Chapter Six
Chapter Six
“A ren’t you going to ask me how things went today, Chancellor?”
Chance paused in removing his boots to glance at Ms. Cate. She had her purse on her arm, which meant she was ready to leave for the day. It was Thursday, the day Zoey was to return. That was why he’d deliberately remained in the north pastures the entire day with his men while rounding up strays.
Of course, he was chomping at the bit, wondering how things had gone, but he refused to let his housekeeper know. It was bad enough that Corbin suspected his interest in Zoey; he didn’t need Ms. Cate getting ideas. If she did, his family would soon get wind of it.
That meant he had to continue to downplay his interest. Since entering his home, he’d been trying to act nonchalantly. He figured before Ms. Cate left, she would get around to telling him something. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. He’d been right.
“I have no reason to think things didn’t go well, Ms. Cate. You gave her the tour like I asked, right?”
“Yes. I think she thought you would be here to show her around.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that, so he didn’t. He hoped Ms. Cate would take his silence for disinterest.
“She likes this place,” Ms. Cate then said.
It didn’t matter to him if she liked his home or not. “Did she see anything familiar?” he asked.
“Yes, a few things. However, I think the biggest impact was when she rode down to the lake.”
He leaned back in the chair. “Why do you say that?”
“When she returned, she seemed shaken up and immediately left.”
He wondered what that was about. Had parts of her memory returned as they had the other day? He could call her and find out but knew he shouldn’t. He’d decided to put distance between them, and that’s what he intended to do. Being around her made him want a woman in a bad way, which was why he decided to go to Vance’s Tavern tonight instead of waiting to do so tomorrow night. He’d told his men not to expect him home until midday. While in downtown Houston tomorrow, he would check on his parents. He’d called and told his mother to expect him for breakfast, and he could tell by her voice that she’d been happy about that.
His thoughts shifted back to Zoey and how happy she’d been when he’d given her that portrait yesterday. It had certainly made her day. He’d told her that when she’d returned today, if she saw anything else in the attic that might have belonged to her family, she could have it as well. He wondered if she had.
“Did she see anything else she wanted in the attic?” he asked.
“Yes. That antique jewelry armoire. It was too heavy for us to bring down, so she’ll return to get it. If Corbin had arrived an hour earlier, he could have helped.”
Chance frowned. “Corbin’s been here?”
“Yes. He’d hoped to ride to the south pasture with her.”
Chance just bet he had. Why did it bother him that Corbin might be genuinely interested in Zoey? Any able-bodied man with a lick of sense would be, as well. That said a lot about him. Standing, he said, “Have a good weekend, Ms. Cate.”
“I hope you do the same, Chancellor. I’ll see you Tuesday.”
***
“Are you saying Chancellor’s last name is Madaris?” Lucky asked.
She and Lucky hadn’t connected yesterday because Lucky and Burke had spent most of their time flying to Calgary to attend Burke’s parents’ anniversary party. “Yes, and I could tell they figured I should have made some connection to the last name. The only thing I could remember was reading those Lorren Madaris books as a kid. She’s married to one of their cousins.”
“I read her books as well, but the Madaris name is known for another reason.”
“What reason is that?” she asked, looking through her closet for something to wear for tomorrow’s lunch with Chance’s great-grandmother.
“Diamond Swain.”
Zoey lifted a brow. “That name sounds vaguely familiar. Who is she?”
“Honestly, Zoey. It would help if you had stopped exclusively watching those Korean movies years ago. If you had, you would know that Diamond Swain is a well-known American actress.”
Rolling her eyes, Zoey reached for a dress from the closet she thought would suit her. Like Lucky loved watching her crime shows, Zoey enjoyed Korean movies. That was the one thing her aunt Paulina had passed on to her.
In her younger days, her aunt worked in Seoul for years as a private English teacher for some of the wealthiest Korean families. As a result, she preferred watching Korean movies to American ones. That meant Zoey didn’t have much choice when it came to watching movies and discovered she enjoyed them, too. Since Aunt Paulina taught her to speak Korean, she didn’t have to read the subtitles.
“What does Diamond Swain have to do with the Madaris family?” Zoey asked, looking the dress over to see if it needed to be ironed.
“She is married to Jacob Madaris, who I bet is a relative of theirs. If I recall correctly, he also has a ranch in Texas. Probably right there in Houston. I would love for you to get Diamond Swain Madaris’s autograph when you meet her.”
Zoey rolled her eyes again. “What makes you think I’m going to meet her?”
“Why wouldn’t you? Though you bailed on getting any interest from your cowboy, he did introduce you to his cousin, who sounds just as sexy.”
Yes, but Chance wasn’t her cowboy, Zoey thought despondently. She had hoped to see him again today when she went to his ranch but hadn’t. She’d been slightly disappointed, although she should not have been. She could understand him putting distance between them since he was involved with another woman.
“Although Corbin is a very handsome man, I’m not attracted to him like I am to Chance.”
“And you’re sure Chancellor Madaris has a girlfriend?”
“I’m not sure of anything about him other than our attraction. That can’t be denied. I think even Corbin picked up on it. But since Chance is fighting the attraction, so will I.”
“How did today go at the ranch?”
“It was nice. Chance was kind enough to have a horse saddled for me, so I could ride to that lake. It was a beautiful place, and I saw several things that I remembered from my dream, but nothing jogged my memory there.” She paused momentarily and then said, “Just being there and knowing I shared time there with my parents touched me deeply, and it was hard not to get emotional. I left soon after that.”
“Did you see Chancellor again?”
“No. He was busy on another part of the ranch.” She then told Lucky how his housekeeper had been the one to give her a tour of his home. She also told her about the jewelry armoire and how charming it was.
“It was nice of Chancellor to give you that portrait of your grandmother and let you have the armoire.”
Zoey shrugged. “Yes, it was. They’ve been in his attic for years. He was planning to toss them out. I’m glad he never got around to it.”
“I am, too. I can’t wait to see them. Especially the portrait of your grandmother. Are you ready to meet his great--grandmother tomorrow?”
“Yes. Too ready. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
“Well, go to bed early and get plenty of rest so you don’t fall asleep on her tomorrow.”
“Good idea. Give Burke my love, and I will talk to you later.”