“He’s doing fine at the Naval Academy. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone for almost two years already, but he has.”
“And he hasn’t been back since he left?”
Derringer shook his head sadly. “No, not even once. He refuses to come back knowing Crystal isn’t here, and he’s still angry that he doesn’t know where she is. The Newsomes made sure of that before they moved away. We are hoping he’ll eventually forget her and move on, but so far he hasn’t.”
In a way, she knew how Bane felt. She hadn’t looked forward to returning to Denver either, knowing she was still harboring feelings for Derringer. It was hard running into him while he was dating other girls and wishing they were her. And now to find out they could have been her. Her father had no idea what he’d done and the sad thing was that she couldn’t get mad at him. Bane hadn’t been the only Westmoreland with a reputation that had made it hard on the other family members. Derringer’s younger brothers—the twins, Adrian and Aidan—as well as his baby sister Bailey had been Bane’s sidekicks and had gotten into just as much trouble.
Needless to say, it had gotten to the point everyone in town would get up in arms when they saw any Westmoreland headed their way. But she had heard her father say more than once lately that considering everything, he thought Dillon and Ramsey had done a pretty good job in raising their siblings and in keeping the family together, and that he actually admired them for it. She knew that several people in town did. All the Westmorelands were college-educated and in some sort of business for themselves or holding prestigious jobs. And together they were the wealthiest family in the county and the largest landowners. People no longer feared them, they highly respected them.
“Just look how things turned out, Derringer,” she heard herself say. “The twins are at Harvard. Bailey will be finishing up her studies at the university here in a year, and Bane is in the hands of Uncle Sam. Ramsey mentioned that Bane wants to become a Navy SEAL. In that case, he has to learn discipline, among other things.”
Derringer chuckled. “For Bane, even with Uncle Sam, that won’t be easy to do.” He picked up his glass to take a sip of his iced tea. “So do we have a date for Saturday night or what?”
A date with Derringer Westmoreland …
She couldn’t stop herself from feeling all giddy inside. She almost trembled at the thought. But at the same time she knew she had to be realistic. He would take her out on Saturday night and probably some other girl on Sunday. He’d asked her out to the movies, not a trip to Vegas to get married.
She would take the date for what it was and not put too much stock in it. She hadn’t been born yesterday and she knew Derringer’s reputation around town. He dated a lot, but let it be known that he didn’t like women who clung or got too possessive.
Still, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought that he was attracted to her and had been since she was eighteen. Didn’t that account for something? She decided that it did.
“Yes, I’d love to go to the movies with you Saturday night, Derringer.”
Four
Derringer frowned the moment he pulled into his yard and saw his sister Bailey’s car parked there. The last thing he needed was for her to drop by to play nursemaid again. Megan was bad enough, but his baby sister Bailey was worse. She had only been seven when their parents had gotten killed. Now at twenty-two, she attended college full-time, and when she didn’t have her nose stuck in some book it was stuck in her five brothers’ personal affairs. She liked making it her business to know anything and everything about their comings and goings. Now that Ramsey was married, she’d given him some slack, but she hadn’t let up with him, Zane and the twins.
He wondered how long she’d been there waiting on him and figured she probably wouldn’t like the fact that he hadn’t been home and had driven into town. Since she wasn’t out on the porch, that meant she had let herself inside, which wouldn’t be a hard thing to do since he never locked his doors. His sister flung open the door the moment his foot touched the step. The look on her face let him know he was in trouble. She was there when the doctor restricted him from doing almost anything, other than breathing and eating, for two weeks.
“Just where have you been, Derringer Westmoreland, in your condition?”
He walked past her to put his hat on the rack. “And what condition is that, Bailey?”
“You’re injured.”
“Yes, but I’m not dead.”
He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth when he saw the expression that suddenly appeared on her face. He and his brothers knew the real reason Bailey was so overprotective of them was that she was afraid of losing them the way she’d lost their parents.
But he could admit to having the same fears, and if he were to analyze things further, he would probably conclude that Zane had them as well. All of them had been close to their parents, aunt and uncle. Everyone had taken their deaths hard. The way Derringer had managed to move on, and not look back, was by not getting too attached to anyone. He had his cousins and his siblings. He loved them, and they were all he needed. If he were to fall in love, give his heart to a woman, and then something were to happen to her—there was no telling how he’d handle it, or even if he could. He liked things just the way they were. And, for that reason, he doubted he would ever marry.
He crossed the room and placed a hand on her shoulder when he saw her trembling. “Hey, come on, Bail, it wasn’t that bad. You were there at the hospital and heard what Dr. Epps said. It’s been almost two weeks now and I’m fine.”
“But I also heard him say that it could have been worse, Derringer.”
“But it wasn’t. Look, unless you came to cook for me or do my laundry, you can visit some other time. I’m going to take a nap.”
He saw the sad look on her face turn mutinous and knew his ploy had worked. She didn’t like it when he bossed her around or came across as if she was at his beck and call. “Cook your own damn meals and do your own laundry, or get one of those silly girls who fawn all over you to do it.”
“Whatever. And watch your mouth, Bailey, or I’ll think you’re slipping back to your old ways and I’ll have to wash your mouth out with soap.”
She grabbed the remote off the table, dropped down on the sofa and began watching television, ignoring him. He glanced at his watch and fought to hide his smile. “So, how long are you staying?” he asked. Because she hadn’t yet inherited her one hundred acres, she had a tendency to spend time at any of their places. Most of the time she stayed with Megan, which suited all her brothers just fine because Bailey had a tendency to drop in unannounced at the most inconvenient times.
Like now.
She didn’t even look over at him when she finally answered his question. “I’m staying until I’m ready to leave. You have a problem with it?”
“No.”
“Good,” she said, using the remote to flip to another channel. “Now go take your nap and I hope when you wake up you’re in a lot better mood.”
He chuckled as he leaned down and planted a brotherly kiss on her forehead. “Thanks for worrying about me so much, kid,” he said softly.
“If me, Megan and Gemma don’t do it, who will? All those silly girls you mess around with are only after your money.”
He lifted a brow in mock surprise. “You think so?”
She glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. “If you don’t know the truth about them then you’re in real trouble, Derringer.”
Derringer chuckled again thinking yes, he knew the truth about them … especially one in particular. Lucia Conyers. He didn’t think of her as one of those “silly girls” and knew Bailey