AFTER GETTING Erin on the bus for school, Skye walked back to the house for a last cup of coffee before leaving for work. When she returned to the kitchen, she found Izzy standing there, holding the paper. As the two of them weren’t exactly speaking, Skye wasn’t sure how to act.
Izzy solved the problem by putting the newspaper on the table and pointing to the headline-Titan Cattle Tainted With Mad Cow.
Skye felt her knees give way and grabbed the counter to keep from falling.
“Oh, no,” she breathed. “This is bad.”
“There’s an understatement,” Izzy said with a sigh. “You know what this means.”
Skye nodded. No Texas cattle ranch could survive even a whisper of the feared disease. Prices would plummet. Thousands of pounds of beef would be returned. Cattle would be tested and retested and in the end, even if there wasn’t a problem, people would remember the charge.
“Jed isn’t stupid,” Skye said, scanning the article. “His ranch manager knows high standards are required. Jed eats that beef, as do his guests. He would never risk himself or them. Just as important, he wouldn’t treat his cattle that badly.”
“They eat vegetarian diets.” Izzy walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee. “They have for years.”
“This is Garth,” Skye said, frustrated that he was still a problem. “How are we going to stop him?”
“I don’t know, but Lexi’s coming over. She called while you and Erin were waiting for the bus.”
Five minutes later Lexi arrived looking angry and frustrated.
“Our jerk of a half brother is taking this too far,” Lexi said as she tossed her purse on the counter and walked to the coffeepot. Halfway there, she paused, swore and detoured to the refrigerator where she pulled out a jug of juice.
Despite everything, Skye smiled. “Still missing the caffeine, huh?”
“Every day.” Lexi sat at the table with her juice.
“I called Jed on the way over,” she said. “Or at least I tried. He was busy and couldn’t be disturbed. He can’t be happy.”
“He’ll handle it,” Izzy said confidently. “That’s what Jed does.”
“What I want to know is how the story got out there,” Skye said, remembering the false leaks about her foundation. “Somehow Garth is able to convince the press he has the real story and they don’t bother to check with us. How can he do that?”
“Money,” Lexi said. “Influence. We’ll figure it out.”
They talked more about the “Garth problem” then Lexi picked up Skye’s mug of coffee and inhaled the aroma.
“Nice party for Erin,” she said.
Skye eyed her sister. “She had a good time.”
“Mitch was there.”
If Skye and Izzy had been getting along better she would have tried to get her sister to help distract Lexi. But under the circumstances, she was on her own.
“Yes, he was. He and Erin have met. She adores him and asked him to come, so he did.” She took back her coffee and gulped it. “Nothing more.”
“Uh-huh.” Lexi looked at Izzy and raised her eyebrows. “There was plenty of smoldering going on.”
Skye wanted to be anywhere but here. “In your imagination.”
“I think it was more than that, but you were only hanging with the other guy. What’s his name?”
“T. J. Boone,” Izzy told her. “He’s Jed’s latest pick for Skye. They’re going to get married soon.”
Skye clutched her mug. “That is neither true nor fair. Yes, Jed wants me to consider him, but I’ll be making my own decisions.”
“The way you did with Ray?”
Skye stiffened.
Lexi stared at Izzy. “Okay, what’s going on with you two? Izzy, that was just plain mean.”
“She won’t listen to me,” Izzy grumbled, looking uncomfortable but not apologizing.
“Right,” Skye snapped. “Make this my fault. God forbid you should take responsibility for anything.”
“I’m taking responsibility for this and you won’t listen.” Izzy flipped her long, dark curly hair over her shoulder. “I told her T. J. Boone is just messing with both of us. The first night he was here, he came on to me. I tried to warn Skye, but she’s not interested in that.”
Skye stood. “You didn’t try to warn me. You told me he couldn’t possibly be interested in me, that he was just doing what Jed told him and the only one who got him hot was you. That the only way I would get a guy was if Jed bought me one.”
“I never said that.”
“You implied it. You also implied I’m too feeble to figure out a guy’s intentions on my own.”
Izzy sprang to her feet. “You’re taking it all wrong. I’m trying to protect you. T.J. asked me out. There’s something going on. I can tell. I just want to help.”
