“So what do you think, baby brother?”
Trey looked up from the toe of his boot, his mind on Meg. “About what?”
Chace, sitting in the chair their daddy had always favored, chuckled. “About whether or not we made a good impression on Richard Emery. After all, you were the one who was so all-fired intent on doing the Triple B proud for that five-star rating. Think we’ll get it?”
Trey winced at the pain in his chest. It wasn’t a real pain, it was— He shook his head. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Standing, he crossed the living room and placed the glass of bourbon he hadn’t even bothered to taste on the wide stone mantle, and then he looked at his family. It was great to see Dev again, and the news about J.R. had been more than any of them had hoped for. But he wasn’t in the mood to celebrate the victory.
“Where are you going?” Ellie asked when he turned for the door.
“Out. I need some air.” He didn’t bother to look at them again. They could think anything they wanted to think. He had his own thinking to do.
As soon as he stepped out onto the porch, he looked toward Meg’s cabin. The lights were out, and he wondered how she was able to sleep. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting much shut-eye before morning.
How could he have been so wrong about her?
How could such a soft, warm-hearted woman suddenly turn so hard and cold? She felt nothing for him. Nothing. Damn, he hurt. Bad. Even years ago, when he’d been the fool of the county, he hadn’t hurt this bad.
But maybe if he talked to her, told her that it didn’t matter if she didn’t tell him about the review, maybe then he could stop hurting. And maybe then she’d be the Meg he had come to know. She wouldn’t feel real kindly toward him for waking her up, but if it straightened things out, everything would be back to normal. He had just gone about asking her about the rating the wrong way. That was all. Once he made things right again, he could get back to trying to figure out why he didn’t want to tell her goodbye tomorrow.
As he walked across the grass between the ranch house and her cabin, he tried out several variations of an apology. None sounded good, but he was ready to try anything. At her door, he hesitated. If he knocked and she asked who it was, he was sure she wouldn’t let him in. So instead, he reached for the knob, hoping she wouldn’t make a ruckus when he woke her up.
The door was unlocked. He opened it and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darker interior of the cabin, listening for any sounds from her. Being careful that he didn’t bump into anything, he felt his way through the sitting area to the bedroom.
The moon was still full enough to shine in the window nearest the bed. But Meg wasn’t in the bed.
He looked around, checking for signs of her, but the bed was made and the room was bare of any personal belongings, except the slight scent of Meg. But even that wasn’t strong enough to indicate that she was there.
Making his way back to the sitting area, he groped for the lamp and turned it on, bathing the room in a soft glow.
The cabin looked unused, as if she had never been there.
After switching off the light, he hurried to the door and half ran to the parking area. Even before he reached it, he could see that her rust-eaten car was missing. She was gone. No goodbye, and no chance for him to try to make things right.
Anger flared inside him, blinding him. He veered to the left and nearly ran into a tree. Stopping, he realized it was the one where they had talked earlier. He slammed his fist into the trunk, letting the pain wash through him to mix with the other hurt. When it let up, he caught a glimpse of something on the ground. Bending over, he picked up the item he remembered that she had been carrying. The soft, gentle scent of her filled his head. He almost threw the bundle of cloth down again, but instead, he tucked it under his arm and headed for the barn.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting on the pile of sacked oats, trying to make sense of things, when Chace came looking for him.
“Hey, Trey, it’s gettin’ late. You ready to call it a night?”
Trey didn’t even bother to look up.
“Did you find him?” Dev called from the barn door.
“Yeah, he’s here,” Chace answered and waited for Dev to join them. “Dev had an idea we wanted to run by you.”
Staring at his hands, clasped between his knees, Trey didn’t comment.
“I was thinkin’,” Dev said, “if we built a hall—you know, a place where people could gather of an afternoon when it’s hot outside—where they could play pool or Ping-Pong or cards or whatever. Maybe just talk, I don’t know. But it would be something to add to the place.”
Trey looked up at him. “You plannin’ to stay?” When Dev didn’t answer, Trey shook his head. “Then what the hell difference does it make to you?”
“Trey—”
“No, Chace. Dev isn’t going to stay to see this through, just like always.” Trey could feel Dev looking at him, and he glanced up.
“What’s eatin’ at you, baby brother?”
Trey looked back at his hands and the deep gashes on the knuckles of his right one. “Nothin’.”
In front of him, Chace cleared his throat. “It’s Meg.”
“Meg?” Dev asked. “You mean that nice lady that I helped with her suitcases?”
Trey’s head snapped up to stare at him. His brother had helped her leave? It figured.
“Meg was the reporter, wasn’t she, Trey?” Chace asked, his voice low.
