Deep in the Heart (16 page)

Dallas liked to be wined-and-dined. The best restaurants. The finest of everything. It had been abundantly clear from the start that she was enamored with his place in the world, and what that place could offer her.

“
Oh, I was looking on the Internet the other day, and I found a great place over in the Woodlands we’ve got to check out while I’m here. It’s not too big. Four bedrooms, three baths. It’s got a swimming pool, and a garden…”

His life began to coil around his chest, squeezing so tightly, Keith thought he might either pass out or be sick right there. He forced a smile to stave off running. “Really? It sounds… nice.”

“
And, I heard from Hayden & Elliott Thursday. I can start July 1 even if I don’t have my official license yet. They’ll just put me under one of their junior partners until my results come in.”

“
Great.” By now they were standing at the carousel, her still draped on him from shoulder to foot.

“
Have you thought more about what we talked about? You know applying at Devonshire? Daddy said it would be a great first step for you, what with the horse thing and all.”

“
The horse thing,” he said under his breath. Then he brought himself to a stop. “I haven’t really had time.” He scratched the back of his head, which felt very different without his usual headgear. “We’ve been really busy getting the horses ready for Grand Prairie.”

“
Oh.” That stopped her for about two seconds. Then she shook her head back. “Well, have they won anything this year?”

“
We got third in Grand Prairie. Ike’s going to Del Mar…”

The carousel picked that moment to turn on.

Her attention snapped to it. “Oh, good. Maybe we can grab my stuff and go somewhere decent to eat before Mom and Dad get in.” Dallas checked her watch. “What’s close out here?”

The turn in the conversation, coupled with his unbelievable headache, spun the question around in Keith’s head. “Uh, I don’t know really.”

Suitcases started ca-thunking down the silver spiral.

“
Mine are black. Salvatore Ferragamo.”

Like he could tell the difference. It took fifteen bags before she noticed one of hers. He pulled that one off.

“
There are five,” she said, but she was so intent on the others coming off, she didn’t see the skepticism in his face nor the shake of his head. From his vantage point, high maintenance should have been stamped on her business card.

“
Dad. Mom.” Dallas leaned in to give her mom a side-cheek kiss. “How was your flight?”

“
Ugh. Stressful,” her mother, Beatrice, said in frustration. “Next time we are definitely taking the Speaker up on his offer.”

“
What offer is that?” Dallas asked.

“
He’s Texan. We’re Texan. His private jet knows the way with no reprogramming,” Beatrice said, reveling in the attention of the horribleness of having to fly with regular people.

“
It’s nice to see you, Mrs. Henderson,” Keith said, extending his hand. “And you Mr. Henderson. I’m glad you made it safely.”

“
Have we heard anything official from the governor yet?” Mr. Henderson, a white-haired, distinguished but pompous man, asked as he pulled himself up to his full six feet.

“
Uh. Not yet, Sir.” Keith stumbled through the minefield in the man’s eyes. “At least we hadn’t when I left, but that was a couple of hours ago.” He checked his watch for emphasis, but the thought of what happened in four and a half hours made him pull in the stale air around him. Exhaling slowly, he forced those thoughts from his mind. “We’d better get going. Midday traffic can get a little nuts on the weekends.”

“
Patty Ann! Are they here yet?” Vivian yelled from the top of the stairs.

In the hallway leading to the kids’ wing, Maggie’s attention snapped that direction. Isabella was down for a nap. Peter was trying to take one too; however, with all the commotion, him actually sleeping was a long shot.

“
No, Ma’am. I haven’t seen them.”

“
Well, call Keith’s cell phone. Find out where they are.”

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

As stupid as it was, Maggie wondered if something major was keeping them. She had clearly noted on the schedule Patty Ann had issued at noon that Keith and Dallas were due back on the estate by 3:30. It was now sliding toward four.

