Caitlyn's Prize

Frank shrugged and walked out.

She looked straight at Judd, her eyes unwavering. “You think you’ve won, don’t you?”

He leaned back in his chair, the cotton fabric of his shirt stretching taut across his chest. “Yes, I’ve won. But knowing you, I’m sure you’ll flounder along for six months. In the end I will take everything you love.”

Her heart fell to her boots and her words tangled in the remnants of her shattered pride.

“Nothing to say?” he mocked.

“I think you’ve said it all, Judd. If you’re waiting for me to beg, I’d advise you to take a breath, because it’s going to be a long wait.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Beg, Caitlyn? For what?”

“Go to hell.”

He shrugged. “Thanks to you, I’ve been there, and I’m not planning a return trip.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

She swallowed. “Then this meeting is over.”

“Not quite. I take it you are planning to operate High Five.”

“You got it.”

“Your sisters have to be informed of this development. Do you want to do the honors or should I?”

“I will speak to my sisters. We do not need your interference.”

“Fine.” He rested a forearm on the desk, his eyes holding hers. “Give it up, Caitlyn. You can’t win this. Even Dane knew that. Sell now and save yourself the aggravation.”

“You are not God, Judd, and you can’t control people’s lives.”

“Control?” His laugh bruised her senses. “I never said anything about control. I’m helping a friend. Out of respect for your father, I’ve agreed to this arrangement and I will not go back on my word.”

Respect? He didn’t know the meaning of the word.

“You’re a conniving bastard, Judd. I don’t know how you got my father to agree to this.”

“Dane came looking for me, not the other way around.” He spoke calmly, but she couldn’t help but note the curl in his lip.

“And you were there, eager to oblige.”

He suddenly stood, and instinctively, she took a step backward. “I will own High Five and I will take great pleasure in taking it from you.”

She held her head high. “I’ve often thought you were heartless, sort of like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, except he wanted a heart. You, Judd, are lost forever. May God have mercy on your conniving soul.”

“I had a heart but you ripped it out by the roots.” The glimmer in his eyes was the only sign his emotions were involved. “This is reckoning day. I’m taking it all. It’s just a matter of time. I see it as sweet justice.”

She walked out of the room with only her dignity, which didn’t feel like much. Stoically, she marched to the front door. On the silk Persian rug, she paused and wiped the crap from her boots.

Now that was sweet justice.

CHAPTER TWO

“YOU CAN’T STOP WATCHING her, can you?”

Judd tensed, but his eyes never left Caitlyn as she jumped into her truck and raced down the driveway, tires squealing. Fourteen years and she was still the same—breathtakingly beautiful with Hollywood curves, glossy black hair and a smooth olive complexion.

But it was her forget-me-not-blue eyes that always got him. They reminded him of crystal marbles his grandfather had once given him: bright, shiny and irresistible. He still owned them, tucked away in a box somewhere, but he’d long ago found that Caitlyn wasn’t a thing to be possessed.

He turned from the window to face his mother. “Did you need something?”

Renee motioned over her shoulder. “I just saw Caitlyn leave.”

“Yes.”

“Then you told her?”

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you smiling? Why aren’t you happy?”

He blew out a breath. “I don’t really want to get into this.”

“Well, sorry. I do.” His mother walked farther into the room, flaunting her usual you’d-better-listen stance. As a kid, he’d hated that tone in her voice. He wasn’t crazy about it now.

“I’m not in the mood.”

Renee placed her hands on her hips. In her late sixties, she was an active woman. After Judd’s dad’s death, shopping had become her favorite exercise and pastime. She never interfered in Judd’s life and he liked it that way.

Of course, she’d never been a big part of his life. Judd had been five when she’d left Jack Calhoun and him. Judd then had the stepmother from hell.

After that marriage fell apart, his parents had miraculously reconnected, remarrying when Judd was twelve. By then there was a gulf between him and his mother that couldn’t be bridged.

“From the tires squealing on our driveway, I assume she didn’t receive the news well. But what woman would? You take her livelihood away from her and—”

“I did not take it.” He tried to control his voice, but the words came out too loud. “Her father sold it.”

“Why couldn’t you have worked out a loan so payments could have been made? That way Caitlyn would have had a fighting chance.”

“Why should I care about giving that woman a fighting chance?”

“Because—” his mother lifted an eyebrow that said she knew him better than he thought “—in fourteen years I’ve lost track of the number of women you’ve gone through to forget Caitlyn. I thought Deanna was the one, but the next thing I knew you weren’t seeing her anymore.” Renee took a step closer. “You haven’t forgotten Caitlyn, so why not admit it and try to make this work?”

“Mom, you know nothing about this. You have no idea how much money Dane owed.”