Lady's Choice by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

until Dad and Uncle Roy were sure everything was stable financially. I felt a responsibility to the family. You should understand that. They'd all worked so hard to build this place. It was a part of them. It still is. I couldn't let them down in the crunch."
    "You must have felt something for Travis. You've never wanted to talk about the time you were engaged to him. You've never even mentioned his name to me since I moved here four years ago."
    "No one in the family talks about him. No one wants to remember the whole mess, least of all me. It was embarrassing and traumatic and painful. And rather scary, to be perfectly honest. Especially at the end when Travis found out I was calling off the engagement."
    "How did he react?"
    "Like a chunk of stone. I'd never seen anyone look so cold. It was terrifying, Juliana. I'd expected him to yell or fly into a rage or threaten a lawsuit. But instead he was utterly quiet. No emotion at all. He stood there in the middle of the lobby and just looked at me for what had to be the longest minute of my life. Finally he said that someday he'd be back to collect his fee. Only next time, he said, he wouldn't take just a share in the inn, he'd take the whole damned place. Those were his exact words.
    Then he turned around and walked out the door. We never saw him again."

    "Until tonight. Oh, Elly, what a mess."
    "I know." Elly closed her eyes. Teardrops squeezed through her lashes.
    "Why do you think you were in love with him in the first place? Why did you develop the crush, as you call it? He's not your usual type."
    "I know. But please try to remember that I was a lot younger then. Only twenty-four years old. Travis was older, successful, powerful. It was exciting to realize he was attracted to me. And everyone kept saying what a wonderful match it would be. Dad and Uncle Roy and Aunt Beth all wanted him in the family because they knew they could safely turn Flame Valley over to him. He'd know how to run it.
    It was easy to think I was in love with him at first and by the time I realized I wasn't, it was too late.
    Everything was very complicated."
    "I'll bet." Juliana went to stand beside her .cousin. "Too bad I wasn't here at the time. I could have told you instantly that you and Travis were all wrong for each other." She hesitated and then added,
    "Does David know who he is?"
    "No." Elly shook her head quickly, her eyes shadowed with worry. "I've never told him about Travis.
    I'd rather he didn't know. He might not understand. Juliana, what are we going to do?"
    "We?"
    "Don't torment me. You have to help us."
    Juliana shrugged. "I don't see that there's anything we can do. At least not until we find out why Travis has gone to all this effort to stage his big return scene."
    "There's only one reason why he'd appear like this out of the blue," Elly hissed. "He's here to get his revenge. He must have found a way to take Flame Valley away from us. Or ruin the place."
    "Elly, be reasonable. How's he going to do that?"
    The soft sound of shoe leather on flagstone made both women turn their heads.
    "I'll tell you how I'm going to do it," Travis said, materializing out of the pool of darkness cast by a dump of oleander bushes. "In the simplest way possible. I'm going to watch Flame Valley Inn go straight into the hands of its biggest creditor."
    Elly's hand flew to her throat. "Oh, my God."
    Juliana glared at Travis. "Must you creep up on people like that?" But she didn't think he even heard her. His whole attention was on Elly. Juliana felt very much a fifth wheel and she did not like the sensation at all. She'd felt this way once before when she'd stood near her beautiful cousin and another man.
    Elly stared at Travis's harshly shadowed features. "You know, don't you? You know everything."
    He moved his hand, and ice clinked in the glass he was holding. "I know. I've known from the beginning."

    Juliana's gaze flicked from one face to the other. "What are you two talking about?"
    "Don't you