Page 38 of Bit's Bliss
“His wife Rosa was very sick,” I began, wishing I hadn’t brought it up. Like Tryst’s late wife, Eberly’s mom lost her battle to cancer. “He’d hoped the ranch’s magic would cure her.”
I glanced at Eberly, who was looking down at the ground.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Don’t be. I’d love to hear more about it.”
“The story Tryst tells is that when he was in the military, he and his unit were stationed in Mexico. He went for a walk on his own and got lost. When he walked up a ridge to try to get his bearings, Rosa was there too. She and her family were visiting the area. Anyway, he’s always said that, in his very first conversation with her, he promised to one day buy land in the valley below where they stood and build a home for her.”
“How romantic.”
I chuckled. “I have a hard time believing that’s what really happened.”
She shook her head, but she was smiling. “Cynic.”
“I suppose I am. On the other hand, when I recall visits there when I was younger, I remember experiencing a sense of peace like nowhere else on earth.”
“Wow. That’s quite a statement.”
“My uncle is a follower of Hinduism. There’s a certain style of architecture, called vastu shastra, which relates to it. He used it for all the buildings on the ranch. Even Brix’s house here, which is actually Cru’s now.”
“I’m not familiar with it, but it sounds intriguing.”
“It’s been a while since I visited, but the last time I was there, he’d recently rebuilt a meditation center after a fire burned the previous one to the ground. There’s also a chapel, a main house, and several guest casitas. Oh, and a therapeutic riding center.”
“It sounds amazing. I’d love to see it one day.”
“It really is, and you should.” I didn’t go as far as telling Eberly I wanted to take her there or that I thought a visit to the place might help ease the tension she was experiencing over things with her father.
I stopped walking when something occurred to me. Could the ranch be where Malcolm Warwick had disappeared to? If he had, wouldn’t Tryst have said so by now? As soon as I had the chance, I’d call him and ask outright.
12
EBERLY
Since I called Trevino in the middle of the night and he brought me to Los Cab, he and I hadn’t been apart longer than the length of a shower. On one hand, I liked it. Until I knew what was going on with my dad, I was skittish. On the other hand, the more attached I got to him, the harder it would be once everything was sorted and things returned to the way they originally were. Because they would, wouldn’t they?
Like Tiernan, I didn’t doubt Trevino would eventually find me lacking, given my innocence and inexperience, and he’d either move on or return to women like Priscilla who probably knew when to call him sir and when not to.
While I’d always been introverted, even shy, I had moments of sticking up for myself. Even times when I was emboldened. Sadly, those were fewer and farther between before I turned into a metaphorical doormat.
Was that why my father had thought nothing of forging my name on legal documents where he’d basicallycheated me out of a business I was part owner of? Not to mention—our house? I couldn’t imagine how he thought I’d react. Did he think I’d just go along with it without question? And what now? Fraud was a crime. Was he counting on me looking the other way, not wanting him to be in trouble for it?
Admittedly, a part of me didn’t. I wasn’t certain, but maybe he could even go to jail for what he’d done.
The other thing bothering me was I knew my parents had significant wealth. What had happened to all that money?
And what about his relationship with Tiernan? Were my dad and him in cahoots the entire time? Had he decided not to marry me because he realized my father had no money left? Or was it because my dad had told him he had no control over or access to my trust fund? Or was it simply because he thought I was boring?
I clenched my fists at my sides. The farther I walked, the more I hated howunworldlyI was. Not that I had any idea how to become more so. Not in life in general, and particularly not in relationships. Specifically—sex. Trevino was the first man who’d opened that door for me, and barely so far.
The very things I couldn’t stand about Tiernan, like the way he’d tried to control me, were, at least in part, similar to how Trevino treated me. Except itfeltso different. No, itwasso different. He respected me. I didn’t know that from his words alone; I knew it from his actions.
God, when he’d told me to unfasten my jeans and touch myself, I almost had an orgasm from his words alone. Would that grow tiresome for him? Would he lose interest once he realized I wasn’t just inexperienced, but also unimaginative? What then? Would he decide we weren’t compatible and end things shortly after they began? That was what he said had happened withPriscilla.
“Eberly?” I heard him say from a few paces behind me when I reached the gate leading into the Stonehouse gardens.
I spun around on him but couldn’t speak. My nerves were frayed, and my emotions were in a state of chaos. Nothing good would come of me sharing my thoughts right now.
