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After talking with Tyler, Annie headed back to the small office she kept in the barn on her family’s ranch. She needed to catch up the books for the month. She’d spent so much time the last few weeks working with a few of her clients that she’d gotten behind on the ones for the ranch.
Once the deal went through and the business grew much bigger, she might need to reconsider how many other clients she had. There were only so many hours in the day.
Plus, she really did want to work with the horses. At least sometimes. She loved horses, and she was sad that she rarely had a chance to work with them. Once the new horse farm was really going, there would be lots of births and therefore lots of foals. Watching the newborns always made her feel like anything was possible. One moment, there were newly born, hardly able to stand. The next thing she knew, they were running around the exercise pen like they’d done it for years.
Life was amazing.
A light knock on the doorframe caught her attention, and she looked up to see Blair standing in the doorway. In her hands was a basket overflowing with flowers, mostly pink roses.
“Hi, Blair. What’s with the flowers?” Annie asked.
Blair set the basket on Annie’s desk and grinned. “They are for you, young lady.”
No one ever sent Annie flowers, and now she’d received them twice in less than a month. Even when Paul was alive, she’d never received flowers.
“I guess I don’t have to ask how things are going with Tyler.” Blair laughed softly, her fingers touching the petals of one of the many roses in the arrangement.
Stunned, Annie just stared at the flowers. “I can’t believe he sent flowers again.”
“Again?”
Annie nodded. “He sent some a few days ago. That’s when he sent Courtney her cape.”
Blair walked around and sat with difficulty in the chair facing Annie’s desk. She was eight months pregnant with her first baby, a boy, and Annie remembered how awkward sitting could be during that time.
“Why did you bring the flowers? You should be home resting,” Annie said.
“I offered to bring them. I got a bouquet today, and since the kid from the florist was crazy busy, I said I’d drop yours off.”
“They let you do that?”
Blair shrugged. “Another perk of living in a small town. I called and got an okay first. When I worked at the bank, I’d help Brian and Kelly sometimes. They know I’m not going to abscond with their flowers. Plus, with Ethan sending me flowers so often, I’ve become their best customer.”
“Sounds like a great husband,” Annie teased.
Blair’s tone was almost blissful as she said, “He really is.”
Annie was happy her friend had found someone who made her so happy. Unlike most of her friends, Blair was and had always been the realistic one.
Blair picked the note out of the holder and handed it to her. “I think Tyler is really stuck on you.”
“I’m not sure. Things are confusing between us. Mostly, we just have a business relationship,” Annie told Blair, wondering why Tyler would send her flowers again. All she had done was agree to believe him this morning.
Didn’t seem like an occasion that deserved flowers.
“All these pretty pink roses tell a different story,” Blair said. “He may think your relationship is about more than business.”
Maybe it was. She honestly wasn’t sure. But she knew a simple agreement to believe his promise didn’t deserve a gesture this extravagant.
“So what does Tyler have to say?” Blair asked, leaning forward.
Annie read the card and then set it on her desk. “He’s just happy about the business.”
With effort, Blair stood, picked up the card, and said, “Thanks for believing.” Frowning, she looked at Annie. “What does that mean?”
Deciding to level with her friend, she said, “He promised me he wouldn’t leave again, and I agreed to believe him.”
Blair smiled. “See? You do still have feelings for him.”
Stunned, Annie stared at her. “Just because I believe he means to stay doesn’t mean I have feelings for him.”
“Sure it does. Think about it. Based on your past, why else would you believe him if you didn’t still care,” Blair pointed out. “You love him.”
Annie couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open. “No, I don’t. I am not in love with Tyler Nelson. Don’t even say that.”
With a shrug, Blair wandered toward the door. “Who are you trying to convince—me or you?”
With a small wave, Blair left, leaving a befuddled Annie behind. Her friend was wrong. She didn’t have feelings for Tyler. Just because she no longer hated him and just because she was willing to believe his promise didn’t mean she was in love. Okay, yes, they’d kissed several times. And yes, she was still attracted to him.
