Mandisa waved at Mama Indy on her way in the house and made a quick detour upstairs for her wallet. She stepped into the walk-in closet, picking up one of two purses she’d brought with her. She made a quick check inside for her wallet and headed toward the door. When she reached it, she heard a harsh voice that sounded like Slade. Concerned, she walked closer to the balcony door, and opened it slightly to listen without detection.

“What’chu want, Bull?”

“You need to learn some respect, boy, when you’re speaking to your daddy.”

“I’m a grown man on my own land. I’ll speak how I want to uninvited guests that show up on my doorstep. Again, what do you want, Bull?”

Slade’s voice was off. It was rough, heavy with anger and annoyance, so unlike his usual light tone. Since she’d met him, Slade had been nothing but kind to Mama Indy and everyone else he encountered on his ranch. The way he spoke to his surrogate mother, the care and regard Slade held for the elderly woman was obvious in all his interactions with her. Mandisa wondered what could cause such a shift in Slade’s kind personality, make him demonstrate such blatant acrimony for his father.

She was about to lean in closer to hear more of their conversation when she heard a knock at the door.

“Mandisa, it’s Mama Indy. Aaron’s out back waiting to take you shopping. It’s best not to keep that sulking brute waiting. He can get a bit testy.”

Unwilling to let the matron catch her snooping, Mandisa stepped away from the balcony door, storing away what she’d heard in her “to-be-discussed-later” file. She was still attempting to comb through the unanswered questions her discovery poured into her head when she grabbed the doorknob to the bedroom door.

“Everything all right, Mandisa?”

Mandisa nodded briefly, forcing a small smile onto her lips.

“Yes,” she answered. “I wanted to make sure I had my wallet in the right purse.”

“I understand that, but I’m certain if Slade’s sending Aaron with you, Slade will be covering the cost of your trip to town.”

Mandisa didn’t doubt Mama Indy’s assumption. Slade took care of all her needs, with or without her request. Maybe it was time she began doing the same for him?

Once the two made it downstairs, Mandisa waved goodbye to Mama Indy and opened the back door to find the same black SUV she’d arrived in waiting for her. Aaron was leaning against the passenger door, texting on his phone. When she closed the door behind her, he lifted his head and pushed his phone into his jeans pocket.

“Hope I’m not interrupting.”

Aaron shrugged a shoulder and opened the door for her. She shook her head in jest and climbed into the SUV.

This is gonna be fun.

By the time Aaron sat next to her in the driver’s seat, Mandisa was belted in and ready for the trip. When the sound of the turning engine filled the cab, she looked out the passenger window to get another look at Slade’s property. It didn’t matter which direction she looked, it was all beautiful. Strong, vibrant, and welcoming, his land mimicked the sensation of a comforting hug, an invitation to come in and rest a while.

When they made it back to the main road, Mandisa pulled her attention from the receding tree line that surrounded the perimeter of Slade’s property and focused on Aaron. “So, how long have you known Slade?”

He spared her a brief glance and returned his gaze to the road. Save for the quick moment of eye contact, she’d have believed he hadn’t heard her. There was no reaction, not the slightest twinge to make her believe he’d actually heard or understood her words.

“We grew up together on his grandmother’s ranch. After my dad died, there weren’t a lot of options for my mother and me. When Mrs. Logan offered her a job with good pay and living quarters, my mother moved us here from Arizona. My mom passed a few years after moving here. Mama Indy took me in. Been here ever since.”

“You’ve never left Texas in all that time?”

Aaron shook his head. “No. Had the chance to leave when I was going to law school. But my family is here. Couldn’t see my way to leaving them. I went to a local school instead.”

Mandisa kept her head turned and her gaze focused on Aaron as he spoke. “A lawyer, huh?”

She could see a smile creeping up on the corner of his mouth. “What? Dusty ranch hands can’t be lawyers too?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I’m just wondering who or what was so special that you would spend all that time and money training to be a lawyer, then give it up to be a ranch foreman.”

His smile bled away and the muscles around his jaw began to tighten. “As I said, my family needed me.”

“Your family meaning Slade and Mama Indy?”

He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as he drove, still looking out at the open road before them. “Slade and I have been through too much to be just friends. He’s a brother. Both our moms died when we were young. Mama Indy raised us both.”

The sound of the sweet woman’s name brought a smile to Mandisa’s lips. “Sounds like Mama Indy is great with taking in strays. My mom was like that too. All the neighborhood kids came to her for mothering.”

Mandisa had been an only child by birth, but the truth was she’d shared her mother with every kid in Brownsville who needed a positive mother figure in their lives. It had been frustrating at times, but the truth was, when she’d lost her mother, those same kids came back to help her grieve such a terrible loss. Kandi was proof that you didn’t need blood to be siblings, to be family.

Mandisa glanced slightly out of her peripheral vision during the exceptionally long pause that followed Aaron’s last response. He wasn’t a man of many words, and that made Mandisa nervous. Did she fear Aaron? No. But the silence made her wonder just what was going through the stoic Native American man’s head as they made their way along the road.

