Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (47 page)

She nodded. “Does that mean we could be apart for eight months?” She sounded upset at the prospect.

“It could take that long to get the visa but you can probably still come over for short holidays, and we can come and visit you…if you want us to. We understand that you may not want us to meet your family.” Luke couldn’t quite keep the sadness from his voice.

“I’ll have to think about that, give me a little time.” She didn’t look too happy about it either. She wasn’t a deceitful person and he knew that she would find it difficult to lie to her family or even bend the truth.

“We’d love for you to work with us at M&R, but if you’d prefer to do your own thing that’s cool.” James said, forking a second helping of crispy bacon onto his plate.

“We three have careers and lifestyles that define us and let’s be honest we’re not exactly on the same page. There will have to be some changes, for all of us. I want to live a sustainably as I can. I’m not going to be a nag, but perhaps you might consider cutting down on the meat, for health and environmental reasons,” she said frowning at James’s plate.

Luke had to choke off a laugh as James froze in the act of shoveling a sausage into his mouth.

“I ain’t no vegetarian, Shannon. I’m a cattle rancher.”

He couldn’t imagine James chowing down a bean burger. Clearly some things were not going to change and Luke was interested in how she would handle that.

“I know that, and neither am I. I think that we could all get by with a little less, that’s all. If I can come up with some tasty alternatives will you at least try them?

“I’ll try anything darlin’, especially if you make it, but I am a meat eating cowboy and that’s never gonna change.”

“That you are, and I love you…and your beef.” She giggled suggestively.

That went fairly well.

“I’ve a few work contracts that I’ll have to finish and you realize that at some point I will not be earning for a few months. I’ll be honest, the prospect of making myself financially vulnerable feels a little uncomfortable. I don’t have a huge amount saved and I’d rather not sell my cottage. It’s so beautiful and quaint that it’ll be easy to rent out for holiday lets.” She played with the food on her plate and avoided their gazes as if embarrassed.

“Shannon, we fully realize what you’ll be giving up and that you’ll be losing most of your clients. You’ve probably guessed that we aren’t exactly poor and that we are more than able to look after you, but we also know that you’re used to your independence. We will each deposit twenty thousand dollars into your bank account.”

Shannon protested, “No, you don’t need to do that.”

They both shook their heads.

“It’s only fair, darlin’. That should cover any loss of earnings as you wrap things up, overseas moving expenses and living costs until we are married. Anything leftover can go into our joint family account. We can thrash out details later. Ultimately we’d like to combine everything.”

“Guys, don’t run a mile when I say this, but I’m twenty-nine years old. I don’t want to wait too long before trying for babies.” She flushed bright red when she said that.

He was surprised. He had thought that it was going to take some clever persuading to get her to even think about kids. He guessed that a ticking biological clock was a powerful thing.

“I never really thought about kids before I met you two, but it has crossed my mind since then, so what do you think?”

His heart nearly burst when she looked at them both with nervous but hopeful eyes.

“As far as I’m concerned we can start right now. I want lots of little redheaded rug rats.” James winked at her.

Luke was getting a few surprises today. He thought that James would want to wait at least a year or two.

“Me, too,” he added for good measure and saw her look of relief.

“I think that we could give ourselves one or two years together first.” She smiled.

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed.

“Okay, well I can’t think of anything else just now but there is one thing that I need to know.” She grinned. “Why the patches?”

He and James looked at each other and decided to show her rather than explain. They stood up and proceed to wince and grimace as they pulled off the large patches covering their respective tattoos. Shannon’s hand flew over her mouth and she nearly choked on a bit of egg. For a few long moments she stared.

“Josh has one, obviously with Rachael’s name,” James said as if that somehow made it all understandable.

“Oh, God,” she said with eyes as wide as a bush baby’s. “That’s not how you spell my name.”

“What? Fuck! You’re kidding!” they both shouted.

She looked at them both with a poker face. “Yes, I am.”

Chapter 26

The clean-up work on the stream and the Sweet River was progressing well. Shannon was out on site with Luke, James, and an official from the River Authority, to assess what more they could do. As they were agreeing to a finish up work program, James’s phone rang. He looked intently serious as he talked and marched back and forth. When he finished the call he came to speak to her.

“Shannon, that was Mr. Whyte, our attorney. He’s been contacted by Roy’s attorney about making some kind of out of court deal regarding the shooting.” He looked confused. “He’s up to something. We should go and see them today.”

Later that afternoon Shannon and James sat in his lawyer’s meeting room, across the table from Roy Crossling and a sharp-faced little man who had introduced himself as “Harold Clegg, Mr. Crossling’s legal representative.” She didn’t like him at all.

“What’s this about, Roy?” James asked.

“Drop your charges and I won’t make any against both of you.”

Shannon had to stop herself from snorting in disbelief. Was he crazy? Did he think he could get away with it? She noticed James staring intently at Roy and knew that his sharp mind was working fast.