But that didn’t mean she was in love.
More than likely, Blair was only saying that because she was happily married, and like many happily married people, she thought everyone needed to fall in love. But she was wrong.
Annie studied her flowers. She really shouldn’t have been surprised that Tyler had done this. The flowers didn’t mean anything, at least not in the romantic sense. A few kisses didn’t mean anything.
Okay, so they were great kisses, but still, they didn’t mean she was in love with him.
Still, in some strange way, his gesture tugged on long-buried emotions. What was it about Tyler that threw her into a tailspin? Probably it was the mesmerizing effect he had on her. When he looked at her with that heated gaze of his, she felt like a teenager again. In school, he’d been the best-looking boy she’d ever seen, even if he was too self-assured for his own good. Time had turned him into the best-looking man she’d ever seen.
And he was still as self-assured as ever.
Her feelings for Tyler were so confusing. She hadn’t expected to ever feel this way again about a man, especially Tyler. He’d been wrong for her all those years ago, and he was wrong for her now. Paul had been so steady, so practical. Falling in love with him felt gradual, the kind of love that would last a lifetime. Had Paul lived, she was certain they would have continued to enjoy the peaceful, comfortable love they’d always known. They’d been so much alike, they seldom differed in their opinions.
Annie ran her fingers through her short hair in aggravation. Now why couldn’t Tyler be like that? She wouldn’t mind him joining the business if he could be reasonable. But she knew him. He loved playing the maverick, and he wouldn’t be happy until he’d turned everything in the business upside down.
Of that she was certain. She also was certain he was turning her emotions upside down. She no longer knew what to think about him.
**
“Courtney’s cranky today,” Ginny Adams, the director of Tiny Tots Day Care, said as soon as Annie entered. “She doesn’t seem sick, just unhappy.”
Ginny’s announcement didn’t surprise Annie. Nothing today had gone right. Why shouldn’t Courtney be in a bad mood? And a two-year-old in a bad mood was like an earthquake during a hurricane. Courtney already became frustrated by the things she couldn’t do yet, and she’d reached the age where testing limits was her full-time job.
Still, for the most part, Courtney was a good-natured child. She might get upset for a while, but then she’d quickly get over it.
Annie could hear a child fussing, and she knew without asking that it was Courtney. When angered, her daughter would tell the people around her to “tak noff, ud,” which was her way of imitating one of her uncle’s favorite phrases that he used when he drove: “Back off, bud.” At the moment, Annie could hear Courtney telling everyone to “tak noff,” which didn’t bode well.
“Maybe she’ll settle down once I get her home and read her some of her favorite books. Sometimes that’s all it takes,” Annie said.
Ginny made a harrumphing noise that left Annie in no doubt as to what the other woman thought her chances were for a good night. But the most wonderful thing about a two-year-old was how quickly her moods could change. All Annie needed to do was find something to bring Courtney around.
When she entered Courtney’s classroom, Annie quickly realized that “cranky” had been a nice description. Her precious daughter had red eyes from crying, and her bottom lip stuck out in defiance.
“Hi, Pea Pod,” Annie said. She opened her arms and scooped her daughter up when the toddler ran to her. “What’s wrong?”
Courtney launched into an explanation in which only every third or fourth word was decipherable.
“She’s mad at Billy because he took the stuffed elephant she had,” Courtney’s teacher, Julie, supplied. “After that happened, nothing calmed her down. Not even getting the toy back from Billy helped.”
Annie nodded absently and put her hand on Courtney’s forehead. Her daughter didn’t feel hot, but she still might be sick, just not running a temperature. Annie cuddled the toddler closer, smoothing Courtney’s blond hair.
With a final goodbye, she left the day care center and headed toward her car. Once Courtney was secured in her car seat, Annie climbed behind the wheel and adjusted the special mirror that let her see Courtney in the back seat. On the way home, Annie launched into her off-key rendition of “Old MacDonald,” one of Courtney’s favorite songs. Courtney hesitated at first, but then she finally joined in. At the sound of her daughter’s singing, the tight ball of tension in Annie’s stomach relaxed. Thankfully, Courtney didn’t seem sick. Plus, if Courtney was her normal, smiling self, then Annie would be able to relax tonight.
