Fortune's Secret Marriage
Author
Jo McNally
Reads
15.5K
Chapters
19
Married… To her number-one enemy? After the shocking discovery of her family's true identity, a sheep show in Las Vegas ought to be mundane for Dahlia Fortune. That is, until the Texas rancher takes a spontaneous walk down the aisle with her new next door neighbor and childhood rival, Rawlston Ames! A quick annulment's clearly the way to keep this whirlwind marriage from becoming front-page news back home. But why can't Rawlston cut ties with a woman who's always been alternately infuriating — and infatuating?
Chapter One
Dahlia Fortune’s Western boots clicked on the marble floor like stilettos as she strode across the lobby of the Indigo Blaze Casino and Convention Center. Heads began to turn, and she slowed her pace. She didn’t usually move quite so...aggressively...but her dislike of Las Vegas was showing.
She was a Texas cowgirl through and through. She liked open vistas and the smell of saddle leather and horses. And just because she was staying in a luxurious suite at the hotel this week, she really wasn’t one for the trappings of the rich and famous. She supposed she was wealthy, but thankfully not famous. Crowds weren’t her thing, and she definitely didn’t want to be the center of attention.
She could handle it when needed, of course. After all, she was the daughter of a ruthless businessman—who was not a Fortune—and he’d raised her and her five siblings to be ready to take on the world without showing any sign of weakness. That didn’t mean she liked it. Dahlia would rather be riding a horse or sitting alone working on her needle felt art. But the national sheep farmers convention was winding to a close, and she didn’t want to miss the Best in Show competition coming up.
Her pace slowed again as she found herself stuck behind yet another wedding party. She’d been bumping into brides and grooms all week—yet another reason to dislike Vegas. There were weddings happening everywhere. Elvis weddings, superhero weddings, grunge weddings, champagne weddings... The only thing they usually had in common was one or both wearing some sort of wedding veil. The gift shops were full of the things, in every color, length and price point.
The couple in front of her now had brought friends, and the whole crowd had clearly been partying for a while. They were carrying champagne bottles, waving them in the air as the hotel staff watched warily to make sure the bottles weren’t open. The two grooms each wore white tuxedo jackets over... Speedos. Their veils matched the swim trunks—one orange and one green. She guessed they were Irish, and it was confirmed when one of their pals started step-dancing.
Vegas weddings were ridiculous. But she’d yet to see a newly hitched duo who didn’t look ecstatically happy and in love. Well...a few of them were too drunk to be sure about the in love part. Those couples got sloppier as the nights grew later, sometimes barely holding each other up. But they seemed happy. And they were, well...married. Something she hadn’t managed to accomplish in her thirty-two years on this planet.
Dahlia managed to work her way past the Irish wedding and turned down the hallway leading to the exhibition arena. She was hoping that whole unmarried issue would be resolved as soon as her boyfriend, Carter Powers, returned from his business trip to Europe. It seemed like she was always waiting on Carter to show up lately, with all his business travel and now, talk of running for office. He’d been a little distant emotionally, too, after her move from Cactus Grove to Chatelaine and changing her last name from Windham to Fortune.
Carter wasn’t big on being impulsive, and she’d been nothing but that over the past few months—ever since her father’s death and Mom’s stunning discovery about her past. Turns out Wendy Fortune was a long-lost member of the well-known Fortune family, meaning her children were Fortunes, too. Dahlia and her siblings had all been dealing with so many changes in their lives at the time, so why not honor Mom’s request that they take the Fortune name and move to Chatelaine to be closer to other members of the Fortune family? Although, admittedly, some did so with more enthusiasm than others.
Dad had been...difficult. Hard. Cold. Demanding. Still, a name change was a big step. But he was gone and their mother was here. And when sweet Wendy Wind—er, make that Wendy Fortune—wanted something, she had a way of making it happen. In this case, she’d done so by buying a massive working ranch on Lake Chatelaine with six luxury lakefront log homes on it. One for each of her children.
Dahlia couldn’t blame Carter for being overwhelmed with her life choices in the six months since they’d met. But she still had a hunch he was coming back from Europe with an engagement ring. He was always talking of what a great match they made. In fact, he said that more than he mentioned how much he loved her. He tended to talk about loving them together more than loving her. But despite her father’s personal faults, she respected Carter for being a hard-driving businessman like her dad had been. If he was approaching marriage from a practical point of view, she had no problem with that. It was a merger of sorts. It wasn’t like she was all emotional about things, either. She cared for Carter. And as far as she was concerned, that was a solid foundation for marriage.
