thing now.”
“Did Darby have Vita do this?” Garrett asked.
Lawson sighed. “No. This is all Vita and her fate friends. The horn could be her attempt to make sure at least some part of it comes true this time.”
“No. I don’t think it was Vita.” Garrett paused, scrubbed his hand over his face. “I think we’ve got a trespasser who’s leaving gifts for our guest.”
For just a handful of words, they sure packed a punch. Everything inside Lawson went still. It would have been hard for a normal person to connect guest, horn and trespasser, but for him, there was only one logical conclusion.
“Eve,” Lawson managed to say.
There was a frog in his throat. Heck, an entire pond of frogs and their lily pads, from the sound of it.
Garrett nodded, confirming what Lawson had just pieced together. His cousin didn’t jump right into an explanation, though, of why Eve Cooper was here. Garrett seemed to know that Lawson would need a minute. Heck, he needed a week.
Lawson was long over the pain of having Eve crush his heart when she’d walked out on him when they’d been seventeen. He was long over the fact that she’d forgotten her down-home roots when she’d become an overnight teen TV star.
Well, maybe he wasn’t completely over it, but it wasn’t hurt he was feeling now. It was indifference. Maybe mixed with a smidge of being pissed off.
“That explains the horn,” Lawson mumbled, and he, too, looked around for the culprit.
Eve had been the star of Demon High, where she’d played Ulyana Morningglory, a teenager who secretly fought demons in between pom-pom practice and dating her hunky half-demon boyfriend. The boyfriend, Stavros, had horns—ones that looked like curled turds. To Lawson’s way of thinking, anyway. Others clearly hadn’t felt the same because Eve-Ulyana, Stavros and the horns had become a cult classic. The most rabid of fans had dubbed themselves the hornies.
Or so he’d heard.
Since the show had been off the air for more than a decade, Lawson would have thought the horn-lovers would have found something else to glom on to but apparently not.
Lawson had plenty of questions—for starters, why was Eve here after all this time? She no longer had family in Wrangler’s Creek and hadn’t been especially close friends with Sophie, Garrett or their brother, Roman. She no longer fell into the friend category with Lawson, either.
“I’m not sure how long she’s staying,” Garrett volunteered. “I haven’t even seen her myself because she got here late last night. My mother’s the one who gave her permission to stay.”
Ah, Lawson had forgotten to factor in Garrett’s mom, Belle, in this particular equation. Vita held the record for being the town’s craziest resident, but Belle could often give the woman a run for her money.
Even though Belle no longer lived at the ranch, she seemed to like creating uncomfortable living arrangements. Two years ago, she had invited a group of widows to live in one of the houses on the grounds, and some of them were still there. Now she was rubbing salt in Lawson’s old wound by putting Eve right underneath his nose.
“The person who left that horn trespassed because of Eve,” Lawson commented. Not really a question, but Garrett answered it anyway.
“Yes. If you see him around, put the fear of God in him.”
Lawson would kick his ass. That should do it. He’d found that worked better than divine fear on some people.
“Anyway, I thought you’d want to give Eve a wide berth,” Garrett added. “According to my mom, Eve’s, uh, going through a tough time right now, and she came back for some peace and quiet.”
Lawson mumbled a “Yeah right.”
He didn’t want to speculate what would be a tough time for a rich celebrity who still had hordes of fans. Just the other day he’d seen a tabloid cover at the gas station with a headline about her on-again, off-again romance with her former costar, the turd-wearing Stavros.
“If she wants a wide berth, she’s got it,” Lawson assured his cousin. He tipped his head to the main house. “Want to get started on the schedule?”
“Sure.” But the moment Garrett said that, his phone rang, and he glanced at the screen. “It’s the seller for those new cutting horses. I need to get the file so I can go over the numbers with him.” He headed to the house while he took the call.
Lawson was about to follow him when he heard a strange sound. A moan, as if someone was in pain, and it was coming from inside the guesthouse.
“Eve?” he said, tapping on the door.
No answer.
He got a bad thought though. Maybe the horn-delivering trespasser had broken in and was holding her hostage. Eve might have had demon-fighting skills on the TV set, but he doubted that translated to real life.
When he heard another of those sounds, Lawson tested the doorknob. Locked. So, he used his key and threw open the door, ready to start that ass-whipping, but he didn’t see an ass to whip. That’s because it was dark in the cottage. All the blinds and curtains were drawn, and there wasn’t a single light on in the entire place.
The next sound was considerably louder than the first and was more of a gasp than a moan. Lawson went in, groping for the light switch, but before he could reach it, his feet flew out from underneath him.
His butt hit first, then his elbows and hands before his head smacked into the wall. Hell, he saw stars. The pain radiated from his tailbone all the way to his eyeballs, and even though it’d knocked the breath out of him, he still managed to curse.
“For shit’s sake. What happened?”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Eve.
He didn’t need to see her to recognize that voice. A real blast from the past to go with the pain that was blasting through him. It had reached his fingers now. And his balls. That was the worst, but he forced himself to a sitting position. Not easily because the floor was wet, and his hand kept slipping when he tried to get a grip.
Eve made another of those sounds. It seemed as if she was also in pain. “Did you slip, too?” he asked.
His vision was blurred, his ears were ringing, but he thought she said no. However, she was moving toward him. Or rather shuffling toward him.
“My water,” she said.
There it was again. One of Vita’s foretold words for the curse. Maybe he had the concussion to go along with it. If so, Vita would be batting three out of four for this latest whammy.
“My water,” Eve repeated.
“Yeah, I got that.” And he picked through the darkness to see her.
The main room was one big living–eating area, and Eve was by the kitchen counter. She was wearing a baggy white nightgown that made her look huge. She’d obviously put on a lot of weight.
Or...
Not.
Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Lawson could see that she was hunched over, her hand splayed on her belly.
Her pregnant belly.
“Please help me,” she said, her voice cracking. “My water broke, and the baby’s coming now.”
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_0205dc17-23ec-5885-b367-fff8228b9c40)
SHE WAS DYING. Eve was sure of it.
The pain was knifing through her, and the contractions were so powerful that it felt as if King Kong were squeezing her belly with his hairy fist. Her breathing was too fast. Her heart, racing.
And now she was hallucinating.
Either that or Lawson Granger had indeed slipped in the puddle where her water had broken and was now dying from a head injury. Great. If it wasn’t a hallucination, it meant she’d returned to Wrangler’s Creek after all these years only to cause the death of her old flame.
Her old flame grunted, cursed, and he maneuvered himself onto all fours. So, not dead, just perhaps with critical internal injuries. Of course, anything she was thinking or considering right now could be blown out of proportion because of the god-awful pain that was vising her stomach.
“My water broke,” she managed to say. “And my phone.” She’d dropped it when one of the contractions had hit, and the phone was now scattered all over the stone entryway and hardwood floor.
Eve wouldn’t mention that the reason her water had broken right by the door was because she’d been trying to hear who was talking outside the guesthouse. She’d thought it was another of her fans. Apparently not though.
“This is too soon,” she muttered. “I’m not due for three-and-a-half weeks. A baby shouldn’t come this soon, should it?” Eve knew she sounded frantic, perhaps even crazy, but she couldn’t make herself stop babbling. “Please tell me the baby will be all right.”
Lawson lifted his head, making eye contact with her. Yes, he possibly did have a head injury because he looked dazed.
Oh, God. There was blood.
It was on his head and on the butt of his jeans. Eve saw it while he was still on all fours and trying to get to his feet.
“You’re hurt,” she said, but it was garbled because another contraction hit her. For this one, King Kong had brought one of his friends to help him squeeze her belly. Because Eve had no choice, she dropped to the floor.
She was sinking onto her knees just as Lawson was getting to his. He caught onto the wall, and, grunting and making sounds of pain, he got to his feet. He glanced around as if trying to get his bearings, and he growled out more of that profanity. Some of it had her name in the mix. It definitely wasn’t the sweet tone he’d used when they’d been teenagers and he’d charmed her out of her underpants.
And speaking of underpants, hers were wet from where her water had broken. She was surprised she’d noticed something like that with the pain and with Lawson now looming over her. Since he seemed to have trouble figuring out what to do—possibly a result of his head injury—Eve spelled it out for him.
“Call a damn ambulance!” That was a lot louder and meaner than she’d planned, and she ended it with some of her own profanity. Eve also lay back on the floor.
Lawson shook his head as if to clear it, and he pulled out his phone. It took him a couple of tries to call 911. He poked at the numbers like a drunk man trying to hit a moving target, but he finally got through and requested an ambulance ASAP. When he’d finished that, he sank down next to her.
He did more cursing, followed by some wincing.
“I think you cut your butt,” she told him. “And your head. You might have a concussion.”
Considering that he’d seemed so dazed by everything else she’d said, it surprised Eve when that caused him to groan and mumble, “Vita.”
She knew that name. Vita Banchini. Hard to forget someone like that, but Eve had no idea what Vita had to do with what was going on now. Maybe the woman had put a pain curse on her and an injury curse on Lawson.
“You’re pregnant,” Lawson stated. Even though it was stating the obvious to an absurd degree, it was a good start. He was actually sounding somewhat coherent now, and he’d managed that comment without profanity.
“The baby’s coming, and he’s three-and-a-half weeks early,” she repeated. “How soon before the ambulance gets here?”
“Soon.” Lawson placed his hand on her belly. “How far apart are your contractions?”
She would have answered him if the contraction from Hades hadn’t hit her at the exact moment she opened her mouth. The sound that came out was nowhere recognizable as human speech.
“All right,” Lawson mumbled. “All right. Stay steady. Try to relax. And breathe. Don’t growl like a bear or it’ll make your throat sore.”
It was all stupid advice. She couldn’t do any of those things. But she could latch on to his hand since it was right there on her whale-sized stomach. Eve latched on and squeezed.
It helped.
Well, it helped her, anyway, but Lawson yelped in pain and cursed again. He worked his hand out of her grip—which she wanted to point out was mild compared to the contraction—and he shot her a look that could have frozen central Texas in August. That wasn’t his charming look, either, but it coordinated well with his noncharming tone and useless advice.
Over the past eighteen years, she’d fantasized about what it would be like to come home and see Lawson again, but never once had she thought it would be like this. Of course, she hadn’t expected him to welcome her back with open arms, either. Good thing, too, since he wouldn’t be able to get his arms around her right now.
How the heck had it come to this?
Here she was thirty-five, almost thirty-six, and was about to give birth to a baby she certainly hadn’t planned. A baby she loved and desperately wanted though. She just hadn’t wanted him to decide to come this early.
Added to that, she was without any medical help other than the man whose heart she’d crushed. Maybe this was some kind of karma playing out. If so, she wanted karma to know that she was really suffering. Maybe even dying.
Oh, mercy.
Was she dying?
No, she couldn’t be. Not with so much unsettled in her life. But maybe that’s how most people felt. There hadn’t been nearly enough time for her to get her ducks in a row. Heck, she wasn’t even sure she had a row yet, and her main duck was missing.
“Tessie,” she sobbed.
That came through loud and clear, and it caused Lawson to stare at her. “Your daughter.”
Since it wasn’t a question, that meant Lawson knew some of what had gone on in her life since she’d left Wrangler’s Creek. Of course he did. Most of her adult life had been tabloid news even after she’d stopped acting. Entertainment. Well, it didn’t feel so blasted entertaining right now.
“If I don’t make it,” Eve said, “please call Tessie for me and tell her I love her.”
Again, she didn’t hear Lawson’s answer because the next contraction roared through her. Eve hadn’t timed them, but she was betting they were less than a nanosecond apart.
“What about the baby’s father?” Lawson asked. “You want me to call him, too?”
Her heartbeat was drumming in her ears, King Kong and his posse were squeezing, and she was about to explode. Yet she heard that. Heard the edge in his voice, as well. She’d managed to keep the baby daddy’s identity out of the press, but Lawson probably figured that it was no one he would approve of.
Well, neither did she.
But she couldn’t do anything about that right now other than give birth to this precious child and start putting the pieces of her life back together.
“How long before the ambulance gets here?” she asked again, this time through the grunts and groans.
Lawson might have given her the answer, but Eve didn’t hear it because another contraction came. She hadn’t thought the pain could get worse, but she’d been wrong about that. She nearly reached for Lawson’s hand again, but everything inside her was screaming to do something else.
“Help me get out of my panties,” she gritted through clenched teeth.
