9781631054723LucasDavis Read online

  Pulling up to the large white farmhouse, she stopped by the back door. The wind was whipping around, blowing the snow sideways. Taking a deep breath, Emily pushed the door open and the snow hit her in the face. Gasping, she hopped out, ran up the steps, and entered through the back door and into the kitchen. She sighed with relief at the warmth of the house. The house, though built in the eighteen hundreds, had a modern feel about it with the cherry cabinets, black granite counter tops, and black appliances. Her Maine Coon cat, Munchkin, meowed at her.

  “Give me a minute, Munch. I just came in the door. I’m sure your dinner can wait.” Emily laughed when the cat gave her a look of disdain and strolled over to her dish and gazed up at her. “Let me get my coat off. Is that too much to ask?”

  Munchkin sat on the huge braid rug that covered cherry hardwood floors and proceeded to lick her paws as if she couldn’t be bothered, but she came to attention when she heard the can opener running. She weaved in and out of Emily’s legs, almost tripping her a few times. Emily dumped the food into the dish and Munchkin ate it with gusto.

  “Munch, we’re going to have a man in the house.” Emily stopped when the cat glared up at her. “I know. I’m sorry but I need him here.” She squatted down to pet the cat. “We need to have him here in case Adam comes here.” At Adam’s name, Munch growled. Emily laughed. “I know. You hate him as much as I do.”

  Emily stood and walked through the hallway toward the front foyer. To her left was a large formal dining room and to her right was the living room with a fireplace taking up the center wall. Two large windows ran alongside it. The foyer was open with gleaming hardwood floors. The stairs ran along the wall of the dining room. She headed upstairs to relax in the tub. The large claw foot tub seemed to be calling her name. She poured bubble bath under the running faucet and undressed as the tub filled up. After piling her long hair on top of her head, she lowered herself into the tub, sighing. The moon’s beams glimmered through the large window, above the tub. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes then jerked them open when Munch jumped up onto the side of the tub.

  “Hey pretty girl. Is your belly full now?” Emily smiled when Munch butted her head against hers. “I hope I’m doing the right thing here, Munch. Lucas was my first crush. I was in love as much as a seven-year-old girl can be.” Emily laughed when she heard Munch purring. “I hope you like him. I know you hated Adam but Lucas isn’t anything like him.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “At least, I don’t think he is. His mother is nice. I’m glad I got to know her, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to talk to her and have her help me.” Munch meowed and jumped down. Emily watched as she left the room, tail high in the air. Emily sighed and stepped from the tub. After wrapping the navy blue towel around her, she moved toward her bedroom and sat on her bed. Munch was already on the bed in her usual spot.

  “Am I making a mistake, Munch? How am I going to marry a man I don’t really know or love? Will it really keep Adam away if he sees me as a married woman?” She chuckled when Munch growled at the mention of Adam again. “He was awful to you, wasn’t he, precious girl?”

  Munch blinked her big eyes at Emily, yawned, and closed her eyes. She was done with the conversation. So was Emily. Tomorrow she’d contact her attorney and then call Lucas so they could set a date to get married. She blew out a breath, knowing she had no other options.

  * * * *

  “Are you out of your mind?” Cooper Lang stared at him.

  “No. She needs help and I’m going to get half her ranch for helping her,” Lucas told his friend.

  “But…marriage? You are out of your mind.”

  “It’s time I settled down anyway. We’re thirty-two now. Shouldn’t we have a wife and kids by now?”

  Cooper stared at him and then burst out laughing. “Hell no. Come on Lucas. You can’t be serious. You don’t even know her for God’s sake. What the hell are you thinking?”

  Lucas pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. “I’m thinking it’s going to be my only chance to have my own place.” He glanced at Cooper. “You know it’s what I want. Whispering Pines is a gorgeous spread.”

  Cooper sobered. “I know it is but damn, Lucas. Are you sure you want to marry Emily just for half a ranch? You have enough money to buy your own place.”

