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Lucas looked at Alyssa again. Her face showed no emotion, but her eyes had the glitter of unshed tears.
Did she understand what he was saying? Who gave a damn? Not him. If she loved the place so much, why hadn’t her father left it to her?
She was a good actress, that was all. Fiery when fire was needed, cold as ice when the situation demanded it.
And hot with passion when he kissed her, but was that part of the act? Yes. It had to be
Or had she surrendered to him? Surrendered to his kisses, his body, his need?
Furious with himself, Lucas stood, marched to the window and looked out. The storm had ended; a fat ivory moon was caught in the branches of a cottonwood tree outside.
“Well,” Felix said, and sighed, “I did what I could. I told Aloysius the girl would not lose the land because, of course, once you married her and paid the arrears, the land would be, in a sense, as much hers as yours…but never mind.”
Lucas rubbed his hand over his face. “Grandfather—”
“But I cannot force you to obey the terms of the contract, mi hijo. I understand that. It is a disappointment for me, that I cannot fulfill the wishes of my dead friend, but—”
“Grandfather. There must be a way around this.”
“I am afraid there isn’t. It’s all right, Lucas. The girl is not your worry.”
“No. She’s not.”
“She is her attorney’s worry, and I am sure he will step in and help her. You have met him, have you not? Small man. Overweight. Soft. Sweats a lot.”
Lucas turned and looked at Thaddeus Norton, who was mopping his forehead again.
“What about him?”
“Aloysius told me Norton has an, uh, an interest in the girl. A deep interest, if you know what I mean.”
Dios, how could something simple become so complicated?
“Norton wants the woman for himself?” Lucas said, still speaking in Spanish, still watching Alyssa. Did her color heighten? No. It had to be his imagination.
“He does, yes. But it’s the perfect solution. We don’t pay the rest of the money, you don’t get married. And the girl is taken care of. Si? The lawyer will see to it.”
Lucas said nothing for several long seconds. Then he cleared his throat.
“Grandfather,” he said briskly, “we entered into this arrangement in good faith.”
“We? It was I, Lucas, not we.”
“Reyes entered into it,” Lucas said, even more briskly. “So here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll tear up the contract, stipulation and all, and simply give her or the lawyer, whichever is appropriate, the money to pay off what is owed. She’ll keep the ranch and we’ll call it a gift in memory of an old friend.”
“No.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows. “No?”
“Aloysius and I entered into a contract.”
“I understand all of that but, damn it…” He took a deep breath. “Look, we can well afford this—this act of charity, grandfather.”
“Listen to me, Lucas. You must take another look at the contract. It is very specific. Unless the marriage takes place, there can be no final payment. The ranch is lost.”
Lucas could feel a throbbing pain starting behind his left eye. N
o sleep. No food. No peace. No wonder his head hurt.
