Reunited with the Rancher (Texas Cattleman's Club: Blackmail 3)

Tom turned to her. He had his hands on his hips and he stood close. He had the shadow of stubble on his face and his tangled hair added to his disheveled attraction. He looked more appealing than ever in a rugged, sexy way. She realized where her thoughts were drifting and tried to pay attention to what he was saying.

“Nathan told me that Case Baxter, president of the TCC, plans to have an emergency meeting this coming week. Case agrees with Nathan that Maverick has to be stopped. To do so, they need to learn Maverick’s true identity. I’m going to that meeting, and I’d like you to come with me.”

“Sure, I’ll go. But I don’t think I can help in any way.”

“It won’t hurt, and the more of us who are informed and keep in touch with Nathan, the more likely he’ll be able to catch Maverick. If you go, remember, Maverick may be sitting in the audience.”

She shivered. “That’s creepy.”

“Hopefully, his emails and threats on social media won’t escalate into violence, but no one knows right now. What he’s doing now is bad enough. He hasn’t really hurt us, but he could have, and he can hurt others badly.”

After a pause, Emily steered the conversation to an equally unpleasant topic. “Tom, when we’ve waited a bit, we need to sit down and talk about the divorce and how we’ll divide things. I was so angry when I filed. The picture was so convincing.”

He nodded. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem dividing up the ranch, the house, the cars or the plane.”

“You can definitely have the plane,” she remarked, and he gave her a fleeting smile that made her smile in turn.

“I’ll sign the divorce papers. We’re there anyway, and you can have a life.”

She turned away before he saw tears in her eyes. He was right. They were as good as divorced now, and she couldn’t give him children. Their marriage had such devastating memories. Even so, it still hurt when divorce became reality; she had filed and the papers were in his possession. It was one more big loss in her life and this one she took responsibility for because she’d been unable to get pregnant again. If she had been, it would have held them together. She’d wanted so badly to give Tom another child like Ryan. There was adoption—Tom had been willing—but it wasn’t the same and she was against it. She wanted to have another child like Ryan.

Now she and Tom were estranged, and if they got divorced, they could each go ahead with life. But it was difficult to imagine ever loving another man.

And it didn’t help that Tom had proved Maverick wrong and was trying to help her. It was easy to file for divorce when she was so angry with Tom because she thought he had deceived her. To know that he was still the same guy she had always admired and trusted made the divorce hurt.

“Emily?”

She blinked in surprise, turning to face him again. His eyes narrowed, and he studied her intently. “I’m sorry, Tom. My thoughts drifted back to Maverick,” she said, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She suspected he could guess exactly why she hadn’t heard him.

“You said you’re going back to Royal from here. Let me grab a sleeping bag and a few things. I’ll take you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but before she said a word, he waved his hand. “I’m taking you to Royal. Tomorrow we’ll come back and get your car. I’d just as soon let everyone see us together—it’ll give me pleasure. Hopefully, the damned troll will see us and realize that email did no harm. Far from it. How’s that for a plan?”

She shrugged. “I have a feeling if I didn’t like it at all, I would still end up doing it. I think you’re right about letting Maverick see us together. That gives me a sense of getting even with the troll.”

“We can flaunt that we’re getting along. It doesn’t take long for word to get around Royal.”

“I agree. While it’s good to be seen together, you don’t need to stay with me,” she argued again. “I’ll be in town, where I can call for help at any hour and someone will be right there.”

“I’m staying, Emily. This is someone with a grudge and you’re on the list. That was a damn hateful message you received. Look at the results. You filed for divorce. If rumors started, they could have hurt Natalie, which in turn would have hurt her kids. Frankly, I’m not ready to divorce you when it’s because of a bunch of lies from a vengeful creep.”

“You have a point, Tom,” she said, wishing he had said he didn’t want the divorce for other reasons, yet knowing he was right. “And while we’ve been talking, I’ve been thinking—Maverick has to be somebody who lives in Royal, or has lived in Royal until recently, to know this about you and Natalie and to know to send the picture to me.”

“That’s right.” He looked down at his dusty boots, his mud-splattered jeans. “Can you have a seat inside and let me take a quick shower? I can be speedy.”

“You were never speedy when I showered with you,” she teased and then blushed. “I don’t know where that came from,” she said. “Forget it.”

“Hell, no, I won’t forget it,” he said, his voice getting soft. “You were teasing like you used to, and that’s allowed, Emily. We can have some fun sometimes—let it happen. We’ve got too much of the sad stuff. At this point in our lives, it really isn’t going to change anything to have a laugh or two,” he said.

She nodded. “I suppose you’re right,” she said quietly, thinking he was the way he used to be before the bad times set in. Relaxed, kind, understanding, practical, sexy. He had been fun, so much fun, so sexy. She waved her hand at him. “Go on, Tom. Shower. I can go get the CPU while you’re in there.”

“Nope. I want to be with you. This Maverick bothers me, I’ll admit. I can’t imagine why you’re on anyone’s hit list. That’s worrisome. You’re softhearted, generous—”

“Oh, my! We’ve turned into a mutual-admiration society, thanks to a troll.”

“It’s not thanks to the damned troll. It’s time we have something between us again that isn’t sad, even if it’s just for five minutes.”

“Tom, I agree with everything you just said. For just a few minutes, it was sort of the way it used to be, at least a tiny bit,” she said, suddenly serious, thinking it was a lot better than not speaking and avoiding each other. “I know we can’t turn back the clock, but we can at least be civil to each other.”