The words were very familiar. Probably because she’d said them, or something similar, to Lawson moments before he’d rid her of her virginity. There’d been pain that night, too, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to this. Medieval torture was nothing compared to this.
Lawson’s forehead bunched up. “Uh, maybe the medics can take them off. Or I could call Garrett. He’s in the house.”
“No. Not Garrett.” She didn’t want anyone other than the medics or a doctor seeing her like this. It was bad enough that Lawson was having to witness it. Plus, she didn’t want Garrett slipping in the puddle. “Just help me with the panties.”
Lawson was clearly uncomfortable getting her partially naked, but that screaming inside her was still going on. Along with another loud message for her to push. But she couldn’t do that, not until the medics came because it would make the baby come before they got there.
She pushed.
Eve couldn’t stop herself. She bore down, making that bear growl that Lawson had already warned her about, and since he wasn’t ridding her of her panties, she fought to get them off.
“Please don’t let me die,” she told him. “Please let my baby be all right.”
Lawson looked up at the ceiling as if searching for some kind of divine assistance. “You’re not dying. Both you and your baby will be fine.”
Oh, she wanted to latch on to that poorly attempted reassurance, but the craziness was building and building. “How do you know we’ll be fine? Have you ever delivered a baby before?”
“No. Just calves.” He shimmied the panties off her. “But I suspect it’s about the same.”
The horrified look on his face said otherwise.
“Is something wrong?” Eve asked.
“No, nothing’s wrong. But I see the top of a head.” The color drained from his face.
Eve was certain the color drained from her face, too, but it didn’t last because she had to push again. That no doubt put some color back in her cheeks since she was straining and grunting.
“Here.” Lawson thrust his left hand at her again, an invitation for her to squeeze the crap out of it.
So, that’s what Eve did. She squeezed, pushed, cursed and grunted. Lawson was doing some of those things, too, in addition to putting his right hand between her legs.
“You’re almost there,” he said. “One more push should do it.”
She honed in on the sound of his voice and pushed. Then, just like that, the pain vanished. Not just a little bit of it, either. It completely went away. She looked down to see if Lawson had worked some kind of magic. No magic though.
Lawson was holding her son in his lap.
There was a split second of stunned silence from all three of them, but it didn’t last. The baby started to cry, and Eve could tell from the loud wail that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his lungs. That nothing wrong applied to the rest of him, either.
He was perfect.
Yes, perfect. Even with that squalling red face, balled-up fists and spindly legs. And huge feet. He was like a really pissed-off Hobbit. But he was her precious little Hobbit.
Lawson reached up on the kitchen counter, grabbed the roll of paper towels, and he coiled them around the baby like a hooded blanket. They certainly made a picture with him tending the baby like that. The boy she’d once loved holding the newborn boy she already loved with all her heart.
“No horns,” Lawson said.
She froze, blinked, but Eve quickly stopped the horrified look that was forming on her face when she realized he was joking. The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile, and he eased the baby into her arms.
Suddenly, her life didn’t seem like so much of a mess. All things seemed possible. But it didn’t last. It was gone in a flash—as was Lawson’s smile when his gaze connected with hers. Eve saw it then. The hurt she’d caused because of the choices she’d made.
No, not all things were possible.
“I’ll see what’s keeping the ambulance,” Lawson said, getting to his feet.
He was still bleeding, and limping, but Eve had never seen a man move so fast. At least until he reached the puddle, and his feet flew out from under him again. He dropped like a stone, his backside and head smacking the floor a second time.
Knocked out cold.
And that’s how the medics found Lawson when they came rushing through the door.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_8fe96ca2-0f13-588d-8f18-b9b8e61c93b8)
“YOU KNOW, MOST people don’t scowl when they look at newborns,” Lawson heard Garrett say.
His cousin was coming up the hall of the hospital toward him, and Garrett stopped shoulder to shoulder with Lawson outside the nursery viewing room. Lawson figured he was indeed scowling, and he was doing that while looking at the baby in the incubator on the other side of the glass.
Eve’s baby.
The scowl wasn’t for the newborn though. Nope. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that he’d been born three-and-a-half weeks early and that his mom was someplace she shouldn’t have been—the Granger Ranch.
“Most people don’t have a concussion and stitches on their ass,” Lawson grumbled. Or a wrecked image.
There was nothing left of his tough cowboy reputation. Lawson was certain of it. He knew both of the medics who’d come to the ranch, and they were blabbermouths. Blabbermouths who would embellish what they’d seen on the floor of the guesthouse, and pretty soon the gossip all over town would be about his ass stitches.
“I heard about the stitches,” Garrett confirmed. “Did a rhinestone from Eve’s phone really get embedded into your butt cheek?”
And that comment confirmed Lawson’s theory about the blabbermouths. Lawson certainly hadn’t called his cousin and told him what had gone on with him in the ER after the ambulance had brought Eve and the baby to the hospital.
“It wasn’t a rhinestone,” Lawson corrected him, and he was pretty sure it would be a correction he’d have to make a lot. “It was a jagged piece of her rhinestone phone case that broke when Eve dropped it.”
But yeah, the doctor had had to pluck out a rhinestone, too, that had been like a sparkly BB in his butt cheek.
Damn Vita, and damn her stupid foretellings.
“Are you okay?” Garrett asked.
“I’ll live.” With somewhat reduced dignity, but somehow he’d muster through.
Garrett tipped his head to the baby. “How about him? Is he okay, too?”
“Yeah,” Lawson said. “According to one of the docs, he’s in the incubator because he was a little premature, but he’s fine. I didn’t screw up anything when I delivered him.”
Garrett made a sound of approval. “And how about Eve? How is she?”
“Don’t know. I’ve been busy for the past hour, remember.” Lawson hiked his thumb to his right butt cheek, then his forehead. He could have kept “hiking” what with all his cuts and bruises, but Garrett had no doubt gotten the point.
Garrett smiled, though other than the healthy baby, Lawson couldn’t see much to smile about. “Not busy enough to find out about the newborn. But I guess you feel...vested in him since you’re the one who brought him into the world.”
Lawson scowled again. “No vestment. I just looked in on him while I was waiting for you.”
That was the partial truth. Garrett had followed the ambulance from the ranch to the hospital, but once Lawson realized he was going to need stitches and an X-ray, he’d sent Garrett home to deal with that horse seller. Lawson hadn’t called Garrett for a ride home until about ten minutes ago when he’d found out that the baby was okay. So yeah, he had a slight vested interest. But that interest only applied to the kid.
“Why didn’t your mom tell me that Eve was coming back to Wrangler’s Creek?” Lawson asked.
It was a question born out of frustration, and it only caused Garrett to give him a how the hell should I know? grunt. And Garrett truly wouldn’t have known what was going on in Belle’s often loony head. Belle was one of those oddball mysteries of life.
As was Eve.
Not once had there been a hint that she might want to come back. For that matter, Lawson hadn’t read anything about her being pregnant. Not that he’d looked for that kind of gossip about her, but as often enough as she still appeared on tawdry tabloid covers, it made him wonder why there hadn’t been a story about it—tawdry or otherwise.
Garrett moved closer to the glass, his attention on the baby. The kid was cocooned in a blue blanket and was sacked out. Occasionally, he would open his eyes, but the light must have bothered him because he would make a face and go back to sleep.
“It doesn’t seem right for him to be in there all alone,” Lawson muttered, and he immediately wished that he’d kept the thought in his head because it caused Garrett to look at him. Not just any old look, either. It was the slightly amused one that made Lawson want to punch him.
“I’m sure the nurses are watching him on a monitor,” Garrett said, tipping his head to a camera just over the incubator. “Look, there’s a nurse in that room.” A room that was right next to the nursery. “And we’re here, too.”
True, but they’d be leaving any minute now. Not that Lawson wanted to stay. He didn’t.
“Plus, they’ll probably take him to Eve soon,” Garrett went on. “She might plan to nurse him.”
Maybe. But Lawson didn’t like thinking of Eve’s breasts. Way too many memories of those since they’d been the first breasts he’d ever touched. Of course, he had the freshest memories of her nether regions when he’d been delivering the kid.
“I’m sure Eve will be getting visitors, too,” Garrett added. “And they’ll see the baby.”
Obviously, Garrett was still pleading his case about the baby not really being alone. But that only reminded Lawson of something else. “When Eve was in labor, she mentioned her adopted daughter, Tessie. You think Belle might know of a way to get in touch with the girl?”
“Possibly. Or you could just ask Eve.” But Garrett waved that off. “I’ll ask her if Belle doesn’t know. Are you about ready to go home now?” Garrett tacked on a moment later. But he didn’t budge. He just kept staring at the baby.
At first Lawson thought that was because this was bringing back bad memories for him. Four years ago, Garrett and his now ex-wife had had a stillborn daughter. It had crushed him, but lately there’d been some much better memories of this place. A year ago, Garrett’s sister had delivered her twins here, and just six months ago, Garrett’s wife, Nicky, had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Sometimes, though, the good stuff couldn’t outweigh the bad.
Lawson knew that firsthand.
And he got a jolt of his own memories. Oh, hell. Not now.
His best friend, Brett, had died in this hospital. Since at the moment he couldn’t deal with that, Lawson shoved it back in the little box he’d built in his head.
“There are reporters outside,” Garrett told him. “The security guard’s insisting he won’t let them in, but I figure they’ll sneak in first chance they get. Plus, there are a couple of people out there carrying horns.”
Lawson didn’t think that was horns of the musical variety. He didn’t want to face either the reporters or the lunatics. He added yet another person to that mental list.
Darby. His ex-girlfriend.
But he was apparently going to have to face her because she was headed their way. It wasn’t a shocker to see her, not the way it’d been for him at the guesthouse with Eve. After all, Darby was a nurse and worked here at the hospital. In fact, Lawson was surprised he hadn’t seen her sooner, but he’d just figured she was avoiding him.
The way he’d been avoiding her.
No chance of avoiding her right now though, because she stopped directly in front of him. She was wearing purple scrubs today, her favorite color, and she had some magazines clutched to her chest.
“I came on shift about an hour ago, just as the ambulance arrived with Eve and you,” Darby said. “I heard you needed stitches.”
She said it with concern, too. Of course, Garrett had been concerned as well, but his cousin had found the butt injury funny.
Lawson settled for saying, “I’m fine.”
Darby scrounged up a smile, and her gaze lingered on him a moment. As if she was waiting for him to return the smile.
He didn’t. Lawson had learned that Darby could interpret something as small as a smile as a sign of their reunion. She was a smart woman, but she hadn’t figured out yet that it was never going to work between them.
And that she was too good for him.
Darby gave a soft, frustrated sigh and turned to the baby. “Eve’s son,” she muttered. “I think he looks exactly like her.”
But again, she seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe she wanted confirmation of the gossip she’d no doubt already heard? Lawson kept watch of her from the corner of his eye, and he saw the slight tightening of her mouth and her bunched-up forehead.
“He’s not my kid,” Lawson growled. “Before today, I hadn’t seen Eve since she left town our senior year of high school.”
The next sigh Darby made seemed to be one of relief, and it caused Lawson to silently curse.
Crap.
Had people really thought he’d knocked up Eve? Apparently so. And the fact that he hadn’t seemed to put a sparkle of hope in Darby’s eyes since he’d just confirmed to her that he hadn’t been with Eve. The sparkle dimmed considerably when she looked at him again.
“I was just in Eve’s room,” Darby said. “I wasn’t snooping or anything. This is my floor, and it’s my job to check on patients, but a couple of the staff also wanted me to get her to sign these.” She shifted the magazines so he could see them. Well, he could see the one on top, anyway.
Damn. It was those tabloids and not a recent one, either. According to the date, it had come out about six months after Eve had left. It was also about the time Demon High had become a hit.
And there were the hit-makers on the cover.
Eve, aka Ulyana. She was wearing her body-hugging, red leather fighting costume complete with a sickle knife. Kellan Carver, aka Stavros, was in his body-hugging, black leather demon garb, and yeah, he had the horns. He also had Eve. His black leather garb wasn’t the only thing doing some hugging because Stavros was standing behind Eve, his arms coiled possessively around her.
The headline said it all: Stavros Is Demon Hot.
Lawson had the same reaction now as he had seventeen-and-a-half years ago. He threw up a little in his mouth. The only reason he didn’t throw up a lot was because Eve had indeed signed the cover—and her signature was right over Kellan–Stavros’s smug face.
“I know,” Darby went on. “I really didn’t want to bother Eve with these, but she said she didn’t mind.” Darby made eye contact with Lawson again. “Anyway, she wants to see you.”