Some people got too caught up in the mushy romance stuff instead of focusing on compatibility. Her parents had lived largely separate lives, but they’d made their partnership work...for the most part. Dahlia entered the exhibition center, smiling at her naked left hand as she pushed the door open. Soon she’d be sporting a diamond—she was sure of it.
The Best in Show competition was just starting, and she hurried to the main arena. The Dorper sheep were so cute, with their black faces and floppy ears. They looked like the Shaun the Sheep character in the popular animated TV show. But cute wasn’t a factor in her decision-making this week. Instead, she searched for Sally Mathison and her award-winning Texas Merino sheep. It was no surprise to find the older woman in the arena with a beautiful, fluffy ram with short, curly horns. The ram had already won Best of Breed and, just as Dahlia walked up to the fence, Yellow Ross of Texas won Best in Show.
Dahlia applauded with the other sheep farmers watching, satisfied that she’d made the right decision. Ross would be moving to the Fortune Family Ranch next week, along with thirty ewes. Another fifty sheep would arrive from two other farms farther north, in Texas Hill Country. They would be the beginning of Dahlia’s dream coming true—raising her own sheep and selling their highly prized merino wool. And, of course, she’d use the wool for her own crafts, too. She caught Sally’s eye and gave her a thumbs-up across the ring. Tomorrow, she’d head home to Texas and inform her family that she’d be adding sheep to the ranch livestock.
Across the sheep pens, she saw a tall man with a vaguely familiar stride moving through the crowd. He wore a well-worn cowboy hat and a dark blue Western shirt. She froze.
No. It couldn’t be...
At that moment, he looked up as if she’d called out to him. His gray-eyed gaze slammed into hers from forty feet away. It was him. Rawlston Ames. Damn it. The guy had been her nemesis since grade school, floating through life with his aw-shucks charm and deep Texas drawl. Always outdoing her in school and in most of the livestock shows. She’d work herself to exhaustion and he’d stroll into the ring and flash that killer smile at the judges, then waltz out with the blue ribbon.
To be fair, the guy was legitimately smart and his family had a successful ranch in Cactus Grove. He’d been an only child with adoring parents. So yes, she might have been just a bit jealous. Rawlston had such a knack for showing up at the most annoying times, though. It wasn’t until after she’d agreed to move to Chatelaine with her family that she discovered Rawlston owned a large ranch there. One that bordered the Fortune Family Ranch. Just her luck.
And now, here he was in Vegas. At a sheep show. She turned on her heel. Maybe he hadn’t recognized her.
“Dahlia! Wait up!”
She kept walking, hoping she was just imagining that was Rawlston’s voice. She was having a good day, and if that guy had suddenly decided to be a sheep farmer, too, she’d absolutely lose it.
“Dahlia! Wait!”
He was closer now, and she stopped. Running from him would be undignified. He was almost at her side by the time she turned. She couldn’t help noticing the random women watching him with interest. Yeah, he was that kind of guy. Tall and lanky, with a stride as smooth as his voice. A man’s man who made the ladies swoon. So irritating. She put her hands on her hips.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Rawlston chuckled in surprise. Leave it to Dahlia Windham Fortune to waste no time in setting him back on his heels. She’d been doing it since high school.
“I think what you meant to say is ‘Hi, Rawlston, how nice to see you again.’”
Color rose on her porcelain cheeks. “That’s the thing, though,” she answered. “I keep seeing you everywhere lately. Even after I moved to Chatelaine—surprise—you now live in Chatelaine. I decide to raise sheep, and suddenly you’re here at the sheepherding convention in Las Vegas. I thought you raised cattle?”
“I do, and I’m not planning on changing livestock anytime soon.” Rawlston nodded off to his right. “I was in town for a farm equipment convention and stopped by to say hi to a navy pal who’s a vendor here for animal husbandry supplies.” He reached out and touched her shoulder, moving the two of them out of the way of a teen boy pulling a cart loaded with hay bales and bags of feed. Exhibitors were packing up now that the show was over. “Are you really looking to raise sheep?”
Some of her brittleness eased, and her chin rose in pride. “The Best in Show ram will be moving to Chatelaine next week.”
“Congratulations. I didn’t know the Fortune Family Ranch was branching into the sheep biz.”
She gave a flippant one-shoulder shrug. “They don’t all know about it yet. But it’s a big ranch. I’m sure they can handle me raising a few sheep on my portion.”
