The Tycoon (58 page)

He stood there staring at it, trying to sort his emotions, trying to think why suddenly looking at a wedding ring seemed like the natural thing to do. Since Tammy McMillan, he had never again considered getting married, even once.

Hot sex has fried your brain, hoss
, a part of him said.

Who’re you kidding, buddy,
another part said.
You’re the one who told her you wanted something more. So, you got it. Now what are you going to do with it?

He still hadn’t digested all that was going on between him and Shannon.

He forced his gaze to something less unsettling. And less binding. Like the heart-shaped diamond pendant to the left of the ring. After a pause of seconds, he expelled a great breath of frustration. “Fuck it,” he mumbled and resumed his trek to his office.

He hadn’t even started the day before his assistant poked her head through the doorway. “Your mother’s on the phone.”

He picked up his desk receiver. “Hey, Mom.”

“Drake, I’m so glad I caught you before you run off somewhere. I’m having dinner tonight with an old family friend. I want you to join us.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s a surprise. We’re eating at Cattlemen’s. You can make it, can’t you?”

“I guess so. I’ve got a crazy day ahead, so I’ll probably be fried, but—”

“We’ll be there around six-thirty. And wear a tie.”

Oh, shit.
Surely Mom wasn’t fixing him up again. “Mom, you know I hate wearing ties. I’m not in the mood to impress anybody. I’ve had a long week.”

“Well, maybe not a tie. Just make sure you look nice. You always look nice, but just take some extra pains.”

“Mom, don’t do—”

“Now don’t argue with me. This is someone you’ll want to see. So just say you’ll be there at six-thirty.” She hung up before he could protest more. He sat for a few seconds running through a list in his head of people he and his mother both knew that he would
want to see
. No one jumped at him. He was tempted to call her back and cancel, but he felt guilty because he hadn’t seen her since before her trip with Barron Wilkes. He sighed. Why argue? He had to eat somewhere.

When daylight broke, he left his office for the apartment complex construction site thirty miles away. Not quite ready to turn the job over to his new construction boss, he stayed there until he was satisfied that Chick needed no further babysitting. He was back in his office by two, making phone calls and doing busy work.

At five, he started back to the condo to dress for dinner with his mother and her mystery guest. He stopped again at the jewelry store’s display window and looked at the diamond and emerald ring. It looked flashy. Like something his mother would wear. Shannon would probably have a smart-ass comment about the cost of it. He smiled inwardly.

At home, he tapped out a quick text to her:
Hi. Busy. Thinking of you.

Then he showered and shaved and pulled fresh clothing from his closet. He put on a dress shirt, but left off the tie.

He checked his phone again for a message from Shannon and it was there:
Looking forward to Lubbock.

At the Cattlemen’s Steak House, he handed his coat to a valet and the host led him to his mother’s table. And there before his eyes sat a woman he never expected to see again in his life. His stomach rose and fell and for a second he grew dizzy.

Eyes the color of a Texas summer sky looked up at him from a face familiar from long ago. Long honey-blond hair fell like strands of gold over one bare shoulder.

She put out her right hand. “Hello, Drake. How are you?”

Like a robot, he took her hand. “I’m—I’m fine, Tammy. How are you?”

His mother gestured toward an empty chair on one side of the table. “Son, don’t just stand there gawking. Sit down.”

Drake sank to the chair seat, trying to calm his racing pulse and unable to take his eyes off the woman who had once meant everything to him.

“Tammy’s living in Fort Worth now,” his mother said. “Out on the west side, aren’t you, dear?”

“Yes,” she said to Drake, smiling faintly.

Where had she come from? What was she doing here?
“Uh…good part of town.”

She laughed, which must have come from nerves because no one had said anything funny.

He remembered that he used to think her laugh had a musical quality. Hearing it now flooded him with memories.

“I know this is a shock,” she said. “I told your mom we shouldn’t surprise you.”

No shit.
He angled a narrow-lidded look at his mother. “No problem. I’ll get over it in a minute.”

The cocktail waitress came. They all ordered drinks. A blue margarita with a description a mile long for Tammy, Maker’s Mark with a splash of water for his mother. For himself, he ordered the same, neat, and wondered if he should have asked for a double. Why the hell was seeing her affecting him like this? He was over her. And had been for years.

Hadn’t he?

The drinks came, followed by the wine steward. They ordered wine. Their waiter came. They selected steaks. Tammy chose the same thing she used to—filet mignon, medium rare. All of it felt surreal.

Drake looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. She was wearing a strapless thing, shiny and pale blue. The fabric stretched like a second skin across her breasts. An impression of her nipples showed. “You left Arizona? What are you doing here?”

She shrugged her tanned shoulders. “I don’t know if you remember, but my uncle—my mother’s brother—is an attorney here. I’m working for him.”

Drake had forgotten those facts, had no reason to remember them.

“Tammy’s a free woman now,” Mom said.

