Part 3 (2/2)
”Please call me Ryan. We don't stand on formality here. I understand if you need to rest before meeting the rest of the family,” Ryan said with a smile. Then he clapped Reed on the shoulder. ”Something's missing here, boy.”
Mallory had no idea what Ryan Fortune was referring to and she looked up at Reed, but he seemed just as perplexed as she was.
”You two aren't wearing wedding rings.”
Looking chagrined, Reed responded, ”We're going to take care of that in the next few hours. We did everything so suddenly, the rings got lost in the shuffle.”
With a knowing look, Ryan laughed. ”I'd imagine so. Some short honeymoon you had.”
Mallory could feel herself blus.h.i.+ng and knew it wasn't the Texas heat.
”C'mon.” Ryan motioned toward his Cherokee. ”Hank will load up your luggage in the back and I'll give you a ride to your cabin. I had Rosita stock the refrigerator and cupboards for you. I hope that's all right.”
Reed guided Mallory toward the Jeep. ”You didn't have to do that, sir.”
”My pleasure. Just consider it a preliminary wedding present. Mallory, you can do anything you want to the cabin. Make it feel like home. I guess it will be the only one you'll have until the two of you go back to Australia.”
Australia.
Yes, she knew Reed had come from Australia, but she had no idea when he was going back. It didn't matter. As soon as Dawson returned, she could make some real plans and this episode with Reed would be just a memory.
Mallory and Reed rode in the back as Ryan gave Mallory a brief tour of his estate. When he pointed to the ranch house he shared with Lily, Mallory saw that it was huge. It was an adobe structure with sand-colored walls surrounded by a sandstone wall. He told Mallory the arched entryway and wrought-iron gate led into an inner courtyard. As the generations of families grew, they had added another wing. The house was about half a mile from the barn and outbuildings.
They pa.s.sed another ranch-style house, a miniature of the larger one. Ryan explained his son Dallas and wife Maggie lived there. As they rode past fences and gently rolling land, Ryan also pointed out where his sister-in-law Mary Ellen and her husband Sam lived. They were away on vacation but would be home for the Double Crown's summer barbecue next weekend. After another mile or so, they pa.s.sed Ruben and Rosita Perez's ranch-style home, and he explained that Rosita was his housekeeper. Her husband Ruben helped with the horses, or grounds, or wherever he was needed. Their son Cruz now had his own cabin and horse-breeding business at a ranch near his parents' home.
When Mallory thought about a cabin, she thought of logs and rough-hewn beams and plank flooring. But here a cabin took on a different description. They pulled up in front of an adobe with a red-tiled slanted roof. A curving stone walkway led to the door, which had a wooden screen on the outside. The lawn area was small, and a variety of shrubs and blooming plants created an engaging effect. She recognized crepe myrtle, daylilies and a rosebush climbing an arbor along the side of the adobe.
”This is charming,” she said.
Both men got out of the car. Ryan helped Reed with the luggage but at the door, tipped his hat to Mallory. ”I'll leave you two alone for now, but if you want company, come on up to the house.”
Reed unlocked the door and let Mallory precede him over the threshold. Inside, she did find plank hardwood flooring, but the walls were plaster and a fan revolved in the living room's high ceiling. Considering the 90-degree temperature outside, the inside of the adobe was fairly comfortable as a breeze blew in the high, transom-like windows. There was a kitchen to the right, just large enough for the oven, refrigerator, sink and a few cabinets. To the left, Mallory noticed an archway and could see the corner of a bed covered by a tan spread. The fold-out sofa Reed had mentioned was forest green and looked new, as did the pine coffee table, end tables and small dining table flanked by two straight-backed chairs. Only the high-backed wooden rocker by the small fireplace looked as if it might have seen generations of use. A beautiful lamp with a bronze, bucking bronc base sat near the sofa.
Reed hung his hat on a rack by the door. ”Lily had ordered new furniture for the place before I arrived. She told me she'd send a decorator in to spruce it up a little, but I said it wasn't necessary.”
