Whether it was luck or providence or fate, Brody had been the one to witness the two men strong-arm Tessa into their car. He’d been the one to contact Rafe, and followed them to the elementary school where Evan had taken Tessa. He seriously doubted Evan forgot about Brody’s role in his arrest. And Evan didn’t strike him as a forgive-and-forget kind of guy.
With a sigh, he pulled up in front of the Big House, spotting the white sedan with a rental sticker in the back window. Wonder who’s here?
He’d barely made up halfway up the walk before Beth opened the front door. The rapid beating of his heart when he saw her sped up even faster at the sight of her smile. He barely refrained from sprinting to meet her at the front door. Instead, he maintained his steady gait, capturing her hands in his, and squeezing them.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
He loved the flush of pink in her cheeks at the compliment. “Everything go okay today?”
“Other than Evan still being out there somewhere, it’s been pretty quiet. Oh, my friend, Camilla, is here. Just so you know, she’s Evan’s sister.”
He couldn’t quite hide his frown. “What’s she doing here? Did she know about his escape?”
“She’s here because I invited her to visit. She’d planned to come to Texas anyway, because there were some papers she needed her brother to sign, and he’s been stonewalling her. I don’t know what they are, and I really don’t care. But she was going to stay with me. When she offered to stay at a hotel, your mother graciously offered to let her stay here—at the foreman’s house.”
Brody didn’t even try to hold back his laugh. “Bet Dane appreciated that bit of news.”
“I haven’t seen him yet, but Douglas got here a few minutes ago, and he took Camilla over there to drop off her bag and freshen up. They’ll be back in time for dinner. Or as your brother Heath called it, supper. He showed up this morning, and finagled your mother into making chicken fried steak.”
“Now that I believe. Heath has an unhealthy obsession with chicken fried steak for some reason. I swear he’d eat it for every meal if Momma would make it.”
Hoping for a few minutes together before joining the rowdy bunch he could hear inside, he asked, “Feel like taking a walk before dinner?”
“I’d love to.” She kept one hand in his as they stepped off the porch. He liked she felt comfortable enough to hold his hand. Maybe their botched first date attempt hadn’t ruined any chance for them, if he was lucky.
Making a split-second decision, he headed for one place on the ranch he knew she’d never been. It was a special place, one most people outside the family didn’t know existed, and he felt an uncontrollable urge to share it with Beth. See if she felt the undefinable pull toward it—toward him—he felt for her.
He led her around the side of the house, skirting a patio and continued walking until they came upon a small deck in front of a set of French doors. Decorative urns and pots overflowed with green ferns and vividly colored flowers in pots scattered over the concrete surface. Comfortable-looking chairs and a glass table to the side completed the charming vignette.
He heard her indrawn breath as soon as she spotted where they were headed. A white-roofed gazebo sat in the clearing, surrounded by tall pine trees. While it wasn’t huge, it was more than large enough to hold a dozen people comfortably. White lattice skirted the bottom, and a circular roof perched over the top. It reminded him of a woodland paradise, a hideaway in the middle of Texas, hidden away from prying eyes. He knew it was incongruent with a working Texas ranch, but his father had made this place, a special gift for his wife many years before.
Intertwined around the base of the gazebo, climbing pink and white roses and tall ornamental grasses grew in abundance, adding to its ethereal appearance, the air perfumed with the heady scent of the flowers, mixed with the earthy scent of the wooded area surrounding it.
Inside the gazebo, hidden in its depths was the big reveal, something surprising and unexpected. A well. When he’d been growing up, he and his brothers had called it the wishing well. He’d dropped more than a small amount of his allowance into its depths, hoping against hope for his desires to come true. Smooth stone encased the