Lone Star Lonely Read Online Free PDF

think they’ll arrest her?” He asked the
question partly because he knew it would distract his brother.
Mostly, though, he wanted to know. The thought of Kirsten behind
bars bothered him more than it ought to. A lot more.
    “Not yet. They’ll run the bullet through
ballistics first, check out Cowan’s will, question the household
staff. They’ll want to be sure they have a solid case before they
charge her with anything. Hell, she might just be the richest woman
in the seven counties before too long. They won’t want to make any
mistakes on this one.”
    “Unless she was telling the truth about the
will,” Adam said. Garrett led him toward the row of chairs, and he
reluctantly sat down. “Why would he write his own wi—” Adam choked
on the word, drew a breath, started over. “Why would he write her
out of his will, Garrett?”
    “I don’t have a clue.” Garrett looked him
straight in the eye. “And I don’t think you’re doin’ yourself any
good by speculating on that. Or even by being here, for that
matter. Why don’t you go on home, Adam?”
    It was a damned good question. Adam just
shook his head. “I can’t.”
    “Do I want to know why?”
    “Hell, Garrett, I don’t know why.”
    Garrett sighed in a way only a worried older
brother could manage. “I just hope you know what the hell you’re
doing.”
    “I always know what I’m doing, don’t I?”
Right. He never acted without a plan. Without a reason. Without a
clear goal in mind, and a set plan to go about achieving it. He’d
wanted a wife, a life in Texas and enough capital to buy a ranch of
his own and convert it into the dude ranch he and Kirsten used to
dream of. He’d used his gift with numbers to get a degree, used the
degree to get decent-paying jobs at local banks, and used the jobs
to put aside the money for the ranch. He’d wooed and won the girl
of his dreams, set the wedding date and they’d been well on their
way.
    Kirsten had tossed an unforeseen curveball at
him by not showing up for the wedding. It had thrown him for a
loop, but he’d recovered. His goals had changed, though. He’d
decided he didn’t want a wife or a dude ranch anymore. He wanted to
get as far from Texas as possible, and he wanted to make a lot of
money. And he set about doing both those things.
    But the money hadn’t made him feel any better
about being jilted for a rich old man. And being in New York had
served only to disconnect him from his family—his lifeline. So, a
few minor adjustments and he was home again. And his goals were
again altered. He was going to stay in Quinn and start his own
business. Not a dude ranch, because that had been foolish from the
start. A nice safe business, financial planning. He would be a
consultant. He would continue making large sums of money, but he
would do it right here in Kirsten’s face. Not that her proximity
had any bearing on it. And while he was at it, he would prove to
his family—to this entire town—that he was over her.
    And maybe he would prove it to himself while
he was at it.
    He didn’t suppose being here with her right
now was doing a hell of a lot to further either of those last two
goals, was it?
    His brother’s hand landed heavily on his
shoulder. “You want some more coffee?”
    Adam glanced at the crushed foam cup in his
clenched fist. “I think I’ve had a gallon already. And the stuff is
like battery acid.” Sighing, he glanced at the door. “How much
longer can they possibly keep her in there?’’
    The door opened, as if in answer to his
question. Adam met Kirsten’s eyes and felt that mule kick him in
the gut once again. She looked all in. Her face was damp, and her
sweat had thinned the makeup out so he could see through it now, to
the paleness of her skin. A few tendrils of her doe-brown hair
stuck to her forehead, and there was a wide, scared sort of look
about her eyes. The cool, collected rich-bitch routine had vanished
like a dandelion seed in a stray breeze. He