“By telling me he’s going to totally fall for you because what man could look at the two of us and want me?”
Izzy hesitated just long enough to make Skye want to slap her.
Lexi got to her feet and rubbed her forehead. “You two both need therapy. Skye, do you really care enough about this guy to fight with Izzy about him?”
“Of course not. But it’s not about T.J.” She looked at Izzy. “I’m really hurt that you think I’m such a spaz that I can’t get a date on my own. And yes, you’re fun and beautiful, but somewhere on the planet there has to be at least one guy who could possibly be interested in me even after he meets you.”
Izzy shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t say there wasn’t. I’m not all that.”
“Sometimes you act like you are.”
“I’m just afraid of what T.J. is up to.”
“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
Izzy looked like she wanted to say more, but she appeared to think better of it. “Okay. I’ll stay out of it.”
Lexi glanced between the two of them. “Better?” she asked. “Are we all happy?”
“Sure,” Izzy told her. “I need to go shower.” She left the kitchen.
Lexi and Skye both sat back down.
“We have enough trouble with Garth,” Lexi said. “We don’t need the two of you fighting.”
“I know. I should be more mature.” Skye finished her coffee. “She just bugs me sometimes. She’s not all that.”
Lexi raised an eyebrow.
Skye laughed. “Okay. She is all that, but I can be all that, too. At least a little.”
“We all need a goal.” Lexi leaned forward. “At the risk of us fighting, too, have you talked to Mitch much?”
Skye didn’t know how to answer that question. They’d had sex, they’d fought, but had they actually talked? As in just having a conversation?
“Some,” she said. “He’s…he’s having trouble adjusting.”
“Not a big surprise.”
“I know. Things are complicated.” She hesitated. “He thinks Erin is his.”
Lexi winced. “You’re kidding. She’s not…is she?”
“No. How could you ask me that?”
“You got pregnant pretty fast.”
Not something Skye was proud of. “Erin is Ray’s. She has a birthmark that comes from his side of the family. I’ve told Mitch Erin isn’t his, but he doesn’t want to listen. He basically told me either she was his or I was a whore for sleeping with Ray.”
“Ouch.”
“My reaction was a little stronger.” Skye didn’t want to think about their fight.
“It makes sense,” Lexi said. “While you two haven’t been together in a long time, coming back home probably brings everything to the surface. He’s angry and hurt. After all, you dumped him the day after you accepted his proposal. That’s going to piss off anyone.”
“Thank you so much for taking my side.”
“I’m sorry.”
Skye shook her head. “Don’t be. You’re simply telling the truth. I acted badly and Mitch wants me punished. I can handle that. I just want to make sure he doesn’t also hurt Erin. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
MITCH WALKED into the barn expecting to find it empty. Instead he saw Erin grooming Bullet. As soon as she heard his footsteps, she turned and tucked the brush behind her back.
“Hi,” she said, looking guilty. “I, um. Hi.”
“What are you doing?” His voice came out more harshly than he’d planned and she flinched.
“Bullet’s lonely,” she said, her shoulders hunching as she seemed to shrink. “I didn’t want him to be sad because you’re not riding him.”
Mitch was willing to take on just about anyone, but he didn’t want to hurt Erin.
He crossed to her and touched her arm. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
She looked up, her big eyes wide and apprehensive. “You’re not mad?”
“No. You’re right. Bullet is in a strange barn and I haven’t been paying attention to him. It was nice of you to think of him.”
Erin smiled and he would swear it lit the whole barn. “He’s a really nice horse. He’s been specially trained, you know. So you can mount him from the other side. I think he’s really smart. Maybe after you get to know him and everything maybe I could ride him sometime.”
“Sure,” Mitch said absently, thinking he would never ride the horse. What was the point? There wasn’t anywhere to go.
Erin handed him a brush, then grabbed a second one for herself. She stepped up to Bullet and went to work.
“You’re not scared, are you?” she asked, not looking at him.
He studied the horse. “No. I’m not scared.”
“Then why aren’t you riding him?”
“I’m not that man anymore.”
“What man?”
