Lone Star Reunion

Gus smiled at her, a sweet, slow smile that was part devil, all charm. “Now, where are you wanting to live, Rosie? With me? My wife might have something to say about that.”

She knew he was teasing but she was too nervous to smile. He’d adored Sarah. How was he going to react to her suggestion?

“You can tell me anything, Rose.”

“I want to move into Sarah’s house. I feel at home there, like she would be happy I was there, happy that I made you happy.”

Gus’s hands covered hers. “She missed you so much, Rose.”

“I know. I missed her, too.” Gus’s wife, Sarah, had been her closest friend and Rose didn’t know if she’d ever forgive herself for walking away from Gus and her best friend, the two people who knew and loved her best. How stupid young people could be! And that was why she felt no compunction in meddling in Daniel’s and Alex’s lives. If they couldn’t see the wood for the trees, she’d damn well provide them with glasses and a chainsaw.

She had more to say and she might as well get it all out there. “I’d like Alex and her brother to choose what pieces of Sarah’s furniture they’d like, and if there’s anything special of hers you’d like to keep, I’d understand but—”

“But?” Gus asked gently.

“But I’d like a house of my own. I inherited most of everything that’s in this home from my parents and great-grandparents and Ed didn’t see the point of buying new when old worked as well as new.” She was being silly but maybe Gus would understand. “I want my own stuff, Gus, new stuff. Our stuff.”

Gus nodded once. “Then that’s what we shall do, darlin’. And maybe Daniel and Alex can move in here. Alex will want to renovate and redecorate, do all that stuff new wives want to do but old wives don’t let happen.”

Rose grinned. Hearing Hector approaching her, she turned her attention back to him and smiled. “I am so sorry. We’ve been so rude. Tell us how you tracked down Daniel. And why did it take you so long?”

* * *

Alex looked out of the window of the private jet and saw the familiar landscape of Texas thousands of feet below her. In a half hour they’d be on the ground, and she and Daniel would be hurtled back into real life.

Dammit.

Real life meant deadlines and doctor’s appointments, conversations with Gus and Rose, meetings with Mike. Real life wasn’t lazy mornings, waking up tangled in Daniel’s arms, listening to the sound of gently lapping waves and a gentle, fragrant breeze blowing across her skin. Real life wasn’t fresh fish caught straight from the ocean, skinny-dipping in the cove or in the pool, making love in the outdoor shower.

Real life was grown-up life and she wasn’t ready for it. On the island it seemed a lot easier to imagine staying in Royal, commuting to Houston for work, creating a life with Daniel. Now, a half hour out from that life, Alex once again questioned whether staying in Royal was the right option for her and her child. Was she taking too big a risk believing that she and Daniel could make this work?

Had she been seduced by spectacular sex on a sun-kissed island?

Alex drummed her fingers on the leather-covered armrest of her seat and gnawed her bottom lip, wishing that Daniel would look up, see her nervousness and say something, anything, to reassure her. But ten minutes after leaving Galloway Cove, he’d connected his cell phone to the in-flight Wi-Fi and hadn’t stopped working since.

“Dammit to hell and back,” Daniel muttered.

At least he was talking to her. Sort of. “Problem?”

Daniel lifted his head and grimaced. “More responses to that interview I did on being one of the state’s most eligible bachelors. I have a thousand emails asking for a date.”

“A thousand, really?” Alex asked, skeptical. He was a hot, sexy guy and there were a lot of desperate, lonely women out there, but that had to be an exaggeration.

Daniel turned the phone toward her and she saw the stream of emails on his screen. Okay, there were a lot of emails. “I thought you were picking up emails on the island, so why didn’t you see these then?”

Daniel looked down at the screen again. It took him a while to answer as his finger flew over the small keyboard. “After deleting that first batch, I only checked my private email account on the island. This one is more of a general and PR account.” He flashed her a quick grin. “I’ve opened a few emails and a couple of women did make a contribution to your charity to bribe me to date them.”