Part 17 (1/2)
”You could have told me what was going on. You could have called. You could have asked me to come home.”
There was a short silence. ”But I didn't do any of those things for a reason.”
He'd always had to pull everything out of her. She was so unlike Mallory who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. ”What reason?” he asked.
”You're so strong-willed, Reed. I was afraid I couldn't stand up to you. Sometimes I...I just can't tell you what I want to tell you. This way I could. I met Jack before you left, and I didn't want to admit how I felt. He knew right away we were right for each other, and I guess I did, too. But I was afraid to rock the boat, and I didn't want to have to tell you or your family. But your going away seemed to be a blessing. He's right for me, Reed. I belong with him.”
He could make his ego feel better and tell her he'd gotten married-apparently she hadn't contacted his parents and didn't know. Yet what purpose would that serve, especially when he'd be divorced before he went back? The thought of that divorce made him feel a lot worse than Stephanie's letter had. There was some a.n.a.lyzing he had to do here, but he wasn't going to use Stephanie to do it or make her feel bad in the process.
”Thank you for calling, Stephanie. But I'm fine. You did what you had to do. I wish you and your husband much happiness.”
After another minute or so of good wishes and goodbyes, he hung up the receiver. With what Stephanie had said playing through his mind, he stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. Mallory had laid out a change of clothes for herself.
She looked up at him, her expression serious, her eyes asking him questions he didn't know the answers to. In the expectant silence, he knew she was waiting for him to explain the call, to acknowledge what had happened between them, to let her know what happened next. But a lot of it depended on her.
”Stephanie just wanted to check in and make sure I was okay.”
The silence between them grew long until Mallory asked, ”Do you still have feelings for her?”
Yes, he still cared about Stephanie, but... ”We knew each other for a long time, Mallory. We were friends before we got engaged.”
”I see,” Mallory responded, and he wondered exactly what she saw.
When she didn't say anything else, he knew he had to get to the heart of their relations.h.i.+p by asking, ”Are we going to be sleeping in the same bed tonight?”
She looked startled for a moment, then her eyes flashed with the same indignation he heard in her voice. ”I don't think that would be a good idea. In fact, on Wednesday I'll try to pin Dawson down on an exact date when he's going to be back and I can move into his apartment. That would be best for both of us.”
When she went into the bathroom and shut the door with a click, he swore, knowing there was nothing he could do about Mallory leaving, knowing what had happened in the barn wasn't about to happen again anytime soon.
The smell of horses and leather and raring-to-go excitement rode heavy on the evening air as Reed walked with Dawson outside the bull pens. Mallory, along with Gwen and Zane, Dallas and Maggie, Cruz and Savannah, sat up in the stands near the roping gates, waiting for the rodeo to begin. When Dawson had asked Reed if he wanted to go look at the bulls, he'd nodded. Mallory was staying as far away from him as possible. She'd told Dawson she would save seats for everyone from the Double Crown who hadn't yet arrived.
Reed stopped to study one of the bulls who would either win some cowboy a purse or throw him to the dust.
Coming up beside him, Dawson said, ”Mallory seems quiet tonight.”
It was an opening, but Reed didn't know if he wanted to take it. ”She gets quiet sometimes.”
”You know,” Dawson began casually, ”it's amazing how much I learned about her through the letters she wrote and our phone calls now and then. Tonight I think she's more than quiet.”
Reed glanced at Dawson. He was wearing jeans tonight and boots and a Western-cut s.h.i.+rt, but he still looked more like a chief financial officer than a cowboy. He was the only one who knew the whole truth about their marriage and maybe he could help Reed figure out Mallory. ”I got a phone call yesterday from my former fiancee.”
Dawson leaned a hip against the bull pen's rough wood. ”I see.”
”What do you see?” Reed asked. ”Stephanie's married now. End of story.”
A gate clanged and a trio of cowboys strode by before Dawson said, ”Mallory probably doesn't figure it quite that way. Are you sure this marriage of yours is simply one of convenience?”
Thinking about yesterday in the barn, Reed wasn't sure about anything. There was no way he was going to tell Dawson he'd taken his sister to bed. ”I'm just making certain she's kept safe until you can do the job. I've got a life back in Australia, and she's told me over and over again she wants to put down roots here, independent of a man who might try and tell her what to do or force her into something she doesn't want.”
”That all might be true, but it doesn't mean that she can't be jealous.”
”Mallory? Jealous? Of Stephanie? She doesn't even know the woman.”
”But she probably has a vision of her in her mind. I know you say this is just a marriage of convenience, but if it weren't, she might think you're comparing her to this woman you were engaged to.”
Could Mallory think he was comparing her to Stephanie? Is that what this was all about?
They started back to the stands and had pa.s.sed the entrance gate when Reed glanced at the bleachers and saw Ryan and Lily making their way up the steps. Then he spotted Brody and Matilda buying sodas from one of the concession stands. The smells of popcorn and French fries mixed with the scent of hay and animals.
b.u.mping Dawson's elbow, he said, ”Come over here. There's somebody I want you to meet.” Matilda was just stuffing change into her pocket when he came up behind her.
”Howdy, cowgirl. Ready to ride those saddle broncs?” Reed asked his sister with a grin.
Swinging around quickly, she smiled at him. ”As ready as you are.”
”Matilda, this is Dawson Prescott. Dawson, meet my sister, Matilda Fortune.”
Dawson looked a bit startled as his eyes seemed glued to Matilda and pa.s.sed over her tousled braided hair, over her wrinkled T-s.h.i.+rt and jeans, to the tips of her dusty boots. ”I thought your sister was older,” he commented to Reed.
Reed wondered about the sparks in Dawson's eyes as he kept looking at Matilda.
”Just how old do you think I am?” Matilda asked Dawson, a slight snap to her tone.
”Eighteen?” he guessed.
”Try twenty-one,” she said with a smug smile. ”Now maybe I should guess your age.”
Dawson didn't look any too happy to have been challenged but shrugged gamely. ”Go ahead.”
Her gaze swept over him as his had swept over her. ”Thirty-three.”
”Thirty-two,” he corrected with a frown.
”Guess I'm a better judge of age than you are, even though I am young.”
Reed knew his sister, and her back was up. Before this got ugly, he knew he'd better step in. ”Dawson is Mallory's half brother.”
Soda in hand, Brody came to join them, and Reed introduced the two men.
Dawson shook Brody's hand. ”I'll be spending the day with you tomorrow, helping you familiarize yourself with the files and any other information you might need at the offices.”
”Reed told me you're head honcho of finances over at Fortune. I'm looking forward to getting started.”
”I have to fly out again on Friday, but in about a week, I'll be back to stay for a while,” Dawson explained.
”It will probably take me that long to get acquainted with everything.”