“Why are you here?”

The direct, yet strange question pulled her out of her musings and forced her to turn her head in his direction. She was still trying to gauge if he was being a smart-ass or if she should take Aaron’s query seriously when he repeated the question again.

“Why are you here, Mandisa? Is it for Slade, or the deal?”

She crossed her arms and leaned her head against the headrest, gauging how much of her inner Brooklyn to unleash before she opened her mouth. Depending on the severity of the situation, Mandisa could get Brooklyn loud and crazy in the blink of an eye.

“Is this the part where you tell me to leave your friend alone and never return to these parts again?”

Aaron shook his head, his long curtain of midnight hair flowing in waves with each movement. “I have no power over whether you go or stay. I’m just trying to gauge your reasons for coming to Havenheart.”

She nodded, slightly impressed by Aaron’s candor. “The truth?”

She waited a bit while she gathered her thoughts. She was certain this was some kind of test—she just couldn’t tell which way she was supposed to answer his question. His face was impassive, giving nothing away to help lead her in the right direction.

Mandisa looked out the passenger window once more, watching the blanket of vegetation gradually pass by as they made their way into the city limits. She continued staring at the landscape, wondering why this simple question seemed so difficult for her to answer.

Of course she was here for the deal. She’d be crazy not to try to win this bet with Slade. But there was more to it. The disappointment that filled her when she believed Slade had wanted only business dealings between them was proof of that. The zing of electricity she experienced any time he touched her also served as proof that this was more than just a business wager. Slade was more than just a business associate. She returned her gaze to Aaron and could see him give her a cursory glance from his profile.

Tired of trying to figure out the right thing to say, she simply spoke from the heart. “Both,” she answered. “I’m here for both Slade and the deal.”

She could see the slight lift of the corner of Aaron’s mouth turning into a smirk as he processed her answer. The tiny gesture coaxed a matching smile onto her own lips as she accepted the truth of her statement. Yes, the money was a nice draw. Nevertheless, there was something about Slade that sweetened the deal even more.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Aaron’s voice boomed inside the vehicle. “An honest woman, and from New York City, no less.”

She should have told him to kiss her ass, but his smile and brazen reaction to her answer made her giggle. She curtailed her laughter long enough to look over at him again.

“So I take it I passed whatever little test you were throwing at me?”

“Not so much as a test. More of a gauge. If you can admit to me that the money is just as interesting as the man, then I know you’re being honest. I know you’re considering him. That’s all that matters to me.”

She nodded in acceptance of his estimation. Aaron had no worries. Consideration of Slade was all she seemed to be able to do since she’d met him. Her mind, her focus should have been completely on business. Still, Slade was the only item on her brain’s agenda since she’d laid eyes on him in that lounge back in Brooklyn.

She smiled to herself as she thought of the people Slade surrounded himself with. First Mama Indy and now Aaron. Each of them so obviously dedicated to Slade it made a welcomed warmth spread through her.

Mandisa gave another brief glance to the man seated next to her in the SUV. He’d pulled no punches, made it plain what the purpose of his question was. Truthfully, she couldn’t be upset about that. How could she? She knew there was a woman in Brooklyn who had and would do the same for her to anyone who appeared to be easing his way inside Mandisa’s circle. Sharing traits with her best friend, Kandi, was a definite way to earn Mandisa’s respect. If she wasn’t certain of it before, Mandisa knew it now—Aaron was someone she’d get along fine with.

* * *

Slade sat at the kitchen table reading his tablet and sipping on a cold glass of homemade sweet tea. He was about to scroll to the next page when the sound of Mama Indy’s voice halted his motion.

“Was that your daddy’s car I saw out in the yard earlier?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He took another sip and set the glass quietly down on a coaster. Many years of living with Indira Price had taught him to appreciate when someone else does the cleaning for you by keeping things tidy. This included picking up after yourself and keeping water rings from cold drinks off her table.

“What did he want?”

Slade didn’t look up from his tablet. He simply shook his head and answered, “He didn’t want anything, Mama.”

Slade heard the running water at the sink suddenly stop. Soon Mama Indy was sitting across from him at the small kitchen table. “Slade? How long you and me been doing this dance?”

“What’chu mean, Mama?”

“I mean, I ask you what Bull wanted, and you tell me nothing, ’cause you think you’re protecting me from worrying about Bull’s nonsense.”

Slade grabbed a cookie from the table and shoved it whole into his mouth before answering. “Not sure I know what you mean, Mama.”

“Slade?” Her sharp voice let him know she meant business. He’d caught hell one time too many as a kid to not heed the warning that came with that sound.

“Mama, Bull is threatening to sell off Venus. In order to save it, I have to get Mandisa to sell me her company.”

Mama Indy shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, another sign that she wasn’t pleased with Slade’s behavior. “Please tell me you didn’t bring that nice girl down here under false pretenses. I know I raised you better than that, Slade.”

“Mama, Mandisa is here because I want her to be. The business thing is important, but it’s secondary.”

