Читать книгу The $10,000,000 Texas Wedding - Judy Christenberry - Страница 9

“Alex, this is Katherine Hill at The Lemon Drop Shop.”

“Hi, Katherine. How’s everything going?”

Katherine didn’t bother to pretend. “Not well. I have a problem. Do you have time to see me this afternoon?”

There was a pause and Katherine held her breath.

“Yes, I can talk to you at four-thirty. Does that work with your schedule?”

“Yes, thank you.” The school rush would be slowing down by four-thirty, and her two employees could handle the business. She didn’t think her talk with Alex would take too long. She’d asked for Mac, but he was booked for the rest of the afternoon, and Katherine couldn’t wait that long to get legal advice.

AT FOUR-THIRTY, she crossed the square and entered the law office of Gibbons & Langford. She’d removed her apron, of course, but she wished she’d dressed up. Only, this morning, when she’d started her day at six, she hadn’t expected to need legal advice.

Alex rose and came around the desk to greet her. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Katherine. I had to give up those cinnamon rolls in the mornings. My doctor told me to cut back on sugar.” She gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk as she sat back down.

Katherine sat as she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Is everything all right?”

“Yes, but I’m expecting again.” Alex beamed.

“How wonderful! Your little girl is almost a year old, isn’t she?”

“Yes. She’ll be eighteen months when this one is born. But enough about me. Why don’t you tell me why you’re here.”

“Do you have to inherit something if it’s left to you?”

Alex frowned slightly. “Do you mean someone has left you something you don’t want?”

“Yes, that’s it, exactly.” Katherine leaned back with a sigh, glad Alex grasped the situation.

“Do you want to give me details?”

“I guess so. Did you meet Mrs. Dawson?” Katherine thought everyone in town knew Mrs. Dawson, but Alex had only been there a couple of years.

“Yes, several times. Mac drew up her will just a few months ago and—she’s the one who left you something?”

“I’ve been told that she did if…if certain conditions weren’t met by the beneficiary.” It was easier to think of Gabe as an impersonal term.

“What conditions?”

“Is it okay if I tell you? I mean, aren’t wills supposed to be secret?”

“Who told you?”

Katherine licked her lips as she remembered Gabe’s arrival in her shop, his anger, his—sexiness. “The beneficiary.”

“Did he swear you to secrecy?” Alex asked.

“No. No, in fact, he shouted—that is, he intended to talk in front of everyone, but I got him to sit at a table outside and explain what was wrong.”

“And was this person Gabe Dawson? Because I just met him a little while ago.”

Katherine nodded.

“A handsome man,” Alex observed, watching Katherine.

Katherine hated her fair complexion. It gave her away every time she was embarrassed. She looked at her clasped hands and muttered, “An angry man.”

“But I understood he was the beneficiary. Why would he be angry?”

“Gran—Mrs. Dawson left him her estate on several conditions. The worst one is that he has to marry me.”

Alex had been leaning back in her chair. She sat up abruptly, staring at Katherine. “You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. He said I must have persuaded her to write her will that way. But I didn’t, I swear, Alex. We never discussed anything like that. I took her some cookies occasionally, and I would rent movies for her. We visited because sometimes she got lonely. But that’s all, I promise.”

“I believe you, Katherine,” Alex said soothingly. She scratched her forehead. “So you want to know if you can reject the estate if you and Gabe don’t marry?”

“There’s no if. Gabe hasn’t spoken to me in ten years, Alex. The only reason he approached me now was to chew me out.”

“I’d like to see the will, but if Mac wrote it—” Her gaze flew to the closed door. “Wait a minute. I think I hear him.” She slid around her desk and went to the door. Opening it, she called, “Mac?”

“Yeah, Alex, I’m back.”

“Can you spare a minute?”

“Sure.”

Alex moved back to her desk, and Mac came through the door, a smile on his face.

Until he saw Katherine.

“Uh-oh.”

Even Alex seemed surprised by his reaction. “You know why Katherine is here?”

Mac sat on the edge of Alex’s desk, facing Katherine. “I assume it has something to do with Mrs. Dawson’s will. Right?”

