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From outside, a car door slammed. Rare Archer. He didn’t lose his temper. He never had to. The world flexed to do what he wanted, just like I had.
The screen door slammed. I pushed the stray strands of hair off my face as my muscles tensed, fiber by fiber.
Ma pushed open the door and stayed in the opening, one hand on the knob and the other on her hip. “Laney, what the ever-loving hell was that all about? Was that why you went to Texas?”
“No.”
Maybe? All the talk about the mysterious Barron who had left town, gone to Texas, and never returned to Coal Haven was like my own personal fantasy. A new start where my last name and reputation couldn’t drag behind me like reeds caught on a fishing hook. A place where I could be anything I wanted after a lifetime of being told what I wasn’t getting. Yeah, that was probably why I’d gone to Texas.
“How?” For once, Ma wasn’t berating me. She was genuinely confused.
My high school boyfriend had told me all about his estranged uncle, Allan Barron. Derek had said he’d never met his uncle or his two cousins, Archer and Ansen. “I went to a job fair and ran across him.” I fluttered my fingers toward the window in the direction Archer would’ve driven. “I mean, look at him. You can figure out the rest.”
Ma shrugged. Not even her cold heart could deny how good-looking Archer was. He looked like he’d walked off a movie set about a millionaire playboy who fucked young vulnerable women until they lost their damn minds.
That was pretty accurate, only he wasn’t an actor.
She shook her head, her gaze still cloudy. “You mean that man—and his family—didn’t have a problem with who you are?”
Papa hadn’t been raised in Coal Haven. Archer’s dad might know who Ma was, but he likely didn’t know Papa. My Granger maiden name wasn’t familiar to him. “I never met his parents. His mom passed away when he was a teen, and he doesn’t talk to his dad. When I told him I lived close to Coal Haven and he asked if I knew his relatives, I said I was familiar with them. After that, it was all about him.”
Ma gave me a look, and yeah, I’d intentionally stretched the truth. We lived out of town, but we still lived inside Coal Haven city limits. Big difference, but I hadn’t wanted to look like a stalker.
She stepped into the hallway. “You’ve got a helluva mess to clean up, kid. But I wouldn’t mind being around whenyour husband’suncles and aunt find out you’re part of their fucking family.” Her cackle followed her down the hall.
That would be a show I’d rather skip. I’d had a front seat to their reaction when I dated Derek. But from what Archer had said, I wouldn’t be part of their family for long anyway.
* * *
Archer
Rattler’s Brewhaus wasn’t the trendiest restaurant I’d ever seen, and it definitely wasn’t the fanciest I’d ever been in, but it was more than I thought a small town like Coal Haven would have.
I scrubbed my face. I hadn’t gotten out of my car yet. My nerves were shot, and my emotions were all over the place.
What the hell had I thought would happen?
I’d been encouraged to pursue an annulment. Less damaging to both my finances and my heart. I could’ve flown, but for some damn reason I’d driven right to an old address I found in the belongings Delaney had left behind. A long trek north through Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South Dakota landed me in the middle of North Dakota.
A part of me had wanted the time. Did I want to dissolve this marriage? How would Delaney act when I showed up? Had something happened to her? The closer I got, the greater the hope grew that maybe there’d been a valid reason for her to stay away from Texas. Had she been physically unable to leave Coal Haven and return to our condo overlooking downtown Dallas?
These were all questions that kept me from giving the lawyer a way to electronically send the documents to Delaney.
The girl I found looked like my wife, under the dirt and the ripped shirt and the worn jeans and boots. But she didn’t talk like Delaney. She didn’t smile at me like I hung the moon and stars like Delaney did. My wife would’ve told her family she was married. Right?
Our wedding had been the only impulsive thing I’d done in my life. Last-minute trip to Vegas. A few shows, a little gambling, a stop at a chapel. Neither of our families had been there. Wasn’t that why we’d eloped? I hardly talked to my brother and hadn’t seen my dad for years, and Delaney had gotten cagey about her family when we’d discussed tying the knot.
An impromptu Vegas wedding had been the perfect solution to keep from opening both our wounds.
And afterward? I’d launched into my work as a land broker, trying to earn a coveted partner spot. I had almost made it. I would’ve finally been the hick kid done good, partner in a land brokerage agency, with a downtown condo and an expensive car. And then my dream had nearly vanished.
I’d had to get back into my boss’s good graces after the way Delaney left. One of our biggest clients had witnessed our exchange and told Mr. Truitt that NT Land Agency wasn’t the family company she thought it was. Her deal would’ve pulled in eight figures.
I’d almost lost my damn job that night.
I tried to recall a conversation about her family. They were ranchers from North Dakota. They weren’t traditionally close. She had a brother.
Kane gets everything. There’s nothing for me at home.
