Authors: Susan Mallery
Del laughed. “That's not gonna happen.” He glanced around. “How long have you been working here?”
“Since it opened.” Nick's humor faded. “Don't you get on me, too. I have to take that crap from Dad. You don't get to talk about it.”
The “it” being his brother's talent, Del thought. Because while he and Aidan lacked Ceallach's phenomenal ability, Nick and the twins were nearly as gifted.
Del held up both hands. “Fine. I won't say a word.”
Nick glared at him for a second before sighing. “You saw him, didn't you?”
“Yesterday.”
“That's the same tone of voice Aidan uses when he talks about Dad.”
“We're not chosen,” Del said lightly, thinking about how Ceallach always dismissed their mother's small tour company as unimportant, despite how many times it had put food on the table. From what he'd seen so far, their brother Aidan had grown the company even more. But none of that would matter to Ceallach.
“You're still doing well,” Nick said. “Congratulations on selling the company.”
Del sipped his beer. “How'd you know?”
“I read the business section of the paper every now and then. You got a big write-up here. Local boy makes good. What are you going to do next?”
“I have no idea.”
“Part of the reason you came home?”
“That and Dad's birthday.”
“Which isn't for a few weeks. That's a long time to contemplate your navel.”
Del chuckled. “Not my style. I'm helping Maya Farlow with some promotional videos for the town. To support tourism and the new slogan.”
Nick's brows rose. “Seriously?”
“It's no big deal.”
“You were going to marry her, and when she dumped you, you left town. Mom was hysterical for weeks. That Maya?”
“Yes, and thanks for the recap.”
“You're welcome.” Nick studied him. “You're really going to work with her?”
“So it seems.”
Del thought about seeing Maya. She had become an interesting combination of the girl he remembered and someone completely different. Still gorgeous, but beautiful women were easy to find. She was smart, and he liked that. Conversation was as important as sex, in his world.
“We were friends,” he told his brother. “There's no reason for that to have changed. Besides, I'm grateful for what happened.”
“That's an interesting way to look at it.”
Del thought about the life he'd had planned. Before Maya, he'd been ready to take over the family business and live out his days in Fool's Gold.
“Because of her I got to travel and see the world. There's a whole lot of interesting stuff going on out there. If I'd stayed, I would have been miserable.”
“Even with Maya?”
A question he couldn't answer. Nor did he want to try. If Maya had married him...
For a second he allowed himself to picture a house with a yard and a couple of kids. Maya pregnant with a third. Could he have been happy with her? With them?
Ten years ago, he would have sworn the answer was yes. Now, while he wanted the wife and kids, he wasn't sure he could handle the settling down in one place part.
“I'm happy,” he said firmly. Lonely, maybe, but still happy. “What she and I had was over years ago. I can work with her, no problem.”
Nick picked up his soda. “I find it hard to believe you're that forgiving, but okay. I applaud your mature, if slightly puzzling, response to her being back in town.” He brightened. “Hey, make her fall in love with you again, then dump her.”
“When did you get vindictive?”
A muscle tightened in Nick's jaw. “Shit happens.”
Del thought about asking what, but figured Nick would tell him when he was ready. “Thanks for the suggestion of revenge, but no thanks. Wanting to punish her means I'm not over her, and I am. Completely.”
He was a one-woman man, still looking for the right woman. He'd thought he'd found her twice. First with Maya and then with Hyacinth. One of the things both women had taught him was the importance of being honest. With the other person and with yourself. Hyacinth and Maya had lied to him. In different ways, but they'd still withheld the truth. If a woman couldn't be direct and open, he wasn't interested.
Nick raised his glass. “To getting over her.”
Del raised his bottle. He knew who his “her” was, but wondered about Nick's. Not that he would find out. Theirs was a family that flourished on secrets.
