Authors: Ruth Cardello
Sarah looked back and forth between Charles and Melanie. “Do you both want to go?” she asked. “We can watch Jace again.”
Melanie met Charles’s eyes and smiled gently. “No, I can wait for Charles to come back because I know he will.”
Charles nodded.
“Where are you going?” David asked in a disapproving tone. Tony stood at his side, looking even less pleased with Charles.
Sarah restated the situation quickly. David nodded slowly, then said, “I know people in New York. One of my marine buddies is a cop in Brooklyn. He could help.”
Tony added, “I’ll call Dean. He’ll want to come with us.”
“You’re all coming with me?” Charles asked, genuinely surprised.
Tony hooked a thumb in the loop of his jeans. “We’re family. That’s what families do.”
Charles didn’t have time to question Tony’s change of heart. “Okay. Then we leave in thirty minutes. I have a private plane at the Telson airport.” He looked past the group to the porch, where Jace stood, and said, “But first I have to do something.”
He met Jace at the bottom of the steps. “I won’t be here tomorrow. I have to go back to New York. That means we’ll have to postpone the fishing.”
“Post bone?”
“Do it another day. I have something really important I have to do, but I’m coming back.”
Jace looked him over slowly. “When?”
“As soon as I can,” Charles promised. “Then you and I and your mother will spend a whole day together. Fishing or doing whatever you want.”
Jace looked across the driveway at his mother. “I saw you kiss my mom. Are you two going to be doing that a lot?”
Charles hid a laugh in a cough. “I hope so.”
“Lyle’s mom and his new dad do that all the time, too. They’re having a baby now. Are you going to have a baby with my mom?”
Charles swayed a bit in the face of a question he hadn’t thought much about yet. “I—we—”
“It’s okay if you do, but I want a brother. I don’t like girls much.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Charles said and was relieved when Melanie joined them.
Chapter Twenty-One
O
nce aboard his private plane, Charles started organizing his resources in New York. He called Tanner’s social worker and recorded every shred of information he was willing to give about where h
e’d
come from and where he might go. He called his security team and a private investigator. If the boy was still in New York, one of them would find him. He instructed his secretary to forward all calls directly to his phone.
When he finally set his phone aside, he realized h
e’d
been a one-man show for three curious cowboys. They were sprawled in the surrounding cream-colored leather seats as confidently as if the
y’d
been born to such luxury. It would take more than money and fancy vehicles to impress this group. They were assessing him by what he was doing rather than what he owned, and Charles realized that he respected them for it.
He looked around at the sleek interior of the aircraft. It used to be important to him. H
e’d
needed to show himself that h
e’d
made it.
But he no longer gave a damn about any of it. Making a life with Melanie might mean moving part of his business to Texas, but he was ready for the change.
His future brother-in-law laid his Stetson on his knee. “Nothing yet?”
Charles shook his head.
Dean, Tony’s older brother and the sheriff of Fort Mavis, said, “We’ll find him. People have patterns of behavior. They go to places they know, especially if they don’t have the financial resources to support a real run.”
With one hand fisted on his jeans-clad leg in frustration, Charles said, “I don’t get it. I don’t understand why he left. I set up a trust fund for him with the monies earned from the Unleashed, Unchained video. No, I didn’t hand it over to him, but it was his. All he had to do was enroll in any college and everything would have been paid for. He knew that. I couldn’t adopt him, but I would have found him a place to live. I could have helped him, especially now that he’s of an age that he can make those decisions for himself. Why would he run?”
David rubbed a hand over his chin thoughtfully and said, “When you grow up with nothing, it’s hard to believe anything good could last. He probably figured h
e’d
cut you out of his life before you disappointed him.”
“I missed one fucking birthday.”
Tony leaned back in his chair and watched Charles for a long moment, then said, “And this is the kid who mugged Melanie?”
Charles pinched the bridge of his nose as his head began to pound. “The one and only.”
David said, “He’s been working with him, trying to turn him around.”
