Sweet Texas Kiss (Sweet Texas Secrets) (2 page)

“Macy Young? The famous country star Macy Young?” His voice filled the small office, but he didn’t care. To stop himself from screaming at the attorney, he pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on the languidly turning ceiling fan for a moment while he reined in his anger. “Is this a joke, Rodney? Seriously? Macy freaking Young?” He hadn’t seen her in years and hated being reminded of her. Hearing her name flooded him with all the anger, irritation, and disappointment she had brought to his life.

Through every year of high school, he and Macy had competed in the race to be at the top of their class, and during their senior year, valedictorian. It had been a competition he thought was good-natured, and at the very least, fair. He’d loved her quick wit, brilliant mind, and exceptional talent. For every advanced class he took, she was sitting in the front row, acing the tests without breaking a sweat. For the longest time, he couldn’t even be mad because she was always gracious about beating him. Her brains, wit, and beauty proved intoxicating enough to make him forget sometimes that they were rivals, and he’d developed some very non-academic feelings toward her.

He’d been close to asking her out, to finally see if his crush on her was reciprocated, when his best buddy and Macy’s singing partner, Tori Wilde, begged him to try to forget his feelings. She was afraid a failed romance between her two best friends would ruin both her relationships with them, and maybe she was right. She and Tori were both great singers, but together, they were a juggernaut, and they teamed up in high school to create an amazing duo. They dominated every contest they entered, making every other singer look like the amateurs they were. Tori had worried that if things didn’t work out between Gavin and Macy, it would affect their music. So he’d kept his feelings a secret, reasoning that crushes would come and go, but his friendship with Tori was sacred.

No sooner had he agreed to put thoughts of romance on the back burner than Macy managed to pull out ahead of him with last-minute extra credit from singing in a fine arts program. She’d slipped the extra credit in too close to the end of the grading period for him to protest her class standing or find his own way to pull ahead, and he had to watch helplessly as she took first place in their class. As far as he was concerned, singing with a friend, whether representing the school or not, should not have counted enough to defeat his perfect grades in math and science classes. Unfortunately, the administration saw things differently, since Macy had the same impeccable math and science records. But in his teen mind, her victory was ill-won, souring him on her in the end.

“No, it’s not a joke. I’ve notified her and the other women, and I’m afraid it’s a done deal. Everything’s in order and it’s settled.” Rodney closed the folder and sat back in his chair to sip his water slowly, no doubt stalling to collect his thoughts. “He also left you twenty-five percent of Guac Olé, though, which you may have expected. There are no restrictions on your shares, so you may do with them what you please.”

“So, can I sell the shares and use the money to buy the house from Macy?”

Rodney cringed. “No, I’m sorry. There is a stipulation in the will that Ms. Young may not sell the home for twelve months. She doesn’t necessarily have to reside in the house, but she can’t unload it just yet.”

“Surely she’s not planning on moving here. She lives and works in Nashville, and having the house sit vacant for a year is a horrible idea. There’s got to be something you can do to fix this.”

“I’m afraid not. It’s a done deal, and all one hundred percent legal. I wish I could be more helpful.” Rodney flipped a paper clip absentmindedly in his hand. “Don’t worry about the house sitting vacant and falling into disrepair. He’s provided for the taxes, utilities, and maintenance in the event that Ms. Young does not wish to immediately reside on the premises, and she will be able to rent out the house if she wants. I’m sure she won’t leave it sitting empty.”

It was a done deal. Just like when she’d edged past him in the race to valedictorian. Once again, Macy would have what he wanted, what he’d been certain was his, and there was nothing he could do about it. And much like winning through an extracurricular activity that required no brainpower, she’d had to do nothing to get it. The house was handed to her, just like so many other things in her life.

“But we’ve seen the will. Dad went through everything with us!” Grayson’s voice filled the room. “We’ve been promised these things for most of our lives, and we’ve seen it in black and white.”

“He made the modifications about two months before he passed away.” Rodney gave them an apologetic look, although Gavin knew he was dying for the Cooper men to leave his office.

