Taking Charge (Lone Star Burn #4)(68)

I was wrong about Ted.

Wrong about David.

Oh God, I can’t believe how wrong I was about David. I thought he loved me. I thought he was a man I could give my heart to.

I told myself the ranch was all that mattered, but I don’t care about the ranch. If giving it to David would make him love me, I’d sign it over to him in a heartbeat.

What does that say about me?

Lucy had barely slept since she’d arrived in Fort Mavis. She kept going over her relationship with David, looking for a hint that he was the kind of man who would sleep with her just to get her land. She couldn’t think of one single time when he’d been anything but kind, generous, or loving with her. It didn’t make sense.

How could he let me walk away like that?

Why not fight for what we have?

If he cared about me at all, wouldn’t he have said something when I told him to find another place to train his horses?

He hasn’t called to see if I’m okay.

Not a text.

Nothing.

Because he doesn’t love me.

What will it take for me to understand that? When will my stupid heart stop going wild every time the phone rings? It’s not going to be David.

I need to stop running for the door every time the doorbell rings.

He’s not coming.



A week had passed. One of the hardest in David’s life. There hadn’t been any response from York, and David was beginning to question if he’d been right to send Lucy away.

He was unloading a shipment of hay, glad to lose himself in the physical distraction of the task, when Wyatt walked out of the barn with Tony. Wyatt joked, “There’s enough men here willing to unload the hay, but David likes to show off those muscles. Ain’t no women around to impress, though, David, so you might as well put that shirt back on.”

Tony shook his head and looked skyward. “David, Wyatt talks more than you do. I didn’t think that was humanly possible.”

Despite the sarcasm, Wyatt and Tony had hit it off. David jumped down from the back of the trailer and picked up his shirt, using it to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “I heard from Charles. He said he knows someone who knows Ted’s father. He didn’t explain how that would help, but he said he’d get back to me about the situation here.”

Wyatt hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Any word from Lucy?”

Tony answered, “Sarah says they’re both fine.”

Wyatt looked at David. “You call her yet?”

David slumped his shoulders. “Don’t know what I’d say at this point. Unless it’s the truth.”

Wyatt added, “I enjoyed meeting your friend Mason. Nice of him to drop in considering what a busy man he must be. He’s a character, ain’t he?”

“He sure is,” David said.

Wyatt cackled. “His suggestion for what to do when she finds out was a hoot.”

David snapped, “I’m glad this situation is amusing to you.”

Wyatt shook his head sadly. “Son, you’ve got to keep your sense of humor. This will all work out, and one day we can sit around and laugh about it. I do think you need a plan, though. She will find out, and when she does, I hope you’ve thought of a really good way of apologizing.”

Tony looked at Wyatt. “Saving her life won’t be enough?”

Wyatt shot them both a toothy grin. “Shoot, you’re talking about women here. The workings of their minds are complicated, but certain rules apply in all situations. You lie, you apologize. You lie big, you apologize big. For that, you need a plan. You convinced her best friend to lie to her. Flowers won’t cover this.”

Tony made a distasteful face. “Mason said you should think about something Lucy really wants and get it for her. I hate that I can hear his voice in my head.”

David chuckled at that. Mason’s successful career in television wasn’t a surprise. He had a memorable presence. “There’s nothing Lucy wants that I know of. Except for her brother to answer her calls. It’s not like I could do anything about that.” David stopped as he considered what he’d said. “Unless you’d know how to find him, Wyatt.”

“I might,” Wyatt said. “What would you say to him if I did?”

David shrugged his shirt back on. “I’d tell him it doesn’t matter what happened between him and Lucy in the past. She needs him now. He could come back, help make sure York doesn’t win this fight, and show Lucy he really does care about her.”

Tony added, “I’d threaten to kick his ass all the way home, but your way might work, too.”

Wyatt cackled again. “David, I knew you’d be good for this town. I gotta say, I like your choice in friends.”





Chapter Twenty-Two


One week became two, and Lucy started to worry about things she could no longer keep to herself. She and Sarah were on their way back from a short walk after dinner when she asked, “Did you and Tony have a fight before he left?”

Sarah stopped to pick a wildflower. She twirled it between her fingers. “Of course not.”

“Is he coming back? You can tell me if your marriage is in trouble. I won’t tell anyone.”

“It’s not.”

“Then where is he, Sarah? And don’t tell me again that he’s training someone’s horse in Sanderson. You look miserable when you say it and, honestly, I don’t believe you.” There. I may be an awful person, but I said what I think.