“Make yourself at home.”
Keisha stepped over the threshold of Canyon’s house and thought he had to be kidding. This wasn’t a home, this was a friggin’ castle.
It had been dark when they’d arrived but she had seen the lighted marker that denoted Westmoreland Country. And she had seen another marker that said Canyon’s Bluff. Because it had been dark, she’d barely made out the massive structure until the car’s headlights had shined on it. She’d sat in the car for a full minute, amazed.
He had been in the process of having the plans drawn up for the house when she’d left town. She had heard the story about how, after his parents’ deaths, he and his brothers—upon reaching the age of twenty-five—inherited one hundred acres of land each...all except for Dillon. Since Dillon was the oldest, he had inherited the family home and the three hundred acres it sat on.
Canyon and several of his brothers had been perfectly content living in the main house with Dillon until Dillon had married. That was when all the brothers had decided to build their own places. Canyon hadn’t been in any hurry at first. When he’d moved from Dillon’s home, he and his brother Stern moved in with their brother Jason, who’d had plenty of room. Eventually, Canyon had moved in with her.
“So what do you think, Keisha?”
She glanced over at him. He was holding a sleeping Beau in his arms while standing in the middle of what she figured was his living room, although it was three times the size of hers. “Can I ask you something, Canyon?”
“What?”
“Why would a single man need such a large place?”
When he smiled she felt a stirring in her belly. “At the time, I didn’t think of needs, just wants. Four of my brothers and I were building our homes practically at the same time, and we all wanted something different and unique. You think this place is big, you ought to see Micah’s Manor, Derringer’s Dungeon, Riley’s Station, Stern’s Stronghold and Zane’s Hideout.”
She couldn’t help grinning. “I gather all of your places have unique names.”
“Yes. It was Bailey’s idea.”
“I think the names are cute,” she said, reaching for Beau.
“Whatever,” he said, handing their dozing son to her.
“Those were some pretty nice neighbors to take care of him like they did.”
Keisha agreed. “Yes, and I appreciate them.” Janice and Everett Miles were super. Not only had they fed Beau, but they’d given him a bath and put him in a pair of the twins’ pajamas. Now she held her sleeping child in her arms as she looked around a house that was too large for one person. And it was decorated for a king...and a queen. The furniture was expensive and the decor perfect.
“You must have paid a lot in decorating costs,” she said.
Canyon, who was moving around turning on lights, looked over his shoulder at her and chuckled. “I wish I could say my cousin Gemma came cheap but she didn’t. She made plenty of money off her brothers and cousins and wasn’t guilty about doing so.”
“She did a great job.”
“We got what we paid for. And if you ask me, we even paid for what we didn’t get. I think she deliberately overcharged us because she figured she could get away with it.”
Canyon’s gruffness wasn’t fooling Keisha one bit since she heard the fondness in his voice. That was one thing she’d always admired about him and his family—their closeness. He had told her all about his family, and it had been her choice not to get to know them better. While Canyon had been great company, and the sex had been off the charts, she hadn’t thought their relationship would last. Initially, she’d thought their physical relationship was all she’d wanted or needed.
But Canyon had had a way of growing on her, and it had seemed she had started growing on him, as well. Within six months, she had invited him to move in with her. While living together they’d gotten along fabulously and things had been going really well...until the night he’d betrayed her.
“My guest rooms are furnished but with no kiddie beds,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.
“No problem, he can sleep with me.”
Canyon nodded. “Okay. Right this way.”
There were two spiral staircases. He moved up one and she followed, thinking his house looked even more impressive when seen from the stairs. High ceilings, crown moldings, colorful walls, hardwood and tile floors as well as intricate lighting. Everything served the purpose of complimenting the grace and style of the house. Definitely not anything a man would have had a hand in.
“Unfortunately, my place isn’t childproof either.”
She didn’t say anything. It didn’t matter since she and Beau wouldn’t be staying here that long anyway. When they reached the next floor he moved into a hallway that seemed to branch out in three directions. Even this area was beautifully decorated and a huge light fixture hung from the ceiling.
He moved down a corridor containing three bedrooms. Opening the door to one of the rooms, he stood back for her to enter. This guest room, she thought, was simply stunning. There was no other word for it.
“This is the blue room,” he said.
She could see why. The walls were painted sky-blue with white billowy curtains around the windows. Plaid blue-and-white coverings were on the king-size bed. A white leather love seat was on one side of the room and two beautiful white ceramic lamps sat on nightstands on either side of the bed.
“It’s pretty,” she said.
“Thanks.”