“Why?” Lawson practically snapped.
Heck, that snap seemed to bring back the sparkle to Darby, too. “She mentioned something about wanting to thank you. You wouldn’t even have to go to her room because she’s insisting she’ll come down here to the nursery and stay until her baby is out of the incubator. She’ll probably be here any minute.”
“No thanks needed. I’m surprised she’s not here already,” he added without even pausing.
“Oh, she was until about thirty minutes ago, but the doctor made her get back in bed so he could examine her.”
Lawson had just missed her since that was about the time he’d arrived at the nursery window. Of course, if he’d seen Eve, he would have slipped out and not interrupted her time with her baby.
“Are you ready to go?” Lawson asked Garrett.
“Uh, sure, but if you want to pop in for a second and see Eve—”
“I don’t.” He wanted to get out of there—now. It was like being a contestant on a bad game show. Behind door number one was Eve—old memories and fresh butt-stitch humiliation. Behind door number two was Darby and her needy eyes.
“Tell Eve I’ll be by to see her later,” Garrett added to Darby, and he hurried to catch up with Lawson. “I guess it really is over between you two.”
Lawson glanced at him, trying to decide if his cousin was talking about Eve or Darby now. It didn’t matter. The answer to both was yes.
“I think I’ll leave early for that cattle auction in Amarillo,” Lawson said, throwing it out there. “I could be on the road in just a couple of hours.”
“The auction’s next week.” There was a reason for the skepticism in Garrett’s voice. Lawson didn’t like buying trips or hotels, and leaving today would mean a week and a half in a hotel.
“It’ll give my stitches time to heal,” Lawson reasoned.
It was stupid reasoning. His stitches would heal at the ranch, too. Plus, he probably shouldn’t be gone that long since his house was close to being finished. The contractor might have things to show him, questions to ask. But that could wait. He had to get out of there.
“We should go out the back,” Garrett said when they reached the main waiting room. “Remember, there are reporters out front.”
Lawson hadn’t forgotten about them, but the numbing meds were wearing off, and he didn’t want to take the long way around to get to the parking lot.
“They know you delivered the baby,” Garrett added.
Lawson groaned. That said it all. They’d want pictures. They’d have questions about what Eve was doing in town. They might even know that Eve and he used to date way back when and try to connect unconnectable dots as Darby had done when she’d considered the baby might be his.
Garrett and he headed for the back exit. However, it wasn’t obstacle-free, either, because just as they reached the door, Belle came rushing in. She was wearing a black raincoat, dark sunglasses and a neon yellow straw hat that was the size of a truck tire.
“I didn’t want anyone to see me,” Belle said as if that explained her getup. “There are reporters out there, and someone left a bunch of these on the porch at the ranch.” She reached in both her pockets and pulled out the turd-shaped horns.
Garrett cursed. “We might need to hire some security.”
No. Lawson just needed to kick some asses. That had a twofold purpose. It’d get rid of the trespassers along with burning off some of this restless energy inside him. But he rethought that. Best not to pop any stitches, or he’d end up back here.
“I’ll have Sophie send down some of the security guards who work at the company,” Garrett added.
That was a good idea. Sophie ran the family business, Granger Western—or Cowboy Mart, as most folks called it since it sold discount Western supplies. It was a huge operation with no doubt plenty of security at the warehouses. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few of them on the ranch...unless Eve wouldn’t be returning there. Lawson was about to bring up that possibility/hope, but Garrett spoke before he could.
“Lawson wanted to know if you knew how to get in touch with Eve’s daughter, Tessie,” Garrett said to his mom. “Eve broke her phone when she went into labor, so she might not know the number right off the top of her head.”
“Oh, I already called her and told her about Eve having the baby. Eve had left her number with me. You know, in case there was some kind of emergency. But Tessie didn’t answer. I think she must have been in class or something, so I left her a message. I’m sure she’ll be calling back soon when she hears she’s got a baby brother.”
Good. Somehow, Tessie’s photo hadn’t landed in the tabloids, but Lawson remembered the news when Eve had adopted her. Eve had been in her early twenties, which meant Tessie was either a teenager or close to being one. It did make Lawson wonder, though, why Tessie hadn’t made the move with Eve, but maybe the girl was at boarding school.
“How long will Eve be staying?” Lawson asked.
“Until her house is ready. She’s having some remodeling done before she moves in. She runs a charity foundation, and she needed an office for that. Plus, she had to redo rooms for the nursery and the baby’s nanny.”
Lawson was certain he’d missed something—and no, it wasn’t the room-usage part. “What house? Is it here in Wrangler’s Creek?”
Belle didn’t seem to notice his surprise because she dropped some more of the horns, and they clattered onto the tile floor. “Your brother Lucian sold her one of the houses on your family’s land.”
Well, hell in a shit-lined handbasket. Yeah, he had definitely missed something, and apparently he had another ass to kick because Lucian should have told him something that monumental.
“Which house and why did Lucian sell it to Eve?” Lawson snapped. Because last he heard, there were at least four houses on the property, and none of them were occupied full-time. None of them had been for sale, either.
Belle looked up from her horn retrieval and shook her head. She tsk-tsked him. “I know you don’t get on with your brothers, but you really should make more of an effort.”
No, because he wanted to stay sane. That’s why he worked for Garrett. He didn’t intend to go back into the viper pit owned by his immediate gene pool, and Garrett and Roman felt the same way about Lawson’s kin.
It was enough of a compromise that Lawson was building his new place on land that would get him marginally closer to his brothers. Or more specifically, Lucian. But it’d been his land, and Lawson had decided he could live with marginally closer to have the home he’d always wanted.
“Eve bought your mom’s house,” Belle continued. “It was the place your great-grandpa built and where she moved after she divorced your dad. She hasn’t lived there in donkey’s years though, so I guess Lucian figured it’d make a good home for Eve.”
That particular house was only about a quarter of a mile from the one Lawson was building. Eve and he would practically be neighbors. If he couldn’t stop the sale, that is.
He would stop it.
No way did he want daily reminders of Eve, and he was certain she wouldn’t want that, either. Lucian must not have told her that she’d be so close to him and the main house on the Granger Ranch.
On second thought...
Lucian wouldn’t have brought that up. His family and Garrett’s had been feuding over some acreage for over sixty years now. Acres that lay directly between the Granger Ranch and Lawson’s family’s land. Lucian was always threatening a lawsuit, and if it happened, that would put Eve’s house right smack in the middle. Once Eve learned that, no way would she want the house.
And Lawson was going to be the one to clue her in.
He turned, ready to head to her room—and maybe have one last look at the baby—but the commotion stopped him. There were footsteps, loud voices and the flashes from cameras.
“The reporters got in,” Garrett mumbled.
Yes, and Lawson was about to send them right back out, but then he saw who was in the middle of that commotion.
Kellan Carver, aka Stavros.
No black leather today, but he was dressed like a rock star. Sorta looked like one, too, and he was talking and posing for pictures at the same time. There were two nurses trailing along behind him. A patient, too, on crutches and another in a wheelchair. They all looked giddy and starstruck.
“There you are,” Kellan said, aiming a smile that was more blinding than the camera flashes, and he was aiming it at Lawson.
Lawson hated him on sight.
Kellan went to him, automatically taking Lawson’s hand for the side-by-side posed handshake photos that quickly followed. The flashes were like being swarmed by giant lightning bugs.
“This is the hero of the hour,” Kellan announced, lifting Lawson’s arm the way a ref would lift a prizewinning fighter. “Lawson Granger. Thanks, man,” Kellan added to him in a whisper that was still plenty loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lawson pulled back his hand. “Thanks for what?” he asked once he got his teeth unclenched.
Kellan’s plastic smile never wavered. “For being there when Eve and me needed you.” He slapped Lawson on the back, his hand landing right on a giant bruise. “Man, you delivered my son.”
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_59ee66b2-8696-5e2e-a0c1-a220e7fa079e)
“IN MY MAMA’S DAY, women gave birth and then went out and tended the herd,” the nurse said to Eve. “After they hung out the wash and cooked supper, that is.”
Eve felt as if she’d done all of those things. She was bone-tired, but it was covered with a layer of giddiness.
She had a son.
A perfectly healthy one, from what the doctors had told her, and now she wanted nothing more than to hold him again. She had a sudden urge to check every inch of his little body and make sure everything was there and where it should be. She hadn’t gotten a chance to do that in the ambulance ride to the hospital, and after they’d arrived, the doctors had insisted on putting him in an incubator while they examined her.
“Women didn’t get overnight hospital stays for birthing in my mama’s day,” the nurse went on. “Now we got all these rules.”
The nurse was Mildred Wheeler, who, according to her introduction, had worked at the hospital since it was first built in the late fifties. Eve didn’t know exactly how old the woman was, but her stories had a distinctive “I walked twenty miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways” slant to them.
“You said something about getting me a wheelchair so I could go to the nursery,” Eve reminded the woman. That’d been five minutes ago when Mildred had come in to check on her. “Now that the doctor finished examining me, I really want to see my baby.”
“Just hold your horses. The wheelchair won’t be much longer. One of the orderlies is bringing it here. Uh-uh,” she scolded and shook her finger when Eve started to get out of the bed. “That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen if you was to fall or something. Like Lawson did.” Mildred helped herself to one of the melon chunks that was on Eve’s breakfast tray. “Of course, Lawson can’t sue you because he was on the Granger Ranch when his butt got cut bad enough to need stitches.”
So, everyone obviously knew about that. That wouldn’t please Lawson. It didn’t please Eve, either, because she didn’t need any other reason for Lawson to be upset with her.
“Lawson’s fall coulda been bad fortune on account of him breaking up with Darby. You know his girlfriend, Darby?” Mildred asked. “Or rather his ex-girlfriend?”
Mildred was still chewing on the honeydew when she put that question to Eve, but Eve detected a little snarkiness in it. Since Mildred had already told her that Darby was a nurse at this hospital, it was reasonable that the staff would take Darby’s side in a breakup. But that had nothing to do with Eve.
Though Mildred’s sour-milk expression indicated otherwise.
Good gravy. The woman thought she was why Lawson had ended the relationship. Blaming Eve could be the reason that there was a delay in the wheelchair arrival. Maybe everyone in the hospital wanted to give her a dose of their own version of payback.
Too bad Eve didn’t have her phone or she could have called someone to get that chair here ASAP. Of course, if she had her phone, she could also call Tessie and check on her.
Well, if Tessie would answer, that is.
Eve figured her chances of Tessie accepting her call were about the same as Mildred limiting herself to a single piece of honeydew.
Mildred chomped down on another piece, leaving little globs of green melon on the thick coating of neon pink lipstick. “Darby said you used to be some big-time television actress in Hollywood. Why’d you come back after all this time?”
Good question, and the answer probably wasn’t something Mildred would understand. But Eve had wanted “normal” again, and the last time she’d felt anything close to that had been here in Wrangler’s Creek. Ditto for this being the only place that had ever felt like home. Plus, she would be much closer to Tessie. That was a huge bonus.
Normal and home came with consequences, though, because this was Lawson’s home, too, but Eve had thought it was time to confront that part of her past. Not so she could fix things with Lawson.
There was little or no chance of that happening.
Maybe though she could figure out a way to be in the same general vicinity with him while trying to piece together all those other things that she needed to piece together to stay sane.
Mildred glanced at her, her raised eyebrow questioning Eve’s decision to return to Wrangler’s Creek. Then the nurse shrugged as if it didn’t matter anyway. “Never watched TV myself. Mama’s doing. She always said there was no place in her house for such hooey phooey or poppycock.”
Well, Demon High hadn’t exactly been brainy viewing, but Eve wasn’t sure it fell into the hooey phooey or poppycock category. She decided to take that as a cue for her to do something to end this annoying chat.
“Lawsuits aside,” Eve said, getting out of the bed, “I’m seeing my baby.”
Eve wasn’t in any shape to fight off even a senior citizen–honeydew-stealing nurse, but she would somehow manage it. She’d already spent too much time away from her little boy.
“I’m telling the doctor,” Mildred declared, and she scurried out—taking another melon chunk with her. The woman no longer sounded like a relic from the past but rather like a tattling schoolgirl.
Eve figured this was going to earn her a good chewing out from assorted medical personnel, but it would be so worth it. Using the wall for support, she groped her way across the room while she tried to pinch the back of her open gown together so her butt would be covered. The adult diaper they’d given her to wear was completely sheer except for the strip down the middle, and she didn’t want to flash anyone on her way to the nursery.