  “I’ve done nothing but think about it for days and…yes, I do for the chance to have a place to call my own. A place already up and running. Now, are you going to be my best man or not?”

  “You know I will but I still think you’re making a big mistake.”

  “I guess we’ll see, won’t we? You need to settle down too.”

  “Oh hell no. Not me, man.”

  Lucas laughed. “You might meet that one special woman one day and not have a choice.”

  “Well, she better be pretty damn special to get me to the altar,” Cooper laughed.

  Lucas shook his head. The two men talked for a while then headed outside to the barn. Although Cooper ran a successful motorcycle design shop, he still ran a cattle ranch. With his father gone, he kept the ranch running. If he had a bike to work on, his ranch hands were more than capable of running the ranch.

  Later, as they sat in the living room watching TV, Lucas couldn’t stop thinking of Emily. He remembered her as a little girl who fell off her pony. Her big green eyes filled with tears as he helped her up and put her on his horse so he could take her back to the ranch. It was just lucky for her he’d been out looking for one of the horses which hadn’t returned to the barn. Her father, however, hadn’t been nice at all. He never said thank you for bringing her home. Lucas knew Emily felt bad about it. She in no way resembled a little girl anymore. Now she was a gorgeous woman. She was tall, but still only came to his chin. He wanted to see her dark hair. Did she wear it short or long? Shaking his head, he stood and walked toward the kitchen for a beer. The phone rang and he yelled to Cooper he’d get it.

  “Lang residence.”

  “Could I speak to Lucas, please?” a soft feminine voice asked.

  “This is Lucas. Emily, is that you?”

  “Yes. The lawyer has the papers drawn up. All you have to do is sign them. We could get…,” she cleared her throat. “we could get married the day you sign them. If you haven’t changed your mind.”

  “I haven’t. What day do you want to do this? I’ve asked Cooper to be my best man.”

  “Is Wednesday of next week all right with you? That’s the day my attorney wants you to go into his office and sign the papers. So we can meet there at ten and then go to the courthouse.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll see you there.” Lucas listened as she told him the address of the attorney then hung up. He turned to see Cooper leaning against the doorjamb with his arms folded across his broad chest.

  “So you’re really going to do this?” Cooper shook his head. “I was hoping since you hadn’t heard from her, she’d changed her mind.”

  “I’m doing this. If you don’t want to be a part of it, that’s fine. I can get one of the other guys to do it.” Lucas glared at his friend.

  “I said I’d do it, for Christ’s sake, even though I think you’re making one hell of a mistake. Not just for marrying her but because of her crazy ass husband. He could kill you. He’s nuts.”

  “I know, but I don’t think he wants to risk going back to prison.”

  “Doesn’t mean he won’t have someone do it for him. I know he treated Emily like shit. It was all over town.”

  “Did he hit her?” Lucas’s temperature started rising.

  “No. He verbally abused her. Called her names, told her she was stupid. Verbal’s as bad as physical in my book,” Cooper said.

  “Son of a bitch. I’d like to see him on the ranch so I can kick his ass.”

  “We’re doing this when?” Cooper sighed.

  Lucas told him everything he had to do and they agreed to meet at the courthouse next Wednesday at eleven. Cooper nodded then left the room. Lucas blew out a breath. He was
really going to do this.

  * * * *

  Two days later, Lucas pulled onto the road to Cooper’s house and was surprised to see several trucks parked close to the house. It wouldn’t have caught his attention if they were close to the barn where the motorcycle shop sat. Shaking his head, he walked inside and came to a halt when he saw three of his closest friends sitting around the table. They all glanced up at him when he entered. He flattened his lips.

  “What the fuck is this? An intervention?” Lucas asked as he slipped his coat and hat off and hung them up.

  “Something like that,” Cooper told him. “I called the guys to tell them you were getting married.” He shrugged. “They came over.”

  Lucas took in each of his friend’s stares. Lincoln Cole and Storm Bateman. The only ones missing were Montgomery Bradford and Dakota Walker and Lucas knew they’d be there if they didn’t live out of town.

