Regretting Redemption (The Redemption Series Book 4) Read online

  His satisfaction would have to come from the stupefied expression on her face as he drove away.

  Chapter 13

  Mary

  Mary didn’t remember moving from the parking spot outside. One second she was staring at Ian’s disappearing rig, and the next she leaned against the wall beside the door inside the condo, still holding the box.

  Lisa stared at her, arms crossed over her chest. “You okay?”

  “He kissed me.” Mary breathed, unable to process the last few moments.

  “What? Who kissed you? Where have you been? I got your note, but your handwriting sucks.” Lisa waved a small piece of paper in Mary’s direction.

  “Ian. Ian kissed me.” Mary pushed away from the wall, placing the box on the coffee table and slumped onto the couch. Why couldn’t she focus?

  Bending to the side, peering at Mary, while doing a side-step around the table to the couch, Lisa finally sat down next to her sister. Her gaze remained intent on Mary’s lips. “Well, he didn’t do a very good job of it, did he?”

  Still in wonder, Mary lifted her fingers to the warm spot on her forehead. “No. Here.”

  Jerking back, Lisa scrunched her nose. “What?”

  “I know.” Mary shook her head. Dazed. “Isn’t that sweet? Men usually want one thing. I can’t believe how amazing he is.” Sparks of possibility burst in her chest and caught fire, spreading warmth to her fingertips. “We have a date Friday.”

  “Okay, this is all too weird. Come on, it’s time to see Sara Beth and Rosie. We need to figure out what we’re going to do. You can tell me more about Mister-Wonder-Kisser in the car.” Lisa rolled her eyes, but grinned at Mary.

  How much more did Mary want to share? She was going on a date with Ian because she couldn’t think with him so close and when he’d asked she hadn’t known how to reply. He was sweet as honey to her and she longed for that.

