Lone Star Valentine (McCabe Multiples) (13 page)

Gannon offered, “I’ll help Lily with the statement.”

“Thanks.” Liz sighed her relief, then looked at Lily. “You’re in good hands,” she promised.

Funny, Lily thought that, too.

* * *

“Y
OU
SURE
YOU
want to do this?” Gannon asked two hours later, before Lily walked into the media room at town hall.

She nodded. As always, she felt stronger with Gannon by her side. “I think it will go better if I read the statement to the press myself. That way, the reporters will get some film of me. Otherwise they’ll be chasing me around.” And that she did not want.

Gannon gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze. “Just touch your nose if you want me to step in.”

“Will do.” Lily walked out, Gannon staying just behind her.

Flashes began going off. Television cameras recorded her every move.

Her former political rival, Rex Carter, lingered in the background. Doing his best, it seemed to Lily, to make her nervous.

It didn’t work.

No stranger to either crowds or the press, Lily stepped up to the podium. Smiled. “Thank you all for coming.” She made eye contact with each and every journalist in the room. “First of all, I’d like to invite everyone to the First Annual Chili Cook-Off and Festival on Valentine’s Day weekend. The festivities start with a parade tomorrow morning and conclude with a special dance on Saturday night. The proceeds are going to fund expansions of our library, the children’s wing at the hospital and many other local charities. So you all bring your valentines and have a great time!”

Lily smiled again, feeling even more composed as the press event went on. “On a more personal note, I’d like to say that I wish Bode Daniels the best of luck in the continuation of his football career. I have always welcomed him in our son’s life and always will.” She paused to let her words sink in. “Currently, Bode and I are trying to work out the details of a new custody arrangement that will better serve us all. We’ll let you know when there is something to announce. In the meantime, we would appreciate the time and the privacy to make this happen.”

“Did you ask Bode Daniels to be the head judge and the grand marshal at the chili cook-off?” a reporter shouted.

Again, Lily maintained her composure. “Actually, I think we have former mayor and steering committee member Rex Carter to thank for that exciting development. I see him at the back of the room.” She gestured magnanimously, for once glad the good old boy was on her heels. “Rex, how about you come up here and tell the folks a little about how this all transpired?”

His chest puffed out importantly, Rex made his way through the throngs of press. He took the podium and the microphone gleefully.

Lily used the opportunity to deftly slip away though a side door that, thanks to the deputies standing by, no one else could use.

“Now what?” Gannon asked.

“Get me out of here,” Lily said. “Pronto.”

He hugged her close, seeming as glad to be there for her as she was to have him. “You got it.”

Chapter Twelve

“So what next?” Gannon asked when they had successfully slipped out of town hall, via the service entrance, and made their way to his pickup truck.

The chilly air and sunshine overhead invigorated Lily. She was so glad to be away from the crush of reporters. So glad to be alone with Gannon again. Forcing herself to get back into mayor mode, she waited for him to hit the unlock button on his keypad. “I’d like to head out to the county fairgrounds and see how things are going there. I especially want to see how the fire statue survived the move to the exhibition hall yesterday.”

He moved to her side, opening the passenger door. Then he gave her a hand up into the cab, assisting her as gallantly as if they’d been on a date. “Actually,” he said, smiling at her intimately, “I’d like to get a look at that, too.”

Minutes later, they were standing in front of the glass display case that held the fire-roasted ceramic chili pepper.

Lily stared at the original work of art, thoroughly amazed. “I guess this just proves that context is everything,” she said. What had seemed awkwardly out of place sitting on the grass of the town square looked incredibly delicate and lifelike under the lights.

Gannon stepped up to the glass. He shook his head, marveling, “It looks incredible, doesn’t it? As though it—”

“—belongs here?” Lily finished his sentence for him.

Gannon nodded. He turned to Lily, his presence as evocative as the gentlest caress. He reached over and briefly squeezed her hand before letting her go once again. “This is what my mother should have been doing all along.”

Trying not to read too much into his casual gesture, Lily guessed his meaning. “Instead of being an art teacher?”

“Yeah.” Gannon exhaled.

Their gazes locked, and they shared another moment of tingling awareness. Finally, Gannon cleared his throat, regret tautening his handsome face. “If my mom had just followed her bliss...”

Knowing what it was to be in such a conundrum, and make—in retrospect—what certainly seemed like the wrong decision, Lily moved closer still. “Has your mom ever said she regrets the compromises she made?”

Gannon inclined his head. “On the contrary.” He rocked back on his heels and tenderly searched Lily’s eyes. “She’s very glad she had the time with me and my dad. And she enjoyed all the years teaching. She says her students taught her more than she ever taught them.”

“Not in every case.” Lily laughed and gestured at herself self-deprecatingly. “I mean, I have no talent artistically. Of all my siblings, only my sister Poppy has that. But your mom opened up the world to me when I took her art survey class in high school.”