Katherine nodded. “I don’t want to take—how can I get my name out of it?”

“You can’t.”

His simple answer, without any legal mumbo jumbo, was what made Mac Gibbons such a popular lawyer. People wanted to hear the bottom line, without all the reasons.

“But there must be some way. He won’t—a marriage between us is preposterous. He shouldn’t have to give up his grandmother’s estate because—surely, she didn’t intend to harm Gabe.” Katherine couldn’t imagine the sweet woman she’d known doing anything to negatively affect her beloved Gabe.

“No, I don’t think she did.” Mac shot a look at Alex and rubbed the back of his neck before he said anything else. “Look, Katie, when our mothers did their matchmaking, a lot of ladies in town got the idea to follow in their footsteps. I tried to warn Mrs. Dawson that her idea would backfire on her…and Gabe. But she wouldn’t listen.”

“That’s what the will says, that she has to marry Gabe? Or what happens?” Alex asked.

“If they don’t marry, half the estate goes to Katie and the other half goes to charity. Unless Katie marries someone else before the year is up. You seeing anyone?” he suddenly asked, slewing around to face Katherine again.

“No! I’m not.”

“I heard Jack Ledbetter was hanging around your house a lot,” Mac said, a speculative look on his face.

Alex frowned. “But Jack’s over fifty, maybe older. He’s too old for you, Katherine.”

“He’s fifty-six,” she said calmly. “And he is hanging around our house. But it’s not me he’s interested in.”

Mac frowned. “Then who—your mother?” He grinned. “If you need any advice about this situation, let me know. Aunt Florence and Doc got married a year ago, you know.”

Katherine grinned. “Thanks, but they’re managing just fine without any assistance on my part.” In fact, her mother’s romance was one of the best things going in her life right now.

Alex brought them back to the topic at hand. “So, if you’re not seeing anyone, and you won’t marry Gabe—”

“As if he’d ask,” Katherine muttered, interrupting.

Alex looked at Mac for confirmation. “Then there’s nothing to be done?”

“I’m afraid that’s true, Katie,” Mac concurred. “Gabe said something about trying to prove his grandmother was incompetent when she made these arrangements, but I don’t think he can.”

“But if half of the estate comes to me, can I give it back to Gabe? Just return it?”

“Not without paying some taxes.”

“But I can’t afford that!” She was doing well with her shop, but there were a lot of demands on her income.

“What size estate are we talking about?” Alex asked quietly.

“She and her husband owned about a hundred and fifty acres and several wells were drilled on her property. The total, with land value and everything else, is around ten million,” Mac said calmly.

Katherine almost fell out of her chair. “Good heavens! Taxes on half of that would bankrupt me for life.”

Mac nodded, though he added, “If you inherited it, of course, you could pay the taxes out of what you inherited.”

“I can’t,” Katherine said firmly. The money didn’t matter. Taking his heritage from Gabe was the issue. And she couldn’t do that.

Shaking his head, Mac said, “Well, I’m not sure how this is going to work out. You sure you don’t want to marry him?”

The way he asked his question made Katherine’s heart ache. And made an answer impossible. What she wanted didn’t matter. She’d rejected his marriage proposal when she was eighteen. He wouldn’t ask again.

Standing, she offered her hand to Alex first and then Mac. “Thanks for your help. Will you send me a bill? Or shall I leave you a check?”

Alex smiled. “I’ll send you a bill. If there’s anything else I can do, let me know.”

“I will, thanks.” Then she left their offices, still with no answers. And a lot of fears.

“What are you doing here?” Gabe growled, moving in front of her as she stepped outside.

She jumped, surprised by his sudden appearance.

“Well?” he demanded, his hands on his hips, glaring at her.

She had no intention of explaining what she’d been doing, and she knew Mac and Alex would be discreet. “Excuse me,” she murmured, and tried to step around him.

He reached out and grabbed her arm.

She thought she’d forgotten how her body responded to his touch. She thought the shivers that had coursed through her body the first time he’d touched his lips to hers, many years ago, couldn’t possibly reoccur. She thought that part of her life was over.