* * *
T
HE
N
ICHOLSON
R
ANCH
had been in the Nicholson family for something impossible like five generations. Maya wasn't sure of the exact number. What she knew for sure was how impressed she'd been when she'd first seen it twelve years ago. She'd been a scared sixteen-year-old who'd only ever lived in Las Vegas. Going from barren desert that grew neon rather than actual trees to the ranch had been like something out of a PBS miniseries.
The two-story house had seemed impossibly huge. There had been acres of grass and trees, horses and cattle, along with cashmere goats.
Her mother had hit the jackpot when she'd met Rick Nicholson. They'd dated for two weeks, then had married in a drive-through church. Less than a month later, Maya and her mother were leaving everything behind and moving to California. Maya hadn't known what to expect, but every hope and dream had been fulfilled when she'd first seen the ranch.
It didn't matter that Rick wasn't especially friendly. Being ignored by her mother's new husband was far preferable to the attention from some of the woman's previous boyfriends. She'd had her own room, with a bathroom! Three meals a day and two stepbrothers. While the older brother, Zane, had glared at her with contempt, little Chase had been adorable.
Even more incredible, had been the town. Fool's Gold had been clean, friendly and welcoming. She'd made friends, she'd had teachers who not only knew her name but cared about how she was doing. For the first time in her life, Maya had allowed herself to hope she could have a future. She'd dared to whisper the possibility of going to college.
Now she drove onto the ranch property and headed for the main house. After her mother and Rick had divorced, Maya had stayed in touch with both Zane and Chase. While her relationship with Zane had been more adversarial than familial, she hadn't given up on him. The previous month, they'd reconciled, helped by Zane falling totally and completely in love with Maya's best friend, Phoebe.
Maya parked and grabbed her oversize bag before heading toward the house. She knocked once on the front door, then stepped inside.
“It's me,” she called.
Phoebe, a petite, curvy brunette, stepped out of the kitchen and smiled. “Yay. I love it being you.”
They hugged, then walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe poured them glasses of iced tea.
Maya sat at the old, battered table and watched her friend collect a salad from the refrigerator, along with tiny sandwiches.
“You didn't have to feed me,” Maya said, knowing Phoebe couldn't help herself. She was born to take care of the world.
“I thought you might be hungry.”
Phoebe set the food on the table, then collected napkins and flatware.
She moved easilyâas if she'd always lived in the old house. Even better, Phoebe looked content. Happiness radiated out of her brown eyes. She was relaxed. Every now and then, she glanced at the diamond ring sparkling on her left ring finger. The beautiful solitaire would soon be joined by a wedding band.
Phoebe sat across from her and grinned. “The ranch closed. I got my commission check.”
It took Maya a second to make the transition.
Recently, Phoebe had sold a nearby ranch to action movie superstar Jonny Blaze. It had been Phoebe's last real estate deal before moving in with Zane and probably the only one where she'd made any money. Until the unexpected deal with Jonny Blaze, Phoebe had specialized in starter homesâa challenge in the expensive LA real estate market.
“You're rich,” Maya teased gently.
“I am for me.” Phoebe sounded thrilled. “I have no idea what to do with the money. Zane told me to keep it in a separate account. That I earned it before the wedding, so it's mine rather than ours.”
Because Zane would always take care of her
, Maya thought, still amazed at how falling in love had mellowed her usually tight-ass brother.
“Are you going to listen to him?” Maya asked.
Phoebe nibbled on her bottom lip. “I think it should be ours.”
“Zane has the ranch. Keep the money. You'll feel better having a nest egg.”
“Maybe.”
“You're going to buy him something, aren't you?”
Phoebe laughed. “I haven't decided. So what's going on with you?”
Maya told her about the videos planned for the town. “I'll be working with Del.”
Phoebe's brown eyes widened. “Del, the guy you knew after high school? The one who wanted to marry you?”
Maya shifted on her seat. If only it was that simple. “He's the one,” she said, hoping her tone sounded light rather than guilty.
“What's that like?”
“I don't know. I thought it would be awkward, but he seems fine with us handling the project together.”
“How do you feel?”