“You knew?”
Chace shrugged one shoulder. “Ellie and I were talking about it and kinda suspected she was, especially after she came back with that wig in her hands.”
“Wig?” Dev asked. “Wait a second. That long dark hair wasn’t any wig, I can swear to that.”
“Oh, yeah?” Trey said, jumping to his feet. “And how would you know?”
Holding his hands up to stop Trey, Dev backed up a step. “Hey, hold it. Calm down, baby brother. I wasn’t trying to horn in on your woman. But I do have two eyes and twenty-twenty vision.”
Sinking back to the feed bags, Trey avoided looking at them. “She isn’t my woman. So if you want her, you’ll have to find her. She’s gone.”
“Damn, I was afraid of that,” Chace said. “Ellie tried to talk her into staying, but that’s when you showed up. What did you do to scare her off?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Trey said through gritted teeth. “So if Dev wants her—”
“Not me,” Dev interrupted. “I do just fine without a woman. But it sounds to me like you’re the one who should be going after her.”
“I’ve already told him that,” Chace said. “But do you think he’ll listen to me?”
“Why should he start now?” Dev replied. “He’s never listened to either one of us before this.”
“Don’t be a fool, Trey,” Chace warned him. “I almost was.”
“He is,” Dev snorted. “Baby brother, you’re one dumb cowboy if you don’t go after that lady.” He leaned forward. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the bundle of cloth next to Trey.
“Something Meg left behind.” Picking it up, Trey handed it to Chace. “Ellie can mail it to her, if she needs it.”
Dev took it from Chace and held it up. “It’s a T-shirt.” He looked at the front of it and then turned it to show Trey. “Wonder why she left it.”
“Maybe because it isn’t important to her,” Trey growled, snatching it out of Dev’s hands. He hadn’t missed the big red heart and the bold lettering. “She doesn’t care about the Triple B.”
And she doesn’t care about me.
“Go after her, Trey,” Chace said. Beside him, Dev nodded in agreement.
“I’ll pass, thanks.” Trey stood and tossed the shirt onto the feed bags. “I’ve got the Triple B, and that’s all I need. Besides, there are plenty of little darlin’s out there to keep me busy.”
Meg juggled the packages in her arms and wrestled with her keyring, trying to find the house key. If she hadn’t discovered that her last pair of pantyhose was almost in shreds, she would be packed and ready to leave for Wyoming.
Turning her wrist, she glanced at her watch. But instead of noting how late she was running, she noticed something else. Fifteen minutes. It had been a whole fifteen minutes since she had given any thought to Trey. She was getting better. After two weeks of trying to forget about the cowboy, she was finally able to go a whole fifteen minutes without him jumping into her thoughts. Maybe by the time she reached retirement she would pretty much have forgotten him.
Not exactly a cheery idea, she thought as she finally found the key and fit it into the lock. At least she had been able to keep the entire Triple B incident from Aunt Dee. And that hadn’t been easy, when all she had felt like doing after turning in the review and article was sleep and cry. Her excuse to her aunt had been a hormonal imbalance, which hadn’t been that far from the truth. The Triple B had earned its five-star rating, but the assignment had cost Meg her heart.
Turning the doorknob, she pushed open the front door and stepped into the cozy living room. “Well, I think I got everything I—”
“Hello, Meggie, dear,” Dee greeted in her usual breathless way. “We have a visitor.”
Meg’s voice had completely deserted her. Staring at the back of the man sitting across from her aunt, she watched, speechless, as he rose to his feet and turned toward her.
“Howdy, Meg,” he said, facing her and offering his sexy grin.
She glanced at her aunt and then back at him. Her heart raced. Pounded. And time seemed to stand still. “Trey,” she finally managed. “What—what are you doing here?”
“Mr. Brannigan has been telling me all about his lovely ranch,” Dee explained. “You never did say much about it, but it sounds as delightful as he his.”
Trey turned to her. “I thought we agreed that you’d call me Trey, ma’am,” he said, a teasing note in his voice.
“That’s right.” Dee’s tinkling laughter became a gasp for air, but she quickly recovered. “As long as you remember to call me Dee.”
Meg stared at the two of them. What had gone on during her short absence? She hadn’t been away from the house long enough for them to become bosom buddies in— Oh, right, there was Trey’s charm to take into consideration, and the fact that her Aunt Dee found a friend in everyone. Not what Meg needed right now.
Dee waved a hand at Meg. “Put your packages down, Meg, and go sit over there on the sofa by Trey.”
Meg had to bite her cheek to keep from moaning. “I only have a few minutes,” she reminded her aunt. “I have that plane to catch to Cheyenne, and I’m already running late.” She hoped Trey got the message. Whatever the reason for his visit, she had things to do and places to go.
