The Inheritance Read online

  “I proposed to her,” Rafe corrected, cutting in.

  Megan wasn’t sure what to make of any of this. For the time being, she didn’t allow her attention to be diverted to the baby he was holding. That there was one only added to the confusion. “I thought you said you didn’t know him.”

  “I didn’t—” Greer caught her lower lip between her teeth. How should she put this? A masters in English as well as business, thousands of words at her disposal and she couldn’t glue three together to form a successful, convincing lie. “What I mean is—”

  Lying had been a way of life in the world Rafe had once lived in. Lies came easily to him, though he was no longer in the habit of falling back on them.

  “It was one of those love-at-first-sight things,” Rafe told Megan, slipping his free hand around Greer’s waist and drawing her closer to him. “I’m the kind of man who knows what he wants when he sees it, and what I saw was quality.” Even as he said it, he brushed Greer’s cheek with a kiss.

  At least, that had been his intention. Startled, Greer abruptly turned her head and his lips made contact with hers. That it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, or even at best, a neutral one, surprised him. It surprised him even more that there had been a fleeting feeling of a fuse being lit within him. But the next second, it was gone.

  The smile that came to his lips was an afterthought.

  Startled, Greer did her best to hide her surprise. She wondered if anyone besides her noticed that her pulse had just broken the sound barrier. She took in a deep, shaky breath.

  Megan watched the two younger people before her thoughtfully. There was definitely something going on. Something beyond the apparent. She would have thought that a quickly struck match was the last thing to have occurred in either of their lives.

  “I see. Well, I won’t pretend to say I understand, exactly, but I am happy for you. Provided you are happy.” She looked at Greer, waiting for the younger woman to either confirm or deny the statement.

  That was her cue, Greer realized. “Oh, yes, very happy.” She slipped her arm through Rafe’s in a move that was a little less than smooth. “M—Rafe—” she’d almost slipped and said Mr. Maitland “—is everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.”

  Megan could readily believe that. Rafe Maitland was as good-looking as they came. There was a lot about this long lost nephew of hers that reminded her of William when he was a young man. Rafe had the same rugged good looks, the same independent air. But she didn’t quite understand what a man who looked like that would see in Greer on such short notice. That Greer was a rare woman was not in question, but it took time to perceive this, and these young people had known each other, what, perhaps two days? Forty-eight hours was an incredibly short time in which to make a life-altering decision.

  Her own thought mocked her. How long had it taken her to believe that her life was meant to be spent with Clyde?

  A day? Three?

  But Greer was a successful thirty-year-old businesswoman, not a naive, impressionable child, and Rafe was five years her junior, if she wasn’t mistaken. It didn’t make any sense to her.

  Still, he had referred to Greer as a woman of quality. Maybe he did know her, after all…

  Megan studied her nephew closely as she asked, “And is Greer everything you’ve ever wanted in a woman, Rafe?”

  He knew if he replied too enthusiastically, the woman would smell a rat. One look into her eyes told him she was one shrewd cookie who didn’t let others do her thinking for her. He was going to have to be honest whenever possible. He didn’t want anything to spoil this.

  “Pretty close,” he replied. And then he looked at Greer. The imprint of her hesitant mouth was still fresh on his. It stirred something sweet within him. “I certainly couldn’t ask for a better one.”

  Well, maybe there was more to this than she thought, Megan mused. Maybe Rafe was a great deal sharper than his father had been when it came to judging character and net worth. As she remembered, Robert Sr. had been hopelessly shallow.

  “Well, you certainly have that right,” Megan replied with enthusiasm. She saw color creep up Greer’s cheeks. For the time being, she was going to let things float along and see where they went. “Well, it seems that not only am I going to have to throw you a welcome-to-the-fold dinner—” she turned from Rafe and looked at Greer, “—but a welcome-to-the-family one for you as well.”

