“The ranch is fine. I’m staying more at my Hill Country ranch, but I had work here in town today.”
“It’s good to see you. I’ll tell Em you asked about her. See you,” Lucas had said and gone on his way.
The encounter had left Jake feeling more unhappy. If Emily missed him and was unhappy, Lucas would have been ready for a fight, not all smiles and cheer. Was there another guy already in her life? That thought turned him ice cold.
He didn’t know what was happening in his life. From the first moment he’d met Emily, she had turned his world topsy-turvy and maybe captured his heart.
That was what worried him. He had gone with women, gorgeous, fun women he liked, and when they parted, he had said goodbye and never looked back. He had never hurt over ending an affair. Until now.
Now he couldn’t work. He couldn’t concentrate. He didn’t want to go to the ranch, to his condo, to his office.
He missed Emily. He missed her to a degree that amazed him.
He’d worked out hours each day. That hadn’t helped at all. Nothing helped and hearing Lucas today made him miss her even more. Had he made a mistake in telling her goodbye?
That night, again, he couldn’t sleep. He sat in his big bedroom in his Dallas mansion, racked by images of Emily. Was he really in love for the first time in his life? The kind of love she talked about?
Jake stared into the darkness and pondered his discoveries. He had spent a lifetime thinking he came from bad blood, that he couldn’t possibly stay married to one woman and that he wouldn’t be happy in a marriage because his mother, his half brothers and the man he thought was his father hadn’t been. But that man was a stepfather and those were half brothers just as Thane was a half brother, and Thane had had a great marriage. And his blood father had stayed in one marriage all his life. If only Thane were here and Jake could discuss it with his half brother and friend. What would Thane say?
Was Jake cheating himself of magical nights with a woman he loved because of mistakes others had made? He could imagine Thane’s remarks on that one.
He remembered Ben Warner sitting on a little stool with a canvas seat that he took fishing and showing him how to bait a hook and get it into the water and then he remembered Ben being right there with him, so enthused over the small bass he’d caught in the pond.
In those moments, his dad had been there for him. He’d had a father and a damn good one. At the time, he had thought Ben was the closest thing he had to a good dad, when actually Ben Warner was his dad. His very good, reliable dad.
“Ahh, Thane, you and your father are my family. Half my family.”
And right then he realized the lessons he’d learned from the Warners.
And he knew he needed to talk to Emily.
* * *
Emily was up early, had made her three-mile morning run and was in her art studio working on her portrait of Jake. She had it sketched out and was doing it in charcoal. At first, she’d thought maybe the sketch would be cathartic, but not now. She missed him and that hadn’t eased at all.
She received a text and her heart missed a beat when she saw it was from Jake.
Will you go to dinner with me tonight? I need to ask you about something.
She stared at his message and wondered if his question was personal or about the Long L Ranch. It didn’t matter. She wanted to see him. She wrote back instantly.
What time?
Pick you up at 7:00 p.m. Plan for hours and hours with me. Okay?
She smiled and her heartbeat sped up.
Okay. Make it worth my while.
Oh, what a challenge. I’ll work on that one today.
She had to laugh at his answer. She knew it was one night, one dinner, but she was excited, happy she was going to see him. Who knew where it would lead.
“Maybe I’m not as easy to forget as you thought I was,” she said aloud and then gave herself a lecture to not get her hopes up. For all she knew, he could want to see her about the ranch.
All day she couldn’t calm her racing heart. Eagerness built as she went to the salon and had her hair done, and it tingled through her veins as she dressed in the new dress she’d bought. She couldn’t wait for him to appear.
She heard a car and saw a long white limo out-front. Jake, looking very much a rancher, emerged. He wore a black Stetson, black boots, a black jacket and slacks and a white dress shirt with French cuffs, and her heart thudded because he looked incredibly handsome. She wanted to run and throw herself into his arms. He carried a bouquet of mixed red roses, white daisies and purple, yellow and pink lilies.