“And Trey came all the way to see you, Meg. Goodness, it certainly wasn’t to see me.” Dee flashed her beautiful smile at Trey.
Trey returned the smile. “But meeting you, Dee, has been a pleasure I hadn’t counted on.”
Dee laughed again. “And I’ll bet you even charm the rattlesnakes down there in Texas.”
Knowing she had to put an end to this mutual admiration society that Trey and her aunt seemed to be forming, Meg dropped her purchases at her feet and perched on the arm of the sofa. “So how are Chace and Ellie?” she asked, and avoided looking at him directly. Her heart just couldn’t take that.
“Good. They’re good. Ellie sure misses you though.”
Dee leaned forward. “He was just telling me about how much you helped out in the office while you were there. But I told him you weren’t a secretary at the magazine anymore. You’ve been promoted to staff reporter. And all because of his ranch.”
“Congratulations, Meg,” Trey said.
The tone of his voice made her look at him, and his gaze caught and held hers. She saw a mix of emotions in his blue eyes, and even thought there was a sparkle of pride there among them.
She managed to say, “Thank you,” but couldn’t say more. Seeing him here, in her home, was more than she could deal with. And she wished she didn’t have to. Hadn’t she just been congratulating herself for not thinking about him every minute of the day? How long would it take her this time to reach the fifteen-minute mark? Another two weeks? She didn’t think even that would be long enough.
Glancing at her watch, she gasped. “I’ll never make it!” she cried and jumped up from the sofa. Scrambling to retrieve her packages, she looked up to glare at Trey, then turned to her aunt. “I have to finish packing and then it’s almost an hour drive to Midway. I’ll miss my flight, I know it.” Picking up the last package, she stood frozen. “What am I going to do?”
“Why don’t you—” her aunt began.
“Wait! I know, I’ll call Geraldine and see if we can get the flight changed.” Meg dropped the packages again and hurried to pick up the phone on the end table. Dialing quickly, she waited for someone to answer. “I suppose I’ll have to pay for a new ticket, but— Geraldine Martin, please. This is Meg Chastain.”
It seemed like hours before Geraldine answered. “Problems, Meg?”
Meg turned her back to the room and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Geraldine, but I have a surprise out-of-town visitor, and there’s no way I’m going to make my plane on time.”
“I see,” Meg’s boss replied. “That does cause us a bit of trouble, doesn’t it? Or does it?”
Meg wasn’t sure what she was getting at. Of course it caused trouble. It could also cause her to lose her job. “What do you mean?”
Geraldine’s throaty laughter echoed over the wire. “Well, if that surprise visitor is the same sexy cowboy who stopped by here looking for you earlier, I can certainly understand why you’re about to miss your plane.”
Glancing over her shoulder at Trey, Meg swallowed. “He came by the office?” she asked, turning back and cupping the mouthpiece so she wouldn’t be overheard.
“Not long after you left, as a matter of fact,” Geraldine answered. “And I swear he would’ve camped out here until you returned from Wyoming if we hadn’t given him your address. But don’t you worry about the assignment. Karen should be checking in at the airport right about now.”
“Karen? But—”
“I’m sure you and your cowboy have a lot to catch up on,” Geraldine continued. “And you and I can chat about your next assignment in a few days.”
Before Meg could protest, her boss had hung up. She replaced the receiver and spun around, her fury taking a strong hold on her. “You!” she shouted at Trey. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Meg, I—”
“No, I don’t want to hear it,” she said, covering her ears with her hands. “Do you know how long it’s taken me to get a position as a staff reporter?”
“A long time?”
Just as she started to tell him exactly how many years she had begged for a chance, she caught sight of her aunt, opening the door. “Where are you going?” she demanded.
Dee’s eyes widened. “Why, I’m going to play bridge with John and Sadie and Aaron. I told you that, remember?”
“But you can’t!”
Dee’s left eyebrow raised. “Oh, really?”
Meg knew that look and that tone. And she knew that no amount of begging or pleading would do any good.
“Enjoy your bridge game, Dee,” Trey said from behind Meg.
Unable to reply, Meg watched her aunt step through the doorway and close the door, leaving her alone to deal with Trey. Could life get any worse?
When Dee had gone, Trey touched Meg’s arm, not wanting to get her any more riled up than she already was, but unable to keep from touching her any longer. “Meg.”
She pulled away and faced him, fury and disbelief in her eyes. “I can’t believe this. I may lose my job over this. My job!”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out for her again and silently prayed that he could get her to listen to him. This was his last chance. His only chance. “Come back to the Triple B with me, Meg.”
