The Barons of Texas: Jill (11 page)

Everything was happening so fast it was no wonder she was having trouble catching her breath and thinking straight.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a wonderful instinct for women’s clothing?”

His eyes began to twinkle, and a funny fluttering started in her stomach.

“No, and coming from you, that’s quite a compliment. As I’ve said before, you have impeccable taste.”

She gazed down at her champagne flute, picked it
up and put it back down again an inch from where it had been. “Have you ever invited another woman down here before?”

“No.”

“Have you ever done anything similar with another woman—similar, I mean, to the lessons you’re giving me?”

“No.”

Those two answers drew a smile from her. “Not even trying to get a woman to wear a softer look?”

He laughed. “And don’t forget the part about showing more skin.”

“Believe me, I couldn’t.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think you can say anything I’ve bought you would fall into the risqué category.” He paused, considering. “Sexy, maybe, but not risqué.”

She had never thought of herself as sexy until Colin had come along and given her his undivided attention. With his lessons, with the clothes he had chosen for her, but most particularly in the way he looked at her and treated her, he had made her feel aware of being a woman in every sense of the word.

It sounded like such a simple and natural way to think, but not in her case. She had never before thought of herself as a woman with her own individual sexuality, much less with the ability to feel at least partially comfortable with it. It was as if Colin had removed an obstacle and given her a completely new outlook.

She took a sip of champagne. “You know, in retrospect, I realize I’ve probably made these lessons difficult for you. For one thing, I was more set in my ways than I thought. And I also realize now that you
were right about my approach to men. It was extremely…businesslike.”

He chuckled. “You must be feeling very mellow tonight to admit to all that.”

She laughed. “I must be. I think it’s a combination of the night and the champagne.”

“Then I’ll simply have to order up more nights like this one, along with cases and cases of champagne.”

His statement had sounded as if he,
personally
, had liked the results of the combination, and heat quickened through her body.
Stop it
, she ordered herself. More than likely he had meant he would order the combination on Des’s behalf.

His expression turned serious. “I’m just thankful you caught that headache in time. I wasn’t sure whether or not you’d even be able to have dinner tonight.”

She hated the knowledge of her deception, but she refused to let herself break eye contact.

He tilted his head in that thoughtful way of his to which she was becoming accustomed. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you as relaxed as you are right now, or even heard you laugh as you did a minute ago. No matter what comes out of this trip, it will have been worth it to have seen you this way.”

“No matter what comes out of this trip? You mean if I don’t get Des?”

He shrugged off her question. “There’s just one thing missing.” He plucked one of the red hibiscus blossoms from the centerpiece, leaned across the table and slipped it behind her ear. Sitting back in his chair, he studied her. “Perfect,” he whispered.

Warmth shimmered throughout her. She had to
clear her throat before she spoke again. “You know something else I’ve just realized about you?”

“I can’t even begin to imagine.”

“You’re a very patient man.”

He gazed at her for a moment with an expression so enigmatic she didn’t even try to decipher it. Finally he said, “I suppose I am.”

“And there’s something else I’ve realized. I don’t know that much about you. I mean, you and I have traveled in more or less the same group for two years now, yet I don’t know even the most basic facts about you.”

A slow smile appeared on his face. “That’s very good, Jill.”

“What is?”

“You’ve just arrived at another very important lesson, and all on your own, too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The lesson we haven’t gotten to yet. The lesson that teaches you the need to show interest in the man you are trying to attract.”

“I’m not just
showing
interest in you, Colin,” she said with real annoyance. “I really
am
interested.”

“Even better. So, okay, what would you like to know? I’m pretty much an open book.”

In the blink of an eye, her annoyance vanished. She grinned teasingly. “Oh, yeah? I’m not sure I believe that about you.”

“Try me.”

His soft, husky voice drifted over to her on a wave of the music and sent warmth skimming down her spine. “Well, okay—as I said, basic stuff. For instance, where were you two years ago before we met?
No, wait—let’s start even farther back than that. Where are you from?”

“A small town in East Texas you’ve probably never heard of.”

“You may be right, though I do own land in East Texas.”

“I know, but in a different part.”

She had gotten past the stage of being surprised that he knew more about her that she did about him. “Do your parents still live there?”

“I wish they did, but no. My mother died when I was twenty-nine. My dad died just a few years ago.”

She needed to respond, but since grief over the loss of a parent was foreign to her, she had to fall back on a cliché. “I’m sorry. Do you have any other family still there?”

“An aunt and three cousins.”

“And are you close to them?”

He nodded. “We make it a point to get together every so often.”

It was funny, but she had never thought of Colin as having a family, roots or ties. Perhaps it was the way he had seemed to appear out of nowhere two years ago. And to hear that he was still close to his remaining family also vaguely surprised her.

Her father had never fostered closeness between her and her sisters—just the opposite, in fact. Since Tess had married, she was making an effort to change that. So far, though, Jill had managed to avoid most of Tess’s family gatherings. As for the ever elusive Kit, Tess was going to have to catch her first.

“Tell me more about your parents. What did they do?”

“My mom was a homemaker. She took care of my
dad and me, grew her own vegetables and canned them. And once she even won a blue ribbon at the state fair for her peach pie.”

Her eyes widened. “You’ve
got
to be making that up.”

He burst out laughing. “Why do you say that?”

“Because
no one
has a mother like that.”

“Sorry, but I did. She was wonderful. I still miss her.”

Colin was a sophisticated, urbane man, yet he was telling her that he had been raised in a small town by a mother he had obviously adored and fed food she had grown herself. It didn’t seem real, but then, most people would probably say the same about her own upbringing.

“What did your father do?”

“He owned a general store. He wasn’t setting the world on fire with it, mind you, but the income was sufficient for the three of us, and that was all that mattered to him.”

