Legally Binding Read online

  Her cheeks heated. She felt as awkward talking about this with Bart as she did with Cara and Kelly. No, more awkward. Much more. Bart made her wish she had gone on more dates. He made her wish she had more experience with men. Maybe then she’d know how to handle the feelings kindling inside her.

  She took a deep breath. “I come from a family of lawyers. My father is a judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Court, three of my brothers have founded a successful legal firm and the fourth is a federal prosecutor.”

  “Don’t tell me, they chased potential boyfriends away by threatening them with lawsuits.”

  A chuckle bubbled from her throat. “I wouldn’t put it past them. But no, they usually behaved.”

  “In that case, I can’t see any reason those Yankee boys wouldn’t be knocking your door down. But then, I’ve never truly understood Yankees.”

  She almost shook her head. Bart was something, all right. She’d never been affected by flattery before. But with Bart, the flattery didn’t seem like empty words. He made her feel as if every word from his lips had come straight from his heart. “It wasn’t the Yankee boys, it was me. I wanted to focus on law school and establishing a legal practice. So I’ve never had a serious relationship. I’ve never—” She shook her head. This wasn’t coming out right. “Dating was never as important to me as the law.” Until now, looking into Bart’s eyes. Until now, when she had no business thinking about dating.

  “Then it’s true.” Bart grinned, a teasing glitter to his green eyes. “They really do force you to cut your heart out of your chest as soon as you pass the bar.”

  Another laugh broke free. It was amazing that Bart still had a sense of humor after all that had happened the past few days and the pressure they were under now. But then, there were so many amazing things about Bart Rawlins, she’d lost count. “I don’t want to have to trade my career for a family, that’s all.”

  “Don’t you want a family? Don’t you want children?” He sounded shocked, as if he couldn’t envision that kind of life.

  Of course he probably couldn’t. Family was what drove Bart. She had only to think of the row of bedrooms he’d planned to fill, of his tenderness when he gathered his father into his arms on the riverbank or of the ache in his eyes when he talked of his mother’s death to know that. “Family is important to you, isn’t it?”

  “It’s the most important.”

  She angled her body so she could look straight into his eyes. “So why aren’t you married? Why don’t you have children of your own?”

  “I haven’t found the right woman. With my daddy’s illness and my mama…” Regret flickered briefly in his eyes. Then it was gone. He shrugged. “I haven’t had a lot of chances to date. Not the last few years anyway.”

  “You’ve sacrificed a lot for your parents, haven’t you?”

  “Sacrifice?” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t put it that way. Giving up things isn’t sacrifice when you do it for someone you love.”

  “That sounds like something my mother would say.”

  “A smart woman. You must take after her.”

  A chill worked over her skin. She hoped not. She’d been working hard all her adult life not to take after her mother. “My mother is a wonderful woman. A brilliant woman.”

  “But?”

  “But she and I don’t see things the same way.”

  Bart crooked an eyebrow, but he didn’t ask. He merely waited for her to go on.

  Lindsey drew in a deep breath. “She was a star student at Harvard Law School when she met my dad. They had a real whirlwind love affair and ended up getting married at the end of her second year. By the time the fall semester rolled around, my dad was clerking for a Supreme Court justice and my mom was pregnant with my oldest brother. It wasn’t until recently that she finished school and fulfilled her dream of teaching.”

  “And you figured if you didn’t date, that would never happen to you.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want a family. I do. But I want to establish my career first. I don’t want to grow to resent my husband and family, to blame them for my failure to do what I needed to do with my life.”

  “Is that how your mother feels about the delay in her career? Does she resent you?”

  “No. But I would feel that way. I know I would. The law is too important to me. Proving myself is too important. When I find the right man, when I decide to start a family, I want to be able to give myself without reservation.”

