Page 41 of Taking Charge (Lone Star Burn 4)
“Did I? Then that’s where he must be.”
An awful feeling spread through Lucy. She didn’t want to consider the possibility, but as bile threatened to surge upward, she asked slowly, “Sarah, are you lying to me?”
Sarah turned away from her, gripped the edge of the kitchen counter, and said, “Please don’t ask me that.”
The room spun, and Lucy leaned on the counter for support. “Look at me, Sarah.”
Sarah kept her face averted. “I can’t.”
“Because you can’t lie to my face, but you can lie to the window?” Lucy snapped. She hated that she was even accusing Sarah at all, but more than that, she hated how Sarah was looking guiltier by the minute.
Sarah turned around and met Lucy’s eyes. Her hands were shaking at her sides. “Why would I lie to you, Lucy? I don’t feel well, that’s all. I told you, I need to lie down.”
With a rush, Lucy felt like an ass. “Oh my God, Sarah, I’m so sorry. I warned you that I’m not myself lately. I’m an idiot.”
Sarah looked away. “It’s fine, Lucy. I’m not upset, but if it’s all right with you, I want to rest awhile.”
“Sure,” Lucy said quietly. “I’ll check in on you later. Tell me if there is anything I can do. Anything at all.”
Once alone in the kitchen, Lucy paced back and forth, berating herself for what she’d said to Sarah. I can’t go on thinking everyone is out to get me or to fool me. That’s no way to live.
I was wrong about Ted.
Wrong about David.
Oh God, I can’t believe how wrong I was about David. I thought he loved me. I thought he was a man I could give my heart to.
I told myself the ranch was all that mattered, but I don’t care about the ranch. If giving it to David would make him love me, I’d sign it over to him in a heartbeat.
What does that say about me?
Lucy had barely slept since she’d arrived in Fort Mavis. She kept going over her relationship with David, looking for a hint that he was the kind of man who would sleep with her just to get her land. She couldn’t think of one single time when he’d been anything but kind, generous, or loving with her. It didn’t make sense.
How could he let me walk away like that?
Why not fight for what we have?
If he cared about me at all, wouldn’t he have said something when I told him to find another place to train his horses?
He hasn’t called to see if I’m okay.
Not a text.
Nothing.
Because he doesn’t love me.
What will it take for me to understand that? When will my stupid heart stop going wild every time the phone rings? It’s not going to be David.
I need to stop running for the door every time the doorbell rings.
He’s not coming.
A week had passed. One of the hardest in David’s life. There hadn’t been any response from York, and David was beginning to question if he’d been right to send Lucy away.
He was unloading a shipment of hay, glad to lose himself in the physical distraction of the task, when Wyatt walked out of the barn with Tony. Wyatt joked, “There’s enough men here willing to unload the hay, but David likes to show off those muscles. Ain’t no women around to impress, though, David, so you might as well put that shirt back on.”
Tony shook his head and looked skyward. “David, Wyatt talks more than you do. I didn’t think that was humanly possible.”
Despite the sarcasm, Wyatt and Tony had hit it off. David jumped down from the back of the trailer and picked up his shirt, using it to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “I heard from Charles. He said he knows someone who knows Ted’s father. He didn’t explain how that would help, but he said he’d get back to me about the situation here.”
Wyatt hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Any word from Lucy?”
Tony answered, “Sarah says they’re both fine.”
Wyatt looked at David. “You call her yet?”
David slumped his shoulders. “Don’t know what I’d say at this point. Unless it’s the truth.”
Wyatt added, “I enjoyed meeting your friend Mason. Nice of him to drop in considering what a busy man he must be. He’s a character, ain’t he?”
“He sure is,” David said.
Wyatt cackled. “His suggestion for what to do when she finds out was a hoot.”
David snapped, “I’m glad this situation is amusing to you.”
Wyatt shook his head sadly. “Son, you’ve got to keep your sense of humor. This will all work out, and one day we can sit around and laugh about it. I do think you need a plan, though. She will find out, and when she does, I hope you’ve thought of a really good way of apologizing.”
Tony looked at Wyatt. “Saving her life won’t be enough?”
Wyatt shot them both a toothy grin. “Shoot, you’re talking about women here. The workings of their minds are complicated, but certain rules apply in all situations. You lie, you apologize. You lie big, you apologize big. For that, you need a plan. You convinced her best friend to lie to her. Flowers won’t cover this.”
Tony made a distasteful face. “Mason said you should think about something Lucy really wants and get it for her. I hate that I can hear his voice in my head.”
David chuckled at that. Mason’s successful career in television wasn’t a surprise. He had a memorable presence. “There’s nothing Lucy wants that I know of. Except for her brother to answer her calls. It’s not like I could do anything about that.” David stopped as he considered what he’d said. “Unless you’d know how to find him, Wyatt.”
“I might,” Wyatt said. “What would you say to him if I did?”
David shrugged his shirt back on. “I’d tell him it doesn’t matter what happened between him and Lucy in the past. She needs him now. He could come back, help make sure York doesn’t win this fight, and show Lucy he really does care about her.”
Tony added, “I’d threaten to kick his ass all the way home, but your way might work, too.”
Wyatt cackled again. “David, I knew you’d be good for this town. I gotta say, I like your choice in friends.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
One week became two, and Lucy started to worry about things she could no longer keep to herself. She and Sarah were on their way back from a short walk after dinner when she asked, “Did you and Tony have a fight before he left?”
Sarah stopped to pick a wildflower. She twirled it between her fingers. “Of course not.”
“Is he coming back? You can tell me if your marriage is in trouble. I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s not.”
“Then where is he, Sarah? And don’t tell me again that he’s training someone’s horse in Sanderson. You look miserable when you say it and, honestly, I don’t believe you.” There. I may be an awful person, but I said what I think.
“You’re right. He’s not in Sanderson.”
“Then where is he?”
“He’s in Mavis with David.”
That took a moment to sink in. “With David? You mean, at my ranch?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“I don’t understand.”
Sarah leaned over and picked up a second flower, then held them both up. “No two flowers are exactly the same. Did you know that? They may look the same, but they’re as unique as people are.”
With her heart thudding in her chest, Lucy asked, “How does this have anything to do with Tony being in Mavis with David?”
“Lies can be like flowers. Not all of them are bad.”
“Sarah, what are you saying?” That sickening feeling returned. No, not you, too, Sarah. Don’t tell me I can’t trust you, either. Please don’t do that to me.
“David asked us if we’d help get you out of Mavis for a while, and we agreed.”
Lucy swayed on her feet. “So, the baby?”
“It’s perfectly healthy.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes,” Sarah s
aid, wringing her hands in front of her. “But it was a lie to protect you. David said York was preparing to do something awful, and he wanted you to be somewhere safe.”
“And you believed him.”
Sarah froze. “Completely.”
“Then you’re a better person than I am, because I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that I can’t believe anything anyone tells me.” She glared at Sarah. “Not even those who call themselves my best friends.”
Sarah’s cheeks reddened, and she advanced on Lucy. “Stop right there. The more you say, the more you’ll have to apologize for later. I have been nothing but a good friend to you. David has been in love with you since the first time he met you. Tony is risking his life because he cares about you and that damn ranch I’m not even sure why you want. I have a baby on the way and a husband who might just get himself killed because David thinks the people in your town need protecting as well. If none of us have earned your trust by now, then please do stop talking to all of us. Really, you’d be doing us a favor.” She threw the flowers down into the grass and turned away from Lucy.
