The Maverick - By Jan Hudson Page 0,47
still they seemed to drag by. When Sunny picked her up on Sunday morning to drive to Dripping Springs for their meeting with Carrie Outlaw, Cass welcomed the distraction of both having time alone with her sister and seeing Carrie.
Sunny drove like an old lady, but Cass didn’t say a word about it as they tooled down the highway. This last time she’d come this way, Griff had been with her and nervous as a hooker in church about her heavy foot. She smiled, remembering.
“What?” Sunny said. “Why are you grinning like a possum in a persimmon tree?”
“I was thinking about something.”
“Something or someone?” When she didn’t answer, Sunny said, “Griff Mitchell, I’ll bet. Are you getting serious about him, Cass?”
She sighed. “I think so, and it may be a problem. Mom and Aunt Min don’t like him, and they can’t explain why. How do you feel about him, sis?”
“He’s good-looking for sure. And charming and thoughtful. But…I don’t know, somehow I’m uneasy around him. Maybe it’s the cop in me. Ben and Sam feel the same way. I’m not sure how Belle and her other brothers feel, but I know Sam ran a check on him.”
Cass bolted straight up, and only her seat belt restrained her from shooting to her feet. Fury zipped through her like an express train. “Dammit! I can’t believe he did that. Just because Griff doesn’t have a Texas drawl doesn’t mean he’s a sleaze. Wait till I get my hands on Sam Bass Outlaw.”
“Calm down, Cass. You’re overreacting. Sam only did it because he cares about you. Don’t you want to know what he found out?”
She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead. “No! I wouldn’t sink so low as to ask.”
After a mile or two of silence, she relented. “Okay, what did Sam find out?”
“Griff was born on Long Island, went to Harvard, was the president of his class, also went to Harvard Law and graduated at the top of his class. He’s licensed to practice law in New York, and his record is clean as a whistle except for a couple of speeding tickets and a disturbing the peace citation when he was in college.”
“I could have told Sam all that and saved him a world of time and trouble. I can’t believe he checked Griff out.”
“Don’t be angry, Cass. Maybe it’s because none of us are used to being around rich folks from New Yawk, as you call it. You probably rubbed elbows with people like that when you lived there. We didn’t. Sometimes you distrust what’s not familiar. Maybe that’s what we’re feeling.”
“Ben, too?”
Sunny nodded. “Sorry. And maybe J.J.,” she added quietly.
“Has the entire family been discussing Griff and his ‘slick’ ways?”
“We aren’t trying to be nosy. We care about you.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Cass said. “I saw the Senator again. Saw him, hell. We had a conversation.”
Sunny glanced over at her with a surprised look. “You did?”
“I kid you not.”
“What did you talk about?”
“He told me to listen to the quiet voice inside me and follow my heart.”
“Then I’d pay attention to his advice if I were you,” Sunny said. “He’s never steered me wrong.”
“Maybe so, but his flitting in and out like he does makes me nervous. And speaking of nervous,” Cass said, thrumming her fingers against her thigh, “I’m itching to know what Carrie wants to talk with us about. Have you come up with any ideas?”
“Not a one. I suppose we’re going to have to wait another few minutes to find out. Seems strange it’s Carrie, of all people, who wants to talk with us. And privately.”
“Well, she’s a lawyer. But so’s Frank. And Belle, too, for that matter.”
“Here we are,” Sunny said, turning in at their meeting place. “We’ll soon find out.”
Chapter Nineteen
Drops of rain began to pelt the windshield as they pulled into a parking space in front of the diner. Sunny grabbed a collapsible umbrella from the backseat, and they made a run for the door. No sooner were they inside with the bacon and coffee smells than thunder boomed and a torrent of rain washed from the sky, hammering the metal roof like pebbles.
Looking around, they spotted Carrie in a back booth. Smiling brightly, she rose and came to meet them. As always, Cass wondered at the amazing color of her eyes. They were a bright, stunning amethyst.
“Good to see you,” Carrie said, hugging them in turn. “I was afraid you weren’t going to make it before the rain. I swear