A Match Made in Texas (29 page)

It was the first time that Dusty had been in Emmie’s room. Usually, he took her elsewhere for his visitation. But this wasn’t his usual visitation. That morning Heather had called him and invited him to Houston “to talk.” Worried something had happened to Emmie, he made the trip in record time. When he got here, Emmie was fine and Heather was surprisingly nice. So nice she didn’t say a word when their daughter tugged him upstairs to her room. Although he figured Heather would show up eventually to ruin the party.

But for now, he had Emmie all to himself. He smiled as he watched his daughter rifle through the hamper, flinging clothes over her shoulder until she found what she wanted: a bluish-green swimsuit with a redheaded Disney character on the front. Within seconds, Emmie had her dress slipped over her head and had pulled the swimsuit on over her Cinderella panties.

“Prince Eric finded Princess Ariel on the sandy beach. But first, you need your doggie Max.” She moved over to the toy box and started flipping toys out, while Dusty tried to block out the image that popped into his head of another princess on a sandy beach.

It was impossible.

While he had deleted Brianne’s picture from his e-mail, he couldn’t seem to delete it from his brain. It stuck there like burned cheese on a griddle. Numerous times, he’d picked up his cell phone with the intent of calling Brianne and getting answers to the questions that plagued him. Who was the guy taking the picture? Was it the same guy who showed up at the Henhouse? Did she love him? And if so, why had she started something with Dusty?

Thankfully, pride had won out and kept him from calling her. And in the last few days, he’d come to a realization. It didn’t matter who the guy was who had taken the picture. Didn’t matter if he was a weekend fling or a serious boyfriend. Didn’t matter if Brianne loved him or hated him. Because in the end, all that mattered was that the rich, fun-loving woman in the picture would never be happy living on a rundown ranch with a small-town sheriff.

That was the cold, harsh truth. And the only thing Dusty needed to remember.

A soft thump brought him out of his thoughts, and he glanced down to see Emmie lying in front of the toy box.

“Emmie?” His heart took a dive when she didn’t answer. He jumped up from the tiny chair and rushed over to kneel next to her. She was lying on her side, one arm flung over her face. When he rolled her over, she was limp and unresponsive. Quickly, he pressed two fingers to her neck. He had just located her pulse when her eyes fluttered open. His relief was so great that he had trouble finding his voice.

“Emmie, baby, are you okay?”

She sent him a weak smile before tapping her throat.

“Are you having trouble breathing?” He stroked back her hair as he pulled out his phone. “It’s okay, baby. Pa’s here. I’m going to get you help.”

A sinister laugh had the phone slipping from his hand and bouncing out of reach. He glanced behind him to see Heather standing in the doorway with an evil smile. At least, more evil than usual.

“It’s too late,” she hissed in a voice similar to the one she used during their worst fights. “Her voice is mine and soon you’ll be, too.”

“Heather.” He tried to keep his voice calm. “Emmie passed out and is having trouble breathing. We need to call an ambulance.” He reached for his phone, but Heather beat him to it, kicking it away with one toe of her designer heels.

“You think you can steal the locket with the princess’s voice, Prince Eric?” She winked at him before picking up the phone and hugging it to her chest. “Well, think again.”

“Heather!” he snapped. “This isn’t a joke—”

A Styrofoam sword whacked him in the face, and he looked down to find his daughter holding the hilt and grinning broadly.

“You gots to kill her, Prince Eric,” she whispered.

For a second, he had the strong urge to paddle Emmie’s butt for the scare she’d given him. But then he realized that he had only himself to blame. She had laid out the story for him. He’d just been so wrapped up in daydreaming about Brianne that he hadn’t paid attention.

Emmie whacked him again with the sword and pointed at her mother, who was glaring at Dusty with renewed hatred. And he had to wonder how good her acting skills were. Probably no better than his.

