Finding Love At Christmas (Cowboy Holiday Romance Book 1) Read online

  “What’s the matter?” her father asked. “You don’t look yourself.”

  Was it any wonder? “I don’t feel so good, Dad.”

  “Late night with Missy?” he asked with a smile. “Ah, to be young.”

  “No. I just have a lot on my mind.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “Like what?” He winked. “Though I can guess. Now that Missy’s back, she can help you with the wedding plans.”

  Wendy’s head fell again.

  “Seriously, honey, you don’t look good. Are you coming down with something?”

  “No.” She looked up at him. “I’ll just take two aspirin, go home and have a nap.”

  Her father left his chair. “I can understand how overwhelmed you must feel.”

  “You have no idea,” she muttered as she stood. “I’m going home, Dad.”

  “Before you go, I’d like to run something by you.”

  She rubbed her temples. “Can’t it wait?”

  “No, it can’t.” He leaned against the desk. “As you know, when you marry Bill, Reeves & Sons and Preston Industries are going to merge.”

  She sighed wearily. “Yes, Dad. I know. Isn’t that why you wanted me to marry him?”

  “You don’t have to sound callous about it, but yes. It’s a good match and a good merger. It will do our companies a favor.”

  “You mean yours and Bill’s?”

  “I mean yours, mine and Bill’s.”

  Wendy blinked a few times. “Since when am I a part of the equation? I thought this was between you and him.”

  “Certainly not. You’re my daughter and you’ll be his wife, which means you should be a partner in our companies.”

  “Companies, plural? I thought you were merging.”

  “Yes, but he and I plan to start another one. We thought you could run it.”

  Wendy could only stare. “But … I don’t …”

  “Know how to run one? I didn’t put you through all that college and business training for nothing, did I?”

  Wendy shook her head. “No, of course not. But I didn’t think you’d let me run one.”

  “A small one, granted,” he clarified. “But a company nonetheless.”

  “What kind of company?” she asked with a curious frown. Her head was pounding. She wished her father had chosen another time for this discussion. But it was intriguing and she wanted to know what he had in mind.

  He shrugged. “We haven’t decided yet. But don’t worry, we’ll let you know when we do.”

  Was he kidding? Didn’t she have any say? “How generous of you.” She didn’t bother to hide her sarcasm. “What if it’s something I don’t like?”

  “Nonsense – you don’t have to like it to run it. Just do the job. It will keep you occupied and fill your days. I’m sure Bill doesn’t want his wife sitting around wasting her time.”

  Wendy’s head felt like it would explode. This was their big plan – to use her as a bargaining chip to merge the two companies, then make a side company to keep her out of their hair like giving a baby a rattle?! There were so many things she wanted to say and do in that moment, starting with shoving Bill out a very high window. Instead she grabbed her purse and stormed out of her father’s office.

  “Miss Preston?” Clara, her father’s secretary, said as she stomped past.

  Wendy halted and spun around. “Yes, Clara?”

  “Mr. Reeves phoned earlier while you were speaking with your father. I didn’t think you wanted to be disturbed.” She handed her a slip of paper.

  Wendy knew Clara was used to hearing loud voices coming from the office when she showed up. “You mean you didn’t want to disturb my dad? Fine, I get it.” She glanced at the note, crumpled it up and shoved it in her purse, then headed for the elevators. She noticed her father didn’t come after her. Probably something more important to him had his attention.

  When she reached the lobby floor she pulled her phone out and called Missy.

  “Hey, girl,” Missy answered. “What’s up?”

  “My father and Bill have been at it again.”

  “Oh no, what now?”

  “Apparently they want to start another company together and have me run it.”

  “What? Well, that doesn’t sound so bad …”

  “Except that I get absolutely no say in any of it. Not even in what the company will do.”

  There was a rustling on the other end of the line. “What? Oh, wait a minute.”

  Wendy listened to more odd noises coming from Missy’s end. “What are you doing?”

  “All right, I’m here,” Missy said. “I was getting dressed.”

  “At eleven in the morning?”

  “I overslept. What were you saying?”

  “Dad and Bill are starting a company to have me run it. I have no idea what it is.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that’s not cool.”

  “No, it’s not,” she snapped. “For all I know I’ll be saddled with a corporation that makes hand grenades.”

  “Or enema supplies,” Missy suggested.

  “Whatever, I’m not doing it. It’s so … condescending!”

  “Maybe it’s time you stood up to your dad.”

  “And get disinherited. Which you know he’d do.” Wendy unlocked her car and got inside. This wouldn’t be the first time they’d had this discussion. She knew Missy was right – she did need to stand up to him. But the cost would be high – higher than she was willing to pay.

  “Girl, you have got to learn how to handle the man. It’s like he has you in a chokehold.”

  “A financial one,” Wendy conceded, “and I let him put me there. At least I have my own place.”

  “It took you two years to talk him into that,” Missy reminded her. “Ever since your mom died he’s been so possessive of you, running your life like … I don’t know. At least no one can say he’s living vicariously through you, because he makes sure you’re not really living.”

  Wendy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “He just likes to have control.”

