The Charmer in Chaps Page 31

  Stacy lay on her back beside her. “What are you going to do about this place?” she asked curiously.

  “Hell if I know,” Ella said. “It needs so much work. I can’t spend all my money on this house just so I can say I have a place to call my own.”

  “Will you move back to the burbs?”

  To her old apartment? That seemed a huge step backward, like she was returning to a transient, belong-nowhere kind of life. “Who knows,” Ella said dejectedly.

  “You’re never coming to Nashville, are you?” Stacy asked.

  Ella thought of Luca’s hazel eyes and the way he smiled at her. She didn’t know what the future held, but the thought of walking away from him was too much. Too difficult. Too heartbreaking. “No.”

  Stacy groaned and covered her eyes with one arm.

  “We’re different people, Stace,” Ella said as she stared up at her stained ceiling. “You’ve always wanted the city lights and the travel and to be on a stage. I’ve always wanted a place to call home and to matter to someone. That’s it, that’s all I’ve ever wanted. But you? You have places to go and things to do.”

  “I know,” Stacy said softly. “I know we’re different. But that’s why I love you, El—you’re not like me.”

  “Same,” Ella said, and groped around until she found Stacy’s hand. They lay there like that, holding hands.

  “You’re lucky,” Stacy whispered. “You’re lucky that your high school crush turned out to be the one.”

  He was definitely the one for her. But only time would tell if Ella was the one for him. She had a sinking feeling that the mess she’d made was too big to crawl over.

  Ella didn’t know when they finally went to bed, but she stumbled into her room and fell facedown, exhausted from the roller coaster of emotions and the mix of tequila with wine and champagne.

  The next morning, she woke up to Buddy snorting in her face. She stumbled out of bed and went into the kitchen to make coffee. She didn’t see the note on the kitchen table until her second cup. She snatched it up and read it, then ran into the front bedroom. “Stacy!” she shouted, but the room was empty, her things gone.

  Love you.

  That’s all Stacy had written. Ella didn’t know how she’d left or when or with whom, but Stacy had taken her troubles and, apparently, the sheriff’s gun, and had finally left Ella out of it.

  Her abrupt departure made Ella feel incredibly sad. It felt almost like a death. As if they’d crossed some bridge last night, and Stacy had decided to leave her. But Ella didn’t have time to dwell on it, because as always, she had to go to work.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Two days after the fund-raiser, Luca sat with Uncle Chet and Nick at the Saddlebush offices. All three of them were silent, thinking. Luca had come for advice, and apparently, it was not easy to give.

  Nick broke the silence. “You’re asking for trouble, you know that.”

  Luca nodded.

  “And you know Brandon won’t accept it.”

  That was the worst of it. Luca loved Brandon like a brother. “I know.”

  “He’s put in half for your foundation,” Nick pointed out unnecessarily.

  “I don’t care about the money,” Luca said. “I care about our friendship. He’s been my best friend my whole life.”

  “As long as you understand the risk, I’m a thousand percent behind you,” Nick said. “Blake Hurst should rot in hell.”

  Luca looked at Uncle Chet, but Uncle Chet shook his head. “I don’t know, Luca. If you don’t succeed, you’re going to have a big ol’ target on your back.”

  Luca smiled wryly. “Where Blake Hurst is concerned, I’ve always had a target on my back. I can’t let him get away with this. Who knows who else he might have done this to? He won’t stop on his own.”

  “That’s true,” Uncle Chet said. “I never did understand a man who felt the right to take advantage of women.”

  “You ought to give Brandon a heads-up first,” Nick said.

  “He’ll tip off his brother,” Uncle Chet said.

  “Maybe,” Luca said. “But I owe him that much.” He stood up. So did his brother and uncle. “Be careful, Luca,” Nick said. “Sure you don’t want me to come along?”

  Luca shook his head. “Thanks, bro, but not this time. This is something I need to do.”