Taking the sword, he jumped to his feet and pointed it at Heather. “En garde, you scallywag. I’ll get the princess’s voice back or die trying.”

Heather snorted with disdain as she maneuvered around the little table and chairs. “As if I’m afraid of a prince. I’ll just set my evil eels on you.” She threw a stuffed animal at him, and he barely blocked it with the sword before another came sailing at his head. After being bombarded with all of Emmie’s furry friends, Dusty shoved the table out of the way and quickly cornered Heather between the bookshelf and the bed.

“Evil eels cannot stop true love,” he said as he poked her in the stomach with the sword. “Hand over the locket, wench.”

With a groan, Heather handed him the phone before dramatically slumping over to the bed. Before Dusty could even turn around, Emmie was in his arms.

“You did it, Prince! You killed the evil sea witch.”

Dusty found his face covered in kisses, and when he glanced over at Heather, she was smiling.

“I hope you realize that she scared twenty years off my life.” Dusty waited for Heather to be seated in one of the cushioned lawn chairs before taking a seat next to her. The back patio looked out on an infinity swimming pool, a sculptured lawn with play structure and princess castle, and the country club golf course. As much as Dusty hated to admit it, it was a dream backyard for any kid.

“I’m sorry,” Heather said as she handed him the tall glass of iced tea. “But once the story starts, I’ve learned that it’s best to let it finish. I screwed up Rapunzel once and still haven’t heard the end of it.”

“But how did you know she wasn’t hurt?”

She shrugged. “I guess it’s a mother thing.”

He took a sip of his tea. As always, it was too sweet. Heather never seemed to remember that he liked his unsweetened. He set the glass down on the table. “So I guess you play princesses often.”

“Every day, unless I can distract her with something else. She’s quite the little actress.” She glanced over at him. “Unlike her father. Scallywag? Wench?”

He laughed. “I’m not familiar with prince lingo. I figured pirate’s would be close enough.”

“Well, it was close enough for Emma. She was so thrilled with your performance, I thought I was never going to get her down for a nap.” She stared out at the glistening water of the swimming pool. “You surprised me. I didn’t think you had that kind of playfulness in you.”

“Maybe you never looked.”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe the only thing I could bring out of you was anger.” She glanced over at him, and he was surprised to find tears glistening in her eyes. “Did you know that you were my perfect prince? Good looks. Pure heart. Protective nature. I really believed I was going to live happily-ever-after. Then we got married, and everything seemed to change. Suddenly you seemed to hate everything I loved. Traveling. Shopping. Houston. My daddy.”

Dusty didn’t really want to have this conversation. To him, it was water under the bridge. But before he could point that out, he realized that she was right. He hadn’t exactly been honest with her when they had first married. Or honest with himself.

He took a deep breath and slowly released it. “I wanted to be your prince, Heather. And I thought I could live in a big city in a big house with a father-in-law who wanted to ‘groom me’ for bigger and better things. But once Emma was born, I realized that my dreams are much smaller.”

She turned away. “Did you love me?”

“Yes,” Dusty said without hesitation. “And I still do. I love how you love our daughter.”

She studied her hands. “But you’re still going to do everything you can to take her away from me. Including exposing my affair with Darren.”

He wasn’t surprised that she knew. With her father’s connections, she’d probably gotten it straight from Dusty’s lawyer. When Dusty didn’t deny it, a sad smile played on her mouth.

“Of course you will. And after the way I let Daddy’s lawyers treat you, I deserve it.” She looked up. “But I want you to know that I didn’t start seeing Darren until I knew it was over between us. And believe it or not, he was the only one.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “It turns out that an old, balding accountant who makes less a year than my massage therapist is my prince.”

Dusty thought his ego would feel a little bruised. Unfortunately, Brianne had bruised it so much that it was now numb. “So why haven’t you married him?” he asked.

“Because Daddy would never allow it.”

“Jesus, Heather. When are you going to cut the umbilical cord with your father?”