Maybe they’d had a wreck, or maybe someone’s plane had been delayed or irrevocably detained. Maybe there was emergency legislation pending in the Senate, or maybe Dallas forgot all about the weekend and took off for Barbados.

“
Not to worry,” Patty Ann said as she came up the stairs. “They are at the guesthouse. Ms. Dallas is getting settled in. They will be here at 5:30.”

“
Oh, that’s a relief,” Vivian said with a sigh.

Maybe to her…

“
I always forget how provincially bachelors live,” Dallas said, lounging on the beige-toned sofa. “Just wait. A woman’s touch will make all the difference.”

Keith brought in two glasses of tea from the kitchen. “Lightly sweetened,” he said, handing her the glass.

She took a sip, her gaze staying on him as he sat on the couch next to her. “You know,” she said as she set the glass on the glass-topped coffee table, “I was hoping I’d get more than a little tea once we got here.” With a motion he knew he should remember, she swung herself over closer to him. “We’ve got an hour before we have to be anywhere. You have any idea how we can fill that much time?”

Her kiss, once his most prized goal, was demanding and insistent. She pressed herself into him even as he fought the instinct to back away. With both hands he took her shoulders and pulled her from him. “Hey, tiger. Whoa there. Patty Ann is going to come down here and skin us both alive if we’re late.”

“
Let her. It’s our party. We can be late if we want.” She came at him again, but Keith managed to stop her progress.

“
And your parents won’t be happy if we aren’t there to meet them. Not to mention my parents.” The thought of which stabbed a knife of guilt and fear right into him. However, at the moment he was facing down one situation, and at this point one at a time was all he could manage. “Besides, that will make tonight so much better.”

He smiled slyly at her. “Surely you can wait a few more hours.”

She spun petulantly and crossed her arms. “Well, yeah, but you’d better make this worth it.”

It hurt to smile. “You know it.”

“
Don’t even think about it,” Patty Ann said from behind Maggie as she retied Peter’s shoe in the upstairs hallway. That shoe was forever coming untied, what she would’ve given for his old ones. At least they stayed tied.

“
About what?” Maggie asked, turning and tying simultaneously. She was bent down on the ground, and with Patty Ann behind her there was a distinct possibility of being kicked the rest of the way to the carpet.

“
You. You look like a high school math teacher on her first day of school.”

Maggie’s eyes widened in incomprehension. “I… why?” She looked down at herself as she stood. The turquoise and white striped shirt wasn’t exactly horrible.

Patty Ann walked around her slowly. “No. No. No. This will never do. Do you not know the governor is going to be here along with some other very important people? We can’t have you walking around as if you just stepped out of the Wal-Mart parking lot.”

The jab hurt—even from Patty Ann.

Maggie looked down at her attire once more. “It’s not like I’m the guest of honor. No one’s even going to see me.”

“
You represent this family.” Each word exploded like a bomb. “Never, ever take that for granted. The way you look reflects on their standing in society. It is not acceptable for you to go around looking like the help.”

“
Hello. I am the help.”

“
Pft.” Patty Ann held up her hand. She scrutinized Maggie carefully. “I hate to even ask this, but don’t you have anything better? Anything?”

The small list of clothing slid through her mind. “I have a pink top that’s kind of silk-looking, but except this skirt, I don’t really have anything to go with it.”

Patty Ann considered that. “What size do you wear?”

“
Eight.” The word was at least six syllables long. “Why?”

A moment of consideration and the decision was made. “I’ll be right back.”

The entrances were scripted to perfection. The Ayers first as hosts. The governor and his wife as honored guests. The Hendersons as parents of the bride-to-be. And then, last but not least the happy couple. His father had even sent the limo down the driveway to the guesthouse to get them. It seemed this side of ridiculous for them to actually travel outside the gate to a discreet turnaround and then come back, but when it was in the schedule, questions just got in the way.

