Texas Rose Forever (Texas Rose Ranch #1) (27 page)

CHAPTER 27

CanDee hated that everyone was going to so much trouble just for her. After lunch the next day, she sat in the parlor, alone—finally—as Cinco had reluctantly left her to go to work.

He, his father, and his brothers had organized the ranch hands into roving patrols. The guards manning the front gate where tourists gathered for ranch tours were on the lookout for Phillip, and she was in the process of filing a restraining order against him. This had all happened in the last twenty-four hours.

There was a knock at the front door and she glanced out the parlor window. The twins, Dallas and Worth, stood side by side. The one on the left held a plastic-wrap-covered plate out in front of him.

She opened the front door.

“We just wanted to drop by and tell you that everything’s going to be okay.” The twin on the right grinned and then pointed to the plate his brother was holding. “Worth made you some cookies.”

Worth smiled shyly and extended the plate. “I thought these might cheer you up.”

She wasn’t particularly depressed but it was nice that Cinco’s family had rallied around her. So this was what it was like to have brothers? It was awesome. Anyone who wanted to bring her cookies was good people.

She took the plate. “Thank you so much. I love cookies. Come in and we’ll see if we can scare up some milk to go with them.”

“Well, I don’t mind if I do.” The twin that she now knew to be Dallas stepped inside.

Worth followed and she closed the front door.

“I know I bought some milk the other day—”

“We have an unauthorized black sedan at the quarry.” The voice was male and came from the vicinity of Worth’s front left jeans pocket.

He pulled out a walkie-talkie, held it to his mouth, and pressed the button on the side. “Say again.”

“There is a black sedan parked behind the shed at the quarry. I can’t see who’s inside.” The voice was male, but she had no idea who it belonged to.

Worth depressed the button. “Okay, we’ll be right there.”

“Rain check.” Dallas held his hand out for her to shake.

“Anytime.” She took it and pumped once.

The walkie-talkie buzzed and then the man said, “Want me to go into the explosives locker and grab some ANFO and blow up the car?”

Dallas and Worth shared a look.

Worth pressed the button. “Um . . . no. I don’t want you to blow up anything. No aluminum nitrate–fuel oil. Got that? No ANFO.”

Dallas shook his head. “Marshy’s new and a little overzealous. This is his first manhunt. We’d better go.”

“I think that would be best.” Manhunt? The Roses took her security very seriously. Not only did she feel safe, but cared for too. “Thanks for the cookies.”

He turned on his heel and headed for the door.

Worth nodded, tipped an imaginary hat, and followed his brother out the front door.

Back in the parlor, she set the cookies down on the coffee table and picked up her laptop and then opened it. Maybe some work on her novel would clear her mind enough so she could tackle the genealogy outline or even a synopsis. Absently, she clicked on her email.

Fifteen items were currently unread in her inbox. Starting from the top, she deleted emails. Once she’d deleted everything from Groupon, LivingSocial, and all of the Yahoo! Groups to which she belonged but didn’t actually participate in, there were only five emails remaining. She really needed to unsubscribe from things she didn’t read. Of the five she recognized four of the email addresses, but the fifth one was a mystery. The title was blank. She clicked on it.

I know your little secret. Meet me today at three at Java Ranch in Fredericksburg or I go to the media and the whole world finds out that the Texas Rose Ranch doesn’t belong to the Roses.

P.

She reread it two more times just to make sure that what she was reading was right. Holy crap. How could Phillip know about the ranch? She rubbed the tense muscles in the back of her neck. So it was going to be the ranch for her next book. What about the next one and the next one? How long would he hold Cinco’s legacy over her head?

Forever.

And she’d give Phillip the next book and the next one and the one after that because she loved Cinco and the ranch was his life. Complete helplessness saturated her soul. If she went to Cinco, he’d tell her to call Phillip’s bluff, but she knew that her ex wasn’t bluffing. He’d do whatever it took to keep himself on top and if that meant hurting people, all the better.

This was an impossible situation. Man, she went from one impossible situation to another. She checked the clock on her computer. It was almost two now. She’d have to leave soon in order to meet Phillip.

Someone knocked on the front door and CanDee jumped about a foot in the air. Like a spy hoarding state secrets, she slammed her laptop closed and tossed it on the sofa beside her. She stood and went to answer the banging on the door.

After peeking out of the window next to the door and finding Lefty, she pulled open the front door.

“I fixed the door lock on your car and got you a new key.” He handed her a car key rimmed in black plastic. He scanned her face. “What’s wrong?”

Absently, she took the key. “Nothing. I’ve got to go.”

“Something ain’t right.” Lefty intentionally blocked her way. “You look scared.”

“Nothing . . . I’m good.” She didn’t want to slam the door in his face, but she needed to get out of here soon. Where was her purse? She looked around. Oh yeah, the parlor. Not intentionally meaning to be rude, she turned on her heel and walked back to the parlor.

“The hell something ain’t wrong.” Lefty followed her into the parlor.

“I’ve got to go. I need to meet . . . someone in Fredericksburg at three.” She grabbed her purse and headed back to the open front door.

“I’m going with you and you can tell me what’s going on in the car.” He stepped to the side and let her go first out the front door. He followed her and then shut it.

“I’m good—”

“Either we ride together, or I’m going to follow you. I’m good either way.” He shot her a look that said this was nonnegotiable.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and as she walked to her car. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

“I try.” He marched past her and opened the -passenger-side door for her.

“I’m driving.” It was her car.

“The hell you are.” As though he realized that good manners were about to cost him the driver’s seat, he shot to the other side of the car. “I ain’t never ridden in no car with a woman where I wasn’t driving.”

