Free Texas Lucky by Maggie James Page B

folded behind his head, and stare up at the ceiling and think about how good life was going to be when he and Mary Lou were married and living in the big house. He was sure Tom would do the proper thing and see to it she got everything that had been her father’s. After all, he had a place of his own. So while it was a tense situation, Curt was positive everything would work out.
    And that’s what Curt told himself over and over, night after night, as he tried to be patient, knowing there had to be a proper mourning period. Mary Lou could not bury her father one day and ask her husband for a divorce the next.
    It was also hard not being with her, because she felt it was too big a risk for them to meet. If Tom found out, she feared there would be a lot of trouble.
    So Curt tried to be tolerant, but when several months passed, he decided one day he just couldn’t stand it any longer. And, managing to catch her alone in the house, he fiercely told her as much.
    And that was when she revealed she had changed her mind. Divorce, she said, was out of the question, for she had discovered that it was Tom’s money keeping the ranch going, not her father’s, and since Curt didn’t have any, she was afraid they would wind up destitute.
    Curt argued that was nonsense, that he would keep the ranch going and make it prosper.
    And what if Tom would not give her the ranch? she argued. What would they do then?
    It would not matter, Curt had countered. They would start over somewhere else. They would be together. That’s all that mattered.
    But not to Mary Lou, who was not about to give up her fine home and fine life. Things could go on like they had, she had adamantly declared. Tom wanted a baby, and she would give him one, and then she and Curt could continue their relationship, keeping it a secret. Everyone would be happy.
    That night he had left the ranch, bitter and brokenhearted. His heart had eventually healed, but there were scars…scars that made him leery of ever trusting another woman.
    There had been other women, and while he had kept a tight rein on his heart he had never taken one selfishly. Always he made sure they were pleasured…but never had he promised anything beyond the moment.
    He closed his eyes and thought about Tess and how he found himself being drawn to her more and more. She was tiny and cute and getting spunkier every day, and even in their shared misery, she made him laugh with her wit and charm. Under different circumstances, he might have been in danger of being too drawn and started backing away, but here, what difference did it make?
    Maybe he should pursue it. Maybe—
    No.
    He would not let himself think like that.
    He would not take advantage of the situation and try to seduce her.
    He would be strong and try to find a way out for both of them, and—
    A scream split the black silence, and Curt was on his feet in seconds, yanking on his boots.
    It was Tess, of course, and as she kept on screaming, he cursed because the fire was almost out. He had to take time to drop to his knees and blow the sparks and ignite another makeshift torch. The torches did not burn long, because there was no oil to keep them going, just strips torn from old blankets he had found.
    He hurried toward the front. “I’m coming, Tess,” he shouted, his voice echoing off the rocks. “Hang on, I’m coming.”
    He found her pressed back against the wall, eyes wide with terror. “It crawled on me. I don’t know what it was, but I was terrified.”
    Curt glanced around and saw the tarantula a few feet away. The huge, hairy spider, about two inches long with a leg span of maybe five inches, looked as scared as Tess.
    Biting back a laugh, Curt reached down and scooped him up and tossed him into the shadows. “Tarantulas look meaner than they are,” he explained. “They only bite when they’re threatened, and while it’s painful, the bite won’t kill you.”
    She shuddered and whispered, “It would kill me, because I’d