Page 2 of A Reckless Memory

“I had to hide them in the top of the hallway closet, or he’d sniff them out. I’ll go.” I could walk off some nervous energy.

“You can turn up the AC while you’re getting them,” Meg said, her attention back on her phone. “You’re going to walk out of here looking like last year’s beets if I don’t drop the temperature.”

I didn’t turn that red when I was warm. “I’ll try. Daddy might let me get away with tampering with the AC on my wedding day.”

We were oil rich, thanks to the wells scattering our land, and the ranch did okay. As if Daddy would tell anyone otherwise. He didn’t believe in spending money unless it was on prime horseflesh and training those horses to bring in even more money.

“Are you sure?” Sutton rubbed at a drool spot on her skirt with her finger. She was almost done with vet school, and animal body fluids didn’t faze her. “I don’t want the groom to see you before it’s time.”

“He’s probably out chatting with the guests.” Ansen could work a crowd as well as he could our Arabians.

I started for the door, but Tex was hot on my heels, ready to go where I went. He was Ansen’s dog, but with Ansen working all day in the ring and me finding my way without getting in my brothers’ way, I spent more time with the dog. “Tex, stay.”

Sutton called him back into the bedroom, and the thought of treats and some scratches was enough to redirect his attention.

I walked out, running my hands over the bookshelf that held my mother’s books as I went. Like my brothers, I was named after one of her favorite female authors.

Agatha Christie Knight. Aggie for short. Aggie Barron in less than an hour.

Tomorrow, after I woke up in my husband’s arms, I’d come to my room and pack the rest of my things, including my mother’s much-loved copy of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. They were all I had of her. I had briefly entertained tucking a book into my bouquet so I’d feel like she was with me on my special day, but I didn’t want them to get damaged.

Stepping on the balls of my feet to keep my boots from thudding across the hand-scraped wood flooring, I padded across the expansive living room no one but Daddy used. I almost expected to find him sitting in his leather Chesterfield, gazing out the window at our acres and acres of land, pastures filled with cattle or dotted with oil wells, sipping on his whiskey neat and smoking one of his Foundation cigars. But the room was empty.

Through the large picture windows filling one side of the room, I could see the yard. Rows of chairs were neatly arranged, and people roamed around, forming small, intimate groups. The ceremony didn’t start for twenty minutes. Cody was the master organizer, but I couldn’t pick him out in the huddle of my other brothers.

On the other side of the house, I turned down another hallway that housed Daddy’s bedroom and two more rooms that had been converted to offices. He’d probably start renovations to make my room another office as soon as the cake was cut today.

Voices drifted from the office Cody used to crunch numbers for the ranch. Cody was probably doing some quick paperwork. He was as much of a workaholic as his wife. Who would he be talking to though? I crept closer, not wanting to interrupt what seemed like a heated conversation, but the thermostat was outside the office door.

“I don’t know where you’re coming up with this wild story.” Ansen’s deep tone rumbled right down to my bare toes. I would’ve smiled, but there was a thread of panic in his voice.

“Show me the balance in your account,” Cody said, his calm a facade. My normally uptight brother’s voice was downright menacing. “I know you can’t afford the truck you’re driving on a horse trainer’s wages, and I’ve researched where you came from. Your father ranches dirt.” There was a loaded pause. “Is Barns paying you more after you say ‘I do’?”

My brothers all called our daddy Barns—Barnaby Knight. I frowned, the nerves in my stomach morphing into a low-grade burn. Daddy, money, and my fiancé. Cody’s tone set off alarm bells.

“I don’t have to show you a damn thing,” Ansen said, his slight drawl more pronounced. That only happened when he was angry.

A wash of cold cascaded over my head, filtering down to my chest and abdomen. What extra money was Daddy paying Ansen? Why after we got married?

“You know I have to go to Aggie with this before she walks down the aisle,” Cody said.

I drew in a sharp breath. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was sure as heck going to find out. I stepped into the doorway. “Tell me what?”

Ansen spun his head in my direction, and the look in his eyes skewered me. Fear.

“Tell me what, Ansen?” I couldn’t take my gaze off of him. I could be surrounded by the entire town in puppet costumes, but I wouldn’t have noticed. My attention was fixed on the most handsome man I’d ever seen. His shoulders were wide—and strong enough to pick me up and toss me over one. The wind-swept, rich-brown hair pushed off his forehead didn’t have its usual cowboy hat indentation, and without the hat, I could stare into the bay-colored depths of his eyes. His lanky but muscular frame was outfitted in a classic black tux, which he’d argued about with Meg, and a crisp white shirt. The look was topped off with a brand-new pair of shiny black boots.

My chest ached. He was so damn handsome. The only person I’d met I could be myself around—avid horse girl, dirty ranch kid, and wanton woman in the bedroom.

But he was hiding something. Cody didn’t get upset for no reason.

Ansen didn’t answer. His Adam’s apple worked up and down. I’d never seen him like this. A dark, unruly storm cloud descended over my sunny day.

“Tell. Me. What. Ansen?” My voice trembled. Today was supposed to be the best of my life. A turning point. A way to prove to everyone I was worth something to someone.

“It’s nothing but lies.” Ansen’s voice broke on the last word.

The back of my throat burned. “What is?”

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