Gannon nodded. “A lot of people have told me they feel that way. Which just goes to show, a person can have a positive impact anywhere they go if they choose to do so.”

The sentiment in his low tone caught her attention. “Are we talking about your mom now, or you?”

For a second, Lily thought he would not answer. Then he turned to her and said, “I always thought that I would be happy as long as I didn’t compromise when it came to my career.”

“And now?” Lily asked, her pulse picking up.

Gannon looked deep into her eyes. “Being back in Laramie, spending time with you and Lucas, has made me realize there’s still more to be had.”

“Like family,” she guessed.

“And a long-lasting relationship to anchor that family.” Gannon exhaled. “The question is, how do you make that happen and still juggle all the responsibilities that come from being a partner and department head in a law firm, and not let anyone down?”

Lily gestured helplessly. “I don’t know. My parents both have demanding careers as physicians, and they’ve always found a way to make it all work, but there are sacrifices to be made. Career opportunities they didn’t take, or times they missed out on with us kids.”

“And yet they’ve always been happy.”

“Very much so.”

He squeezed her hand encouragingly. “Maybe we’ll figure it out, as well.”

Amazingly, Lily was beginning to feel that, too. She smiled. “I hope so. In the meantime, we both have work to do...”

Lily resumed looking at the sculpture, and went back to the dilemma at hand. “I know Emmett Briscoe said he wanted this for his museum in Fort Worth, but I really think it belongs here.”

Gannon held up a halting palm, not about to get in the middle. “You’ll have to talk to him—and my mother—about that.”

Lily’s enthusiasm skyrocketed. “Do you think we could do that now?”

“I don’t see why not.” Gannon tried his mom on his cell, to no avail. “She’s probably working in her studio. She doesn’t have a phone out there.”

Lily really wanted to get this settled. “Do you think she’d mind if we dropped by?”

Gannon pressed a light hand to her spine and escorted her in the direction of the exit. “Not at all.”

They walked out of the exhibition hall side by side. Although the major festival preparation would not begin until six that evening when most of the locals had gotten off work, the grounds were already a beehive of activity as town workers strung red-and-white welcome banners across the entranceway to the fairgrounds and set up the reviewing stand next to the entrance where the parade would end. Folding banquet tables were being brought in. Boxes upon boxes of cups and napkins, paper plates and silverware were delivered.

Miss Mim came toward the two of them excitedly. “I just heard the weather report!” she said. “It’s going to be beautiful—sixty and sunny—both days!”

Lily beamed and hugged the committee chairwoman. “I’ll be back at six to help get the concession stands set up for tomorrow.”

“Count on me, too,” Gannon said.

“All right, dears, see you then!” Miss Mim bustled back to supervise the crew.

Lily and Gannon climbed back into his pickup and drove out to the Triple M Ranch. And there, they received their second surprise of the day.

The one hundred acres immediately surrounding the Triple M Ranch house had been left untouched. The rest of the four hundred acres had been cordoned off into what appeared to be roughly forty ten-acre plots using a rainbow of different-colored surveying tapes to further delineate the lots. On the doorstep of the ranch was a gift box, courtesy of Rex Carter & Associates. Inside was a mock-up of what the subdivision was going to look like from the Triple M Ranch house porch, once it was built out.

“The houses are gorgeous,” Lily said. “Million-dollar homes, every last one of them.”

Gannon stared. “And my mom will be living in the middle of a subdivision?”

“You weren’t aware this was how it was going to be set up?”

He grimaced. “Rex assured me that we—I mean my mom—would still have her privacy as well as a beautiful view. That it would look like a series of small ranches, accessed in the usual way—”

“Directly off the country road.”

Gannon nodded. “And that the homes would be set in their natural terrain. Instead, he’s designed a grand entrance, is flattening and clearing the land, adding tennis courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool. Plus, he’s added a lot of streets and cul-de-sacs—to the point you’ll eventually need a traffic light to get out of there.”

“I agree. There are a lot of changes. But what does this matter to you, since you’ll be living in Fort Worth?”

“Because it’s not what Rex and I agreed upon. And I still plan to come back here.”

“To visit.”

He nodded with his customary determination. “And when I do, I want it to be the way it was when I was growing up. Beautiful. Quiet. Peaceful.”

“Just smaller.”

“A place where I can get in touch with my roots.”

Lily tried not to read too much into the sudden reverence in his voice. It wasn’t as if Gannon were thinking of moving back to Laramie or anything. He liked his job and his life in Fort Worth. He wasn’t a person who compromised on that. Ever. Any more than he was willing to compromise on what he still wanted in Laramie County.

Forcing herself to put her own foolish wishes aside, Lily swallowed hard. “Still, with forty new homes being put on the property, you knew there would be changes,” she pointed out softly. “That it was going to have to look and feel a lot different.”

Just as I know you are leaving in four more days.

“Knowing it and actually seeing it are two separate things,” Gannon muttered unhappily.