Something squiggled through Drake’s midsection. Tammy turned her head away and he

could tell his mother’s bluntness had embarrassed her. He felt sorry for her. He wanted to ask about a thousand questions, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

The wine steward delivered the wine and poured. Drake disciplined himself not to gulp it. Soon the waiter brought the steaks. As they ate, they talked about Tammy’s parents, life in Arizona, golf, ranching and a dozen other things, all of it superfluous small talk. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the cascade of hair the color of sunshine, eyes like blue crystals, the deep cleavage at the top of the strapless dress.

“I’m really not feeling well,” Drake’s mother said all at once and Drake swerved his gaze to her. “What is it, Mom?”

“I don’t know. I ate something on that cruise that didn’t agree with me and I’ve never really gotten over it.”

She didn’t look sick, but he placed is napkin on the table and started to rise from his chair. “I’ll drive you home.”

She waved away his effort. “No, no. I do think I’ll go, though. But I’ll just take a cab.”

Now he was standing. He picked up her purse. “No. I’ll drive you.”

“No,” she said sharply and yanked her purse away from him. “You probably came in that sports car. Riding in that thing will only make me sicker. I’d rather take a cab. I’m going to ask them to call one for me.” She summoned the waiter and gave him that instruction. “I’m going up to the front door and wait,” she said, getting to her feet.

As Drake pulled her chair back for her, she looked up at him. “Tammy rode with me. You can see that she gets home, can’t you?”

Drake mentally swore. Now he didn’t believe for a minute that she was sick. “Sure, but—”

“Thank you, darling.” She turned to Tammy. “I’m so sorry to abandon you, but as I’m sure you’ll remember, you’re in good hands with Drake. I’m just going to go home and take something.”

Tammy, too, was standing, “I’m so sorry you aren’t feeling well, Betty.”

Mom made her way to the front of the restaurant. Glaring after her, Drake mentally swore again.

“Do you think she’s okay?”

Tammy’s brow took his attention back to her. Her brow was furrowed with concern. Apparently she had fallen for his mother’s ruse.

“Yeah,” Drake said, walking over and holding her chair for her. He reclaimed his own chair, picked up his napkin and spread it on his lap. “I’m pretty sure he’s just fine.”

“This is awkward. I hope you don’t think—”

“I don’t think anything. Let’s just finish eating.” Minutes passed and Drake found no more words. If one wanted steak, the Cattlemen’s Steak House was one of the better places to eat it, but he scarcely tasted his rib-eye. The silence grew heavier.

Tammy was the one who finally spoke. “Betty told me you’re in the real estate investment business. She said you’re very successful. I always knew you would be.”

He shrugged. “I’ve had some luck. You’re a free woman? Does that mean you’re divorced or what?”

Her eyes lowered to her plate. She nodded without looking at him, smoothing her napkin on her lap. “It’s been final about four months.” She looked up at him then, her gaze clouded with trouble. “He found someone else,” she said in a small voice.

And you wanted that fucker so goddamn much,
Drake thought, flashing back on the havoc their broken engagement had caused, not just in his own life, but in the lives of other people. He drew in a deep breath. “Sorry to hear that. Seems to be hard to keep a marriage together these days.” After a pause and another bite of meat, he came up with the next logical question. “Kids?”

She nodded. “Two boys. Twelve and nine.”

Hearing that affected Drake oddly. Once he had planned for Tammy to be the mother of
his
children and it struck him that since her, he hadn’t met another woman with whom he had experienced that desire.

After a few beats, she added, “He got custody.”

A surprise. Drake knew few men who had gotten custody of their kids in a divorce. Judges favored mothers unless there was a damn good reason not to. Was the woman he had once expected to be the mother of his children a bad mother or what? He stopped cutting his steak and looked at her. “How’d that happen?”

She shook her head and avoided his eyes. “I agreed to it. I haven’t even settled on a place to live. My life’s torn up. I have to start over. He—we…”—her shoulders lifted in a huge sigh—“thought it would be better for the kids if he kept them.”

She reached for her wineglass and sipped. “They’ll visit me. Or I’ll visit them. My folks are still in Sedona and they’ll see them.” She placed her long fingers on the stem of her glass and turned it, then sipped again. Drake noticed her manicure and long nails. Plastic, he figured, like most of the women he knew. Except for Shannon.

Tammy obviously wasn’t happy about her circumstances. Drake could see her vulnerability, but he didn’t want to probe into it, didn’t want to make her think he cared. Now, if only he could figure out whether he did.

She looked up at him from an unsmiling face. “You never got married?”

“No time for it.”

She nodded again and returned her gaze to her food, moved it around on her plate. “I’ve, uh…I want you to know that I’ve thought a lot about all those years ago, Drake. You’re probably thinking what goes around comes around. And I don’t blame you.” She looked up at him again. “I—I hope we can let bygones be bygones.”

Meaning what?
he wondered. He sat back in his chair, needing to distance himself. “I don’t know. Are you willing to let bygones be bygones with what’s-his-name?”