A Home of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #4)(42)
Author: Brenda Novak

“Then why are you so fascinated with her?”

“I’m not fascinated with her.”

Gabe’s eyes sparkled with mischief for the first time in months, but Mike could hardly take it as a victory over that damn wheelchair when his friend’s amusement came at his expense. “She’s attractive, don’t you think?”

Mike could tell it was a loaded question, so he sidestepped it the best he could. “She’s young.”

“I didn’t ask about her age.”

“It matters, don’t you think?”

“I think what matters more is that you’re avoiding the real issue.”

“Which is…”

“You can’t get involved with her. Your parents, your whole extended family, would disown you.”

Mike wondered what Gabe would say if he knew the truth. He’d already been “involved” with her in the most intimate way. And Lucky could have shouted it from the rooftops. But she hadn’t. She’d kept it to herself and acted as though it had never happened. He still couldn’t figure out what had drawn her to his room in the first place. Why did she wait all those years and then slip into his bed? If he hadn’t been monitoring his thoughts so carefully, he would’ve asked her that night they’d decorated the tree.

“I’m nearly forty years old,” he pointed out. “I’m not going to let my family dictate what I do.”

Gabe seemed to sober. “A man never quits belonging to his family, Mike. Especially out here. Something like this happens to you—” his jaw clenched as he motioned to his chair “—you learn pretty damn fast that everything else is smoke and mirrors. Fame. Money. Success. You realize that life is fleeting and family’s what it’s all about. It’s the only thing that matters.”

Mike rubbed his neck, feeling guilty for not keeping his distance from Lucky when he knew that associating with her would hurt the people he cared about most. Even that night they’d decorated the tree had been a mistake, because he felt he knew her so much better, liked her so much more.

When he didn’t immediately capitulate, Gabe maneuvered his chair around the leg of the table and lowered his voice. “You get with Lucky, and it’ll divide this town in two.”

A woman at the next table offered Gabe a hopeful smile—proof to Mike that plenty of pretty women still found Gabe attractive—but his friend ignored her completely and lowered his voice even more, to keep her from overhearing. “Believe me, Mike, as hot as Lucky is, she’s not worth it. Look what happened to your grandfather. He fell blindly in love and caused a whole lot of heartache for absolutely everyone in his family, including you. You can bet he regretted that heartache later.”

Mike remembered how bitterly his grandfather had wept not long before he passed away.

“If Morris were around, I’m sure he’d back me up on this one,” Gabe added.

“Morris loved Lucky.”

“I’m sure he did. But she’s not for you.”

Mike touched the condensation on his glass, telling himself he should just nod and ignore it, but he couldn’t. “What if everyone’s wrong about her?” he asked.

“In what way?”

“They think she’s this…materialistic, self-serving woman out to gain advantage in the world any way she can.”

“Sort of like her mother?” Gabe eased back to his normal distance and lifted his beer.

“Exactly like her mother.”

“Six years ago Lucky walked off with a sizeable portion of your inheritance. So I wonder where they got that idea.”

Mike raised his eyebrows at his friend’s sarcasm. “I’ve survived.”

“No thanks to her.”

“You’re sounding like my family.”

“I’m playing devil’s advocate. You used to agree with them about Red and her children. I’m wondering why you’ve suddenly changed your mind.”

“I see things a little differently now, that’s all.”

“Are you telling me Lucky’s sweet and innocent?”

Mike jammed a hand through his hair. “Not sweet exactly.” He purposely didn’t address the “innocent” part. Until he’d accepted her into his bed, she’d been innocent in at least one way—but he definitely wanted to skip that when talking to Gabe. “She’s angry and resentful.”

“Sounds pleasant.”

“Would you feel any differently in her shoes? She’s been ostracized and rejected most of her life. Maybe she’s grown defensive in order to survive.”

“So now you admire her?”

Mike didn’t know how to describe his feelings for her. He kept telling himself he didn’t have any, at least none that went very deep. He was simply attracted to her. She was different from other women he knew, tough to read, tougher to reach, sometimes belligerent, often remote. Certainly there were less complicated women to want. But—he thought of that night they’d decorated the tree—she needed him, and he wanted to be there for her.

God, what was he thinking? He had to be drunk.

Shoving away from the table, he got up to play some pool before he said something really stupid.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

LUCKY BENT over the bathroom sink so the room would stop spinning, and splashed her heated face. She was feeling a little lightheaded. She wasn’t used to drinking and would probably pay in the morning when she woke up with a bad hangover. But at least she wasn’t pretending to have a good time anymore. The pain and anger of this night were receding; she almost couldn’t remember why she’d been so upset in the first place. Who was Dave Small to make her feel cheap and unworthy? She didn’t need him; she didn’t need anyone. Even the handsome Alex Riley, the cowboy who’d stuck close to her all evening and was waiting at the bar for her to play a game of darts, didn’t really mean anything to her.

She liked it that way, she decided. She couldn’t get hurt if she didn’t care.

Leaning closer to the mirror, she studied the glassy eyes staring back at her. She was fine. Aloof. Anonymous. Indifferent. She could tolerate Dundee; she was just as tough as everyone else in these parts. Tougher, because she’d been through so much. Yet the fleeting memory of Mike standing next to his father at the hardware store still stung, so she quickly banished it.

“See? That was easy,” she told her reflection. Then she staggered out—and nearly hit herself with the door.