Page 28 of Wyoming True

She burst out laughing. “I guess that would be one of those times when lying is the right choice.”

“Absolutely.” His eyes twinkled. “I like hearing you laugh.”

She flushed. “I don’t do it much anymore.”

“You will when you taste this seafood. We’re coming into the airport at Galveston right now, in fact,” he said, indicating the view in the window as the pilot turned toward the landing strip.

“Fried oysters,” she said, almost dreamily.

“Not to mention the best hush puppies in three states.”

“I can’t wait!”

He chuckled. “Me, too.”

THERESTAURANTWASa tiny little place in a strip mall. A stretch limo had been waiting for them at the landing strip. The driver let them out at the front door and went off to park so he could settle in with a good book until he was paged.

“I love this,” Ida remarked, her eyes on the fishnets and small anchors and other nautical stuff that adorned the walls.

“So do I. It’s one of my favorite restaurants. Not a lot of people know about it, either, so it’s not overcrowded.”

“I like that best of all,” she remarked as the waitress came to lead them to a table in a corner.

She took their order for drinks, which was coffee, and provided menus while she went to get the coffee.

“Decisions, decisions,” she said, shaking her head as she read down the menu.

“Oysters,” he reminded her with a chuckle.

She sighed. “Yes. Oysters. But there’s so much more!”

He watched her enthusing over the menu with pleasure. It was such a simple thing to bring that smile to her lovely face. He liked the woman he was getting to know. He hoped that he wasn’t being taken in by her charm. It was hard for him to trust people. She really knew very little about his own background, although there were still a few people in Catelow who had known his father. His face hardened just at the memory. He’d never forgiven his father for what had happened. He was certain that he never would.

Ida wouldn’t understand how he felt. Her parents had been, apparently, very much in love with each other and happy together. His earliest memories were of violent arguments that became physical. Eventually they became tragically physical. He knew more about domestic abuse than she realized. But he didn’t trust her enough to tell her. Not yet. He kept secrets.

She peered over the menu and saw the anger and hurt in his expression before he could wipe them away.

“Have I said something wrong?” she asked at once, assuming that if he was troubled, she’d caused it.

What a hell of a life she’d had, he thought. “It’s nothing to do with you,” he said gently. “Bad memories.”

“Oh.” She smiled faintly. “I have those, too.”

“Where is he now? Your ex-husband.”

Her face clouded. “He’s in Denver. My attorneys are having him watched. Just in case.”

“You mean, just in case he comes after you,” he guessed.

She sighed. “Something like that.”

“Has he spoken to you?”

“If you can call threats speaking,” she conceded. “He thinks that because I have so much money, he’s entitled to a share of it.”

“After what he did to you?” he asked, startled.

“Oh, in his mind, it was all my fault,” she replied. “I caused him to lose his temper by flirting with other men.” She looked at him evenly. “I never did it deliberately in those days. I was too afraid of Bailey. I only do it now to keep men from coming too close. It usually works.”

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