Sweet Texas Fire (23 page)

The last page of the letter slipped through his fingers, his own heart hurting at the pain in every word that Dad had written. He leaned back against the cushions of the couch and closed his eyes.

He wished Charlotte was here beside him. He wished he could share this last letter with her. He wished he could’ve shared all the letters with her. The romance between Dad and this Nora was beautiful and fulfilling, just like his father had said. But even Gage could see from the pleading in the words Nora wrote that she was struggling with Jack’s passion for work and his actions toward her. She didn’t say it in so many words, and maybe Gage could see it better because he was an outsider.

But why was Nora so unsure of her place in Jack’s life?

He picked up the letter again. He knew Dad was sending him a message, and as he read the second to last line again, he knew what his father meant. For so long Gage had coveted the land—the land Dad had bought for the love of his life. Dad would never have mined it. It was supposed to have been his family’s home. And he’d kept the house clean and well-maintained in the hope that one day Nora would return. Then Jack placed the letters in the box he had made in the one place he knew they’d be safe.

Always hoping that Nora would come back to him.

Dad had finally given up the hope of a future of happiness on that land. And then Dad had met Charlotte. He’d seen a light in her and had known she would love the land like he had. Had Dad also seen something in Charlotte that he’d known would attract Gage? Had Dad played matchmaker in his last months on earth?

Just thinking about Charlotte caused his heart to ache. Was this how Dad had felt when he saw Nora riding away in a stranger’s car? Gage knew that if he saw Charlotte driving away like that, he wouldn’t be able to go on.

In that instant he knew. He knew with everything in him.

He loved her.

He loved Charlotte with the same intensity that Dad had loved Nora. Deep inside of him, Gage knew that if somehow Charlotte changed her mind and gave him the land, he wouldn’t be able to mine it. The two visits they’d spent at the house had been times he would cherish.

Hadn’t he even imagined a future there with her? A future with their kids. A future where he and his brothers grilled out while their kids played together. And Dad, that wily old bastard, had worked out that Gage needed a woman who would turn his focus from business to love. That was exactly what Charlotte had done. Over the time they’d been living together, he’d found himself becoming less intense about needing to prove himself.

He suspected that, like Dad, he was a one-woman man—and that Charlotte was that woman for him.

The key to everything is happiness.

Yes, he’d been happier than ever with Charlotte in his life, and some of their best times had been at the house in Sweet Ridge. The house Dad had bought for his love—Nora.

He gazed around his stark, soulless apartment. This wasn’t his home. His home was with Charlotte, and he knew exactly how he could show her that she was first in his life, not the black gold that lived under layers of rocks and soil he’d coveted for so long. From now on, he was going to covet Charlotte. Like the line in Dad’s letter, nothing was more important to him than Charlotte and her happiness.

He just had to win her back.

Charlotte dumped her laptop bag on her desk. All she wanted to do was go to the hotel, collapse in a heap, and sleep until she couldn’t sleep anymore. But she knew she would have a million things to catch up on in the office. And judging by the pile of papers in her in-tray, she would be here till midnight.

The day after she’d walked out on Gage, she’d been sent out to the site that had the spill the day of their interview with the immigration officer. The problems had kept coming, so she’d ended up staying a week and a half. And not once had Gage tried to contact her except for one call the night she’d walked out. She had cried herself to sleep that night. The bed had seemed so big and lonely without Gage.

After the third day with no contact from Gage, she didn’t need to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer to know that what they’d shared was over. She had thought he’d at least try more than once to call her. She supposed now that she was back, she would need to contact the immigration lawyer and halt the process for the green card. And she would have to look at flights back to Australia. But before all of that, she had to get through today. The weekend loomed in a few hours. At least last weekend she had been out of town, so she’d had her work to help keep her mind off Gage.

Charlotte yawned again. Sleep had been as elusive as the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. She picked up the top item in her tray: a report about an ecological study of a tract of land and the impact that drilling said land would have on the natural flora and fauna inhabiting it.

The words blurred in front of her. It was hopeless. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything and be useful without sleep. She’d take a few reports home with her and read them over the weekend.

“Oh, hey, Charlotte, I didn’t realize you’d returned.” Meredith stood in the doorway of her office.

“I just got in, but I think I might head home. I’m exhausted—it’s been a long week and half.”

“Yeah, I saw some of the e-mails you sent at all hours of the morning. I don’t think the boss will mind you leaving early, especially since it’s Friday. And I bet you’re anxious to see that yummy husband of yours.”

Charlotte fought to keep the smile on her face. Having to tell everyone in the office that her marriage was over wasn’t something she really wanted to do just yet—although it would have to be said soon. She hated having to tell Allen she no longer planned to stay in the States so she couldn’t stay with the company. There went her chance to get a good work recommendation from him.

“Yes, I am anxious to get home,” she responded, a noncommittal answer at best. “Was there something you wanted, Meredith?”

The sooner Meredith left, the sooner she could get back home—no, to
the hotel
. Charlotte didn’t have a home anymore.

“Oh yes, this parcel arrived the other day, and for some reason I forgot to put it on your desk. I was just coming to do it when I saw you here.”

“Thanks.” She held out her hand for it. “I think I’ll take this and leave now.”

“Have a good weekend, Charlotte.” Meredith waved as she backed out of her office.

Charlotte studied the parcel. It was wrapped in plain brown paper, giving her no idea who sent it, as there was no return address. Whatever was in the box was light. Even though the temptation to open it was strong, she wanted to wait until she could guarantee she wouldn’t get interrupted.

Setting the box back down on her desk, she picked up the pile of mail and took a quick look through it. Nothing was terribly urgent, so it could all wait until she returned to the office on Monday.

