Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,84

“Closed chapter,” he said tautly.

“I got a good look at Texas women when I gave Merrie Grayling away at her wedding,” he reminded Mikey. “They’re good people.”

“She was. But she couldn’t live with my profession.”

“I heard you couldn’t live with her maybe being an invalid one day.”

Mikey turned. His eyes glittered. “I never said that,” he replied. “Never! It wouldn’t have mattered to me if she couldn’t even walk. I’d have carried her—” He broke off, averting his eyes.

Tony laid a big hand on his shoulder. “Jessie Tennison belongs to the New York boss. She’s his mistress,” he continued. “She made trouble for you because it’s what she does. Nobody likes her, and one day the wife is going to complain loudly enough that the boss will have to do something about her. Something unpleasant. She’s making her own sad future and she doesn’t even know it.”

“I won’t mourn her,” Mikey said.

“Your cousin said she carried tales to both of you,” he said. “She lied and you both believed her.”

Mikey’s face hardened. “Bernie told me herself that she was always on the right side of the law.”

“And you told her that it didn’t matter that she might become disabled one day, yes?”

Mikey’s teeth clenched. “For all the good it did me.”

“It’s your life, paisan,” he continued. “But you’ve been moping around here like a lost soul ever since I walked in the door, when we should both be celebrating. If I were you, I’d go back to Texas and talk to the woman. Really talk to her.”

Mikey grimaced. “I took Jessie out on the town. I know, it was stupid. I was feeling low because of what I’d heard, what Jessie told me that Bernie said about my past. I wanted to feel better, so I took her up to San Antonio for supper. She told Bernie I slept with her. It’s a lie, but Bernie had every reason to believe her. So even if I wanted to go back and talk it out, she’d never trust me again. She’d probably shut the door in my face.”

“There are these things called roses,” Tony mused. “Women go nuts over them. I know my late wife did. Chocolates. Greeting cards. I went through all those things while I was courting her.” His eyes were wistful with memories. “She didn’t even like me at first, but I wore her down. I was a bad man, too, Mikey, and her dad was a cop, but it didn’t matter. She had leukemia,” he added softly. “I took care of her when she had relapses, right up until the last one that took her out. I never minded. She knew it. We loved each other. None of the small stuff mattered. Love kept us together in spite of the difficulties we faced.”

Mikey hadn’t said anything. He just listened. “That’s a lot like me and Bernie,” he said after a minute.

“Yeah. How about that?”

Mikey took a deep breath. “I’ll think about it.” He glanced at the boss. “Roses, huh?”

“Might send yellow ones,” Tony suggested. “Isn’t there some song about yellow roses and Texas?”

Mikey actually laughed. It was the first time he had since he’d left Jacobsville.

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon when the florist brought them in. Judy, who owned the flower shop, came herself, grinning from ear to ear as she carried them straight to a shocked Bernie at her desk and placed them on it.

“Oh!” Bernie’s hand went to her throat. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There must have been three dozen yellow roses in the arrangement, along with flowers of every single color, and greenery highlighting it all.

“I know, it’s closer to Thanksgiving than spring,” Judy laughed, “but the man said yellow roses, so that’s what you get.”

“The man?” Bernie was dumbfounded. Her coworkers were grinning from ear to ear.

“Read the card,” Judy suggested, indicating it on a plastic stand inside the arrangement.

Bernie pulled it out with hands that held a faint trembling. She opened the envelope. The card only said, “Miss you terribly. Can you forgive?” And it was signed “Mikey.”

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She read the card again, just to be sure that she wasn’t seeing things.

“Well?” Sari prompted. “What does it say? Who’s it from? Or should we just guess?” she added with a grin.

“Mikey,” Bernie said in a husky tone. “The flowers are from Mikey!”

“Doesn’t he do things in a big way?” Olivia mused, studying the huge arrangement. “Amazing that your back didn’t