Free Lone Star Millionaire by Susan Mallery Page A

innocent in your belief that life as you know it will go on forever. The next minute, that innocence is ripped away. It’s a painful process. Kids aren’t sure they can ever risk trusting anyone again. What if they do and that person goes away?” She tapped her pen against the paper resting on her tray and shrugged. “You can get over the pain, but I doubt anyone who has been through that ever forgets.”
    â€œHow old were you when you lost your parents?”
    â€œFourteen. So a couple of years older than Anastasia. I also had the advantage of my brother and sisters around me. Gram stepped right in to take care of us, so we never had to move.That was something, but it wasn’t enough. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. Your daughter had it much harder than I did. Try to remember that.”
    â€œThe next time she calls me a bastard?”
    â€œMaybe it will help.”
    A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Cal studied Sabrina’s face. So familiar, so comforting. He’d grown used to asking her advice and listening to her words. She was his sounding board, his trusted adviser, his friend and sometimes his conscience.
    â€œAll right, little lady,” he drawled, knowing she hated to be called that. “I’ll take what you said into consideration.”
    â€œToad.” She removed her hand from his arm.
    â€œIt occurs to me,” he began, “that you’re the one with the expertise in this area.”
    She turned toward him and shook her head. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned. “I mean it, Cal. For one thing, Anastasia isn’t a mess to be tidied. For another, she’s your daughter and you have to take the time to get to know her, not to mention letting her get to know you. That’s important. I know it will be hard, but you have to struggle through this on your own.”
    He resisted the urge to whine that he didn’t want to. Mostly because he knew she was right. “I don’t know how to do this.”
    â€œI’ll help,” she promised. Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “I know it’s none of my business and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but what was it like for you, when you were growing up?”
    He shrugged. “Different from what you remember, I’m sure. We had a big house in River Oaks,” he said, naming the exclusive area of Houston. “My father traveled a lot. My mother had charities and luncheons all the time. There was a staff, although we never kept anyone for too long. For reasons I’ll never understand, my mother always hired young, attractive women to work in the house. My father didn’t believe the rules of fidelity applied to him, so he took advantage of the ‘landscaping,’ as he used to call them. Mother would find out and fire the women. Anyone lasting three months was considered a family retainer.”
    Sabrina’s blue eyes darkened. “Cal, that’s horrible. You knew about your father and what he was doing?”
    â€œSure. He bragged about it. Kept telling me that I was just like him.” Cal stiffened in his seat, then had to consciously force himself to relax. “I swore I would be different. That’s why I only date one woman at a time. No commitment, but complete monogamy.”
    She angled toward him and rested the side of her head against the seat back. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
    â€œIt’s not a problem. You probably need to know this. In case I get weird with Anastasia or something. My parents were never much interested in us unless they needed to parade us out, or wanted to be seen at a sporting event or recital. I was the serious kid, did well in school, that kind of thing. Tracey was born wild. She’s four years older, and I think I was about ten the first time she ran away. By the time she was fifteen, she’d already had an