One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(72)

And Linda? “What did my mom have to do with the rift?”

Ty sniffed, then side-eyed the rest of the conference attendees. “Doesn’t matter anymore. Any of it. You’re the keeper of the Briscoe legacy now and that’s what counts. You do right by our family name and I won’t have to kill you.” Hard to tell how serious that threat was. Knox certainly wouldn’t put it past him.

Ty turned away from the table, thumping Knox hard on the shoulder as he walked toward the door. “Don’t hold the plane for me. I’ll find my own way back to Dulcet.”

*

If Haylie minded that Knox was more quiet than usual on the flight home, she didn’t mention it. She prattled on about all the things she and Shayla had in common and what they’d talked about. Certainly, Knox had noticed after the meeting ended how cozy Haylie and Shayla had looked sitting side by side at Shayla’s desk, discussing some reality TV show called Celebrity Matchmaker. Two peas in a pod.

He’d even gotten a text from Shayla after he and Haylie had departed for the airport.

OMG, how could you have kept H from me all this time? She and I were separated at birth.

Now that he thought about it, they really did have a lot in common. They were both into fashion and celebrity gossip, they both talked a mile a minute and had a generally cheery outlook—and they looked strikingly similar with those strong Briscoe genes in their blood.

It was amazing, all this family that Knox and Shayla—and Wade, if he ever deigned to visit—never really knew about all these years, but that lived only a couple of hours away. Knox was eternally grateful that the board had voted to give Knox a chance to turn the resort around. He didn’t want to contemplate how devastating it would have been had Knox had to tell the family to pack their bags because they were losing everything.

It was after dark when the Cab’d driver dropped him off in front of his home. Emily’s car in his driveway caught his eye. The sight brought a smile to his lips, despite the draining day he’d had. He hadn’t told her the purpose of the day’s meeting, wanting to wait until he had concrete news to share with her, but he loved the idea of coming home to her, of holding her and kissing her and letting the rest of the world fall away.

When he didn’t find her in the house, he started his usual search around the property and found her in the first place he looked. Sitting cross-legged on the dock of the lake, under the floodlights mounted to the roof of the boathouse.

“Picnic for one?”

She smiled up at him as he kissed the crown of her head. “No. This is my version of fishing.”

Knox took another look inside the bowl, then at the bag of chips on the dock next to her, and laughed out loud. “You’re actually chumming with Frito pie, like you said you would.”

“You bet I am. And check this out.”

She lobbed a spoonful of chili into the water, then tossed a handful of Fritos in after it.

Knox snagged a chip from the bag and popped it into his mouth. “Nice touch. I suppose if you’re going to entice fish with Frito Pie, you’ve got to give them the whole experience.”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

Knox lowered to the deck next to her.

The water rippled, and then out of the dark depths, a huge gray carp appeared, swirling just beneath the surface.

Knox looked into its ancient eyes as it opened its mouth and gobbled up a chip. And there it was, the scar on its dorsal fin. “Hello, Phantom.”

“It’s him, isn’t it? Hey, buddy,” Emily said. “You like Fritos?”

As if in response, Phantom sucked another chip into its mouth.

“If you could find a gaffe in the boat house, we could be eating him for dinner,” Emily said. “But I don’t know. That kind of makes me sad. He looks like a survivor.”

So much had changed for Knox since his first day at Briscoe Ranch when Phantom had become his cold-blooded nemesis. Ty had been his nemesis, too. No longer. Knox had purged himself of the need for competition. He no longer had anything to prove, except to himself. And to Emily, if she’d have him.

He reached into the chip bag and pulled out a handful, then sprinkled them into the water. “I agree. He does seem like a survivor. Plus, this guy and I have history. I’m officially taking him off the menu.”

He felt Emily’s eyes on him, searching. Then her fingers stroked his temple and his hair. “Something’s different with you. Something’s wrong. Is it us? Is it because of what happened at my apartment?”

He tore his attention from Phantom to regard her. Her hand still stroked his hair, so he turned his head and kissed her wrist. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s great, actually. Including what happened in your apartment. That was a very good thing.”

“You flew to Dallas today for a meeting. You and Ty.”

“And Haylie. She came, too. She and my sister hit it off.”

“It’s not hard to hit it off with your sister,” Emily said.

“That’s a good point. So, about the meeting today. Don’t share this with anyone yet, including Carina, but you’re looking at the new CEO of Briscoe Ranch.”

Emily’s hand fell. “What?”

For a breathless, wild moment, Knox was seized with fear that Emily wouldn’t support his move because of her loyalty to Ty. But whether she did or not, the act was done, and all he could do now was be honest with her. “The equity firm voted me in today because Ty has decided to retire. And he’ll do so in style, I might add. With a pension that will ensure that he and his wife will never want for anything, especially given the extra revenue he’s going to get by selling me his shares.”