Beauty Shot (Hope Parish Novels Book 5) (16 page)

He wiped at my tears
with his thumbs, then kissed me so softly, so sweetly, I welled up
all over again. I clutched his shirt, and the scent of him, the feel
of him, made my throat sore and tight.

He pulled away
slowly, but I held onto his shirt. He set his hands on his hips and
dropped his head, his voice breaking. “Letting you go is the
hardest thing I have ever done. But I want you to be happy. Most
important thing in the world to me is for you to be happy.”

He reached back and
removed an envelope from his back pocket and held it out to me.

“What—”

“Don’t
open this now. Open it after I’m gone. If you decide to give us
a chance and are ready to tell me everything you’re holding
back, use it. Otherwise, I will take it to mean we’re over.
And, Emmie, please don’t use it if you’re not going to
come clean. I don’t want half of you. I want all of you. It is
all or nothing. Trust is too important.”

He retreated a step,
but I couldn’t let go. “Travis,” I sobbed and he
reached up and covered my hand. I took a deep breath, my heart
beating hard against my chest. He curled his hand around mine and
squeezed, then loosely held it. His aching blue eyes told me that
everything would be all right and…I trusted him. I trusted him
with all of me.

“You are so
beautiful, Emmie. If you remember nothing else about me, remember
that I think you are the most beautiful woman I will ever meet. You
will always be my measuring stick.”

As soon as he
disappeared, I looked down at the envelope, and with a sob ripped it
open. I gaped down at the airline ticket and the words:
Come
home with me for Thanksgiving, Beautiful.

I stared at it, and
everything that I had been, everything dark and ugly that I had
always felt about myself, dissipated like smoke. My past no longer
had a hold over me. Travis might be falling for me, but I was already
there. I was in love with him.

Did I have the
courage to take him up on his offer? Was I brave enough to offer him
my complete and deep-seated trust when no one, not one soul I had
trusted in my past, had been there for me?

He’d had the
courage to free me to make my own decision. He’d trusted me
enough to make the right decision for me. Regardless of how it would
affect him.

His selflessness
humbled me.

There was only one
course of action.

#

Deke

“Minnie,”
I called as she walked towards the limo. She stopped and turned
toward me, her red curls bouncing in the wind whipping through the
high rises.

I stood there, my
world about to crash around me, with three dahlias in my hand.

She looked at the
flowers, then at me. “Deke, not in public.”

“Yes, in
public,” I said. “I need to talk to you.”

She closed her eyes,
and panic sank its claws into my gut and wouldn’t let go.

She breathed out and
pressed her fingers to her eyes, and just when I thought she was
going to refuse, get in the limo and leave...

“Miss
Tattersall—”

She held up her
finger indicating she needed a minute, cutting him off.

She took the few
steps toward me, getting close. “Talk, Deke.”

“These are for
you. I grew them myself.”

Her expression went
painful, but she accepted them.

It was now or never.
I took a deep breath and went for it. “I don’t want to
sneak around anymore. If you can’t have me as your man
everywhere, then I don’t want to be your closed door secret.”

“Deke, I’ve
got a function to go to tonight. Don’t do this now. Please.
We’ll talk afterwards.”

Everything in me
seized, and I realized that was my answer.

“No more
talking, Minnie. It’s not going to do any good. You should be
on my arm and I should be going with you to this thing. Out in the
open.”

She bowed her head.

“You’re
shaking, and I hope it’s because you realize that you’re
giving up something amazing and feeling terrible about it—because
you are—or because you have feelings for me and are trying to
keep your shit together, or it’s because you know I’m
fucking right.”

She pressed her hand
over my heart and I clasped the back of her neck, dislodging her
elegant hairdo.

“Or…”
I said. “All of the above.”

“Ms.
Tattersall?”

“You’d
better go. I hope you achieve everything you want,” I
whispered.

I hadn’t let
go of her, and she didn’t try to pull away.

I pulled her
fiercely against me and kissed her, and with a soft sob she kissed me
back.