She walked across the white marble tile to the bed, pushed back the covers and placed Beau in the center. She glanced down at their son who looked so peaceful while sleeping. Little did he know that his mother’s world had just gone topsy-turvy.
“I used to do that.”
She nearly jumped. She hadn’t known Canyon had followed her over to the bed. “What?”
“Sleep curled up with my face resting on my hands.”
She smiled. “And he makes those sounds in his sleep like you used to do.”
She watched Canyon’s brow rise. His eyes, normally so dark and intense, seemed even more so in the bedroom’s low light. “What sounds?”
Those sounds you used to make that turned me on whenever I woke up to hear them, she thought. Not a snore—more of a groan, as if you were having some hell of a dream.
“So, what sounds?” he asked again.
“Not important,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. This was not how she’d planned to kick off her busy weekend. With everything she’d had planned to do Saturday and Sunday, tonight she’d hoped to curl up on her sofa with a bowl of popcorn and a movie after putting Beau to bed. Instead she was here, at the home of the one man she didn’t want to deal with again.
Yes, she’d run into him occasionally since returning to Denver. Her law firm represented several of his company’s clients, and she would admit that the first time they’d sat across from each other as opposing council in a legal proceeding had been difficult.
All she could think about that day, and the ones that followed, had been his betrayal. So when he’d approached her, asking if she would join him for dinner so they could talk through their issues, she had turned him down. After that it had seemed that the more she turned him down the more persistent he got. And to think he’d assumed he could follow her home to force a conversation with her!
But now she would admit she was glad he had been there when she’d walked into the house and found her home in shambles. His take-charge attitude had helped when she’d become too emotional to think straight.
“Do you think he will fall out of the bed?”
Keisha chuckled softly. “No. He’s out for the night. And he’s not a wanderer so don’t worry about him tumbling down the stairs during the night either.”
“Good, because if you’re up for it, we need to go downstairs and talk.”
She appreciated that he was giving her the option to say no. But she knew they needed to talk, and she wanted to get it over with. “Okay,” she said, turning around.
He was standing too close, and as she looked up into his face lust shot through her. She wasn’t surprised. Canyon had that effect on women. It had been that way for her the day they’d met in the courthouse lunchroom. And it had been that way a month later when she’d attended a meeting regarding a land dispute with his company. Every time Canyon glanced across the table at her she felt her insides sizzle.
“I’ll need to use the ladies’ room first,” she said, rubbing her hands down the sides of her skirt.
“Every bedroom has a private bath. I’ll see you downstairs in a few.” He then turned and walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
She let out a deep breath when she heard his footsteps move down the stairs. When she’d made the decision not to tell Canyon about Beau she had been pretty comfortable with it. But she had a feeling that when Canyon finished with her she was going to wish she had decided differently.
* * *
Canyon stood at the window in his living room and looked out. It was dark, but he didn’t need to see to know what was out there: the one hundred acres he had inherited.
From the time he’d been a kid, he’d known he wanted to claim this spot, the one with a perfect view of Whisper Creek Canyon. He didn’t have to be on Gemma’s Lake—the one named after his grandmother—or any of the other lakes and streams in Westmoreland Country. Nor did he have to be close to the valleys and meadows. This was where he wanted to be.
He recalled those times when he would go hunting with his father, uncle, brothers and cousins. They would ride their horses here on this land and then camp out near the canyon. When everyone would fall asleep he would stay awake, wide-eyed while he stared up at the stars. He was convinced only special stars shone on this spot. And they were his stars. Over the years, whenever he was bothered by anything, all he had to do was stare up at them to find the answers he needed.
It was here where he had escaped almost twenty years ago after finding out that his parents and uncle and aunt had died in a plane crash. And it was here where he’d come while in college when he’d made the decision to change his major from medicine to law.
He’d thought he had wanted to follow in his brother Micah’s footsteps and become a doctor, but after two years of medical school he’d known he had made a mistake. He’d been torn about what to do.
Dillon had sensed something was bothering him that week when he’d come home for spring break. And it had been Dillon who’d suggested Canyon take time away from school and come home to seek the answers he needed. So Canyon had taken a semester off.
For those four months, he had crashed with his brother Riley and had spent his days either helping Ramsey with the sheep or Zane, Derringer and Jason with the horses. Then, on the weekends, he’d camped out here, on this land.
When it was time for the next semester to start, he’d made his decision to switch from medical school to law school with his family’s blessings. Although his family got mad at each other sometimes, whenever it came to major issues they stuck together and supported each other.
