Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1 (30 page)

He guffawed. “Little sister, I’m not here to give you the time. I’m here to—”

Adam rolled over, drawing Travis and Olivia’s attention.

She glared toward him then nodded her head toward the sleeping child. “Quiet, Travis. Don’t wake up Adam,” she whispered.

He gestured for Olivia to follow him out into the gym. She did and then walked past him into the main equipment area.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

Travis followed so closely she imagined she could feel him breathing down her neck. “Well, I don’t want to talk to you, so there. Get out. Wait. How did you get in here? I’m sure I locked the doors.”

“Mark passed me a spare key.”

She kicked the edge of a mat. “I’m going to fire him.”

“Too late. He and Nancy are your partners now. Besides, they’re worried about you. Hell, we’re all worried about you.”

“I’m fine. If that’s all, I’ll let you out. Oh, and give me that key.”

“No, that’s not all.” Travis grabbed her shoulders and whipped her around to face him. “This isn’t healthy. You’re not eating. You never go home. You’re keeping my nephew up here too late at night. What the hell are you thinking?”

What she wanted to say was
if I go home, I see Mitch everywhere. If I get in my bed, I’ll feel him beside me. If I take a deep breath in my house, I’ll smell him. If I fall asleep, I dream about him.

What she said was, “Nothing’s wrong. Now go mind your own business.” She jerked from his grasp and stomped into the restaurant area of Jim’s Gym to check the lock on the door. But she never got that far.

Travis wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back tight against his chest. “Oh, kitten. I know you’re hurting.”

He hadn’t called her kitten since she was a child. The nickname drove a stake into her resistance. Her shoulders slumped and the tears flowed down her cheeks, dripping off her jaw.

“I loved him. I trusted him and…” She gulped, swallowing her tears. “How do I live without him? It hurts, Travis. It hurts so bad. What should I do?”

Travis pushed her away enough to turn her to face him. “You live. Every day you get out of bed, put one foot in front of the other and keep moving until it’s time to go to sleep so you can get up and do it again another day.” He kissed her forehead. “No one knows better than I do what it means to lose a loved one.”

She sniffed. Of course Travis knew. Had he not lost his wife to breast cancer when she’d been only twenty-six?

“Don’t you realize that I’ve had to face the fact that I’ll never find another love like the one I had with Susan?” He whirled, took a few paces away then turned back. “Do you have any idea what I would do to have her back? Anything. I’d do anything. But here’s the difference between Mitch and Susan.” He stepped close enough that Olivia had to tip her head back to look into his face. “Susan’s dead. Mitch isn’t.”

She wrapped her arms around her big brother’s waist. “He might as well be.”

Travis kissed the top of her head. “It’s never too late when there’s love. Remember that.” Then he turned her toward her office and pushed. “Go get your son and let’s get out of here. It’s late. And Olivia?”

She looked at him.

“Don’t be a brat when Mitch calls.” When she arched an eyebrow, he added, “Give him time. He’ll call you. Trust me.”

Following her big brother’s advice, she got up every morning, went to work, fed her son, worked with her clients, put one foot in front of the other and lived. Her ankle and knee healed. Her heart didn’t. It ached, but she only allowed herself the luxury of tears late at night, long after Adam had gone to sleep.

Travis had been right and wrong about Mitch. He did call every day, but to talk to Adam, never to her. The day after she and Adam had arrived home, a cell phone had arrived for Adam. It was his link to Mitch. Adam was very protective of his phone, letting no one touch it but him. As much as Olivia protested that Adam was much too young, her family finally convinced her that Adam needed this connection to Mitch as much as Mitch needed the connection to Adam. Mitch had programmed in the phone numbers for his cell phone and the ranch. Adam knew how to call Mitch and how to call Magda. He told everyone that Magda was his girlfriend.

At work, noise from the ongoing construction kept her head throbbing. Mark had bought the buildings on either side of Jim’s Gym. A friend of his was putting in a taekwondo studio on the left and Nancy had finally decided to make use of her physical therapy degree and opened up the other area for sports injuries, physical therapy and massages.

