She could almost hear Tim thinking through the silence on the other end. Finally he spoke. “Well, like I said earlier, one of them boys could stay with you.”
Sam shook her head. “No, Tim. That’s not right. Their mother would be heartbroken and they have so many people depending on them.”
“It’s their choice,” Tim pointed out. “How long do you have?”
“One full day and another night. Then it’s anyone’s guess if the tapestry will even reappear.”
“Take tomorrow to think about things. Show the boys around and let them see your land. I assume they showed you around their home?”
“Yeah.” Not quite as much as she would have liked, but she’d seen the stables, the fields and the people living in and around the small castle. She’d hung back, determined to return home and hadn’t given any of them the chance to really meet her. Now it was too late.
“There you go. Let them work with you and see how you feel tomorrow night. Why don’t you all come over for dinner?”
“I’m going to take a rain check on that, Tim. I think we need to be alone to figure this out.”
“Good enough. But, Sam, call any time you want. And remember, I love you.”
Sam wished he was close enough to hug. “Love you too.”
“I’ll see you day after tomorrow. Early. Whatever happens, I’m gonna be there.”
“Okay. Thanks, Tim.” She ended the call and put the phone back on the table. Sighing, Sam downed the last of the whiskey before she pushed away from the table. She placed the empty glass in the sink and turned off the light before heading back to bed.
Sam paused in the doorway of her bedroom, studying the two men who currently occupied it. Thank the heavens she had a king-size bed, but even with that it was a tight squeeze. She removed her robe and quietly climbed between Jace and Darian. Sighing, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Beside her, Jace lay still as a stone. He’d awoken the moment Sam climbed out of bed and it had taken all his self-control not to go after her. Darian was wide-awake too. Neither of them had spoken, but Jace knew his brother was as worried as he was. Two days were almost over. Tomorrow was their final full day together.
He had to go home to Hunter Keep. Too many people depended on him and then there was his mother. He couldn’t leave her alone.
But Darian could stay if he wanted. Jace swallowed hard as emotion threatened to choke him. How would he lived without his brother and Sam?
A heavy hand fell on top of his and he clasped his brother’s hand, knowing Darian was thinking about tomorrow as well. Jace sighed and released his brother and wrapped his arm around Sam.
All he could do was try to change her mind. Although the longer he spent with her here in her home, the less likely that possibility became.
Chapter Thirteen
The sun was high in the sky by the time the three of them finished breakfast. Sam had run upstairs to use the bathroom while Jace and Darian headed outside. She was just washing her hands when she heard a vehicle pull up outside. Assuming it was Tim, she didn’t hurry. Sam rubbed some moisturizer with sunscreen on her face and neck and slicked some lip balm on. That would help protect her against the unforgiving Texas sun.
She was almost to the back door when she realized the voice she was hearing didn’t belong to Tim. “Son of a bitch,” she muttered. George was back.
Darian and Jace had both faced off against George. The white T-shirts they wore—which had belonged to her father—were pulled tight across the shoulders and around the biceps. The material looked as though it would rip at any moment. Her father hadn’t been a small man, but the Hunter brothers were much wider through the shoulders and arms.
“What’s going on?” Sam stepped out onto the back porch and glared at her former lover. Honestly, the more time she spent in his company the more she wondered what she’d ever seen in him.
She supposed he wasn’t bad looking, when taken on his own. But next to the brothers he was lacking, not just in size, but in character too.
“Wanted to see if you’re ready to talk business.” George removed his sunglasses and twirled them between his fingers. Sam found herself wishing the slender sidepiece would snap off. Then she felt petty for thinking it, which only irritated her further.
“I’m not selling the farm to you, George. Get over it.” She didn’t step out from beneath the meager shade of the porch. Today was another scorcher and she wasn’t going to bake her skin until she absolutely had to.
“Come on, Sam. You know you’re not going to be able to get another loan so where does that leave you?” George turned to Jace and Darian, who had been silent since she appeared. “Sam trying to get the two of you to invest in the farm? Is that why you’re here?”
He turned back to her. “Shame on you, Sam, for trying to get two army veterans, friends of your brother, to flush their money down the drain.”
Sam fisted her hands by her sides. Over and over she repeated to herself, If I hit him, he’ll call the sheriff. It didn’t help. Sam still wanted to sock George in the mouth and rattle his perfect teeth.
George looked her up and down, a sneer marring the perfection of his face. “Or maybe you sweetened the pot a bit. I know what she’s like in bed and she’s not that good.”
Jace moved so fast, he was a blur. One moment George was talking, his shirt crisp, despite the morning heat, his jeans pressed. The next, he was on his butt on the ground with Jace standing over him. “You don’t talk to her like that.”
As much as Sam enjoyed seeing George on his ass, she couldn’t allow the scene to escalate out of control.
Jace reached down and yanked George to his feet, dragging him toward his truck. “Leave.” He yanked open the door and threw George behind the wheel, with one hand. Sam tried not to be impressed, but couldn’t help being just a tiny bit amazed by Jace’s show of strength.
Darian was beside his brother holding George’s sunglasses, which he’d dropped when he’d landed on the ground. Darian held them out. “You might need these.” The words were polite enough but they were laced with pure menace.
Sam pushed her way between the two Hunter brothers and faced George. “Don’t come back. You’re not welcome here. I’ll sell to anyone else in the world before I’ll sell my land to you.”
“No one around here will buy it if the time comes. I’ll see to that.” George grabbed the door and slammed it shut. “You’re lucky I’m not pressing charges against him.” George jerked his thumb toward Jace.
“You do that, George, and I’ll tell everyone in town you slept with me so you could cheat me on the price of my land. Then we’ll see who loses.”
Sam hadn’t told a soul, not even Tim, what had happened with George. As far as anyone else knew, she’d sold off some land and pocketed what it was worth. She hadn’t kept silent to protect George’s reputation, but to keep herself from appearing foolish. Maybe she should have spoken out, but she’d been too raw, too hurt at the time. By the time she was over it so much time had passed there hadn’t seemed to be any point in making a big deal over it. But she would if it meant protecting Jace.
George’s face darkened with anger, but he started his truck and drove away. She’d seen the last of him, for now. But he’d be back. She could count on that as easily as she could count on the hot, dry Texas summer.
“Well, that wasn’t pleasant. Sorry about that.” She barely had the words out of her mouth when Jace grabbed her by the shoulders and lightly shook her.
“You are going to lose your land? Your home?”
Jace’s concern was a soothing balm against the harshness of George’s nastiness. Sam shrugged. “Maybe. But that’s my problem, not yours.”