Lone Star Valentine

He lifted his head, as she knew he would.

If there was one thing Gannon was to the core, it was a Texas gentleman.

“See?” he teased, sifting a hand through her hair. “That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”

Bad! It had been artful. Seductive. And enthralling. It was all she could do not to groan out loud. Lily gathered her wits and pushed the rest of the way away from him. “I never said I wasn’t attracted to you.”

He caught her about the waist and reeled her back to him. Ran a hand lovingly over her spine, eliciting new tingles of awareness everywhere he touched. “Good to hear,” he said gruffly, grinning at her prickly manner. “Because I never said that, either.” His hot gaze skimmed her face. “In fact, just the opposite is true.”

His stubborn words mirrored her own wistful feelings. Which was why she had to be practical. “And that’s exactly why we can’t take this any farther than we have.” His eyes narrowed in response, but Lily forged on. “My life is here. Yours is in Fort Worth. I have a son. You love living the bachelor life.” If that wasn’t enough to make them put on the brakes, she didn’t know what was!

Deep grooves formed on either side of his mouth, and he studied her grimly. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

Lily drew a bolstering breath. “I don’t want to get hurt again, Gannon. The biggest mistake of my life was starting something with someone who I was never destined to be with.”

The mention of her former lover was enough to throw a bucket of cold water on his desire. “Bode,” he said, letting her go.

Lily nodded sadly. Figuring she might as well tell him the truth about this, she looked him in the eye and admitted, “It wasn’t just you who had reservations from the get-go.” She pressed a thumb to her sternum. “I knew I wasn’t meant for him, any more than Bode was meant to be with me.”

A muscle worked in Gannon’s jaw. “Then why did you embark on a whirlwind affair with him?”

A hard question that deserved an honest answer. “The excitement of it all. I was at the end of my law school years. Thirty-two months of nonstop studying and stress, and the worry over whether or not I would pass the bar exam and/or get a job upon graduation.”

“Which you did,” Gannon reminded her.

“Yes, but at that time, I was so overwhelmed. It all seemed like an impossible quest.”

He stepped behind her and kneaded the tense muscles of her neck and shoulders. “You should have come to me.”

His touch was heaven. Lily melted into it. Closing her eyes, she reminded him softly, “You weren’t available. I think you were dating Melinda. Or was it Cassandra—or Marilyn then?”

He shrugged. “Can’t remember.”

Lily bit down on an oath. “Exactly.”

He stood there, patient and evidently ready to turn back the clock again. “Those relationships weren’t important to me.”

Lily moved off again, determined not to be another one in his long line of women. “Even more on point,” she said, exasperation coloring her low tone. “I have responsibilities now, Gannon.” She stepped behind her desk. “I can’t afford to get involved with the wrong guy for all the wrong reasons.”

He studied her, arms crossed over his broad chest. “So you’re offering me what exactly?”

She slayed him with her best don’t-mess-with-me look. “The same thing I was offering you before. A good enduring friendship—if you want it. And that’s all.”

* * *

GANNON WAS STILL thinking about what Lily had offered him, or rather not offered him, the next day, when a disreputable-looking pine-green pickup truck made its way up the lane and parked next to the stable. He smiled as Clint McCulloch, a childhood friend and next-door neighbor, got out and ambled toward him. At six foot four, Clint was an inch taller than Gannon, and athletically fit as ever. Like Gannon, Clint had dated a lot but never come anywhere close to settling down. A fact that frustrated the heck out of the available interested women in his path.

“Heard you were back.” Gannon extended a welcoming hand.

Clint shook hands firmly. “For good,” he said. “And since you’re here, too, at least temporarily, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

Gannon slipped bridles over the heads of the three horses remaining on the ranch. Attached reins. “Name it.”

Clint moved back to give him room to work. “I need some volunteers for the pony rides at the chili festival. I saw you’re judging on Friday and Saturday evenings, but the kiddie stuff is all being held Saturday morning.”

