“How did you handle it?” Vince stole still another look at Ava.
“My daddy was a smart man. He gave me two sections of land and a hundred head of cattle as a wedding present. He told me that when I learned to run that much of a ranch, he’d deed over some more to me. By the time he passed on, all he had left was one section left to give to me. Mama never did like my Nellie, but that was her loss,” Henry said.
“Now how about you, Mr. Vince Cargill? What’s your story? We’re on this ship for a week, and then we’ll never see each other again, so tell me, why are you looking so sad? And why did your eyes come near to poppingout of your head when you saw that red-haired woman that Sookie and her posse have taken up with?”
“My mother has rubbed shoulders with royalty in Scotland. My father is an oil baron who inherited a huge company that’s been in our family since the first oil was struck in Texas over a hundred years ago.” Vince spilled his story to a man he barely knew—and it felt so good. “I’m an only child, so the company will fall to me. My folks are trying to groom me to take care of it when the time comes. Right now, I’m the company lawyer for the Texas office.”
“Ranchin’ or oil. The story stays the same when it comes to mamas and their baby boys. The way that Nellie was treated is the reason why she didn’t say a word when our kids left the ranch, and she made damn sure she was good to her son-in-law and both daughters-in-law. Those three loved her as much as our kids did,” Henry said. “You got to do what makes you happy. Money ain’t the most important thing in the world, son.”
Vince took a deep breath, let it out slowly and said, “That woman that Sookie is sitting beside is my wife, Ava. I didn’t even know until right now that she was on this ship. We’re separated right now. We were supposed to do this vacation together, and I figured she wouldn’t come since I refused to go. My grandfather told me to go alone, sort out my priorities, and come home ready to get back to work. Now there she is and I’ve got to figure out how to deal with it.”
“What’s your heart tellin’ you, son?” Henry asked.
“It’s confused right now, but I know I don’t want to lose her,” Vince admitted.
“Then you’d better do something about that or you’ll be plumb miserable for the rest of your life,” Henry told him.
“You are so right,” Vince whispered.
Chapter 3
Ava thought she was in good shape until she ran the stairs three times with Sookie. By the time they finished the last set, she was so winded she could hardly breathe. Her red hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, and she bent forward and sucked air into her lungs.
“That was one more workout,” she panted.
“I didn’t know how I was going to keep in shape when we decided to live on cruise ships.” Sookie wiped her face with a bandanna she pulled out of the pocket of her athletic shorts. “I was used to walking around the football field in our small town several times in the morning and then running the bleachers. I was just fine when I found an exercise room with a treadmill and figured out these stairs are as good as bleachers. And this is in air-conditioned comfort.”
“I’m sweating like a hooker on the front row of a tent revival in July,” Ava said.
Sookie laughed out loud. “I haven’t heard that saying in years and years.”
“My granny used to say that when she was all sweaty,” Ava said with a smile.
“Were you close to your granny?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ava said as she straightened up. “She kept me when I was a little girl while my mama and daddy worked, so we kind of had a special bond. Minnie reminds me of her.”
“Not me?”
“Oh, no!” Ava found enough air for a giggle. “Granny hated to get all sticky sweaty, and cooking in an air-conditioned kitchen was enough exercise for her.” She heard a noise behind her and looked over her shoulder just in time to see Vince and Henry step out of the elevator.
“Well, hello, Sookie.” Henry smiled. “You are beautiful even after you run the stairs.”
“That’s silly,” Sookie told him. “I’m drenched with sweat and look like a wet dishrag.”
“Then a wet dishrag must be beautiful.” Henry wiggled his gray eyebrows. “Want to go…”
Sookie held up a palm and shook her head. “Don’t even go there.”
“I meant maybe go sit in a steam room, or maybe do some laps in the pool,” Henry said with a big grin. “Where’s your mind? In the gutter?”
“Henry O’Dell, I know what you were thinking,” Sookie fussed at him.
“No, you don’t, but I will explain what I am thinking in detail if you’ll go to dinner with me tonight. You can even bring your posse with you.”
“No, thank you,” Sookie told him with anothershake of her head.
The whole time they were bantering, Ava looked at the wallpaper, the carpet, and even the ceiling in the elevator lobby. The few times that she caught Vince’s eye, the moment was more awkward than she imagined that it ever would be. How did two people who’d been so in love ever get to this point? she wondered. There didn’t seem to be much of anything between them, and yet just standing this close to him sent sparks dancing around the whole area.
