The $10,000,000 Texas Wedding

“True,” Cal began, but he didn’t continue because Tuck and Spence arrived. There were several minutes of greeting each other and exchanging comments about their lives. Then the beers arrived and the newcomers stopped talking to take a drink.

Cal leaned forward. “Ask me your question. I’m not a lawyer.”

“Cal—” Mac began, but Gabe ignored his friend.

“I want to know who’s the man in Katherine’s life.”

Cal sat back in his chair and stared at Gabe.

“Which Katherine?” Spence asked, frowning.

Tuck stuck his elbow in Spence’s ribs. “Don’t you remember? Gabe and Katie were—friends,” he hurriedly said after receiving a glare from Gabe.

Cal took his time. He leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table. With a sideways look at Mac, he said, “The only man I’ve heard about is Jack Ledbetter.”

“Who’s that?” Gabe demanded, a sick feeling filling his stomach at hearing a name, forcing him to realize the man was real.

Spence stared. “You’re kidding. He’s too old for Katie.”

Those words got Gabe’s attention. “Too old? How old is he? Who is he?”

“You remember Jack Ledbetter,” Tuck insisted. “He and his wife lived about ten miles out of town. She raised German shepherds. Didn’t your dad buy you one?”

“That’s right,” Gabe said with a frown, recalling old memories. The dog, Jericho, died while he was away at college. “Are they divorced?”

“No. His wife died of cancer a couple of years ago,” Cal explained, but he didn’t answer Gabe’s other question.

“Spence is right. He’s our fathers’ age. What is she doing dating someone that old? What’s the matter with her? Is she looking for someone to—” He broke off abruptly, unwilling to say that he suspected Katie was looking for a meal ticket.

“Yeah, I heard about Jack,” Tuck said, “but I heard it was her mother he was interested in.”

Gabe didn’t want to admit the hope that leaped in his throat at those words. “Her mother?”

“Yeah, you remember her father died her senior year in high school,” Tuck said. “Katie’s mother pretty much fell apart. Katie’s the one who pulled the family together. She’s worked like a dog ever since then to take care of all of them.”

Other comments were made, but Gabe didn’t hear them. He’d forgotten about Katie’s father’s death. He’d tried to comfort her, of course, and she’d assured him everything was fine. He’d been coming home on weekends to see her, but he was finishing his senior year at Texas Tech and had a lot going on.

“What do you mean, she took care of all of them?” Gabe asked abruptly, interrupting Spence, who had made a flattering comment about Katie’s shop.

Tuck raised one eyebrow. “Don’t you remember?”

“We moved to Dallas that summer so I could start law school in the fall.” After he’d proposed to Katie and been rejected, he’d wanted out of town. His parents had decided to move to Dallas, too. His mother had never been happy in the small town.

“And you didn’t keep in touch?” Spence asked, a puzzled frown on his face.

“No.” Nothing more. He wasn’t going to remind his friends that the woman he’d loved had stomped all over him and walked away.

Tuck explained, “Katie took a day job at the grocery store and worked nights as a waitress.”

“Was she saving for college?” She’d talked about going to Tech.

“No,” Cal said. “She was paying the bills. Her dad never was much of a provider, but with him gone, they had a lot of bills. With five more kids and a mother who didn’t know how to earn money, Katie became the breadwinner for everyone.”

A sick feeling was building in Gabe’s stomach. “But she married. I mean, her husband must’ve helped out, brought in money.”

Mac snorted in derision. “Yeah, right. Darrell Hill came to town after you left. He worked at the gas station. After they married, he started showing up for work less and less, until he got fired.”

“Doesn’t seem like he was much help,” Gabe muttered. The protective feelings that surged through him were ridiculous. She hadn’t wanted him, or his help. He’d promised to help her get her college degree, too. But she’d said no.

No one said anything.

“How did he die?” Gabe finally asked.

Without any expression, Cal said, “He hit a tree going eighty miles an hour.”

“Drunk?” Gabe asked, determined to know the worst.

“Oh, yeah. We’re lucky he didn’t take anyone with him.” Cal shook his head. “Drinking and driving is about the stupidest thing I know.”

They all nodded in solemn agreement. Then Tuck asked a question about Gabe’s life in Dallas and the conversation lightened.

Gabe, however, couldn’t get the earlier tale out of his head. He still had questions. But only Katie could answer them. And if he asked, if he dug into the past, she’d know that—she’d think that he was even more stupid than her dead husband.

She’d believe he still cared for a woman who’d rejected him ten long years ago.

Chapter Three

The Lemon Drop Shop closed its doors at six o’clock.

For the first time since she’d opened her shop, Katherine was counting the minutes.

“Are my pies ready?” Mabel Baxter asked.

“Yes, they are, Mrs. Baxter. Let me get them,” Katherine replied with a smile. Mabel Baxter had been one of her early supporters and, as a town social lion, where she had gone, others had followed. Katherine owed her a lot.

She brought the two boxed pies from the storeroom and handed them over the counter.

As Mabel counted out the payment, she said, “I heard Gabe Dawson is back in town.”

“Yes, I believe he is,” Katherine said, hoping no one noticed the tremor in her voice.

“His grandmother was so proud of him. She wanted him to return to Cactus to settle down.”

Katherine took the money and thanked Mabel, praying the conversation would end.

“You were high school sweethearts, weren’t you?” Mabel continued.

“We dated my senior year, but Gabe was a senior at Tech. Too many years between us.” A simple explanation. That was the best.