“Two months? That seems suspicious, don’t you think?” Gage spoke up. “He was so sick toward the end. There’s got to be some reason he did this.”

“And some way we can reverse it,” Grayson said.

“Your father’s doctor provided verification that he was competent to make these changes.” Dad’s attorney, damn him, had an answer to block every turn.

Gavin had spent every free moment he wasn’t working or sleeping caring for his father during his final months, and as much as it hurt to lose the house he’d been dreaming of, he knew his father had been of sound mind until the very end. He had been weak and in almost constant pain, but he was always lucid and as sharp as ever.

In the time that cancer slowly chipped away at his once-vibrant father’s life, Gavin developed a deeper appreciation for their home and the family Jack had raised in it. Forced to tend to three boys alone after his wife died, Jack had risen to the occasion with an enthusiasm and dedication Gavin would always admire. Their home had been a haven, a soft place to fall, and the heart of their family.

“What can we do about this?” Gavin asked. Asking the same question repeatedly wasn’t getting him anywhere, but the shock was too great. Losing the house was bad enough. Losing it to his high school rival was unthinkable. Surely, any minute now, Rodney would realize that he’d read the wrong file or misunderstood something. This simply couldn’t be the last word.

“Nothing, I’m afraid. Your father was completely of sound mind and not under any duress when he made these changes. Everything is legal and indisputable. I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way you expected.”
The way you expected?
The understatement of the year. Not only were the will’s contents unexpected, they were unbelievable.

“So just like that, we’re done?” Grayson was almost shouting. Gavin couldn’t blame him. His younger brother had received nothing in return for his years of dedication to the company, a betrayal he wouldn’t take lightly. “This isn’t a case of things not working out the way we expected. This is a serious betrayal and three huge broken promises. We are talking about our very legacy being doled out to strangers. This can’t be final.”

“It is, and I’m sorry.” Rodney spread his hands apologetically, but he glanced at the door, likely ready to move on to his next appointment. For an attorney, he seemed awfully uncomfortable with the awkward exchange. Gavin thought Rodney would’ve had more experience with these situations. Surely, they weren’t the first people to be surprised by what their loved ones didn’t leave them in their wills.

He had time to go to the bank and check out his father’s safe-deposit box before he was expected back at the veterinary clinic. Maybe he’d find some answers there. He stood and tucked the envelope holding the key into his pocket. “All right, then. Maybe there’s a clue in the safe-deposit box to explain all of this. Thanks for your help, Rodney.”

“Let us know what you find. I’ll be at the office, though I don’t know why I even care,” Grayson said. “I can’t imagine I’ll actually get anything done today.”

“Let’s meet for drinks tonight before I go home, okay?” Gage would head back to Houston now that the inheritance was sorted out. Anything they did to change it could be done over the phone and through e-mail. “I want to know what’s in the safe-deposit box, and if it’s anything like this morning’s news, it’ll go down better with a few beers.”

“That sounds great. See you at Silver Spurs around eight or so? We can have dinner and maybe I’ll have some answers.” Gavin would have time to close up the clinic and get cleaned up before meeting his brothers for the much-needed drinks and debriefing.

The three paused in the parking lot, squinting in the bright late-morning sun. “That sounds perfect—see you tonight.” Gage opened the door to his shiny sports car and dropped onto the leather seat.

“Keep your fingers crossed.” Gavin opened his truck door and climbed in.

• • •

Gavin kept his head down and hurried through the Sweet Ridge Bank and Trust lobby. The spacious lobby was full of people standing in line for the tellers, waiting on the plush couches for personal bankers, or holding quiet conversations in small groups. Blessedly, he didn’t see anyone he was close with as he wound through the crowd. His dad had screwed him on the inheritance—the last thing he wanted was to make small talk or give out free veterinary advice to someone worried about their pet. Fortunately, the available banker was one he didn’t know well; it helped to not have to pretend everything was fine while he made conversation.