“Someone who rides.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You think you forgot? I could help you remember. It’s really easy. You gotta get back on the horse. It tells people who you are.”
“You hear that from your grandfather?” he asked.
“Uh-huh, and Mom, too.”
“What about your dad?”
The question popped out before he could stop it. Erin continued brushing the horse.
“He’s been gone a long time.” She pushed her bangs off her forehead and sighed. “I don’t remember him much. I try really a lot. Sometimes at night before I go to sleep I think about something we did. Like going to Disney World, or Christmas. But it’s hard.” She leaned against Bullet. “I have a lot of half brothers and sisters. They’re really old. Older than Mom. It’s hard to explain.”
Maybe for an eight-year-old, but it wasn’t hard to understand. Ray had been significantly older than Skye. He had children from his first marriage. Erin was probably aunt to adults in their thirties.
“He loved us,” Erin continued. “He would tell me every night when he put me to bed. I remember that.”
She smiled and he could only smile back. Because to do otherwise was to be more of a bastard than even he was comfortable with.
Arturo walked into the barn. “I don’t know about this,” he grumbled when he saw Erin.
She dropped the brush and ran to him. “Please? You promised. Mom said it was okay. She’s coming by. I’m ready. I’m really, really ready.”
Arturo looked over her head at Mitch. “She wants to start jumping.”
Mitch frowned. “Isn’t she a little young?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying. But she’s determined.”
“No, I’m not,” Erin said, sounding a lot like her mother when Skye got stubborn. “I’m not scared and I can do it.”
“Which sounds a lot like determined to me,” Arturo said and ruffled her hair. “I’ll set up the jumps, but you’re going to listen to everything I say. Promise?”
She threw her arms around him. “I promise and cross my heart.” She ran down the length of the barn calling for her horse.
“I hope I’m not going to regret this,” Arturo muttered. “You taking Bullet out?”
“No.”
“He needs some exercise.”
“You should have thought of that before you bought him.”
Arturo stared at him for a long time, then turned away. Mitch ignored the twinge of guilt and led Bullet to his stall.
Nearly a half hour later Erin proved she was more than ready. She easily took the low jumps Arturo had set up in the corral. She rode like she’d been born to the saddle. His genes at work, he thought as he leaned against the fence, watching her.
Familiar anger built up inside of him, battling with pride. Everything would have been different, he thought furiously. If he’d known about Erin, he would have come home. He would have been a part of her life. He wouldn’t have missed so much.
A car pulled up but he didn’t turn around. Seconds later he knew Skye was next to him. He could sense her, not to mention smell her perfume. Just a whiff of the floral fragrance was enough to make him want her again. They could do it in the barn, like they had when they were kids.
Back when life hadn’t been so damn complicated, he thought. Before he’d gone away and she’d betrayed him.
“We need to talk, Mitch,” she said, standing next to him.
He sensed her gaze on him but didn’t turn. “So talk.”
“Not here.”
“Why not? You have somewhere better in mind?”
“Somewhere private. The barn or your office or wherever. Just not in front of Erin.”
He glanced at her, saw the worry in her eyes and something else. Something that made his gut tighten.
“My office,” he said, and led the way.
His office was off the main barn and wasn’t a place he’d been to since his return. He half expected the door to be locked, but the handle turned easily.
Inside everything was as he remembered. The same desk in the same place. The computer looked new. Maybe Arturo had replaced the old one when he’d found out Mitch was coming home. There were files, pictures and a small refrigerator humming in the corner.
At one time he’d thought this would be his life. That he would grow old on this ranch. Then he’d lost Skye and everything had changed.
Mitch ignored it all. He faced her. “What?”
She pulled a slim envelope out of her purse and handed it to him. The return address was the lab in Dallas.
“You reading my mail?” he asked as he took it.
“Fidela saw me driving by and asked me to give it to you. I think she knows what’s inside.”
The envelope was still sealed. Anticipation tightened his gut. “Do you?”
She nodded. Worry darkened her green eyes. “Mitch, I’m sorry,” she began.
He leaned against the desk and prepared for her to grovel. He planned to enjoy every minute of it and then he was going to crush her.