  “Of everything,” Missy added.

  “Of everything.” Wendy leaned her throbbing head against the steering wheel. “It’s my fault. It all started when we moved to Dallas from Montana. I let him break Jack and I up. I never should have done that. He only got worse. And now he’s …” She wanted to avoid the obvious comparison – Dad was bad, but he hadn’t killed millions of Jews.

  “If you ask me, he’s always been controlling,” Missy replied. “Your mother softened it.”

  Wendy started the car. “Can we talk about this later? My head is pounding.”

  “No wonder after that.”

  “It’s not that – I had it before Dad laid this on me.”

  “Are you getting sick?”

  “No, I’ve just been thinking a lot. I couldn’t sleep last night.”

  Missy giggled. “This wouldn’t happen to do with a certain gentleman you ran into yesterday, would it?”

  She sat back. “I can’t get him out of my brain. We haven’t seen each other since high school, Missy. I don’t understand.”

  “Maybe you’ve got some unresolved issues. Tell you what, why don’t I come over later tonight and we’ll eat pizza, get fat and watch movies. It’s been a long time since we’ve done that.”

  Wendy smiled. “It has. All right, a girl’s night. Seven o’clock?”

  “I’ll bring the pizza, you pick the flicks.”

  Wendy’s smile broadened. Missy could always make her feel better. “I’ll see you then.” She hung up, stuffed the phone into her purse and breathed a sigh of relief. If anything could keep her mind off Jack Carlson, it would be pizza, movies and a friend. Heaven knew her father wasn’t going to help, and she certainly wasn’t going to tell Bill about Jack. But she had to talk to someone before it drove her crazy.

  Maybe Missy was right about unresolved issues with Jack. There was never any closure – she just stopped communicating with him. And that was because of her
father, not because she chose to.

  “For Heaven’s sake,” Wendy muttered as she pulled out of the parking lot. “If I can’t get Jack out of my head, I’ll be seeing a therapist.” She laughed, but quickly sobered. Now that she thought about it, it was no laughing matter. Jack Carlson really had been the love of her life.

  Chapter Four

  Jack paced his hotel room. After running into Wendy, he and Charlie had spent the rest of the day immersed in work, then had a light dinner and called it quits. He’d slept fitfully and dreamed little. Today he’d been in a fog, trying to keep his mind on business, but it was difficult. Seeing Wendy again wasn’t helping. In fact, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was the cause. But how could that be? He hadn’t seen her in years. High school was a long time ago.

  Still, his mind kept wandering. Or more accurately, seeking.

  They’d had two glorious summers together, not to mention their school days. It was the happiest time of his life, and he cherished the memories deep in his heart – one of the reasons she’d broken it so easily. He knew she was moving to Texas, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have warning. He’d even planned on attending Texas Christian University in Fort Worth so he could be close to her. He’d finish school, get a good job, propose somewhere in between.

  But Mr. Preston did his job well. At the time he thought it was all Wendy – he had no idea her father had anything to do with it. He suspected Mr. Preston might not like him, but it was years before it occurred to him that the man would uproot his family and transport them a thousand miles to keep him and Wendy apart. Little did he know.

  Still, short of showing up on her doorstep and carrying her off, there was little he could do at the time. For a long while, he wasn’t sure exactly where she lived – all he had was a P.O. box number, not a street address. And after his heart was ripped to shreds, the motivation was gone, so he’d poured himself into the ranch.

  A year later he found an address for her father’s new offices and sent a few letters, but who knew if she ever got them? After yesterday’s conversation he suspected she hadn’t. But how did her father keep her from e-mailing him? His own e-mails began bouncing back only a week after she moved, and she never sent him one.

  Seeing her yesterday stung, but it was nothing like what he’d suffered years ago – like a bee sting compared to a broken leg. Still, he didn’t like it.

  His cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Jack?”

  His breath caught. “Wendy?”

  “Hi, I’m sorry, I know it’s late but…”

  “No, no, it’s fine. What can I do for you?”

  “I … well, I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch with me tomorrow? We could get caught up?”

  Jack’s heart skipped a beat. “Sure, uh, sounds fine. Where?”

  “Well, we could meet at the stockyards again. There are some good places there to eat, and I need to do a little Christmas shopping.”

  “Fine. Do you want to meet at the same place we ran into each other yesterday? We can go from there.”

  “Great,” she said brightly. “I’ll see you then.” Before he could say another word, she hung up.

  He looked at his phone. “That was interesting.” He wasn’t sure how he felt. She didn’t sound stiff or anything, but there was something “off” and he wondered what. But then, he hadn’t seen her in years – of course she would be different. They weren’t the same people they were back in high school. In truth, they didn’t know each other anymore. He might spend time with her and discover he didn’t like who she’d become. She might not like him for that matter. Who knew?

  Jack set the phone on the coffee table. He’d just have to wait and find out tomorrow.

  * * *

  Wendy fidgeted at the restaurant entrance. Jack hadn’t shown up yet. “Missy, I am going to kill you,” she muttered. Last night, somewhere between pizza and the second movie, her friend had convinced her to call Jack and set up a date. “Why did I let you talk me into this? I do not have unresolved issues –”

  “Hi.”