“I want a few private words with my lawyer,” James said.

They left the room and walked farther down a corridor for privacy.

“Can he press charges against us?” he asked Mr. Whyte

“He can try. He’ll argue that you were trespassing on his land, that your dog attacked him, and that he shot you in self-defense. I don’t think it’ll amount to anything but it’ll be an added complication.”

Mr. Whyte was a distinguished looking gentleman, an excellent lawyer by all accounts, and a family friend of the Rydens.

“What’s the real problem?” Shannon knew that the two men were considering things beyond the immediate issue.

“Shannon, darlin’, I don’t want there to be anything that may affect you getting a visa. I don’t care how small the chance is, nothing is more important to me than marrying you and you living here in Meadow Ridge County.”

A sense of doom settled in her belly.

“Do you suppose that Roy is thinking along those lines? He surely doesn’t know we’re engaged. Even if he did I doubt that he knows about the visa process.”

“I think he’s just taking a chance that we don’t want the hassle and that’s the way we’ll play it, okay?”

She nodded and Mr. Whyte agreed.

When they were all seated again in the room Mr. Whyte cleared his throat and addressed Mr. Clegg. “As we all know, taking into account the circumstances of the events and the trouble that Mr. Crossling is currently in over the polluting of the Sweet River, deviation drilling, and stealing Sweet Oil reserves—”

“Allegedly,” Clegg interrupted.

Mr. Whyte gave him a scathing look and continued. “My clients have nothing to fear from your threat.” He paused to let that sink in. “However, because of all the serious
allegations
that Mr. Crossling in currently facing, my clients will not pursue the assault charge. Of course the final matter rests with the police. My clients simply feel that it is not worth their time and effort given that Mr. Crossling will no doubt present a different interpretation of the events. You are a fortunate man, Roy.”

Roy looked at Mr. Whyte, then at her, and finally glared at James.

“Fortunate? I’ve lost the ranch Ryden, you son of a bitch.” He spat with venom. “My pa and I will have to sell to cover all the legal costs and fines. Don’t get too excited ’cause you’ll never get your hands on the Sweet River Ranch. A deal is currently being worked out as we speak.” He gloated at them.

If James was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“I’m sorry it’s come to that, Roy, but you’ve only yourself to blame,” he said in a neutral, even tone. “But if you
ever
threaten me or mine again, I will kill you.”

That last part was said in the coldest, hardest, deadliest way that Shannon had ever heard. She shivered that it came from the man she loved. If he ever spoke like that to her she’d wither on the spot. His face was blank but his eyes regarded Roy as if he were something nasty to be scraped off the on the bottom of his boot. Roy recoiled and sat back with a visible gulp.

“Well, now, it won’t come to that. I have advised my client to stay well away from you and your property. This was a satisfactory meeting, thank you for your time.” The little man bobbed his head, gathered his papers quickly, and stood up as if he couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.

Roy recovered his bravado and exited with a snide grin and a swagger.

“Well, my dear, try to forget that unpleasant character and let me offer my congratulations on your engagement,” said Mr. Whyte smiling at her, “I am thrilled that both the sons of my old, sadly departed friends, have found such delightful partners.” He shook her hand and kissed her cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, grinning back at the handsome older man.

“Did you enjoy the wedding, Travis?” James asked.

“Yes my boy, it’s been a while since I’ve attended such a lively gathering.” He chuckled. “It has worked out well that I’m here for the wedding because I can begin to deal with the oil theft issue and other things.” He very briefly glanced at Shannon and she had a vague notion that it somehow concerned her.

James had already explained to Shannon that Travis Whyte was the senior partner in a large law practice in Houston. He was originally from Ridge Water and had a small branch office here. James said it gave him an excuse to come home.

“If what Roy says is true about selling the property, that is one quick deal considering all the legal problems.” James commented.

“Yes. Between us I heard via the bush telegraph that Sullivan and Morgan, the estate agents, have an interested party already lined up. A lawyer from Boston, representing a trust fund, contacted them a month ago, looking for properties in the area. Obviously the new buyer will want to ensure that they do not incur any debts, legal problems or financial penalties as a result of the oil spill and the drilling. The contract will have to be tight but from what I’ve heard their lawyer is very good. That’s all I can say, anything else is confidential I’m afraid but you may well have a new neighbor sooner than you think.”

James and Shannon met up with Luke at Dana’s Diner for an early dinner. Shannon had to try hard not to behave like a rubbernecked tourist. It was just how she imagined an American diner to be, even down to the red vinyl bench seats and the waitresses wearing pink uniforms complete with apron. They made their way over to Luke, who was sitting in a booth talking to a pretty waitress. It didn’t look like she was taking his order and a small but sharp stab of jealousy poked her. When he noticed them heading over his face lit up with a smile so bright that the waitress turned around to see what he was looking at. Shannon gave a little wave.

As they reached the table, Luke stood up and kissed her.