  Bart nodded and looked into the darkness. Silence stretched between them, whipped by wind and rain. Finally he returned his gaze to hers, green drilling into blue. “And you’re not afraid of never finding that special person? Of never having a family? Of being alone?” Deep and ragged, his voice ached with his own misgivings and penetrated a tender spot at the center of her heart.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m scared to death.” She’d never admitted that before. Not to her family. Not to Kelly and Cara. Not even to herself. She’d spent so much time and energy focused on her career, on proving herself, she’d never realized how much she wanted a man to love her, too. And how afraid she was that she’d have to choose between a man and her career. She suddenly felt as exposed as a raw nerve. She dipped her head and studied the muddy earth.

  He reached out and touched a rough finger to her chin. He tilted her head back so she had to meet his eyes. “A woman like you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have it all. The career you want, a husband who dotes on you and children as beautiful as you are.”

  Warmth bloomed in her cheeks and spread down through her body, radiating from his touch.

  “You’re one brave woman, Lindsey Wellington. Not many people even know what they want. Even fewer would risk moving halfway across the country on their own to get it.”

  She didn’t feel brave. Not right now. She felt unsure and scared and, oh, so alive. She wanted him to kiss her again. To touch her. To make her feel like he had in her apartment that night—safe and wanted and as if she was facing incredible danger all at the same time. She parted her lips.

  His eyes focused on her mouth. “I wish I could kiss you again.” He traced a finger along her jaw and over her lower lip. “I wish I could make love to you.”

  She pursed her lips and kissed his finger.

  His eyes seemed to darken. For a moment she thought he’d lower his head and claim her. Instead, he looked away. “The man who makes love to you for the first time should be able to promise you a future. I’m not going to make promises I can’t keep.”

  A chill claimed her, colder than the rain pelting her face. She could reassure him that he’d be acquitted. She could try to convince him that she needed him far more than she needed any promise. But any argument she made would just be words. And right now they were beyond words.

  She laid her head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. She’d find a way to keep Bart from going to prison for a murder he didn’t commit. She had to. The alternative was too tragic to contemplate.

  WHEN THE STORM finally let up, armed only with the Maglite they retrieved from the helicopter, they climbed out of the protective hollow and trudged across the rolling land. It was slow going. On a good day, his daddy’s arthritis didn’t allow him to move very quickly. But now, exhausted from his ordeal, he was moving slower than a show horse’s jog. Dawn was bathing the countryside in its gold glow by the time they reached the dirt road stretching from the Four Aces to the highway heading for Mustang Valley.

  Bart paused to get a better hold on his dad before turning in the direction of the highway.

  Lindsey propped up Daddy’s far side. She nodded back in the other direction. “Isn’t that the way to the ranch? Or am I all turned around?”

  Bart shook his head. He was the one turned around. But not about the direction. The need to pull Lindsey into his arms, to kiss her, to make love to her had pounded through his bloodstream all night long. Even now walking alongside her, watching her face screwed up with concentration from supportin
g his dad’s weight, her little pink tongue darting between her lips every two strides, all he could think about was fitting his mouth over hers and tasting her again.

  He surveyed the road ahead. “The highway leading to Mustang Valley is closer. I’m hoping we can flag down a truck to take us to Granbury.”

  “To the medical center?”

  “That’s right. Daddy needs a hospital.”

  As if to illustrate just how badly he needed medical attention, his dad sagged against him. Bart slipped his arms under his back and legs and scooped him into his arms, cradling him like a baby. His dad used to be strapping strong as any cowboy in the area. But though he wasn’t two inches shorter than Bart, after nearly ten years of illness he had all the substance of a flake of hay.

  Bart picked up his pace. He had to get help. His dad’s health was fragile as it was, and a day of wandering the riverbed and a night of huddling out in a thunderstorm and trudging halfway across the ranch hadn’t done a speck of good.

  By the time they reached the paved highway, Bart’s arms had begun to complain about his dad’s weight, as unsubstantial as it was. They walked on the gravel shoulder for a good mile before an old blue pickup complete with a loaded gun rack finally rattled toward them. Lindsey stepped out into the road and waved her arms.

  The pickup slowed and pulled to the side of the road.

