Claiming The Cowboy by Leslie North

Author:Leslie North [North, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

9

The future that Gretchen de Havilland envisioned for herself looked a little like Gabriel Mendez’s estate.

Okay. A lot.

Her father would, of course, be there. And she wasn’t much for swimming, but an infinity pool would help keep the Texas heat from being too oppressive. The library on the front of the house would be filled, floor to ceiling, with law books, and no one would doubt that she had earned her place alongside the most powerful elected officials in state government.

But how far was she willing to go to ensure that happened? She could keep her promise to Chase to vote for the rezoning and still leak the information, but the questionable ethics in that plan made her skin crawl. Would the payoff be worth the fallout?

Gretchen sat alone on the back porch. Porch was an understatement. There was enough pebbled pavement and intricate landscaping and gorgeously understated garden lighting before her to constitute an entire small town of porches. A ceiling fan turned lazily overhead. The promised evening rain pelted the open spaces and speckled the pool surface. She inhaled the air’s fresh cleanse, burrowed deeper into the soft plush of the outdoor chair cushion, and waited for Chase’s surprise.

After a meal that paired the best of Texas cuisine with the flavors that captured the Mexican heritage of Gabriel Mendez and his family, the attorney general and his wife, Maria, insisted that Gretchen and Chase take in the east view while the couple attended to urgent but brief business that had arisen. Gretchen had thought it best to express their thanks and leave. Chase had other plans. After homemade sopapillas and native honey, he asked Gretchen to head out ahead of him, that he had something that would blow her mind. Then he added understated jazz hands for her eyes only.

For her entire wait, she thought only of the one thing that would, in turn, blow his plans.

The ownership of his property on Main was open to dispute. They both knew the Pickfords wouldn’t pull their punches, if it became known.

“Gracias,” she heard him say to the staff person who opened the kitchen door on his way out. Chase carried a small tray stacked with black-label bottles and bar glasses and a fancy splay of beverage napkins. He placed the tray on the ottoman and settled into the chair beside her.

“That’s sweet. But I don’t drink.”

He looked down at his joined hands. His lips pressed together in a sad smile.

“I know you don’t, Gretchen. I never told you this, but I always wanted to. I’m sorry you lost your mom.”

Chase’s tone was contrite. Absent all teasing, all cockiness, all artifice, his words stoked her ears, her heart, every space in between.

“Thank you. I’m sorry about your dad and your grandfather. They meant so much to the town. The Meiers, my gosh…go all the way back…” She stopped blathering and watched the rain because she wasn’t sure how to frame the information so that she didn’t look like someone who had kept a secret.

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