“I didn’t sleep with Ray on the first date,” she said. “It was the third and I cried the whole time. I hated being with him more than I can say. There was nothing wrong with him except he wasn’t you and I was so in love with you.”
Her words made him sick to his stomach. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“I know, but let me say it anyway. Ray felt badly and I was devastated. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry him. I realized it that night. I was going to find you and tell you. I was hoping you would forgive me. Jed figured all that out and I knew he was going to threaten me or you or both of us. Which he did. He also pointed out that I’d better be sure I wasn’t pregnant before running back to you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I was. I found out a few days later. I knew I couldn’t show up, carrying another man’s baby. I knew you’d never forgive me. I also couldn’t keep Ray from his child. Marrying him was the best choice.”
“That’s all bullshit,” he growled. “It wasn’t the best choice, it was the easiest one. You got everything you wanted, including keeping Erin from me.”
Only speaking the words no longer felt right and the certainty in her eyes made him doubt himself.
“He was a good man, but he wasn’t you,” she said. “We all have guilty secrets. That’s mine. I grew to love him, but it wasn’t enough. He never got my whole heart. Erin was born five weeks early. She’s his. I’m sorry. Not for that but for everything else.”
Tears spilled onto her cheeks. She turned and walked out, leaving him alone, holding the letter.
He didn’t have to open it because he already knew. She wasn’t lying. Erin wasn’t his. She never had been. He’d come home to nothing.
He left the office, not bothering to close the door behind him. He had no idea where he was going, he just knew it was away from here. In the distance he heard Erin’s laughter. The sound cut through him, reminding him of all he’d lost. Even the anger seemed gone. There was nothing inside of him anymore. Nothing but useless space.
He walked and walked until his leg ached so bad he began to stumble. He could feel the blood soaking the sock on his stump and still he kept moving. He reached a rise in the land and stood staring at everything he owned.
In the distance, the cattle moved-dark shadows on the land. He could see the goddamn chickens and the horizon in the distance. All his. And he didn’t care about any of it.
He would swear he could still hear Erin’s laughter, that the sound carried to him on the wind. He could feel her surprisingly strong hug, feel her bony arms holding on to him. His daughter.
He’d been so sure. He’d convinced himself that she was what he’d had to come home for. But it had all been wishful thinking.
He opened the envelope and stared at the typed words. Skye had spoken the truth. Erin wasn’t his.
He crumpled the paper and let it fall to the ground. Then his leg gave way and he sprawled onto the dirt, broken and worthless.
Sometime later, when the sun had burned his skin and his lips had crackled from dryness, he heard a truck engine. Arturo parked next to him and got out. Mitch tried to get up but couldn’t. He had to wait and let the old man half drag him into the passenger seat.
His stump ached more than it had since the initial surgery. He could feel the blood, the raw flesh and knew he’d probably done some serious damage, but he didn’t care.
Arturo was silent and Mitch didn’t bother speaking. What was there to say?
Arturo drove past the ranch and headed to Dallas.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Mitch asked.
His ranch manager pointed to the front of Mitch’s jeans. “The hospital.”
Mitch glanced down and saw bloodstains. He swore under his breath, then leaned back and closed his eyes. There wasn’t a single part of him that could imagine giving a damn about anything ever again.
“YOU’RE MORE STUPID than I thought.”
The words came clearly, despite the haze of pain-killers. Mitch opened his eyes and saw Joss standing over him.
It took him a second to figure out where he was and what had brought him here. The E.R. doctor had taken one look at his bleeding stump and admitted him. Apparently Mitch had lost more blood than he’d realized because now he’d been given a transfusion, put on an IV, drugged up and scolded by nearly every medical person he came in contact with.
“They’re transferring you to the VA in a couple of hours,” Joss went on. “When I heard what had happened, I came by to see if it was true. You’re a real idiot.”
“You mentioned that.”
The physical therapist stared at him. “You trying to kill yourself or are you thinking that’s just a happy by-product of all this?”
“I got distracted. I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing.”
“Uh-huh. Anyone here believe that?” Joss picked up the prosthesis from the chair in the corner. “They had to cut this off you, which means you need a new socket. Imagine how fast I’m going to be ordering that.”