With my forehead
against hers, I said, “Think of me, Minnie, because I will
never forget you.”

I kissed her again,
a lingering kiss, and then stepped back. “Goodbye, shug.”

Without another
word, I turned and left her standing in the street with my heart, my
pride, and three beautiful dahlias.

#

Travis

I stood at the gate.
They were going to be boarding in fifteen minutes, and Emmie wasn’t
here. I had hoped so hard that she would give me that last piece of
herself. The thing she was so afraid to tell me.

“In a few
moments we will be boarding American Airlines flight 1790 to Dallas,
Texas, through gate D12.”

I stood up and
looked around, but there was still no sign of her. My heart squeezed
so tight in my chest that I thought it would explode. I picked up my
carryon and headed toward the gate.

“We would like
to invite passengers with disabilities to board at this time.”

I looked down at my
first class ticket and stubbornly looked around again.

“We would like
to invite our military personal to board at this time.”

I moved toward the
gate, my steps slow and heavy, standing there waiting until the
flight attendant had invited all passengers to board.

Suddenly I heard,
“Paging passenger Emily Harp, last call.”

I stood there dumbly
like a statue.

“Sir, are you
on this flight?”

“Yes, I’m
waitin’—”

“For Emily
Harp.”

I spun. “Emmie!”
I cupped her face and stared down into her wonderful brown eyes.

“I love you,
Travis. I’ll tell you everything.”

“Let’s
board before they leave without us, and then I want to hear
everything.”

We settled into
first class, and she eyed me, but took her seat. After we fastened
our seat belts, she said, “I’m getting the feeling that
you’re not some down-on-his-luck rancher’s son.”

“We’re
not talking about me right now. We’re talking about you.”

“Travis, my
past is pretty awful.”

“Yeah, I got
that. Start at the beginning.” I curled my hand around hers.
“Tell me, darlin’”

She took a deep
breath and let it out. “My parents died when I was three. I
don’t even remember them very well. Because I had no family, no
relatives, I was put into the foster care system. I was taken by a
couple who weren’t exactly nice. My foster father tried to…have
relations with me.’

“That bastard.
How old were you?”

“Twelve. I ran
away and lived on the street for a few years.”

She closed her eyes
and tears slid down her cheek. I reached out and rubbed her arm.

She smiled
gratefully and continued, “I did some illegal things, Travis.
I…oh, God…sold my body to get enough money to buy a
computer and a small room. I swear, it’s the only time I did
it. I cried all the way through, but the guy still paid me. After I
had my computer, I never did it again. I had nothing, but I was
always good at computer stuff, so I hired myself out as a hacker and
accepted every job I could find. I’m sure some of the things I
did were illegal, but I did them anyway.”

“How did you
go to school, get into Columbia?”

“I hacked into
the school records and built myself a name and a background as a
transfer student, then I showed up like I belonged there. I created
parents, and no one questioned it.”

“Tell me you
didn’t cheat…”

“No, I studied
hard, joined the debate team, was class president, and even went to
my prom. My SATs, my grades, and my school activities got me a
scholarship to Columbia. I have a full ride like Deke.”

“Geezus, Em. I
can’t believe you were so resourceful at such a young age. I’m
in awe.”

“You don’t
think less of me, Travis?” she asked, tears in her voice as she
clutched my shirt.

“No, darlin’,
I think you’re pretty damned cool. My parents, sister and
brother are going to love you.”

“You don’t
want to know my real name?”

“No. I don’t
need to know.”

She laid her head on
my shoulder, and about fifteen minutes into the flight, she fell
asleep. I held her until we landed in Dallas. After deplaning, we
headed for the security gate and the street with our carry-ons.

My dad waved to us
and then jumped out of his Bronco to help Emmie with her luggage.
Emmie leaned over and whispered, “My God, Travis, you’re
the spitting image of your father.”

“Yeah, I get
that all the time.”

“It’s
where he got his good looks, little lady.”

Emmie smiled. “Dad,
this is Emily Harp, Emmie.”

