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“You have to come home. Things have gotten really bad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Cadde resigned as CEO of Shilah.”

  “What?” Her heart missed a beat. “Why would he do that?”

  “He hasn’t been the same since you left. He just sits in the living room staring at that damn dead tree.”

  “What tree?”

  “He put up a Christmas tree and has the baby ornament on it. Mama said he’s losing his mind and I believe she’s right.”

  “Oh, no.” She closed her eyes for a moment. What had she done?

  “Are you still in Italy?”

  “I’m in Amarillo.” She watched the dry, flat landscape slip by.

  “What are you doing there?”

  “I had to see Nina.”

  There was a long sigh on the other end. “Why do you make this so hard on yourself?”

  “It’s something I had to do. My flight is at ten-thirty and I’ll be in Houston soon.”

  “There’s a board meeting at one, and Chance and Kid are going to try and stop them from appointing anyone else. But you’re the only one who can stop this.”

  “Are you a fan of Cadde’s now?”

  “He’s a good guy. I just didn’t see that before because I was trying to protect you.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “Kiddo, I believe you can.”

  “May I ask you a question?”

  “Anything.”

  “Did Cadde sign the divorce papers?” She bit her lip as she waited for the answer.

  “Kiddo, you were married to the man for months, what do you think?”

  “I…I…” She closed her eyes and saw Cadde’s face. “I think he tore them up.”

  “Yes, and then he burned them.”

  The ache in her heart eased. “Thank you. I’m at the airport. I’m on my way.”

  Jessie counted off the minutes, but everything took so much time. Hooter was not appointing another CEO. The man had wanted control of the company ever since her father had died. He’d even approached her father on his deathbed about taking over. The answer had been a resounding no.

  She tried Hooter’s cell. No answer. He was probably in a bar celebrating his victory over Cadde. She arrived in Houston at twelve and rushed to rent a car. She wanted to go home, but instead she had to deal with this insanity.

  It was 1:05 p.m. when she took the elevator up to the boardroom. The door was slightly ajar and she listened to what was being said.

  Kid was speaking. “I think we need to do as Cadde suggested. Chance and I will run Shilah until Cadde returns.”

  “Read the letter, Kid,” Hooter said. “Cadde resigned. Kaput. He’s out of here.”

  Jessie clenched her hands at her side.

  “Hoot’s right,” Owen chimed in. “It’s a resignation letter. It doesn’t say anything about Cadde coming back.”

  “But in it Cadde is asking the board to consider Chance and me to run the company as we have been since the tragedy.”

  “You boys have no business sense.”

  Something hit the table. “Read the numbers, Hooter, and tell me we don’t have any business sense. The Louisiana well is going to put a lot of money in your pocket.”

  “You boys are good oil well drillers but when it comes to crunching the numbers you have no experience.”

  “Don’t make me jump across this table and stuff that cigar down your throat.”

  “Calm down.” That was Owen again.

  “Everyone calm down.” Chance joined the conversation. “Looks like you guys are holding all the aces here, but out of respect for Jessie and Cadde and everything they’ve been through I thought you’d be more understanding.”

  “We’re not heartless.” George Pettibone put in his two cents. “We’re thinking about the company.”

  “Cadde’s done a great job since Roscoe left us.” J. T. Hardeson spoke up for the first time.

  “I’ve never had a problem with Cadde,” Hank Parker added.

  “Me neither,” Hub Gillespie said.

  “You’re losing the gist of the conversation. Cadde’s not here anymore.” Hooter was nudging Hub like he always did.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Hub veered in Hooter’s favor as Hooter knew he would.

  “Okay. It comes down to a vote.” Chance continued in his easy, smooth-talking way.

  “Wait a minute,” Kid interrupted. “You’re all fond of Jessie. Just remember you’re going to eventually have to look her in the eye and explain your vote.”

  Someone coughed and a chair scraped the floor.

  “I make a motion that we ignore the resignation letter and leave Shilah as is.” Chance brought everything to a head.