Given Lily’s decision to stay as far away from him as possible, at least when it came to any physical encounters, Gannon figured the busier he was, the better. It would help him avoid temptation.

Not that this situation would go on for long. As soon as he wrapped up the sale of the Triple M Ranch land to the development company, he would be headed back to Fort Worth. There, his demanding work as partner in a top-notch law firm would not leave room for much else.

And wasn’t that ironic.

In law school, Lily had been all work and no play.

Now she was ready to kick back and enjoy more out of life in the small town where they’d both grown up.

Whereas he was focused only on success, to the elimination of most everything else that was distracting—and pleasurable.

Who would have figured...?

Realizing his friend was still waiting for his answer, he opened the stall doors. “Count me in.”

“Thanks.” Clint accepted the reins on a mare, then followed Gannon and the other two horses out of the barn to the pasture.

It was a nice February morning. Temperature in the low fifties, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The kind of day that could make Gannon wish he still lived in the country. Or at least had enough time off to enjoy the great weather, and wide-open Texas ranch land.

They unhooked the reins and stepped back to let the horses move freely about. A chestnut, speckled white and inky black, they were all a beautiful sight.

“Heard you’re going to sell to Rex Carter,” Clint continued.

Gannon pumped water into the troughs. “The land, maybe—depending on how much he offers and what he plans to do with it. Not the house. My mom is set on keeping that and at least one hundred of the five hundred acres surrounding it.” But the rest of the land was his to sell.

Clint studied the unkempt condition of the ranch land, along with the even more overgrown property to the south. “Think you’ll regret it somewhere down the line?”

Gannon turned to the man who’d ridden the junior rodeo circuit with him when they were teens, then gone on to become a champion in the adult circuit while Gannon had quit competing altogether and went on to college and law school. “Are we talking about you now—or me?” he ribbed.

Clint’s demeanor grew remorseful. “I wish I had held on to the place when my four sisters and I inherited it ten years ago instead of selling it to city folk who let the entire ranch go to seed. And then have to use all my savings and negotiate like the dickens to buy it back.”

Gannon slapped him on the shoulder, aware they all had their regrets. His own was chiefly Lily. “Well, it’s yours now.” And Gannon was happy for his pal.

Clint helped Gannon put out some feed. Then eventually asked, “What about your horses? Are you planning to keep them or are you going to sell them, too?”

That was a tricky question. Gannon exhaled. “I hate to—these three have been part of our family since I was a kid. But on the other hand, although they’re being well cared for, they’re not being exercised enough. But if you’re interested...?”

Clint shrugged. “I could board them for you, if you like. Free of charge—if you’ll let me use them in some of the riding and roping lessons I’m planning to give. That way they’d still be yours, and you could still ride them whenever you did come back home.”

It was the perfect solution to yet another problem of downsizing. So why was he hesitating? Why was he once again yearning to saddle up and ride whenever he wanted and thinking about how his life had been in simpler times? He had made his decision about where his future lay. Hadn’t he? Was okay with the hefty price extracted from working 24/7?

Clint looked at him.

“Let me mull it over,” Gannon said.

In the distance, another vehicle turned into the lane and sped toward the ranch house.

“Expecting someone?” Clint asked.

Gannon caught sight of the satellite dish affixed to the top of the white-and-blue van and swore. Just what he did not need.

He wondered if Lily had her hands full, too.

* * *

“YOU HAVE TO get that statue out of the town square,” Marybeth Simmons declared. “Sooner, rather than later!”

Lily looked at the delegation of fifteen community leaders standing on her front porch. Farther down the block, a vehicle came to a halt; a door opened and closed. But from where she was standing, Lily could not see who it was.

Deciding to concentrate on those already there, she lifted a calming hand. “Look, I know it wasn’t what we all expected. But I think we ought to give it a chance, maybe—”

Rex Carter interjected angrily, “The entire dedication ceremony, complete with fire, is on YouTube! It’s had twenty thousand hits so far! And that’s just in one twenty-four hour period.”

