Taming the Texas Tycoon / One Night with the Wealthy Rancher: Taming the Texas Tycoon

“Good,” Lance said.

“I’m sorry about the refinery,” she said, feeling bad because of the way he sounded. “Were there injuries?”

“Four men are at the hospital now.”

“I’ll have Paula send flowers to them and food baskets to their families.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” She felt a little guilty about not going in and taking care of the details herself, but Lance and she both needed to get used to other people working for him because Kate couldn’t continue to be his Girl Friday and be in love with him. That was the path to pain and destruction for her. And she was tired of living for the few brief moments when she and Lance were in the office together.

“Goodbye, Lance,” she said, hanging up the phone. She sat in the car for another minute but the heat was getting to her. Or at least that was what she told herself. She didn’t want to think that the idea of being without Lance was causing her to feel light-headed.

Lance spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening at the main refinery. Darius had arrived late and had agreed to stay and work with the fire investigators. Since he wasn’t an arson investigator per se, all Darius could really do was narrow down the list of suspects and conduct investigations into the backgrounds of those who might have had probable cause to start the fire.

Lance left the refinery and drove back toward Houston deciding that he was ready for a new day. This one had been too…crazy, he thought.

When he’d been a boy, he’d longed for a busy day so he wouldn’t have time to go home or to think about the home he had waiting for him. But that was long ago, he thought. Now he lived alone and liked it that way.

Well, he lived alone for now. Soon he’d be bringing a bride to his mansion in Somerset and he wasn’t sure he was ready to try suburban living with a wife yet. But he and Mitch had agreed he was the one who should marry Lexi.

Damn, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. Tension seemed to take up residence there when things weren’t going well.

His cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID before answering it.

“Hello, Mitch.”

“Hey, big bro. How are things at the refinery?”

“A mess, but I have Darius working with the fire investigators to try to make sense of it. How’s DC?”

Mitch let out a long breath. “It could be worse. I handled most of it with Senator Cavanaugh’s office. Let them know the proactive things that Brody Oil and Gas are doing to minimize damage to the community and the environment. I think that helped to soothe his fears over backing expanding oil production.”

“Did you tell him that with additional refineries we could rotate operations so the loss of this one for a day wouldn’t impact oil prices?” Lance asked.

“Yes, I did. I’m watching the markets as they open in Japan. I think we will see US crude prices jump.”

“I know we will. With the economy being what it is, that’s the last thing we need right now.”

“We can’t control the actions of investors,” Mitch said.

“I am stopping by the hospital on my way home. I think it’d be a good idea for you to call the injured workers—I’ll send you a text with their names when I’m done.”

“All right, that sounds good. Lexi and I are going to fly back to Houston together tomorrow.”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. She called me earlier. Will you let her know that until the mess at the refinery settles down, I can’t talk?”

“Sure thing,” Mitch said.

“Did you come up with any ideas for a gift yet?” Lance asked.

“Not yet. I haven’t been thinking about your love life.”

Lance hadn’t been, either. “This is business, Mitch. Remember, you told me that. We need the Cavanaugh connection. Today proves that.”

Mitch didn’t add anything to that. And Lance had to guess that being a brilliant strategist meant his brother wasn’t surprised that his planning had worked to their advantage.

“I forgot to mention that Kate gave her notice today.”

“She did? Why?”

“She thinks this will be a good time for her transition out of her job with us. She’s not being challenged enough or something like that.”

“Maybe it is time she moved on.”

“I’m trying to convince her to stay,” Lance said.

“Why?”

Lance didn’t know, but there was no way in hell he’d admit it. “She’s part of the Brody Oil and Gas family and we need her.”

“Maybe she wants to be more.”

“Like how?” Lance asked remembering Kate’s comment earlier.

“Think about it,” Mitch said. “I’ve got to run. Don’t forget to send me the names of the injured men.”

“I won’t. Ally got them interviews on the morning shows for tomorrow. She’s going to talk to the families and prep them on what to say.”

“Good. I’ll advise the senator of this so maybe he can get a sound bite in, as well.”

“This could have been a lot worse,” Lance said.

“Why wasn’t it?” Mitch asked.

“I think because of all the preparedness we worked on after the hurricane last fall. The guys really knew what to do and how to handle things.”

Lance pulled into the hospital parking lot and chatted a few more minutes with his brother before hanging up. He didn’t like hospitals. Never had, to be honest. Maybe because he’d visited more than his share of emergency rooms as a child.

His father had always been blunt in the parking lot. Telling him what to say when the doctors asked about how he’d broken his arm or his leg—bicycle accident; how he’d hurt his ribs or broken his fingers—skateboard accident. Never did he tell anyone the truth. And after a while, Lance realized even he kind of believed his dad’s stories.

He rubbed his hand over the scars on the back of his left knuckles. Some days he felt damned old, older than his years. He knew he had to be careful with Lexi. Had to remember to keep the engagement and their eventual marriage manageable.

Lance was always conscious that he’d inherited his father’s legendary temper. And as he sat in his truck looking at the modern hospital, he couldn’t help but remember the promise he’d made to himself when he was thirteen. The promise that he’d never bring a child of his to the emergency room, because he’d never have children.

He wondered if that was going to be an issue for Lexi Cavanaugh. A part of him hoped it would be so he could end the engagement and get his life back to the way it had been.

Kate was nervous as she got of out of her car the next morning. Last night the new clothes she’d purchased with Becca in Houston had seemed fun and daring but this morning when she’d put on the slim-fitting sundress and styled her new hair, she’d felt like an imposter.