Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) by Kathleen Royce Page A

changed. She still
came from a different world. She was still a Stone Girl.
    After Ty left, Sam forced herself to stop
laughing. “I see you and Ty are getting along like oil and water, just like old
times. The two of you can’t be in the same room together without you wanting to
kill him,” she said as she dried her eyes with her napkin, pushed her plate
away, and folded her hands under her chin.
    “Did you know it was Ty that Grandfather
was sending? You know he has been bugging me about taking over the production
company. God, he did this just to punish me for refusing! Or, did you purposely
unleash him on me?” She watched Sam's face, trying to judge her reaction. She
did not want to believe her sister had set her up by not giving her a heads up
about their new security expert.
    “Yes, I knew. Max told me when he
informed me he was sending a security expert. It didn’t dawn on me that he
might be retaliating because you weren’t taking over. I’m sorry. If you’d known
it was Ty you would have high tailed it off the ranch faster than if I had
yelled fire, no pun intended, and I honestly need you!”
    After a long pause, she stated reluctantly,
“Look Alex, I know you and Ty don’t exactly get along now, but I need your
help. Dealing with him makes me uncomfortable.”
    Sam had started acting jumpy around Ty
after she and Maxine returned from Europe, a trip they’d gotten as a gift from
their grandparents before leaving for Harvard. Alex could not comprehend why
her sister suddenly felt this way. Does she have feeling for Ty? They were
whispering before dinner… was it more intimate than I assumed? She felt her
heart lurch at the thought.
    Sam quickly saw the hurt expression on
her face and guessed where her thoughts had taken her. She swiftly grabbed
Alex’s hand and squeezed as she said, “Good Lord, Alex! No! Whatever feelings I
have for Ty are strictly brotherly,” she hastened to explain, and put her mind
at ease. “None of us, and I know this for a fact, have ever thought of Ty that
way.”
    Sam let out a long shaky breath and
placed her folded hands in her lap. “It’s not Ty. Really. He just reminds me of
someone I knew once. Being around him makes it difficult for me. I didn’t treat
Ty the way I should have when I was in my last year of high school, but it’s
neither here nor there. Right now I need your understanding and help, and you
did say you would help if I asked,” she said expectantly.
    Sam had Alex right where she wanted her.
If she refused to help, Sam would be disappointed. She did not want to be
within close proximity to Ty, much less in the same state, yet here she was,
stuck. Why had she volunteered? If she had just kept her big mouth shut earlier,
none of this would be happening.
    Sam watched the emotions cross Alex’s
face as she waited for her to agree to help. She looked like Sam had just asked
her to sleep outside with the cattle.
    “Besides, this gives you and Ty a chance
to get reacquainted since both of you will be here. When you were younger, the
two of you were inseparable, always hanging around each other. I used to be so
jealous about how much attention he would give you. He was like a big brother
to all of us, but with you it was different.” The sisters had always speculated
about what had caused the split between them. They had been closer than most
people could get and all of the sisters had been envious of that closeness.
    “I don’t want to get to know him. I want
him off the ranch so I can get on with my vacation. If that means I have to
help him, then I will. But for the record, I don’t like the games he plays with
people and their emotions. He uses people for his own amusement. He doesn’t
care who he leaves destroyed in his wake, he is a self centered, opinionated
jerk!” she said bitterly.
    Sam was bewildered and shocked by her long-winded
tirade. She could not fathom why Alex was so upset. There was obviously more
history here than anyone