  What he had to do was the easy part. All he had to do was get Blake to talk, which Luca knew wouldn’t be hard, because Blake liked to brag. Everyone around town knew that most days, Blake had his lunch at Jalisco’s. Luca watched for a couple of days to make sure that was his habit.

  One the third day, he woke up and decided it was time. At lunch, he parked around the corner from Jalisco’s and waited. When he saw Blake go into the restaurant, he called Brandon.

  “What’s up, buddy?” Brandon said. “I’m about to walk into a courtroom.”

  “I’ll make it quick,” Luca said. “First, I love you like a brother, Brandon.”

  Brandon sputtered a laugh. “Okay. Right back at you.”

  “But I’m about to do something that’s going to put a wedge between us.”

  “What are you talking about?” Brandon asked impatiently.

  “I’m going to confront Blake about his mistreatment of a woman.”

  “Not Ella,” Brandon said instantly, and Luca had the sick feeling that Blake had said something derogatory about Ella to him.

  “Not Ella. Someone else.”

  There was a long pause on Brandon’s end. He didn’t ask another question. He didn’t ask how Luca intended to confront Blake. Or even what had happened. He said, “I’ve got to go before a judge right now. I’ll call you later.” And he hung up.

  It seemed almost as if Brandon didn’t want to know.

  About a half hour later, Blake walked out of the Jalisco working a toothpick. Luca got out of his Sombra and walked across the parking lot, intercepting the sheriff just before he reached his patrol car. Blake clapped a hand very dramatically over the badge pinned to his chest. “Damn near scared me to death,” he said.

  Luca smiled. He was holding his phone, set to record. He slipped it into his pocket.

  “So what’s up?” Blake asked. “You’re not going to hit me up for money to save a salamander, are you?”

  Luca chuckled. “No. I saw your patrol car and thought I’d catch you. I wanted to ask you about Stacy Perry.”

  Blake’s expression instantly changed. “So your little sex buddy knows where she is after all, huh? You know I could arrest her for lying to me.”

  Luca already wanted to punch him. “She doesn’t know where she is,” he said dismissively. “But she’s on me to talk to you. She told me that you tried something with Stacy.”

  “Yeah, like what?” Blake asked, and folded his arms across his chest.

  “She said you got a little fresh,” Luca said with a chuckle, as if to suggest women were always complaining about something.

  Blake took the bait and smiled. “Well, hell, have you seen her? She’s a good-looking woman.”

  “Yeah, she’s hot all right,” Luca agreed.

  “I’ll tell you what, it’s a little difficult to concentrate when Stacy’s ass goes bouncing by your door.” He made a crude motion with his hips and laughed. “Yeah, I might have gotten a little fresh with her, just playing around,” he said.

  “Sure,” Luca said as if they were buddies. “But you didn’t try anything, did you? I mean, you didn’t do anything she could make a formal complaint about, right?”

  Blake snorted. “Can’t even look at a woman these days without them wanting to turn you in. No. I mean, she came into my office one night, and I’d say things got a little out of hand. But that was her fault.”

  “How so?” Luca asked.

  “Just coming on to me,” he said with a shrug. “Yo
u know how it is.”

  “Yep, I know how it is.” Luca looked across the parking lot. “Actually, what she said is that you tried to rape her.” He shifted his gaze back to Blake.

  Blake frowned. “Like I said, things got out of hand. But I didn’t try and rape her, goddammit. She was practically begging for it.”

  “So she didn’t say no, or tell you to stop?” Luca asked.

  Blake’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking this, Luca?”

  “I don’t know. I just thought it was curious she had your gun.”

  Blake froze. “What the fuck are you trying to do here?”

  “Who, me?” Luca asked with a cold smile. “I’m just trying to figure out if you tried to rape her and she got hold of your gun to stop you, that’s all.”

  Blake stepped up to Luca so they were nose to nose. “So what if I did, you stupid hippie? Are you going to write up a report? Oh, that’s right—you can’t read or write because you’re a stupid little shit.”