“It’s made our whole town—not to mention the chili festival—out to be a joke!” Sonny Sanderson added. Which was a problem for him and his family, because he’d been hoping his barbecue restaurant would sell a lot of food at the event if attendance was even moderately high. Now that might all be for naught—for all the restaurateurs and food vendors planning to take part.

A familiar low male voice joined in. “It gets even more interesting. A Dallas TV station news crew is interviewing my mother as we speak.”

Everyone moved to make way for Gannon Montgomery. He’d thrown a leather jacket over his usual shirt and jeans. With a black Stetson slanted across his brow, he looked sexier than ever.

“Sorry,” Oscar Gentry, another retired teacher said. “No disrespect meant for your mother, son.”

“But we don’t want to see her or her art ridiculed, and the way things are going,” Yvonne Gentry, another retired teacher, kindly concurred, “Harriett will be made out to be a laughingstock.”

Lily—who’d had no time to pull on a coat herself before meeting with the crowd—searched desperately for a solution. “Maybe if we put up a framed explanation beside it, letting people know it’s part sculpture and part performance art—”

Around her, everyone paused, exchanged looks, slowly shook their heads. “It’s got to be moved to a less conspicuous place than the town square,” Miss Mim insisted.

Emmett Briscoe, oilman and art collector extraordinaire, joined them on the front porch of Lily’s Craftsman. Nearing seventy, he was still a big, robust, handsome bear of a man. As well as a community and state leader. “Why not put it at the fairgrounds?” he said. “Where the chili cook-off and festival is going to be held? We can put it behind glass in the exhibition hall, along with the explanation that Lily suggested. And then decide what to do with it once the festival is over.”

“Given all the publicity we’ve already had, festival-goers are going to expect to see it.” Lily looked at Gannon for support. “We may as well capitalize on that.”

Rex Carter scoffed. “How much money is it going to cost to move it?”

“Since it’s just from one place to another, and is only the one sculpture, I’m sure it won’t be much,” Lily said. At least she hoped that was the case.

More grumbling followed.

“Give me until Monday afternoon to come up with a definite plan,” Lily urged.

Marybeth Simmons, the leader of the local PTA, huffed, “Well, see that you keep us informed. All our organizations are relying on the money we hope to raise Valentine’s Day weekend to fund our projects for the rest of the year.”

“I will.” Lily thanked everyone for coming, and slowly the crowd dispersed until it was just Lily and Gannon on her front porch.

Shivering, she decided to take the conversation inside her Craftsman-style bungalow. The downstairs had been remodeled into one large space—living room, kitchen and dining area, with a laundry room, half bath and screened-in porch at the rear. Upstairs, she had two bedrooms and a full bathroom.

“How is your mother doing?” Lily asked, grabbing her heavy red wool shawl-collared sweater and slipping it on over her turtleneck and jeans.

Gannon removed his hat before stepping across the threshold and left it on the coatrack in the foyer. Then he followed her over to the fireplace, looking as tense and frustrated as she felt. “Let’s just say she’s had lots of phone messages and emails, not all of them complimentary.”

Lily poked at the fire already burning in the grate. “I don’t think anyone understands it, or what it represents.” She slid the poker back into the stand, then turned to face Gannon. “Not the way your mother meant anyway.”

He stood, hands braced on his hips, pushing the edges of his jacket back. “Even worse—I don’t think my mother cares if they do or they don’t,” he said.

Deciding she could use a hot beverage, Lily headed for her kitchen. “That is the mark of a true artist.”

“Or an eccentric,” Gannon countered mildly as he looked around, taking in the comfy denim furniture, distressed wood floors and multicolored area rugs. There were toy bins and books galore, most stored in a built-in shelving system on one wall of the living room, as well as a nice entertainment center, complete with stereo TV and DVD player.