“Oh, I get it now. You grew up in Mayberry, right? Your aunt’s name is Bea, and Andy Griffiths was the sheriff, with a deputy named Barney and a son named Opie.”

He chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, but no. My parents were good, simple people who raised me with a great deal of love and taught me, by example, the difference between right and wrong. It was a marvelous life for a little boy, but as I grew older, I also learned that life can be difficult, too.”

“What happened?”

“When I was ten years old, my father lost everything.”

“You mean his store?”

“His store, our home and most of our belongings. He even had to sell our good car and buy a junker that ran only half the time. And it all happened because Dad trusted the man who kept the books and paid the bills for the store, along with our personal bills. Unfortunately, that trust was grossly misplaced.”

“But why did your dad trust this man so much? Surely there were signs, something that should have clued him in early on?”

“There probably were, but you see, Dad’s education had stopped in the eighth grade because he had to drop out of school. His father had died, and he had to go to work to help his mother. Believe it or not, it’s a common enough story when you live in the country deep in East Texas. At any rate, by the time Dad realized something was wrong, it was too late. The man had bled Dad and the store dry, and Dad had no savings to fall back on.”

She sat forward. “But the man was caught, right?”

“Yeah, but by that time he had already spent the money. He was put in prison, but justice didn’t do Mom and Dad any good. The people to whom Dad owed money went to court to force Dad to liquidate.”

“It must have been awful for your parents.”

He nodded. “It was. Yet in one way, it was good.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because by watching how my parents handled their problems, I was taught invaluable life lessons, things I probably would never have learned in any other way.”

“I’m not sure I understand. How did they handle them?”

“With great pride and dignity. We rented one of
the smallest, shabbiest houses in town, but my parents never showed any sign of being ashamed of their reduced state. And because they didn’t, I didn’t, either. In fact, I never once saw anything to be ashamed of. They hadn’t changed. They were still the same loving people who provided me with the same stable upbringing they always had.”

“But how? I mean, how did they cope? How did they put food on the table and buy all the things they needed, not to mention things a growing boy needs?”

“Mom planted a new vegetable garden, but she planted three times as much as she had before, so that she could sell the extra to the neighbors. And she started buying my clothes from the town’s thrift shop. At any one time I probably had only two pairs of jeans and three shirts that fit, but Mom made sure they were clean and neatly ironed. She also took in other people’s ironing.

“As I became more and more aware of what was going on, I became even prouder of my parents. If anything, the love they gave me grew stronger, as did their love for each other. Many nights after I went to bed, I could hear my mom waiting up for my dad to come home so that she could serve him a hot meal. And I saw her rub his shoulders and back at night when he’d done so much physical labor his whole body would be screaming with pain.

“But through it all, Dad very calmly, and with great perseverance, went about working to get his store back. He worked two jobs, sometimes three, but he never complained, and he never once wavered in his determination. Eventually his patience and hard work won, and he was able to buy back his store.”

Completely fascinated, Jill had been hanging on his every word. “That’s an
incredible
story, Colin.”

“My parents were incredible people.”

“Obviously. I would have liked to meet them.”

“Why?”

“Because they made you the man you are today.”

He stared at her, his eyes dark. Then, slowly, a smile formed on his face. “Careful. You’re very close to giving me a compliment.”

She grinned. “You don’t need a compliment from me. I’ve never known a more confident person, and now I know where that confidence comes from. You watched your parents handle the worst and successfully come out on the other side, and that taught you that you could do the same.”

“Yes, except losing material things is not the worst thing that can happen to you. Losing someone you love is.”

“Of course.” His answer momentarily flustered her, because she hadn’t expected it. As quickly as she could, she went on, “Now I also know why you’re such a patient man. Like your father, you’re willing to wait and work for what you want.”

“So now you know everything there is to know about me.”

Not even close, she thought. She might have learned certain things about his background, but it was very clear to her that he kept a great many things on the inside, just as she did. “I have another question. How did you get from the boy who had two pairs of jeans to the man you are today, a self-made man with enough money to buy anything he wants?”

“With dignity and pride, I hope. As soon as I was old enough, I got a job, but no matter how tired my
dad became, he wouldn’t let me work so many hours that I neglected my schoolwork. He didn’t want me to ever find myself in the position he had. He told me to let him take care of Mom and me and of getting back the store. My job was to concentrate on school. That concentration earned me a scholarship. I don’t think I ever saw Mom or Dad prouder than they were the day they saw me graduate from college, not even when Dad got back his store or I began to make really big money.”

“I can imagine.” And she could, just from the tone of his voice. “So what did you do after graduation? Go to Dallas?”

“Yeah. For the first eight years or so, I lived there full-time. I set quietly to work and began making contacts. Soon one deal followed another and, not so inconsequentially, my first million was followed by more.”

“Eight years is a fairly short time to make that much money. You make it sound so easy, but I know it couldn’t have been.”

“No, but don’t forget, I learned early on all about hard work and patience. And by the way, I also met Des my first year in Dallas.” He paused. “I’ll always be grateful for those eight years.”

“Why?”

“Because everything I was able to accomplish during those years gave me the opportunity to shower my parents with things they had never had before—a luxury car, a really nice home, furniture, vacations.” He shook his head. “They’d never even been on a vacation before, and they still wouldn’t have gone unless I hadn’t packed them up and taken them.”

She chuckled. “Much like you did me, you mean?”

He smiled softly. “Yeah. In fact, as soon as the first part of the main house here on Serenity was built, I got to bring them here. They loved it. I was also able to arrange their finances so that Dad never had to work another day in his life if he didn’t want to, though he did. I also had the opportunity to tell them how proud I was of them and to thank them for all they had done for me.” He paused. “That’s really the thing I’ll always be
most
grateful for.”