He took another deep breath as he recalled another decision he had made here on this spot under the stars. It had been the decision to ask Keisha to marry him. One evening while she was out of town on business, he had come here. He’d already decided to build a house on this land and had been gathering ideas for what kind of home he wanted to build and exactly where he wanted the structure to face. Then, out of the clear blue sky, a voice inside his head had said, Keisha will be the woman to live here with you.
He really hadn’t been shocked or surprised by that revelation since he’d never had issues about falling in love like some of his cousins and brothers had. He didn’t have a fear of losing someone the same way he’d lost his folks. His only reason for taking his time about getting serious with a woman was that he enjoyed being single and hadn’t been ready to settle down. He’d figured that one day he would meet that special person, fall in love and marry. He was fine with that idea. He just hadn’t figured it would happen so soon.
He had taken a horse and ridden down into the canyon, camping out that night on this land. He’d looked up at the stars and within minutes he’d known.
He could hardly wait for Keisha to return. He hadn’t been expecting her for another two days. But she’d come home early, found Bonita in her bed and assumed the worst. And Bonita had intentionally led her to believe a lie.
That angered him more than anything else about the situation because the woman had never done anything to rectify the situation. Keisha had been her friend but Bonita had lied to her. Canyon never knew what the woman’s true motive had been.
Canyon’s thoughts returned to the present when he heard the sound of Keisha coming down the stairs. He turned around and moved toward her, pausing briefly to pick up the wineglass off the table where he’d placed it moments ago. “Here, I think you need this,” he said, handing the glass of wine to her.
She accepted it and took a sip. He could tell from the smile on her face that she appreciated the taste. “This is good. Where did you get it?”
“My cousin Spencer and his wife own a vineyard in California’s wine country. Russell Vineyard has been in Chardonnay’s family for years and—”
“Chardonnay?”
“Yes, that’s Spencer’s wife.”
“Her family owned a vineyard and named her Chardonnay?”
Canyon chuckled. “Yes, they did. I guess it’s no different than my parents naming me Canyon after what they conceived on a pretty nice vacation.”
He paused a moment and then asked, “How did you come up with the name Beau?”
He watched as she slid down to sit on the steps. “You don’t have to sit down there when I have a perfectly good sofa,” he added.
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She took another sip of her wine and then said, “Beau’s full name is Beaumont. He was named after my uncle...my mom’s only brother who died when I was a little girl. Mom and Uncle Beau were close and when I hadn’t decided on a name, she asked if I would name Beau after her brother. So I did.”
Canyon leaned against the staircase. “When did you find out you were pregnant?”
She took another sip of wine before glancing up at him. “I was already late when I left for Tampa but while I was there I took a pregnancy test.” She paused. “The reason I came back to town early was to tell you. It was something I figured was too important to tell you over the phone. But then I found you with Bonita.”
Canyon’s stomach clenched in anger. Up until that moment he’d convinced himself that no matter the circumstances, he and Keisha could talk things out in a rational manner. But now, after hearing the truth from her—that she’d known she was pregnant before leaving town and had allowed her distrust to keep her from telling him he was going to be a father—was too much. He couldn’t hold back his anger.
“Please come with me. I don’t want to wake Beau.”
* * *
Keisha followed. She’d known from the anger she heard in his voice that her words had infuriated him. It was best for them to have it out now, to get it over with. He led her through his dining room into the kitchen and she stopped in the doorway. Even the kitchen was huge and spacious. Since she knew Canyon wasn’t any more of a whiz in the kitchen than she was, that meant this kitchen—with all its sterling-silver appliances, rich dark oak cabinets and beautiful granite countertops—was only a showplace.
He pulled out two chairs and remained standing as if expecting her to sit in one. She’d rather stand, but changed her mind when his glare deepened. He watched as she moved from the doorway to cross the kitchen and sit at the table. Once she sat down he claimed his seat, as well. She looked over at him and lifted her chin. “Are there any more questions, Canyon?”
She almost saw steam come from his nostrils. “You know damn well there are.”
And, as if he was trying to rein in his anger, he didn’t say anything for a moment. “I’m not going to restate my innocence as to what happened that night since you choose to believe a lie. And to be quite frank, I don’t care anymore what you think. Because if you can believe I did what you’ve accused me of doing that means you didn’t deserve my love. I refuse to feel bad about what happened.”
His words, spoken in barely contained rage, caused her to flinch. Not because of the harshness of his tone but because of what he was saying. Her gut clenched as his meaning sank in. Uncertainty flowed through her. What if she had been wrong? What if Bonita had lied? What if he was innocent of what she’d accused him of?
She hesitated, not wanting to consider that possibility. Everything about Bonita’s story had added up. But still, what if...
