“Yes, it was.”
She turned. “This is my friend, Brittany Haworth.”
He made a faint nod of his head. “Ms. Haworth.”
“Nice to meet you,” Britt said. She’d always been shy. The way she was looking at Cain, as if the year’s sexiest man alive had just dropped by for a visit, Carly was surprised her friend was able to speak.
Cain’s gaze returned to Carly. “I realize how difficult it must be, going through all of this again so soon. Once more you have my condolences.”
“Thank you. It’s been difficult. But my grandfather lived a long, full life. I can only imagine how terrible this is for Miguel’s family.”
A muscle in Cain’s jaw tightened. “Maybe catching his killer will ease some of their pain.”
“You think they will?”
“Someone will.”
There was something in the way he said it. Surely he didn’t intend to involve himself in catching the men who’d murdered Miguel.
“I didn’t realize you were a friend of my grandfather’s.”
His features relaxed as if a fond memory had surfaced. “Joe Drake was a good man. One of the best. He gave me my first job. Did you know that?”
Her eyes burned. That sounded so like Joe. Never a hand-out but always a hand-up whenever one was needed. “I wasn’t around much after I got out of high school. I should have come home more often. You’ll never know how much I regret that.”
His expression shifted, became unreadable. “We all do things we regret.” Up close he was even better looking than she had first thought, his dark hair cut a little shorter on the sides, narrow brackets beside his mouth that only appeared once in a while, not dimples, but something more subtle, more intriguing. “Your grandfather loved you very much.”
A lump swelled in her throat. She had loved him, too. She’d neverrealized how little time they would have. “Thank you for saying that.” She needed to leave. She was going to cry and she didn’t want to do that in front of Cain. “I’m sorry, but if you’ll excuse me, I need to say good-bye to Miguel’s wife, Conchita, before we go.”
He nodded. “There’s something I need to discuss with you. After Joe died, I waited. I wanted to give you time to grieve, but after what happened to Miguel, it can’t wait any longer.”
She tried to imagine what Cain wanted. Something to do with Joe, she thought. “All right. You can reach me at the office. I’m there every day.”
“I know the number. I’ll be in touch.”
She watched as he turned and walked away, wide shoulders, narrow hips, long powerful legs striding across the grass as if he had something important to do. What could one of the wealthiest men in Texas possibly want to talk to her about?
Carly watched as Cain slid into the back of a shiny black stretch limo waiting for him at the edge of the graveyard.
“I wonder what he wants,” Brittany said, voicing Carly’s thoughts.
“He’s in the transportation business, so it must have something to do with Drake Trucking.”
“You’re probably right. But Tex/Am Transport is only a small part of his company. Cain owns half of Texas American Enterprises, which means it could be anything. Or maybe it’s something personal, something to do with your grandfather.”
“Maybe. I guess I’ll find out.” Carly started making her way through the tombstones. Up ahead, Conchita Hernandez and the rest of Miguel’s family stood on the church steps, accepting condolences. Carly squared her shoulders and kept walking.
* * *
She wasn’t what he had imagined. Oh, she was as pretty as the pictures her grandfather had proudly shown him: late twenties, taller than average, with big blue eyes and wavy golden blond hair past her shoulders. Joe had shown him a photo of her playing volleyball on the beach so he knew what she looked like in a bikini, knew she had a dynamite figure.
She didn’t seem concerned with her appearance the way he’d expected.He thought she’d be more aloof, more self-absorbed. He hadn’t expected her to be grieving her grandfather so deeply.
He’d been sure he wouldn’t like her. Not the young woman who had accepted so much and returned so little.
And yet as he had watched her with Miguel’s family, as he read her sorrow, the depth of her concern, he had been surprisingly moved. She felt responsible in some way for her employee’s death. She blamed herself, and he couldn’t allow that to happen.
Linc had made a vow to her grandfather. He’d promised Joe Drake he would look after Carly, make sure she was okay. Linc planned to keep that vow. And the best way he could take care of Carly was to send her packing—before she ended up as dead as Miguel Hernandez.