  Megan welcomed the diversion after Clyde’s surprise visit two nights ago. Clyde had stayed only a little while, saying that he’d returned after all this time to try to make amends. He’d sworn to her that he was a changed man and wanted nothing more than the opportunity to prove that to her. He’d also wanted to meet their son. She’d sent Clyde away, saying that she needed time to think about it.

  She would rather think about the couple in front of her.

  Guilt started churning again in full force. Greer slanted a side glance at Rafe. She really didn’t feel right about lying to Mrs. Maitland like this. But one look at Rafe’s face banished almost all of her qualms. He was looking at her the way a man looked at the woman he cared about.

  Her heart quickened as she slid her tongue along her lips again. She could taste him. Greer found she was having difficulty breathing.

  “Please don’t trouble yourself on my account, Mrs. Maitland.”

  “You’ll find that Greer is very unassuming,” Megan told Rafe as if in confidence.

  That out of the way for the time being, she turned her attention to the baby he was holding. Even as she did, her heart swelled. “And who is this precious darling?”

  Stretching her arms out to Bethany, she was pleased when the little girl came to her without hesitation. Megan cuddled the toddler against her, murmuring a few words of endearment to her. There was nothing she loved more than holding a baby in her arms. It brought back so many memories, flooded her with so much positive energy and hope.

  Stroking the little girl’s silky dark hair, Megan looked at Rafe for an explanation. “I didn’t realize you had a daughter.”

  Here the truth was definitely appropriate and could only further his case for him. “She belonged to some friends of mine who were killed in a car accident last month.”

  And he was taking care of her, Megan thought. That spoke well of him. It reminded her of what William had done when confronted with his brother’s abandoned children. Maybe Rafe was more like his uncle than his father. It was a heartening thought.

  “Come into the living room, both of you,” Megan requested, turning to lead the way. “There’s a great deal to talk about.”

  Greer glanced at Rafe before falling into step behind Megan. Yes, she thought, there was. She only hoped she’d be able to say the right thing. Being too close to Rafe was definitely beginning to scramble her thoughts.

  Chapter 5

  Megan sat down on the far end of the sofa, placing Bethany on her lap with the unselfconscious ease of a woman who had been around babies for most of her life. She gestured towards the comfortable, butter-soft leather sofa, waiting for Greer and Rafe to sit down beside her.

  “So tell me about this whirlwind courtship of yours.” Smiling expectantly, she looked from Rafe to Greer, leaving the floor open for either one of them to jump in and begin.

  Mentally, Greer shut her eyes and pretended she was addressing the chairman of the board with a progress report. Experience told her that to approach the situation in any other fashion would only trip her up. Wrapping herself up in a persona she had created for career purposes was the only way she could summon the lies that were needed to keep this charade going.

  Composed, she spared only a glance toward Rafe before looking at her employer.

  “Actually, it isn’t as whirlwind as you might think, Mrs. Maitland. It turns out that I actually knew Rafe from high school.”

  To Rafe’s credit, he didn’t turn suddenly to look at her, but she could feel just the slightest shift on the sofa beside her to indicate his surprise at this new fabrication
out of the clear blue.

  Megan tilted her head as she looked from the baby on her lap to Greer. “But I thought you said you were an orphan.”

  Greer smiled as if she were slightly amused at the other woman’s confusion. “Even orphans go to school, Mrs. Maitland.”

  “Yes, of course, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” Megan backed away, not wanting to give offense. “I mean, I thought you said you were raised in different foster homes throughout Texas, so naturally I’m a little surprised that you would know Rafe, since as far as I know he spent the first part of his life in Las Vegas.” Megan’s eyes shifted toward her nephew, wondering if there was to be any sort of contradiction forthcoming. There wasn’t.

  The memory had come to her aid out of the blue. Greer hadn’t thought of the Wendells in years. “One of the families I lived with had to relocate temporarily to Las Vegas—the father was in construction and his company had a contract for some work on one of the new casinos that were going up.” With effort, she tried to put on her most smitten expression, hoping her nerves wouldn’t give her away. Greer slipped her hand over Rafe’s as she looked at him adoringly. “We had a summer romance when I was sixteen.”