Boy, she certainly needed to relax. Tomorrow, they would start deciding what went where with the business. Tyler’s barn was much bigger and nicer than the one on her father’s land. He also had plenty of room for offices in his barn, and because his ranch was so big, he had room for storerooms and exercise pens, although he currently didn’t have any set up.
She knew she had to find some way to be around Tyler without feeling the constant pull of attraction that kept distracting her from business. Despite the sizzling kiss they’d shared in her living room the other night, her only connection to Tyler now was business. She’d learned more than a few things over the years about separating one’s personal feelings from one’s business dealings. Now she just had to use that knowledge to handle Tyler.
Her new resolve was put to the test when she swung her car into her driveway and had to hit the brakes to avoid rear-ending Tyler’s black truck. She parked next to him. Then, muttering, she turned off her car and shoved open her door. Finding a way to deal with Tyler would be a lot easier if she wasn’t constantly around him. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t seem to stop the pull of attraction she felt each time she saw him.
“Thank you for the flowers. What are you doing here?” she asked him. “I thought we’d settled everything this morning.”
Tyler leaned against the side of his truck, dark glasses covering his eyes.
“You’re welcome for the flowers, and I’m here because I brought some papers for you to review.” He pushed away from his truck and walked down the gravel drive to stop near her. “I drew this up today after you left, and I think it’s important for you to look the papers over before your father, brother, and lawyer see them. I want to know what you think.” Tyler leaned over and waved at Courtney in the back seat. “Why don’t I get her, and we can go over the papers in the house?”
His request surprised her, but she nodded. “Sure. Grab Courtney while I unlock the front door.”
The toddler’s bad mood was definitely gone because she was thrilled to see Man Man. She let out a squeal as soon as she saw Tyler.
Watching them, Annie couldn’t resist smiling at the picture she they made. Tyler sat in the back seat next to Courtney, his attention focused on unlocking the belt on the car seat. Courtney, on the other hand, apparently found Tyler’s hair fascinating because she was pulling up small handfuls, making his short brown hair form little tufts around his head. Rather than getting angry, Tyler was laughing along with Courtney. After a few seconds, he unlocked the seat and freed Courtney.
Annie watched them get out of the car and head toward the front door—the tall, handsome man with her small daughter walking next to him. They made a cute pair, especially since Tyler hadn’t bothered to smooth his hair in place yet.
“Nice look,” she said when he stood next to her on the porch.
Tyler grinned. “Do you think so? I told her she could play with my hair as long as she didn’t pull it. It seemed like the best solution at the time.”
Annie unlocked the front door, then moved aside so Tyler and Courtney could enter the house. She couldn’t help marveling at how easily he’d turned Courtney into a sweetheart again. One look at him, and Courtney had been charmed.
“So what are these papers you need me to review?” Annie asked, forcing herself to pay attention to the reason for Tyler’s visit.
Tyler set Courtney down in the playpen. “I was thinking about what you said today, and I realized how important it is that you trust me.”
Annie realized why she’d been so unsure. “I know it’s taken me a long time to agree to this deal. I needed time to adjust. But I do trust you because you made a promise to me. I believe you will honor it.”
“I did promise you, and I mean it. I understand it will take time before you can truly trust me again, and I’m asking you to give me that time. Give me a few weeks, and if I haven’t earned your trust and you think things aren’t working, I’ll sell my share to you and Brett . . . for much less than I paid. You two can then go back to running the business the way you always have.”
Stunned, Annie sank slowly into the blue easy chair facing him. His suggestion was more than fair. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing good can happen to the business as long as you are worried about my commitment.” He leaned forward, the expression in his brown eyes deadly serious. “In return, I want you to let me have the time I need to learn everything I can.”
