The Tycoon's Secret Child (Texas Cattleman's Club: Blackmail 1)

“But I will miss Wes. And Abbey! Abbey sleeps with me, Mommy. She’ll be sad if I go away.”

Isabelle sighed. “The dog is not supposed to be sleeping in your bed.”

“We sleep on my couch.”

“Perfect,” she muttered and threw the rest of Caro’s clothes into the suitcase. A cab would be there to pick them up in twenty minutes, and the charter jet was waiting on the tarmac. Sometimes, she thought, it was good to be rich. At least she didn’t have to wait for a commercial flight and chance having to deal with Wes again. “Go get your doll, sweetie.”

“I don’t want to leave Wes. And Abbey. And Tony. And Bobbi. And Sid.”

Isabelle sighed. She hated putting Caro through this. Hated even more that it was all her fault for coming to Texas in the first place. For risking so much. For wanting to believe that she and Wes could share a future as well as a past. She should have known better. But apparently, one heartbreak in a lifetime just wasn’t enough for her.

“Mommy, I don’t wanna go!” Hands were flying and Isabelle wondered how her daughter managed to shout in sign language.

“We have to go.” My God, Isabelle could actually feel her patience dissolving. She understood what Caro felt, but there was nothing she could do to ease any of it. The best thing for all of them was to leave Texas as quickly as possible. Get back to normal. So she stooped to what all parents eventually surrendered to. Bribery. “When we get home, we’ll get you the puppy you wanted, okay?”

Caro’s little hands flashed like mad as her features twisted and her eyes narrowed. “Don’t want another dog. Want Abbey.”

Things had not improved from there. Caro had cried and pleaded and begged, then at last had resorted to not speaking to her mother at all. By that point, Isabelle had been grateful for the respite. But she knew that tomorrow morning when her darling daughter woke up, there was still going to be trouble.

“God, I’m an idiot,” she muttered and sipped at the tea Edna had made for her. Not only was her daughter miserable, but Isabelle’s own heart was breaking. How could she have been so stupid to love Wes again? To hope again?

“Oh, honey, you’re in love,” Edna said with a wave of her hand. “That makes idiots of all of us.”

She lifted her gaze to the other woman. “I never should have let Caro’s heart get involved. How could I have done that to my daughter?”

“She’s his daughter, too, honey.” Sighing, Edna added, “I know you don’t want to hear it right now, but the fact is, he has a right to know her and a right for Caro to know him.”

Disgusted with herself, Isabelle muttered, “Well, if you’re going to use logic...”

Laughing now, her old friend said, “Take the tea up to your room. A couple brownies wouldn’t hurt, either. Get a good night’s sleep. There’ll be plenty of time tomorrow to worry yourself sick over all this.”

“Maybe I will,” Isabelle said and stood up. She’d go to her room, but she knew she wouldn’t be sleeping. Instead, she’d be lying awake, remembering the last time she’d seen Wes and the flicker of guilt she’d read in his eyes.

* * *

“Where the hell did it all go sideways?” he asked the empty room and then actually paused to see if the universe would provide an answer.

But there was nothing. Just his own circling thoughts and the relentless silence in the house. He’d never minded it before. Hell, he’d relished it. Having this big place all to himself—but for Bobbi—had been like an island of peace.

Now it was more like a prison.

And he paced the confines of it all night as any good prisoner should. He went from room to room, staring out windows, listening to his own footsteps on the wood floor. He let Abbey out and stood in the cold January night, tipping his head back to look at the ink-black sky with the bright pinpoints of stars glittering down at him. Then he and the dog, who was yet another female ignoring him, went back into the house and were stuck with each other.

And in the quiet, Wes remembered the meeting that morning. Remembered everyone talking about the merger and how the pictures of him and his family had saved the situation with PlayCo. Recalled that even he had talked about it.

Mostly though, he remembered the look on Belle’s face when he caught up with her in the parking garage. The hurt. The betrayal. He took a breath, looked around his empty bedroom and knew what he had to do. Dawn was just streaking the sky when he picked up the phone.

* * *

“More news out of Texas this morning,” the stock reporter on the TV said. “Renewed talks of a merger between Texas Toy Goods Inc. and PlayCo have ended. Again.” The reporter smiled, checked her notes and continued. “This time though, it’s Wes Jackson, CEO of Texas Toy Goods, who’s backing away. Mr. Jackson confirmed the news earlier today. So far, Teddy Bradford hasn’t been available for a comment.”

Isabelle stared at the television as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “Why would he do that? Why would he call off the merger?”

Chance stood in the middle of the room and shrugged. “Maybe he finally realized there are other things more important.”

She looked at her oldest brother and wondered. About this time yesterday, she’d walked into Wes’s office for a surprise picnic only to have the world fall out from beneath her feet. Now, it felt like it was happening all over again. What was she supposed to think? Why did he stop a merger that he’d been so determined to pull off? Did he expect her to see that report and come running back to him? Oh, God, what did it say about her that she wanted to?

The doorbell rang, and since Chance was up already, he said, “I’ll get it. You stay here.”