Over the summer, revenue had shot up. New clients were streaming through the door. Olivia should have been ecstatic. On the outside she was all smiles and laughs. She kept up a good front for her son, her business partners and her family.

Inside, she was dead.

The August heat wreaked havoc on their air conditioning bills. Olivia muttered a couple of creative suggestions about what the electric company executives could kiss of hers as she wrote the check. She ripped the check from the book and stuffed it into an envelope, then picked up the next bill. Water and sewer. Not as bad as—

“Olivia?”

Nancy’s voice cut through Olivia’s concentration. She glanced up. “What’s up?”

“There’s someone here to see you.”

Nancy’s voice was…strange. Sort of giggly.

Olivia bent her head in an attempt to see around Nancy’s body in the doorway. “Um, okay. Do I need to come out there? Is this person coming in here?”

Nancy shook her head. “You need to come with me, I guess.”

Olivia stood. “You guess? Nancy, what’s going on?”

Nancy shrugged and walked toward the rear entrance of the gym. “He said for you to meet him out here.”

Olivia sighed. “Meet who? What’s going on?”

Nancy held the back door open and Olivia went through. Drake stood grinning at her, his arms spread wide for a hug.

“Drake.” Olivia flew into his arms. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you.” She leaned back until she could look into his eyes. “I haven’t heard from you in three months. I am so sorry, Drake. You deserve better than the way I treated you.”

“Don’t be sorry. You did us both a huge favor. I’ve met someone. She’s incredible. Awesome. Beautiful. Perfect. And I have you to thank.”

“Me? How? Who?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to jinx it, so I’m not going to say. I just came by to thank you.” He kissed her. She could have been kissing one of her brothers for all the effect it had on her. “I’ve got to run. But can I give you one piece of advice before I go?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t be bitchy when Mitch calls, and he will call. I’m sure of it.” He kissed her again. “Talk to Mitch.”

“But—”

“Trust me. I love you, kitten.”

She smiled at the use of her brothers’ pet name for her. It told her everything about Drake’s feelings.

“Love you too.”

On Saturday, Nancy took Adam for the day, insisting that Olivia stay away from work for the day and get some rest. As much as Olivia would have loved to argue the point, she’d not been sleeping well for the past month and was exhausted.

At ten in the morning, she awoke to the chimes of her doorbell. Struggling off the couch where she’d fallen asleep, she staggered to the door and flung it open.

A teenage boy stood there holding a stunning floral arrangement of red roses, pink lilies, purple iris, purple aster and cymbidium orchids. “Ms. Gentry?”

“Yes?”

The boy thrust the bouquet toward her. “These are for you.”

After taking the vase, she dipped her nose among the flowers and sniffed. Incredible scents filled her nose. “Thank you. Wait and I’ll get you a tip.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Thanks, but the tip was included. Have a nice day.”

“Thanks.” She shut the door and buried her nose again in the velvety petals of the roses. The aroma immediately carried her back to Grayson Mansion and the balcony off Mitch’s room. She looked for a note or a card but found neither. After putting additional water in the vase, she set it on the fireplace mantle where she could enjoy looking at the blooms.

At eleven, her doorbell rang again. When she answered, it was a different floral delivery service. This time, the arrangement was two-dozen lavender roses with a dozen stems of white spray roses. As before, no tip needed. No card included.

At noon, three dozen red tulips were delivered. No card.

At one, an enormous bouquet of pink roses, pink gerbera daisies, pink lilies and pink spray roses arrived. No card.

At two, a purple hyacinth plant appeared at her door. As before, no card.

At two-fifty-five, she began to wonder what three p.m. would bring.

At three-fifteen, when nothing arrived, her spirits deflated, but then she felt quite silly to be disappointed. Hadn’t she received four arrangements already? How greedy.

At three-thirty, her doorbell rang. A smile tickled her mouth. Better late than never. She opened the door, ready to see another unfamiliar floral delivery person. Instead, Mitch stood on her porch. He thrust a mammoth vase crammed full of dozens of red roses toward her.