Annie studied his face, looking for a sign of insincerity, but she didn’t find any. This deal sounded too good to be true. She would win either way. If Tyler didn’t make a significant positive impact on the business within a few weeks, she could insist he sell his share back to them. Or, at least, that was the way it sounded.
“First, how long is a few weeks?” she asked.
Leaning back, Tyler watched her. “How long do you think is fair?”
He got her with the last word. What was fair? Fair to whom? If he was sincere, then all he wanted was a chance to earn a living in Falling Star, and she couldn’t blame him for wanting to return home. She’d experienced the same desire after Paul had died. She loved Falling Star—the tree-lined streets, the aged buildings with their quiet dignity, and the scented air reminding her of simpler days and easier dreams.
“How about ten weeks,” she said, figuring that gave him time to get acclimated. “And it goes for you and for Brett and me. During that time, we all can see how things work out. If everything is fine, then we’ll keep going. If not, Brett and I will find a way to buy you out.”
Honesty forced her to admit, “But he and I may need some time to pay you back all the money you’ll give to Dad for his share. Neither Brett nor I have that much money lying around.”
“I understand. If that happens, we’ll make it a loan, and the two of you can pay me back a little at a time,” he said.
Annie couldn’t believe how accommodating he was being. “Seriously, why are you doing this?”
He smiled. “Because your trust is that important to me, and because I think things are going to work out.”
“For the sake of my family, I’m willing to believe you,” she said. “But be forewarned—I’ll fight you if you plan on expanding without doing your homework. Too many businesses go under when they take on too much too fast.”
“I’m a quick learner, Annie. And I know enough about running a business to avoid the obvious potholes.”
She wasn’t sure he did, but she didn’t argue the point. She wanted to go over more of the details of this deal, but it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t heard a peep out of Courtney since they’d gotten home.
She glanced at the playpen. Courtney had snagged a crayon and a book off the coffee table near her and was coloring furiously. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a coloring book. Rather, it was the new novel Annie had bought yesterday.
“Oh, Courtney.” Annie knew that to Courtney’s way of thinking, she’d done nothing wrong. After all, the book had been where she could reach it, and despite Annie’s best efforts to find all the crayons and put them out of reach, apparently she’d overlooked this bright-red one.
But since Annie wanted her book back without a fight, she might as well use Tyler as a distraction. “Hey, Pea Pod, want to go talk to Man Man?”
Courtney’s blond head snapped up. “Man Man?”
Annie grinned. “Yes. Man Man.”
Courtney dropped her crayon and raised her arms. Annie picked her up out of the playpen and set her on the ground. Without waiting for her mother, she ran across the room. Annie quickly grabbed her book and groaned when she flipped through and saw that most of the pages had been colored, but with effort, she could probably read the text.
Meanwhile, Courtney was prattling at Tyler and gesturing with her hands, so Annie took the opportunity to go to her own room and put the book on the top shelf of her closet out of harm’s way. She was on her tiptoes sliding the book on the shelf when Tyler spoke from directly over her shoulder, causing her to yelp and almost tumble over.
He and Courtney stood right behind her.
“What are you doing in here?” Annie asked.
Tyler chuckled and reached out to steady her. Even though he only had his hand on her elbow, the contact felt very personal.
He must have felt it too, because for a heartbeat, he just looked at her. She could see from his expression that he felt the same desire she felt. No matter how many times she told herself to resist the attraction she felt for this man, she couldn’t seem to get it to stop.
“You know, you’ve spent most of the past few weeks asking me what I’m doing someplace,” he pointed out with a chuckle. “The grocery store, your house for dinner, now in your bedroom.”
Annie tugged self-consciously on her shirt. The closet in her bedroom was hardly the place where she wanted to have a conversation with Tyler. “Well, I keep asking because you keep turning up in places you’re not supposed to be.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
As her gaze met his, the air between them once again seemed to crackle with awareness. And she knew the gleam in his brown eyes meant trouble. With a self-will she didn’t know she possessed, Annie pushed past him, needing to put some space between them.