Letting out an audible sigh, Tony lamented, “You’re making it impossible to dislike you.”
Charles met Tony’s eyes and decided to lighten the mood with some humor. “I’m sure I’ll compensate in other ways.”
“I’ll still kill you if you hurt Melanie,” Tony said with enough steel in his voice that Charles didn’t doubt he was serious.
Dean piped in, “What did I tell you about death threats, Tony?”
Tony returned his hat to his head, this time placing it so it partially covered his face. “Never in front of the sheriff.” He settled himself back, looking like he was going to nap. “Charlie, we live by a code in Texas. Shoot. Shovel. Shut up. Just remember that.”
David nodded in Tony’s direction. “He’s a miserable bastard, but he’s here and he won’t go home until you find Tanner. That’s how I judge a man. There’s a saying in the horse world: you can’t ride pretty. Often the most important things about a horse or person are not outwardly, instantly apparent. But if you watch both real close, they’ll show you what they’re made of.”
Charles grew uncomfortable beneath the sustained scrutiny. “If you watch me much longer, you’ll see a man who has failed at everything except making money.”
“Until now,” David said simply, leaned back in his seat, and decided to follow Tony’s lead. He closed his eyes and covered his eyes with his hat.
Charles looked across the small aisle at the only other passenger still awake. Dean shrugged and said, “I’m just here to make sure none of y’all get arrested.”
“That’s not something I normally worry about.”
Dean smiled knowingly. “Well, welcome to the family.”
Sarah handed Melanie another cup of coffee and joined her at her kitchen table. “He’ll be back, Mel.”
“I know,” Melanie answered and took a sip absently. “He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean.”
With a smile, Sarah joked, “You got my brother on a horse.”
Shaking her head, Melanie corrected her. “Not me, Jace.” The wonder of that realization washed over her again so she repeated it. “He did it for Jace.”
“Yes, he did.” Sarah sniffed and Melanie realized her normally happy friend was close to tears.
Melanie reached across the table and took her hand in hers. “I’m sorry. Is watching Charles with Jace bringing back memories? I’ve been so self-absorbed lately. I didn’t even think how this could be affecting yo
u . . .
”
Sarah smiled even as a tear ran down her cheek. “You are the answer to every prayer I ever voiced for my brother. You don’t know what you and Jace have done for him. Done for me. You’ve given me back the brother I thought
I’d
lost forever.”
Melanie wiped away her own tears impatiently. “Stop it, Sarah. Now you’ve got me crying. I didn’t do anything.” Her face reddened as an image of the last time she and Charles had been in her kitchen flashed in her mind. “Well, nothing I could tell anyone about.”
That returned the smile to Sarah’s face. “I told my parents about you. They want to come down and meet you.”
“Oh boy,” Melanie groaned. “I wonder what Charles thought of that.”
“He barely talks to them. I sure he doesn’t even know I called. I hope that being with you will help him with that, too. He and my father used to be close. Charlie was a mini Dad. Then after Phil passed, it all just fell apart.
We
fell apart. I thought it was something that was irreversible, like losing Phil. But I see now that it doesn’t have to be. They said the
y’d
come when Charlie invites them. Last year I would have said that meant never, but now I’m hopeful. Charlie’s going to make that call. I know he will. And when my parents meet you, they’re going to love you as much as I do.”
Swallowing hard, Melanie asked, “They won’t wonder why he chose someone like me?”
Sarah straightened and was suddenly uncharacteristically angry. “
Someone like you?
How can they not love you? You raised a wonderful son. You’ve been a good friend to their daughter. And now, you’ve made Charlie happier than anyone ever dared hope w
e’d
see him again. You need to stop looking at yourself through the lens of everything you’ve done wrong and see everything you’ve done right.”
Melanie stood up, walked around the table, and hugged Sarah. “I’m so glad I never poisoned you,” she teased and they shared a long laugh.
Melanie’s heart stopped when her phone rang long after sh
e’d
put Jace to bed that night. “Did you find him?”