Someone forgot to tell her body.

Jerking away, she retreated, her back coming up against the door she’d just closed. She lifted her chin and glared at him. “I have to go.”

“You got someone waiting for you? Someone you’re planning on marrying? Maybe you’ve promised some man a cushy life if he hangs around until the year is over.”

She knew of only one way to escape him. And she was angry and scared enough to lie. “Yes, I have a man. What’s it to you?”

“So marry him! That would solve my problem.”

With sarcasm dripping from her words, she said, “Of course, solving your problem would be my first concern.”

“It should be, since you caused it.”

As he spoke, the door behind Katherine opened and Mac reached out to steady her as she almost lost her balance.

“Hi, there, Gabe. You’re early.”

Neither of them spoke, and Mac moved to Katherine’s side and looked at them. “Everything okay?”

“Sure, everything’s fine. I was trying to convince Mrs. Hill to marry her latest man and solve my problem.”

Mac frowned and looked at Katherine.

She didn’t bother explaining the contradiction of what she’d told him in Alex’s office. With a smile, she excused herself, knowing Gabe wouldn’t try to stop her with Mac there.

“Thanks again, Mac,” she said hurriedly, and headed back to her shop.

Gabe turned to watch her walk away. He couldn’t help it. A hunger raged through his body as his gaze followed her movement. What was wrong with him?

She’d so easily dismissed his love, his desire, ten years ago. And he’d vowed then never to get near her again. With good reason. He still couldn’t trust his body. He wouldn’t allow his heart to be put at risk again.

He spun around, anxious to dispel such thoughts. “What did she want?”

Mac shrugged his shoulders. “You know I can’t tell you that. What a client says to her lawyer and her partner is privileged information.”

“Well, maybe this man she’s got will marry her before the end of the year.” He should be glad about that idea. But the words he’d spoken troubled him. “Who is he?”

“Come on,” Mac said, putting a hand on Gabe’s shoulder and turning him toward The Last Roundup. “Let’s go get a beer while we talk.”

Gabe didn’t fight Mac’s suggestion. But he wasn’t going to let his question drop. “Well? Who’s she dating?”

Mac kept walking.

“I’m not asking for privileged information, Mac. I know how it is in a small town. Everyone knows what’s going on.”

They reached the restaurant.

The hostess seated them in the back, at Cal and Jessica’s special table, and Mac asked her to have the waitress bring two beers.

“It’s not that it’s privileged information, exactly, but we did discuss her, er, her personal life, and I feel a little uncomfortable—”

“Hey, Gabe, how are you?” Cal asked, interrupting Mac.

Gabe stood and shook hands with Cal Baxter, the sheriff in Cactus.

“Good to see you, Cal. I hear you’ve joined the married ranks with the other guys.”

“Yeah. You should give it a try. We’ve all found it amazingly wonderful.”

Gabe shook his head and sat down again.

The waitress arrived with two beers and Cal sent her off again to bring three more. “No sense in waiting until Spence and Tuck get here. We know they’ll want one, too.”

Gabe smiled and nodded.

“Now, what did I interrupt? What were you saying, Mac?”

Mac shrugged his shoulders again, not looking at either friend.

“He was being a lawyer,” Gabe complained. “I asked him a question, and he didn’t want to answer it, afraid he’d be violating lawyer-client confidentiality.”

Cal cocked one eyebrow. “You’re a lawyer, Gabe. I guess you understand that.”

“Yeah, I understand. But I asked something that’s common knowledge. I remember how it is here, even if I haven’t lived here in ten years. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”

“True,” Cal began, but he didn’t continue because Tuck and Spence arrived. There were several minutes of greeting each other and exchanging comments about their lives. Then the beers arrived and the newcomers stopped talking to take a drink.

Cal leaned forward. “Ask me your question. I’m not a lawyer.”

“Cal—” Mac began, but Gabe ignored his friend.

“I want to know who’s the man in Katherine’s life.”

Cal sat back in his chair and stared at Gabe.