  Lucas glanced over to Cooper. “I’m doing this.” He glanced around the table. “None of you are going to change my mind.”

  “Why are you even considering this, Lucas?” Lincoln asked. “You have more than enough money to start your own ranch.”

  “As I told Cooper, Whispering Pines is already up and running. It would take me years to get a place of my own to such a status.” Lucas took a seat beside Lincoln.

  “But to get married? Why can’t you just stay there with her until her ex leaves her alone? Hell, you don’t even know if he’ll show up,” Lincoln said.

  “She thinks he will and she wants him to know she’s remarried and…happy. In love with her new husband. That she’s moved on and he should too. Emily is afraid of him and I’ll keep her safe.” Lucas narrowed his eyes at them. “I’m doing this. With or without your blessing. You’re my friends and I expect you to support me.” He glanced around the table. “All of you.”

  All of the men started muttering. Cooper stood. “He’s right. We need to support him no matter what his decision.” Cooper sighed. “We don’t have to agree with him, we just need to support him.”

  Lucas nodded. “I’m doing it no matter what you all think.” He stood. “I don’t need your approval.” He strode from the room and headed to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Damn them. They were his friends. His best friends and they should be there for him. It’s all he asked, that they be there. He was taking a big step. Emily too. She couldn’t be any more comfortable about this than he was. It wasn’t going to be easy being married to a woman he barely knew. What he said about getting a ranch up and running was true and he’d always dreamed of owning a place like Whispering Pines. Working there as a boy, he’d fallen in love with the place. He dreamed every night of owning a horse ranch like it. To have part ownership in it was amazing. Buying a ranch now would take years to get it to prosper. He’d be an old man by then. Lucas wanted a ranch he could enjoy now. He wanted to be able to work with the horses since he loved them so much. Hands on is what he wanted and needed. He’d have it now if he married Emily. He shook his head. There was no if about it. They were getting married and that was final. If his friends couldn’t accept it, so be it.

  Chapter Two

  Wednesday morning was sunny and blustery cold. The weatherman announced more snow was expected. Emily put her coat on and trudged outside to warm up her SUV. The cold was like a slap in the face when she stepped out onto the porch. After starting the vehicle, she ran back inside. Munch sat in the center of the kitchen staring up at her.

  “Stay out of the other bedroom. I made it up for Lucas, not you. I’ll be back later and introduce you to him. You’d better be nice.” Emily stared at the cat. When Munch started licking her paws, Emily knew she’d been dismissed.

  A knock on the door made her let out a startled cry. She spun around and saw Tinker, the foreman, standing on the porch. She opened the door and motioned for him to come in. He took his cowboy hat off, stared at her, and finally sighed.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Tinker asked. She’d told him soon after Lucas agreed to marry her and Tinker wasn’t happy about it. “I can take of things on the ranch.”

  “It’s not that, Tinker, and you know it. You, of all people, should know how ruthless Adam is. He’s not afraid of you,” Emily told the man who’d been like a father to her since she was born. Tinker Andrews was sixty-seven years old. He’d been on the ranch since he was eighteen and fresh out of school. Emily had grown up right before his eyes. He’d watched her learn to ride a horse, fall in love, get her heart broken, and fall in love again, with the wrong man, and he saw her come home a broken woman due to the abuse of her husband. She knew Tinker was never happier than when she’d divorced Adam.

  “I know, but Lucas Taggart? He’s rough around the edges. I don’t want to see you hurt again.” Tinker stared at her.

  “Please don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl now and I know better than to let a man treat me like that again. Lucas is not a bad man. He was wild when he was younger but I’m sure he’s grown out of it. He’s going to help out around here, he’s good with horses, and he’ll protect me. Something you can’t do, Tinker. You have enough to do around here without worrying about me. I don’t want you to get involved if Adam does show up.” She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s an order.”

  Tinker smirked. “Yes ma’am.”

