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“I looked you up online yesterday.”
He cut her a glance. “Oh, you did.”
“There’s an article about you in one of the Texas magazines about being the most eligible bachelor in Austin.”
He kept silent to see where she was going with this.
“It’s just—with your money, looks and reputation, you could be leading the good life.”
“Fast cars, bars, clubbing every night?”
“Something like that.”
“That might have been me in my teens and early twenties, but it isn’t now. Scotland changed me, Lucie. Didn’t it change you?”
“Before Scotland, I was never impulsive or reckless the way you were. I think maybe I let you sweep me away to prove that I could be. The thing was, after the humiliation the whole episode caused my parents, being sent home from the trip in disgrace, I was never that way again.”
Had she reverted to type, or had she just curbed her passionate tendencies? Maybe that was something he wanted to explore.
Lucie’s face wore an interested expression as he veered onto the gravel lane to the ranch. Suddenly the thought that this was a bad idea assaulted him. The ranch was run-down. The main barn needed to be refurbished. The second barn with its apartment on the second floor needed a makeover, too. This property was certainly nothing like the Bar P or the Chesterfield Estate in England. He’d seen video clips of her home. What was she going to think?
“I have to repair the fence, of course.” He nodded to the worn stakes and supports along the road.
“Lots of caretaking involved,” Lucie commented as if she knew.
“It will be a lot of work at the outlay, but then upkeep won’t be so bad. The land alone is worth the price. With the rest, I’ll add to its value.”
As the truck bumped along, the barns and then the house came into view. They could see the forest beyond now and Lucie was looking in that direction.
As they parked at the house, they both climbed out.
“I’m going to have the house sided, of course,” Chase said. “I’m thinking tan with brown shutters.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Pale yellow siding with black shutters would be more inviting.”
He grinned. “I knew there was a reason I brought you along.”
They went up the three porch steps to the house. The porch was a large one, rounding three sides.
“It’s locked, of course,” Chase explained. “But you can peek inside. It’s empty, so you won’t see much. The plank flooring is good, if a little worn. In time, I’ll redo the kitchen.”
Lucie peered in the window, devoid of shades or curtains. “The living room looks nice-sized,” she noticed.
“There are four bedrooms upstairs. One’s a little small. The whole place has that original ranch house feel.”
She stepped back from the door and glanced toward the barn.
“Do you want to explore a little? The barns aren’t locked.”
“Sure. Old barns can be like treasure chests. They take you back into another era.”
“Exactly.”
They were on the same page with that. The early 1900s feel of the barns and the house was the reason he liked them so much. If he had his way, he’d restore all of them as much as he could and keep the original wood and architecture.
He went ahead of her and opened the heavy, creaking barn door. She came up beside him and when she passed him, the light perfume she wore teased him. Once inside, however, the smell of hay, old wood and rusting tools was evident. There was a loft with an old, rickety ladder propped against it.
“I wouldn’t use that ladder to look around up there,” she warned with a smile.
“I brought my own in to have a look around. But when I own the place, I’d like to replicate the original.”
Basically the barn was one open space.
“You’ll need stalls, right?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. Lean-tos and a fenced corral. I’m looking into enlarging the second barn.”
“Wow. You have your work cut out for you.”
“I do and I can’t wait to start. I want to do some of the work myself, especially in the house.”
They were standing close to each other near a support beam. He had one hand on the support and his other he dropped by his side. She was standing right in front of him, close enough to touch. Dim light shone in the foggy windows. Last light from a long day shadowed the barn. The hushed atmosphere inside made him aware of his breath as well as hers.
He tipped up the bill of her cap. “This really doesn’t disguise you very much. The wig does a better job.”
“It hides my hair, though, and part of my face. It works, Chase.”
Her life seemed to be all about what worked, what fit in, what didn’t stir the pot. What if he stirred the pot?
As he swept the hat from her head, her hair fell down around her shoulders. He couldn’t help touching it. He couldn’t help sliding his hand under her hair, along her neck. He couldn’t help bending his head.