“Hi.”

Olivia took the flowers. “Hi.”

“Can I come in?”

Olivia stepped back and Mitch stepped in.

“I’m assuming the rest are from you too,” Olivia said. “I don’t have that many admirers.”

Mitch smiled, but that didn’t relax the tension in his face. “Can we take a drive?”

“Look, Mitch. I love all the flowers, but—”

“Hear me out, Olivia. Give me that much.”

“Why should I? You were planning to take my son away from me.”

“No. I’m…” He sighed. “I’m not trying to take Adam away from you. Take a drive with me. I have something I want to show you.”

When she hesitated, he added, “Please.”

She set the roses on the entry hall table. “Okay, but this’d better be good.”

They drove about seventy miles outside the city limits. The drive was quiet, both seemingly afraid of speaking and mucking up the tentative peace. Mitch turned onto a paved driveway and under an archway. Olivia looked around at the fields of green grass and imagined what a herd of prime cattle would look like grazing in all the tall grass stalks. Mitch followed the circle drive to the front door of a two-story white columned manor.

“Whose place is this?” she asked.

“C’mon.” Mitch stepped from his truck and walked around to her door. Opening it, he extended a hand to help her out of the truck.

Olivia looked around, saw no one. She took his hand and stepped on the pavement. She might as well have grabbed a live wire. She extended her fingers to release his hand but he flexed his tighter, maintaining their connection.

“Gorgeous house.” Her voice quivered. She hated showing any weakness. He might have said he wasn’t trying to take Adam away, and even though her lawyer had received nothing from Mitch’s attorney, she wasn’t ready yet to trust him. She’d done that before and look how that had turned out.

Mitch nodded. He led her up the steps onto a sweeping, wraparound porch. He opened the front door and walked in as though they were expected. Olivia hesitated at the door.

“Mitch. I don’t understand. Whose house is this?”

She followed him down a wide foyer into a sparsely furnished living room. Water flowed down one wall into a shallow trough where it was collected and returned to the top of the wall to fall again. Olivia had always loved the sound of running water. Had Mitch remembered that, or was the fountain-wall just a happy coincidence?

While the house obviously had electricity—otherwise the fountain wouldn’t be running—candles of all sizes, heights, shapes and colors covered every available surface of end tables, coffee table, fireplace mantel and shelves. When tables and shelves were full, candles had been placed all around the room on the floor. Someone had lit every candle, filling the space with a sweet, floral aroma. Candle flames flickered and danced on the walls and ceiling.

Olivia turned in a full circle, took in every carefully placed item. The room vibrated sexual energy. The attention to detail, to make this scene everything she could have dreamed of, exploded the thick wall she’d constructed around her heart.

“This is…is…incredible. Gorgeous.” She glanced at Mitch. His drawn face suggested something serious. “What’s going on, Mitch?” She pulled her hand from his, suddenly fearful that he’d set the stage to deliver bad news. Her heart beat heavily and she found it difficult to breathe with the band squeezing her chest.

“Sit down.” He nodded toward the sofa. “I need to…just sit.”

She did as he requested. He didn’t join her, but began to pace.

“I’m not sure where to begin so I’ll start with I’m sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It seems like I say that a lot to you.” He walked a couple of steps, turned and walked back. “First, I had no idea what Joanna was up to. I swear. I never asked her to meet with my lawyer about getting custody of Adam.
Never.
That was her lame-brained idea.” He shook his head. “I had no idea what you were talking about when you left, telling me to have my lawyer contact yours. When my lawyer called a couple of weeks later about needing my signature on papers and mentioned getting the paperwork going on the custody action, I was stunned. After meeting with Joanna and with him, I pieced together that Joanna had it in her head that if she helped me get custody of Adam, I’d need her to help me raise him so I’d marry her again.” He rubbed his eyes. “She was shocked that I didn’t agree that was the perfect solution to get us back together. Where she got the idea that I would ever want to get back with her…”