  “I second that.” Kid followed suit.

  Jessie had had enough. She walked in and “Jessie” echoed around the room as the men got to their feet.

  “Jessie, honey, how are you?” Hooter asked.

  “I’m fine. At least I was until I heard the conversation outside the boardroom door. You will not take control of my father’s company.”

  “Now, Jessie, you know you mean the world to me.”

  “Yes, that’s why I called you when I was so depressed.”

  “I was happy to help.”

  “I should have listened to you, but I was out of my mind with grief.”

  “Don’t worry about it, honey.”

  “I’m not.” She reached across the table, picked up the letter and tore it in half. Throwing the pieces in front of Hooter, she said, “Cadde Hardin remains as CEO of Shilah and he will come back as soon as he chooses. In the meantime, Chance and Kid will run the company. Is that understood?”

  She looked straight at the man. She’d manipulated Hooter, just as her father had manipulated people. So she didn’t blame Hooter for her actions. But if he thought she owed him any favors, he was sadly mistaken.

  “Yes. I understand,” Hooter replied, working the cigar in his mouth.

  “Any objection?” She looked around the table and everyone shook their heads. “Do not call Cadde,” Jessie whispered to Chance. She and Cadde had to talk without interference.

  Walking out, she heard Kid say, “I think that’s what you call a slam dunk, boys. Kaput. It’s over.”

  Jessie took the stairwell, not wanting to speak to Chance or Kid or anyone on the board. Cadde was the only person she wanted to talk to.

  She headed out of Houston toward home. She had no idea where her suitcase was. It was probably somewhere between New York and Houston. She’d check on it later. Her focus was now on Cadde and his welfare. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d asked Chance not to call Cadde but they had to meet again with unguarded hearts and deal with all the pain inside without any warning, without time to think. Their emotions had to come from within.

  Driving the small Chevy into the garage, she noticed her Suburban. How did it get here? She remembered leaving in it. Her fever had been so high she didn’t remember much after that. Evidently, Cadde had been looking for her. How she wished he’d found her, but, like Margaret and Teresa, she had to find her own peace and forgiveness first.

  When she walked into the kitchen, Rosa dropped a plate and it shattered on the tile floor. “Miss Jessie. Oh.” Rosa stepped on the broken pieces and grabbed her in a bearlike hug. “My niña,” she cooed.

  Jessie hugged her back. “I’m fine, Rosa.”

  Rosa leaned away and searched Jessie’s face. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.” She kissed Rosa’s cheek. “Where’s Cadde?”

  “In the living room.” Rosa clicked her tongue. “So sad. So sad.”

  Jessie avoided the broken pieces and made her way through the dining area to the living room. She paused in the doorway. Cadde sat on the sofa, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped tightly between them. A dead Christmas tree stood in the window where they’d planned to put it and the baby ornament hung high on the top. Her throat closed up and she struggled for breath.

&n
bsp; Her eyes centered on Cadde. He looked tired and haggard. What had she done to him? What had they done to each other?

  “Cadde,” she murmured, stepping farther into the room.

  He jumped from the sofa, his eyes wide. “Jessie.”

  The moment he said her name, tears rolled from her eyes and sobs racked her body. He gathered her into his arms, stroking her hair. “Shh, shh.”

  “I lost our baby,” she sobbed into his chest.

  “Jessie, don’t, please.” His voice wavered.

  “I lost our baby,” she wailed, unable to stop the flow of tears. This is what she needed—to share her grief with Cadde. That’s why she hadn’t been able to cry before. And now the floodgates were wide-open.

  Her knees gave way and they sank to the floor, both crying, both holding on for dear life. “I’m sorry,” she blubbered.

  He cradled her in his arms, bracing his back against a chair. Rosa came into the room and Cadde waved her away. She looked up and wiped the tears from his face. “I’m sorry for everything.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed her lips gently, softly. He tasted of salt. He tasted of love.

  “I manipulated you.”