“You hated me so much that you felt I didn’t need to know I had a child?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She felt the tension growing between them. “We were no longer together and...”
When her words trailed off he lifted a brow. “And what?”
“And after a while, I figured if I told you I was pregnant, you might question whether or not Beau was yours.”
Canyon stared at her for a long moment without saying anything, but she saw the fury building in the gaze holding hers hostage. “That’s bull and you know it,” he finally said with a degree of steel in his voice that had her shifting in her seat. “There was no reason for me to assume your baby wasn’t mine. Unlike you, I trusted you. Unconditionally. Your excuse is unacceptable, Keisha. And what’s really unacceptable is that you’ve been back in Denver for ten months and you’ve seen me a number of times yet you never told me I had a son. Didn’t you think I had a right to know?”
She decided to be honest with him. “No. What you did was unforgivable and dissolved your rights where I or my child was concerned. Besides, the last thing I wanted was for my pregnancy to make you feel obligated to a woman you evidently didn’t love.”
He leaned in closer to the table. “But I did love you. I told you as much a number of times.”
She leaned closer as well, until their noses almost touched. “But then you showed me that love was a lie.”
He pulled back and Keisha knew he was trying to control his anger. “You kept me from my son for two years because you didn’t believe I loved you, because you believed that I betrayed you. What you’ve done is unforgivable. One day you’re going to find out that the only lie in this whole thing is what you’ve believed for the past three years. You were wrong about me and when you find out the truth, I want you to think long and hard about what you did to me and to Beau.”
Her chin stiffened. “Beau had me.”
“And you were supposed to be both mother and father?”
“A woman does what she has to do when there isn’t a man in the picture. My mom did.”
“But you didn’t give me a chance to be in the picture.” He leaned back in his chair. “Is that what this is about, Keisha? Your father not wanting you, so you assumed I wouldn’t want my child? If that’s the case, I’m holding two strikes against you. One for not trusting me and another for thinking I’m the jerk your father was.”
His words stung and stung hard. She slowly rose to her feet. “I made a mistake coming here tonight.”
He tilted his head back to look up at her. “You’ve made several mistakes, Keisha, but coming here wasn’t one of them. I am confident that one day you will realize you were wrong about me and wrong for keeping me away from my son.” He paused. “But be forewarned, Beau and I won’t be separated again.”
She suddenly felt uneasy. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. If you try keeping my child from me again I will take you to court and fight you for custody. Full custody.”
She gasped. “You would take my child from me?”
“Didn’t you take him from me? You kept me from the pregnancy, from being there when he was born, from watching him take his first steps and from hearing him say his first words. You denied me my right to all those things, Keisha, so yes, I would take him from you, without blinking an eye. I have the means to do it. Two can play your games.”
She released a frustrated breath. “Fighting between us isn’t the answer, Canyon.”
“Didn’t say it was. But now you know where I stand.” He got to his feet. “Detective Render called while you were upstairs. He’ll be coming by tomorrow around noon to talk to you.” He paused. “And Pam called.”
She knew Pam was Dillon’s wife. “And?”
“We’re invited to breakfast at nine.”
“I don’t think—”
“At the moment, I really don’t care what you think. It’s time my family met my son.”
She lifted her chin. “I’ll go, but I won’t pretend.”
His gaze turned to stone but his tone was dangerously calm when he said, “Pretend what? We’re in love? That we’re a family? That you don’t hate my guts for thinking I betrayed you, to the point where you kept my son from me for two years? No, Keisha, the last thing I want you to do is pretend you feel anything for me, because I sure as hell won’t be pretending I feel anything for you.”
Keisha swallowed hard as her heart pounded in her chest. In other words, even his family would know how much he despised her. “Fine,” she said in a shaky breath. “It’s late, and I want to go to bed, so if you’ll please grab those things out of the car I’d appreciate it.”
She hadn’t wanted to pack any of her things to bring with her. Her skin crawled every time she imagined anyone touching her belongings before tossing them out of the drawers and closets. Canyon had made a pit stop at a Target where she’d rushed in to grab some toiletries and an outfit for tomorrow and something to sleep in. Luckily, she kept extra clothes for Beau in a bag in her car’s trunk in case of emergencies.
She would go shopping for him tomorrow before leaving for the hotel. And there was no doubt in her mind that after she talked to Detective Render she would check into a hotel.
There was no way she could stay here with Canyon another night.
* * *
An hour or so later Canyon went up to bed but he couldn’t sleep. Anger kept him awake. It was fueling his mind and riling him to a degree that he’d never been before. He felt enraged. Infuriated. How dare Keisha deny him so much? Her love. His son. Her faith and trust. And all because she believed another woman’s lie.