  Emily grinned. “Thank you. I have to go. I’m picking Kendra up on the way.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for wanting to take care of me but I’ll be fine and I’ll feel much better with Lucas in the house.”

  Tinker nodded then left. Emily sighed. This was it. She was getting married. Her ivory dress consisted of lace and pearl buttons. The dress stopped just above her ankles. On her feet were snow boots but she was changing once she got into town into a pair of white stilettos. She smiled, wondering what Lucas would think if she wore the boots to their wedding. Shrugging, she put her coat on and got into her SUV. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out of the driveway and drove toward town to get married.

  She pulled up to Kendra’s house and blew the horn. Kendra Mattingly came running out the door and hopped into the vehicle. She smiled at Emily.

  “You’re really doing this, huh?”

  Emily sighed. “Everyone keeps asking me that. Yes. I’m doing this. You know how Adam treated me and with him getting out, I don’t want him coming around. I know he’ll come to Whispering Pines to look for me. If only to let me know he’s here, but he will show up. I’ve thought about it and he’ll want revenge for divorcing him while he was in prison.” She shook her head. “I know he hates that I divorced him. I could’ve never done it if he weren’t in prison. He’d never let me go.”

  Kendra nodded. “That’s true. He was obsessed with you. I’m so afraid what’s going to happen if he shows up.”

  “When. When he shows up. The more I think about it the more I know he’ll come looking for me. It’s why I want to go through with this. At first, I wasn’t sure Adam would show. He will, but I won’t be alone. Lucas is a big man and he won’t bow down to Adam like other men will. I’m not sure the ranch hands would even stand up to him to protect me.”

  “I know and that’s why I’m scared but I do think I’ll feel better knowing Lucas is there.” Kendra glanced at her. “He sure is hot, isn’t he?”

  Emily shrugged. “I haven’t noticed.”

  Kendra burst out laughing. “You never were a very good liar, Em.”

  Emily glanced at her friend and sighed. “He is, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. He’s a gorgeous sexy man. I remember him and his friends running around town getting into trouble all the time, but the older they got the more the girls were chasing them. All of them were gorgeous. I saw him at the town meeting and was shocked at just how gorgeous he was.”

  “I didn’t get to see much of them when I was growing up. I was always at the ranch helping out but I always heard about their escapades.” Emily shook her head. “My dad didn’t like any of them. Maybe
it’s why he kept me on the ranch.” She laughed.

  They pulled into the parking lot of the attorney’s office and headed inside. Emily stumbled a little when she saw Lucas and Cooper standing in the lobby. Both of them were dressed in western cut suits and looking handsome. Her eyes roamed over Lucas’s tall body and she shivered. His eyes met hers as she glided toward him and stopped in front of him.

  “You ready to do this?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Yes. Are you?” She tilted her head and watched as his lips curved into a smile.

  “I am.”

  All of them sat and waited. Emily noticed Kendra and Cooper didn’t speak. What was that about? The door to the office opened and Maxwell Barr stepped out and told her and Lucas to enter his office. They followed him inside and took a seat. He shuffled papers around then glared at Lucas before looking at Emily.

  “It’s not too late to change your mind, Emily.”

  She heard Lucas grunt. “I’m not changing my mind, Max. Let’s get these papers signed.”

  Max nodded at her and shoved the paper toward her and showed her where to sign then moved it to Lucas and showed him. He seemed to hesitate. Emily glanced over to him and watched him take a deep breath.

  “Maybe it isn’t you I should be saying it’s not too late to, Emily.” Max smirked.

  Lucas picked up the pen and signed his name. Emily sighed with relief. They stood and left the office. Emily was surprised to see Cooper and Kendra on opposite sides of the waiting room. She frowned at Kendra when she glanced up from a magazine. Kendra shrugged and stood. Lucas didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.

  The four of them walked to their vehicles and drove to the courthouse. Emily parked beside Lucas’s truck and turned in her seat to reach for her stilettos. All her hand grasped was air. She spun in the seat and searched.