Sweet Texas Kiss (Sweet Texas Secrets) (3 page)

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Cold air-conditioning and a heavy shot of raucous country music hit Gavin when he opened the door to Silver Spurs. The Friday night crowd was already chugging beers and swirling around the parquet dance floor. Gage and Grayson waved to him from their table and poured a third beer for him from a half-finished pitcher. He took his seat and a long pull from the mug, the cold beer a welcome pleasure after his long day.

“Hey, Gray, I thought you liked that tie.” He set his icy mug on the cardboard coaster.

“What do you mean?” Grayson touched the silky fabric of his navy tie, one of a large collection.

“You know Sally’s going to cut that thing right off your neck if she sees it.”

Gavin nodded toward the pretty young waitress making a beeline for their table, and sure enough, the handles of her scissors peeked out of the pocket on her apron. Silver Spurs prided itself on being casual and rowdy, and ties were absolutely verboten. No exceptions. Grayson loosened the tie and whipped it off his neck before Sally reached the table. She grinned as he shoved it in his pocket.

“I’ll get you one of these days, Grayson. You boys eating tonight? Or will it be more of a liquid dinner?” Sally leaned closer to the men to make her honey-smooth voice heard over the music and crowd.

They ordered burgers and another pitcher of cheap beer and waited for the waitress to get out of earshot before getting back to the business at hand. Gavin took the envelope out of his pocket and shook the pictures onto the table. “I emptied the safe-deposit box like Dad wanted. For a second, I thought I’d found something that would explain why he screwed us on the inheritance, but there wasn’t really anything unusual, except for these.” He set the pictures in the middle of the table.

Gage snapped them up and started flipping through the stack, examining each one. “They’re just family pictures.” He slowed his pace, his expression softening from irritation to a faint smile at some of the memories captured in the images.

“Yeah, at first I didn’t know why Dad had locked them up instead of just putting them in the photo albums, but then it became pretty clear.” Never one to wait patiently, Grayson leaned sideways to see the pictures over Gage’s shoulder. Gavin watched his brothers’ faces as they examined the pictures. “You’ll see what I mean in a second.”

They reminisced and teased each other as pictures of them as babies and kids gave way to more awkward adolescent images. There were pictures of the boys at Guac Olé’s first offices, a few of the kids sitting around the table peeling avocados in the family home’s kitchen, each brother’s prom pictures, graduation pictures, Gavin with the family’s old dog Jasper, a handful of Gage’s football team photos—the usual family memories.

And then there were the pictures of their father with the mystery woman.

“Who the hell is this?” Gage demanded, as though his brothers might know something he didn’t. Typical Gage, barreling forward as though he and Gray had some information they were hiding. And, just like Gavin knew he would, Gage flipped the pictures over, finding no writing. Dad hadn’t left them any clues—no name, place, date, nothing.

“She doesn’t look familiar.” Grayson peered at the picture.

“She and Dad look awfully cozy, and I think it’s damn strange that we’ve never seen her before.” Gavin paused to let Sally place their food on the table, and shook salt onto his fries. “And that Dad left these pictures for us to find, and not just by chance. It’s pretty obvious that he wanted to make sure we found them. It’s got to mean something, but I have no idea what.”

“Maybe she’s one of the women in his will? Macy’s the only one I know. Maybe this is Charlotte or Rebecca?” Gage took a big bite of his burger and chewed thoughtfully.

“It’s not Rebecca. She goes by Becca, and she’s a line supervisor at the plant. Plus, she’s much younger than that woman would be now. Maybe it’s Charlotte.” Grayson shot mustard onto his burger and furrowed his brow.

Gage took another look at the fresh-faced, happy woman in the picture with their father. “You know, this could be Charlotte, but I don’t think so. I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but this woman would be Dad’s age now. I get the impression that Charlotte is probably middle-aged. And miserable. This lady looks way too pleasant.”

“Why would he leave the pictures with no names or explanation? Does he want us to figure it out, or did he just forget they were in there?” Grayson stacked the pictures neatly.

“And these pictures don’t have anything to do with the glasses, the key, or the strawberry. What is going on here?” Gage stabbed a French fry into the ketchup.