He eased out of bed and tried to put a cap on his anger. He couldn’t. It was too deep. Too strong. And, to his way of thinking, too justified. He knew there was only one thing that could ease his anger: gazing through his telescope.
Because of his fascination with the stars, his cousin Ian, of the Atlanta Westmorelands, had given him this beauty after discovering Canyon’s captivation with the galaxy. Like him, Ian was into stars. Canyon shook his head, thinking that was truly an understatement where his cousin was concerned. Ian was not just into stars, but the entire galaxy. He graduated from Yale with a degree in physics and had worked for NASA, as well as for a research firm, and had become the captain of his own ship, all before his thirty-third birthday. Now Ian owned the Rolling Cascade, a beauty of a casino in Lake Tahoe.
Canyon looked through the telescope, searching for one star in particular. He had first seen it at the age of ten and named it Flash. Now, twenty-two years later, Flash still had a soothing effect on him, and he really needed to see Flash tonight. It took him a full half hour before he found it and relief flooded through him as he took in the beauty of the universe.
Minutes later, he was about to get back in bed when his cell phone rang. He glanced over at the clock and saw it was almost one in the morning. “Hello?”
“I was calling to see if everything is okay.”
Canyon settled in bed with his back against the headboard. When his parents, aunt and uncle had died, Dillon had become guardian to everyone under eighteen. And those over eighteen had still looked to him for guidance and leadership in keeping the family together. Canyon couldn’t help but recall that the twins, Adrian and Aiden, as well as Bane and Bailey, hadn’t made things easy when they’d gone through those terrible teen years.
But Dillon was still the fearless leader. He was someone they could go to for advice, knowing that with his level head he would give it to them straight. He had an uncanny sense of when one of them was troubled about anything. So, in a way, this phone call wasn’t a surprise.
“Yes, Dillon. Everything is okay.” He paused a moment and then added, “At least for now. But seeing how Keisha and I feel about each other tomorrow is another story.”
“And just how do the two of you feel about each other, Canyon?”
Canyon released a deep sigh. “She hates me, and I hate her.”
“Hate is a strong word, Can. Besides, you’re not capable of hating anyone. It’s not in your makeup. You might not like a person but you could never truly hate anyone.”
Canyon frowned. It annoyed him that his oldest brother seemed to know him better than he knew himself. “Okay, I don’t hate her. But I don’t like her.”
“No, because you love her.”
Canyon rolled his eyes. “I used to love her. She destroyed that love.”
“By doing what?”
“Dammit, Dil, I have a son. A son I didn’t know about because she kept him from me. Even after she returned to Denver and I approached her all those times...I gave her the opportunity to tell me, and she didn’t. Beau is a little over two and was born just shy of eight months after Keisha left town.
“What pisses me off more than anything is that not once did she pick up a phone, send an email, find me online or send a letter to let me know about him. And to top it off she feels she was justified because I screwed around on her. She actually still believes that. And because she believes it, she feels I had no rights where he’s concerned. I missed out on the first two years of his life.”
Canyon paused and then asked, “Can you imagine missing out on the first two years of Denver’s life?”
There was silence on the other end before Dillon said, “No, I can’t.”
Canyon was certain that his brother knew how he felt. But he also knew Dillon Westmoreland was, and would always be, the voice of reason—even when no one wanted him to be.
“But look at another side of things,” Dillon said.
“What other side?”
“What if she’d decided not to carry your child to term?”
Canyon closed his eyes at the thought of Keisha choosing that alternative. “Then I would hate her for sure.”
“So, in other words, she’s dammed if she does and damned if she doesn’t.”
“Don’t try to defend what she did, Dil,” Canyon said. His annoyance was turning to anger again, anger he’d gotten under control just moments ago.
“Not defending her, Canyon. Just giving you something to think about. Keisha thought you were unfaithful. I’m sure you’d even admit things looked pretty bad. The woman was naked in bed and you were coming out of the shower practically naked. That woman played the two of you.”
“Yes, but Keisha should have believed me.”
“I’m wondering,” Dillon said, as if he’d given what he was about to say some serious thought.
“Wondering what?”
“If you had come home from a trip and found a naked man in your bed, with Keisha barely wrapped in a towel, what would you think?” Then, without missing a beat, Dillon said, “Looking forward to seeing you and your family at breakfast in the morning. Good night.”
His family.
“Good night, Dil.” After Canyon clicked off the line, he rubbed a hand down his face. Now he would spend the night thinking about what Dillon had said.