“
Oh, look, here they are,” Vivian called to the assembled guests when Keith and Dallas walked arm-in-arm into the lavishly decorated backyard. Applause broke out around them. The backyard looked like a garden had exploded. White and pink flowers were everywhere. Soft candles burned in various places although the hot Texas sun was doing no bowing to its puny counterparts.

As he stepped with Dallas into the sea of faces he hardly recognized, Keith smiled as if this was the only place in the world he’d ever wanted to be. Somehow, he hadn’t seen this part when he’d asked her to marry him. Somehow the thought of flashbulbs and formal greetings hadn’t entered his mind.

“
Son, Keith,” his father said, puffing himself out with pride. “May I introduce you to Governor Keyes.”

“
Governor.” Keith shook the man’s hand like an expert. “Mrs. Keyes. This is Dallas Henderson. My fiancée.” The last word lodged in his throat, but with a push he got it out. “It’s so nice of you to come. We so appreciate it.”

From her post in the corner next to the outside wall, Maggie watched him. He was hard not to watch. Smoke-colored tailored pants. White shirt casually buttoned. He looked the part of the handsome billionaire heir. The problem was he didn’t look at all like Keith.

Dallas on the other hand looked like she belonged nowhere else. Something in Maggie had hoped that Dallas wasn’t all that pretty because at least then, Keith’s assessment that she was nice would’ve been balanced by the fact that she wasn’t also beautiful. Well, that worked. No, Dallas wasn’t pretty. She was gorgeous.

Her dress, a white number that plunged deep and rose high, accentuated a figure that said it was made for that kind of dress. The light golden hair was pulled to the side in a loose ponytail that hung over her left shoulder, wisps of hair sliding off both sides. Worse, her necklace and earrings alone had to cost more than Maggie would make in her lifetime. Yes, Dallas Henderson was beautiful, and the fact that she was nice too completely torpedoed any outlandish hopes Maggie had managed to put together about her chances with Keith. Even though her stomach twisted in knots at the sight, she watched them, mingling and sipping champagne, his arm around Dallas as if it belonged nowhere else.

Her attention returned to Peter and his sister, making sure they didn’t go far. That wasn’t too much of a problem because Peter seemed to be permanently attached to the silk pants Patty Ann had loaned her. They felt great, but they probably cost more than all her other purchases put altogether. Worse, it wasn’t totally clear where they had come from. “Guard them with your life” was not what you wanted to hear when you’d be on the front lines with two children.

So, with no better options, Maggie resorted to sitting on the little bench that had been added along with who-knew-how-many-other things to the backyard. It was like a completely different place. They’d even moved the playhouse, which must have taken more than a little effort. She sighed as she looked around. Here she was, in the midst of the Texas elite, and even though she was physically here, she was for all intents and purposes completely invisible.

It hadn’t taken Keith more than five minutes to locate Maggie. From the first second he caught sight of her over in the corner by the miniature yellow rose covered trellis, he’d wanted nothing more than to find a way to break away from the stuffed-shirts and thank her for her kindness the night before. However, he knew that wouldn’t be possible tonight as much as he wanted it to be. Too many people were watching his every move. Besides, tonight was about showing off—for his father and Dallas, and Dallas’s family. He felt like a trophy on a shelf, having been taken down for others to ooh and aah over. Still, his gaze betrayed him every so often and drifted where the rest of him wanted so badly to go.

“
Well, Dallas, I’m glad to see Keith found you back,” Ike said with a big Texas grin as he ambled up to the happy couple.

“
Ike, I’m so glad you could come.” She put her arms around him and leaned forward. Keith wondered how her dress stayed on. The top of it was held together with a couple of gold chains which plunged down the backless part of the dress to the waistline. When she pulled back, Keith held out his hand.

“
Ike.”

“
Keith.” Warnings and an ultra-critical evaluation of the situation flowed through Ike’s eyes and smile right into Keith, pulling guilt out in fistfuls. Then with a real smile at Dallas, Ike raised his glass. “Congratulations, you two. I hope you will be very happy together.”