“Not yet,” Charles said tiredly.
“I’m so sorry,” Melanie said and went to sit at her kitchen table while she talked to him. “Are the guys still with you?”
In a droll tone, Charles said, “Oh, they’re here. They’re camping out in my living room. I offered to put them up in a hotel, but they said it’s not necessary.”
Unable to suppress her amusement, Melanie chuckled. “That’s real nice of you to open up your home like that to them. I bet they appreciate it.”
“Hard to say,” Charles said dryly. There was the sound of him moving around and settling himself down on his bed. “How are you doing?”
“Missing you,” Melanie said honestly.
“Me too,” he said without hesitation. “We’ll make this work, Melanie. I don’t know how yet, but we will.”
“I believe you,” she said and found that she did—with every fiber of her being. She saw now that the
y’d
needed their time apart. She wasn’t ready for him when the
y’d
first met. She needed to learn to trust herself before she could trust anyone else.
“How is Jace?”
“Wondering why all the other men got to go to the big city while he was left behind. His nose was a little out of joint when he realized who had left with you.”
“
I’d
like to show him New York. There are parts of it h
e’d
enjoy.”
“I would love that.”
After a pause, Charles asked, “What if I don’t find Tanner? I have people looking everywhere for him and we don’t have a single lead. No one will admit they’ve seen him. The only explanation is that he doesn’t want to be found.” The depth of the pain of that admission was evident in his ragged voice. “I don’t know what else to do, Mel. I’m not used to this feeling. I know where he came from and I get sick thinking about him returning to it. I thought I had saved him, but what if I didn’t do enough? What if I failed him?”
Melanie’s heart broke for him and that was the moment she knew she was utterly, irreversibly in love with Charles Dery. “I feel that way all the time with Jace. It’s called parenting.”
Charles barked a short laugh. “Are you saying it doesn’t get better than this?”
“Yep, that’s what I’m saying. But it’s worth it. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for something easier.”
“If I find him—”
“When,”
Melanie corrected him.
“
When
I find him, I want to take him somewhere he can have a fresh start. Do you think a kid who grew up on the streets of New York City could find
redemption
on a ranch in Texas?”
“I did,” Melanie said softly. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Don’t ask Tony if you should bring him, just introduce him to David.”
“He’s a tough kid, Mel. I’ll understand if you wouldn’t feel safe with him around.”
Melanie smiled down at the phone. “You’re forgetting that I’ve already kicked his ass once.”
“Jace—”
“You don’t have to worry about Jace, Charles. Tanner won’t be coddled, but he will be loved. There’s no better place to learn your manners than here. We’ll have him saying ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir’ in one shake of a polecat’s tail.”
Charles chuckled. “Are you putting on your Texan for me? You don’t talk that way.”
Chuckling along with him, Melanie admitted, “You caught me. But it sounded good, didn’t it?”
“Not as good as some other things I’ve heard you say.”
“Such as?”
“The way you say my name when you com
e . . .
somewhere between a whisper and a cr
y . . .
I’m getting hard just thinking about it.”
“Charles—”
“Yes?” he asked shamelessly, fully enjoying himself.
Melanie settled back in her chair and closed her eyes. “Keep talking.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I
t was day three of looking for Tanner; Charles was more and more determined to find him. After scouring every hospital and morgue, he had shed his suit and joined his Texan posse on the streets. The PI h
e’d
hired had come back with a couple of leads, but nothing that panned out. Charles and his posse had walked what felt like every street in New York and the surrounding boroughs. The
y’d
entered neighborhoods Charles had previously never even driven through and questioned everyone from the homeless to mothers in the park. Young men, old men, clerks at convenience stores. No one admitted seeing Tanner.
He was there, though. Charles could sense it. He knew when he asked one of the previous foster brothers, and the boy refused to look him in the eye when he answered, that he was close.
