“Yeah. I know. Supposedly, his wife knew about this other woman, and she got to work on her payback. She started making her own investments and taught her sons and daughters the business world that she had learned from dear old great-great-great-grandaddy. The way my father tells the story, his great-great-grandmother was wealthier than her husband. Once he heard about it, he sent for her to meet him in Salt Lake City, where he had moved to after leaving the mistress in Colorado. Promised her a new life and chance to start over.”
“Did she do it?”
Nodding, I took a sip of my beer. “Yes, she moved out West. The children all followed except for one daughter who had fallen in love and refused to leave her fiancé.”
“So you still have family in the Boston area?”
“No, she got yellow fever soon after her marriage and died, so they didn’t have any kids. Then the other sister died when the horse she was riding threw her off. One of the sons died after being attacked by a bear.”
“Holy shit. Your family may have had good luck with business, but they sure as hell didn’t have very good luck with fate, did they?”
“My great-grandfather was the only living child. He got married and had my grandfather along with a daughter.”
“Is your grandfather still alive?”
Glancing down at my lap, I shook my head. “No. He died a few years back. He was a good man. Had a heart of gold and a good head on his shoulders. He was smart and grew the business his father had started to an even greater success. My father runs it now, with my sister at his side.”
My eyes lifted and I met Nash’s gaze. He was watching me, as if waiting for me to give him more. I lost all my nerve to tell him the truth. I didn’t want this moment to end, and I knew the moment I told him, he would be angry I kept it from him.
“What about you? Is your family all from Texas?”
His mouth twitched and he tipped his beer back and drained it. “Yep. At least for the last few generations. Morgan’s done the whole family tree thing, but I was never interested in it. I think we’re pretty much mutts.”
Laughing, I replied, “Aren’t we all?”
“Pretty much. Let me finish putting this mount on the wall so we can hang up your TV.”
My smile faded some as I watched Nash get back to working on the mount. Standing, I took a deep breath and spoke. “Nash, there’s something I need to tell you.”
His cell phone rang with the most obnoxious ringtone I’d ever heard at that very moment. Is that a dog barking?
“Blake, what’s up?”
I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Blake’s ringtone was of a dog barking?
“Um, no, we finished eating and I was just putting together something for Kaelynn. Now? Is it something that can wait until tomorrow, dude? I mean, I’m at Kaelynn’s and . . .”
Nash stopped talking, then smiled. It was so big and bright and full of hope. It made my chest pull with a tightness that had me longing to walk up and wrap my arms around him.
“You’re kidding me? Tell me you’re not fucking around with me.”
I headed into the kitchen to start loading the dishes in the dishwasher.
“Give me fifteen to finish this, and then I’ll meet you there.”
He hung up his phone and looked my way. The look on his face said he was about to leave and he was as upset about that as I was.
“Kaelynn, I’m sorry to run out. Blake informed me Tucker had planned a surprise bachelor party for Jim.”
My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach. “I completely understand. Please, don’t worry about it.”
He finished what he was doing, then hung up my TV. By the time he was done, I had gotten everything in the kitchen loaded up in the dishwasher and put away all of the leftovers and had cut him a piece of Black Forest cake to take with him. Nash stopped and stared down at it in the Tupperware container.
“You made this?” he asked, his eyes piercing mine.
With a small shrug, I replied, “Same little birdy told me it was your favorite dessert.”
His entire body language changed as he put the cake down on the island. His eyes turned dark, and he stalked toward me, causing me to back up, only to be stopped by the counter. My breathing picked up and my body trembled with anticipation. Nash cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. It was the most intense kiss I’d ever experienced. I felt every bit of his passion and need for me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whimpered slightly.