Fortune's Secret Husband

Clarifying that there hadn’t been a marriage? But they had been married, and they’d done what married people do. How did you just wipe that away forever?

Now he reached out his hand to the other side of her cheek and held her face between his palms. “Are you happy?”

“We all define happiness differently. But yes, I am. I have every earthly need met. I’m helping children, so they can have their own needs met. My family and I are closer than we’ve ever been. Amelia’s baby daughter is such a blessing, and I love her deeply. My only regret is that Dad isn’t here to see it all. Sometimes I wake up and my heart hurts because I want him to be involved in all this, too. The Fortune Chesterfields are changing, and I want him to see that change and be as excited about it as I am.”

“I can believe he’s with you, Lucie. I can believe he nudges you in the right direction when you might go in the wrong one. Energy is energy and it doesn’t disappear. Your father could be your personal guardian angel whispering in your ear.”

“And who’s your guardian angel?”

“My guardian angel is a college friend I lost. He died way too young, without accomplishing a quarter of what he wanted to. I feel him sometimes pushing me. Really, I do. And not in the direction my father wants me to go, but one that will give me the most fulfillment in life. Not money, but value. Value that can help horses and people, too.”

“As I said, you’ve matured.”

“And you have grown into a woman many men would be proud to be married to.”

His face was before hers, and hers was before his. Neither of them were blinking. Neither of them were breathing. If she didn’t breathe soon...

He brought his lips very close to hers. “Do you want to kiss?”

“If we kiss, we could be starting something instead of ending it. Is that what you want?”

“I want to know what’s beneath the Lady Fortune Chesterfield facade.”

Lucie thought about her task here for the Fortunes. She considered her upcoming mission in Guatemala and her responsibilities as a Chesterfield. She considered the way her mother had depended on her since her dad died. She didn’t have time for a dalliance.

Chase ran his hands down over her arms and held her hands. “Do you want an annulment?” he asked.

There was only one answer. “Yes. I’m committed to my life. I don’t see it changing. What about you? Do you want it?”

“Oh, yes, I want it. Starting over at my own place, with no one telling me what to do but me, taking responsibility for it all, the horses, the finances and management, the vet bills. I’ve been counting the years until I could do this.”

When he talked about the work, she could see it made him happy. “So one day you’re going to leave your dad’s and not go back again?”

“No, it won’t be like that. I’m grooming someone in my office to take over my position. Jeff has been apprenticing with me, and he can do it. He just needs to have the confidence that he can. I’ll stay part-time for a while until everybody gets used to the idea. Then I can slip away and just be used for consulting services.”

“We’re on the verge,” she said softly.

With his gaze unwavering, he agreed, “We are. I enjoyed breakfast, too. Maybe we can do this again.”

When he tilted his head, she thought he was going to kiss her. It wasn’t full-blown. He kissed her on the cheek. She still felt it all the way down to the toes of her boots. She almost grabbed him and laid one on his lips, but she’d been taught better. Decorum could be everything. She’d never been forward and she wouldn’t be now.

She hurriedly opened her door, slid over to it and dropped her legs around to take the giant step down from the running board.

When it seemed as if he was going to come around the truck, she shook her head vigorously. “No, you stay. I’m fine.” Shaky, but fine.

She could feel his eyes on her as she walked through the glass door into the bank of elevators and greeted the security guard. She pressed the button and the doors swished open immediately. She stepped inside. Fortunately there was only time for a small wave before they closed in front of her.

She breathed a sigh of disappointment, regret, but also joy. She’d enjoyed being with him. She’d enjoyed feeling alive with him. She’d enjoyed the fact that Chase Parker still turned her on.

* * *

At his desk later that afternoon, Chase tried to concentrate on examining the work records, evaluations, and overall résumé of Jeff Ortiz. Jeff was now Parker Oil’s CFO, and had done a bang-up job ever since Chase hired him three years ago. He was a good manager with great public relations skills. Not only that, he was intelligent, informed about the industry and would go far either at Parker Oil or for some other company who might try to steal him. He was Chase’s pick to replace him when he left. The feat would be getting his father on board with the idea.

Turning away from his computer, Chase thought about breakfast as he had on and off all day. He couldn’t shove Lucie out of his mind. Had it been easier ten years ago? He’d had no choice then. If she hadn’t been so young, maybe things would have been different. If he hadn’t been so young, maybe he would have known better what he wanted.

He took his cell phone from his belt, pulled up his contacts and studied her number. She’d given it to him in case he had to reach her about the paperwork...about the annulment...about ending something that had hardly started.

He jabbed the green phone icon.

He half expected her voice mail. After all, she’d said she was going to look at more properties this afternoon with a real estate agent. But he didn’t get voice mail. She answered.

“Hi, Chase.”

Her tone was cautious, but at least she hadn’t avoided his call. Without preamble, he asked, “Are you finished with business for the day?”

“I just got home.”

He hesitated only a moment. “We have about an hour of daylight left. How would you like to see the ranch I plan to buy?”

Her silence lasted a few moments and he realized he was holding his breath. But then she answered, “I can be ready as soon as you get here. But you’d better pick me up on a different level this time. Let’s try level two.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he assured her.

When he ended the connection, he wondered how she lived her life like this. She had to think about every twist and turn in the road, and how the public would view it. When did she ever get to do what she wanted to do? Would she be wearing her wig again?

Standing, he pushed in his desk chair and realized he couldn’t wait to find out.

Ten minutes later, when she ran to his truck and hopped inside, he saw instead of a wig she was wearing a baseball cap with a large bill that practically hid her face. Jeans, a plaid shirt and boots rounded out her outfit. She didn’t look royal, and he supposed that was the idea. She used a persona for her public appearances.

Who was the real Lucie?

They didn’t speak until they were well out of Austin. He noticed her checking the rearview mirror a few times. He had checked it, too. From what he could tell, no one had followed them. She seemed to relax the farther from Austin they drove.

Finally she said honestly, “I was surprised you called...about your ranch.”

She was obviously wondering why he’d asked her to come along. He wasn’t entirely sure. “Maybe I just want a second opinion on the place.”

“No one else has seen it?”

“No one else.”

“How many horses do you plan to run on this property?”

“I’m bringing five over from the Bar P. I adopted two out last month, but I’d like to triple or quadruple that. A lot has to happen first, though. Some horses have to be quarantined. Others need their own pastures. There are no wild mustangs, per se, in Texas. That’s the way most people think about horse rescue. But in stiff economic times, people are abandoning horses on private and public lands. As far as the wild mustangs go, the Bureau of Land Management has adoption events in Texas. I purchased a few, gentled them, and then sold them.”

“It’s a wonderful idea. What made you start doing it?”

“Dad added property to the Bar P when I was a teenager. It was a rundown ranch. The owner was selling. Two of his horses were malnourished and hadn’t been cared for. I convinced Dad to let me take them on that summer. I turned them around. One of them became Mom’s favorite to ride. After Dad’s stroke, I guess I needed an outlet for living there again, something else to keep me occupied while I was there. So I began rescuing horses.”