  The words struck a chord. “Almost as old as I was—” Megan stopped abruptly.

  Wrapped up in the charade, and in the way touching Rafe felt, Greer heard only the murmur of Megan’s voice, not any of the words.

  “Excuse me?”

  Slightly flustered, Megan roused herself. Silly the way this mood kept trying to take hold of her, reducing her to a teenage girl when she was decades beyond that. “Oh, nothing. Sorry, just reminiscing for a moment.”

  But it was far more than that, unfortunately. Clyde’s sudden return had turned everything upside down in her world. As had his declaration that he wanted to make things up to her and was willing to do anything to prove that he was a changed man. He claimed that he now knew he should never have left her, but he’d been little more than a frightened boy himself and unable to shoulder the responsibility of being a father.

  The years had ultimately been kind to her, but Megan was a great deal more suspicious now than she had been when she had last seen Clyde. Still, there was no denying that there were residual feelings to sort through and deal with, feelings she could have sworn had disappeared after all these years. Feelings that belonged to the girl she had once been.

  Megan forced herself to focus on the moment and on statements that clearly didn’t hold water. Her expression remained warm and friendly as she asked, “So when I asked you to locate him for me, didn’t his name ring a bell?”

  It wasn’t hard for Greer to dig a little to bring out feelings that had been very much a part of her life in her formative years.

  “Quite frankly, no. Back then, last names never mattered to me. I didn’t have one so everyone else’s really didn’t register.” It had been a defense mechanism she’d used to make herself feel better. “It made me more like other people.”

  Greer was aware that Rafe was now looking at her intently, but she was afraid that if she glanced in his direction, she might lose her nerve or, at the very least, her train of thought. He had very penetrating green eyes that did unfortunate things to her brain.

  For the most part, what she was telling Megan was true. There had been a family that had temporarily moved to Las Vegas and she had spent the summer there, but there had been no summer romance with anyone, at least, not for her. That had been experienced by Rachel, the Wendells’ oldest daughter. The one who had looked like a beauty contest winner at sixteen. The extent of her own part in the summer romance was to serve as a convenient cover for Rachel. They’d tell Rachel’s parents that they were going out together and then Rachel would dash off to see her boyfriend, a blackjack dealer at one of the casinos, as soon as it was safe. She was always left behind to spend the day alone and to look on wistfully, wondering when her time would come.

  And if it would come.

  Moved by the story, knowing what it felt like to be both on the outside and left behind after a summer romance, Megan reached over and squeezed Greer’s hand. The look that passed between them was one of silent camaraderie.

  Greer managed to keep the guilt from registering on her face, but it wasn’t easy.

  Straightening, Megan looked at the little girl on her lap.

  “Well, I have a great many more questions and a lot of catching up to do with you,” she told Rafe, “but this little one looks very tired.” She rose to her feet with Bethany in her arms. “Why don’t you put her down for a nap and get freshened up first?”

  Rafe had risen with his aunt, surprised that she appeared so easygoing. But his suspicions wouldn’t dissipate easily. He figured the telling word here was appeared.

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” He took Bethany from her. Making a noise, Bethany curled against him as if he was a favored toy that made her feel secure. Her eyes closed almost immediately. Rafe lowered his voice. “Where will we be staying?”

  It looked as if this time the apple had fallen a great distance from the tree, Megan thought. A great many men naturally assumed that a baby was the domain of any female within calling range. Unlike his late father, Rafe seemed to take on the responsibility of caring for the little girl as if it were second nature to him.

  She took an instant liking to her newly discovered nephew.