Lily paused, pleased that he seemed to like the cozy but practical interior of her home. Not that it mattered.

“You doubt your mother’s talent?” she asked.

Gannon watched Lily fill the teakettle and set it on the stove. Brawny arms folded in front of him, he tilted his head, thinking. “All I know for certain is that I don’t want to see my mom hurt by all the controversy.”

Lily brought out the tea basket and two mugs, glad they were on the same page. “I don’t, either.” She chose an apricot-vanilla blend while Gannon selected an English tea, known for its strong but mellow flavor. “But I’m afraid if we do nothing, this situation will snowball into a real travesty.” Gannon’s gaze narrowed. “Do you think I should ask her to return the commission and withdraw the statue from the chili festival of her own volition?”

“I admit that would solve a lot of problems for me and the town immediately.”

Gannon took off his jacket and looped it over the back of one of the high stools against the granite-topped island. “But...?” he asked, as he sat down.

Finding the sudden intimacy of the situation a little too intense, Lily turned her eyes to the pale blue walls of her kitchen, then admitted, “I worry what even the suggestion she take back her art would do to your mom.”

“Well, she won’t be happy about it...that’s for sure.”

As their gazes met again, Lily forged on, “And correct me if I’m wrong, but I understand this was your mother’s first serious work. It was a huge honor to even be asked by the town to do this, so to then have it poorly received and hidden away...” She shook her head, barely able to say the words, yet Gannon’s expression remained courtroom inscrutable. “Come on, even you, Mr. I’ll-Never-Compromise-Under-Any-Situation, can see that’s no solution to the dilemma!” she finished emotionally.

Sighing, Gannon shoved a hand through his hair. “You’re right about that. My mother’s art is every bit as important to her as my career is to me. She waited a long time to be able to pursue it the way she has always wanted to—with all her heart and soul.”

Gannon sobered even more. “I don’t want to see her pushed into putting her dreams on hold by the people around her any more than I would want to give up my own quest for success.”

Reminded of how truly ambitious both Montgomerys were at heart, Lily said quietly, “I don’t, either.”

Gannon moved closer, his expression intent.

“Then what is the solution?”

“I don’t know,” Lily said quietly, her heart kicking into a faster beat. She moved to the other side of the counter as the teakettle began to whistle. “But I’m sure if we take a few days to think about it, we’ll come up with something a heck of a lot better than what you’ve just suggested.”

His gaze still locked with hers, he flashed a crooked smile. “I’m all for a better solution.” He watched her add hot water to the mugs, then rummage around for cookies. “Speaking of family, is Lucas okay with all of the commotion this has caused for you personally?”

Touched to find Gannon thinking of the little boy he had yet to actually meet, Lily admitted in relief, “My parents took him to San Angelo for lunch and a movie with just the two of them. Grandparent Saturday, they call it. So luckily, he didn’t see any of it.”

Lily broke off as Gannon’s phone rang. He moved off to answer it. It didn’t take long to discern it was about work.

“So that’s what you call a vacation?” she asked some fifteen minutes later, having heard him briskly ask for updates on at least half a dozen cases before finally, finally hanging up.

His lips thinned. “I run the family-law department now. I have a lot of responsibility.”

She knew that. Respected it. And yet... “What about a life? Do you have that, too, in Forth Worth?”

And why did she care so much?

He shrugged casually. “My life is my work now.”

“But don’t you want more than that?” she asked before she could stop herself.

Didn’t everyone?

At least if they were completely honest?

Gannon favored her with a sexy half smile, seemingly glad the conversation had taken yet another personal detour. “Are you asking me if I’m currently seeing someone?” he teased.

Was she?

He glided treacherously close. “The answer is no. Not yet.”

She inhaled the brisk scent of his cologne, felt the warmth emanating from his body. Lily focused on the strong column of his throat. She splayed her hands across his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingertips. “Meaning there’s someone you want to go out with?” she ascertained, pushing the envelope even more.

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