She’d worked up a sweat by the time she got to the door. Eve opened it, stepped into the hall.
And came face-to-face with a circus.
There were balloons, someone dancing in a bear suit and people. Lots of people. Some of them snapped pictures of her while calling out her name to look their way. They pushed forward toward her, causing her to stagger back. The shock and temporary blindness almost caused her to miss the man in the center of this unholy hoopla.
Kellan.
She didn’t quite manage to contain the glare before it made it to her face. A glare that would almost certainly be on a tabloid cover come tomorrow.
“Baby-Cakes,” Kellan purred.
Eve hated the nickname and hated the kiss that Kellan dropped on her mouth. It was possible the kiss bruised him a little since her lips were pinched and tight.
“Sorry that we caught you without your makeup,” Kellan added, giving her a quick once-over. The once-over ended with him frowning at her hair. “Don’t they give out combs in this place?”
Eve hadn’t thought her mouth could get any tighter, but she’d been wrong. She was about to muster up something polite about everyone needing to leave so Kellan and she could have some privacy, but she didn’t get the chance.
“Y’all gotta leave,” someone called out. Nurse Mildred. “Right now.” The tattling schoolgirl was gone. This was a mean middle-school teacher’s voice, and Eve was thankful for it.
Mildred wagged her index finger at the paparazzi and then used that same finger to point to the nearest exit. Even her pointing gestures were mean. There were some protests, more pictures flashed, but Mildred managed to start them moving.
“You get out of here, too,” Mildred added to the dancing bear. “And take those stupid balloons with you. Latex allergy is a real thing, people.” She grumbled something else under her breath that Eve didn’t catch. “In my mama’s day, she would have busted a tushy or two for causing a commotion like this.”
Mildred turned her chilly gaze on Kellan next. Normally, most women softened or even melted when they got an up-close look at Kellan’s pretty face and bedroom blue eyes, but his looks had no effect whatsoever on the woman. She kept up the chilliness and the scowl.
“Are your ears plugged up from all those earrings you’re wearing?” Mildred snapped. “Because I’m pretty sure I said you had to leave.”
Kellan didn’t seem fazed by that. He upped his usually charming smile a notch. “But I’m the father of Eve’s baby. I want to see her and my son.”
Mildred gave him the squinty eye as if trying to figure out if that was true. She was still squinting when Eve sighed and nodded. “Yes, he’s the father.”
Eve hadn’t intended for “father” to have the same tone as “yeast infection,” but Kellan was not on her happy list. The only thing on that list right now was the baby and Tessie, and Tessie’s name had an asterisk next to it since at the moment she was causing Eve more worry than happiness.
Mildred finally gave a nod of her own, which was her okay for Kellan to stay. “But no more bears, photographers or balloons.”
“The bear and balloons were for the baby,” Kellan said to Eve.
Not exactly normal offerings for a newborn, but no one had ever accused Kellan of being normal. “And the paparazzi?” she questioned.
He smiled. “Free publicity, Baby-Cakes. You know how it is.”
Yes, she did, and it caused Eve to sigh again. She was too old for publicity. Too old to be having one-night stands with Kellan. And too old not to have used multiple means of birth control instead of relying solely on a condom. But she’d been in a really bad place that night, and besides, she didn’t regret having her baby.
“I’ll see about getting you that wheelchair,” Mildred grumbled, and she marched off as if that might actually happen.
Eve wouldn’t wait for her though. Catching onto the wall again, she started for the nursery.
“Uh, shouldn’t you be in bed or something?” Kellan asked, trotting after her. “Or maybe looking for a hairbrush?”
“I’m seeing my son.”
“Our son,” he corrected her. He smiled again. “Remember, I was there for his creation. That was one hot night, Baby-Cakes.”
Hot? Not really. She hadn’t even had an orgasm. And Kellan hadn’t noticed.
“Say, are you down or something?” Kellan blathered on. “Is this about Tessie, because you’re still on the outs with her?”
In part, but it was also because she was having to put up with Kellan while slogging her way up the hall.
“Well, if that’s all it is,” Kellan continued, “then you’ve got nothing to be down about. Tessie’s just being a teenager. You remember what it was like.”
Not really. Well, except for the memories that involved Lawson. Those had stayed with her despite the plastic veneer that had been smeared over the real memories that she’d had after she left him and Wrangler’s Creek.
“Hey, I recognize that ass,” someone called out from behind them.
Eve didn’t have to look back to know who’d said that. Cassidy Vale, her friend and human BS meter. Eve adjusted the grip she had on the back of her gown to make sure she was covered up.
“Not that ass,” Cassidy said. She tipped her head to Kellan. “That one.”
“Hardy-har-har,” Kellan said sarcastically. “What are you doing here, Acidy?”
“Helping a friend.” Cassidy ignored the nickname dig and hurried to Eve.
Despite her Hollywood roots, Cassidy was definitely no fashionista. She was wearing her usual yoga pants, flip-flops and T-shirt, and she’d scooped up her auburn hair in a sloppy ponytail. Cassidy looped her arm around Eve’s waist and even helped her hold her gown together.
“Thanks.” Eve leaned against her. “How’d you get here so fast?”
“She put a booster jet on her broomstick,” Kellan grumbled.
Cassidy didn’t miss a step. She just glanced at Kellan’s hair and made a face. “That wind really got to you, didn’t it? Hope there’s no photographer around to see you this messed up. Is that some hair-gel flecks I see, or is it dandruff? Maybe it’s head lice. I’ve heard nits are easy to pick up around hospitals.”
Kellan made a face, too, as if he knew she was just giving him flak, but when he spotted the men’s room ahead, he hurried and ducked inside it.
“Thought he’d never leave,” Cassidy said. She hugged Eve closer to her. “I was already on my way here when I heard about the baby. Is it true? Did Hot Cowboy really deliver him?”
Eve nodded. No clarification was needed on Hot Cowboy’s identity. Cassidy knew all about Lawson. In fact, Cassidy knew everything about Eve.
Everything.
That’s because Cassidy and she had been friends since the day Eve had arrived in Hollywood eighteen years ago. She’d started out as Eve’s rival on Demon High but had been killed off at the end of the first season. When Cassidy hadn’t been able to land any other acting jobs, Eve had hired her as a personal assistant. Then later on she’d become Tessie’s nanny. These days, Cassidy was also an artist who did illustrations for children’s books.
They finally made it to the glass window of the nursery, and Eve peered in. There he was. Alone in the incubator. For some strange reason, she’d thought that Lawson might be here to look in on him, and she hated the disappointment she felt that he wasn’t. Lawson probably didn’t want to get anywhere near her, and that meant not being near the baby, either.
With Cassidy’s help, Eve made it into the area just off the nursery, and she spotted the nurse there. Not Darby or Mildred, but according to her name tag, she was Wanda Kay Busby.
“The doctor said it was okay if I held my baby,” Eve told her. “It’s not dangerous for him to be out of the incubator, is it?”
The nurse shook her head. “He’s not having trouble breathing or anything. The incubator’s just a precaution.”
That caused Eve to feel some relief, but she wouldn’t get a full dose of that until she had him in her arms.
“I’m surprised your OB let you fly when you were in your eighth month,” Wanda Kay commented. “Usually they warn against it.”
There went the relief. “My doctor thought it would be okay. And the flight wasn’t that long because I flew direct to San Antonio on a friend’s private jet. Could the trip have caused me to go into early labor?”
“Probably not, but most OBs would rather their patients deliver in a hospital, not on an airplane. Or a guesthouse.” Wanda Kay shrugged. “Still, it all worked out just fine.”
Eve hoped that was true. But now she had some more guilt to add to her guilt-riddled life.
Wanda Kay had Cassidy and Eve wash their hands and put on green paper robes before letting them into the actual nursery. The nurse then had Eve sit in a rocking chair. No easy feat with her sore bottom, but she would have sat on fire ants to have this chance.
“Don’t nurse him yet though,” Wanda Kay added. “I’ll need to check with the doctor first and make sure it’s okay.”
Eve doubted the baby would be hungry since she’d nursed him in the ambulance. In hindsight, that had probably given Lawson an uncomfortable moment or two, but she’d gotten so caught up in feeding her son that she hadn’t noticed.
The nurse lifted him from the incubator and eased him into Eve’s waiting arms. And Eve could have sworn that her heart doubled in size. She didn’t care that he wasn’t planned or that he shared DNA with Kellan, Eve loved him from the top of his curly-haired head down to his feet, which she checked.
All ten fingers. All ten toes.
The tears came, and they were bittersweet.
“Brings back memories of Tessie, huh?” Cassidy said after Wanda Kay went back into the office. Since the nurse hadn’t given her a chair, Cassidy sat on the arm of the rocker.
Yes, this did remind Eve of Tessie, and that was the reason for the next tears that fell.
“So, what did you decide to name him?” Cassidy asked. “And please don’t say Kellan, Jr.”
Not a chance. And Cassidy knew that. “Aiden James Cooper.”
“After your grandfather. Good choice.”
Cassidy knew about Eve’s grandpa James, too. Knew that he’d basically raised Eve after her mom and dad had divorced. Her dad had disappeared shortly thereafter, and in between her mom’s job and her constant dating, there hadn’t been much time for Eve. Grandpa James had always made time. Too bad he wasn’t here to see his namesake, but he’d died of a heart attack seven years ago. Her folks wouldn’t be around, either, since they hadn’t spoken since she’d left Wrangler’s Creek.
“I considered naming him Brett,” Eve added, “but I wasn’t sure that’d be a good idea. I mean, Brett’s family might not like that. Lawson probably wouldn’t, either.”
There was also no need for Eve to explain Brett to Cassidy. There’d been too many times when Eve had broken down over the memories of the teenager who’d once been Lawson’s and her best friend.
A friend they’d let die.
Sometimes, like now, the memories still crushed her heart, and she figured it did the same to Lawson. Or rather what memories Lawson had of that horrible night. Unlike Eve, Lawson hadn’t been able to recall a lot of details. Of course, that might have changed over the years. Though Eve hoped it hadn’t. She had enough of those memories for both of them.
“Are the tears of the happy variety or are they because of Brett or Tessie?” Cassidy asked.
“All three.” Eve looked up at her friend. “Is there any chance you can convince Tessie to take my calls?”
“You know I’ve already tried. And I’ll keep trying.” She patted Eve’s arm. “Just give it time, and Tessie will come around.”
Maybe, but it certainly didn’t feel like it at the moment.
“I talked to her briefly on the way here,” Cassidy went on. “She’s busy with her summer classes. And yes, she’s fitting in.”
Since that was about to be Eve’s question, she just waited for Cassidy to continue, but she didn’t because Darby came in. Eve tried to smile. Tried not to look as uncomfortable as her bottom felt. It was bad enough that Eve had to see Lawson’s ex, but the nurse also had yet more of those fan magazines.
“Oh, good. You’re up,” Darby said. She seemed a lot perkier than she had earlier when she’d stopped by Eve’s room. Of course, Eve didn’t really know the woman since Darby and her family had moved to Wrangler’s Creek after she’d already left.
“I just saw Kellan in the hall,” Darby went on. “He’s giving an interview to some reporters, and you can tell he’s bursting with pride over his son.” She ran her hand over the baby’s toes.
So, Eve had been right about Darby’s perkiness. And Eve didn’t have to guess why the woman was in this giddy mood. She knew that Kellan was the baby’s father and not Lawson. Eve didn’t like that Kellan was using their son to milk some publicity, but at least now folks might not blame her for causing Lawson and Darby’s breakup.
“Kellan told the reporter that you’d be splitting time between LA and here,” Darby remarked. “He said that way you’d be ready if the studio goes through with the Demon High reunion.”
Those were obviously fishing-expedition comments. And they weren’t true. Eve had no plans to live anywhere but the place she’d bought from Lucian. Kellan knew that. The studio knew that. But yet it kept coming up—from Kellan.
Eve didn’t mind if that was one particular bridge that got burned, but anything she said to Darby could end up as some twisted version of a story in a tabloid. Once a reporter had heard Eve belch after downing a few swigs of a Diet Coke and then had reported that she had a rare intestinal disorder that could be life-threatening. It had resulted in her “hornies” fans sending her hundreds of cards, flowers, herbal remedies and baskets of horns.
When Eve’s silence dragged on, Darby gave a nervous smile and turned to Cassidy. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Darby Rester.”
“You’re Lawson’s ex. I heard about you. One of the other nurses mentioned you when I asked about Eve. I’m Cassidy Vale.”
