The Texan's Forbidden Fiancée

He didn’t understand the anger he had glimpsed in her eyes a few times. Why was she angry? She had done what she had wanted to do and put her career first. He shrugged, refusing to worry about it. It no longer mattered. He was honest enough with himself to admit it still hurt sometimes but he had put it in perspective and moved on.

As they reached the back door of his ranch house and his chauffeur stopped the limo, Jake opened the door. “Thanks, Chauncy,” he said, tipping his chauffeur in spite of the generous salary he paid.

“Night, Jake,” Chauncy said, following his boss’s orders for informality when it was only the two of them. Chauncy drove on to the garage to park the limo and go to his spacious apartment over the six-car garage while Jake entered his house.

In a short time he called Madison to tell her he had sent the map copy. Their conversation was brief and then she was gone.

Then he spread the maps on a table in his study and compared the ancient one with the one he had of Madison’s ranch, which was an aerial view. He had already picked out what he thought the most likely places to search, but he wanted to see what she chose. He could hardly believe it. He’d wanted to do this for a long time and now it was finally going to happen. Adrenaline pumping, he could barely contain his excitement. He had energy to burn, so turning off the light in the study, he went to the gym to work out. If all went well, he was in for some hard physical labor in the coming week.

* * *

Monday morning Jake flew to Dallas and went to his downtown office on the twentieth floor of Calhoun Energy. His office was half the floor with a reception room, his private office with its own entrance, the executive conference room, a room with a bar, a bathroom and a small workout room. On the floor above were two penthouse apartments with terraces.

Before Jake could call, Josh phoned and said he was on his way up. Jake was glad Josh was in town. Even though he had an investment in Calhoun Energy, he had his own hotel business and was gone more than he was in Dallas. In minutes his brother came striding into his office. His straight dark brown hair was neatly combed and he looked every inch the successful hotel mogul with his gold cuff links catching the light as he swung his arms. The gray suit and matching tie provided contrast for his brown eyes and dark looks.

“Good morning. How did it go last night?” he asked, sitting in a leather chair facing Jake, who leaned back in his chair behind his desk. Morning sun slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him.

“Excellent. I have permission to search on her ranch.”

“Hot damn! That’s perfect. So she bought it. Any stipulations?”

“Yes, she had one. The hitch you predicted,” he said, thinking each sibling reacted in a customary way and Josh was the cynical, study-all-angles-first brother.

“She wants someone from her ranch to go along,” Josh surmised.

“She does. More than one. In fact, she’s going with me.”

“Uh-oh,” Josh said, narrowing his eyes. “Do you think she wants to renew old times?”

“Not even remotely. She doesn’t trust me and she wants to see for herself.”

“She’s going to join you if you dig for buried treasure?” Josh asked, making a tent of his fingers in front of his chest. One booted foot rested on his knee.

“No, she won’t dig. I’m guessing that she’ll watch or sketch while she waits. Whatever she plans to do, she is definitely going with me.”

“Don’t ever trust her.”

“I don’t think you need to give me that advice,” Jake answered.

“I suppose not. So what happens if you find something and she’s there?”

“The treasure is hers as we planned. We get the remains. If any remains are Milans, she can have them.”

“What about the deed? If it’s there, she’ll see it.”

Jake nodded. “If it’s buried with the treasure, yeah. If we find it, she’s going to want to see it. At that point, I’ll drop the part about the McCracken land because she’ll know that I knew all along if there was a deed to land, it was Milan land.”

Jake sat forward in his chair. “You know, I wonder if it’s a tall tale—that our ancestor won part of the Milan ranch in a poker game and the deed was buried with that treasure.”

“You’ll have to take on about the bones of our ancestors like they mean the world to you.”

“I’ll worry about Madison. If that deed exists, I want it. According to what we were told, the deed would give us Milan land all along our border and that would be fabulous.”

“I think so,” Josh said, his brown eyes twinkling. “You’d get revenge for old man Milan telling you that you couldn’t marry Madison, to never go near her again.”

“I don’t care about revenge. That’s the past. If we have a deed to part of their ranch, I want that Milan land. We’re not the only company going after leases there,” Jake said, knowing that all his siblings owned shares in Calhoun Energy, just as he had an investment in Josh’s company.

Josh ran his fingers through his hair that sprang away and curled in a tangle. “Have you called everyone to tell them?”

“Yeah, I called you, too, and no one answered.”

Josh grinned. “I got your text. When you called, I was with...a friend.”

“The redhead?”

“No, she’s gone. Sandy is a brunette. You’ll meet her, maybe. Or maybe not.”

He paused as they heard voices outside the office and he watched their oldest brother, Mike, and their sister, Lindsay, appear from his private entrance.

“Good morning,” Mike said, standing and gazing at his brothers with wide dark brown eyes. Locks of his curly black hair fell slightly on his forehead. He shed his brown leather jacket, draped it on a coatrack by the door and hung his brown broad-brimmed hat on the rack.

“Come in and sit. Where’s Scotty?” Jake asked about Mike’s two-year-old.

“Home with Mrs. Lewis.”

“Lindsay, I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”

“I had to get some supplies and Mike talked me into coming. This is great news.”

“Madison was suspicious of my motives at first, but then she bought it and said that I can look for the treasure,” Jake explained and all three siblings cheered. “You two have a chair,” Jake said and Mike sat in the other leather chair while Lindsay took a wingback.

“And Madison thinks the deed gives you land from the McCracken place?” Mike asked.

“Right,” Jake replied. “From what I’ve always understood, until now, no one outside our family knows about the deed.”

“Thank heavens,” Josh remarked.

“Madison’s going with me on the dig. That’s the only way she would agree.”

“That’s bad news,” Lindsay remarked, frowning. “You can bet her brothers will be thinking up ways for her to take advantage of this. She’ll try something sneaky.”

Mike shook his head and rolled his eyes. “She wants to get back together with you.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Jake answered. “Madison doesn’t trust me to tell her if I find the treasure. It’s that simple.”

“Watch her. I don’t think it will be that simple,” Mike said. “I agree with Lindsay. Don’t ever trust a Milan,” he said and Jake’s eyebrows arched.

“What happens if you do find the deed?” Lindsay asked.