A beep made them both start. It was as if someone had walked into the barn and caught them there.
Lucie stepped away from him and said, “My phone. I’d better check to see who it is.”
Slipping it from her pocket, she said, “It’s Amelia. I have to take this. She and I never ignore each other’s calls.”
Chase didn’t have a brother or sister, but he understood that if he did, he wouldn’t ignore their calls either. He turned away and walked to the other side of the barn to give Lucie some privacy. The idea of kissing her had revved him up. Better if she didn’t understand just how much.
Chapter Four (#u687f5750-2664-5b2a-9049-1fb12c9a9fa7)
Lucie was abominably rattled. She knew Chase had been about to kiss her and she’d wanted him to do it. Good sense hadn’t stepped in. Recklessness had almost taken over. Thank goodness Amelia had called.
She was breathless when she glanced at Chase, who’d turned away and walked across the barn. She answered her phone. “Hi, Amelia.”
“I’m sorry I was so distracted yesterday morning. It was late last night until I realized I hadn’t called you back. So I made time right now. The baby’s sleeping and Quinn’s out in the barn. Are you at your place?”
Her place. Only it really wasn’t hers, because she’d be flying away again soon.
“No, I’m not at the apartment. I’m exploring a ranch.”
Amelia sounded puzzled. “For the Fortune Foundation?”
“No, not for them. I’m with...” She couldn’t go into a long explanation with Chase in the same room, so to speak. “I’m with a friend.”
“I’m so glad you’re making friends in Austin. Are you with Ella or Viv?”
“No, not them. Amelia, I really do want to chat. We have a lot to talk about. But now isn’t a good time.”
“I entirely understand. Maybe midnight would be better, when the day is calmed down. The problem is, then Quinn wants all my hours—”
She stopped as if she’d said too much.
“Of course he does. You’re still newlyweds.”
“It feels as if we are,” Amelia admitted happily. “And truthfully I don’t want it ever to end. You should try it.”
Wasn’t that a touchy subject? She couldn’t talk about finding Prince Charming with Chase in the barn with her.
As if Amelia understood something was going on, she asked, “So you can’t talk freely?”
“Not now.”
“Okay, so you don’t have any privacy, and I know you probably have a bunch of international calls coming in later with regards to your trip.”
Lucie had almost forgotten about those. She checked her watch. She had told contacts who were donating supplies to call her after eight tonight. Or was it nine? Chase had her so rattled. The whole situation had her rattled. This wasn’t like her at all.
“Have you heard from Mum?” Amelia asked.
“Not since last week. And now she’s traveling in an area with no cell phone connection. Did she tell you about that?”
“Yes, she did. When I spoke with her last, she seemed to be in her element again. She loves the work...just as you do.”
Lucie’s life had been about helping orphaned children. But had she chosen the work for the right reasons? Or because her mother had needed her to be just as involved as she herself was? The orphanages had become a passion project after her husband died.
Now she wanted to tell her mother about her marriage to Chase. She wanted to prepare her in case news of it got out.
“Text me when you’re free,” Amelia went on. We’ll have that talk. We can video-chat.”
“I’ll text soon. Give Clementine a kiss for me.”
“Will do.”
After Lucie ended the call, her gaze found Chase. He was over at the loft looking up, maybe deciding what he wanted to do with it. He was acting all casual, as if he hadn’t been listening.
But as he turned to Lucie, he asked, “So I’m a friend now?”
He’d obviously heard her conversation with Amelia. Suddenly frustrated with the whole situation, Lucie blew out a breath. In a fit of unusual pique, she said, “I don’t know what you are. We’re in a kind of limbo. We want to live in the now, but the past is interfering. Yet we can’t resurrect the past—”
Apparently Chase believed the simplest thing to do to get her to stop thinking was to encourage her to stop talking. She noticed a moment of doubt in his eyes. Then suddenly his arm was around her, his hand on the small of her back, urging her closer. His gaze never left hers.
