LITMIR.BIZ

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to him. Ever since graduating from Stanford six years ago, he’d been living in Silicon Valley, where he’d been working tirelessly to build his company into the tech-world juggernaut that it was today. He had no desire to live anywhere else.

      Even so, he couldn’t bear the thought of the Texas family ranch being auctioned off because his drunken father had mortgaged the Double U again and then couldn’t keep up with the payments. Thank heavens, he wasn’t like his dad. But when he was young, his dad hadn’t been a drunk—a scary fact that was impossible to forget. And his grandfather on his dad’s side had been a drunk later in life, too. A drunk who was killed in a bar fight. Bad blood.

      Luke’s thoughts shifted to his hometown friends, especially Will Sanders. Unable to attend Will’s funeral because he had been in Europe, Luke had heard about Will crashing his own funeral in Royal and all hell breaking loose. Who had been impersonating Will? That had been the big question, but answers were pointing in one direction.

      This morning, before Luke left California, Will had phoned to inform him that his lifelong friend Richard Lowell had been the one passing himself off as Will. But then Rich had disappeared and no one had a clue where he was now. Another friend had also gone missing—Jason Phillips. At present, only the police and those close to Will knew about Rich, and they were still keeping it quiet while they tried to piece together all that had happened. Will had confided in Luke that Rich had tried to kill him on their annual fishing trip, pushing Will overboard and leaving him to drown. Will was rescued and survived to come home to his own funeral. The body had been cremated, so all they had left were ashes and bones to try to identify.

      Adding to the mystery, Will told Luke that funds had been pilfered from the Texas Cattleman’s Club in Royal and they believed Lowell was the responsible party. Upon hearing that, Luke told Will he thought he could help him find the missing imposter via the antifraud software that he and his team at his company, West-Tech, recently created that could aid in following money trails. Will had been interested in learning more, and they agreed to discuss it in person once Luke arrived in Royal.

      Once again, Luke reviewed his three purposes in going back to Texas. First, he felt compelled to save the ranch that had been in his family for more than a century. He wondered in what condition he would find the family ranch. How were the animals faring, and how many cowboys still worked on the ranch? Did his dad owe them back pay?

      Second, he wanted to do everything he could to help Will find Rich Lowell. The first order of business was to contact the PI who had been hired to aid in the investigation.

      And the third reason for returning to Texas was that he felt duty-bound to go visit his dad in the assisted-living home where he had been residing ever since he had been diagnosed a year earlier with cirrhosis of the liver, a debilitating disease. As always, when he ticked off his plans, he had a deep awareness of another Royal resident, Scarlett McKittrick.

      Scarlett was one resident he should avoid at all costs, but he suspected that wasn’t going to happen. She was the best vet in Royal, Texas, so he would most likely need her professional expertise.

      As he pictured her in his mind, the memories assailed him. Memories of holding a naked Scarlett in his arms, kissing her, her intense, instant response to his every caress. Luke drew a deep breath. He was not the man for her, and when they parted, she had been furious with him for walking out on her instead of marrying her. Even so, what he wouldn’t give for one blissful night with Scarlett before he returned to his carefree, no-strings-attached existence in Silicon Valley.

      But he couldn’t afford to be distracted with thoughts of his ex. He had to pour all his time and attention into trying to salvage the Double U. Luke still felt a low-burning anger at his dad because he had long ago paid off the ranch and owned it outright, but Luke had made the mistake of letting his father keep everything in his name. Luke hadn’t realized what was going on and that his father was pawning things off, selling livestock, mortgaging the ranch to the hilt. Luke felt partially responsible for turning a blind eye and not coming home the moment his dad had been moved to the assisted-care facility. But he’d put on a good show, and Luke had believed him when he’d said that everything was fine.

      However, when Luke hadn’t been able to contact anybody at the ranch, his internal alarm bells had gone off. Then he got a call from Nathan Battle, sheriff in Royal, who broke the news that he was going to have to put the ranch up for auction.

      Luke told Nathan he would be there in two days to pay off the ranch and take care of all the outstanding bills. As soon as he ended the call with the sheriff, Luke had made arrangements with his pilot to fly to Texas the next day.

      He just hoped and prayed he would be able to clean up the mess his father had left in his wake.

      After landing in Royal, Luke called Cole Sullivan, the PI, as he’d told Will he would do, and made an appointment to talk to Cole tomorrow afternoon in Brinkly, Texas, a small town near Royal. He then phoned Will to tell him he had arrived, and the two men made arrangements to meet tomorrow before Luke met with the PI.

      As soon as Luke left the airport in the new black pickup he had purchased by phone, he headed to his family ranch. As he reached the Double U and drove up the ranch road toward the house, he gazed out at the front pasture. It was worse than he had imagined. The first two horses he came across were so severely malnourished their ribs were showing, and they stood listlessly with their heads hanging down. Luke feared they would not live one more night.

      He drove on to the house, passing fences that were down and a stock tank shot full of holes. Nearing the homestead, he saw a large part of the exterior wall had been ripped away, and it felt as if a knife had plunged into his gut.

      Swearing harshly, he realized he’d had no concept of the full extent of the disaster at the ranch. After taking several deep breaths to help himself calm down, he placed a call to Scarlett McKittrick’s veterinary clinic and felt his frustration rise yet again when he learned she was out of the office.

      Luke turned his pickup around and sped toward the McKittrick place. When he crossed the cattle guard, he slowed down. As he drove up the McKittrick’s ranch road, and drank in the familiar surroundings, it finally felt as if he was coming home.

      Bombarded by memories, Luke gazed at the gravel road, but all that he could see were Scarlett McKittrick’s thickly lashed hazel eyes. It had been a decade since he had last seen his high school sweetheart, and his life had changed beyond his wildest imaginings. Yet, no matter how much time had passed, there was no way to ever forget her.

      He swore under his breath, every part of him aching with bittersweet longing for Scarlett. He had felt certain he had gotten over her, but if he had, why were memories rushing at him like floodwaters from an open dam?

      A sudden wave of nostalgia crashed through him as he thought about all that had transpired between them. Back in high school, Scarlett had said she was in love with him. And for a while during his junior year, he had allowed himself to get swept up in dating her and had returned her love fully. But then, in his senior year, reality had set in.

      He had a rotten background, while Scarlett had a good, solid one. Her father died when she was young and her brother, Toby, stepped up and filled in as much as he could, while Scarlett’s mother quietly took over and ran the ranch with Toby’s help. Luke didn’t want to mess up Scarlett’s life. He was afraid of the bad blood in his family showing up in him.

      As his high school graduation approached, Scarlett knew he was leaving for college, but she didn’t want him to go. And even though she made it clear she wanted them to have a future together, he never expected her to tell him she wanted them to marry right after he graduated. As far as he was concerned, she was too young and inexperienced to know what she wanted for the rest of her life. She could set him on fire with a kiss, but he still saw her as a kid at sixteen. She seemed far younger than his eighteen years.

      He didn’t want to marry for years, if ever. His parents’ marriage had been unhappy all his life. At first, they fought. Later, they drank and fought. He didn’t think either one had been faithful to the other. He didn’t want to pass his genes on or marry someone like Scarlett and ruin her life. Only sixteen and hopelessly

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