As always, the mention of her father caused her to lose it. “That’s easy for you to stay,” she snapped. “You came from a poor family, so you don’t know the difference. Well, I do. Which is why I couldn’t live in that hovel you call a ranch and why I can’t go against my father. And it’s not just me. It’s Emma. Do you really want her to lose all this?” She waved her hand around. “Because your child support sure isn’t going to keep her in ballet lessons and Spanish classes.”

Normally, he’d snap back. But this time, he pushed his anger down and spoke calmly. “To hell with ballet and Spanish. She’s a kid, Heather. She’ll be happy as long as you’re there to play princesses with her. If you love the guy, then marry him.”

She slumped back on the chair. “But what if I make the same mistake again? What if we end up hurting each other? Or worse, Emma? I just don’t think I could go through it again.”

Her words made him realize that she had been as hurt by their divorce as he had been. Maybe more so. If that was true, then she wasn’t the self-absorbed snob he believed her to be. She was just a scared woman fighting for her child.

“Damn,” he said as he stared out at the pool. “We’ve done quite a number on each other, haven’t we?”

“It looks that way.” Her voice quavered. “Too bad we can’t go back.”

He glanced over at her. “And change what? If we didn’t get married, then we wouldn’t have Emma. Yeah, we made some mistakes. We were young and horny and thought that physical attraction was enough to build a marriage on. But we’re older now, and hopefully, we’ve learned from our mistakes.” He reached over and took her hand. “Don’t be afraid to take a chance, Heather. If you love this guy, go for it. To hell with what anyone else thinks. Including your father.”

Instead of replying, Heather just continued to stare out at the golf course.

Although she refused to release his hand.

Dusty stayed much longer than he had intended. Once they finished their iced tea, Emmie woke up from her nap and wanted to show him how she could swim across the pool. Then Heather invited him to stay for supper. Surprisingly, it turned out to be an enjoyable meal. Or maybe what he enjoyed most was the happiness on his daughter’s face. It was obvious that she loved having both of her parents together. Something she voiced when she tugged him back to her room so he could say good-bye to her stuffed animals.

“If you was nice, Pa, I bet Mommy would letted you come back and live with us.” She held out a green frog with big red lips.

Not sure what she expected him to do with the frog, he shook a webbed foot while he tried to formulate an answer that would be acceptable for a three-year-old. It wasn’t easy. It took shaking the paws, hooves, and feet of Emmie’s entire menagerie before he finally spoke.

“Sometimes people choose to live in different places, Em. Like Mommy lives here in Houston, and I live in Culver County.” He picked her up and set her on his lap. “But just because we don’t live together doesn’t mean we don’t love you.” He smoothed the hair back that had drifted down from her side braids. “You are the most important thing in our lives.”

“But I miss you, Pa.” Her small arms wrapped around his waist as she buried her nose in his chest. It was impossible to keep the tears from his eyes.

“And I miss you. But hopefully, one day soon you’ll get to come see me.”

She pulled back. “When my princess room is ready?”

He smiled. “Yes, when your princess room is all ready.” The subtle scent of expensive perfume had him glancing at the doorway. Heather stood there with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

“It’s time for your bath, Emma,” she said.

Emmie grumbled a refusal and clung to Dusty. With a heavy heart, he rose to his feet and then sniffed at her ear until she giggled. “Someone sure smells stinky, and it’s not me.” He tickled her sides. “Could it be the Stinky Princess of Houston?”

“I’m not a stinky princess.” She giggled as he handed her off to Heather.

Heather took a sniff. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I think I agree with Prince Eric. You’re one stinky princess.” Over Emmie’s head, she mouthed two words.

Thank you.

When Dusty was back on the road to Culver, he thought about the day with Heather and Emmie. And for the first time, he thought about his marriage and the mistakes he’d made. Mistakes he couldn’t take back. The only thing he could do was ensure he didn’t make any more.

Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he retrieved Ryker’s number.