“I missed you, too.” Focusing on his sister gave Colleen the chance to tear her gaze from Sage’s. “How is everyone doing? Marlene?”
“She really misses Dad. A lot. We all do, of course, but...” Angie shrugged. “It’s hard. And since the reading of the will, it’s even harder.” Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Sage. “Why don’t you get Colleen’s suitcase and I’ll walk her in.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I can—”
Sage nudged her hand off the handle, and a now-familiar buzz of sensation hummed from her fingers, up her arm, to rocket around in the center of her chest. He looked at her, and in his eyes, she saw the realization that he’d felt it, too. That electric spark that happened whenever they touched. As if a match had been held to a slow burning fuse that was about to reach the explosives it was attached to.
Then he picked up her suitcase as if it weighed nothing—and Colleen knew she hadn’t packed light. For another long second, he looked at her and Colleen’s heart beat began to race. Her mouth went dry, her knees went weak and if Angie hadn’t been there, watching the two of them, she might have just thrown herself at Sage.
“Come on,” Angie said then, splintering that happy little fantasy. Colleen followed her into the house and once she was there, she buried those feelings in the curiosity she had for Sage’s ranch. She’d heard J.D. describe it, of course, but the reality was so much more.
Outside, it was set up much like the Big Blue. Outbuildings, barns, stables, though from what she’d seen at a quick glance, there was a much bigger corral for working horses than J.D.’s ranch provided. Obviously, that made sense, because she knew that Sage bred and raised racehorses. But it was the inside of the main house that had her captivated.
It, too, was constructed of hand-hewn logs, but there the similarity with Big Blue ended. Instead of the ironwork that made up much of the Lassiter home ranch, Sage’s place was all wood and glass. Wood banisters on the wide staircase, intricately carved to look like vines climbing up posts. Bookcases that looked as though they’d been sculpted into the walls, boasted hundreds of leather-bound and paperback books.
The wide front windows afforded a view that was so spectacular it took her breath away. Despite the number of trees on the property, the view was wide-open and provided a glimpse of the valley and the city of Cheyenne that at night must be staggering. A stone fireplace dominated one wall and the hand-carved mantel displayed pictures of his brother and sister and a young couple who must have been his biological parents.
While Sage and Angie talked, their conversation veering from muted tones to half shouts, Colleen wandered around the great room. Oak floorboards shone in the sunlight slanting through the windows. Brightly colored rugs dotted the floor, adding more warmth to a room that rang with comfort. Overstuffed brown leather chairs and sofas were gathered in conversational knots and heavy oak tables were laden with yet more stacks of books. She loved it.
The house was perfect and she couldn’t wait to explore the rest of it. It was just as she would like her own home to be—on a smaller scale, of course. A comfortable refuge.
“You don’t understand,” Angie was saying and had Colleen turning around to face the siblings. “Evan is acting as if this is nothing. He keeps offering to let me run the company. But he doesn’t get that him giving me control isn’t the same as having control. He’s trying to take a step back for me at the office, but I don’t want him doing that, so it’s a vicious circle. He thinks I should have control, and I want it, but if Dad didn’t want me to have it, how can I try to claim it? We’re arguing all the time now, and I can’t help wondering why Dad did this. Did he want Evan and I to break up? Or was he really that disappointed in me?”
Colleen saw the torment on Sage’s face and when he reached for his sister, pulling her in tight and wrapping his arms around her, Colleen felt a pang in her tender heart. He was so kind. So loving. Yet when she’d told him just that, he’d denied it. Why couldn’t he see it?
“Dad loved you,” he said simply. “Something else is going on here, Angie, and we will find out what it is.”
His gaze speared into Colleen’s and she felt a quick bolt of ice that snaked along her spine and made her shiver. There was nothing tender in that look. But before she could really wonder what he was thinking, the expression dissolved once again into concern for his sister.
Angie pulled away, spun around and looked at Colleen. “You’re the one who spent the most time with him toward the end. Did he tell you why he was doing this? Why he cut me out as if I were nothing?”
With both Lassiters staring at her, Colleen felt completely ill at ease. She didn’t have answers for them, though she wished she had.
Shaking her head, she could only say, “No, Angie. He didn’t talk about his will with me. I had no idea what he was going to bequeath to everyone.”
“That’s really not an answer though, is it?” Sage muttered and her gaze locked on his. The shutters were in place, but even with him closing her out, she felt the cold emanating from him. Only minutes ago, he’d given her a look filled with heat, and now it was as if he’d shut that part of himself down.
“He talked to you, Colleen,” he prodded. “If not about his will, then about how he was feeling. What he was thinking. And you know what he said. So tell us.”
She blinked at him. “What can I tell you that you don’t already know? He loved you all. He talked about you with such warmth. So much pride...”
“Then why would he do this?” Angie demanded. “Why?”
“I just don’t know.” Colleen sighed heavily. “I wish I did.”
Sage’s features went very still, as if he were considering what she said and wondering if she was holding something back. Finally he muttered, “Angie, she doesn’t know. No one does. Yet. We’ll find out, though, I swear.”
“For all the good it’ll do,” she said and forced a smile. “I’m really sorry. I don’t mean to dump on you guys. I’m just so torn up about this and so...confused.”
“Your father loved you, Angie,” Colleen said softly. “He was proud of you.”
Her eyes glistened with tears, but she blinked them back and lifted her chin. “I want to believe you, Colleen. I really do.”
“You can.”
“I hope so.” Nodding, she turned to her brother. “I’m gonna go. I promised Marlene I’d take her into town for a nice dinner, and if I’m going to make it, I’ve got to start back now.”
“Okay,” Sage said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “Try not to worry. We’ll work this out.”
“Sure.” She flashed a smile at Colleen. “And now, I can leave you two alone to do...whatever you were planning before I showed up.”
Colleen flushed. “Oh, please don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just here so Sage can show me what life in the mountains is like. I want to move up here and—”
“You’re going to move here?” Angie interrupted.
“Not here, here,” Colleen corrected with a fast glance at Sage to see what his reaction was to his sister’s teasing. But it
