The Rebel Tycoon Returns. Katherine Garbera

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      On the wall was a portrait of her that her father had commissioned when she was eighteen, and Macy took a seat that deliberately kept her back to the picture. She hated looking at old pictures of herself. She didn’t like being reminded of who she used to be.

      “Christopher Richardson,” Abby said with a twinkle in her eye.

      “How did you know?”

      “I have my sources. What did he say?”

      “Nothing much. We’re going to dinner tonight so I can catch him up on all the gossip about the club. He’s in town to consult on developing the new clubhouse.”

      “Well, that’s news to me. I’m going to have to have a little discussion with Mr. Bradford Price.”

      “I wasn’t sure if you knew about it or not,” Macy confessed. Abby was rumored to be the descendant of infamous Texas outlaw Jessamine Golden and was making history herself as the first female member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club.

      Abby and Macy had bonded over their shared tragedies. When Macy had been so badly injured and struggling to recover, Abby had been there for her, something Macy would never forget.

      Abby didn’t say anything else, and Macy was a little worried about her friend. She suspected that Abby was using the connection and campaign to become the next president of the club to distract herself from the fact that Richard was really gone.

      “Whose house are we placing the flamingos at next?”

      “Mrs. Doubletree has been selected, but we are going to hit TCC first.”

      “Great. What time and when?”

      “Tonight, but if you can’t make it due to your dinner date, I will understand. In fact, I think we might be moving them while you are dining. You can help out the next time.”

      Macy hated to miss out on helping Abby with the flamingos. Since she’d been so badly scarred and had frequently had bandages on to help her healing body stay infection free for the past three years, helping place pink flamingos in the yards of wealthy community members under cover of night had been the only thing she’d really felt comfortable doing to help out.

      They placed the flamingos in the yards of different community members, and then the recipient of the flamingoes paid at least ten dollars a bird to have them relocated to another yard. The money was being raised for Helping Hands, a women’s shelter run by Summer Franklin in nearby Somerset.

      Macy had always been big into causes, having been on the board of the Reynolds Charitable Trust since she turned twenty-one. But normally she just wrote checks and organized galas. Actually getting out and doing things was new to her.

      “I will try to make it. It’s the only thing I’ve really been able to do to help,” Macy said.

      “You’ve done more than that,” Abby said. “You’ve been helping me out a lot with my campaign.”

      “I think it’s about time that the Texas Cattlemen had some women in their ranks. The shake-up last year helped change it from Daddy’s stuffy old men’s club into something that our generation can really be a part of.”

      “I agree. And when I become president of the club, that’s not the only change we will be making.”

      “Good to hear it,” Macy said. She and Abby chatted a few minutes longer before Abby had to leave.

      After her friend’s departure, Macy went upstairs and had a long bath. She didn’t want to be nervous about tonight, but it was the first date she’d been on since her fiancé had left her. And that made it important.

      She thought about her scarred body and how she still felt like the mess she’d been after that first surgery. She didn’t want to stare at herself in the mirror, but her psychiatrist said that she had to accept what she looked like now if she was ever going to move on.

      She let the towel drop and stood in front of the mirror, letting her gaze drift down her own body. She saw the scarring on her right side, then the muscle she’d lost on her inner thigh.

      She felt tears stir in her eyes and she bit her lower lip. Her body wasn’t going to get any better. This was how she’d always look. She glanced back at her face and for a moment almost resented the fact that her face was back to “normal” because the rest of her wasn’t. Not even inside was she the same woman she used to be.

      She didn’t dwell on the fact that the date was with Christopher Richardson. He’d been her first love and she wasn’t sure she’d ever really gotten over him. She’d been young and impetuous when they’d met and he’d been forbidden fruit. She’d wanted him because her father hadn’t wanted her to have him. It wasn’t lost on her that she’d used him and now she was going to have to apologize. The girl she’d been pre-accident would have handled it with her normal panache, but Macy wasn’t that woman anymore and she suddenly dreaded the coming evening.

      Two

      Macy had driven herself to the Texas Cattleman’s Club because she was meeting Abby later to move the flamingos. But also because she didn’t want to be too dependent on Chris getting her home. The dining room was traditional Texas with lots of big heavy dark wood pieces and portraits of the founding members on the walls.

      She went to the bar area and ordered a glass of Chardonnay while she waited for Chris. She hated being alone in a public place. It didn’t matter that she’d grown up coming to this club. She felt so exposed because of her accident.

      She felt as if everyone was watching her and whispering behind her back. She knew it was her imagination. But Royal was a town that was given to gossip and she hated to be fodder for it. When she’d been younger—before her accident—she’d tried to do daring things to make people notice her, but now she just longed to be invisible.

      “Macy?”

      She glanced toward the end of the bar where her father stood with one of his business partners. Her dad was one of the old guard at the club. But he was fighting to remain loyal after the scandal involving Sebastian Hunter a few years ago. His friend’s embezzlement had shaken him. Sebastian had tried to sabotage the very club he’d been a member of.

      “Hello, Dad,” she said, turning to give him a kiss when he approached.

      He lifted her chin and she knew he was looking for the scar that used to run the length of the left side of her face. Her dad had been the first one to see her after the accident. Her fiancé, Benjamin, didn’t think he could handle seeing her that way. So her father had come in and held her hand and told her that she was still his princess.

      “Beautiful,” he said. He kissed her forehead.

      She blinked back tears. “Thanks, Daddy.”

      He handed her a handkerchief. Then pulled her close for a hug. She hid her face in his shoulder the way she used to when she was little and didn’t want to face something.

      “What are you doing up here, Mace? Did I forget a dinner date for tonight?” Harrison asked.

      “Actually, no. I’m meeting someone,” she said. She had no idea how he’d СКАЧАТЬ