Sweet Texas Fire (7 page)

“What? You cannot be serious,” he yelled while Oil Slick jumped and meowed in annoyance. She couldn’t believe her eyes—that tiny cat had the power to make him bend down and scoop her up and murmur softly to her.

“I’m sorry, but I am serious. I don’t think I want to sell after all.”

Still holding the cat, he looked at her, his eyes cold with anger and disappointment. “Why would you hold land when Texas isn’t even your home?”

“How do you know it’s not my home?”

“Oh, come on, you’re Australian. You’re probably here on a work visa and work contract. All those things expire.”

“So what if I’m Australian? It doesn’t mean I have to go back and live there. I love it here. And my company wants to hire me permanently, so they’re going to sponsor a green card application for me.”

Yeah, she was bending the truth a little. Looking into the prospect of helping her obtain a green card was a bit different than actually going ahead with it. They’d cautioned her there could be unforeseen obstacles.

But she didn’t want to think there could be issues. She was hoping that by the end of next week her application process would be started.

“I don’t understand any of this,” Gage muttered and put the cat back on the ground. “What the hell was the old man thinking?”

“I can’t answer that. And I truly am sorry, Gage. I told you I liked Sweet Ridge when you came to my office. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed coming here until last night when I pulled into town. Now that I’ve seen the place”—she waved a hand behind her encompassing the house—“I know Jack must have worked out that my true home was here in Texas, and so he gave me one.”

Gage snorted. “Oh, that’s just so
lovely,
isn’t it? My father, the insightful one. Well, if he was so damn insightful, why did he leave me with twenty-five percent of a company I don’t want to own and have no interest in, as well as a stupid key with some cryptic note? He promised me, dammit, he promised me this land.”

“I’m sorry, Gage. I know it must be frustrating for you to think you were getting something only to have it snatched away.”

“Save it. You know nothing. I don’t think it’s necessary to have lunch now,” he retorted before he stormed toward his car, Oil Slick scampering behind him.

Her heart bled a little as she took in the house and the surrounding land. As much as she might dislike Gage, she didn’t enjoy hurting him. Why did this land mean so much to Gage? Why was he fighting so hard to get it?

Why
did
Jack leave it to her?

“Geez, cat, will you leave me alone?” Gage plucked Oil Slick off his desk again and put her on the ground. A second later she jumped back up and walked across his keyboard before sitting down beside his left hand. A mass of jumbled letters stood in the middle of an e-mail to a surveyor requesting a further assessment of a piece of land in Louisiana. He erased the letters Oil Slick had thought needed to be included in the e-mail, then quickly finished it. He hit send and closed down the program so the cat couldn’t edit any more e-mails.

Even though the price of oil was at an all-time low, Gage wasn’t going to sit on his laurels. Now he had a little time to investigate potential new sites so that when the price did indeed increase, and it would, he would be ready. Of course, he wouldn’t have to make so many new plans if he’d inherited Dad’s land. The likelihood of him owning it at all seemed impossible now. Especially after his run-in with Charlotte last weekend. He’d not even heard from her during the week with regard to more requests to make his rigs and operations safer on the environment.

He sighed and opened his desk drawer to pull out a fresh notepad and start brainstorming some ideas on possible new drilling sites instead of thinking about what might have been and Charlotte’s e-mail silence.

Gage spied the note and key his father left him, sitting in the drawer. Instead of grabbing the pad, he picked up those items.

He didn’t need to look at the note. The words were imprinted on his mind.

Was he happy? He liked to think he was. Although he wasn’t entirely happy at the moment. But prior to hearing that he couldn’t buy the land off Charlotte, he’d been pretty damn happy with his lot in life.

And what was this
everything
his father was going on about? Did he mean achieving all his dreams and goals? Or was Dad talking about personal possessions? That seemed unlikely, considering Jack Cooper didn’t hold stock in owning a lot of useless possessions. If it couldn’t be used or worn, then it wasn’t worth owning.