Eve frowned at Cassidy. There was no need to rub that ex part in or make it seem as if she’d heard something unsavory about Darby, but Eve suspected it was Cassidy’s way of reminding Darby that she didn’t have a right to play the “I’m the wronged woman here” with Eve. After all, Lawson had been Eve’s ex long before Darby had come into the picture.
“Yes, Lawson,” Darby repeated. “I nearly forgot. He wanted me to tell you that he’s leaving on a long business trip and didn’t have time to stop by.”
There it was again. The little pang of disappointment because she wouldn’t be seeing Lawson anytime soon. Eve reminded herself that Lawson wasn’t hers to pang about, and this absence might be a good thing.
“Is Lawson, uh, all right?” Eve asked.
Darby blinked as if that was a trick question, but then the aha light went on in her eyes. “You mean because of the stitches. And the other cuts, concussion and the bruises. Yes, he’ll be fine.”
That was good. Except for the laundry list of injuries, of course.
“I know I’ve already bothered you with autographs,” Darby said a moment later. “But more of the staff had magazines and they were wondering if you’d sign them. No pressure. I can just leave them, and if you’re feeling up to it, that’s great. If not, I’m sure they’ll understand.”
Darby handed the magazines to Cassidy, and she looked at Eve as if waiting for her to say something about the covers or how she was feeling. Eve didn’t give her anything because of that whole fear-of-backfiring thing. Darby didn’t have any experience dealing with entertainment reporters who had sneaky ways of getting dirt. Of course, with whatever bull Kellan was doling out, it was possible the reporters had enough dirt to last them awhile.
Cassidy glanced at the magazine covers when Darby left, and she plucked one from the stack to show to Eve. “Remember this one?”
It was the one of Stavros and Ulyana in full costume, back to back, with stern looks on their made-up faces. Both of them were armed to the hilt with the prop weapons that managed to look real. Actually, the picture looked real, too.
Amazing, since it was heavily Photoshopped.
Eve measured out her life by specific events, and that cover was one of them. So were the events that had led up to it.
Eighteen years and two months ago, her drama class at the high school had been chosen to participate in an online audition for extras in a yet-to-be-named TV series. Eve had been going through a comic-book phase then, and since she really hadn’t planned on being an actress, she’d sent in a goofball rendition of an air fight scene that she’d “choreographed” to “Welcome to the Jungle” while wearing an old Halloween costume.
Apparently, the studio thought it was good enough for a real audition over Christmas break, but she hadn’t gotten her hopes up. She’d been so certain they’d choose a real actress. Certain, too, that she wouldn’t leave Lawson—even for a chance of fame in Hollywood. But she’d been young and naive enough to believe that if by some miracle she did get offered the part, she could have convinced Lawson to go with her.
The next “life measurement” had been Brett’s death. That’d been in January. Shortly afterward, things had changed between Lawson and her.
The double whammy of painful life measurements.
She’d still loved Lawson, but Eve had seen the resentment in his eyes and had known it would only grow. He might have never said it in words, but he blamed her for what’d happened. Just as she blamed herself.
That was the main reason she’d accepted the role when the studio had called, and she’d moved almost immediately. After she had made a clean break with Lawson, that is. Well, as clean of a break as she could make over something that was ripping her heart out.
Shortly thereafter, she’d started rehearsing for the filming of the first episode of Demon High. Another life measurement. The cover had been shot in July that year, and it and all the covers that followed for the next few months were done with a body double. As had been all of Eve’s action scenes on the set.
Because she’d been pregnant with Tessie.
Cassidy had known that, so had the rest of the cast, but it’d stayed a secret for years. Until Tessie had found out.
Tessie certainly hadn’t taken it well, either, when she’d learned that she wasn’t adopted after all, that she was indeed Eve’s biological daughter. Definitely another painful life measurement.
But Tessie’s anger was a drop in the bucket compared to what Lawson’s would be. He already hated her, but he would hate her a whole lot more if he ever found out the truth.
That he was Tessie’s father.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_bf543a45-8093-51cf-b6c0-aa21b834e068)
LAWSON WAS NOT daddy material. He’d always believed that when he was a teenager, but he’d thought he might change his mind when he became an adult.
Nope.
He was 100 percent certain of his particular stance in life after delivering Eve’s baby.
It had been like some kind of revelation—a foretelling from the fates, maybe—but holding that kid had reminded him of just how hard it would be to love a child and then have to let that kid loose in this crapshoot of a world.
A world where people died too young. Where hearts got crushed. And shit happened at an alarming rate. If he wanted that kind of pain in his life, he could just hit himself on the head with a big rock.
Or visit his brother Lucian, which he was about to do.
A rock to the head or seeing his oldest brother were on par, but the difference was, he could beat the crap out of Lucian should it become necessary. With a baby, there was no skill set to help with the fear of loving someone so much that it could break you for good. Lawson had been broken, several times, and he didn’t want another dose of that.
The best way to avoid a heart shit-kicking was to stay out of the “heart” business altogether. That meshed well with the no-fatherhood-for-him revelation. Commitments—those engagements, marriages and, yeah, kids—led to failure. And that wasn’t a theory, either. He’d seen it with his own two eyes. His folks’ nasty divorce. Belle’s bad marriage to Roman and Garrett’s dad. And his soured relationship with Eve.
All commitments gone wrong.
He took the final turn to his family’s place, and he pressed in the code on the security panel to open the arched gate with the name Heavenly Pastures scrolled out in wrought iron. It was pure irony, like when a hooker was named Chastity. Because there was no heavenly vibe, nor had there ever been any on these grounds. But yet his great-grandfather Jeremiah, who’d built the place, had chosen the name, maybe believing that it would rub off on the occupants.
So far, it hadn’t.
Lawson had higher hopes for the place he was building, but that hope was there only because it was a good half mile from the main house that Lucian called home. For a few months out of the year, anyway.
Since the townsfolk had dubbed him Lucifer, the joke was that his local residence was Hell Sweet Hell instead of Heavenly Pastures. But Lawson knew that his big brother preferred the sprawling ranch he’d built for himself two counties over. Or the equally sprawling house he’d bought near his office in San Antonio.
Apparently, this county hadn’t been suitable for his big brother because Heavenly Pastures hadn’t been running a full ranch operation since Lawson had left to work for Garrett.
It was more of a battleground these days.
When Lawson’s and Garrett’s grandfathers had had a falling-out decades ago, it had started a Texas-sized feud. They’d divided the land they co-owned except for about a hundred acres that at the time had been leased to another rancher. The lease had long since expired, and that meant the ownership of the land was in question. It was a prized chunk of acreage to own because the creek coiled through it. Garrett needed the creek water to keep the ranch growing. Lucian wanted to hang on to it because he was, well, Lucian, and he liked to own stuff even when he didn’t have a use for it.
Lawson passed by the road that led to his house, and he could see it in the distance. It was on the creek.
Yep, the very one in question.
But he was having the house built on Heavenly Pastures’ land that wasn’t in dispute. It was his. A twenty-first birthday gift from his dad as a way to lure Lawson back to the ranch so he could work for Lucian instead of Garrett. That ploy hadn’t worked, but the gift made a pretty spot for his future home.
A home that was no longer just a shell. Lawson could see the progress from the road, and it was really coming together with walls and a roof. He’d drop by and check on it once he’d had it out with Lucian. And the reason Lucian was on his shit list was because of the next house that came into view.
His mother’s.
Except now Eve believed she was the owner.
It was a white-and-yellow Victorian that looked out of place on a Texas ranch, and it was identical—in floor plan, anyway—to the one on the Granger Ranch where Lawson worked. Garrett’s great-granddaddy Z. T. Granger had built that place over a hundred years ago, and Lawson’s great-granddaddy had built a nearly identical one on Heavenly Pastures.
When Lawson reached the main house, he pulled to a stop in the circular drive—and cursed. Because Lucian’s truck wasn’t there. It was a sign that his brother wasn’t, either, since Lucian always parked in front or on the side of the house and not in the garage. Lawson figured the parking preference had to do with Lucian’s quick exits.
Like this one, for example.
Lawson had called the house just an hour earlier, and when he’d spoken to Lucian’s assistant, she’d said he wasn’t taking any calls but that he was there. And maybe he was. Lawson held out hope that his brother’s car was being serviced or something.
He parked in Lucian’s usual spot and got out as best he could. Each movement and step caused him to wince and grunt in pain, a reminder that a butt-kicking might be physically impossible. Still, he’d try.
Lawson threw open the door to the house and made a beeline to Lucian’s office. Well, as much of a beeline as he could make considering the place was massive. A woman he didn’t recognize peered down at him from the staircase and then scurried away. She was probably a housekeeper, and the reason he didn’t recognize her was that Lucian went through employees as frequently as he did cars.
He glanced in the sunroom since it was where Lucian often sat to read reports and such. No Lucian. However, the cook, Abe Wiser, was there. His feet were propped up on an ottoman, his body stretched out, and the guy was snoring. Abe was a lousy cook, an equally lousy worker, but unlike the revolving door of housekeepers, Lucian had kept Abe—for reasons that were unclear to anyone but Lucian.
“He’s not here,” someone mumbled.
Now, that was a voice he did recognize despite the mumbling. It was his brother Dylan. It wasn’t a surprise that he was there since unlike Lucian, Heavenly Pastures really was Dylan’s home. And the fact that he hadn’t smothered Lucian in his sleep was a testament to Dylan’s “I really don’t give a shit” attitude.
Dylan was coming from the direction of the kitchen, a beer in one hand, some papers tucked under his arm and the remainder of a pizza slice clamped between his teeth. He removed the pizza and gave Lawson that “Dylan Granger” smile that melted women into puddles of, well, whatever women melted into when they saw that pretty face and the endless supply of rodeo buckles. Dylan wasn’t just a cowboy. He was a rich bronc-riding champion.
Unlike Lucian, Dylan had definitely inherited all the charm in the family, and he was the reason Lawson had such a small dating pool. Dylan had slept with at least half the eligible women of Wrangler’s Creek. A good portion of the ineligible women, too. Since Lawson had a rule about dating any of his brother’s exes, that had limited him to only a handful of prospects.
“Karlee said Lucian was here,” Lawson pointed out. And since Karlee was the most efficient assistant in the state of Texas, Lawson had believed her. That’s why he’d driven out right after he packed for his trip.
“He was, but he left about fifteen minutes ago. You must have just missed him.” Dylan tipped his head to Lawson’s midsection. “Do you really have stitches on your ass?”
“Yeah, and you might need some when I’m finished with you. Why the hell would you let Lucian or Mom sell the house to Eve?”
“So, that’s why you’re here.” Dylan munched another bite of his pizza and got to walking, heading in the direction of his office. Which was on the other end of the house from Lucian’s. Apparently, the most charming cowboy in Texas wanted to keep his distance from the least charming one.
Dylan went in his office, setting the papers, beer and remainder of the pizza slice on his desk before he put his hands on his hips and faced Lawson. “I didn’t get a chance to talk anyone out of anything because it was a done deal before I even heard about it. Mom gave Lucian her power of attorney to sell it, and he did.” Dylan shrugged. “Lucian always did have a soft spot for Eve.”
“Lucian’s never had a soft spot for anyone,” he grumbled.
Lawson took out his phone to call his mother, Regina. She didn’t answer, of course, and Lawson had no idea where she was. Regina wasn’t exactly motherly in the normal sense of the word and rarely returned his calls. Still, he left her a message.
“It won’t do any good, you know,” Dylan commented. “The papers have been signed.”
“Since when? Because the gossips in this town are too good for me not to have heard about this.”
Dylan shrugged. “My guess is Lucian kept it quiet by using his San Antonio lawyer. He probably didn’t want you putting up a fuss before the deal was finalized.”
“Putting up a fuss” made him sound like a toddler who didn’t want a nap. Shit. This was serious. “Eve will practically be my neighbor.”
Dylan showed no sympathy whatsoever about that. “It’s a quarter of a mile from yours, and pardon me if I don’t boo-hoo about you having a hot actress to gawk at every now and then.”
Lawson wouldn’t be gawking because if he couldn’t figure out a way to nix this deal...well, he didn’t know what he was going to do, but it might involve building a very high fence. And yeah, he did sound like a cranky toddler.
“Eve doesn’t know the house she bought could be right on the edge of the land that might eventually be part of a lawsuit,” Lawson pointed out. And that was something he could enlighten her about.