That brought Mitch to a sitting position. “You can’t keep me on crutches.”
“Sure I can. I’m mean and vindictive. I’m also the boss of you, so I can do anything I want.” Joss grinned. “I sound like one of my grandkids.”
Mitch collapsed back on the pillows. He hurt all over and the medication had left him sick to his stomach. Or maybe that was more about the thought of being on crutches.
“You need to heal,” Joss told him. “You wouldn’t do it on your own. Now I’m going to make it happen. You’re not getting this back for at least two weeks.” He put a business card on the tray by the bed. “Your next appointment, where you’ll get this back. Don’t be late.”
Then he was gone.
Frustration and rage built up in Mitch. He wanted to go after Joss, grab him and pound him into the ground. But he couldn’t get up, couldn’t walk without some kind of help.
Worthless, he thought as he lay there hurting everywhere. So fucking worthless.
A man in an expensive suit knocked on his open door.
“Mitch Cassidy?” he asked as he entered.
Mitch frowned. “Who are you?”
“Garth Duncan. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“No. Now get out.”
“I will, in a minute. I would like to discuss a little business with you.”
Mitch wasn’t interested. “Unless you want to buy a whole lot of free-range poultry, this conversation is going nowhere.”
“I understand you used to date Skye Titan.”
Mitch looked at the other man. There was something familiar about him, although he didn’t think they’d met.
“What business is that of yours?”
“None, really.” The man pulled up a chair and sat down. “I’m Jed Titan’s bastard.”
The last of the drug-induced fogginess faded. Mitch pushed the button to raise the bed and he stared at Garth. Now he realized why Garth looked familiar. There was plenty of Jed in him, at least physically.
“I never heard about you,” he said.
“No one has, although it’s a pretty common story. Jed knocked up my mother and bought her off. Now I want payback.” Garth leaned back in his chair. “I thought you might like a piece of the action.”
“You want to bring down Jed?”
“I want to bring down all of them, Mitch. Every last Titan.” Garth tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. “Not the kid. Erin doesn’t interest me. But the sisters and their father? I want them ground to dust.”
He spoke casually but there was intensity in his words.
Mitch felt a flicker of interest. “What makes you think you can do it? The girls might be softer targets but Jed’s another matter. He’s a mean old son of a bitch and he doesn’t care who he hurts.”
“Like father like son,” Garth said. “I have unlimited resources. I have people in places that would turn Jed Titan’s hair white. I’m going to win this and when I do, I’ll be the one sleeping at Glory’s Gate. I’m offering you a chance to get even.”
Mitch was less sure about that. “Why would I need to get even?”
Garth shrugged. “Skye dumped you.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Jed screwed over my mother before I was born and I’m still pissed. It’s your call. If you’re not interested, so be it.”
“I could tell them all you’ve been here.”
“You could. It wouldn’t change anything.”
Mitch had to admit Garth had a pair on him.
Hurt the Titans. He’d never considered it an option, but he sure could warm to the idea. Not so much the rest of them, but bringing down Skye had a certain appeal. She was in the middle of all this, he thought grimly. He wanted her to feel as helpless as he did, as angry, as unable to make things right. Screwing Jed would be a nice by-product.
“What would you want from me?” he asked.
Garth gave him a slow smile. “Just listen, pay attention and report back to me. I want to know vulnerabilities. What makes them bleed. Information is power.”
Mitch knew Skye’s greatest vulnerability was Erin, but he wasn’t going to say that to Garth. Despite everything, the little girl still mattered to him.
“I’ll pay you,” Garth began.
Mitch’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t make me kill you.”
Garth held up both hands. “Sorry. I have people who are only in on this because of the money.”
“I’m not one of them.”
“Fair enough. I’ll be in touch.” He stood and crossed to the bed, then offered his hand.
Mitch hesitated a second before shaking it.
“Good to meet you, Mitch.”
Garth left.
Mitch turned away from the door and told himself he should feel better about finally having a plan. He was going to help destroy the Titans.
But as he lowered the back of the bed and tried to find a more comfortable position he found himself wondering if he’d lost more than a part of his leg in Afghanistan. Had he also lost part of himself?