Oil Slick head-butted his hand. Without thinking, Gage scooped the little cat up and leaned back in his chair. It was clear the kitten was happy by the way she purred against his chest. Oil Slick had everything she needed: food, drink, the middle of his bed.

Making sure he didn’t disturb the cat, he leaned forward and picked up the key. He’d looked through more images on the Internet the previous night to see if he could find something similar. He came up blank. It only reinforced his assumption the key belonged to a custom-made lock.

Only problem was, he couldn’t recall ever seeing anything in his father’s house that would fit the key. Although he hadn’t been into the house for a few years, so Dad could’ve purchased the item the key belonged to and he hadn’t known about it. Perhaps he should take another visit to Sweet Ridge and bug Gavin to let him check out the attic. Maybe the key belonged to something hidden up there.

“So, what do you think Dad means, Oil Slick?” he asked the kitten as he rubbed her ears. “If I find the object the key belongs to, do you think it means I’ll find happiness?”

What he would probably need was admission into the psych ward at the local hospital if anyone found him talking to a cat.

His e-mail pinged, signaling incoming messages. He watched the screen as at least ten e-mails loaded up, but one in particular stood out—both by the person sending it and the subject line it contained. He tried not to get his hopes up just because the subject line read
Sweet Ridge Land
and the sender was Charlotte. Why was she e-mailing him on a Saturday morning? Maybe she was visiting Sweet Ridge again and had some questions about the land. It certainly wasn’t because she’d had a change of heart and now wanted to sell it to him.

He clicked it open.

Okay, this wasn’t what he expected, but he certainly wasn’t going to let his pride stop him from finding out what she wanted.

“Well, what do you know,” he said to Oil Slick. “Our luck could be changing.”

He gave the cat a quick pat on the head and then picked up his cell to dial Charlotte’s number.

It rang for a while, and he expected it to go to voice mail when the call connected.

“Hello, Charlotte speaking.”

His body perked to life hearing her breathless tone in his ear. “Hi, it’s Gage. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Oh, hey, Gage, no, I was just on the treadmill when you called. Sorry it took me a while to pick up.”

He wanted to ask her what she was wearing. He could picture her dressed in spandex, a crop top and those tight little shorts. Her long legs running rhythmically on the treadmill. Those same legs wrapped around his waist as he drove into her. He needed to go get laid if every time he spoke to Charlotte, he had fantasies about sleeping with her. God, she wasn’t even really his type. He didn’t go for redheads.

“Hello, are you there?”

He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. “Yeah, I’m here. Ahh, listen, I got your e-mail.”

“Great, so does that mean you’re free to meet?”

“Yeah, I am. Where exactly do you live?”

“I’ve got a place down in the Galleria District.”

“Galleria District. Right.”

“Is that a problem?”

Her accent made the question come out all prim and proper. “No, in fact, it’s quite convenient. I live in the Galleria area, too.”

“Oh, well, okay. That’s handy.”

“How about we meet at the Waterwall?”

“What time were you thinking?”

He glanced at the time on his laptop. “Why don’t we make it midday? I’ll pick up some food and drinks, and we can eat and talk about whatever it is you want to talk about.”

“Sounds great. See you then.”

“Bye.”

The call disconnected. Anticipation fired through him. He hoped whatever Charlotte had to say, it would include the words “
I’ll sell you my land.
”

• • •

Gage walked over to where the water thundered over the high granite walls. The Waterwall was a unique tourist attraction in Houston, and on a Saturday afternoon there were a lot of people taking photos and filling the park area.

He had no idea where Charlotte was; he should’ve made a point of arranging a meeting point.

“Hi, Gage.”

He whirled around, the greeting he had lodged in his throat. Wearing a pale blue halter dress that stopped just above her knees, Charlotte looked like a sexy goddess. Her hair was loose and covered her shoulders, the glossy strands glowing in the sunlight. If he didn’t have his hands full of food and drinks, he would have run his fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked.