But Dylan quickly burst that bubble. “I told her all about it.”
Lawson frowned. “What about her knowing that I’ll be her neighbor?”
“I mentioned that part, too, and she still wanted the place. I have no idea why.”
Hell. Lawson did. But it couldn’t be that. Eve had lost her virginity to him in that house on her seventeenth birthday. It was definitely memorable, but after the way she’d left town and broken off things with him, she couldn’t be sentimental about the location of her de-virgining.
Could she?
He thought about that a second and decided the answer was no.
“So, I heard Eve named the baby Aiden,” Dylan continued while he sipped his beer. “I guess she decided against Brett.”
That pulled Lawson right out of his de-virgining thought. “Brett?”
“Yeah. I talked to her last night when she got in, and she mentioned it was one of the names on her list.”
Lawson was glad she’d nixed it. He didn’t need anything to remind him of the friend he’d lost, not when he was working so hard to forget it. Of course, Eve would likely think it was easier for him to forget since he couldn’t remember much. Only bits and pieces. In a way that made it worse because Lawson had filled in those gaps with some god-awful stuff.
“Why’d you talk to Eve?” Lawson asked, getting his mind back on the conversation with his brother. “Better yet, why didn’t you tell me you’d talked to her? And is there any reason you didn’t mention to me that she was coming here or that she was pregnant?”
Dylan scratched his chin. “That’s a lot of questions. Angry-sounding questions. Are you jealous?”
“Hell, no.” And he gave Dylan “the big brother” look that often had preceded a butt-whipping when they were kids.
Dylan smiled, made a yeah whatever sound. That sound had often preceded a butt-whipping, too. “Eve called me right before she bought the house. She asked me how I thought you’d take her moving back. She was worried that you’d be upset—”
“Damn straight I’m upset—”
“But I told her you were a grown man,” Dylan said, talking right over him, “and that the stuff that happened between you two was water under the bridge.”
“I’m a grown man with a memory,” Lawson fired back, which, of course, sounded toddler-ish again. He huffed. Since he wasn’t gaining any ground here, it was best he headed out, and he was about to do that until Dylan spoke again.
“If you talk to Eve,” his brother went on, “let her know that I did try to call Tessie for her. She’d given me the girl’s number and address in case of an emergency.”
She’d given the number to Belle, too, and Eve had also asked him to call Tessie if something went wrong with the delivery. “Did you talk to Tessie?”
Dylan shook his head. “I tried, but the call went straight to voice mail.” He paused. “Eve and Tessie are on the outs, and Eve’s all torn up about it. That’s why you need to cut her some slack about this house business. She’s going through a rough time right now.”
Well, Lawson wasn’t going through a picnic what with the breakup with Darby, the flashbacks about Brett and the butt stitches, but this sounded like more than just a mother-daughter spat. “What happened?”
“Eve didn’t say, but considering the timing, maybe Tessie didn’t approve of her mom having a baby. Or her mom having sex with Kellan Carver.”
Hell, Lawson didn’t approve of her having sex with the turd, and he didn’t have a say in this.
“Have you met Tessie?” Lawson pressed.
“No, but she moved to Texas earlier this year. She’s going to school in Austin.”
So, not far. And it was sort of on his way to and from the cattle auction. Sort of. “Could you text me Tessie’s phone number and address?”
That wasn’t a charming look Dylan gave him. It was a suspicious one. “What are you planning on doing?”
“I’m planning on leaving for a cattle-buying trip,” Lawson snapped. He checked his watch, but it was all for show. It was a seven-hour drive, and he had a week to get there and would be gone for well over a month. A calendar would have been better use to him than his watch. “But I was thinking on the way back that I could stop by and see Tessie. You know, just to make sure she’s okay.”
Dylan squinted one eye. “Why?”
For such a simple one-word question, it was plenty hard to answer. Because it was going to make him sound like a toddler again. That’s why he kept it to himself. But if things were patched up between Tessie and Eve, then Eve might not want to live at the ranch. Maybe she’d leave and go back to LA or even to Austin with Tessie.
And maybe, just maybe, she’d take the trail of memories, broken and otherwise, with her.
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_b782ed30-7613-5a20-92c6-7392803b152c)
WHEN EVE DROVE up in front of her house, the first thing she noticed was a hot cowboy on the porch. Not the hot cowboy, Lawson, but rather his cousin, a hot cowboy from the same sizzling Granger gene pool.
Roman.
The second thing she noticed was the disturbing stuffed horse next to him. It was at least five feet tall, had urine-yellow spots, large black owl eyes and a neck crooked at such an angle that it looked as if someone had strangled it. There was a large purple-wrapped box next to it.
“Wow,” Cassidy murmured. She was in the passenger seat, and with her mouth open, she stared up at the porch.
Eve figured Cassidy’s reaction wasn’t for the horse, and she got confirmation of that when Cassidy made a sound as if she’d just taken a lick of something sinfully delicious.
That was most women’s reaction to Roman.
Since she wasn’t blind, Eve could appreciate Roman’s good looks, but he’d always been too much of a bad boy for her. Plus, in her younger days, she’d never been able to see past Lawson. That hadn’t stopped Roman and her from becoming friends though.
“Please tell me he’s not an actor,” Cassidy said. “Or a mirage brought on by this heat.”
Well, it was hot. August in Texas always was, and the temp was close to triple digits. It was probably hotter, though, around Roman. She suspected the Granger men lit little thermal fires wherever they went.
“And please tell me he’s not married,” Cassidy added. “And that he didn’t bring that god-awful spotted horse.”
The last one was easy. The horse had to be from Kellan. He hadn’t called her or visited Aiden in the past six weeks, but for some reason he kept sending large stuffed animals that were scary enough to provoke nightmares. Eve had been shoving them into one of the guest rooms where they’d be out of sight. And that’s where this latest one would go.
As for the other question, Eve hated to burst the bubble of a naughty fantasy that Cassidy was obviously weaving, but she had to know that Roman was off-limits. “No, he’s not an actor or a mirage, and I doubt he’s clueless about appropriate gifts to send an infant. But yes, he’s married. He’s Roman Granger, Lawson’s cousin. He’s a big-time rodeo promoter, and he’s married to Mila, who owns the bookstore on Main Street.”
Cassidy’s next sound was one of disappointment. “Well, Mila is one lucky woman.”
Yes, she was. But Eve suspected that Roman thought he was the lucky one. According to the gossip—and there was plenty of it—Roman had gone through a string of women before he’d finally fallen hard for his childhood friend.
“Sorry that I didn’t call first, but I was in the area and decided to check on you,” Roman said when she got out of the car. He scooped up the package and started toward them.
“No worries. It’s good to see you.” She kissed Roman’s cheek, made introductions, and when Roman tipped his Stetson in greeting to Cassidy, Eve could have sworn that her friend sighed. A swoony sigh that made Eve smile. Then frown. Too bad there wasn’t a way to make women immune to the Granger charm.
“I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” Eve added. She scooped up Aiden from his car seat. “I was in town.”
“I’ve only been here a couple of minutes.” He shifted the gift under his arm and helped her with the diaper bag. “Yeah, and I knew you were in town. For the baby’s six-week checkup. I heard. You and this little man make news wherever you go.”
It was the truth. The reporters and paparazzi had left her alone for the most part. So had the hornies. But the townsfolk still paid attention to her every move. Of course, they did that to plenty of other people, including Lawson.
On her weekly trips into Wrangler’s Creek for groceries and such, nearly everyone who crossed her path had the urge to tell her that Lawson was still on a business trip, one that had no end in sight since he’d been gone for six weeks and had no projected return date.
Beneath the gossip, there was the underlying tone that she was responsible for that, and Eve had no doubts that she was. Lawson didn’t want her here, which meant when he finally did return, they were going to talk. Maybe she could convince him this town was big enough for both of them. Maybe while she was at it, she could convince herself that the old memories in this house were nothing but memories.
“I was out checking on Lawson’s place for him and figured you’d be back soon,” Roman explained. “Wanted to see how you and the baby were doing.” As they went up the steps, he touched his finger to Aiden’s nose, causing the baby to give him a sleepy smile.
“You didn’t have to bring a gift.” Eve tipped her head to the purple box he was holding.
“Oh, it’s not from me. It’s from Dylan. He dropped by, too. Said it was a housewarming present.” Roman paused. “Someone also left a horn by the gate, but he tossed that.”
Good grief. Not another one. At least the person hadn’t gotten onto the grounds, but then, one of the reasons she wanted this house was because of its remote location and the security that the gate offered.
“That’s not from me, either.” Roman motioned toward the horse. “Dylan was at the post office earlier, and the clerk begged him to bring it out to you since it was taking up the whole sorting room and giving folks the willies. He brought it over with the gift. Is it an old prop from Demon High?”
“No, it’s from a dimwit ass,” Cassidy grumbled.
Eve gave Cassidy a scolding glance. Yes, it was true that Kellan was clueless and was frequently ass-like, but he was Aiden’s father, and Eve didn’t want her son to grow up hearing things like that. Not from his nanny and mother, anyway. She was certain Aiden would figure it all out soon enough.
Probably by age two.
Then one day Eve would have to explain that on a troublesome night in her life she, too, had gotten clueless and stupid and slept with someone who was, well, a dimwit ass.
“Come in and I’ll fix you some iced tea or something,” Eve offered Roman when Cassidy unlocked the door, and they went inside.
Roman hauled in the horse and stood it in the foyer. Cassidy also took the baby from Eve so that she in turn could take the gift from Roman.
“Thanks,” Roman said, “but I can’t stay. I need to go to Lawson’s place and chew out the contractor. Apparently, there was some miscommunication that resulted in a green quartz countertop instead of a white one. Lawson didn’t feel he was getting his point across over the phone, so he asked me to go.”
Eve was certain Roman would indeed get the point across. He hadn’t lost that bad-boy edge.
“Plus, I don’t really like hanging around at Heavenly Pastures,” Roman added in a grumble.
“But you came to see Dylan,” she pointed out.
“Lucian’s threatening the lawsuit again, says he’s thinking about bringing in livestock and making this place a full-scale working ranch again. I came out here to attempt a bud-nipping.”
Oh. That. The lawsuit generated a lot of gossip, but from what Eve could tell, it was something Lucian had been threatening for years.
“Did you succeed?” she asked.
“No. If Lucian wins, you could have cattle or horses right in your backyard.”
“Better than horns or paparazzi.”
He smiled at her. “Are you okay?”
She considered a lie or a smidge of BS but went with the truth. “Most days. I stay busy,” she amended.
“Yep, a baby can do that.” He knew that firsthand, too, because Roman had become a father when he was a teenager. “And I’ve heard your charity foundation keeps you working hard.”
It did, but thankfully no one in town had made the connection that the foundation helped pregnant teens. Nor were they aware it was something she knew about firsthand.
Of course, unlike a lot of teens, she’d had plenty of money when she had been carrying Tessie. Plenty afterward, too, from her residuals off the reruns of Demon High and the investments she’d made from her salary during the show’s run. And she’d had some support.
Sort of.
Cassidy had been there for her, and the studio had worked hard to keep the pregnancy a secret so she could continue doing Demon High. The studio’s motives, though, had been driven not by her well-being but by profit. Sponsors would have dropped the show if they’d learned the costar was a pregnant teenager.
“You’ve been busy, too,” Eve commented.
Roman nodded, pointed to his wedding ring. “I heard hell froze over that day.”
“And I heard the sound of hundreds of broken hearts.”
“Hearts mend. Those women who’d once been interested in me have already moved on to Dylan. And Lawson.”
She hoped she didn’t look too shocked by Lawson’s name being mentioned in the same sentence with Dylan, the reigning king of heartbreakers. “I thought most women in town wanted Lawson to get back together with Darby.”
“They do,” he readily admitted. “Those are the women going after Dylan. Lawson’s getting attention from the rest, those not on Team Darby. In case you’re wondering, there’s a Team Eve, too.”
She’d missed that particular tidbit of gossip. “Who’s on that team?”
Roman smiled. “Me.”
“I’m not sure you count,” she said under her breath. Since Roman was already heading out the door, Eve followed him out onto the porch. “Any idea when Lawson will be back?”
“I figure another week, maybe less. He’s had time to look at every bull, steer, heifer and calf in the whole state.”
It sure seemed like it.
Since she couldn’t figure out a subtle way to put this, she just put it out there. “Mary Ellen Betterton, the nurse at the pediatrician’s office, said she thought Lawson and Darby were getting back together. He apparently called her last week on her birthday, and Mary Ellen thought that was a good sign.”