The smile on Tyler’s face made Annie wonder how she was going to work with him if every time he came near her the tension level in the room skyrocketed.
“Man Man,” Courtney said loudly, apparently unhappy that Tyler had stopped paying attention to her. “Ink.” She plopped down on the floor to try on some of Annie’s shoes.
“That means she wants something to drink,” Annie explained before he could ask. “I probably should start dinner.” She glanced briefly at him, wondering if he expected her to invite him to stay. But she wasn’t going to. She needed some time to think through what kept happening between them. She also needed to decide how she felt about it.
Tyler shut the door to her closet and then leaned back against the wall. She watched him make a slow perusal of her bedroom, his gaze lingering longer than she liked on her queen-sized bed. She braced herself for some comment, but he made none. Instead, after a moment, his gaze returned to her face.
Annie felt another jolt of awareness and knew she wasn’t imagining it. Whatever had existed between Tyler and her all those years ago still existed. In fact, it seemed much stronger now that they were adults than it had when they’d been a couple of kids necking in Tyler’s car. This was the reason he made her so mad, the reason she’d been avoiding him whenever possible.
Because whether she liked it or not, the bottom line was that she was every bit as attracted to Tyler Nelson now as she’d been when she’d been a naive teenager in love with the school’s most popular boy.
Annie forced herself to glance away, breaking the spell that had settled over the room. “I need to make dinner for Courtney,” she mumbled.
Tyler placed his hand on her arm. “We should . . .”
She looked up at him, willing him to understand that this spark between them wasn’t something she wanted in her life. It wasn’t something she could deal with at this moment.
Tyler must have seen the hesitation in her eyes because he dropped his hand from her arm and stepped away. Wordlessly, Annie picked up the shoes Courtney had dragged out of the closet and put them back. Then taking her daughter’s hand, she headed toward the living room.
“Now what about those papers you need me to read?” she asked, sitting on the sofa and placing Courtney next to her. The little girl immediately squirmed off the couch and went to play with some toys. Left without her handy distraction, Annie looked at Tyler.
For a moment she thought he would push her about what had almost happened in the bedroom, but he didn’t. Instead, he pulled some papers from the pocket of his jacket.
“These papers pertain to the sale. You need to look them over, so you’ll understand exactly how the sale is set up. Take your time. Read them over. Then show them to your brother and father plus an attorney. I want everyone to be happy about this deal.”
Annie nodded. She would take her time, and she and her family would talk to an attorney.
“I’m going to head out,” he said, walking over and giving Courtney a hug goodbye.
Manners then forced Annie to stand and lead the way to the front door. Once there, Annie looked at him, trying to guess what he was thinking. For a second, she felt the same tension she always felt around Tyler. Automatically her gaze dropped to his mouth. It was full and firm, and she remembered too well the feel of it against her own.
Tyler lifted his hand as if he intended to cup her face, and for a moment, Annie wanted him to. She wanted him to kiss her again.
Tyler leaned toward her. “I won’t hurt you,” he said.
Then he left.
Annie slowly closed the door, hoping this was a promise she could trust.
**
Tyler knew there had to be a way to make this work. He’d honestly thought his offer to sell back his part of the business would give Annie all the reassurance she needed. He knew she wasn’t upset about the past anymore. Annie was a fair person, and even though his stupid mistake might have left a bad taste in her mouth, she wouldn’t hold it against him after all these years.
If she wasn’t holding the past against him, then she was holding the future . . . or at least the future she thought might happen.
“What are you doing sitting in the dark?”
Tyler turned and looked at his mother for a second before she turned on the light in the study. He blinked against the sudden brightness.
“I’m thinking,” he said.
Judith walked into the room, her dark-blue floor-length satin robe making her look regal. She sat on the cream sofa facing his chair. “Is this something you can discuss with your mother?”
He smiled. It was nice being home, having someone care if he was worried. He’d spent so many years in a city filled with unknown faces that it felt comforting to be somewhere where he had connections.
