Taking Charge (Lone Star Burn #4)(37)

“Mason and Chelle are heading to New York next, so I’m sure they’ll meet up then,” Sarah answered.

Tony added, “Mason said he has news.”

Sarah’s smile shone. “Maybe they picked a wedding date.”

“As long as they don’t have it here.”

David smiled across at Lucy. “Tony always did like his privacy. If you think he’s bad now, you should have seen him before he met Sarah. At least now he knows the names of his employees.”

Sarah smiled at that. “Lucy, he really was that bad. He’d fire some of the hands, and David would rehire them without Tony even realizing they were the same men. He refused to talk to anyone but David and Melanie. Then I came along.”

Tony bemoaned, “And ruined my plan to die a lonely, miserable bastard.”

David laughed.

Tony shot a quick glare over his shoulder. “Push me, and we’ll see if we can line up some charity riding lessons while you’re here.”

“God, no,” David said with such disgust that it piqued Lucy’s curiosity.

“I thought you liked giving riding lessons,” Lucy said.

The car fell quiet again.

When no one else looked as if they would explain, Sarah made an awkward face and said, “I may have taken advantage of David’s good nature a teeny-tiny bit, but it was for a good cause.”

Lucy looked back and forth between David and Sarah. “Now I’m curious.”

Sarah waved a hand expressively beside her. “Remember that you were engaged to someone at the time.”

Lucy watched David’s expression closely. “What did you do, Sarah?”

“I encouraged women to pay to fly in from all over to meet David. They said they wanted to learn how to ride from him, but really they came to flirt with him. You wouldn’t believe what they were willing to pay simply to meet him. It was steady money for the children’s hospital. I’m glad you two are a couple, but it’ll be tough to find another fund-raising gig like that.”

“No need to; we’re not a couple,” Lucy said curtly and was just as shocked at her own announcement as Sarah looked. What did I think David was doing while I was engaged? Pining for me? She pictured him laughing and meeting different women every week, and just as quickly as desire had rocked through her, jealousy darkened her mood. How gullible can I be? He talks like he fell for me the moment he met me, but it’s obviously an exaggeration. What is it going to take to learn that people lie?

I shouldn’t have come.

I’m slowly patching myself back together, and I’m doing it on my own. Why would I want to hand my fate over to someone else again?

Do I really want to do that to myself? Unlike Ted, I could fall for David. I could believe in him. And then what? If I discover my judgment still sucks and he leaves me, will I be strong enough to pick myself up again?

Or will I shatter into a million pieces?

Is anyone worth that risk?

Lucy glared at David. Why did you have to come into my life now?

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Sarah open her mouth to say something, then shut it and turn to face forward in her seat. Tony kept his thoughts to himself, and although David’s eyebrows rose at Lucy’s declaration, he didn’t argue the point. He looked down at where their hands were still entwined, then up into her eyes again. Lucy was a tangle of emotions—angry, scared, sad. She slid her hand away from his and turned to look out the window of the car.

If they had been alone, she might have apologized. She knew she was sending him mixed signals, and she didn’t want to hurt him, but she also had to protect herself.

Life had taught her some harsh lessons recently, and one of them was that at the end of the day, she was the only one she could depend on.

Leaning on anyone else was a recipe for disappointment.

Lucy glanced back at David. He gave her a sad smile, and she turned away from him again.

I warned him that I’m a mess. If he gives up, it’s probably for the best.



One step forward, two steps back. David gave Lucy the room she seemed to need during the ride to the Double C. He carried her luggage to the bedroom Sarah had made up in the main house. He left his things in the SUV. Things would be different between them soon enough.

David pushed those thoughts out of his head and made his way downstairs. Lucy was in the kitchen talking to Sarah, so he headed outside. There was no reason not to make himself useful while he was there.

Tony was on the porch as if he’d been waiting for him. He nodded for David to walk with him to the barn. “We need to talk.”

David fell into step beside Tony. “Shoot.”

Tony came to a halt just inside the shaded main aisle of the large horse barn. “Once you and Lucy sort yourselves out, are you relocating to Mavis permanently?”

David scanned the area without actually registering much of what he saw. “I don’t honestly know. It’ll depend on how happy Lucy is out there.”

Without looking at David, Tony said gruffly, “Thought you might want to know that Ribblan Ranch will be hitting the market soon. That’s two thousand acres of nice hayfields. When the time comes, you might want to mention that option to Lucy. She might find she likes this area more than where she is.”

“You afraid you’ll miss me?” David joked.