Along the way, Charles saw a side of the city h
e’d
never known existed. The neighborhoods h
e’d
once dismissed, upon closer acquaintance, revealed communities as complex as they were in need. He met a volunteer at one of the shelters h
e’d
supported. She was handing out backpacks of books and cheap toys, and explained that often the children had nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
His search for Tanner put a face on what h
e’d
always distanced himself from. In the past he would have felt ashamed, but his journey was inspiring him to get more involved. He would never again be cavalier about which cause he donated to. It wasn’t about being invited to all the right fund-raisers, it was about this—the people those charities helped. When he went home that night, he gave a sizeable donation to the charity he knew supported the volunteer h
e’d
met. He wanted to make sure those children kept getting those backpacks.
Where would this revelation take him? He wasn’t sure, but he knew h
e’d
never be the same.
It was late in the evening when Charles let himself into his penthouse, and he wasn’t surprised to see Tony, David, and Dean sitting on his white furniture eating from take-out containers. But his eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he saw Mason, tie loosened, jacket thrown on the seat behind him, eating right along with them and looking like h
e’d
known them for years.
Mason nodded at Charles in greeting and motioned toward the other men with his fork. “I love your new friends. Where were they when I was studying for that role in
Lone on a Mountain
? I could listen to them talk all day.”
“That feeling is not reciprocated,” Tony drawled.
Mason smiled and mimicked Tony’s accent. “See, even when he’s insulting me it sounds cool. Reciprocated. You have to say it real deep, like you just finished smoking a cigar and downing a whiskey.”
Tony stood. “A person’s friends say a lot about who they are.”
“Hard to believe he’s a senator,” Dean said, watching Mason flip back his long bangs and dig into his bag of chips.
Mason shrugged and smiled at Charles. “My advisers say I should throw my hat in the next presidential election.”
“God, no,” Charles said with a laugh and sat down on one of the empty chairs.
“That’s what I said,” Mason laughed. “Have you seen how fast presidents age? It’s all stress. I’m fine with what I’m doing. Besides, no one is electing me as I am and
I’d
make a porn long before
I’d
put myself through the stodgy makeover they say I need.”
David coughed, choking on a chip.
Dean tossed back his head and laughed.
Charles laughed along with Dean while directing his next comment at Tony. “I see your point, and yet I turn to him frequently for advice—so judge me as you will.”
Between bites, Mason opened a beer. “On a serious note, did you hear anything?”
Charles shook his head sadly. “No. Nothing. I’ve started paying people for tips, but they aren’t giving me anything that pans out. Wherever Tanner is, he doesn’t want me to find him.”
“You’ve only been looking a couple of days,” Mason said. “He’ll turn up. I had a cat once that went missing. I thought he was gone for sure. He waited until I bought a kitten before he showed back up.”
David raised a brow as if he were studying a unique specimen he found fascinating. “You have cats?”
Mason shrugged. “Sure. They’re clean. They’re easy. I’ve been told that having them is proof of my sensitive side. Women love that.”
“Tanner isn’t a cat, Mason. He’s a scared kid,” Charles said.
“Touchy, touchy,” Mason chided his friend. “Technically, he’s not a kid, either. He’s eighteen. If he wants to throw away his life, that’s his choice.”
Charles stood angrily. “If you’re not here to help, why are you here?”
Mason put down his beer and stood, too. “This man-child you’re looking for, make sure you know what you’re doing. And why you’re doing it. Do you honestly care about him or are you trying to prove something to yourself?” He looked around. “And your new friends.”
“You think I give a damn what they think about me? What you think of me? I’m going to find this kid and I’m going to do my best to get him off the streets.”
Mason nodded and sat back down. “Okay. Good. What do you need me to do?”
Charles released his tension in a long sigh. “I’m going door-to-door right now. Do you have any better suggestions?”
Mason took out his phone and sent a quick text. “Let me see what my people can do. None of them are local, but they might know someone you don’t. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.”
Charles checked his phone. “It’s getting late. Melanie is probably waiting for my call. I should—”
“According to these fine gentlemen, you’re engaged and didn’t call to tell me.”
