Buch lesen: «Reunited With The Rancher»

One

Tom Knox hurried down the hall of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet. The dark wood-paneled walls held oil paintings and two tall mirrors in wide ornate frames. There were potted palms and chairs covered in antique satin. Tom was so accustomed to his surroundings he paid no attention until a woman rounded the corner at the end of the long hall.

Tom’s insides clutched and heat filled him as he looked at his estranged wife, Emily Archer Knox. Physical attraction, definitely lust, hit him as his gaze swept over her.

Wavy honey-brown hair framed her face. Her hair was always soft to touch. There was no way to shut off the memories, no matter how much they hurt or stirred him. A red linen suit with a matching linen blouse and red high heels added to her attractiveness. The red skirt ended above her knees, leaving her shapely legs bare to her ankles. His imagination filled in how she would look without the red linen. While desire ran rampant, at the same time, a shroud of guilt enveloped him. He had failed her in the worst way possible.

Each time he saw Emily, guilt gnawed at him for failing to save the life of their four-year-old son, Ryan, after a tour bus accident on a family ski vacation in Colorado. It had been five long, guilt-ridden years since then, and a chilly bitterness had settled in between them. His life had improved only slightly last year when he’d moved out of the house to the guesthouse on their ranch. They could go for weeks without crossing paths.

In many ways it was better to be apart, because then he could let go of the burden of guilt. That’s why he had joined the Army Rangers for three years after the accident. After the death of his close friend, Jeremy, he wanted out of the Rangers. He couldn’t be with Emily without thinking about how he had failed her and how unhappy she had been with him.

At the moment when they approached each other, Emily looked up and her green eyes widened. They avoided each other most of the time but couldn’t today. He kept walking, his heart drumming while desire and guilt continued to war within him. Would he ever be able to face her without an internal emotional upheaval? Her smile was polite, the kind of smile usually reserved for strangers. When she came closer, her smile vanished before she greeted him with a quiet, “Hi, Tom.”

“Good morning. You look great,” he couldn’t keep from saying.

Her gaze shifted to the briefcase in his hand. “Are you at the club for a meeting?”

“Yes. The finance committee. How about you?”

“I’m having lunch with a friend,” she answered. How polite they were, yet a storm was going on within him. Guilt, hurt, too much loss plagued him each time he saw Emily or talked to her.

“Have a good time,” he said as he passed her.

Her perfume stirred memories of holding her in his arms while he kissed her. Longing tore at him along with anger at himself. Why couldn’t he let go completely? He and Emily didn’t have anything together any longer. Only he knew that wasn’t true. There was one thing they still had that hadn’t vanished—a physical attraction that he felt each time she came into his sight. It was something he couldn’t understand and didn’t want to think about.

On a physical level, he knew she felt that chemistry as much as he did. She couldn’t hide her reactions completely, and neither could he. But each time he encountered her, he was reminded that they both needed a chance for a fresh start, and that maybe the best thing he could do would be to give her a divorce and get out of her life completely.

* * *

After lunch at the Texas Cattleman’s Club and an afternoon at her photography studio in downtown Royal, Emily drove home to Knox Acres, the cattle ranch she shared with Tom. She still couldn’t stop replaying their brief encounter at the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Since she first met him, she’d had a strong physical reaction to Tom. She still got tingles from just seeing him. Through good times, through the worst of times, Tom had dazzled her since they had fallen in love at sixteen. She had no comparison, but she didn’t think that mattered. Tom was the best-looking, most appealing guy she had ever known.

Even so, other aspects of their marriage outweighed sheer lust. And they had lost what was essential in a marriage—that union of hearts, that joy in each other.

Their happiness had shattered the night their tour bus had skidded on an icy Colorado highway, going into a frozen pond. Tom had almost died pulling Ryan from the frigid water. Tom had ended up with pneumonia, a deep cut on his knee and a broken collarbone, broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. But in the end, he hadn’t been able to save their son’s life. After three days Tom could travel and they flew Tom, Emily and Ryan to a big hospital in Denver. They couldn’t help Ryan, either. In eight more days, Ryan succumbed to his injuries. Somehow, amid all the grief, she and Tom composed themselves long enough to donate Ryan’s organs to spare other parents the agony of losing a child.

The vacation had been Tom’s family reunion, and twenty-three members of his family were on the bus. Besides Ryan, Tom’s aunt died from drowning. Three other people, including two children, died in the accident, but they weren’t in the Knox party.

Weeks turned into months and months into years, and her memories became more precious. In an effort to strengthen their marriage, they had tried to conceive again, but a new baby—a new start—never happened for them. Emily felt she had failed Tom in this; it was another blow to their marriage. They’d lost their son, and eventually their love, and their relationship became more strained until Tom moved out and they hardly saw each other any longer. It was general knowledge with most people they knew that they were estranged. Sometimes that still shocked her as much as everything else that had happened to them. She had been so in love with Tom when they married, she never would have believed the day would come when they barely spoke and hardly saw each other.