  Luca stood there, his blood pounding in his veins, but didn’t say a word.

  “Here’s the thing about whores like Stacy Perry. They’re a dime a dozen. They come on to you hoping for favors, and then get pissed when you come back at them. Now, you can get in your little tree-hugging Sombra and cry about it if you want, but trust me, when I’m through with her, she’s going to be sharing a cell with your girlfriend’s mommy. Is that what you want? You want everyone to know about your girlfriend? Cuz I can damn sure make it happen.”

  It took all of Luca’s resolve not to put a fist in the middle of Blake’s face. “The guys must have had a good laugh over you losing your gun,” he said.

  Blake’s face mottled with anger. He suddenly reared back and punched Luca in the jaw, sending him to the ground. “You weak, pathetic loser. I always told Brandon he was too good for you. Where is she?” he demanded, and grabbed Luca by the collar. “Where is she?”

  “I have no idea, Sheriff,” he said. He could hear people coming out of the restaurant. “Last I heard, she was in Dallas.”

  “Sheriff?” someone said.

  Blake hauled Luca to his feet. “Get the hell out of here,” he said, his gaze flicking to the people behind Luca. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  Luca casually brushed himself off, rubbed his jaw, and said, “Looking forward to it.” And then he turned his back on Blake and walked across the parking lot to his car. He drove away from Jalisco’s and pulled into Timmons Tire and Body. He took his phone from his pocket and played it back. He smiled as he listened—he’d gotten every word. He saved the audio, then called Lucinda Hampton, one of the local reporters from a San Antonio station. He and Lucinda had dated a couple of times.

  “Hey, Lucinda, Luca Prince,” he said when she picked up.

  “Well, hello, stranger,” Lucinda said.

  “How would you like a big scoop about Sheriff Hurst?”

  “Who?”

  “Thomas J. Hurst’s son,” Luca clarified.

  There was no hesitation from Lucinda. “Where can I meet you?”

  By ten o’clock, the story was all over the news.

  The next day, Blake called a press conference to say he’d been framed by a Prince, that he had never touched a woman inappropriately.

  Two days later, Stacy was found in Nashville and did an interview detailing what had happened. Two days after that, Blake was forced to resign, because as Luca had guessed, women started coming out of the woodwork with their own stories about his predation. And every time a story ran, there was a link to Luca and his foundation. Their brand new website had so much traffic they had to increase the bandwidth.

  Luca did not escape unscathed. He received a few death threats, delivered via social media. People threatened to bring legal action, seeing as how he’d recorded Blake without him knowing. But Blake had much bigger problems than Luca Prince.

  Luca tried to call Brandon a few times but, predictably, got no response. By the end of the week, he received a letter from Brandon’s attorney telling him he intended to withdraw his support and his pledge to the foundation. There was no personal note.

  When his mother heard about it, she shrugged. “Well, I’m sorry that you and Brandon are on the outs. But you can do this without him, Luca. It’s your passion. Let that lead you.”

  That might have been the most stunning development of the week.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Ella heard the news about Sheriff Hurst from Big Barb when she delivered the mail one morning.

  “You haven’t heard about it? He’s been forced to resign.” Big Barb practically shouted, seeming a little put out with Ella for not keeping up.

  “I don’t have TV out here,” Ella said apologetically. Plus, her hot water heater had gone out, and she’d been a little caught up in that drama.

  Once the hot water heater was fixed, Ella had to make a trip to Lyle’s, because a gauge on her dash kept flashing a red warning sign. “You’re going to need a new radiator,” Lyle said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Ella asked, and leaned over the car and banged the hood with both fists. “That’s it! I’m putting that stupid house on the market right away, and then I’m going to sell this piece of crap because both of them do nothing but cost me money!”

  “I’ve been telling you to get a new car,” Lyle pointed out.

  “Well, Lyle, if only I had wads of cash to throw at a new car,” she said irritably.