“And be your secretary?” Her laughter was mocking. “Not on your life. I spent eleven years as an office girl, and I’ve finally reached my dream.” She shook her head, and her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “And now I may have lost it.”
It pained him to see how much she was hurting. After meeting her aunt, he could understand her devotion to the woman who had raised her and loved her. He didn’t want to do anything that would separate them. He had never planned to.
“I’m not offering you a job at the ranch,” he said, keeping his voice low. Slowly, he reached up and touched her face. Her eyes softened. Not much, but enough that he knew he would get his chance.
But before he could say more, she moved away. “I can’t tell you about the article, Trey. Not two weeks ago. Not today.”
“I don’t care about the article.”
Circling around the chair, she stopped behind it, as if trying to protect herself. “But you care about the ranch.”
“Of course I do.” He took a step closer, wondering what he could say to get her to understand. “But I was wrong to try to force you to tell me about the review. I’m sorry for that, Meg. I truly am.”
She studied him for a moment, and then lowered her head in a brief nod of acceptance. “I wish I could tell you.”
He shook his head and moved closer, stopping at the edge of the chair. “It doesn’t matter. Sure, a good rating could make a difference, but we’ll manage okay, whatever the rating is. Besides, not everybody reads Trail’s End,” he added with a grin.
“I suppose that’s true,” she said, smiling back at him. “But if you aren’t here to offer me a job or try to find out about the review…”
Before he could think about it and chicken out, he closed the distance between them and stood next to her. “I’ve come to tell you that I’ve missed you.”
“Oh.”
Was that indifference in her voice? If it was, he wasn’t sure he could continue. But he didn’t have a choice. Taking a deep breath, he went on. “After listening to my brothers tell me what a fool I was for letting you get away, and putting up with Ellie hardly speaking to me, well, I had to finally admit something.”
“What?” Her voice was a whisper.
“It isn’t a job I came here to offer you. And I know you told me that there wasn’t anything between us, but you’re wrong,” he continued, touching a strand of her long, dark hair. “I know it. You know it. So can we forget that night ever happened?”
Pressing her lips together, she nodded. “I’d like nothing more than to do that.”
“Good,” he said on a sigh of relief. “I need you with me, Meg.”
“But my job… Aunt Dee—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “I have it all figured out, darlin’. What better place for Dee than the Triple B? She’ll be more than welcome, and just think of how much better she’s going to be. The ranch is the perfect environment for a person with her health problems. I checked into it.”
She wrapped her hand around his wrist and pulled his hand away. “And I’m supposed to do what? Answer the phone and book reservations?”
She tried to move away, but he stopped her, tipping her face up to his with his thumb. Her green eyes glistened, and her lower lip trembled. He was going about this all wrong. Again. Why couldn’t he get it right?
He shook his head. “No. Like I said, I’m not offering you a job. I’m offering you my love, Meg.” He watched as her eyes grew wider. “Nobody will ever take your place in my heart. Believe me, I’ve tried.” He dropped his hand and shook his head, chuckling. “Not tried to replace you,” he hurried on, when he saw the look on her face. “I’ve just tried to stop hurtin’ because you were gone. But I couldn’t.”
“I’ve been hurting, too,” she admitted.
Her words touched his heart, and he felt that maybe they understood each other. Taking her hand, he led her to the sofa, where he pulled a bundle from under his Stetson. “You left this behind,” he said, handing it to her.
“My shirt,” she said. Holding it in front of her, she sank to the sofa. “You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about this.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she looked up at him. “How many times I’ve thought about you and wished I hadn’t said the things I said. But I had to.”
He eased down beside her and kissed a tear that glistened near her mouth. “We never said any of that, remember?” he whispered against her lips. Moving back, he took her hands in his. “Will you marry me, Meg? Will you come back to the Triple B with me and be my wife?” Before she could answer, he hurried on. “With all the computers and technology, maybe we can convince your boss that you can do your job from the ranch. What’s that called?”
“Telecommuting,” she said, smiling through a steady stream of tears. “And even if I couldn’t—”
“I want you to have your dreams, Meg.” With his finger, he traced one small, determined tear. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making your dreams come true. If you’ll say yes.”
“Oh, Trey,” she said. “Of course I’ll marry you. How could I not? I do love you.”
Joy coursed through him, filling him with the lightest and best feeling he had ever known. Claiming her lips, he kissed her long and hard, wishing he would never have to stop. But eventually he moved back, giving them both a moment to breathe.
Meg pulled at the shirt, wedged between them, and smoothed it out on her lap. “This says it all,” she said, sighing. “My heart really does belong on the Triple B.”