Cowboy at Midnight (16 page)

Ryan was pleased to welcome all his guests, but the one who surprised him the most was his long-
lost brother, Teddy, who as a baby had been stolen away from Kingston so long ago by Josiah Talbot. Now a successful rancher in Australia, Teddy had found the Fortunes when the media covered the story of the successful return of baby Bryan and made reference to legendary rancher Kingston Fortune having lost his infant son, Theodore, so many decades ago. That and the crown birthmark he bore told Teddy he had an even bigger family than his wife and four children.

There was, however, one person who wasn't happily settled—Clint Lockhart. Even after being sentenced to life in prison for Sophia's murder, Clint still craved the sweet taste of vengeance. It was this hunger that led to his escape while getting transferred to another prison. Despite a bullet wound in the leg, he hopped onto a passing freight train and found his way into a trailer outside Leather Bucket. Owner Betsy Keene was so starved for affection that he easily seduced her, convincing her that he'd take her with him when he finally retrieved the money and fake ID he'd had stashed in his old cabin. The gullible Betsy believed that he'd been framed by the Fortunes and agreed that they deserved to be destroyed.

Ryan tried his best to protect his growing family, which now included Teddy's children, Reed and Brody, who'd come from Australia to compare breeding strategies and merge their ranches, and Matilda, who looked forward to freedom from her
domineering older brother, Griff, while helping Cruz Perez train horses on his new ranch. As well, the Double Crown was a home away from home for Ryan's godchild Willa Simms. Little did Ryan know, however, that floating inside his safe harbor was Betsy Keene, the seemingly wonderful new maid—and Clint's eyes and ears.

When Matilda was on her honeymoon with new husband Dawson Prescott, Betsy seized the opportunity to win Clint's favor by shooting the woman. But her bullets missed their target and Matilda remained unscathed, prompting Betsy to persuade Clint to adopt another plan—kidnap Willa for ransom. If he couldn't get a Fortune, Clint reasoned, he'd take the next best thing. But the kidnap attempt was thwarted by Griff Fortune, a covert British Intelligence officer who saved Willa but stole her heart. Betsy Keene was arrested but not before she shot and killed Clint, whom she finally figured was an unredeemingly evil man.

With the Fortunes' number one enemy finally put to rest, Ryan looked forward to the future. He turned over the reins of Fortune TX, Ltd. to the capable hands of nephew Logan, who became the new CEO, and Ryan took on the role of adviser. He found more time for charity work, his family and, of course, his wife. He and Lily had been through so much and it had taken so long for their life together to start that Ryan wanted nothing to stop them from enjoying their golden years as a couple.

Some of the family members with whom Ryan enjoyed spending time with were the triplet sons of his cousin Patrick—the son of Kingston's brother Mark who himself had some skeletons best left in his closet. Patrick, a financier, had settled in New York and with his wife raised five children, all of whom visited the Texas ranch in summer. But it was the triplets—Steven, Clyde and Miles—who fell in love with the Lone Star State and went on to buy a sizable ranch, the Flying Aces, which they worked together.

The family had grown so much that Ryan decided now was the time for the reunion that for decades had been planned but each time disrupted. He and the other Fortunes of Texas set a date in May for the first-ever Fortunes Family Reunion. This time they vowed nothing would stop it.

Ryan once again looked out over his sprawling ranch, now bathed in moonlight, and counted his blessings—for health, for wealth and mostly for family. The aging patriarch refused to believe that a family so strong, a dynasty so powerful, would once again be the target of cruel vengeance. Ryan smiled as he hooked an arm around Lily. No, that was all behind them. The future looked as bright as the moon.

On the other side of the Double Crown, Rosita Perez awakened in a cold sweat. In the grip of a flash of second sight, the prescient housekeeper was drawn to the window, to the blazing moon
ringed in red. Bloodred… Chills crawled on her wet skin. Her husband, Ruben, might have scoffed at her mysterious power but Rosita felt it in her bones. As much as she wanted to refute it, she knew the inevitable truth. Trouble was coming to the Double Crown and this time nothing could stop it….

A BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING

 

by

Marie Ferrarella

 

You won't want to miss the continuation of
The Fortunes of Texas: Reunion,
a new twelve–book continuity series featuring the powerful Fortune family. Enjoy this excerpt of Marie Ferrarella's A BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING, the second book in the series.

V
anessa Fortune Kincaid threw open the door on the first ring and immediately hugged her dearest friend in the world as the latter began to cross the threshold. Stepping back, Vanessa took a closer look at Savannah Cruz and decided that she didn't like what she saw. Savannah's bright, sunny smile was conspicuously absent.

“Hey, I'd given up on you two,” Vanessa said.

Ushering her five-year-old son, Luke, in front of her, Savannah sighed. “You wouldn't be the first one.”