“Confused.” Maya pulled the tablet out of her bag. “I told you that Del and I fell crazy in love that summer.”
“Uh-huh. It was after high school, right?”
Phoebe knew enough about her past that Maya didn't have to explain about her mother or how difficult times had been before the move to Fool's Gold.
“I loved him,” Maya said, feeling the guilt forming a knot in her stomach. “But I was so scared. Scared of what getting married would mean. Scared of getting stuck.”
“Scared you'd turn into your mom.”
Maya nodded. “I always knew that there wasn't going to be a white knight on a horse riding in to rescue me. I knew I'd have to rescue myself. But with Del, I started to believe.”
“Loving him wasn't enough,” Phoebe said quietly.
“It wasn't. The closer we got to the date when we were going to run off, the more I started to freak. I finally had an opportunity to break free. To make something of myself. Was I really going to give that up for a guy?”
Phoebe leaned toward her. “Did you ask him about that? About going to college with you or finding some kind of compromise? Did you tell him you were scared?”
“No.” Maya swallowed. “I dumped him. I told him he was boring and this town was boring and that I didn't want anything to do with him. Then I left.”
The truth was, she'd run. Away from Del, away from Fool's Gold. Part of her wondered if she was still running. Fear was a powerful motivator.
“Ouch. You never talked to him again?” Phoebe asked.
“Not until a few days ago, when he walked into Mayor Marsha's office.”
“How was he?”
“Fine. Friendly. Charming. He didn't say a word.”
“How do you feel?”
“Guilty,” Maya admitted. “Like I have to apologize. But the timing is tricky. We're working together. I don't want it to be weird, but I owe him an apology and an explanation. Even if he has completely moved on, I need to do it for myself.”
“Then you have a plan.”
“I do. I also need you to look at a video I did. It's a story about him. I have no idea how Mayor Marsha ever saw it, but she did and mentioned it to Del. So I'm going to have to show it to him. Can you watch it and tell me if it's okay?”
What she really meant was, were there signs of unrequited love or anything else remotely humiliating? But she wouldn't have to say that to Phoebe. Her friend would understand what she meant.
“I love watching your work,” Phoebe told her. “Let's see what brilliance you've created.”
Maya set her tablet on the table, then cued up the video. While Phoebe watched it, she crossed to the family room and took in the changes her friend had made.
The chintz chairs and dark red sofa had been replaced with large couches covered in warm, family-friendly fabric. The walls had been painted and the artwork moved around. Fresh flowers in pretty vases had been scattered around the room.
Phoebe couldn't help improving everything she touched, Maya thought, a little envious of the skill. Phoebe had never cared about ambition. Her dreams had been about belonging.
They'd met in college. Phoebe always told the story as if Maya had rescued her from loneliness and obscurity, but Maya knew it was the other way around. Her friend had been a rockâone of the few stable relationships she'd been able to count on.
Zane had been there, too, Maya thought. In his own curmudgeonly way. And Chase. But Chase was a kid, and Zane and she had had some difficult times. Being friends with Phoebe had always been so very easy.
Phoebe looked up from the tablet. “You're so talented. I love this. You bring Del alive. I've never met him and I already like him. I love how you take us on the journey as he goes from extreme sport media darling to supercool businessman.” She looked at her watch. “In what? A three-minute segment? There's nothing to worry about. This is an impressive story told by a news professional.”
Maya returned to the table and took the tablet. “Thank you. I don't deserve the compliments, but I'll accept them because I'm needy.” She paused. “So there's nothing...”
Phoebe shook her head. “No unrequited like, let alone love. Don't worry.”
“Thank you.” Maya dropped the tablet into her bag. “Enough about me. Tell me what's going on with the wedding. Are you freaking out yet?”
“No, but it's in my eight-day plan.” Phoebe grinned. “Actually I don't think I have to freak out. Dellina Ridge is planning everything and she's so into the details. Oh, that reminds me. We're going to have a fitting for our dresses soon. I'll let you know the second they come into the store.”