Ladd Fortune (13 page)

Troy peered down at her and said, “I’ve
been looking everywhere for you, Casey.”

His expression was friendly, sincere,
as though he really meant it. Heartbeats fluttered in her breast.
“You have?”

He nodded. “Your mom said you’d be out
here.”

“
I’m here,” she confirmed,
hating that she sounded so stupid. Lowering her legs, she leaned
back in her rocking chair and tried to sit like a normal
person.

Ashley lifted from her seat, the wood
creaking beneath the change in weight. “I think I hear Booker
calling my name,” she said with a wink. “You know I can’t keep the
grill sergeant waiting too long, it jerks a knot in his tail.”
Ashley ambled toward the front door and muttered, “Bless his heart,
when God handed out patience, Booker was standing behind the
door.”

Troy smirked.

Ashley smacked his arm and said, “Don’t
you go repeating what I said either, young man. I’ll have your
hide, you mention the first word to Mr. Fulmer.”

Troy laughed and held his hands up in
surrender. “Dad gum, Miss Ashley—I wouldn’t think of
it!”

She grinned. “Good.”

He shook his head slowly and watched
her with a wary eye, almost as if he was anticipating another
whack. “My momma didn’t raise no fool.”

“
No she didn’t,” Ashley
agreed, “despite that foolish bruise on your face.” Troy touched
the lump beneath his eye as she added, “In fact, I think I’ll go
tell her what a fine young man you are, this minute.”

Casey noticed Troy’s cheeks tinge ever
so slightly.

“
Yes ma’am,” he replied.
When Ashley disappeared into the house, he turned to Casey. “You
want some company, or should I leave you alone?”

She shrugged. Casey didn’t want him to
think she was interested. It’d only make her feel dumb when he
turned her down. “If you want.”

Troy took Ashley’s chair and settled
in, as though he planned to stay awhile. As he gazed out over the
sloped lawn, his expression quieted. Casey looked over the front
lawn, too, but watched him from the corner of her eye, waiting for
him to make the next move. She surely wasn’t going to make
it!

“
How ya doing?” he asked
finally, concern rippling through his features in what Casey found
to be a total letdown. He was just being nice. On account of her
overdose.

“
Good.” She didn’t want to
talk about it. Not with Troy and not with anyone. It only served to
remind her what a failure she was—even when trying to kill
herself.

“
I’m glad.” Troy leaned
forward. Elbows to knees he took her in, his eyes searching hers as
though the truth lay within them and she was withholding. “I’d hate
it if anything happened to you, Casey.”

Desire scattered in her chest. “You
would?”

He nodded. “Of course. We’ve been
friends since we were two, haven’t we?”

Friends. Casey nodded glumly. “Yeah. We
have.”

“
Other than Travis and
Felicity, there ain’t nobody that knows me better than
you.”

She inclined her head, considering the
statement. Probably true. While the Parker boys didn’t hang out
with her like they did Felicity, they still saw each other in
school, after school, around town, parties like this one. Their
families were friends.

“
And when friends have
problems, they talk, don’t they?”

“
They do,” she said,
suddenly aware he might be going somewhere with this line of
conversation—somewhere halfway important.

“
I’ve been
thinking...”

Casey waited, but when he didn’t
continue, she prodded, “Thinking about what?”

“
I might not go to college,”
Troy said, holding her firmly in his gaze as though purposely
trapping her so she couldn’t avoid him.

But she had no interest in avoiding
him. “Not go to college?” she asked, astounded by the
revelation.

Troy nodded. “I mean, what’s the point?
I want to work with horses, not books or computers. Why do I need
to go to college for that?” He dropped his gaze to the ground and
kicked at a stray clump of dirt. “It’ll only waste my
time.”

“
But Troy, you’re already
signed up and accepted. You can’t just
quit
.”

“
Can’t I?” He turned,
whipping the hair from his eyes. “Why not?”

“
Because,” she said,
grasping for a reason, advice to give him that would dissuade him
from dropping out.

But she had none. Troy was
the finest horseman she knew. He handled feisty stallions better
than anyone she’d ever seen, could calm an angry mare, deliver a
foal... Why, Casey didn’t think there was anything Troy
couldn’t
do with a
horse.

“
If they had a horse
college, I’d go. But they don’t.”

“
They don’t?”

“
They don’t. Not that I ever
heard of, anyway.” He cast his gaze out over the front, a faraway
look taking hold of him.

“
What do your parents
think?” she asked, genuinely interested in hearing the
answer.

“
Haven’t told them
yet.”

Casey understood completely. Morton and
Betty Ann Parker had high expectations. From grades to behavior,
their kids were expected to perform and expected to perform well.
Casey always thought it a bit extreme. Not everyone could be
perfect. “Are you afraid they’ll say no?”

“
Dad gum, Casey—I ain’t
afraid of nothing of the sort,” he said heatedly.

Casey believed otherwise, but kept it
to herself. Troy was too proud to admit he was scared. No sense in
riling him by pressing the point. “When do you plan to tell
them?”

He turned his gaze out over the field
again. “Soon.”

Soon. Did that mean days or weeks? As
it stood, the boys were set to leave for college in another two
months.

Dark eyes flashed. “What do you think?
Do you think it’s a good idea?”

Self-doubt was not something she was
accustomed to seeing in Troy Parker. He was usually so sure of
himself, it was odd to see him hesitate. “What do you care what I
think?” she murmured.

“
I value your opinion. Do
you think I’m ruining my life?”

The statement tugged at her
heart.
He valued her
opinion
. Troy cared what she thought. Casey
shook her head defiantly. “No. I don’t think you’re ruining your
life. I think you’re the best dang horseman around.”

The compliment rallied a smile to his
lips. “You do?”