  But Edward could be sweet, too, especially after one of his tantrums, and she was supposedly engaged to him. A small shadow of doubt darkened the edges of her hopeful cloud. Mary didn’t know what love was. What if she chased any guy who was nice to her?

  ~~~

  Parking at Lonely Rivers Ranch, Lisa shifted and faced Mary before turning off the engine. “Look, I don’t know how this is going to go. You don’t know the Scott sisters and they don’t know you – or me for that matter.”

  “I thought you knew them.” Moisture covered Mary’s palms and she pulled her fingernails into her palms, the sharp sting comforting.

  “No, I mean, I do know them, but I don’t know them very well. I recently met them and they’re… very persistent.” She sighed. “Let’s go.”

  Walking side by side from the truck toward the barn, Mary glanced behind them, then back at the doors. “Why are we here? This is the MacAllister place, isn’t it?” She’d heard about the successful dude ranch from Edward on one of his rants about people doing better than him. He didn’t handle competition or comparison well. He’d broken her favorite miniature when she’d mentioned he didn’t even like ranches.

  “Sara Beth trains people with disabilities on riding horses. They have a special package here at Lonely Rivers to accommodate those riders and their families. She has a very engaging client that she was finishing up. Rosie asked us to join them here.” Lisa shrugged, knocking on the barn door. “Anyplace is as good as the next, I guess, right?”

  Good enough for what? Mary still didn’t understand exactly what they were doing there. She understood they were supposedly from the same gene pool, but that didn’t mean they were sisters – no matter how much they tried to force sisterly feelings on her. She followed Lisa through the wide doorway, her defenses up.

  The interior of the barn confused her senses. On the sides, stalls manned the lower ceiling with their half-open setup. But the middle had couches and tables on one end, and an operating table and examination area on the other side, complete with fluorescent lighting and laminate flooring. Accordion-like separators showed a distinct division but the open floor plan had a homey and professional ambiance all at once.

  Rosie flipped the pages of an equine magazine from the cushions of a maroon couch set up against the wall nearest where Mary and Lisa entered.

  Sitting upright, Rosie ran her hand through her honey-colored hair at the sight of them. A bright smile curved her lips. “Hey, you made it. I’m so glad. If I have to look at one more horse and bridle set, I might go crazy. Michael has me staring at these all the time right before auction. Not that I know what I’m doing.” She motioned toward the other couches, one of which was directly across from hers and only ten feet away.

  Mary and Lisa sat, taking a moment to look around the interior. Old tintype pictures adorned the walls alongside signed copies of horse and rider posters.

  “Isn’t it neat in here? They have a pretty successful ranch, from what I understand. Michael worked for the James family on the next ranch over and said the MacAllisters and the Jameses used to feud all the time. I guess there’s a set of caves bordering their property past the rivers. They disputed over the mining rights or something because part of the mines were on Lacey Caverns and part of them were on Lonely Rivers. Ronan James wasn’t stopping where he was supposed to and the MacAllisters wouldn’t let him go further.” Rosie must share the fast-talking-when-she-was-nervous trait with Lisa.

  “I would say the history is a bit more complicated than that.” A willowy blonde woman stepped between the couches and placed a tray with lemonade and glasses onto a side table. She offered her hand to Mary and Lisa in turn. “Hello, I’m Amelia MacAllister. It’s lovely to finally meet more of the Caracus sisters.” Sincerity offered sweetness to her smile. “Rosie, I’m so glad you’re here. Don’t forget to grab your casserole dish. You left it at the last potluck.”

  “Amelia, I’m sorry, if I was speaking out of turn.” Rosie blushed, carefully placing the magazine beside the tray. “I wanted to catch them up on the history of this area.”

  “Psh, you don’t have to apologize to me. I gossip worse than that about my own family. I usually ignore the boring history about the land.” Waving her hand at the three of them, Amelia smiled even brighter. “You weren’t speaking out of turn at all. It’s true, the MacAllisters and James feuded. It was actually, in part, because of me. I married a MacAllister and I’m a James. But it would be vain and self-righteous of me to leave the story there. The feud went farther back than anything I could’ve done. Our grandparents caused it, but the caverns have been an added addition to the problems between the ranches.”

  “The history sounds so interesting.” Mary sighed. Feuds and caverns and adventure. Romances and family ties.

  Amelia laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s all very dramatic, that’s for sure, but anyway, to keep things short, ya’ll aren’t the first Caracus to be up in these parts. Devlyn Caracus was up to something when he came this way a few years back.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure how many times he’s been back there, but you ladies need to be careful. Anything to do with the Caracus Gang should be treated with caution. Especially with the name sealing you all together.”

  Mary shifted on the seat, glancing around at Lisa and Rosie. She was the only one there with the last name of Caracus. She was the only one partially raised by her dad. As far as she knew, she was the one Amelia MacAllister warned them about.

  “I brought lemonade down. Sara Beth was just corralling the horse. She should be inside any moment. It was so nice meeting you.” She offered one more gracious smile before leaving the barn.

  “Wow, she’s like Kate.” Lisa watched Amelia glide across the barn floor and close the door behind her.

  “Kate?” Mary glanced at Lisa. Did they have another sister Lisa wasn’t telling her about?

  “You know, Kate Middleton? The prince of England’s wife? She’s so classy. I just love her.” Lisa folded her hands over her crossed legs. “Between you and me, Kate and I are meant to be best friends.” She winked at Mary,
trying to relax her with jokes.

  A stall door creaked. Sara Beth pushed herself forward with crutches across the cement floor. “Hi, guys, thanks for waiting for me.” She reached the couch and sank onto the cushions beside Rosie. “I’m beat. I need to reschedule tomorrow’s appointments so I can sleep in.” She wiped at her damp brow, perspiration shapes darkened the material of her denim shirt.

  The easygoing comradery between them grated on Mary. She wasn’t comfortable and didn’t appreciate the rest of them falling into something so natural. Like they were sisters and she was an unwelcome interloper.

  “Don’t you agree, Mary?” Lisa peered at her.

  Mary struggled to work up a smile. The rest of them were laughing about something and she’d missed the joke. She nodded with Lisa, trying to ignore the gnawing in her stomach.

  “Okay, time to get serious. What’s going on with Mendez?” Rosie leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees.

  “He’s getting pretty desperate. He showed up at my place again and he got more aggressive.” Lisa tilted her head, her dark hair cascading in front of her shoulder. She pushed it back and glanced at Mary for agreement.

  “What’s with the deadline? He seems to be pushing harder and harder the longer things take. Do you know if he needs the money found by a specific date?” Sara Beth set her crutches to the side and heaved a sigh.