  A grizzled man who looked like he was on the north side of sixty and had had a hard life peered out the dusty window. He smiled around a giant plug of chew tucked in one lined cheek.

  Lindsey pulled the truck door open. “Thank God you stopped.”

  “What can I do you for? Need a ride?”

  “We need to get to Granbury,” Bart said. “To a hospital.”

  He eyed Bart and his daddy, as if he’d just noticed them. “I see that. Well, what are you waiting for? Pile in.”

  Lindsey opened the back door of the King Cab. Bart ducked inside, propped his dad gently on the seat and climbed in beside him. Lindsey closed the door and let herself into the front seat.

  Obviously damn pleased with the seating arrangement, the man’s smile grew wider, highlighting spectacularly stained teeth. He ground the truck into gear and pulled out. “Shep. Shep Davis is the name. So where are you folks from?”

  “The Four Aces,” Lindsey answered. “Our helicopter broke down out on the range.”

  “Had to pull an emergency landing, huh?”

  Lindsey smiled and glanced back at him. “Bart landed it like the pro he is.”

  Bart tensed. Watching the man’s face in the rearview mirror, he waited for him to link the Four Aces with the name Bart. After that it would only be a short skip to realizing he had a suspected murderer riding in his truck. If they were lucky, he might just toss them out on the side of the road. If not, Bart could very well find the barrel of one of those shotguns pointed in his face.

  The guy behind the wheel just smiled at Lindsey as if the two of them were the only ones in the truck. “If you ask me, helicopters are ruining ranching. So loud and damn expensive. They scare the cattle and bankrupt the rancher.”

  Bart bit his tongue. He hadn’t liked the idea of the helicopter, either. But the fact was, qualified cowboys were hard to find these days. It took years of experience to make a hand. Kids nowadays were more interested in learning to toss a football so they could be the next Troy Aikman than learning to rope cattle. Adding the helicopter to help out the horses and cowboys had saved the Four Aces from the labor problems that had devastated many other ranches in the area.

  “Are you a rancher?” Lindsey tilted her head toward Shep, as if truly interested.

  An unmistakable pang shot through Bart and settled in his chest. How could he be jealous of a sixty-year-old coot who had half a can of tobacco bulging from one cheek? It was ridiculous. Especially when he should be glad Lindsey was distracting the man and keeping him from adding one and one and tossing them out on the side of the road before they reached Granbury.

  He concentrated on his dad’s shallow breathing and tried to ignore the small talk in the front seat.

  “I ain’t a rancher. Not anymore. Used to work on one out here, though. The Bar JR.”

  Bart’s ears pricked up. So much for his attempt at ignoring their conversation.

  Lindsey nodded and glanced into the back seat. “The Bar JR? That’s Jeb Rawlins’s ranch.”

  “That’s the one.”

  “How long ago did you work there?”

  “A good twenty years ago. Old bastard quit paying me and stole my woman. By the time I moved down to Waco, I’d lost four months’ wages and gained a broken heart.”

  “That’s terrible.” Lindsey’s voice rang with sympathy. “Do you still live in Waco?”

  “Nope, just moved back.”

  “I see.”

  Bart could see she was planning to fish for information on Jeb. Anything that would point to someone else as the murderer. And old Shep’s financial ruin and jealousy made good motives. Bart just hoped her prying didn’t refresh Shep’s memory and help him connect the dots. His dad would likely recover now with a little patching up and rest, but if they had to walk from here to Granbury, things wouldn’t be so rosy.

  Up in the front seat, Lindsey’s strategy was working. Shep nodded, his head jiggling up and down like one of those bobblehead dolls. He spat out the open window before turning bright eyes back to Lindsey, obviously eager to share his life’s story with his beautiful audience. “I guess now that Jeb’s dead, I won’t see a dime. Shame. With the economy the way it is, I could use the bucks. I suppose I’ll sue the estate, but I don’t expect that’ll do me a hell of a lot of good. You can’t get blood from a stone.”