Sapped by a sudden case of nerves, she
pulled her legs up and hugged them close. “I do. I really, really
do.”

The two sat quietly, the distant sounds
of Ashley’s party music and rowdy crowd hanging in the background.
While Casey wasn’t quite sure why Troy was sitting with her instead
of Felicity, she wasn’t about to complain. She’d always wished he’d
give her more than a friendly glance, but he and Travis were
forever fighting over Felicity and it drove Casey nuts. What did
Felicity have that was so special?

Casey glanced askance and thought
whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be having its normal effect.
Today was different. Troy had shared his plans about college with
her, not Felicity. Better yet, he cared what she thought about it.
For Casey, it was a magical combination. Troy pulled out of his
trance and from the corner of her eye, she could see him staring at
her. Nerves fired in her breast, fluttered against her ribs. What
was he thinking? Did he find her attractive? Casey made a steel
band of her arms around her knees.

“
Do you mind if I ask you a
sensitive question?” he asked.

Startled by the tender
quality to his voice, she turned. Looking into his eyes, the eyes
of a friend, the eyes of a man she desperately liked, Casey hoped
Troy wouldn’t ask about the drugs.
It was a
mistake
.
It was
stupid
. “What?” she replied, preferring he
ask her if she liked him, and did she want to go out on a
date?

“
Do you know your daddy’s in
town?”

Like a hen’s egg dropped to the cement,
Casey’s hopes crashed.

“
Do you know him, Casey?”
Troy begged the question, as though it were of vital importance to
him. “Have you seen him?”

She hugged her legs hard and shook her
head.

“
Dad gum, hasn’t your momma
ever told you?”

“
Told me what?” Casey
demanded, suddenly angry. “That some man with the last name of Ladd
is my father? That he lives in Atlanta and doesn’t give a whip
about me?”

Thunderclouds entered his gaze, his
brown eyes a squall of emotion. The storm eased and he asked
calmly, “If your daddy gets Ladd Springs from Delaney, you could
get a piece of it, too, right?”

Casey stared at him, barely able to
comprehend what he was saying, so torn was she between her mother’s
greedy ploy at getting title to Ladd Springs and the intensity in
Troy’s features. He looked as if he had a horse in the ring, as if
it were personal.

“
Would you want that?” he
asked.

“
Want what—to be a part of
the Ladd family? To be related to a woman who hates me, a cousin
who—” Casey bit the words from her tongue. She didn’t even want to
say Felicity’s name for it might steal Troy’s focus from
her.

Troy looked out over the yard, the
cars, and didn’t say another word.

Why did he care about her
father, about Ladd Springs? What did it matter to Troy one way or
the other? Why did her mother have to get pregnant by a man who
didn’t love her? Sensing Troy was closing down, she wanted to
scream,
What do you want,
Troy
?
Why do you
care
? Fighting back a wave of tears, Casey
thought,
Do you, Troy
?
Do you care about
me
?

Chapter Ten

Annie Owens sat alone at her dining
room table. Her lunch was cold, her iced tea warm, her life was
falling apart. In the blink of an eye, her best friendship had
shattered before her very eyes. Candi had turned from confidant to
traitor. How could she have slept with Jeremiah? Had she done so
before Lacy? During?

Humiliation slithered into
Annie’s heart. How could the two women closest to her betray her
that way? It was unconscionable. Unacceptable. And to think Candi
called Jeremiah back home to fight for Ladd Springs. Why? To help
her with her paternity suit Candi had said? Or did she want to see
him again for her own gratification... Visions of Jeremiah leaning
close to Candi at the salon soured Annie’s stomach. She
didn’t
look
unhappy
when Annie walked in. And if she hadn’t walked in on them, would
Candi have confessed?

Annie dumped her gaze to the plate of
leftover barbecued pork. The sandwich that had been half-eaten
during the picnic today remained so, because she was in no mood to
eat. She was in no mood to plot and plan, to hash out or forgive.
Annie was in no mood for anything. Jeremiah Ladd was in town, yet
had barely said hello, barely acknowledged her presence. Casey
deserved better. Her daughter deserved a man who cared about her, a
man who cared enough to at least acknowledge her
existence.

But that man wasn’t Jeremiah Ladd.
Annie’s heart ached at the thought. It was her fault. Pushing the
plate of food aside, Annie slid her elbows forward and dropped her
head to rest in her palms. Casey had a louse for a father because
her mother had picked him. Maybe not picked him to be the father of
her child, but when you slept with a man, that was a possibility.
She knew the facts. She’d played the game. And lost.

How could Annie ever make it
up to her daughter? Casey’s father was here in the flesh, traipsing
through town and the girl had no clue. Casey wouldn’t know Jeremiah
if she saw him walking down the street. Years ago, when she had
asked about him, Annie had told her the truth.
Your father is Jeremiah Ladd
. She had
explained his absence with the lie of two adults not getting along,
going their separate ways because it wasn’t meant to be. She had
neglected to tell Casey that Jeremiah went his way with her Aunt
Lacy. It was a fact that would only serve to add to her pain. And
Casey was in pain. Her rebellious spouts stemmed from an attitude
that went beyond teenage hormones. Casey blamed her mother for her
father’s absence and Annie accepted it without recourse. To fight
would only reveal the uglier side of the truth.
Your father dumped your mother, ran off with your aunt and to
this day refuses to claim you
.

Suddenly, the years felt like a
crushing vise-grip around her heart. They squeezed the life from
her. Like a boot to the head, they crushed her. Annie rued the day
she’d ever taken up with Jeremiah. Why she had wanted him, she
couldn’t remember anymore. Only that she had. For as long as she
could remember, Annie had wanted Jeremiah Ladd but he’d been stuck
at the hip to Delaney Wilkins.