Lone Star Valentine

Lily nodded sadly. Figuring she might as well tell him the truth about this, she looked him in the eye and admitted, “It wasn’t just you who had reservations from the get-go.” She pressed a thumb to her sternum. “I knew I wasn’t meant for him, any more than Bode was meant to be with me.”

A muscle worked in Gannon’s jaw. “Then why did you embark on a whirlwind affair with him?”

A hard question that deserved an honest answer. “The excitement of it all. I was at the end of my law school years. Thirty-two months of nonstop studying and stress, and the worry over whether or not I would pass the bar exam and/or get a job upon graduation.”

“Which you did,” Gannon reminded her.

“Yes, but at that time, I was so overwhelmed. It all seemed like an impossible quest.”

He stepped behind her and kneaded the tense muscles of her neck and shoulders. “You should have come to me.”

His touch was heaven. Lily melted into it. Closing her eyes, she reminded him softly, “You weren’t available. I think you were dating Melinda. Or was it Cassandra—or Marilyn then?”

He shrugged. “Can’t remember.”

Lily bit down on an oath. “Exactly.”

He stood there, patient and evidently ready to turn back the clock again. “Those relationships weren’t important to me.”

Lily moved off again, determined not to be another one in his long line of women. “Even more on point,” she said, exasperation coloring her low tone. “I have responsibilities now, Gannon.” She stepped behind her desk. “I can’t afford to get involved with the wrong guy for all the wrong reasons.”

He studied her, arms crossed over his broad chest. “So you’re offering me what exactly?”

She slayed him with her best don’t-mess-with-me look. “The same thing I was offering you before. A good enduring friendship—if you want it. And that’s all.”

* * *

GANNON WAS STILL thinking about what Lily had offered him, or rather not offered him, the next day, when a disreputable-looking pine-green pickup truck made its way up the lane and parked next to the stable. He smiled as Clint McCulloch, a childhood friend and next-door neighbor, got out and ambled toward him. At six foot four, Clint was an inch taller than Gannon, and athletically fit as ever. Like Gannon, Clint had dated a lot but never come anywhere close to settling down. A fact that frustrated the heck out of the available interested women in his path.

“Heard you were back.” Gannon extended a welcoming hand.

Clint shook hands firmly. “For good,” he said. “And since you’re here, too, at least temporarily, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

Gannon slipped bridles over the heads of the three horses remaining on the ranch. Attached reins. “Name it.”

Clint moved back to give him room to work. “I need some volunteers for the pony rides at the chili festival. I saw you’re judging on Friday and Saturday evenings, but the kiddie stuff is all being held Saturday morning.”

Given Lily’s decision to stay as far away from him as possible, at least when it came to any physical encounters, Gannon figured the busier he was, the better. It would help him avoid temptation.

Not that this situation would go on for long. As soon as he wrapped up the sale of the Triple M Ranch land to the development company, he would be headed back to Fort Worth. There, his demanding work as partner in a top-notch law firm would not leave room for much else.

And wasn’t that ironic.

In law school, Lily had been all work and no play.

Now she was ready to kick back and enjoy more out of life in the small town where they’d both grown up.

Whereas he was focused only on success, to the elimination of most everything else that was distracting—and pleasurable.

Who would have figured...?

Realizing his friend was still waiting for his answer, he opened the stall doors. “Count me in.”

“Thanks.” Clint accepted the reins on a mare, then followed Gannon and the other two horses out of the barn to the pasture.

It was a nice February morning. Temperature in the low fifties, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The kind of day that could make Gannon wish he still lived in the country. Or at least had enough time off to enjoy the great weather, and wide-open Texas ranch land.

They unhooked the reins and stepped back to let the horses move freely about. A chestnut, speckled white and inky black, they were all a beautiful sight.

“Heard you’re going to sell to Rex Carter,” Clint continued.

Gannon pumped water into the troughs. “The land, maybe—depending on how much he offers and what he plans to do with it. Not the house. My mom is set on keeping that and at least one hundred of the five hundred acres surrounding it.” But the rest of the land was his to sell.

Clint studied the unkempt condition of the ranch land, along with the even more overgrown property to the south. “Think you’ll regret it somewhere down the line?”

Gannon turned to the man who’d ridden the junior rodeo circuit with him when they were teens, then gone on to become a champion in the adult circuit while Gannon had quit competing altogether and went on to college and law school. “Are we talking about you now—or me?” he ribbed.

Clint’s demeanor grew remorseful. “I wish I had held on to the place when my four sisters and I inherited it ten years ago instead of selling it to city folk who let the entire ranch go to seed. And then have to use all my savings and negotiate like the dickens to buy it back.”

Gannon slapped him on the shoulder, aware they all had their regrets. His own was chiefly Lily. “Well, it’s yours now.” And Gannon was happy for his pal.

Clint helped Gannon put out some feed. Then eventually asked, “What about your horses? Are you planning to keep them or are you going to sell them, too?”

That was a tricky question. Gannon exhaled. “I hate to—these three have been part of our family since I was a kid. But on the other hand, although they’re being well cared for, they’re not being exercised enough. But if you’re interested...?”

Clint shrugged. “I could board them for you, if you like. Free of charge—if you’ll let me use them in some of the riding and roping lessons I’m planning to give. That way they’d still be yours, and you could still ride them whenever you did come back home.”

It was the perfect solution to yet another problem of downsizing. So why was he hesitating? Why was he once again yearning to saddle up and ride whenever he wanted and thinking about how his life had been in simpler times? He had made his decision about where his future lay. Hadn’t he? Was okay with the hefty price extracted from working 24/7?

Clint looked at him.

“Let me mull it over,” Gannon said.

In the distance, another vehicle turned into the lane and sped toward the ranch house.

“Expecting someone?” Clint asked.

Gannon caught sight of the satellite dish affixed to the top of the white-and-blue van and swore. Just what he did not need.

He wondered if Lily had her hands full, too.

* * *

“YOU HAVE TO get that statue out of the town square,” Marybeth Simmons declared. “Sooner, rather than later!”

Lily looked at the delegation of fifteen community leaders standing on her front porch. Farther down the block, a vehicle came to a halt; a door opened and closed. But from where she was standing, Lily could not see who it was.

Deciding to concentrate on those already there, she lifted a calming hand. “Look, I know it wasn’t what we all expected. But I think we ought to give it a chance, maybe—”