“I have no clue, and honestly, the pictures make it even more confusing,” Gavin said. Between losing his dad, losing the house, and discovering that their father wanted them to play some strange guessing game, he wanted to do little more than go home and see his dog. Merle’s loyalties and affection were never in question. Everything with him was straightforward and easy, as long as he got plenty of food and ear scratches.

Too many things didn’t make sense anymore in Gavin’s world.

Across the bar, Garth Brooks’s voice wound through the air, and peanut shells crunched beneath cowboy boots as the Friday night crowd two-stepped around the dance floor, bathed in flecks of light from the overhead disco ball. Waitresses navigated the swirling bodies with the grace of ballerinas, balancing trays of longnecks and pitchers, stopping at the tall tables to deliver refreshment and big Texas smiles. Sweet Ridge hadn’t changed one bit. Same music, same crowd, same Friday night.

Not for the first time, Macy Young wished she’d let her attorney handle her strange inheritance, either figuring out a way she could sell the Cooper house or at least renting it out for her. With her talent competition show,
America’s Next Country Star
, on a brief break before the new season started, the distraction was welcome and necessary, though. With nothing and nobody waiting for her at home, work was the only thing keeping her sane most days. Being alone with her thoughts too long was dangerous and could lead to some really self-destructive behavior if she wasn’t careful.

Macy paid the bill for her solo dinner of a basket of foods fried beyond recognition and worth every calorie, and drained the last of her beer. Tonight she’d sleep in her clean and cozy room at Sweet Ridge Inn, the town’s charming, and only, hotel, and check out the Cooper house in the morning. It was hers, but it didn’t feel like it, and it didn’t seem right to spend the night there yet. Maybe seeing it would help her decide what to do with the property.

Either the Silver Spurs patrons were enjoying themselves too much to fawn over a celebrity, or they thought of her as nothing more than Macy Young, the girl they grew up with, but nobody was giving her a second look. Their lack of enthusiasm for her was positively glorious, and she enjoyed her walk through the crowded bar with a freedom she rarely felt. Genuine fans approaching her for a moment of real connection was something she enjoyed, but lately it seemed that people either openly stared and said nothing or approached her only for a picture opportunity and didn’t actually want to engage with her.

When she and Tori first started out, being famous was fun. Nothing else in life could compare to the feeling of standing on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, seeing their names in lights, and watching their albums blast up the charts, hitting number one every time. It was different in the beginning, when people were excited to meet them and would stop them to talk about their music. Macy never tired of finding out that their songs had gotten someone through a breakup, or provided the soundtrack for a couple falling in love. That their ballad “So in Love” was the first song couples danced to at their weddings never got old, either. Women in their twenties used to approach them all the time to share how much they related to the duo’s girl-power song, “Take That.” Meeting the real people who loved their music was so much more satisfying than snapping a quick picture with someone so they could share it on Facebook. The explosion of smartphones and social media made everything so fake and impersonal, and Macy couldn’t remember the last time she had a meaningful conversation with a fan. Being a sideshow was tiresome, and Sweet Ridge was turning out to be a welcome reprieve. Everyone in her old hometown already knew her story, and apparently they didn’t care.

Anticipating a great night’s sleep in the quiet hotel room waiting for her, Macy tucked a generous tip under her empty beer mug and headed for the door. Three handsome men, apparently missing the memo about pretending she wasn’t a hugely famous country star, stared as she sidestepped dancers and pool players. Before she had a chance to shut down their gawking with a direct look of her own, they stood, and she realized that they weren’t fans. They were Jack Cooper’s sons.

Gage Cooper left the trio and met her as she approached their table. “Macy Young! We haven’t seen you in years. We were just talking about you.”

His bear hug surprised her, but there was no time to wonder what it meant as he led her over to his brothers. Grayson picked up where he left off, wrapping her in a quick hug and giving her a split second to breathe in his expensive cologne. “Hey, girl. It’s good to see you. It’s been a long time.”

