“Nope.” I straighten the papers and hand them over. “All set. Thanks for your help.”
Before he can say anything more, I turn and race out of the building and into my truck.
I make it to the fishing hole in record time. After parking, I grab my pole and tackle box out of the bed of the truck and head for the riverbank.
The first thought I had when Macey handed me back the ring was to tell her everything. The whole truth. I’d look her in the eyes and explain what happened.
Shortly after we returned from Vegas, I was fishing late afternoon right in this very spot. I was totally focused on the water and thinking about you and me and what a mess we’d gotten ourselves into. I wasn’t paying any attention to the few people strolling past.
But then a guy on his cell phone drifted close to me, and he was talking loudly. But I still wouldn’t have paid him any mind, if I hadn’t heard?—
“Found out his name’s Benjamin Henwood. His saloon is called The Cowherd Whiskey.”
Something felt wrong. Chills ran down my spine, and I glanced behind me. I was completely hidden from view by the massive oak tree, but I could just make out the form of a tall, older man on the other side of the walking path. I’d never seen him around town. He was wearing an expensive suit and an earpiece. His hands were in his pockets as he paced back and forth while he talked.
“Yeah, I’ve found enough on him to have him put behind bars for life…no, it’s not deserved. All nickel and dime stuff, mostly when he was inebriated, but that’s why I pay you so damn much money—to make something out of nothing. Of course I’m out for revenge after what he did with my wife. Makes him fair game for payback. I’m going to take his life right out from under him.
“See how he likes it to have something taken from under your nose that belongs to you…no, that’s not enough. I want him locked up, too…last time I was here, my wife and I were passing through, and when I was in the city for business, she spent a couple days on her own in Hill Country.
“And the bar owner didn’t notice her wedding band?
“She swears she was wearing it and he just smooth talked her. Put his mouth on hers, his hands on her ass, and then the Goddamn prick took her to bed. My wife told me everything.
“Crazy redneck drunk…he’ll pay his due for screwing with someone from the Phillips family. Not yet, I’ve got to head out west to Big Bend for a little while. I’m leaving for my plane now, so we’ll talk soon.”
When he rattled off the name of the hotel he’d be at in West Texas, I filed it away in my memory.
I put away my fishing gear and hurried out from my spot, but the man was gone. Disappeared. I ran down Main Street but didn’t see him anywhere.
All I could think was that I have to do something.
A tug on my line brings me back to Darcy and the present. I reel in the catfish and then immediately release it back into the water.
As my pulse settles, I remember why I’m keeping this a secret from Macey. I can’t tell her the truth. Not yet.
When this fake engagement and marriage come to an end, I plan to tell her everything. How her father’s past indiscretions finally came back to bite him. How I left for West Texas determined to find and stop the man who wanted to ruin her family. How I stumbled onto his daughter, who turned out to be the key to keeping Macey and her family from suffering further from Mr. Henwood’s past indiscretions. And how I struck a deal with Gigi Phillips, and then her father, who is the most powerful man I’ve been around. He’s also a man who despises the Henwoods,
If I tell Macey too soon, she’ll tell me she’ll handle it herself. If I manage to talk her out of that, she’ll still insist on getting involved. And if Macey gets in the middle, she would unwittingly put the whole deal in jeopardy.
I can’t get her involved.
I want her happy, and if her daddy’s in jail for life, she’ll either be stuck running a bar she doesn’t want to run, or she’ll be stuck trying to figure out how to bring in money for her mama. If her father goes to jail, Macey’s essentially in prison, too. And she deserves to be free. More than anyone I know, Macey Henwood deserves to be free.
And I’ll do what I need to do to see the deal through—even if it means faking a marriage.
I had to turn in those divorce papers and go ahead with the bargain I made with Mr. Phillips and his daughter. I had no choice.
I just didn’t know it could hurt so much—especially with Macey.
I chastise myself for lingering at the fishing hole. It’s time to dust off and put away the pain of becoming Macey’s ex-husband.
I’m a cowboy.
And the job’s not done yet.
51
Macey