“Which Katherine?” Spence asked, frowning.

Tuck stuck his elbow in Spence’s ribs. “Don’t you remember? Gabe and Katie were—friends,” he hurriedly said after receiving a glare from Gabe.

Cal took his time. He leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table. With a sideways look at Mac, he said, “The only man I’ve heard about is Jack Ledbetter.”

“Who’s that?” Gabe demanded, a sick feeling filling his stomach at hearing a name, forcing him to realize the man was real.

Spence stared. “You’re kidding. He’s too old for Katie.”

Those words got Gabe’s attention. “Too old? How old is he? Who is he?”

“You remember Jack Ledbetter,” Tuck insisted. “He and his wife lived about ten miles out of town. She raised German shepherds. Didn’t your dad buy you one?”

“That’s right,” Gabe said with a frown, recalling old memories. The dog, Jericho, died while he was away at college. “Are they divorced?”

“No. His wife died of cancer a couple of years ago,” Cal explained, but he didn’t answer Gabe’s other question.

“Spence is right. He’s our fathers’ age. What is she doing dating someone that old? What’s the matter with her? Is she looking for someone to—” He broke off abruptly, unwilling to say that he suspected Katie was looking for a meal ticket.

“Yeah, I heard about Jack,” Tuck said, “but I heard it was her mother he was interested in.”

Gabe didn’t want to admit the hope that leaped in his throat at those words. “Her mother?”

“Yeah, you remember her father died her senior year in high school,” Tuck said. “Katie’s mother pretty much fell apart. Katie’s the one who pulled the family together. She’s worked like a dog ever since then to take care of all of them.”

Other comments were made, but Gabe didn’t hear them. He’d forgotten about Katie’s father’s death. He’d tried to comfort her, of course, and she’d assured him everything was fine. He’d been coming home on weekends to see her, but he was finishing his senior year at Texas Tech and had a lot going on.

“What do you mean, she took care of all of them?” Gabe asked abruptly, interrupting Spence, who had made a flattering comment about Katie’s shop.

Tuck raised one eyebrow. “Don’t you remember?”

“We moved to Dallas that summer so I could start law school in the fall.” After he’d proposed to Katie and been rejected, he’d wanted out of town. His parents had decided to move to Dallas, too. His mother had never been happy in the small town.

“And you didn’t keep in touch?” Spence asked, a puzzled frown on his face.

“No.” Nothing more. He wasn’t going to remind his friends that the woman he’d loved had stomped all over him and walked away.

Tuck explained, “Katie took a day job at the grocery store and worked nights as a waitress.”

“Was she saving for college?” She’d talked about going to Tech.

“No,” Cal said. “She was paying the bills. Her dad never was much of a provider, but with him gone, they had a lot of bills. With five more kids and a mother who didn’t know how to earn money, Katie became the breadwinner for everyone.”

A sick feeling was building in Gabe’s stomach. “But she married. I mean, her husband must’ve helped out, brought in money.”

Mac snorted in derision. “Yeah, right. Darrell Hill came to town after you left. He worked at the gas station. After they married, he started showing up for work less and less, until he got fired.”

“Doesn’t seem like he was much help,” Gabe muttered. The protective feelings that surged through him were ridiculous. She hadn’t wanted him, or his help. He’d promised to help her get her college degree, too. But she’d said no.

No one said anything.

“How did he die?” Gabe finally asked.

Without any expression, Cal said, “He hit a tree going eighty miles an hour.”

“Drunk?” Gabe asked, determined to know the worst.

“Oh, yeah. We’re lucky he didn’t take anyone with him.” Cal shook his head. “Drinking and driving is about the stupidest thing I know.”

They all nodded in solemn agreement. Then Tuck asked a question about Gabe’s life in Dallas and the conversation lightened.

Gabe, however, couldn’t get the earlier tale out of his head. He still had questions. But only Katie could answer them. And if he asked, if he dug into the past, she’d know that—she’d think that he was even more stupid than her dead husband.

She’d believe he still cared for a woman who’d rejected him ten long years ago.