Collecting all her belongings and the box, she headed out the office door, wishing that instead of a lonely hotel room, she was heading home to Gage’s welcoming arms.

• • •

The shower revived her so she felt a little more like herself. Charlotte finished blow-drying her hair and walked out of the bathroom. The parcel sat in the middle of one of the double beds in the room. Now she could open it.

She wrestled with the tape. Whoever had wrapped it had done a great job. Giving up on using her fingernails after another one broke, she opened her suitcase and pulled out the small pocketknife she always traveled with. Finally, the tape gave and she was able to get a grip on the paper. She peeled back the layers until she found a rectangular-shaped wooden box. It immediately reminded her of the box Gage had found filled with Jack’s letters. Tears filled her eyes.

Had he read any more of his father’s letters? She dashed away the tears and any thoughts of Gage. What they had was over.

Inside the box she found a small key. Was this some kind of joke? She shuffled through the papers until she found an envelope with her name scrawled across the front of it.

Gage’s handwriting.

Her heart skipped a beat at the symbolic nature of the parcel she’d been sent. Opening the envelope, she pulled out the piece of paper.

Charlotte folded the notecard, and the light caught the diamond of her engagement ring. She hadn’t taken the rings off. She touched the diamond. The rings were so gorgeous and so expensive, more than a marriage that was only a “business arrangement” had really deserved. A marriage based on love deserved the rings that adorned her finger.

She looked at the key and the note. Did she have the courage to go and see him, to hear what he had to say? Could she even trust what he had to say? Had her leaving awakened him to the fact that he didn’t get everything he wanted with a smile and a healthy bank account? Would he even follow through on his declaration and go to the house every weekend? She immediately squashed that thought. While he’d gone back on his word about the survey, she didn’t think he’d go back on this. He’d sent her a note. A handwritten note with a key—exactly like what Jack had left him when he’d died. And Jack had written notes to his Nora. Yes, Gage would wait every Saturday for the rest of his life down at Sweet Ridge.

Charlotte couldn’t let him do that. Even if she didn’t really want to hear what he had to say, he did deserve to a chance to explain.

Plus, she loved him. Her heart hurt thinking of a future without him in it. She could admit she’d let her temper get the better of her that night at the condo. She should’ve waited so he could explain what he’d done. But the hurt at the thought he was playing with her had made rational thinking go out the window.

Decision made, she packed an overnight bag. She would leave tonight and spend the weekend at Sweet Ridge to hear what Gage had to say. And then she’d make a final decision about her future.

• • •

Saturday morning dawned, and restless energy had Charlotte up with the sparrows. She went for a quick run, avoiding the main street so she wasn’t tempted to go into Betty Lou’s Diner. She’d even picked up takeout on the drive down the previous night so she wouldn’t be seen around town. She hid in her hotel room, and, maybe because she knew she was going to see Gage, she slept better than she had in a while.

Now the time had come to head toward the house. She picked up the box with the key and put it into her large tote. Butterflies had migrated to her belly and decided to have a party.

She took a deep breath as she got into her car and started it. The drive would take her about thirty-five minutes. Thirty-five minutes during which she hoped her nerves wouldn’t cause her to pull over and throw up what little breakfast she’d managed to eat after her run. Not even when she and Gage had stood in front of Phil waiting for him to marry them had she felt this nervous. That was the time to feel sick with nerves, not now.

She turned on the radio, and Macy’s sweet voice filled the inside of her car. Fate was playing with her as she recognized the song as the one that she and Gage had danced to twice: once at the Silver Spurs the first time she’d been at Sweet Ridge with him, and the second on their wedding night. This really and truly was “their song”.

Before she knew it, she was turning into the driveway of the house. The surface seemed smoother than it had the last time she’d traveled it. As the house came into view, she gasped in surprise.

“What the hell?” The house had been painted. Flowerpots with brightly colored blooms adorned either side of the steps leading up the porch to the front door. The closer she got, she also saw that the garden beds had been tidied up and new plants filled the freshly churned soil.

Something was missing, though. Gage’s car wasn’t in the driveway, and the garage stood open. That was empty, too. Charlotte looked at the clock in the car. It showed five minutes after eleven. Her heart plummeted to the soles of her feet. So much for him being here every Saturday.

She parked her car and grabbed her tote bag. The smell of fresh paint still lingered in the air. She had to admit the house looked sparkling bright with the fresh coat of paint.

As she reached the front door, the realization struck that she’d forgotten her key. She slapped her palm against her forehead. How could she have been so silly? She now remembered putting the key in her bedside drawer the day they’d returned from the last trip she and Gage had taken.

But she did have another key, didn’t she? Reaching into her tote bag, she pulled out the box Gage had sent and opened it. The shiny metal winked up at her. It looked too new to belong to this house, but it was all she had. Plucking it from its velvety cushion, she inserted it into the door lock and turned. It gave easily, and breathing deeply, she opened the wooden door.

Multiple scents and sights assailed her when she walked in. Her tote slipped off her shoulder and landed on the floor.

Her previously partially empty house now appeared to be fully furnished. The wooden staircase gleamed with furniture polish. The living room looked exactly how she’d envisioned it that first night she’d spent together with Gage, sharing her dreams of the house while cuddled with him on the air mattress.

Charlotte walked through to the kitchen, tears filling her eyes. Again, it was exactly as she’d wanted the kitchen to be. The cupboard doors looked brand-new with their new stain. The walls were a light but fresh yellow. The wall she’d talked about demolishing had been torn down, creating the open-plan layout she’d hoped it would.