Joanna Wayne - The Second Son

But something had changed her mind in a hurry tonight. One minute she didn’t have a thing to tell him, the next she was promising “will talk for food.” The dramatic change had come as a result of finding her jilted groom in the parking lot of the hospital. The second he’d mentioned a red Jag, her eyes had grown wide, and the muscles in her face had clenched.

Fear, anger, irritation? Maybe a little of all three. Which made him think that whatever had precipitated her running from the wedding had to do with more than just the absence of her sister at the planned ceremony. Especially since she’d run before she had exchanged the vows.

Branson had expected Charles to follow them when they left the hospital, but apparently he’d seen enough. He hadn’t caught sight of the Jaguar again. Branson would make it a point to find out a lot more about Charles Castile tomorrow. As for tonight, he had yet to learn any more from the beautiful woman in front of him than what she’d told him initially.

“You do know how to feed a woman, Branson Randolph.”

He turned back to his dining companion as she put down her fork and took a sip from the tall glass of iced tea at her fingertips. “You’re not giving up now, are you? There’s still food on your plate.”

“If I eat another bite, I’ll never be able to button Kate’s jeans around my waist. They’re already seriously interfering with my breathing capabilities.”

“Then you better stop eating. It wouldn’t do to pass out from lack of oxygen. As you already found out, buttons are not my strong suit.”

Lacy smiled as she picked up her napkin and dabbed at the corner of her mouth. The red lipstick she’d been wearing when he’d first encountered her had all worn off, leaving her mouth a dusty pink. Delicate. Paired with the wild mass of auburn curls that framed her face, she was a picture of innocence.

He stretched his legs under the table. Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t lie.

“Are you ready to answer a few questions now, or would you like dessert first?”

Her smile disappeared. “You know, for a few minutes there, Sheriff, you had me going. I thought there was a real man sitting across the table from me instead of a cop.”

“I’m real enough.” Too real, and too much a man, although he’d almost forgotten the fact himself until he’d started disrobing her this afternoon. He fingered the end of his fork. “But I don’t think you accepted this dinner invitation because of me at all, Miss Gilbraith. I think it was the steak you were courting.”

She nodded. “I admit it. I was famished. I hadn’t eaten all day and I’m not sure about last night.”

“Wedding-day jitters?”

“Or as it turned out, my unwedding-day jitters.” She wadded the napkin in her hand, squeezing the fabric between fisted fingers.

“I guess it’s rough on a woman when her dream day turns disastrous.”

“My dream day?” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My dream day would involve walking on a secluded beach somewhere. I’d have cool waves splashing around my ankles and a blue sky overhead.”

She released the napkin, letting it slide from her fingers and drop to the white tablecloth. “Actually.” Her tone grew agitated. “You could throw in a couple of sharks, and it would still beat the ceremony I almost had.”

So his assumption had been accurate. “It sounds like this match was not made in heaven.”

“To say the least.” She pushed her plate back a few inches. “Castile came into this world with a silver spoon in his mouth. Me, I was gagging on trouble from the day I was born.”

“Does this story go back that far?” He patted the small notebook in his shirt pocket. “If it does, I’ll need a bigger pad of paper.”

“No.” The spark of life and humor he’d glimpsed earlier gave way to shadowy sadness. “Some pasts are better forgotten, or at least buried.”

He moved the flickering candle from the center of the table to one side so that he could study her reactions that much more closely. “Why don’t I order coffee and you tell me what you know. Your sister is obviously in danger, but it might not be quite as bad as it seems.”

“You’re sugarcoating, Sheriff. You’re not very good at it.”

“You’re right.” He finished the last of his iced tea. “And you didn’t let me buy you dinner just because you wanted to cooperate with the law. You’re scared for your sister.”

“Well, at least we understand each other.”

“The motivation, not the facts. What’s Kate involved in?”

“It’s not the what, but the who.” She lifted a tangle of hair from the back of her neck. “It’s stuffy in here. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“We could stroll along the Riverwalk if you like, talk out there. It’s a good night for it.”

“A stroll in the moonlight—while I squeal on my sister and her boyfriend.” She pushed back from the table and stood up. “Why not? I’ll go to the ladies’ room while you pay the bill. Next time, I’ll treat.”

“Don’t try to slip out on me.”

“I won’t. You already called it. Kate needs help, and right now you’re the only game in town.”

Branson watched her walk away, her back straight and her head high, though he knew fear and regrets were choking the life out of her.

And for the first time since he’d pinned the badge on his chest, he wished it wasn’t there. What Lacy Gilbraith needed was a friend, a man to stand by her the way that snake she’d almost married apparently hadn’t.

Damn, he was doing it again. His family was obviously wrong when they claimed he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. It was just that his romantic inclinations were few and far between. And not to be trusted.

Here he was, letting a woman mess with his mind. Again. Convincing him she was who and what he wanted to believe when the facts said differently. Only this time he would not be taken in.

Lacy Gilbraith was part of the job. She might need a man to stand by her. But he was not that man.

LACY STEPPED through the open door and into the night air. She and Branson had exited the restaurant on the lower level, putting them directly onto San Antonio’s famed Riverwalk.

It was a beautiful May night, and the paved walkway that bordered the narrow, shallow river bustled with the Friday-night crowd of work-worn revelers. A couple passed them, their arms entangled, their laughter adding to the chorus of chatter and music that spilled into the night. Lacy wondered if her heart had ever felt that light, if her laughter had ever bubbled that freely.

She shivered and hugged her arms around her chest.

“We can go back inside if you’re cold.”

“No, it’s not the temperature,” she said. “I like it out here, but I’m not sure it’s conducive to serious talking.”

“Not here in the midst of hotels and restaurants, but there’s a quieter area if we follow the river for a few blocks. Are you up to the walk?”

“I could use it after that meal,” she said.

Branson was right. A few blocks north, the crowd thinned considerably. He led her to an unoccupied bench a few feet from the water’s edge. “Is this quiet enough for you?” he asked.

“It will do.”

Branson sat down beside her. “I know you’re finding this extremely difficult, Lacy, but you don’t have much choice. Bullets and bombs can be deadly. Your sister is keeping vicious company.”

He was right, of course. Kate had a history of bad choices in friends and lifestyle, but a lot of those had been a matter of survival. The truth was, Kate had a heart of gold. But that kind of thing never showed up on a police rap sheet. That’s why people like Branson couldn’t begin to understand a woman like Kate.