Rawlston wasn’t so sure about that. The Windhams...he caught himself. He knew they were Fortunes now, but he’d known them as Windhams his entire life. Whatever their names were now, they could be a prickly bunch. Their dad, Casper Windham, had been a real SOB. Arrogant, greedy, detached. His one love was Windham Plastics, a mega producer of plastic products that had been the target of environmentalists for years. Casper had seemed to regard his six children as assets more than family.
That kind of upbringing affected a kid. Rawlston had gone to school with Dahlia and her siblings, and each of them seemed to absorb the stress of their cold, demanding father differently. But they’d all come through it intact, as far as he could see. They’d each developed their own defense mechanisms, from being driven and competitive to overpleasing. Dahlia fell closer to the driven end of the spectrum. She’d always been fiercely independent.
An older woman walked up to them, giving Dahlia a quick hug. The woman was obviously a rancher, with her trim jeans and well-worn boots and hat.
“How about that Ross, huh?” the woman said, beaming. “You bought yourself a champion!” She turned to Rawlston. “Sorry to interrupt you two. I’m Sally Mathison, owner of the Mathison Ranch outside of Dallas. And you must be the boyfriend—”
“No!” Dahlia almost shouted the denial, making Rawlston smile. He’d rarely seen her get flustered. “This is not Carter. This is...” She glanced at him, then away again. “This is just someone I used to know in high school.” Ouch. “He has a ranch near mine in Chatelaine. We’re neighbors, I think...”
She was starting to babble, so he held out his hand to Sally. “Rawlston Ames. My ranch borders the Fortune ranch. I stopped to say hi to a friend and ran into Dahlia.”
“Well, if you’re a neighbor you’re still invited.”
“Invited to what?”
“There’s an exhibitor’s reception near the pool to celebrate the end of the show. Dahlia is officially a sheep rancher now, and her ram just won Best in Show, so the two of you should join us.”
“Oh...” Dahlia stammered. “I... I appreciate it, but—”
“We’ll be there,” Rawlston said.
“Great! See you both there!”
Sally hurried off, and Dahlia was staring at him in fury.
“What?” He splayed his hands wide in innocence. “If you’re gonna raise sheep, you need to build relationships with people in the business. A casual reception like this is a great opportunity for you.”
“If there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s some man making decisions for me. And what do you get out of it? I have a boyfriend, you know. A serious one. Carter Powers.”
Rawlston did his best not to let his disgust show. Carter was a world-class jackass. The dude thought he was some brilliant businessman, but most of his success had come from riding other people’s coattails, stealing other people’s ideas and bamboozling his clients. One of those former clients was Rawlston’s dad. He had no idea why Dahlia was with the guy, but her taste in dating had always baffled him.
Truth be told, Rawlston had had a mad crush on her in high school, but she’d always gone for the nerds or the superrich boys. The kind of boys her father would approve of. She’d never given a jock like him a second glance. Stung at her rejection, he’d dated casually, earning a reputation as a ladies’ man. It was what was expected from the high school quarterback, but he’d never been serious about anyone. However, he’d always known when tall, elegant Dahlia entered a room. She’d walked down the halls like she owned the place, and students would make way for her as if she was royalty.
“Free food and drink?” He finally answered her question, pushing aside thoughts of his childhood crush on her. No good could come from those memories. Besides, if she was the type of woman who dated a guy like Carter, she wasn’t the woman for him. “Look, I was already going. My pal Mike invited me. So we can walk there together or separately. Your choice. And for the record...yes, I know you have a boyfriend.”
Dahlia studied him for a moment, then relaxed. Had she really thought he’d been hitting on her? “Fine,” she relented. “There’s nothing wrong with two neighbors walking to a reception together.”
Two neighbors. Not even two friends. He watched her walk away, her blond hair swinging in time with her hips. Still tall and slender, wearing simple chinos and a denim jacket, Dahlia had somehow picked up even more elegance through the years. But old, unrequited feelings aside, there was no escaping the fact that the two of them had always been lifelong competitors, in everything from grades—she was valedictorian, he was salutatorian—to livestock competitions.
She could outride him in the horse ring, but he had the prize cattle every year. He smiled to himself. One year she’d decided to raise piglets, so he’d convinced his parents to let him do the same. His litter won at the county fair.
Rawlston stopped. No wonder she hadn’t been thrilled to see him. He’d been kind of a jerk to her back then. It was high school stuff, but still. Maybe he’d deserved her anger. Dahlia glanced over her shoulder, and he hustled to catch up with her.
They were neighbors, after all. Tonight he’d show her he knew how to be a good neighbor. Maybe even a friend. Nothing more than that...no matter how tempting.