Roman blew out a long breath. “You know how confused and frustrated you’re feeling about Lawson?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Well, he feels the same way about you. Of course, he’d rather eat that rabid stuffed horse than admit it. That’s my way of saying, don’t read anything into what Lawson’s doing right now. He’s just trying to sort it all out.”
Those were very wise words, and Eve brushed another kiss on his cheek to let him know that. “Thanks.”
He shrugged in that lazy way that only he or a Greek god could have managed. “It’s good to have you home, Eve.”
It was good to be home, but the jury was still out on whether or not anyone other than Roman and she felt that way.
By the time Eve made it back inside, Cassidy had already taken Aiden to the nursery, and she was carrying the pair of baby monitors—one of which she handed to Eve. It had seemed like overkill for both of them to have monitors, but Cassidy had a suite upstairs where she did her paintings for the illustrations for kids’ books. That way, if Cassidy was on a roll with the artwork, she could signal Eve to get the baby.
Not that Eve was far from him anyway.
Her bedroom and office were right next to Aiden’s bedroom, and the baby napped in her arms almost as often as he did in his crib.
“Your housewarming gift,” Cassidy reminded her, and she handed her the box.
Eve opened it and saw the binoculars. Not the cheap kids’ kind. These looked more like something the military would use on recon missions. There was a note attached.
“‘Go to your family room bay window and look out,’” she read aloud.
With Cassidy following her, Eve did indeed go to the window, and she set aside the box so she could adjust the focus on the binoculars. After she’d done that, she had a zoomed-in view of Lawson’s house.
Eve rolled her eyes and handed the binoculars to Cassidy so she could have a look, as well. “Good choice of gifts. Well, it will be if and when Hot Cowboy comes back.” She shifted the binoculars toward the road. “In the meantime, I’ll be content with memories of Roman.”
“You don’t have to settle for memories,” Eve reminded her. “I know you won’t date actors, but there’s none around here. Plenty of cowboys though.”
“Hmm. Maybe the elusive Lucian, then? I’ve yet to see him, but if he’s as hot as Roman, Lawson and Dylan, then it might be fun to have a late-summer fling with him.”
Eve couldn’t shake her head fast enough. Cassidy had been burned more than a couple of times by falling for the wrong man, and Lucian was almost certainly in that wrong man category.
“Lucian isn’t the summer-flinging type,” Eve told her.
Cassidy gave her a flat look. “I keep hearing what a badass ass he is, but are you saying he doesn’t have sex?”
“I’m sure he does, but it’d be like playing with fire while running with scissors and skating on thin ice.”
The flat look turned to a sly smile. “Or it could be like taking the bull by the horns while taking time to smell the roses and sowing some oats.” She paused. “Unless there’s another Granger I don’t know about yet.”
“Reed,” Eve said quickly. “But he’s out of the picture. He left Wrangler’s Creek years ago.”
“All that testosterone in one house,” Cassidy commented.
Yes, and Eve had often felt sorry for their kid sister, Lily Rose. She’d had an abundance of big-brother interference in her life, but all was well now. Lily Rose was married and ran her own horse-training business.
Eve checked the monitor. Aiden was still sacked out, so she should probably catch up on some paperwork for the foundation. She was about to head to her office, but her phone rang. When she took it from her pocket and saw the name on the screen, her heart went to her knees.
Tessie.
Eve’s hands were suddenly shaking so hard that she bobbled her phone and nearly dropped it. She finally managed to hit the answer button.
“Tessie, it’s good to hear from you.” Eve tried to tamp down the emotion in her voice but was certain she failed.
“Yesterday, you left six messages for me to call you,” Tessie greeted her. “Five the day before. You’re going in the wrong direction, Mom. I told you I wasn’t ready to talk to you.”
“I know.” And as harsh as Tessie’s tone was, it still gave Eve a warm feeling to hear her say Mom. “I’m sorry. I just miss you, that’s all.”
“No, that’s not all. You want me to forgive you. Well, I can’t. You lied to me. You made me believe I was adopted.”
“I know,” Eve repeated. And she couldn’t even defend or excuse herself. The studio had created the lie, and Eve had taken that lie and run with it. A way of having her cake and eating it, too. “But I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
Tessie made a yeah right sound that was identical to one Lawson had made. “I saw a magazine in the grocery store, and it had an interview with Kellan. He was bragging about his son.” Tessie paused. “Is Kellan my father, too?”
“No.” She didn’t add more, though she was pretty sure Tessie was waiting for her to do that. But what could she say? Nothing that would make this better, that’s for sure. “Just please let me come and see you in Austin.”
“Don’t you dare come.” Tessie didn’t wait on that response. She blurted it out. “There’s a whole Demon High cult club here, and they don’t know we’re related. I want to keep it that way.”
Because Tessie was embarrassed about it. Always had been. It was one of the reasons she’d been so cooperative about keeping a low profile. It was probably also why she’d wanted to attend an out-of-state college. She wanted to get far away from anyone who knew her.
Little did Tessie know how close she was to her blood kin.
“I gotta go. I have a class that’s about to start.” Tessie ended the call before Eve could get in another word.
The first tear spilled down Eve’s cheek before she could even put away her phone, and Cassidy was right there to pull Eve into her arms. Cassidy just held her and let her cry it out, but the tears wouldn’t help. This was an ache that Eve felt all the way to her soul. Her daughter might never forgive her, might never love her again.
“So, let me play devil’s advocate,” Cassidy said. She led Eve into the powder room just off the foyer and grabbed her a handful of tissues.
“That’s the role you played on Demon High,” Eve muttered as she blew her nose.
Cassidy shrugged. “Well, now I want to reprise it to give you a glimpse of the double poop-storm that could be brewing.”
Poop-storm was one of Cassidy’s go-to curse words. Once, Cassidy had had a serious cursing problem, but after she’d become Tessie’s nanny, she’d toned it down—other than calling Kellan an ass. Eve only wished her toning down didn’t sound so, well, toned down when she was talking with adults.
“Tessie doesn’t know that Lawson’s her father,” Cassidy went on, “but one day she’ll find out. Heck, one look at him, and she’ll know.”
She would. Because Tessie looked very much like Lawson’s cousin Sophie. “I plan to tell her...eventually.”
“If eventually doesn’t happen before she finds out from someone else, then Tessie will get mad again that you didn’t come completely clean with her. She’ll go to Lawson since she’ll be curious what he’s like, and he’ll see her and will almost certainly suspect she’s his daughter. Then they’ll both be mad at you. Hence, the poop-storm times two.”
It wasn’t exactly a revelation, but it did stir a new urgency in Eve. Cassidy was right. This secret had already blown up in her face once, but there could be a secondary explosion.
One that might cause her to lose Tessie forever.
“Deep down, I think you had another reason for moving back here to Wrangler’s Creek,” Cassidy went on. “Yes, you wanted to get away from Hollywood and start a new life, but you also knew Tessie was just an hour away. She’d been talking about going to the college in Texas for years. And I believe you realized then that the time had come for her to know the truth.”
It had. God, it had.
“Help me get the baby ready,” Eve said. “I need to go to Austin right now.”
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_85d32a17-77a9-5d33-acc0-ba10a8cddca7)
LAWSON HAD DONE some pretty stupid things in his life, but this might make his top ten. Top five if he didn’t figure out something better to say other than Uh, Tessie, I’m just here in Austin to check on you because my ditzy aunt Belle and your mom are worried about you.
This was definitely an example of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. And even though he’d told Dylan he might visit Tessie, Lawson had also dismissed it shortly after the dumb-assed notion had first entered his head. So, why had he let Belle talk him into it with her repeated pestering calls and garbled texts?
Because he’d obviously wanted to be talked into it, that’s why.
Despite his dismissing this visit, he was still running with the self-serving theory that if he could smooth things over between Eve and Tessie, Eve would leave Wrangler’s Creek. Then he wouldn’t have to risk seeing her every day in a house and place that would eventually make her miserable because it would bring back old memories of why she’d left in the first place.
Every time that theory played out in his head, he felt lower than squished shit beneath a horse’s hoof. But a happy resolution between mother and daughter with Tessie would benefit Eve, too, since Belle had assured him that Eve was sick with worry about the rift with Tessie. So, even if this didn’t make Eve leave Wrangler’s Creek, at least she wouldn’t be miserable if she could reconnect with her daughter.
Following the directions of his GPS, Lawson took the final turn onto a narrow street lined on both sides with parked cars. He didn’t have the name of the building, only the address that he’d gotten from Dylan, but there’d probably be a sign for the boarding school or whatever it was called. But no school sign. It was just rows of apartments.
“Arriving at destination on left,” the GPS told him.
Yep, definitely an apartment building, but maybe the middle or high school that Tessie was attending was using some of the units as dorm rooms. Top-of-the-line dorm rooms, since this was a pricey area of Austin. Lawson knew that because his cousins’ business headquarters, Granger Western, wasn’t too far from here, and it certainly fell into the pricey category. Eve was loaded though, so she probably didn’t mind shelling out the money if this was a good place for her daughter.
There were no parking spots nearby, so Lawson kept driving until he found one at the end of the street. The August heat slammed into him the moment he stepped from his truck, and he hated to admit it, but it almost felt like some bad omen. Maybe like one of Vita’s foretellings that he dismissed but still gave him an uneasy feeling. He shook that off, went up the steps to the building, but the door flew open before he could even reach for it.
And the smell of booze came rushing out at him.
Lawson quickly saw the source of the smell. Three teenagers, two girls and a guy, who were trying to come out the door despite the fact that he was directly in front of them. They were giggling and wobbling but tried to straighten and look sober when they spotted him.
“Shh,” the guy said to the others. “Just keep walkin’.” His attempt at a whisper could have probably been heard as far away as Kansas.
The guy, who had stringy long blond hair, was on one side of one of the girls—a brunette with her head down—and he had his arm hooked around her waist, obviously supporting her weight. The other girl, a blonde, was doing the same thing on the other side of the middle girl.
Even though the trio was trying to get by, Lawson didn’t move. “Are y’all all right?” he asked.
It didn’t matter what they said because he already knew the answer. They were drunk. And clearly underage. A bad combination. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst was the flashbacks that hit Lawson like a mean kick from a rodeo bull.
Brett.
It all came back—the handful of parts that he could remember, anyway. The party. The drinking. And yeah, Eve, Brett and he had been underage, too. They’d been so sure they weren’t doing anything wrong, that it was something plenty of kids did. Kids like these. But it had been wrong, and Brett had died.
“We’re doin’ just fine, man,” the guy said, or at least attempted to. He missed a couple of syllables and slurred the ones he did manage to say. Even the smile he tried was off the mark and looked as if someone had yanked up the right side of his mouth with an invisible fish hook. “’Kay?”
No, it wasn’t okay, and Lawson felt the anger slide through him. It wasn’t anger directed at the kids but rather himself. Yeah, and Eve, too. The trifecta of Eve, Brett and him usually led to his piss-poor attempt to completely shut out what he’d failed to shut out for the past eighteen years.
And he failed today, too.
The anger was there all right, but Lawson tried to keep his touch gentle when he put his fingers beneath the middle girl’s chin to lift it. His heart felt as if it stopped until he saw her eyelids flutter open.
Alive.
Thank God. But she wouldn’t stay that way if she got any more booze in her or if her blood alcohol was already too high.
Most people wouldn’t have thought the worst-case scenario in a situation like this, but since Lawson had been there, done that in the worst-case department, he knew how fast things could turn ugly.
“All of you live here in this building?” Lawson asked.
That got the attention of the girl on the end. “You a cop?”
“Yeah,” he lied.
Her eyes widened to the size of hubcaps, and she suddenly looked as if she might puke. Good. That would get the booze out of her stomach. The guy did puke, and when he turned his head to do that, he let go of the brunette in the middle. If Lawson hadn’t caught her, she would have probably splatted on the floor. He hooked his arm around her, moving her away from the puking—which was only getting worse because the blonde girl started barfing her guts out, too.
There was nothing worse than the smell of booze-vomit, so he took the semiconscious girl several yards away to the massive stairs in the center of the foyer and he had her sit down. At least she stayed upright. Mostly, anyway. She drifted into a slow lean until her arm was against the banister.
While he took out his phone to call an ambulance and the real cops, Lawson turned back to the two pukers. They obviously didn’t have the mobility issues of the nonpuker, though, because they ran out the front door. He didn’t go after them but was about to go through with the ambulance call when he heard the footsteps on the stairs. Lawson soon spotted a young woman making her way toward them. She didn’t look much older than the brunette, but at least she wasn’t drunk.
