Judy Duarte – Wed By Fortune (страница 1)
MEET THE FORTUNES!
Fortune of the Month: Graham Fortune Robinson
Age: 32
Vital statistics: Broad shoulders, rugged build and a heart as big as Texas.
Claim to fame: Graham has shunned the family’s multimillion-dollar business in favor of a rancher’s life on the Galloping G. His father would say he has “untapped potential.” Graham believes he is already living the dream.
Romantic prospects: Impossible. He’s crushing on his childhood buddy Sasha-Marie Smith. She has a seven-year-old daughter and is expecting a second one. Did we mention that she is technically still married? Her soon-to-be ex walked out on her and she’s seven months pregnant. He’s sure romance is the very last thing on her mind.
“I’ve never done what anyone has expected of me. I’m a cowboy in a family of computer geeks. I’d rather punch a cow than a time clock. And I’d rather live alone than settle.
So now I’ve finally found my Miss Right. But the timing is absolutely wrong. Sasha has a baby on the way. Maybe she’s still stuck on her ex. And for sure she doesn’t think of me as anything other than a friend. What kind of guy pursues a woman who’s got so much weighing on her slender shoulders?
On the other hand, what self-respecting cowboy can ignore a beautiful damsel in distress?”
The Fortunes of Texas: All Fortune’s Children— Money. Family. Cowboys. Meet the Austin Fortunes!
Wed by Fortune
Judy Duarte
Since 2002,
To Allison Leigh, Stella Bagwell, Karen Rose Smith, Michelle Major and Nancy Robards Thompson. And to the fabulous Marcia Book Adirim, who has those amazing stories of the Fortunes dancing in her head.
Thanks for working with me on the 2016 Fortunes of Texas Anniversary series and for making this book a pleasure to write!
Contents
Graham Robinson had spent the morning working up a good sweat, thanks to a drunken teenager who’d gotten behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade after a rowdy, unsupervised party last night.
The kid had apparently lost control of the expensive, late-model SUV and plowed through a large section of the fence at the Galloping G Ranch, where Graham lived. Then he left the vehicle behind and ran off.
Both Graham and the sheriff who’d been here earlier knew it had been a teenager because on the passenger seat a frayed backpack, as well as a catcher’s mitt, sat next to an invitation with directions to a ranch six miles down the road.
Sadly, the same thing could easily have happened to him, when he’d been seventeen. That’s why he and Roger Gibault, his friend and the owner of the ranch, were determined to turn the Galloping G into a place where troubled teenage boys could turn their lives around.
Back in the day, both Graham and Roger’s late son had what Roger called rebellious streaks. Graham’s dad, the patriarch of the famous Austin Robinsons—and an alleged member of the Fortune family—wasn’t so open-minded.
But after Peter’s tragic death, things had changed. Graham had changed. Now, instead of creating problems for others to clean up, Graham was digging out several damaged posts and replacing broken railings.
After he hammered one last nail into the rail he’d been fixing, he blew out a sigh and glanced at the well-trained Appaloosa gelding that was grazing nearby on an expanse of green grass. He’d driven out here earlier in the twelve-year-old Gator ATV, but the engine had been skipping. So after unloading his tools and supplies, he’d taken it back to the barn, where Roger could work on the engine. Then he’d ridden back on the gelding. Hopefully, Roger had the vehicle fixed by now. If not, they’d probably have to replace it with a newer model.
When the familiar John Deere engine sounded, Graham looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, Roger had worked his mechanical magic and was approaching at a fairly good clip.
Moments later, the aging rancher pulled to a stop, the engine idling smoothly.
Glad to have a break, Graham winked at his elderly friend. “Did you come out here to check up on me and make sure I wasn’t loafing?”
“I knew better than that. I’d be more apt to make sure you hadn’t worked yourself to death.” Roger lifted his battered black Stetson, then raked a hand through his thinning gray hair.
The fact that he hadn’t returned Graham’s smile was cause for concern. “What’s up?”
Roger paused for a beat, then said, “Sasha-Marie just called. She’s on her way here.”
Graham nearly dropped the hammer he was holding. Roger and his niece had once been close, but they’d drifted apart after her marriage. “Is she still living in California?”
“I don’t think so. But I’m not sure.”
When Sasha-Marie had been in kindergarten, she lost her parents in a small plane crash. Her maternal grandparents, who lived in Austin, were granted custody, but she spent many of her school vacations with Roger, her paternal uncle.
Since Roger and his late wife had only one child, a son who’d been born to them late in life, Sasha-Marie became the daughter they’d never had and the apple of her doting uncle’s eye.
Roger had been proud when she went off to college, but he hadn’t approved of the man she’d met there and started dating. After she married the guy and moved out of state, Roger rarely mentioned her.
Graham hadn’t met her husband. He’d been invited to the wedding, although he hadn’t attended. He’d come down with a nasty stomach flu and had stayed on the ranch.
According to Roger, it had been a “big wingding,” and most likely the sort of elegant affair that Graham’s family usually put on, the kind of function he still did his best to avoid whenever possible.
On the morning of the wedding, as Graham had gone to replenish a glass of water, he’d met Roger in the Galloping G kitchen. Roger had been dressed in a rented tuxedo, his hair slicked back, his lips pursed in a scowl. His job was to give away the bride, but he hadn’t been happy about it.
“This ain’t right,” he’d said.
Graham thought he might be talking about the monkey suit he’d been asked to wear. “You mean all the wedding formalities?”
Roger shook his head and clucked his tongue. “I tried to talk her out of it, but she won’t hear it. Just because she’s gone off to college, she thinks she’s bright. But she’s been so blinded by all the glitz and glamour she can’t see what a louse her future husband really is.”
Having grown up in tech mogul Gerald Robinson’s household, Graham had experienced plenty of glitz and glamour himself. He knew a lot of phony people who flashed their wealth, which was one reason he was content to be a cowboy and manage the Galloping G for Roger.
The other reason was that he wanted to look out for the old rancher and his best interests. That’s why the news of Sasha’s return today was a big deal.