The $10,000,000 Texas Wedding

Tucking the legal pad and pen back into his briefcase, he shut it and stood. It was too late to make any decisions tonight. Tomorrow, he’d get a fresh start.

He picked up his suitcase and headed down the hall to the bedroom that had always been his. The bedroom where he’d first made love to Katie.

No. He’d use the guest room. It held no memories for him. Neither of Gran nor Katie. It had always been kept in pristine condition, in case a visitor had dropped in. Gran was a proud housekeeper. Toward the end, he’d hired a neighbor to come in twice a week and clean for her. She’d hated that.

He opened the door to the guest room, finding it ready for a last-minute guest, as he’d known it would be. The decor was a little too feminine for his taste, but he’d suffer the flowered comforter and drapes tonight. After all, if he wasn’t staying, it wouldn’t matter. And if he was—

Nope. He couldn’t think about that tonight. He wanted to sleep, to forget the past, to deny the future. He was back in Cactus. That was enough for now.

OLD HABITS WERE HARD to break.

Gabe was awake at seven. In Dallas, he normally hit the shower at six-thirty, so he supposed he’d actually, technically, broken his early-morning habit, but there was no reason to roll out of bed this morning.

And, damn it, the coffee wouldn’t be ready until eight.

With a groan, he padded into the kitchen and adjusted the timer until he heard it turn on. Then he headed for the shower. By the time he finished, the coffee would be ready.

He was leaning against the counter, downing his first cup of coffee, when he heard a car in the driveway. A smile settled in place when he saw the sheriff’s official car. Cal had come to see him.

Then it occurred to him that maybe there was a problem. The phone wasn’t connected, but he had a cell phone. His parents would have called if—

He hurried to the back door. “Come in, Cal. Is anything wrong?”

“Not a thing. Thought you might like a little breakfast,” he said, holding up a white paper bag.

A cinnamon aroma filled the air and caused Gabe’s stomach to growl. “How’d you guess?” he asked with a grin.

“Not hard to do. Any more coffee?”

“You bet. Have a seat while I pour you a cup.”

Soon the two men were seated, munching on sausage rolls, with two fat cinnamon rolls waiting.

“These are great,” Gabe said. “You must be the luckiest man in the world.”

“How’s that?” Cal asked, his eyes closed as he savored another bite.

“To have a wife like Jessica.”

Cal grinned. “You won’t hear me complaining. Wait until you meet my son. Then you’ll really know how lucky I am.”

“How old is he?”

“Almost a year old. He’s starting to learn to walk. Which is a good thing, because Tuck’s been bragging about his little girl for a month now. Did you know that girls learn to walk before boys? Can you believe that?”

The disgust in Cal’s voice tickled Gabe. He chuckled and it felt good. He hadn’t been that happy when he’d awakened, but a good friend could cheer up a guy.

“I think that’s so girls can get a head start running away from boys.”

“Yeah,” Cal replied, his face suddenly serious. “I’ve sure had some cases where I’ve wished the woman would run. Domestic violence is ugly.”

An alarming thought filled Gabe. “Katie never—I mean, her husband didn’t—”

“Not that I know of. But he didn’t appreciate her. That’s for sure.”

“Maybe she was a lousy wife,” Gabe muttered, picking up the cinnamon roll and sniffing it.

“I doubt it. Even if she was, she’d make up for a lot of sins, being able to make these.”

Gabe had just taken a big bite. He almost choked on it before he could speak. “You mean Katie made these?”

“Well, of course. I stopped by The Lemon Drop Shop on my way over here.”

Chapter Four

Gabe swallowed the bite of cinnamon roll and cleared his throat. “I, uh, assumed Jessica made these.”

“Nope. She was sleeping in this morning since Rick has a cold. He wakes up a lot at night. She didn’t get much sleep.”

Gabe frowned. “What does Doc say?”

“It’s a cold,” Cal said with a shrug. “I’ve adjusted to the problems with children. You should have seen me the first month after we brought him home. Jessica called me an alarmist.”

Gabe’s brows soared. “You? You’re always the calm one.”

“Not when it comes to my kid. You’ll see when you have your own,” Cal assured him.

Gabe sipped his coffee, unable to agree. He figured he’d never have children because he never intended to marry. His romantic experience hadn’t led to much optimism in that area. But the look of bliss on Cal’s face made him want to have children.

When he’d thought he and Katie would share a future, he’d pictured their children, a little girl with Katie’s long blond hair, a pink bow in it, a rough-and-tumble boy, playing with a dog like Jericho. Life had looked perfect until Katie’s bomb exploded.

“Who did Katie date after me?”

His abrupt question got Cal’s attention. He frowned. “You mean ten years ago? When you moved to Dallas?”

“Yeah. Ten years ago.”

Cal stared at the opposite wall, thinking, and Gabe held his breath. He prayed it wasn’t one of his friends. He’d hate to try to beat up Spence or Tuck or Mac.

“No one.”

Gabe stared at Cal. “What do you mean, no one? There was someone. You must not remember.”

Cal laughed. “Right. A beautiful lady like Katie, staying in town, staying at home on Saturday night, and you think we didn’t notice? For a while, we figured you two had an understanding. That things had to be postponed because of her dad’s death. Everyone kind of left her alone.”

Frowning, Gabe thought back to what Katie had told him. “Maybe it was someone from out of town.”

“Oh, yeah. We never notice strangers in Cactus.”