He practically knocked her out of the way and jumped in the driver’s seat. He was fast, she’d give him that. He grinned as he slammed the driver-side door.

“Damn it.” She stomped to the passenger side and got in. “You’re such a pain in my ass.”

She leaned over and shoved the key into the ignition.

“You’re starting to repeat yourself.” He shoved the key into the ignition and the engine turned over. “Now, tell me who we’re meeting and why.”

He backed out of the yard and pulled onto the dirt road that led to the main house.

She told him about her first book and what Phillip wanted now. By the time they passed into the Fredericksburg city limits, they had a plan. Lefty dropped her off a block from Java Ranch.

She checked the clock on her phone . . . she had two minutes. She slipped her phone into the right pocket of her dress and walked at a brisk pace to Java Ranch. She pulled open the glass and wooden front door and found Phillip sitting at a table right in front by the coffee station. He wasn’t even smart enough to conduct his illicit business at a back table.

She took two deep breaths and walked to him. Angry nerves rattled through her. If she could just stick to the plan, she’d be rid of him forever.

He looked up from his laptop and she noticed that he was wearing a turtleneck, no doubt to hide the nasty bruise on his throat Lefty had given him the other day.

“Sit.” He ground out the word.

She huffed out a sigh and pulled out the chair across from him.

“I took the liberty of ordering you a latte.” His eyes were mean, but he kept a smile on his face and his voice to a whisper so that the rest of the world saw only a nice man buying a lady a cup of coffee.

She hated lattes, but he loved them so that was all that mattered to him. To her, coffee should be black and hot and strong enough to tar a roof. “So civilized. Why don’t you cut the crap and let’s get down to business.”

“You want to get down to business, fine by me. My lawyer just emailed me.” His hand covered hers and his short nails bit into the back of her hand. “You bitch.”

Cinco was going to see his lawyer today. It appeared that everyone had an attorney but her.

“You think you can sue me and get away with it?” Phillip’s whisper was cold as ice. “You’re nothing without me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never sued anyone . . . ever.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he held tight. “Let go of my hand or so help me God, I’ll walk out of here.”

She was tired of being bullied. No one was ever going to bully her again.

Phillip’s mouth twisted in a vicious grin, and he didn’t release her hand. “You were so much more fun when we were together. I don’t like the new you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She didn’t know if she bought into that whole load of crap about bullies really being scared and insecure. This bully was just an asshole.

“How’s the book coming? Is it finished?” Phillip had changed into congenial-friend mode.

Psycho much?

“Second draft is done.” She couldn’t believe that she was about to give up her dream . . . again.

“Adrian is the killer?” His eyebrows raised.

“No, Mandrell.” This was a conversation she’d never foreseen happening.

“Damn, I didn’t see that coming.” He nodded.

“Of course you didn’t. You can’t write yourself out of a paper sack, much less a novel that anyone wants to read.” The only way to get what she needed was to piss him off.

His eyes turned mean again as he grinned up at her.

“We both know that I’m the brains. I took your pathetic story and turned it into a best seller. Without me,
Murder, Mayhem, and Madness
was a rambling pile of horseshit and you know it.” How he was able to keep the smile on his face and his voice low enough that only she could hear it was proof that he was crazy.

“So that’s why you’re blackmailing me into giving you the next one . . . because I can’t write? The saddest part of this whole thing is that you truly believe that you’re talented. It’s just so pathetic.” While she really didn’t need to lay things on quite so thick, payback was a bitch and she was enjoying this immensely.

Every muscle in Phillip’s body tightened and he gritted his teeth so hard she wondered if he’d grind his teeth to dust. “You . . . I am . . . I’m so much better . . .”

Outside, brakes squealed and then a horn honked, drowning out whatever he’d said.

“You can’t even create full sentences. I believe that you’re actually getting worse.” She leaned into him and mirrored the hatred seething in his eyes. “Here’s the deal. You will email me right now confessing that you stole my first book and that you’re blackmailing me for the second. After I get that email”—she pointed to her smartphone, which was facedown on the table—“I’ll send you the manuscript. If you ever try to contact me again for any reason or if you go to the press about the Texas Rose Ranch, I’ll go directly to your publisher with the email.”

“You bitch . . . you can’t do this to me.” His hands were shaking with rage.

“Watch me.” She sat back and smiled. “I’m guessing you’ve already spent the advance they gave you for the second book? It would be real shame for them to demand their money back when they find out that I wrote both books. Just think, you’d have to go back to mooching off women to live, or worse, you’d have to get a job, and everyone who worships you now will know that you’re nothing.”

His face was turning a nice shade of mad. Bullying the bully was a hell of a lot of fun.

He knew he was backed into a corner so he turned back to his laptop and typed. A few seconds later, her phone dinged with a new email. She picked up her phone, pulled up the email.

Murder, Mayhem, and Madness
was written by CanDee McCain and myself. She is giving me her next book of her free will.

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” She made to get up. “I’m out of here.”

Her stomach dropped to her knees. She was calling his bluff and unfortunately the Texas Rose stood in the balance.

“Fine.” He banged on the keyboard and a couple of seconds later, she got a new email.

Murder, Mayhem, and Madness
was written by CanDee McCain and I took the manuscript without her knowledge or consent. She is giving me the rights to her next book—title unknown—of her own free will.

“That’s all you’re going to get from me.” He closed his laptop and laced his fingers together on top. “Take it or leave it. Just remember, your boyfriend’s ranch is at stake.”

“Here you go.” She picked up her phone and forwarded a copy of the outline she’d emailed to herself on the way here. She wasn’t sending him the finished product. He could fend for himself . . . or not . . . either way, she didn’t care.