“I’m pretty sure Annie’s still not happy that I’m joining the business,” he said.
His mother nodded. “Which you knew would happen.”
“True, but I thought she wouldn’t want me to join because of the past, but that’s not it. She doesn’t want me to change things.”
“Which you will,” Judith said.
“Which I will.” He sighed and rested his head against the back of his chair.
“And that bothers you?”
“Well, I don’t want to upset Annie.”
His mother’s brown eyes narrowed. “And why is that? Why do you care if this upsets Annie?”
Now there was a good question. He thought about it for a moment, floundering for an answer. Finally he gave his mother the only answer he could think of. “Because I like Annie.”
“Like her how?”
He chuckled. “Not the way your tone is implying. I just mean that I like her as a person, so naturally I don’t want to upset her.”
“But this is business.” His mother’s words were clipped and brisk, a fair imitation of the tone his father had always used when he’d discussed business.
“I think you listened to Dad too much,” Tyler said with a chuckle.
Judith folded her hands across her lap, looking every bit as elegant as she had years ago when their house had been filled with corporate officers and politicians. “Your father was an excellent businessman.”
“And everything was business to Dad, wasn’t it?” Tyler didn’t mean his question as an accusation, but when his mother stiffened, he knew she’d taken it as one.
“Henry worked hard for everything he received. When success doesn’t come easily, one tries harder to hang on to it.”
He suddenly knew where this was going. “And success came easily to me, didn’t it, Mom?”
She smiled slightly. “Well, let’s just say that we invested a great deal in silver polish to keep your spoon shiny.”
Tyler laughed. “It’s nice to know you think I was spoiled.”
“Your father and I wanted the best for you.” Her smile slowly faded. “Maybe we didn’t make all the right decisions, but our intentions were good.”
This conversation had taken an unexpected turn, but Tyler had supposed it would have been only a matter of time before they discussed the past. “Do you think I blame you for something?”
“Don’t most children blame their parents for past mistakes?”
“Maybe. But I’m sure once they have their own children, they realize how difficult being a parent is.” He leaned forward and said, “I know you and Dad meant well. I’m grateful for everything you did for me while I was growing up. My life is easier because of you.”
Judith blinked several times, and Tyler knew her eyes had filled with tears. “Now how did we get on such a serious topic?”
Tyler leaned back. “Annie. We got here because of Annie.” He was sorry he’d made his mother cry, but they needed to talk about this since he was now in business with Annie and her family. “Does it bother you that I’ve bought into the Lee business?”
Her mother stared at him. “Of course not. Why would it bother me?” Before Tyler could answer her, she said, “I see. Because of the past. But you’re not the only one who has grown wiser with age. I’ll admit your father and I made some mistakes, and I now know we shouldn’t have interfered in your relationship with Annie.”
Tyler couldn’t stop himself from asking, “So why did you?”
“Because you both were so young.” She sighed. “We wanted you—and Annie—to explore the world and go to college before you made an enormous decision, such as marriage.”
Tyler thought about what she’d said, and she was right about one thing—they’d been very young. “Well, it was a long time ago.”
“Yes, it was. But I want you to know I like Annie a lot, and her family. I think your buying into the business is a terrific idea,” his mother said.
“I just hope Annie eventually thinks so too,” he admitted.
“Dazzle her like you do the juries. You wouldn’t have done as well as you have if you hadn’t learned how to get people to see your viewpoint,” his mother said. “Let’s face it, you’re a good lawyer because you’re good at convincing people to change their minds.”
His mother definitely had a point. He seemed to instinctively know how to read people and figure out what they needed to hear to make them understand his way of thinking.
And it was easy to see what Annie needed—she needed security; she needed consistency. She needed something to believe in.
So he had to show her he was that something.
“Now I know where I got my brains,” Tyler said to his mother with a smile.
Judith stood and headed toward the door. “Not only your brains. I’m also responsible for your good looks.” She waved at him as she walked out the door, leaving her son laughing behind her.