  Megan walked with them to the front door. “I thought you might like to stay at the guesthouse.” She turned to the woman who had become so invaluable to her in the last few months. Looking at Greer, Megan would have thought that love would have a difficult time finding a place in the young woman’s life. She was happy that she was wrong. “Greer, you know where it is. I leave settling your new fiancé in in your capable hands.” She glanced at her watch more out of habit than need. Megan prided herself on instinctively remaining on schedule. “I have to be getting to the clinic, but dinner is in your honor tonight and I’d like you both to attend.” She looked at Greer warmly.

  Greer knew she looked uncomfortable before she could catch herself and bank down the emotion. “Of course. Thank you, Mrs. Maitland.”

  “No,” Megan corrected her, leaning over and brushing a kiss on the young woman’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  Saying goodbye, Megan watched them thoughtfully as they walked around to the rear of the property.

  “You know, looks are deceiving.”

  Leading the way to the guesthouse, which stood in the shadow of the main building, Greer glanced back at Rafe. She thought he was talking about Megan. Protective instincts immediately rose to the fore. “What are you referring to?”

  He lengthened his stride a touch and was next to her in one beat. His eyes looked straight into her soul. “You.”

  His answer caught her completely off guard. “What?” Greer scrambled for composure. “I mean, what makes you say that?”

  He had to admit he kind of liked the way she was continually getting flustered around him and then trying desperately to exercise some kind of control over herself. He found himself idly wondering if she got that flustered when someone kissed her.

  Probably, he decided. It surprised him that a small part of him wanted to conduct the experiment to find out firsthand.

  “Well, looking at you I would have never thought you were such an accomplished little liar.”

  Her heel caught and wedged itself in a crack along the tiled walkway and she would have tripped had he not quickly caught her arm.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean for you—”

  She flushed, waving away the apology before it was completed. Regaining some of her composure, she pulled herself together.

  “It wasn’t a complete lie,” she said, avoiding his eyes as she continued to lead the way to the guesthouse. “There was a family that relocated to Las Vegas for the summer. Actually, for seven months.” She remembered how bitterly the children had complained about having to uproot and go to school in a different place. For her, it had been a way of li
fe, something she had long since stopped resisting. “And I did live with them during that time.”

  Leaning slightly forward, Rafe tried to catch a glimpse of her face rather than just her profile. “And was there a romance?”

  “Yes,” she retorted, then relented. If she started lying to Rafe as well, it would be incredibly difficult to keep all her stories straight. She could deal with omissions, but not wanton fabrications. “But not mine.”

  He heard the wistfulnes in her voice and realized that he felt sorry for her. She was probably overlooked all the time. Part of it, he figured, was her fault. After all, look at the way the woman dressed, like someone twenty years older than her age. That wasn’t something that just happened overnight.

  Rafe thought better of voicing his observations. Instead, he nodded at her as she unlocked the door to the guesthouse. “Very resourceful.”

  She shrugged, not looking at him as she led the way inside the cheery one-story building. Waiting, Greer closed the door behind them after Rafe crossed the threshold. “I made a bargain with you. I intend to keep my part of it.”

  Rafe glanced around. Like the main house, the guesthouse was decorated with a sparing, tasteful hand. He figured whoever did it had to be a man. The place lacked frills. “I’m impressed.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was being complimented or mocked. On the whole, Rafe Maitland wasn’t an easy man to read. “Why? Because I keep my word?”

  “Because you’re quicker than I gave you credit for.” She was. His first impression, that she was a skittish colt, seemed at least partially unjustified. “I admire someone who knows how to think on her feet.” He watched for a second as pink climbed up the side of her neck. Woman had to learn how to take a compliment, he thought. He changed his tone, distancing himself from her as he looked around the rest of the guesthouse. “Practically speaking, if the judge questions you, I think you’ll do fine.”

  Embarrassed, Greer realized she hadn’t really given much thought to that yet. Getting him here had taken all her attention. But there was a piper to pay and she knew she had to start thinking about that. More things on her list of things to do, she thought, trying not to feel swamped.