“She hasn’t technically accepted,” Charles said, not comfortable with the direction the conversation was going in or how rapt their silent audience was.
“How did you ask her?”
Charles shrugged and grimaced. “I told her.”
Mason slapped a hand on his knee. “Hold it right there. You went all the way down there to see the woman you’ve been moping over for months and all you did was tell her you two were getting married? Did you give her a ring?”
Charles shook his head. “It wasn’t like that.”
With a groan, Mason looked around the room. “Am I the only one who sees a problem here? Do I have to explain women to all of you?”
Dean nodded in agreement. “I have to agree with Mason. Women like to tell each other about how they were proposed to. What is Melanie going to say?”
Charles struggled to defend himself. “I—we—shi
t . . .
”
Tony’s smile held a hint of a smirk. “All that money and you didn’t even get her a ring?”
“Oh,” Charles said sarcastically, “like you probably did any better.”
Tony glared at Charles.
Charles glared back.
Mason stood and said, “Don’t worry. I have the perfect idea.”
David sat forward in his chair. “I’m intrigued and that doesn’t happen often. If he says something I agree with, I’m going to have to rethink my entire impression of him.”
With a huge smile, Mason said, “It happens all the time. People don’t think someone as attractive as I am could also be brilliant. But I am.”
He walked over and gave Charles a pat on the back. “You are going to thank me for this. It’s genius.”
Melanie rolled over in her bed and smiled when her phone rang. She knew it was Charles before even checking caller ID. They used their phones to video chat every night and talked for hours. Although she couldn’t wait to be back in his arms, there was something intimate and special about conversations that happened outside of their physical attraction to each other. The
y’d
been lovers first, but they were building a real friendship—and what Melanie had thought was love was deepening with each talk.
“Did I wake you?” he asked in a low voice.
“No, I was waiting to hear from you.”
She loved his deep, sexy laugh. “Can we get a babysitter for the first night I come back? Make that two nights.”
Melanie blushed. “Jace does go to school.”
“For what, six hours? That might be enough time.”
With a chuckle, Melanie said, “If either of us wants to be able to walk the next day,
I’d
say that’s plenty.”
“I’m sorry this is taking so long. I thought
I’d
have found Tanner by now.”
“Of course I want you here, but this is good, too. In a different way.”
“I know what you mean. I can’t remember the last time I was on the phone for more than five minutes if it wasn’t a business call.”
“I’ve never been much of a chatterer myself.”
“I wait all day to hear your voice, though, so maybe you should consider becoming one.”
Melanie smiled into her pillow. “I can’t stop smiling whenever I think about you. Jace keeps looking at me funny. He’s never seen me like this.”
“David has been telling me about a pond in the valley. You and I should take Jace fishing there when I get back. We can pack a lunch—make a day of it.”
“He would love that.”
“Would you?”
“More than I can express in words.”
“Good, because I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said about parenting.”
“Yes?” Melanie held her breath.
“I understand now why you couldn’t come back to New York with me.”
“And?” Melanie said just above a whisper. Her heart started beating double time in her chest.
“I was thinking of only my needs when I wanted to uproot you and Jace. I see that now.”
“What are you saying?”
“You were wrong when you said
I’d
be bored in Texas. When I’m there, I can be myself. Not someone trying to forget the past. Not someone clawing my way to the top. Just me. Just Charlie.”
Melanie wished they weren’t separated by so many miles, because she wanted to throw herself in his arms just then. “So which one should I call you? Charles or Charlie?”
“Whichever one you like bette
r . . .
” he said in his deep, bedroom voice.
Melanie rolled onto her side. “I like Charlie and that’s the man I want my son to know.” She lowered her voice to what she hoped was sexy level. “But Charles is really good in bed.”
Charles groaned. “You’re killing me. How am I going to sleep now?”
Melanie tossed her hair over one shoulder and chuckled. She felt young, alive, and beautiful. Both Charles and Charlie had given her that gift.