Vanessa had dropped down to one knee to give her godson a huge embrace. The boy smelled faintly of raspberry jam and peanut butter, his sandwich of choice. “How's the handsomest man in three states?”

Luke beamed. “Fine, Aunt 'Nessa.”

He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, just like his father.

The boy sat down and immediately began playing with toys that Vanessa had set out for him. She ruf
fled the boy's jet-black hair, then walked over to Savannah. She took a seat beside her on the wide cream-colored leather sofa. Savannah was completely over to one side, leaning against one upholstered arm as if she intended to use that to help keep her up.

A touch of concern flitted through Vanessa as she sat down. Savannah hadn't sounded quite like herself on the telephone when she'd asked to come over.

Seeing her didn't alter that impression.

Vanessa grew serious. “What did you mean when you said I wouldn't be the first?” She had a pitcher of ice tea standing at the ready on a tray on the coffee table. Without waiting to extend an invitation, she poured a tall glass for Savannah and one for herself. Two bottles of chilled soda waited on Luke's pleasure.

Wrapping her hands around the glass, Savannah shrugged carelessly. It was a subject she'd just as soon dismiss. But she knew better. Vanessa had a way of hanging on to something once she'd gotten her teeth into it.

Savannah took a long sip of the cool liquid before offering a vague answer. “Just me, feeling sorry for myself, that's all.”

Vanessa gave her a long, penetrating look. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Yes, you do,” Vanessa said firmly. Savannah began to protest, but the words never left her mouth, overruled by Vanessa's deep-seated knowledge of
her that had been gleaned over the years. “You wouldn't be here if you didn't. You know I won't leave it alone until you tell me. When you walk in here—” Vanessa gestured around the house with her free hand “—or anywhere near me, you do
not
have the right to remain silent.” She leaned her body into her friend's, lowering her voice even though she doubted that Luke could hear. He was too busy playing. “Now, what's wrong?”

Feeling empty, weary beyond her years and lonelier than she could remember being in a very long time, Savannah murmured, “Everything.”

Tears suddenly filled her eyes, spilling out. Annoyed, Savannah wiped them away with the back of her hand. “Damn, I still haven't gotten the hang of riding this emotional roller coaster. You'd think that pregnancy the second time around would be easier, not harder.” She sighed, feeling as if everything was conspiring against her. But she knew that if only Cruz would love her the way he used to, everything else would fall into place. “There should be a way to put your hormones in cold storage for the duration, get them back after you push out the baby.”

Feeling for her, Vanessa put her arm around Savannah's small shoulders. “Have you told Cruz what you're going through?”

Savannah drew back and laughed. The sound had no pleasure in it.

“Cruz?” He was the whole problem, not a solution. Although if he'd only change again… “I'd have
to make an appointment to talk to him. And even then he'd probably only break it or, worse, forget to show up altogether.”

Vanessa was very quiet for a moment. There was something in Savannah's face that had her heart freezing. She tried to read between the lines and hoped fervently that she was wrong. “My God, there's isn't another woman, is there?”

Another woman, Savannah thought. If only…

“Well,” she said slowly, “yes, in a manner of speaking there is another woman.”

There might as well have been, for all the time Cruz spent away from the house, Savannah thought. A slight trace of bitterness entered her voice. Who would have thought that the promise of success would do this to them? Money had never meant anything to her. Only love and Cruz had.

“He spends almost all his time with her.” She laughed shortly, the last few months crowding together in her brain, awful in their loneliness. “By the time I get him back, he can hardly make conversation, much less act like the man who made my head spin and my pulse race.”

Vanessa curled her fingers into her palms, trying to curb the desire to beat on Cruz even though she'd grown up liking him. Until he'd married Savannah, Cruz had worked on her father's ranch, the Double Crown. She and her brothers and sisters had grown up playing with Cruz and his sisters, calling him friend.

Now she was calling him something a whole lot less flattering in her mind.

“Well, who is she?” Vanessa demanded. “Have you tried confronting her?” She put herself in Savannah's shoes. “I know if there was some woman who was trying to get her hooks into Devin, I'd knock her into next Tuesday. What's her name?”

“La Esperanza.” Hope, that was what he'd named it. Hope, because that was what it represented to both of them. Hope for a new start, hope for the future. And now it had taken all the hope away from her.

Vanessa stared at her. “The ranch?” she asked incredulously.

“The ranch,” Savannah confirmed. “Cruz refers to our ranch as ‘she.'” The more she thought about it, the more fitting it seemed. “And La Esperanza is a hell of a lot more competition than any flesh-and-blood woman I ever knew.”

At least, if it had been another woman, she'd like to think she'd know how to compete. But the ranch had been her husband's dream ever since she could remember. How could she possibly compete against a dream?

 

…NOT THE END…