Fortune's Proposal by Allison Leigh Page B

drove back to Molly’s Pride in silence.
    Everyone else had gone to the Double Crown to be with Lily.
    Drew couldn’t bring himself to be among them.
    Not because of his feelings where Lily was concerned. He’d seen for himself just how devastated she’d been when his father hadn’t made it to the church.
    But because Drew couldn’t get the last, angry words he’d had with William out of his head.
    He’d told his father he could go to hell and take his new wife with him, if William really expected Drew to find a freaking wife.
    What if his father didn’t come back?
    What if he couldn’t?
    â€œWho are Lloyd Fredericks and Lyndsey Pollack?” Deanna’s soft voice finally broke the silence when they went inside his brother’s hacienda.
    â€œIt’s an old story.”
    â€œIt didn’t sound that way back at the church.”
    His hands tightened at his sides, remembering the turmoil the duo had wrought on the family. He turned toward the center of the house, his shoes echoing hollowly against the distressed floor as his thoughts kept whirling inside his head.
    â€œLloyd was Frannie’s first husband,” he finally answered. “Lyndsey was Josh’s girlfriend. She was pregnant with Brandon, but her real interest wasn’t in making a family with Josh—it was the huge inheritance from Frannie’s father that he came into when he turned eighteen.”
    â€œFrannie’s father being your aunt Cindy’s husband,” Deanna clarified.
    â€œOne of four husbands.” He reached the alcove that overlooked the center courtyard and stared out at the open space. Scrolled iron sconces cast pools of light around the courtyard and the sprinkles of rain were increasing, making the tile on the fountain gleam.
    He looked at Deanna.
    She was still clutching his jacket around herself and her eyes looked huge for her face. Her mother might have some emotional problems to deal with, but he seriously doubted that Deanna had the kind of traumatic events in her family tree that the Fortunes did.
    And now, he felt like the worst kind of selfish idiot for not having forewarned her. God only knew what was going on in Red Rock with his father disappearing.
    â€œYou should go back to San Diego,” he said abruptly.
    â€œWhat? Now? No way.”
    â€œWhat if things get dangerous?”
    Her brows pulled together, a mutinous set to her slightly pointed chin that he’d seen often enough in the past to know she meant business. “What if they do?” she challenged. “Your family believes we’re engaged.” She waved her hand with the ring, as if he needed reminding. “What kind of a person would I seem like if I cut and ran now?”
    â€œThey’d think maybe I was trying to keep you safe!”
    She looked bewildered. “From what?”
    â€œMurder. Arson. Take your pick.” His voice turned flat. He looked back out at the rain. It was easier than looking at her. Because when he did, all he wanted to do was pull her in his arms and just hang on. “We’ve had all of that touch our family at one time or another,” he finished.
    â€œGood Lord.” Her dress rustled as she sat on the edge of one of the deep leather chairs positioned to look out on the courtyard. “Just fill me in, all right? Because my imagination will come up with things probably much worse than what actually has happened.”
    â€œDon’t count on it.” He exhaled.
    â€œWhat happened with Josh’s father?”
    â€œLloyd, you mean?” He grimaced. “Turned out he wasn’t Josh’s father at all, but everyone—including Frannie, thanks to her mother’s machinations—thought he was.” He sat down on the coffee table, still looking out on the courtyard. “In any case, the inheritance that Lyndsey had her eyes on was the same money that Lloyd wanted to get his hands on—one of the