Page 65 of River Legacy
Unable to sit, Charlotte was pacing the hotel suite when her phone rang. It startled her, even though she’d been expecting the call. She saw at once that it was the sheriff calling, yet she didn’t pick up. Her heart had already told her that it was going to be bad news. She’d thought she’d been ready, but realized she would never be ready to hear that one of her children was dead.
“Stuart?” she said after the fourth ring, knowing she couldn’t put it off any longer. The silence in answer made her fear that she’d waited too long to answer. But then she heard his sigh. That was when the tears rushed to her eyes, hot and blinding.
“It’s CJ,” the sheriff said. She heard nothing after that. She’d known because she’d done this as surely as she’d pulled the trigger. She used her son’s insecurities against him, poisoned him with his own mistrust, and now he was dead.
“Treyton too,” Stuart said as she regained focus.“It appears they shot each other. I already called Holden.” He’d called Holden first.
She could hear the anger in his voice. He knew that she was responsible for this, but he didn’t know how. He also didn’t think that Holden had anything to do with it, and he was right. Charlotte made a swipe at her eyes and straightened her back. “Thank you for letting me know. I’m on my way out to see Holden at the ranch now,” she said before he hung up.
She didn’t know how she was going to tell Holden. While she’d had months to accept who her son CJ was, he’d still surprised her at how much hatred he had for her and his siblings. Not to mention what lengths he would go to and how many people he would hurt to get what he wanted.
Pocketing her phone, she picked up her purse and headed for the McKenna Ranch, worried about Holden. He hadn’t been ready for this. He’d known that Treyton and CJ had been working together and that Treyton was behind the recent supposed accidents with Brand and Oakley.
The man knew her so well. Would he know what she’d done? How could he not suspect the moment he saw her face? She’d killed them both.
They met in the middle of the county road. Charlotte saw Holden coming down the road first. Her heart lifted at the sight of his pickup coming toward her. She’d known he would come to her. He’d be worried about her. That was the man she loved. Holdenhad always been the generous one, the loving one, the forgiving one.
She hated to think of the person she’d been. The one she still was. Did he have any idea of the kind of woman he had asked to marry him? That was just it. He did. He knew her—yet he still loved her. She would always be grateful for that. Still, she worried that if he knew what she’d done that he would finally give up on her.
He pulled alongside her SUV and put his window down. She’d already had hers down, letting the summer breeze blow in with its familiar smells as if they could give her strength.
“Lottie,” he said the moment their gazes met. She saw the heartbreak in his handsome face and felt it soul deep. He didn’t ask. He didn’t have to.
She nodded and burst into tears. The next thing she knew he was out of his pickup, opening her door and dragging her into his arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t seem to quit saying it.
He brushed away her tears, kissing her to make her stop. As he pulled back, he looked at her. “It’s going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right now.” His strong arms drew her in, and she knew it was true. This land, this life, their love had punished them for years, but it had also made them stronger.
They would get through this, just as they’d gotten through everything else.
Claude drove through the largest city in Montana, fighting the traffic to climb the road up onto the rockrims to the airport. Victoria hadn’t said anything since Ryder’s call to her phone, but he’d seen her relief that the cowboy was alive. Now she seemed to be biding her time as if she thought somehow she would be reunited with her lover.
He gritted his teeth at how quickly she’d fallen for the rancher. What did Ryder have that he didn’t? He hated to think. Right now he didn’t seem to have much of a future. But that million dollars Wen would be putting in his offshore account would help him figure it out. Maybe he’d catch a slow boat to a tropical island to think about it.
Glancing over at Victoria, he wondered what she would do. The cowboy’s ranch was gone. He figured she’d be gone as well. Love was one thing, but money was another. No one wanted to marry a homeless saddle tramp, especially the likes of Victoria Forester. She was her daddy’s daughter.
Well, he thought, it wouldn’t be the ending he’d thought he’d have when he flew to Montana to make Victoria his fiancée. But it would have to do. Between Wen and him, they’d done plenty of damage. His boss and his daughter would probably walk away, and their lives would go on just fine. If Wen had cut off her finances, Claude was sure he’d remedy that after this.
Not that he planned to worry about her, he thought with a silent chuckle. The woman could take care of herself. Ryder Stafford? Who knew about him. But something told Claude that the cowboy would come out smelling like roses, as his grandmother used tosay. The bad stuff didn’t stick to some people, as if they were Teflon, he thought as he pulled up to the gate in the area reserved for private carriers.
Claude could see that the steps were down and the door open on the Gulfstream G550. JJ would be doing his preflight check. What Claude didn’t see was Wen as the guard at the gate nodded and let him drive through. Only a man as rich and powerful as Wendell Forester got this kind of service.
“We wait here for your father,” Claude said as he parked, surprised the cops weren’t here. But of course Wen wouldn’t call them. His boss liked to handle problems himself.
Victoria, he saw, had perked up considerably since getting the call from the cowboy. Maybe she really did have feelings for him.
“You should just let me out and you can make a run for it,” Victoria said. “Seriously, just take off and don’t look back.”
He shook his head. “You and your father would both like that, wouldn’t you? You use people and then walk away. Wasn’t that what you were planning to do with Ryder when you tired of him?”
“Isn’t it possible that I’m serious about him?”
Claude laughed and shook his head. “You’re kidding yourself. I’m surprised you’re not bored with him yet—not to mention he no longer has a ranch.”
“We’ll get another one,” she said.
“Seriously?” he said. “With what? I thought your father cut you off?”
“He did. But I have the money my grandmother left me. It’s more than enough to buy a small place, and Ryder isn’t broke either.”