“Hey. You look lovely. That color suits you.”

He could tell he’d surprised her by the way her green eyes widened. Hell, he’d surprised himself.

“Uh, thank you.” She nodded toward the brown paper bag he held and the drinks in the cardboard holder. “And you got food. I brought a blanket.”

“Okay, let’s find somewhere to sit.”

“That works.”

He headed down the steps and made his way across the grass, where he found a space beneath a tree. Within seconds Charlotte had the blanket laid out.

“What food did you get?”

Gage kneeled down and placed the bag of food and the drink container in the middle of the blanket.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a garden salad and some fried chicken. As for drinks, I played it safe and got you a Diet Coke and myself an iced tea.”

“Oh … Diet Coke.”

“What? You don’t like Diet Coke?”

Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t like diet sodas.”

“You must be the only girl I know who doesn’t like diet drinks. Would you like the iced tea then?”

“Is that okay?”

“Sure. I don’t mind Diet Coke.”

“Thanks.”

He opened the containers of food and handed Charlotte one of the plates the café had supplied to go with their lunch, then watched as she filled it up. It was nice to see a woman put a decent amount of food on her plate. The last couple of dates he’d been on before his dad died would’ve freaked if he’d turned up with fried chicken.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

“You know, there really is no cute way to eat fried chicken,” Charlotte said conversationally.

“Sometimes the best-tasting food can’t be eaten pretty.”

“True. This is good, but it doesn’t beat Betty Lou’s fried chicken. That is the best chicken I’ve ever tasted. I suppose you’ve had it a ton of times?”

“No, I haven’t. I never went there much.”

“What? Why?”

He could understand her disbelief. It was a well-known fact that Betty Lou’s was the place to go. He and his brothers and dad had just never gone.

“It’s true. The Cooper family never went into the diner.”

“But why?”

“The story I was told, Mom didn’t like Betty Lou and demanded Dad not eat there. Dad is nothing but loyal, so he respected Mom’s request and we never ate there. Even after she died, he never went there.”

“Well, something changed. The first day I was in Sweet Ridge I had lunch there, and that’s where I met Jack. He sat down and ate with me.”

This revelation should’ve shocked Gage, but with the way his father had acted with regard to the will, it didn’t. It made total sense Jack would’ve started to frequent the diner. Everything his father had done the last few months of his life seemed out of character.

“Well, we’ll never know his reasons for his change of heart.”

“You miss him, don’t you?”

How did he answer that? He had a lot of regrets where his relationship with his father was concerned. If only they’d had a little more time to fully resolve their issues. Although before he died, Dad seemed to give the impression that all was forgiven. Maybe he’d been wrong and Dad hadn’t completely forgiven and forgotten Gage’s mistakes.

“I guess I do. I wish I’d said a few more things to him. Explained why I’d done the things I did.”

“Life is always full of regrets. Sometimes you have to accept that, no matter how hard it is.”

Gage shrugged. In principle, acceptance seemed the logical course of action. In reality, forgiving himself for his shortcomings wasn’t something he could do.

“Do you have any regrets, Charlotte?” He turned the question on her to take the heat off him.

“I think I do.”

“What do you mean, you think you do? Either you do or you don’t.”

“Well, I regret not being more open with some of the kids I met on my dad’s various overseas assignments. As an ex-pat kid, it’s better not to get too attached to the people you associate with. As you said, contracts end. You move on to another school. Another group of people. Another place to call home for a couple of years.”

He had always thought of traveling as an exciting prospect. Until he started working on the oil rigs. He’d worked on some all over the world, and soon tired of living out of a suitcase. He’d been glad when his investments had paid off and he could buy a fifty percent share of the company that had hired him. The timing had been perfect, and he never looked back. After a year of becoming a part owner of the company, he’d taken full ownership when his partner wanted out due to ill health. The fact that Gage was twenty-five at that time had been an achievement within itself.