Wasn’t that the truth, Lily thought on a beleaguered sigh.

Maybe he wasn’t the only one who needed to brace himself for what was coming next.

Harriett joined them on the front porch. She looked at her son. “I wondered what you were going to think of this when you saw it.” Her own displeasure evident, the artist pointed to the soon-to-be drastically altered view. “You don’t like it any more than I do, do you?”

Gannon said nothing.

But then, Lily noted, he didn’t have to.

Nor, for that matter, did she.

* * *

W
ITH
THE
REPORTERS
GONE
, and his mom agreeing to at least think about leaving her fire statue with the town of Laramie, as originally planned, Gannon drove Lily back to work.

She was unusually quiet en route.

Which, given all she had to have on her mind, was not really a surprise, so Gannon fell silent, too. It had been a hell of a shock, seeing what Rex Carter and his associates had planned for his former childhood home. Even though he knew some changes had to be made, for practical and financial reasons, he still hated to see the feel of the Triple M Ranch lost. Hated the thought that soon he would be leaving Lily—again. As well as her son, whom was quickly becoming very fond of. Not to mention the glimpse of family she had provided him the past few days.

He realized now that he needed more from life than he’d been getting.

He wanted Lily—and Lucas—to be part of that, even if it was in a long-distance-relationship kind of way.

Whether or not Lily would agree to that, however, was something else entirely.

Meanwhile, there were mounting problems back at the firm that needed his attention.

A clamor of people asking he return to Fort Worth sooner rather than later. And precious little time to work on his chief goal of further cementing his relationship with Lily before he had to leave town again. Because there was one thing he was very sure about—he wanted their love affair to continue. So when they reached the town hall, Gannon snagged her forearm before she could emerge from the vehicle.

Grinning, he reeled her playfully back to his side and watched her blush.

Appreciating how pretty and mayor-like she looked in her trim blue sheath dress, jacket and matching heels, her honey-blond hair tucked into a classy chignon at the nape of her neck, he asked, “Do you have plans tonight?”

Elegant brow furrowing, she touched the long strand of pearls around her neck. “Besides working at the fairgrounds?” she inquired, regarding him with the same cautious cool she had used at the press conference earlier in the day.

So this was going to be harder than he thought. That was okay; he liked a challenge. And he especially liked her.

“What about dinner?” he inquired casually.
Besides hopefully spending it with me?

She flashed him a droll look. “A food truck is bringing that for all the volunteers.”

He stroked the inside of her wrist and felt her quiver. “Good to know.”

She extricated her hand from his and regarded him contemplatively. “I was planning to eat there with everyone else, but I could sit with you then on a break.”

This was beginning to sound like high school. Except high school, Gannon thought, had never been this much fun. Back then, he had never wanted anyone anywhere near as much as he wanted Lily.

And the truth was, because of their three years’ age difference, he’d barely known her in high school. “I’ll take you up on that,” he said, lamenting all the lost opportunities of the past and vowing there would be no more.

His gaze drifted over her. His body responded. “What about after?”

Lily hesitated. “I don’t think there’s going to be an after. The work will probably go to midnight. And we start really early tomorrow when the contestants come in to register and set up and all that. Not to mention the parade tomorrow at lunchtime...”

“Take a breath.”

“Sorry.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “I feel stressed. So many people are counting on this, and I really want it to go well.”

He leaned closer, inhaling the freesia of her perfume. “You’ve certainly had a lot of publicity.”

“That we have.” Lily briefly shut her eyes. “Between Bode’s antics and the hullaballoo over the fire statue, I don’t think there’s anyone in the entire state who doesn’t know about the chili festival on Valentine’s Day weekend.”

Gannon wondered if she had any idea how much she affected him. How much he wanted to haul her into his arms, take her to bed and sleep with her all night long. “What about Lucas? Is he okay with you being gone so much?”

Surprise at his question mingled briefly with the regret in her eyes. “Lucas is having a sleepover at my parents’ house with his triplet cousins for the next three nights in a row,” she said wryly. “So with the party atmosphere my folks have planned, I doubt he will even miss me.”

Gannon smiled. If there was one thing the McCabe clan understood, it was how to pitch in as a family. “Sounds as though he will have a fun time,” he agreed.

Lily rubbed her finger across the fabric of her sheath, stretched taut across her slender thighs. “And then there’s my ex, too,” she ruminated on a weary exhalation of breath. “Bode has already texted me that he wants to see Lucas the moment he arrives tomorrow.”

“With or without photographers?” Gannon deadpanned.

Lily rolled her eyes.

“Plus, I plan to take Lucas around between my own scheduled appearances. So between all of that,” she said, looking slightly more content, “I imagine Lucas will get plenty of attention.” She put her hand on the door latch.

Gannon jumped out of the truck and walked around to assist her. “Just so you know,” he said, holding the door for her, “I’m available, too.”