With no more than the requisite exchanged pleasantries, Gavin was left alone in the bank’s vault with his father’s safe-deposit box. The old bank’s heady scent of wood and paper surrounded him, reminding him of his father’s home office, where he’d spent countless hours sitting in the old wingback chair, watching his dad work. He’d now have to trash his plans to set up his own home office in the space, a place where he could research new veterinary treatments and brainstorm marketing ideas for the clinic—if he couldn’t figure out a way to reverse his father’s decision. The Coopers were one of the first families to settle Sweet Ridge, their legacy a piece of the town’s backbone, and Gavin would be forced to watch a woman he never thought he’d see again, one who cared so little for the town that she hadn’t returned in years, own the house that was his birthright. And all because his own father had betrayed him.

Macy had a huge career as a country music singer, so chances were she wouldn’t even take possession of the house. She was a star, a judge on a wildly successful singing competition show. It seemed highly unlikely she would give that up for some piece of small-town Texas real estate. After high school, she’d moved to Nashville with Tori and hadn’t returned to Sweet Ridge except for funerals as far as he knew. He’d finally cancelled all his celebrity gossip magazine subscriptions after seeing her face on one too many covers in his clinic’s waiting room and hearing her voice every time he listened to the radio. He’d lost so much because of her.

Keeping in touch with Tori was difficult after the Young and Wilde duo hit it big, but they did their best with e-mail and phone calls. He’d been so happy for his best friend, glad that she’d achieved the success she so richly deserved and had worked so hard for. Hell, he blamed Macy for taking that away from Tori, too.

And now she owned his house? The house he’d been assured would be his for years. The house where he’d sneaked downstairs on a dozen Christmas mornings to see what Santa had left, and where Gage had done his chores for a solid month so Gavin wouldn’t rat on him for sneaking out. What had his father been thinking? Macy wouldn’t want to live in Sweet Ridge, much less in the Cooper house. She’d never see the marks on the utility room wall where each boy’s height and age was dutifully recorded every year and notice where the handwriting changed from their mother’s to their father’s. Surely for her the house was just a piece of real estate, not the last place the family lived together under one roof. She could sell it to a stranger, or worse, keep it for herself so he wouldn’t even have the chance to buy it. The contents of the safe-deposit box had better yield some answers, give some rationale to explain his father’s behavior. Gavin refused to accept that their father had taken everything they’d known and turned it upside down without any explanation.

He turned the key. The box was full of papers, nothing more, and it didn’t look like any of them were personal letters. No deeply personal mementos, nothing that would make this mess make any sense, and nothing to make him feel better about what his father had done. With a deep breath, he resisted hurling the box against the wall. Instead, Gavin scooped out the stack of documents and rifled through birth certificates, death certificates, a truck title, and old family pictures.

Except they weren’t all the familiar family pictures he had seen before. In some, a young Jack Cooper smiled for the camera, arm in arm on the edge of a beach with a beautiful stranger. That same woman appeared with his father as they embraced each other in front of a fountain in a busy town square. She stared into the camera, a loving smile lighting up her delicate features. Yet another one was just of her, leaning against the hood of a car Gavin didn’t recognize, skirts swirling around her legs as she squinted into the sunlight. She was photographed with love; that much was obvious.

Who was this woman, and why did his father have these pictures? Of course Gavin’s mother wasn’t the only woman his father had ever been with, but he hadn’t had a serious relationship since she passed away. Nor had he ever mentioned the mystery woman, and to keep her pictures locked away made no sense. They were young in the yellowing photographs, probably—hopefully—younger than when Jack and Gavin’s mother had married.

His father had disappointed them today, grievously, but Gavin hoped against everything that they wouldn’t find that he’d been an adulterer, as well. If he and this woman had known each other before he got married, why hadn’t they reconnected when he was single again?

And perhaps most perplexing, why had he specifically sent Gavin to empty the box? Did he want him to find the photos, or had he forgotten they were there? The request could have been nothing more than the housekeeping involved in wrapping up a life, or it could hold the answer to why their inheritance had been parsed out to strangers.