Page 22 of The Forbidden Texan
“Emily, I will never forget our kisses as long as I live,” he said quietly and she blinked.
“That information isn’t helping.”
“Maybe one big kiss would satisfy me and I could settle back to work.”
Smiling, she shook her head. “Nice try. No.”
He grinned and was glad she was making light of the moment. She was right and he should keep that employer-employee status, but after the few hot kisses between them, there was no way he could resist trying to kiss her again. He wanted her naked, in his arms, in his bed, and that wouldn’t happen without a lot of kisses.
She looked at the trash bin he had and lifted a letter out of it. “Have you read all these? This one doesn’t look as if anyone has touched it.”
“No. I’m just picking some at random. There’s too much stuff here to go through all of it. So far it’s trash.”
She looked at the letters spread before him, the bin of letters and the box on the other side of his desk. She looked back at him.
“If you don’t approve, you can say so. You think I should read each and every one. That’s a lot of old letters and maybe it’s best to let them go without anyone today knowing what’s in there.”
“You might miss something, like discovering Thane’s family owns another ranch in Texas.”
“It’s true. You never know. Thane’s family has one deep love that has run through generations—land. That’s why they have so many ranchers in his family.” He sighed. “Okay, I’ll read a few more and then go find you and you can do what you want with them.”
“Fair enough. Let me know when to start reading,” she said sweetly and left the room.
He thought about a dinner he had been invited to attend as an honoree for a charity when he helped to rescue dogs from a disaster area. He hadn’t thought about whom he would invite to go with him to the formal dinner and dance. But now he knew he wanted to ask Emily. That would be crossing the line again with an employee, but he wanted to dance with her and hold her in his arms. He wanted to touch and kiss her. And most of all, he wanted to seduce her.
If he did, he’d be asking for a boatload of trouble. Common sense said to keep his distance and not to invite her to a dinner dance. She was his employee. Stick to business—that’s what he needed to do.
To that end, he spent another hour going through more old papers and pictures of people he didn’t recognize. There still was the trunk full of papers. He was tired of the old documents and took up an armload to dump into the bin for Emily to read. He reached for another armload and saw a black box taped to the inside of the trunk. Curious, he pulled it out and opened it to find one letter inside in a pink envelope addressed to Ben Warner, Thane’s dad. It was obviously from a woman and he wondered if Ben had put it in the box and hidden it near the bottom of the trunk. He guessed it might have been a love letter written to Ben from Celeste Warner, Thane’s mother, but then he recognized the return address. Suddenly he sat up and stared at the pink envelope. He frowned because the return address was where his grandmother lived. He looked at the flowing letters in cursive that spelled out Ben Warner. Startled, he recognized his mother’s handwriting.
Curious about a letter that had been from his mother to Ben Warner, Jake pulled folded pink papers out to read and a faded photograph dropped into his hand. He was riveted by another shock because he recognized his own baby picture with his mother holding him. His mother had one just like it framed on her vanity. Stunned, he looked again at the envelope and saw it was sent about a month after he was born.
He looked at familiar handwriting. “My darling Ben: I should not write you, but I know you are home alone now while Celeste takes your baby son to see his grandparents. I won’t write again, but I want you to have a picture of our baby.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jake said aloud without realizing it. Stunned he stared at her words and looked again at his faded baby picture. Ben Warner was his real father. Thane Warner was his half brother. Jake held the letter up to continue reading:
“Since we live so close, with only two houses between your home and mine, I know you will see your son eventually. He is a fine baby. I know, too, we have done the right thing, but you have my heart. I will always love you. We are close enough so you can see our son grow up and I know the baby boy that you and Celeste have is a joy. Hopefully, our boys will be friends and you will see him often. I will always be close to you. I will always love you. We’re neighbors and it is a comfort to me to know you are close. Dwight knows this is not his son. He does not know the father’s identity. Only you and me and my doctor. Destroy this letter. I love you always.”
Stunned, Jake stared out the window without seeing anything except an image of Ben Warner smiling at him and then drawing him close for a hug and telling him how glad he was that he’d made it home.
“I’ll be damned,” Jake said aloud. He and Thane were half brothers. It amazed him. And maybe it explained why they got along so well together. And why Thane’s dad had always had such an interest in him. Now he knew why Ben Warner was so happy to see him. Why he felt closer to Ben Warner than he did to Dwight Ralston, the man he had always thought was his father.
“Thane, you should have read the letters,” Jake whispered, wondering what Thane would have felt and knowing his answer as quickly as the question came. Thane would have been delighted to find out they were half brothers.
Jake thought about his mother, who had carried that secret all these years.
Jake looked up as he spoke. “Thane, my buddy, how I miss you now. I wish you were here. We’d get a beer and sit down and discuss this discovery that we’re half brothers. My life just changed forever.” Jake rubbed the back of his neck and thought about Thane. “Ah, damn, I wish you were here.”
“Your wish is granted, my friend. Here I am,” came a lilting voice filled with laughter and Emily appeared again. She looked around. “And you are talking to—”
“Sit down, Emily,” he said, coming to his feet when she entered the room. He pulled the straight chair around. “You take my captain’s chair. It’s more comfy than this one. I’ll get us a drink. What do you want? Wine or beer?”
She laughed again and sat in the straight chair. “Do you think it’s happy hour? I’ll have a glass of water.”
“Not this time. I think you’ll want to join me. We’re through working for a few hours at least. It is already four o’clock.”
“Now I am curious. You’re talking to yourself and you want a drink. And you want to discuss something with me, and I’m sure it’s not the weather from the way you’re acting.”
“It’s a very deep secret that this old house has divulged to me, and I will to you, and then we’ll talk about it.”
