“How sad for her.”
“No, that’s the reality of things when you’re dealing with a man like Derringer.”
Chloe quirked a brow. “I still think you might be wrong about him.”
Lucia figured she couldn’t change the way her best friend thought; however, she intended to take all the precautions where Derringer was concerned. Now he saw her as a challenge because she was the woman not willing to give him the time of day anymore.
Some men didn’t take rejection well and she had a feeling that Derringer Westmoreland was one of them.
Nine
Jason snapped his fingers in front of Derringer’s face. “Hey, man, have you been listening to anything I’ve said?”
Derringer blinked, too ashamed to admit that he really hadn’t. The last thing he recalled hearing was something about old man Bostwick’s will being read that day. “Sort of,” he said, frowning. “You were talking about old man Bostwick’s will.”
Herman Bostwick owned the land that was adjacent to Jason’s. For years, Bostwick had promised Jason if he ever got the mind to sell, he would let Jason make him the first offer. The man died in his sleep and had been laid to rest a couple of days ago. It didn’t take much to detect from the look in Jason’s eyes that he wanted the land and Hercules, Bostwick’s prize stallion. A colt from Hercules would be a dream come true for any horse breeder.
“So who did he leave the land to?” Derringer asked. “I hope it didn’t go to his brother. Kenneth Bostwick is one mean son of a gun and will take us to the cleaners if we have to buy the land and Hercules from him.”
Jason shook his head and took a sip of his beer. “The old man left everything to his granddaughter. Got Kenneth kind of pissed off about it.”
Derringer lifted a brow. “His granddaughter? I didn’t know he had one.”
“It seems not too many people did. I understand that he and his son had a falling-out years ago, and when he left for college the son never returned to these parts. He married and settled down in the South. He had one child, a girl.”
Derringer nodded and took a sip of his own beer. “So this granddaughter got the land and Hercules?”
“Yes. The only good thing is that I heard she’s a prissy miss from Savannah who probably won’t be moving here permanently. More than likely she’ll be open to selling everything, and I want to be ready to buy when she does.”
Jason then slid down to sit on the steps across from him, and Derringer looked out across his land. It was late afternoon and he still couldn’t get out of his mind what had happened earlier that day with Lucia. If she thought he was done with her then she should think again.
He glanced over at his cousin. “Have you ever met a woman that got in your blood, real good?”
Jason just stared at him for a long moment. It didn’t take much to see that Derringer’s question had caught his cousin off guard. But he knew Jason; he liked mulling things over—sometimes too damn long.
“No. I’m not sure that can happen. At least not with me. Any woman who gets in my blood will end up being the one I marry. I don’t have a problem with settling down and getting married one day, mind you. One day, when I’m ready, I want to start a family. I want to will everything I’ve built up to my wife and kids. You know what they say, ‘You can’t take it with you.’”
Jason then studied Derringer. “Why do you ask? Have you met a woman that’s gotten deep in your blood?”
Derringer glanced away for a moment and then returned his gaze to Jason. “Yes…Lucia.”
“Lucia Conyers?”
“Yeah.”
Jason stood, almost knocking over his beer bottle. “Damn, man, how do you figure that? You only had one date with her.”
Derringer smiled. “I’ve had two. We went skating last night.” He didn’t say anything and wanted to see what Jason had to say. Jason sat back down without opening his mouth.