was a friend.”
So he had. At least, those were the words coming out of his mouth. The way he’d acted, the way he’d held her and made her feel was another story altogether. “And now all you want is a wife,” she countered, getting angrier by the moment. “I guess what I want never factors into the equation.”
“What do you want, Cal?”
The question caught her so off guard, she nearly blinked. If she were to say the first thing in her head, it would be that she wanted him to stop stirring up all these unwanted memories and emotions.
“I don’t want anything from you, Luke Parker,” she told him defiantly.
He ignored her. “People always want money. Help me out, Cal, and I’ll take care of you financially. You can quit your job—”
“I’m not quitting my job.” Working for Mamie might be a far cry from what she wanted to do in life, but she could take pride in making the ladies of Latour look prettier, and in the fact that she was earning her own way. “And I refuse to take one cent of Ben Parker’s money.”
He looked almost insulted. “We’re in total agreement then. I wasn’t exactly a bum up in New York, Cal. Trust me, I have more than enough money of my own. Money I’ve learned to put to good use, so I know what’s a good investment.” He glanced over his shoulder at the salon. “You don’t belong at Mamie’s, and we both know it. Keep the job, if it’s that important to you, but you belong in college. That’s why, along with the legal documents making sure you and your son will be well provided for, I’m including a trust fund to finance your education.”
She could feel herself bristling. Magruders didn’t take handouts, especially from a Parker. “I can pay my own way through college, thank you all the same.”
“I know that.” The concession, coupled with his solemn nod, unruffled a few of her feathers. “But in a way,” he went on smoothly, “what I’m offering is a job. This will be part of your salary. And I’m not just talking about your schooling. I’m offering to finance your son’s education, as well.”
Trust Luke to find her Achilles’ heel. Robbie meant everything to her; she’d do just about anything to make his life better.
“And as proof of my good faith,” Luke went on, “I’ll talk to the doctors at the hospital, get them to release your grandfather to our care. If we can keep him from badgering my father any further, I’m sure there’s no need to keep him confined in a strange place.”
With a sudden, painful lump in her throat, Callie remembered the desperation in her grandfather’s eyes, his steely grip on her wrist as he pleaded with her to get him out of that awful institution. She’d felt so helpless, uttering hollow reassurances about trying her best. Sad fact was, her best hadn’t been good enough. She’d exhausted what little savings she’d had, filing appeals and hounding the parish welfare system, only to discover that nobody cared about the Zeke Magruders of this world. Money, that’s what did the talking, and having so darned much of it, Ben Parker talked louder than most.
“You’re too late,” she said, swallowing the lump to make sure her voice sounded even. “Gramps died last winter.”
“Ah, Callie, I’m sorry. I know how much he meant to you.”
Yes, he did, and Luke’s sympathy was almost her undoing. All that grief, so close to the surface, had her saying far more than was wise. “They said it was old age, that they couldn’t find a more specific cause, but up until your father had him committed to that terrible place, Gramps stayed as young as you or I. I know it was wrong, the way he kept harassing your father, but those little mischiefs kept him going, helped him hold tight to the belief that he’d one day get our home back. By locking him away, Ben Parker robbed him of far more than his freedom, Luke. He took away my grandfather’s reason for living. I had to watch that proud old man wither away, powerless to save him, knowing your father’s spite was to blame.”
“Wait a minute, I’m not sure you can call it spite—”
“I call it as I see it, Luke.” She cut in before he could utter one more syllable in defense of his father. “Ben hounded him to death. All because my grandmother chose Gramps and Ben couldn’t handle it. You’d think he would be content with owning half this town, but no, he had to go and take away the one thing of value Gramps had left. Don’t tell me you don’t know that he stole the farm out from under us.”
His blank expression told her he didn’t know about the rather nasty battle they’d fought with his father. “I never heard anything about Ben taking your farm.”
“Gramps took out a mortgage years ago and neglected to tell me,” she went on. “Your father knew about it though. He bought out the savings-and-loan that held the deed. Within a month of the takeover, they served our eviction notice, which was what started Gramps on his harassment campaign. Ben threatened to build a factory there, you see, some smoke-belching monstrosity guaranteed to ruin the land. It is, I believe, his version of having the last laugh.”
“I swear, I didn’t know, Cal.”
“But you do now. And I hope you can understand why I might feel indisposed to trust anyone bearing the Parker name.”
“I’m not my father,” he said quietly. He stared at her a long moment, visibly pleading with her to believe him. “Your beef is with Ben, not me. And quite frankly I can’t think of a better way at getting back at him than by agreeing to this marriage.”
In that much, Luke had a point. It would do her battered heart good to see Ben’s face when his son brought Zeke’s granddaughter to his big old fancy house and introduced her as his wife.
Still, she thought in a flash of sanity, it would be remarkably shortsighted to marry for revenge. Marriage to Luke, even in name only, would be like making a pact with the devil. Short-term, she’d get what she wanted, but in the end there’d be a helluva price to pay.
As if he were indeed Lucifer, Luke didn’t leave the tempting at that. “The fall semester starts in a month. We can get you signed up for some classes right away.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought,” she said slowly, wondering when careless, take-it-as-it-comes Luke Parker had gotten so methodical. “You must really be serious.”
He took her by the arms, forcing her closer. “Never more so. C’mon Callie, what’s left to consider? No matter how you look at it, we both stand to gain.”
Watching him as he talked, her mind flashed back to that long-ago summer when she’d swallowed each and every word his sweet, coaxing lips had uttered. She’d given herself completely to the youth he’d been then—her hopes, her sympathy, her trust. Even now she could feel a softening as the well-remembered yearnings rose up from deep inside her.
She caught herself up short. What was she thinking? Insanity, to even listen to this man.
“Help me out here,” Luke continued, applying gentle pressure to her arms, “and I promise you won’t regret it.”
Something snapped inside her, turning her insides into cold, hard steel. “You’re real glib, Luke Parker. We’ve been down this road, only now I know better than to listen. It’s all just words to you. You use them like water but you give them no meaning, no substance.” She poked a finger into his chest. “Around here, around me, don’t you dare go making promises