Hoping to put Tom out of her thoughts, she talked to her big white cat that had been a kitten given to Ryan when he was four. After feeding Snowball, she turned on her computer to read her email, and in seconds, a message caught her attention.

It was harsh, simple: Guess you weren’t woman enough to hold his interest. Here’s his real family, his secret family—until now. Frowning and puzzled, Emily scanned the subject: Today—for your eyes only. Tomorrow—for all of Royal to see.

She froze when she read the sender’s name: Maverick. She had no idea who Maverick was. No one in Royal knew the identity of the hateful troll who’d been threatening and blackmailing people in town for the past few months. There were rumors Maverick might be the work of the three snooty stepsisters—that’s how she pictured the clique of women, Cecelia Morgan, Simone Parker and Naomi Price, who seemed to think they owned the Texas Cattleman’s Club and everything else in Royal these days. They always made Emily feel that she wasn’t good enough to be included in their company.

Another chill slithered down Emily’s spine when she opened the email attachment. It was a photograph. She stared at Tom in the picture, and shock hit her. As a professional photographer, Emily knew at a glance this picture was real. A smiling, earthy redhead with her hair fastened up in a ponytail posed with Tom, who stood close and had his arm draped around her shoulders. In front of them were two adorable children. The boy she guessed to be around four—the same age their Ryan had been when they had lost him. The little red-haired girl was pretty. In the background was a gingerbread dream house and beside the boy was a show-worthy golden retriever. They looked like the perfect family.

So this was Tom’s preferred family. That made her the world’s biggest fool. She and her husband had been growing apart for the past five years, and now she could see an additional reason why. Fury made her hot. There was a whole different side to Tom she had never seen—a deceitful side. She had trusted him completely. She stared at the picture, which was absolute evidence that their marriage was built on lies. Tom had another family. He was leading a double life. The realization was almost a physical blow.

If she wanted proof that their marriage was irrevocably broken, she had it now. Fresh out of excuses to delay the inevitable, heartsick and furious with Tom for his deception, she could see no other option: she planned to file for divorce. She would give him his official freedom to stop being secretive about the family he loved.

Shaking with anger, she leaned in closer to the computer screen to study the photo intently. The woman looked familiar, but Emily didn’t know who she was. Were she and her kids in Royal?

And was the message on target—was Emily not woman enough to hold Tom? She shivered as she admitted to herself that the message was accurate, dead-on accurate. She couldn’t give Tom the family he wanted.

It had been Tom’s idea to move out to the guesthouse. He’d said separating would give them a chance to think clearly about their futures. He was the one who’d said they needed to get the physical attraction out of the way so they could straighten out their emotions and feelings for each other.

Knowing the real reason Tom wanted to move out of the house, away from her, hurt Emily badly.

She looked again at the sender’s email signature. She had no idea who Maverick was. Could the rumors be right, that Cecelia Morgan, Simone Parker and Naomi Price were behind the nasty emails and the blackmail? Those three were successful businesswomen, so it didn’t seem likely in a lot of ways. They might be snooty, but that didn’t mean they were this evil.

Someone intended to make Tom’s secret public to people in Royal. When that happened, Emily knew she would be viewed with pity and there would be laughter behind her back. That was insignificant next to the pain that consumed her over Tom’s deception. How could he have been so duplicitous? It seemed totally unlike the man she knew and loved.

Would Maverick write Tom and threaten to go public? Had he—or she—already tried to extort money from Tom for silence? Emily could easily imagine Tom telling Maverick to go to hell first.

Emily couldn’t stop her tears as her growing fury overwhelmed her. All this time, Tom had had a wife to love, to love him in return, precious children and a home. No wonder she couldn’t get back together with him.

She intended to confront Tom with the truth. Their marriage was over. Completely finished. She needed a divorce to go on with her life. She had lost their son, and evidently, she’d lost Tom long ago, too. He was a lying, two-faced man she hadn’t ever really known. She had never suspected that side of Tom. She had never even had a hint of it before now. Tom had seemed totally honest, kind—how he had fooled her! She wanted to scream at him and tell him how deceitful and hurtful he was. She wanted him out of her life, and this would ensure that happened.

She spent a sleepless night and drove into Royal the next day. Angry and hurt, she filed for divorce. Tom was now home from the military after his tour of duty with the Rangers, and he had taken over running the ranch. She had her photography studio and had just inherited her uncle Woody’s old home in Royal. She and Tom could go their separate ways.

After work later that day, she went by the three-story house she had inherited from her uncle, the man who had raised her. The house was all she had left of family, so she intended to hang on to it and restore it so she could live there. She would be close to her photography studio and off the ranch, away from Tom. She didn’t want to live in the palatial house on the ranch that they had built before Ryan was born anymore.

* * *

Tom drove back to the guesthouse after working outside all day on first one job and then another. Hard physical labor was the best way to drive the hurtful memories away, at least temporarily. It was early March, and the days were growing longer and warmer. It was spring—a time that used to be exciting and filled with promise. Now one day was like another and he spent time thinking over how he should plan his future.