Gavin Cooper stayed in his seat, making sure she knew he noticed her and wasn’t happy to see her. Pity, because they’d been friendly enough in high school, and he’d been Tori’s best friend for a long time. He’d been angry enough when Macy ended up as valedictorian of their class instead of him, but now he blamed her for everything bad in the world, including the state’s epic drought, New Coke, and
Deadwood
being cancelled after season three, before the loose ends were tied up, so there was no way they’d ever be friends again. Finding out that she’d inherited his dad’s house probably hadn’t helped endear her to him.

Grayson pulled an empty chair over to their table and insisted that she join them. Before she could decline, her butt was in the chair and a waitress was depositing an empty glass in front of her. Gage poured her a beer from their pitcher and pushed it closer to her.

“Thanks.” She raised her glass to the Cooper boys and took a long, cold sip. The hotel was close enough to walk to if she ended up finishing her drink, so there was no need to worry about driving drunk. She could pick up her rental car from the Silver Spurs parking lot in the morning. “What are we drinking to?”

Gage set his mug down on a paper coaster. “It’s not exactly a celebration tonight. We had the reading of our dad’s will today, and I guess you already know about your part of it.”

“So tonight you’re out celebrating your new house?” Gavin glared at her from across the table, his anger blunted by the colorful lights bouncing off his thick, dark hair and the pulsing music enveloping them.

She set her glass down, not sure how to respond. She’d loved the Cooper family when she was younger, and their father had always been good to her. Being called home to take possession of his house was bittersweet, a wonderful gift from an exceptional man, even though it made no sense. It certainly wasn’t a joyous occasion, though. “I’m not celebrating anything tonight. I just stopped in for dinner while I’m in town to check out the house.”

“Don’t you remember it well enough from when we were kids? Surely you didn’t need to come all the way to Texas just to see the house. Unless you’re here to rub it in my face.” Gavin sneered at her, twisting his handsome features into a most unappealing grimace.

“Ah, so that’s it. I thought it was strange that your dad left me the house instead of one of you, but I’d hoped coming here would help me make heads or tails of it. I thought you might have some answers, but I won’t hold my breath. I guess it’s safe to assume that we won’t be working together to figure it out.”

He laughed, hard and without humor, and it hurt. “You could say that.”

Okay, so, he’d been hurt, but so had she. He had been Tori’s best friend, but she was her partner, and he wasn’t the only one who’d lost her. Surely he would have thought things through by now and figured out that nobody could have stopped Tori from leaving that night. How could he hang on to his anger for so long?

“So, I guess that the rest of ya’ll are members of the What the Hell Was Jack Cooper Thinking Fan Club, too?” Gavin’s brothers didn’t seem to harbor the same resentment he did, so she might have better luck sussing out Jack’s motivations if she focused on them.

“Yeah, completely. He promised the house to Gavin, which now belongs to you; the piece of land he owned on the edge of town he’d promised to me, which now belongs to some horrible environmental scientist whose mission is to make my life miserable; and he’d promised half of Guac Olé to Grayson, which now belongs to a floor supervisor from the plant with no upper-management experience. So, yeah, it was a day of surprises,” Gage said.

“That’s so strange. I can’t believe he would tell you guys one thing and then do something completely different.” Macy crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair. Sure, she’d been shocked to hear that Jack had left her his house, but she never would’ve believed he’d go this far, sweeping the rug out from under all three boys.

“Yeah, well, at least you got some real estate out of the deal.” Gavin’s sarcasm bit through the carefree mood of the bar.

“Listen, nobody was more surprised than me to find out that your dad left me his house. Did you want it for yourself? Or did you not care who it went to as long as it was anybody but me?” She’d been too busy with her career to give high school much thought in the years since graduation, but you just didn’t shelve the awkwardness of a cutthroat academic rivalry with Gavin while he was so close to Tori. For one thing, the Young and Wilde budding music partnership was occasionally strained, with Tori feeling like she was stuck in the middle, though the valedictorian competition was never that fierce, really. Macy never expected him to be happy for her if she edged ahead of him, but neither did she think he should take the loss as a personal insult.

“Very funny. That house is mine. I don’t know what my dad was thinking leaving it to you.”