  Wendy jumped. “Oh! Jack! Hi!”

  “Wow, too much caffeine?” He laughed. “I guess I’m glad to see one of us is awake.”

  “I’m sorry?” she said, a hand to her chest.

  “No, I’m sorry. I scared you and it was a bad joke.”

  Wendy had to catch her breath. She was nervous and shouldn’t be. “Late night.” She pointed at herself. “And not enough sleep.”

  “That makes two of us.” He glanced around. “Where did you have in mind?”

  “There’s a little café not far from here. Follow me.”

  “Lead the way.”

  She smiled and took a moment to study him. He was a man now, not a lanky teenage boy. He’d filled out, gotten taller, broader …

  “Something wrong?”

  Wendy shook her head. “No, this way.” She turned on her heel, made a face and headed for the café. Good grief, had she been gawking? She hoped not.

  They reached the place in short order, were seated and began to look at their menus. After they ordered, Jack asked, “So how’s your father?”

  Wendy almost choked on her water. She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin as heat crept into her cheeks.

  “That good, huh?” Jack said with a smile.

  “What can I say? Dad hasn’t changed a bit.”

  “I’d like to see him.”

  Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. “You would?”

  The waitress came, delivered them iced tea and left. Jack picked up his glass and took a sip. “I’d love to say hello.”

  Wendy gulped. “I’m … not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  Wendy sighed. “Jack …”

  He held up a hand. “I’ve been thinking since the other day. About us. About what happened.”

  She put her hands in her lap so if she started wringing them, he wouldn’t see it. She sure felt like doing it – or pulling her hair out. The last thing she wanted was for Jack to be in the same room with her dad. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Maybe she should have dated more. “Jack, we were kids. My dad botched things up, interrupted us …”

  “You can say that again.”

  Wendy shook her head. “But we’re adults now. We both have lives. Dad did what he thought was best for me at the time.”

  “By getting rid of me,” he stated.

  She looked at him, unable to think. She hadn’t realized it had hurt him so much, or they wouldn’t be having this conversation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a phone or computer the first year we moved. How could I have contacted you?”

  “He kept you from contacting me.” Jack nodded to himself. “I see.”

  “So is it any wonder I’m hesitant to let you say hi to him?”

  “I didn’t mean to be childish. I just wanted to see how he was doing.” He shook his head. “Forget it. Never mind.”

  “No, if it will help …”

  “Help with what?”

  “Well, closure.”

  “Closure?” His eyebrows shot up. “Is that what this is? Is that why you called me?”

  “No, not at all.” She put her hand to her temple. “It’s just that … oh, I don’t know.”

  He waved at her. “Stop right there. Let’s start over.” He grinned. “Hi, Wendy.” He reached across the table and offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you – I’m Jack Carlson.”

  She stared at it a moment, smiled back and took it.. “Hi, Jack. I’m Wendy Preston.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said with a wink.

  Fine, she’d play along. Anything was better than the rocky start they’d just had. “So tell me, Jack, how do you like Fort Worth?”

  He gazed at her a moment, then looked right into her eyes. “I like it just fine. And you?”

  “It’s okay. I live nearby, sort of. In Hurst, if you want to be technical.”

  “I’m staying not fa
r from here, less than a mile. But I live …” He hesitated. “… a long way away.”

  She picked up his intended message. Even if she wasn’t about to be engaged, Jack was not an option unless she wanted to move back to Cutter’s Creek, Montana. She glanced at the table and back. “A long way away,” she repeated. In distance and in time.

  Wendy looked away, took a sip of her tea and willed herself not to look into his eyes again. If she did, she knew she’d feel regret, loss, anger, and who knew what else. No, she’d chosen her path. There was no turning back now.

  Chapter Five

  Jack knew Wendy would be different now – after all, it had been twelve years. But while he largely enjoyed his life, he could tell she didn’t care for hers.

  “What was the last vacation you took?” he asked to keep their conversation going. “I went deep-sea fishing with a few buddies off the Oregon coast in July. We had a great time.”

  “My father and I went to Spain,” she said with a shy smile, as if ashamed of it.

  “Spain?” he said with raised eyebrows. “Sounds exotic.”

  “Not really. It was fun, though not as fun as Paris.” She flinched.

  Jack smiled. He rarely set foot outside of Montana. He had the money – he just never had the time. “Do you ever go anywhere without your father?” Now he flinched – he shouldn’t have asked.

  Her eyes misted. Was that regret he saw in them? There was no other way to describe it. “Sometimes. Missy and I have gone to Hawaii a couple of times together.”

  Jack nodded and smiled, as he’d been doing through their entire lunch. “Haven’t been there.”

  She took a sip of tea and smiled. “They don’t let you out much, do they?”

  “I don’t let me out much.” He studied her. She was beautiful, more than he could have imagined. But she was also trapped and sad, like a show horse meant to be wild and free but instead broken to a life of pleasing its masters. “Now, do you work for your father?”