She squinted her eyes as she watched him carefully, measuring his truthfulness, looking for his tells. When she appeared satisfied Slade was being truthful she leaned forward and placed a weathered brown hand over his.

“Bull has taken a lot from you, Slade. He’s always forced you to play his game to get the things you deserve. Don’t let Mandisa be another thing that you lose to him.”

The sweet drink in Slade’s mouth turned bitter with her warning. He closed his eyes for a moment, and a highlight reel of Bull’s transgressions against Slade played on a loop. Bull’s treatment of his natural mother while she was alive, her subsequent death resulting from that ill-treatment, and the most recent loss, Macy.

“Slade, be careful.” Mama Indy’s voice pulled him out of the deluge of memories flooding his mind.

“I already told you I wouldn’t let him near Mandisa,” Slade answered.

The older woman shook her head and continued. “I’m not talking about your daddy, Slade. I’m talking about you. You have a tendency to rush into things, things that aren’t necessarily right for you. You see something, and you don’t stop until it’s yours. That quality can be a good thing. But it can also hurt you if you never take the time to ask yourself if you should be chasing the thing in your sights.”

Slade couldn’t deny her statement. He had run in head first in several situations without thinking about the consequences. And he’d suffered tremendously every time.

“You’re the best judge of character I know, Mama. Are you saying you don’t think I should try to see where this thing goes with Mandisa and me?”

She stood up and gathered his face into her soft hands, leaning down to press a loving kiss to his forehead. It was her way of soothing him. As a child when he’d scraped a knee, or Bull had done something to send Slade away in tears, she’d always console him by granting him a warm kiss on the forehead. It was his signal that everything was going to be all right.

“That young lady is not Macy. She may be here about business, but she’s here for you too.”

He laughed quietly, her motherly adoration the remedy to the dark thoughts beginning to swirl in his head. “How could you possibly know that, Mama? You’ve spent less than a handful of hours with her.”

The matron waved a dismissive hand at Slade and walked over to the kitchen counter. “If you know what you’re looking for, it don’t take a whole lot of time to get to know folks. The fact that Mandisa doesn’t take her eyes off you when you’re in the same room tells me she’s more concerned with you than any business deal. She tracks you across a room, watches you hard when she thinks you’re not looking. Her face lights up with just the sound of your voice.”

Mama Indy turned away from him, grabbed a knife from the counter top, and began slicing vegetables in preparation for their evening meal.

“You know what else I notice?” she asked. Her voice was filled with just enough mirth to know whatever her observation, it was going to be at his expense. “I notice that you do the same thing. Watch her when you think no one is looking, light up like a Christmas tree when you hear that gal’s voice. Macy didn’t do that for you, or to you. Macy only lit up when you pulled something new out of a box for her.”

If that ain’t the truth.

“Mama, things are still very new with Mandisa, and they’re complicated by business matters. I don’t know where it’s going. Hell, it may not go anywhere. Her home is a four-hour plane ride away from here. I know I like her. I also like spending time with her. That’s all I plan to do while she’s here. As for Bull, I won’t give him the opportunity to destroy this.”

Mama Indy stopped chopping vegetables long enough to look over her shoulder at Slade. Her face was weathered by time, and there was a weariness about her eyes that made the son in him worry for his mama.

“It’s always disturbed me how easily Bull could hate his own child. I did my best to protect you as a boy. So did your grandma. But no matter what we did, we still couldn’t stop that man from hurting you. He’s a hateful man, Slade. Just be careful. He’s mean. If he can’t get to you, he won’t have a problem going after her.”

Every word she’d just spoken was absolute truth. Bull was an evil old man who’d do anything to get his way. It wouldn’t do to take him lightly, not with Mandisa’s wellbeing hanging in the balance.

“I’m working it out, Mama. I’ve already got Aaron working on something for me. I can protect Mandisa. I’m just not so certain about Logan Industries.”

“That business ain’t worth your soul, Slade.” She shook the knife in the air, punctuating each word with a hard jab as she spoke. “Don’t lose your soul to the devil trying to save a thing. Whenever you’re ready to not be at Bull’s mercy, you just need to speak the words, and it’ll be over. Until then, I’m scared you’re fighting a losing battle, son.”

His blood began to boil when he thought about it. Slade had been playing Bull’s game since he was a child, and he’d yet to definitively win. He’d thrown the old man a few times, had even managed to win by default. But never, not once in all their years of battling, had Slade delivered a knockout that would leave his father destroyed. And if Slade was honest, that was what he really wanted—Bull defeated and devastated. Just the way he’d left Slade for all these years.

“I know you think I can just let this go, but I can’t,” Slade replied. “You and Aaron keep telling me to let it go, but it’s my legacy that old buzzard is trying to destroy.”

“Your legacy is what you make it, baby. That business does not define the beautiful boy I raised. It doesn’t begin to represent the fine man you’ve become. The reason Bull is always able to win is because he goads you into being something you aren’t. I’m not saying to give up, or to stop fighting him. I’m saying fight him your way, not his.”