  “You didn’t force anything on me that I wasn’t willing to do.” He flung a tear away. “I know I’ve never said it, but I felt it from the moment I made love to you, probably way before that.” Both his hands cupped her face. “I love you. I can’t live without you.”

  She rested her face in the warmth of his neck, feeling his love deep in her heart. “I’ve loved you forever and when we lost the baby, I blamed myself. The pain was too strong. I couldn’t even cry…until today.” She kissed his neck. “You’re the only person I can share that grief with.”

  “Because we love each other and we share the pain.”

  “Mmm.”

  Mirry sneaked into her lap. She stroked the little dog. “Oh, Mirry. Mirry.”

  “She’s missed you,” he said, stroking Mirry, too.

  “I’ve missed her.” She picked up the dog. “What have you been feeding her? She’s fat.”

  “Anything she wants.”

  “Cadde.”

  “Wait until you see Winky.”

  “Oh, Cadde, you can never fill that donkey up.”

  “Yes. I found that out.”

  They laughed for the first time in weeks and Jessie settled into his arms. They talked well into the evening. He told her about his father. She told him about the fever, her trip to Rome, her aunts, Nina and the board meeting.

  His hands ran over her body. “Are you okay?”

  She moved against him. “I am now.”

  “I cringe when I think of you seeing Nina alone.”

  “I had to.”

  He rubbed her arm. “I was so worried.”

  “The fever had my mind messed up and all I wanted to do was get away from everything here and to find some sort of peace and forgiveness.”

  “Did you find that?”

  “Yes.” She kissed his lips. “I was able to forgive my father and Angela. They were both very manipulative people and they both loved me in their own destructive way. They weren’t perfect, but neither am I.”

  He cupped her face. “To me you are.” He kissed her long and deep and she melted into everything that was right in her world. “Please don’t ever leave me again.”

  “I won’t,” she promised, and poked a finger into his chest. “You’re going back to work.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t have the drive anymore.”

  “Excuse me.” She drew back. “Where’s my Cadde? The man who eats, breathes and is consumed with the oil business?”

  He tucked her hair behind her ear. “He found something more important…love.”

  “Oh, Cadde.” She wrapped her arms around him. “But you’re still going back to Shilah. No way is Hooter taking control. We’ll consolidate our shares and the Hardins will own fifty-one percent.” When he tried to speak, she placed her forefinger over his lips. “I’m Roscoe Murdock’s daughter and I always get my way.”

  He smiled. She smiled.

  “Maybe in a few days, then,” he conceded.

  “And now we have to take down this tree, put the decorations and ornament away. At Christmas we’ll look at it and remember the child that brought us together.”

  “I just wasn’t taking it down until you came home.”

  She caressed his face and marveled at the strong love they shared. Against the odds their bond had survived. “What’s that?” She pointed to the small silver-wrapped box beneath the tree.

  “I bought that for you for Christmas.”

  She crawled on her hands and knees to get it. Ripping off the paper, she threw it to the side. Mirry sniffed the ribbon just in case it was something to eat. Opening the box, she gasped.

  “It’s an…”

  “Engagement ring,” he finished for her. “I was going to ask you to marry me for real this time and I thought we’d get remarried in a church.”

  Tears rolled from her eyes and once again she couldn’t stop them.

  He crawled to her side and took her hand. “Have you ever looked at the inside of your wedding band?”

  “No. Why?” She smiled at him through happy tears.

  “Forever is inscribed inside, as is mine.”

  She removed her ring to see and there it was in very tiny letters. Her heart wobbled. “I’ve never taken it off and I never thought to look. Did you have it inscribed?”

  “No. Roscoe said, ‘Boy, my girl needs a ring,’ so I went to a jewelry store. They just happened to have these rings. The jeweler said that sometimes a couple likes a message inside so I bought them. It was easy and quick, but deep down in my heart I must have known we’d make this marriage work. Now I’m glad I bought them ’cause the message fits. And…and I’m a one marriage type of guy.”

