The Price of Passion (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches 1)

“Hey, he’s a Wingate, too.” A little pissy, Beth said, “Why does Miles get to choose to stay out of this?”

“Believe me when I tell you Sebastian is with you on that.”

“I bet.” Beth sighed and dropped to one knee while she watched Sebastian arguing with whichever poor soul was on the other end of the phone.

“How’s Gracie doing?” Piper asked.

“I think she’s in shock.” Beth smiled. “When I dropped her off, her mother was making margaritas to celebrate and her little brother was looking up Porsches online.”

“That’s fantastic!” Piper laughed. “I’m so glad for her. But this is going to be hard on her, too.”

“Oh, I know.” Beth was still worried about her friend and the bundle of cash that had dropped into her lap. “I don’t think she’s figured that part out yet. She’s going to be a big celebrity when word gets out and Gracie’s not going to like that.”

“She’s got friends—like you. That’s going to help.”

“I hope so.”

Sebastian hung up and the sudden silence in the room was deafening. His features were tight and grim, and there was a dark gleam in his green eyes. He looked at the family, set both hands on his hips and said, “You heard most of that. The investigation’s ongoing. They’re not saying it was arson, but they’re not saying it wasn’t, either.”

He rubbed one hand through his hair. “If it was arson, that could make the insurance coverage problematic unless we can prove who did it and that we didn’t have a hand in it.”

“No one would think we would burn down our own plant,” Luke argued.

“No sane person,” Sebastian agreed. “But it would put us in the bizarre position of having to prove we didn’t do it. Hard to prove a negative.”

“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” Zeke wondered aloud.

“Good question,” Sebastian snapped.

“What does Nathan say?” Ava spoke up suddenly. Not surprisingly, Keith was standing behind her.

“Nate can’t do anything about this,” Sebastian said. “This is all the fire marshal and the arson inspector.”

“Which means we’re screwed...for now,” Sutton put in. “Is Miles coming out?”

Sebastian frowned. “He’s busy, he said. But I’ll get him out here.”

“I can do that,” Ava offered.

Beth thought that was probably the best way to go. No way could Miles stand against their mother.

Sebastian nodded at her. “Good, Mom. That might work. If it doesn’t, I’ll call him again.” His gaze swept the people in the room, one by one. “Anyone have something to add?”

“Well...” Everyone turned to look at Zeke. He smiled, swiped one hand across his jaw and shrugged. “I do have something. Not about the fire, though.”

“Good,” Sutton said. “I can use other news.”

“This qualifies then.” Zeke looked over at his twin, then announced, “I’m engaged to Reagan Sinclair.”

Ten

Zeke was engaged?

“Since when?” Beth had just seen them dancing together at the fund-raiser. She knew the two of them had been good friends for a long time, but this was the first she’d heard about a romance.

“Since today,” Zeke said, and held up one hand when the questions started flying from every corner of the room. “It’s sort of an engagement of convenience,” he explained with another casual shrug. “To claim her inheritance from her grandmother, Reagan has to be married. So...we’re hoping the engagement announcement will do the trick for the lawyers.”

“Seriously? A fake engagement?” Luke shook his head at his twin.