First she felt surprise, swiftly followed by anticipation. Would a kiss be as explosive as it had been ten years ago?
There was only one way to find out. She let it happen.
Chase’s lips covered hers before she could second-guess her decision.
* * *
In his adult years, Chase had prided himself on his self-control. But kissing Lucie almost destroyed it. It was the scent of her, the softness of her, the feel of her in his arms again. He wasn’t thinking about the past or the future as his tongue breached her lips, and he took the kiss deeper, wetter, more intense. The fire was still there—fire that burned away any reservations, fire that had urged him to propose to her. The main reason...she’d been a virgin. Now, when she gripped his shoulders and he felt the sweet clutch of her fingers, his desire ramped up until it was almost dizzying.
Nevertheless, as quickly as it had started, it ended. Lucie broke away, brought her hands to his chest and put a foot between them. When he gazed into her eyes, he saw she was reeling from the kiss, too. Past dreams had been resurrected just for an instant. However, reality had rushed in, and he could see her good sense was telling her to run. That was exactly what she did, if not literally, figuratively.
He heard her swallow hard. He heard her deep intake of breath. He needed a swig of air himself. He needed to calm sensations that he’d forgotten.
She said, “I have to go. Can you take me back to my apartment? I have incoming international calls that I’m expecting tonight, and I can’t be late.”
He couldn’t help asking wryly, “Isn’t that what cell phones are for?”
“They’ll be coming in on the landline,” she informed him. “I want to make sure my conversations aren’t cut off.”
Sure she did. She was doing important work. She’d be leaving in a month to build another orphanage. She probably had suppliers to talk to, directors to engage, donors and sponsors to extract money from. And she was telling him in a not-so-subtle way that that kiss had changed nothing, that the past was in the past, that their lives were very different and separate now.
“Let’s go,” he said, motioning to the barn door. “I’ll have you back in no time at all.”
And he did. They drove in silence, and when she climbed out in the parking garage, she said, “Goodbye, Chase.”
He watched her walk to the elevator bank. He watched her nod to the security guard, then disappear inside, regretting every word they hadn’t spoken, regretting the fact that Lucie’s life was headed in one direction and his was headed in another.
* * *
The walnut-paneled study at the Silver Spur Ranch was the perfect place for Lucie’s meeting with Kate Fortune the following day. Lucie studied this icon, who had recently turned ninety, as she sat in a huge leather chair that seemed to swallow her up. Kate had ended up in the hospital recently and was still recovering, but she looked at least ten years younger than her age, maybe more. She had more wealth than anybody could make use of, thanks to the success of the Fortune Youth Serum, which she’d discovered and perfected in the ’90s. She was a walking advertisement for the efficacy of the product. But the future of her company was on her mind and she was looking for the right person to run it. For some reason, the two of them had seemed to connect at Kate’s birthday party and Lucie had accepted this invitation to coffee, glad to see this remarkable woman again.
“How are you feeling?” Lucie asked.
Kate waved her hand. “Better each day. As you know, I’m still looking for the right Fortune to work at my company. I can’t seem to find someone with all the attributes that are necessary, though the family tree does seem to be growing.”
Kate motioned to the coffee and pastries that a butler had set up on a tray near them both. “Eat, my dear. You’re much too thin.”
Lucie did eat, and she was fortunate that she didn’t seem to put on pounds because of it. She picked up a petite cherry Danish and took a bite. “What about you? Are you going to have some?”
“I have to watch everything these days—sugar, cholesterol, caffeine. I suppose it all matters. This morning I’m just going to enjoy your indulgence in the pastries. Tell me what you think about Ben Robinson’s claim that his father is a Fortune.”
“Could it be true?” Lucie asked, unsure how to answer.
“Anything can be true, I suppose,” Kate mused.
“I had brunch with Ella and Viv,” Lucie said. “They both seem very happy. Ben and Wes both are their Prince Charmings.”