“What’s going on?” she asked. But she got her own answer because she groaned, then made a face when she got a whiff of the brunette and the puke. “Idiot,” she muttered to the girl. She caught hold of her, pulling her to her feet before she looked at Lawson. “Are you a cop?”
He frowned because he was reasonably sure he looked nothing like a cop. Hell, he still had some cow dung on his boots from the stockyard he’d visited earlier, and he was wearing one of his prize rodeo buckles.
“You know this girl?” he asked. Yeah, it was a cop maneuver, answering a question with a question, but he wanted to know what was going on.
The newcomer nodded. “She’s a sorority sister.” She rattled off some Greek letters. “And she’s my roommate.”
“Sorority?” His frown deepened. “As in college?”
She was no longer giving him an are you a cop? look. She was staring at him now as if he was an idiot. “Uh, yes. We’re staying here temporarily until our sorority house is ready.”
All right. So, maybe the brunette wasn’t underage after all if she was in college. But that immediately led Lawson to something that didn’t fit.
What was Tessie doing here if this was for college students?
Maybe there was still a boarding school along with the sorority sisters? Or it could be that Tessie was indeed college age. Since he’d never seen a picture of her, it was possible that Eve had adopted her when she was four or five instead of an infant.
“I’ll take her back to the room, and I’ll call the janitor about the throw-up,” the young woman said. “I’ll make sure she’s okay. Just please don’t arrest her. Wellsmore College has a no-drinking policy, and she could get in big trouble.”
Lawson wasn’t letting her off the hook just yet. “There were two other people with her, and they were also drunk. A guy and a girl, both blond.”
“Idiots,” she repeated. “I know them, too. They’re the ones who threw up?”
He nodded. “Someone will need to check on them.”
“I’ll make some calls,” she jumped to answer. “Just please—no arrests. If my mom hears about stuff like this going on, she’ll make me move back home.”
Lawson really didn’t want to let this slide, but the young woman did seem to be on top of this, and that “idiot” label hopefully meant she was going to give all three of them some grief over this screwup.
He finally put his hands on his hips. “When she sobers up, tell her I’ll be keeping an eye on her, and I will put her butt in jail if she does this again.”
She gave a shaky nod, and even the brunette attempted some kind of an agreement to that. It came out as a groan-belch-nod, but Lawson thought he’d gotten his point across. That’s why he didn’t stop the other woman from taking the brunette up the stairs.
However, it was only after he’d allowed them to leave that he remembered he hadn’t accomplished what he’d come here to do.
Find Tessie. Attempt a rift-mending. Go home.
He was about to call out to the sober girl to ask her if she knew Tessie, but the front door inched open. The pukers hadn’t returned though. This was a redhead in her thirties. She was wearing yoga pants and was carrying a baby in her arms. She was in midsmile—aimed at the baby, whose cheek she was touching—but she “ewww’ed” when she noticed the puke. She sidestepped it on her tiptoes and froze when her attention landed on him.
“Holy shit,” she spit out. Then her mouth twisted up. “Sorry,” she added to the baby. “Holy crackers.”
Despite the toned-down version of the profanity, her expression was pretty much still in the “holy shit” mode. Her gaze slashed around. At every corner of the foyer. Then at the stairs. The sorority sisters were already around the bend of the stairs and out of sight, but the redhead kept looking as if she expected someone to materialize out of the putrid air.
“It wasn’t me who got sick,” Lawson said when she glanced at the puke again. Then the door. But at the same moment he spoke, she said, “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t think that was a general kind of question. As in what was a grown man doing in an apartment building for a sorority? She seemed to want some specific information. “Do I know you?”
“Oh.” Her forehead bunched up. “Oh. No. We’ve never met, but I’m Cassidy Vale. What are you doing here?” she repeated.
It took Lawson a moment to realize that this was the actress who used to be on Demon High. Maybe Eve and she were still friends, and Eve had sent her to check on Tessie.
He tipped his cowboy hat and was about to introduce himself, but she spoke before he could. “I know who you are. You’re Hot Cowboy.” She frowned as if sorry she’d admitted that. “That’s what Eve used to call you. She kept your picture in her purse when she first moved to LA.” Another frown. “Now, why are you here?” She made one more of those nervous looks up the staircase.
Hot Cowboy? Well, it was better than cop. Actually, a lot better. But why had Eve talked about him like that? And carried his picture? She’d been finished with him when she left Wrangler’s Creek.
Or so he’d thought.
At the exact second he was thinking that, the baby made a fussing sound and squirmed, drawing Lawson’s attention to it. Or rather to him. It was a baby boy wearing denim shorts and a shirt that said Number One Son. The kid smiled at him. And Lawson instantly knew who he was.
“Eve’s baby,” he muttered.
“Yes. Aiden,” Cassidy confirmed.
Well, the kid had changed a lot in the six weeks since Lawson had delivered him. For one thing, he was bigger, and his eyes were open. He didn’t look pissed off and ready to kick the world in the balls. Nope. He looked, well, like a cute kid. One who was smiling at him, and Lawson found himself smiling right back.
“Eve’s parking the car,” Cassidy went on. “Now, why exactly are you here?”
Lawson heard the repeated question, but his brain latched on to the first part of what Cassidy had said. Eve was parking the car, which meant she’d soon be there. He didn’t especially want to avoid her.
Okay, he did.
But the important thing was there was no reason for him to be there if Eve had personally come to check on Tessie. It was best for him to leave. Immediately.
This time he tipped his hat in farewell and had even managed a couple of steps when the door opened and Eve came in. Like Cassidy, she made an ewww sound when she spotted the vomit. Lawson wasn’t ewwwing though. He was cursing. Because, hell, there it was again.
Lust.
Apparently, old lust was just as potent as the fresh stuff because one look at her, and it heated up every inch of him. Which only caused him to mentally curse himself even more. Thankfully, he didn’t have to deal with the lust for very long because the inevitable second reaction came.
Grief.
Yeah, this was the Brett-effect again because all of that came back, too. Since he’d just had to fight off the flashbacks minutes earlier after seeing the drunk teenager, he didn’t have them tamped down enough. They came much too fast to the surface. At least it was a cure for the lust, but Lawson knew it was a temporary one.
Eve shifted her attention from the floor. To Cassidy. And then she spotted him.
“Shit,” Eve snapped. “I mean, shoot. What are you doing here?”
Lawson had heard that question more today than he had in years. “I was on my way back from a buying trip, and Belle asked me to come by and check on Tessie.”
Judging from the way the color vanished from Eve’s face, that wasn’t an answer she’d expected. Or one that she wanted to hear.
“Belle?” Eve repeated. She looked at Cassidy as if she expected her to have some enlightening thing to say, but Cassidy only shook her head.
“Uh, you saw Tessie?” Eve asked. She scooped up the baby from Cassidy’s arms, but for some reason, the kid kept looking at Lawson. Kept smiling, too.
Lawson shook his head and hitched his thumb toward the stairs. “According to the address Dylan gave me, Tessie’s on the second floor. I was about to head up there, but I had some...interruptions. Not the puke,” he added when Eve glanced at it again. “The people who did that were the distractions.”
Along with Cassidy, the baby and Eve.
Like her son, Eve looked a whole lot different from the last time he’d seen her. Her face wasn’t screwed up in pain, and of course, she didn’t have a pregnant belly. She was back to looking like her old self. Plus, eighteen years. Those eighteen years had settled nicely on her though.
And he had to curse another hit from that old lust.
“How are you?” Eve asked. But she wasn’t looking at his face. No, her attention was flickering in the general area of his crotch, which meant she was probably talking about his butt injury.
“I’m fine. A doc in Abilene took the stitches out while I was up there. I’m as right as rain.” He couldn’t believe that had just come out of his mouth and didn’t know what the hell it meant. What the heck was right about rain, anyway? “Since you’re here, there’s no need for me to check on Tessie,” he added in a grumble.
Cassidy and Eve both blew out large enough breaths to fan a small forest fire. Lawson figured he should wonder what that relief exhaling was all about. Maybe even question it, but to do that, he’d have to hang around. Right now though, there was something he wanted more than answers.
A whole lot more.
And that was distancing himself from Eve, the puke and this tangled mess of memories leaking from their old baggage.
“Tessie?” He heard Eve call out at exactly the same moment that Lawson headed for the door. The sound of his own footsteps blended with those coming down the stairs. Tessie’s, no doubt.
Good. Eve was going to get to see her daughter and maybe accomplish the very thing that he should have never come here to try to do.
Maybe.
Tessie certainly didn’t respond with a welcome greeting to her mom, but Lawson didn’t wait around to see how this would play out. Nope. He headed home, knowing he’d filled his “stupid things to do” quota for the day.
CHAPTER EIGHT (#ulink_3b782bef-76a2-5809-a157-c0fd85e70283)
TANGLED MEMORIES DIDN’T go away just because you were sick and tired of trying to untangle them. Lawson already knew that, of course, but coming home to Wrangler’s Creek made it much harder to shove those memories to the back of his mind.
To get to the Granger Ranch, he had to drive through town and right down Main Street. That meant going past the high school that Eve and he had attended.
Brett, too.
There’d been football games, pop quizzes and more goofing off than studying. Things that all three of them had done together. The only times Brett had been excluded had been when lust played its hot little hand with Lawson and Eve. Lawson had made out with her too many times to count beneath the bleachers of the football field. And the baseball dugout. Oh, and in the gym where the basketball team played.
Apparently, sports venues had been libido triggers for Eve and him.
Once he’d driven past the high school, he got another blast from the past. He had to go right by Eve’s grandfather’s old house. Of course, her grandfather was long gone, and the place had changed hands several times over the past decade and a half. But Lawson had spent enough time in that house with Eve that even after all this time, it was approximately twenty-two thousand square feet of memories. Specifically, memories of him making out with Eve there in her bedroom.
In fact, the whole damn town, surrounding area and much of the county had become their make-out zones, which meant there were few places he could go that wouldn’t trigger the past.
His new house was an exception.
Even though she lived only a short distance away, there were no traces of Eve inside his place. The trick would be to keep it that way. Lawson knew he was tough, but he wasn’t sure his heart could stand another stomping. Darby had been safe. No chance of her hurting him because he would have never let things get deep with her. But Eve, well, she could still do some more damage after all these years. Seeing her in Austin had only confirmed that.
Lawson drove to the Granger Ranch. More memories. The barn, this time where Eve and he had had a romp or two. He made a mental note to limit his future sexual escapades to places he didn’t have to see on a daily basis.
Thankfully, there was work to do when he got to the ranch. A long buying trip like his came with paperwork, invoices and adjusting work schedules so there’d be enough hands around to deal with the shipments of the new cattle as they came in. No Garrett though. His cousin had apparently taken a rare day off to spend time with his wife and kids. Sophie was doing the same with her husband and twins.
Lawson still didn’t want a spouse or kids, but now that Eve had likely managed a reunion with Tessie, he was feeling a little like the odd man out. Yeah, he was stuck in a rut, but it was a rut that suited him.
Or rather it had until Eve had come back with that crapload of memories in tow.
Now he’d just have to work harder to make that rut the way it had been six weeks earlier.
Once he finished his work, he drove to his new house. Home, he mentally corrected himself, and he wondered just how long it would take for home to be his go-to word for the life he was trying to build for himself. Maybe a while—especially since there was an unwelcome sight waiting for him by the Heavenly Pastures’ gate.
Vita.
Her bicycle was leaning against the fence, and she had a chicken tucked under her arm. A live, ugly one. Emphasis on ugly. Of course, he’d never actually seen what he’d call a pretty chicken, but this one was dingy mouse gray with sprigs of black feathers poking out in random spots—including on its head.
Lawson stopped and lowered his window. “Yeah, I know. There’s a curse on me the size of elephant balls.”
Vita stared at him as if he’d just said the most ridiculous thing possible. Since those were the very words she’d foretold six weeks ago, he just stared back at her.
“There’s no more curse—for the time being, anyway,” Vita finally said after the staring match went on for several seconds. She tried to hand him the chicken, but when he didn’t take it, she frowned again. “You want more stitches in your heinie, do you?”
Lawson wasn’t sure if that was a threat or if it was chicken related. “Not especially.”
“Then take the hen.” She practically tossed it onto his seat. “Her name is Prissy Pants, and she’ll make things play out the way they should.”
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