At the present moment he wanted a shower and a beer and wished he had someone, a friend, to spend the evening with. Nights were long and lonely, and weekends were the worst.

As he pulled up, he saw a car parked in front of his house. It surprised him even more when he realized it was Emily’s.

Why was she here? She never came to see him. Worried something might have happened to a friend, he frowned. Emily really had no family—only older cousins she didn’t see. He parked and stepped out, slamming the pickup door behind him. He watched her open her car door to get out. She wore stiletto heels with black straps on her shapely feet. Her jeans fit her tiny waist snugly and were tight enough to emphasize her long, long legs. She wore a pale blue short-sleeved sweater that hugged her lush curves. In jeans, high heels and the sweater, she looked stunning. Her hair fell loosely around her face—the way he liked it best.

When his gaze raked over her, his pulse jumped. In spite of all their troubles, he was as physically drawn to her as ever. She was a good-looking woman—he’d always thought so and he still did. At the sight of her, memories tormented him, moments when he’d held and kissed her and wanted her with all his being. They’d had steamy nights of sexy loving, exciting days filled with happiness—a time that seemed incredibly far away and impossible to find ever again. He had failed her in the biggest possible way and now their love had ended. They had been through too much upheaval and loss to ever regain what they’d had.

Even so, desire for Emily was intense. He remembered that silky curtain of honey-brown hair spilling over his bare shoulders. Thoughts of kissing her haunted him. Memories of her softness, her voluptuous curves and her hands fluttering over him made him hot. She stood only a short distance away, pure temptation, and he wanted to reach for her...until he thought about all the problems between them. And it had to be a problem of some kind that brought her to see him. One glance in her big green eyes and he knew she was angry.

“Hi,” he said. “What brings you here?”

Glaring at him, Emily waved papers in his face and then shoved them into his hand while she snapped, “You’re welcome.”

Startled out of his fantasy, Tom focused on her. “What am I welcome for? What are these papers?” he asked, looking down and turning over the official-looking forms in his hands before he looked up at her again. Puzzled, he met her fiery green eyes that flashed with fury.

“You can thank me now, because I’ve given you what you want—your freedom. You’re free to marry the mother of your children.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She was rarely in a rage, but he could see she was boiling.

“Your secret is out, Tom,” she said, her voice quivering with wrath. “You hid your family well. Have you paid Maverick to keep your secret? Or has it already spread all over Royal?”

Mystified, he saw that while she was shaking with rage, she was also fighting to hold back tears. “What the hell are you talking about, and what are these papers? And why are you talking about Maverick? What do you know about Maverick?”

“I think you know the answers to some of those questions,” she said in a tight voice. “You have your divorce papers. You’ll be free to be with your other wife.”

“Other wife?” Stunned, Tom repeated the words as he frowned. “Emily, what are you talking about? There is no other wife—”

“Oh, please. I have proof. I’ve seen the picture of you and your family.” She started to turn away.

Tom reached out to take her arm. As she yanked free of his grasp, the pain of her rejection made him hurt from head to toe. In three long strides, he caught up with her and held her arm more tightly this time.

“Emily, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Mother of my children? You’re not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

“You can drop the lies and false front now that I know the truth,” she snapped, twisting away to head back to her car.

Shocked, he went after her again with long strides that closed the distance between them. He grasped her shoulder to turn her to face him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about or what brought this divorce on so suddenly without us talking about it.”

“We’re through and you know it. Your other family is what brought it on. I got an email from Maverick about them.” She yanked free from him again and turned to open her car door.

He closed her door and stepped between her and the car. In minutes she would be gone and he wouldn’t have any answers. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “You can’t pop in and tell me we’re getting divorced and then leave. Tell me what the hell all this is. And tell me about this email from Maverick. That troll who’s blackmailing people in town? When did you get that?”

She twisted free again. “Get out of my way.”

“Like hell I will. You’re not going until you tell me. There is no secret family. That’s nonsense.”

“Oh, no? Tom, how could you be so deceitful?” she asked, sneering at him as she fumbled in a pocket to pull out a wrinkled piece of paper and wave it in front of him. “Here’s proof, Tom. Here’s your picture with your family. You have your arm around your secret wife. How could you lie to me like this?” Tears filled Emily’s eyes, her cheeks were red and her voice was tight with anger. “How could you do this?” she repeated. “You’ve hurt me again, but this will be the last time.”

“Give me that,” he said, taking the paper from her to smooth it out and look at it. As he did, she wiggled away and opened her car door.

Determined to get answers from her, Tom reached out to push the car door closed again, stepping close with his hip against the door so she couldn’t get inside while he smoothed the paper more to look at it. “Don’t go anywhere, Emily, until we get this straightened out.”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” she said in a low voice that was filled with rage.

He paid no attention to her as he focused on the computer printout. Startled, Tom realized it was a copy of a very familiar snapshot.