  “Ronan James said there’s a finder’s fee on the bank money and he thinks Mendez is trying to collect. He mentioned there’s something to do with family issues in there. I’m not sure about the exactness of anything and Ronan didn’t go into further details.” Lisa glanced at Mary who couldn’t paste on anything over her confused look. Lisa added, “Ronan is Amelia’s brother. He owns Lacey Caverns and is one of the men responsible for Devlyn and his gang’s arrest.”

  They were all a part of why her dad went to prison and was taken from her life. Mary didn’t respond and sank deeper into the couch cushions as she listened to the women talk about her dad like he was an animal.

  “You mean Mendez is trying to get the finder’s fee? He’s a federal agent. Is that ethical?” Rosie pushed her jaw forward, her eyes wide.

  Lisa laughed, crossing her ankle over her knee. “Doubtful, but neither is harassing us for no reason.”

  “Not to be an instigator or anything, but there’s a lot involved, isn’t there? I mean, he doesn’t know our father abandoned us or that we didn’t have the kind of childhood we should’ve. Mendez doesn’t know we were left with less than nothing and there’s no way we have any idea where Devlyn Caracus would put his stuff.” Sara Beth shrugged, her cheeks pink. “I guess my point is, Mendez doesn’t have any reason not to harass us.”

  Mary’s stomach churned. She didn’t understand what was happening. She wasn’t a stupid person, but things were moving too fast toward an ambush-like situation and she didn’t do well with confrontations.

  Rosie raised her hands. “So what do we know?”

  “Not enough to make a difference.” Lisa sighed, her shoulders slumped. “Ugh. Why did he have to abandon us all like that? Why couldn’t he have been a good dad, a good guy, living a normal life and taking us to school?”

  “If he’d been that type of man, there would’ve only been Jenny.” Rosie whispered, the truth crashing around them with a deafening chill.

  “Jenny was first?” Mary whispered, wanting to hide but unable to sit there and not ask.

  Rosie nodded, pointing at each woman as she said their name. “Yeah, Jenny was first, then Lisa and you at about the same time. I came soon after and then Sara Beth was last.”

  “What you’re saying isn’t true then. He was that type of man. He just wasn’t for all of you.” Mary pressed her lips tight to keep her anger in.

  “What do you mean?” Sara Beth stared at Mary like she’d grown a saddle from her ears.

  “I mean, I had the great life with Dad. He was awesome to me. He called me his ruby and his treasure and he made sure I knew he loved me.” Mary took a deep breath. “I understand he was awful to everyone else, you guys included, but to me?” She half-shrugged. “He wasn’t. He was everything I could’ve wanted in a dad.” She held up her hands at the anger building in their faces. “I’m sorry to be blunt, but Lisa should’ve warned you. She knew all this growing up. She knew how I was raised and how she wasn’t. She used to come over to my house to play and saw him all the time and how he treated me. He wasn’t a bad guy.”

  “To you. He wasn’t a bad guy to you. But the rest of us had a different experience.” Sara Beth whispered, avoiding Mary’s gaze.

  “But that’s not my fault!” Mary pushed forward, leaning into her knees. Why did she care what they thought? They weren’t important to her. An ache in her chest called her a liar.

  Rosie rested her hand on her sister’s arm. “Shh. It’s okay. Mary, he was a bad guy to everyone but you. And as painful as that is for me… for us… you might be the break we need in this. Did he mention anything about hidden treasure or anything besides calling you his treasure?”

  Mary focused on Rosie’s gaze, fearful to face the judgment in Lisa’s or Sara Beth’s faces. She lifted trembling fingers to her forehead. “What exactly are we looking for?”

  “First, I think you should know, how you were raised wasn’t for me to tell, Mary.” Lisa cut in, her words sharp but without anger. “I saw the sadness in your mom’s face, but not in yours. I have never been that confused in my life. I didn’t understand how you could be happy and the rest of the world so upset. Being friends with you has been one of the most painful experiences of my life. I loved you as my friend and hated you for having what I didn’t.”

  Hated. “Well, the truth is finally out. Can you tell me what it is we’re looking for so we can get this over with and go our own ways, please?” Mary blinked back the tears threatening to overcome her. She refused to cry in front of them. They were jealous, and why wouldn’t they be? But a small part of her was more jealous. Her dad had lied to her all her life about who and what he was. Waking up from that dream was crueler than anything the other women could’ve experienced.

  “Mendez is looking for a collection of bank robbery money, but mostly from the biggest heist in Montana, where they got an extremely large amount of treasure – cash, bonds, jewels, anything kept in private bank boxes. Nobody really knows for sure because so many rumors have put the worth into the millions and higher.” Lisa didn’t look at Mary when she answered, just stared at the table.

  They probably thought she had the money because she didn’t work and lived off a trust. Great, not only was Mary some type of a clue to millions of dollars, but now she’d most likely lost the only friend she had.

  Where would she sleep that night? Guess it was time to finally go home.

  Chapter 14

  Ian

  The next few days passed like molasses and Ian couldn’t come up with enough work to do around the ranch to keep his mind off his upcoming date with Mary.

  When Friday dawned, his excitement came off him in waves as he whistled around the kitchen preparing coffee and arranging some muffins on a plate to take outside.

  “You’re in a good mood.” Nana Nell yawned and padded across the wood floor in her well-used slippers. Her tattered robe had seen better days but she refused to replace it since her husband had given it to her for a Christmas present years before.

  “Nana, why are you up this early?” Ian turned and leaned against the counter, watching his grandmother move about the kitchen with a sleepy jerking motion. The sun rose at five and Ian along with it. But Nana Nell had another three hours or so to sleep. “Are you feeling okay?”

  Nana Nell shook her finger in his direction, yawning again. “No, I’m not. My back aches from hunching over that blanket yesterday for as long as I did. I will never do applique again.”

  Ian chuckled. “You say that every time you do applique. Maybe I should make you a wooden sign to remind you.”

  “Maybe you should.�
�� She poured herself a cup of steaming coffee and blinked at him from under her loose graying hair falling around her face. “Tell me why you’re in such a good mood at such a grumpy hour.”

  “Grumpy hour? This is the best time of the day.” Ian grinned, sipping his drink and peeking at his grandma over the rim. She shot him an impatient look and pushed at her hair. He put the plate of muffins down and nodded. “Okay, there is a reason. I have a date tonight. I didn’t want to tell you until afterwards so you don’t get your hopes up.”

  Nana Nell moved forward and playfully swatted his arm. A grin brighter than the sun spread across her tired face. “Son, my hopes are always up. That’s exciting. Is she a nice girl? Do I know her family?”

  Mary’s family. Did he tell his grandmother that Mary’s family was responsible for Elena’s death and their heartache? “She’s a very nice girl. I don’t know if you know her family. I’m going to take her to the rodeo.” If he didn’t mention Mary’s name, then Nana Nell wouldn’t ask for more details.