  Bart nearly groaned. It looked like the Bar JR was turning into exactly what Jeb intended it to be: a black hole that would suck money from the Four Aces. Jeb’s revenge.

  Shep narrowed his eyes on Lindsey. “Know any honest lawyers?”

  “Actually, yes. I’m with Lambert & Church in Mustang Valley.”

  “You’re a lawyer? No kidding?”

  “No kidding.” Lindsey smiled and then stared at him with rapt fascination. “What about the woman you loved? Tell me about her.”

  “Beatrice? It didn’t last with her and Jeb. At least that’s what I heard.”

  A bad feeling crept up Bart’s spine. “Beatrice? Not Beatrice Jensen.”

  The grizzled face peered at him from the rearview mirror. “You know her?”

  Bart paused, not wanting to answer.

  “What am I thinking? Of course you know her. She works at the Four Aces now, doesn’t she?” The lines in his brow grew deeper. “What did you say your name was?”

  Oh, hell. Hearing Beatrice’s name in connection to Jeb’s had surprised him so much, he’d plumb forgot to keep his damn mouth shut.

  Shep adjusted the mirror so he could get a good look at Bart’s face. “You’re Bart Rawlins, ain’t ya?”

  Bart gave Shep a reluctant nod.

  Shep turned in Lindsey’s direction. “And I’ll bet that makes you the lawyer who’s fixing to get him off on those murder charges.”

  “Bart didn’t kill his uncle, Mr. Davis. He’s innocent.”

  “I thought I told you to call me Shep. Even my daddy was never Mr. Davis.” He turned back to Bart, his eyes hardening. “And I don’t care what you did to Jeb. He deserved what he got. But by pulling that knife on him, you took away any chance I had to get my money.”

  Bart held up a hand. “You make sure we get to the medical center in Granbury, and I’ll see you get your money.”

  “You’re serious?”

  Bart nodded. “And on the way, you tell us everything you know about Beatrice Jensen.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Lindsey accepted the steaming cup of bitter-smelling coffee Bart handed her and watched him sink into the hospital waiting-room chair next to her. Fortunately his promise of money had convinced Shep Davis to bring them to the Lake Granbury Medical Center and n
ow Bart’s father was getting the medical attention he needed. Unfortunately, Shep hadn’t been able to tell them much about Beatrice that Bart didn’t already know—at least not about the present-day Beatrice. After Jeb stole her affections, Shep had had little to do with the woman.

  Lindsey peered at Bart over her cup. Her mind had been whirring since Shep had told them his story. “What if we’ve been thinking about Jeb’s murder the wrong way? What if the motives involved are entirely different from what we’ve assumed?”

  “You mean, what if he wasn’t killed for his land?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean. What if there’s some other motive behind his murder? A motive like jealousy?”

  “You’re thinking of Beatrice.”

  “Could she still be in love with Jeb?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. Before today, I didn’t have a clue they even knew each other. And now she’s missing. Very suspicious.” He frowned, his eyebrows pulling low over green eyes. “But isn’t a murder due to jealousy usually done in a fit of passion? Beatrice finds out Jeb’s been running around and confronts him with a knife? That kind of thing? Whoever killed Jeb had to do some fancy planning in advance or they couldn’t have framed me.”

  Lindsey pursed her lips in thought. He had a point. “Maybe she didn’t kill Jeb. But she could have left your father out on the range to lash back at you for Jeb’s murder.”

  “It would explain how Daddy got out of the house without anyone at the ranch seeing him. But it doesn’t explain the helicopter.”

  “Kenny?”

  “Gary said he was at the ranch. But I can’t think of one reason Beatrice would work with Kenny.”

  “Mr. Rawlins?” a deep voice said.

  Lindsey looked in the direction of the voice. A rough-hewn man with black hair and skin the color of a copper penny peered down at Bart. “I’m Dr. Mendoza. I’ve just examined your father.”

  Bart sprang to his feet.

  Lindsey rose beside him and placed a supportive hand on his arm.

  He glanced at her, giving her a grateful smile.