”Did someone live here before you?” Mallory asked.
”Clint Lockhart lived here for years when he worked on the Double Crown until he was sent to prison. It's hard to believe during all that time he hated the Fortunes. Especially since Ryan was his brother-in-law. Both of his sisters married Fortune men.”
”Why did he hate them so much?” Mallory asked, stepping deeper into the room, automatically thinking about what she could do to the place to liven it up.
”He believed Ryan's father, Kingston Fortune, stole his father's land. Ryan says the truth was, Clint's father would have gone bankrupt if Kingston hadn't bought him out. Anyway, after Clint went to prison, Ryan had all the old furniture taken out.”
The room wasn't very big and with Reed only about two feet away, she realized that if they weren't careful, they would be b.u.mping into each other. Remembering how perfectly their bodies had fit together while they'd danced, she walked toward the small bedroom, trying to put that detail out of her mind.
Next to a closet there was a small dresser and a washstand with a mirror. Reed brought her suitcase and cosmetics case into the room and set them on the double bed.
”Are you sure about me taking the bedroom?” she asked.
His eyes seemed to turn a crystalline blue as his gaze held hers. ”I'm sure. I'll only bother you when I have to get in and out of the drawers or the closet. Or to shower,” he said, nodding to the small bathroom.
Its door was half closed and, unbidden, she pictured Reed in the shower...naked- Swallowing hard, she laid her purse on the coffee table and draped her sweater over the arm of the rocker.
When the phone rang, Reed crossed to the kitchen in three long strides and took the receiver from the wall. Arching his brow, he held it out to Mallory. ”It's your mother. Bentley's a fast worker.”
Apparently Winston had gone straight home to San Francisco and to her parents. ”Mother?”
”Mallory, darling. Are you all right?”
”Mother, I'm fine. I don't know what Winston told you, but he tried to kidnap me.”
”Oh, darling. He was right. Working and getting ready for the wedding have just been too much for you.”
”Mother, he tried to force me into his car-”
”Honey, Winston can be forceful at times, I know. He only wants what's best for you, just as your stepfather and I do. I can't believe you married some stranger. George says we can get it annulled, and I'm sure we can. If you just come home, we'll straighten this all out.”
”Mother, he not only tried to kidnap me. I heard him talking to someone on the phone before I left. You and George don't understand how he does business. He's dangerous.”
”Now, Mallory. Winston's business isn't any of your concern...or mine. I'm sure you misunderstood whatever you heard. And you're overreacting. If you would just come home...”
Mallory now realized Winston had shown all of them only what he'd wanted them to see for the past six months. Even now he'd convinced her parents that he wanted what was best for her, and he had them completely buffaloed. ”I'm not coming home.”
”But you must. What will you do there? You can't stay with that man. Someone you don't even know.”
Apparently she hadn't known Winston, yet she'd planned to marry him! Instead of getting into an argument with her mother about her quick marriage, she ventured into territory that had never been safe. ”Dawson is here, Mother.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. ”You know how I feel about him and his mother,” Gloria finally responded.
”Yes, I know. But that's not fair to me and Dawson. Maybe we'll really get to know each other now that I'm here.”
After another pause Gloria Pennington Smythe asked, ”Isn't there anything I can say that will put you on a plane back home to us?”
”No, Mother. I'm sorry, but I can't come home.”
”You just need a little time to see the foolishness of this. Your life is here. Your future is here.” When Mallory didn't react, Gloria sighed. ”All right, darling. In a few days I'll call again to see how you are. Promise me you'll call me if you need me.”
That was the whole problem. She didn't want to need anyone. ”I'll check in every once in a while to let you know I'm perfectly fine.” She loved her mother and she didn't want her to worry. It was just so frustrating sometimes talking to her.
”This man...Winston says he's a Fortune.”
”Mother, please try not to worry.”
”Darling, I've worried since the day you were born. Specifically about something like this. A man taking advantage of who you are, what you'll have someday. Your inheritance will make you a wealthy woman.”
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