My dad shook her
hand, then sent a sideways glance at me. “Welcome! You know
your mother is going to want to fatten her up.”

“Dad…”

“Just saying,”
he said, chuckling as he opened the front passenger door for her
while I settled in the back.

While we drove,
Emmie told my father all about our trip out to Wild Horse Ranch on
Long Island, and about how much she loved my horse Chico.

“He’s a
fine animal. One of our best stock. Didn’t want him out of my
sight, but that damn horse would have pined away if he wasn’t
close to Travis.”

“I think he’s
taken a shine to Emmie, Dad.”

“Ah, I see he
knows class when he sees it.”

“Thank you,
Mr. Blackwell.”

“Call me Josh.
Mr. Blackwell is much too formal for me.”

“Okay.”

As we approached
home Emmie gasped and turned shining eyes to me. “Dad, could
you stop here?” My dad complied, and I pulled her out of the
vehicle so she could really see the Double Bar X Ranch spread out
before us.

“Oh, my God,
this isn’t a ranch, this is a spread.”

“We own three
thousand acres, eight hundred head of cattle, seven stud bulls,
twenty-five horses, and three dogs. My dad pays my tuition and all my
expenses to live in New York City, along with spending money. I have
never wanted for anything, Emmie, but my parents taught me that
what’s important is the people in your life, not what you
possess. That’s all my trappins’. This will be mine
someday, as well as my brother’s and my sister’s. It’s
our legacy, and I will take good care of it, because I love ranchin’,
ropin’, and ridin’ more than anything.”

“I don’t
care if you’re rich. I still care for you anyway.”

I turned to her and
cupped her face and—in front of my father and my wonderful
home—I kissed her, slow and easy. Then I smiled and said, “I
am rich now. I’ve got what I’ve been missing.”

I was really
beginning to like the way she clutched my shirt. Back in the vehicle
it took no time at all to get to the ranch house.

As I helped her out
of the Bronco, my brother, sister and mom piled out of the house,
bringing with them three barking dogs. It was utter chaos while I
raised my voice and introduced her. I was hugged, kissed, and punched
in the arm by my brother, who gave me a way-to-go look. My mom took
one look at her, slung her arm around Emmie’s shoulders, and
said, “Oh, Travis, what a beauty, but she’s a bit on the
skinny side.” She looked down at Emmie, “We’ll have
to fatten you up.”

My father and I
chuckled as the family, a shell-shocked Emmie, and three noisy dogs
went into the house.

#

Minnie

I got out of my car,
my heart in my throat. All I had been thinking about was our last
encounter. I’d gone on to that stupid function and halfway
through it, I simply bolted for the door. But, I didn’t make it
out fast enough before a reporter caught me. She asked me if the
rumors about me dating one of my models was true. She also asked me
if it was true that he was only eighteen.

I told her yes and
that he was everything to me.

Then, I went home,
walked in the door to find my da and mum cuddled up in front of the
fire. They looked so guilty when I just stared at them. It seems
Angela—mum—had been so in love with my da all these years
that all those young men had been about getting back at him for not
being able to handle her being in the limelight. She was giving it
all up. It seemed they connected again when they had been handling a
business matter for the vineyard.

It drove home to me
that I wasn’t going to abandon Deke for the same damn reason.
There would be some fences to mend with my mum, but I learned from
Deke that all things were possible.

And now I didn’t
have anything to do
but
think and stew and lose my mind. Deke had been right about
everything. It wasn’t our age that made me shut him out, close
down my emotions, try not to reveal too much. It was my fear.

Angela’s
outrageous behavior had dictated my life, had screwed me up when I
was young, and I still had the scars. I had taken my anger and buried
heartbreak out on Deke because he dared to make me care for him. Make
me fall in love with him.

I had so much pride
in his integrity. I just needed to find him. Tell him I had been
wrong and pray he would forgive me.

I tried to reach
Deke, but he didn’t pick up his phone. So I called Verity, and
she checked with his family to find out that Deke had taken a side
trip to some unknown destination.