Thrill Me. Сьюзен Мэллери

      Nick glared at him for a second before sighing. “You saw him, didn’t you?”

      “Yesterday.”

      “That’s the same tone of voice Aidan uses when he talks about Dad.”

      “We’re not chosen,” Del said lightly, thinking about how Ceallach always dismissed their mother’s small tour company as unimportant, despite how many times it had put food on the table. From what he’d seen so far, their brother Aidan had grown the company even more. But none of that would matter to Ceallach.

      “You’re still doing well,” Nick said. “Congratulations on selling the company.”

      Del sipped his beer. “How’d you know?”

      “I read the business section of the paper every now and then. You got a big write-up here. Local boy makes good. What are you going to do next?”

      “I have no idea.”

      “Part of the reason you came home?”

      “That and Dad’s birthday.”

      “Which isn’t for a few weeks. That’s a long time to contemplate your navel.”

      Del chuckled. “Not my style. I’m helping Maya Farlow with some promotional videos for the town. To support tourism and the new slogan.”

      Nick’s brows rose. “Seriously?”

      “It’s no big deal.”

      “You were going to marry her, and when she dumped you, you left town. Mom was hysterical for weeks. That Maya?”

      “Yes, and thanks for the recap.”

      “You’re welcome.” Nick studied him. “You’re really going to work with her?”

      “So it seems.”

      Del thought about seeing Maya. She had become an interesting combination of the girl he remembered and someone completely different. Still gorgeous, but beautiful women were easy to find. She was smart, and he liked that. Conversation was as important as sex, in his world.

      “We were friends,” he told his brother. “There’s no reason for that to have changed. Besides, I’m grateful for what happened.”

      “That’s an interesting way to look at it.”

      Del thought about the life he’d had planned. Before Maya, he’d been ready to take over the family business and live out his days in Fool’s Gold.

      “Because of her I got to travel and see the world. There’s a whole lot of interesting stuff going on out there. If I’d stayed, I would have been miserable.”

      “Even with Maya?”

      A question he couldn’t answer. Nor did he want to try. If Maya had married him...

      For a second he allowed himself to picture a house with a yard and a couple of kids. Maya pregnant with a third. Could he have been happy with her? With them?

      Ten years ago, he would have sworn the answer was yes. Now, while he wanted the wife and kids, he wasn’t sure he could handle the settling down in one place part.

      “I’m happy,” he said firmly. Lonely, maybe, but still happy. “What she and I had was over years ago. I can work with her, no problem.”

      Nick picked up his soda. “I find it hard to believe you’re that forgiving, but okay. I applaud your mature, if slightly puzzling, response to her being back in town.” He brightened. “Hey, make her fall in love with you again, then dump her.”

      “When did you get vindictive?”

      A muscle tightened in Nick’s jaw. “Shit happens.”

      Del thought about asking what, but figured Nick would tell him when he was ready. “Thanks for the suggestion of revenge, but no thanks. Wanting to punish her means I’m not over her, and I am. Completely.”

      He was a one-woman man, still looking for the right woman. He’d thought he’d found her twice. First with Maya and then with Hyacinth. One of the things both women had taught him was the importance of being honest. With the other person and with yourself. Hyacinth and Maya had lied to him. In different ways, but they’d still withheld the truth. If a woman couldn’t be direct and open, he wasn’t interested.

      Nick raised his glass. “To getting over her.”

      Del raised his bottle. He knew who his “her” was, but wondered about Nick’s. Not that he would find out. Theirs was a family that flourished on secrets.

      * * *

      THE NICHOLSON RANCH had been in the Nicholson family for something impossible like five generations. Maya wasn’t sure of the exact number. What she knew for sure was how impressed she’d been when she’d first seen it twelve years ago. She’d been a scared sixteen-year-old who’d only ever lived in Las Vegas. Going from barren desert that grew neon rather than actual trees to the ranch had been like something out of a PBS miniseries.

      The two-story house had seemed impossibly huge. There had been acres of grass and trees, horses and cattle, along with cashmere goats.

      Her mother had hit the jackpot when she’d met Rick Nicholson. They’d dated for two weeks, then had married in a drive-through church. Less than a month later, Maya and her mother were leaving everything behind and moving to California. Maya hadn’t known what to expect, but every hope and dream had been fulfilled when she’d first seen the ranch.

      It didn’t matter that Rick wasn’t especially friendly. Being ignored by her mother’s new husband was far preferable to the attention from some of the woman’s previous boyfriends. She’d had her own room, with a bathroom! Three meals a day and two stepbrothers. While the older brother, Zane, had glared at her with contempt, little Chase had been adorable.

      Even more incredible, had been the town. Fool’s Gold had been clean, friendly and welcoming. She’d made friends, she’d had teachers who not only knew her name but cared about how she was doing. For the first time in her life, Maya had allowed herself to hope she could have a future. She’d dared to whisper the possibility of going to college.

      Now she drove onto the ranch property and headed for the main house. After her mother and Rick had divorced, Maya had stayed in touch with both Zane and Chase. While her relationship with Zane had been more adversarial than familial, she hadn’t given up on him. The previous month, they’d reconciled, helped by Zane falling totally and completely in love with Maya’s best friend, Phoebe.

      Maya parked and grabbed her oversize bag before heading toward the house. She knocked once on the front door, then stepped inside.

      “It’s me,” she called.

      Phoebe, a petite, curvy brunette, stepped out of the kitchen and smiled. “Yay. I love it being you.”

      They hugged, then walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe poured them glasses of iced tea.

      Maya sat at the old, battered table and watched her friend collect a salad from the refrigerator, along with tiny sandwiches.

      “You didn’t have to feed me,” Maya said, knowing Phoebe couldn’t help herself. She was born to take care of the world.

      “I thought you might be hungry.”

      Phoebe set the food on the table, then collected napkins and flatware.

      She moved easily—as if she’d always lived in the old house. Even better, Phoebe looked content. Happiness radiated out of her brown eyes. She was relaxed. Every now and then, she glanced at the diamond ring sparkling on her left ring finger. The beautiful solitaire would soon be joined by a wedding band.

      Phoebe sat across from her and grinned. “The ranch closed. I got my commission check.”

      It took Maya a second to make the transition.

      Recently,