  He smiled. “I’ll keep an eye out for a bargain. In the meantime, if I have to, I’ll fix your radiator and you can owe me.”

  “Nope. I’ll pay you.”

  “I won’t say no to you throwing wads of cash at me. So hey, the sheriff is making a splash around town, eh?”

  “Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

  “Always did think he was a jerk,” Lyle said.

  * * *

  • • •

  Everyone was talking about Sheriff Hurst. But Ella was thinking about Luca. She hadn’t heard one word from him. He hadn’t come by the Magnolia or her house. He hadn’t called her or texted her. It had been more than two weeks since the fund-raiser, and it had been radio silence.

  Well, she’d blown it. There was no other explanation.

  She consoled herself with Hostess cupcakes and cold showers. Even Buddy had finally moved on, just like she always feared he would. One day, he went out the back door, and he didn’t come back. Three days had passed since she’d last seen that damn dog. Three days had passed since she’d seen the horses, too. Like they all had packed a bag and said, “See you! Wouldn’t want to be you! Sad sack!”

  One Saturday morning, she heard something under her house, and with a flashlight and baseball bat, she went to have a look. Lo and behold, the damn barn cat had found a friend in the wilderness and had given birth to a litter of kittens. Priscilla was interested in the weeds at Ella’s feet as she checked out the kittens, and kept nibbling at her ankles.

  Ella shimmied out, fetched some water for the cat, and went back in to place it nearby. She was half under that porch like the Wicked Witch of the West when her phone rang. She bumped her head hard on the porch underneath as she tried to get out. “Ouch!” she shouted, and shimmied out once more, brushing spider webs and leaves from her as she stood up and grabbed her phone.

  “Hello?”

  “We got the deal!” Stacy shrieked into the phone.

  “Oh!” Ella cried. “Oh my God, Stacy, really?”

  “Can you believe it?” Stacy said happily. “Even after all the publicity about the sheriff.”

  Ella paused. “The news about our sheriff came up in Nashville?”

  “Of course it did! I’m the star witness. Please tell me you saw me on TV,” she said.

  “I don’t have a TV,” Ella reminded her.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Didn’t Luca tell you?”
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  “Luca? Tell me what?” Ella demanded.

  There was silence on the other end. “Ella—haven’t you talked to him?”

  Ella sank down onto her rump, and Priscilla nudged her with her snout. “Not a word. I blew it, Stacy. I haven’t heard a word from him.”

  “So . . . you don’t know he’s the one that got the sheriff to confess on tape?”

  Ella’s mind suddenly went blank. She couldn’t make that sentence work in her head. “Luca?” she said weakly. “But how?”

  “With his phone. You really need to hear it,” Stacy said.

  Ella’s heart was racing. She tried to think of what this meant. What about Brandon? What about the foundation? “Tell me,” she said.

  Stacy told her. And by the time they hung up, tears of gratitude and love and disbelief were streaming down her face.

  * * *

  • • •

  Nick had caught two of the mustang a day or so ago, but the stallion had escaped and was running around with a dog, he said.

  “Black and white?” Luca asked. They were watching one of the vaquero’s Martin knew work to break one of the horses. Luca’s mother stood on one side, Nick on the other.

  “How’d you know?” Nick asked.

  “That’s Buddy.”

  “Well, if you know Buddy, tell him to quit enticing that stallion to run off,” Nick said.

  Luca swallowed. He wanted to say that Buddy belonged to Ella, but he wasn’t able to talk about her just yet. He was still trying to figure things out. He’d needed a moment after the thing with Blake and Brandon.

  “So what is—”

  Luca’s mother started to say something, but she didn’t finish, because the sound of metal screeching startled them all. They turned from the paddock and looked up the long drive. Luca’s heart dropped—there was an old beige SUV in the middle of the road, with smoke rising out of the engine.

  “What is that?” his mother asked.

  “That is Ella,” Luca said. “I don’t believe it.”