  A shadow marred his handsome face and she knew what he was thinking. She kissed his cheek. “You’re nothing like your father.”

  He lifted her hand. “Jessie Murdock Hardin, will you marry me?”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” She flew into his arms and knocked him backward, rings and all. Cadde reached for the engagement ring and managed to slip them onto her finger.

  “I love you,” he murmured, holding her face. “No force, no manipulation, just an everlasting love.”

  “I love you, too—forever,” she replied, meeting his lips.

  Jessie thought she would never feel joy or happiness again, but she did and could. That was a miracle in itself.

  They were going to make it.

  With this much love, how could they not?

  EPILOGUE

  One year later

  CADDE GLANCED AT HIS WATCH. Jessie had a doctor’s appointment this morning and she should have called by now. Pushing the worry away, he went back to his laptop and the numbers. They had drilled the second Louisiana well and it came in as big as the first one. Shilah was in the black—big-time. He was proud of that, but the company was never more important than Jessie.

  Leaning back, he placed his hands behind his head. A lot had happened in the past year. They’d gotten remarried in the little country church in High Cotton, Texas, with family and friends around them. Jessie had worn white and she’d never looked more beautiful. As he’d stared into her eyes that day he knew he had to keep her safe and the only way to do that was to move away from the horrible memories of the Murdock house.

  Later, they talked about it and decided to build a house in High Cotton like Chance. They’d be surrounded by family, friends and neighbors in a community that had to be as safe as it could get. It had worked out fine and Jessie wasn’t paranoid or fearful. Sometimes she was a little too independent for his peace of mind.

  He glanced at his watch again. Jessie was meeting Myra for lunch and it was already eleven-thirty. Why hadn’t she called?

  Again, he put his fears aside and went back to the numbers. His fingers paused over the keyboard as he remem
bered the busy year. They had to do something for Rosa and Felix. They’d given many years of their lives to Jessie so Cadde gave them a choice. He would buy them a house anywhere in Houston or build one next to them in High Cotton. He and Jessie had decided they wanted their home to themselves. Rosa and Felix had opted for the home in High Cotton. Jessie was like a daughter to them.

  The plan worked well. Rosa and Felix now had a life and so did Jessie.

  It seemed the Hardin boys were returning to the place of their birth, except Kid. He owned the property between Chance and Cadde where their parents’ house sat, crumbling. It was an eyesore and soon they’d have to do something about that.

  Cadde was happier than he’d ever been. They’d managed to survive the tragedy and they talked about the baby from time to time without the numbing pain. Happiness and time had worked miracles. Now, if Jessie would just call.

  The door opened. Jessie slipped in and was in his lap before he knew it. She cupped his face. “Feel my hands. They’re like ice. It’s so cold.”

  Every worry in him relaxed and he kissed her deeply, his arms holding her tight. “Where’s your coat?” he asked against her lips.

  “I left it in Barbara’s office. I don’t need it in here. I have two strong arms to warm me.”

  He stroked her dark hair. She’d cut it a little shorter but it still tumbled down her back, the way he liked. “Aren’t you supposed to meet Myra for lunch?”

  She kissed his nose. “I canceled.”

  “Why?”

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  There was that voice. That I’m-gonna-knock-you-for-a-loop voice. “Something’s wrong. What is it?” He looked at her and then at the door. “Didn’t you forget something?”

  She poked him in the ribs. “No, silly. He’s with Barbara because I need to…”

  He stood, holding her by the arms. “I’ll get him. I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

  Their three-month-old son had been born in November and they had been overwhelmed with joy. They were still adjusting to parenthood. He was over-the-top nervous. She was relaxed.

  He pushed the stroller into the room and knelt down to look at his son, Jacob Hardin. His head tilted to the side. His cheeks were kissable fat, as Jessie called them. When he opened his eyes, they were black like his mother’s. His boy had inherited the cap of brown hair from him, along with the shape of his face. Everytime he stared at his son, he felt an incredible weakness of pure joy at the miracle they’d been given. His love soared to the rooftops.