Texas Sunrise by Fern Michaels Page A

drive around the island. I’d like to see the farmhouse where my parents lived and the church where they got married. What about you, Cole, are you tired? If you are, I can do this some other time. Sumi?”
    â€œYeah, I am worried. Let’s get the ham and eggs. I’ll fly you back here when you’re ready to return, and you can ... you can check it all out. You want to be alone when you do that anyway, right?”
    â€œActually, I’m not even sure I want to do it at all. I feel I should. Let’s get the ham and eggs and get back to Sumi. Neither of us will ever hear the end of it if she goes to the hospital and you aren’t there. Lead on, cousin. I know you checked this place out already. They’re gonna skip the rice, right?”
    â€œRight.” Cole grinned.
    The two young men who strode down the concourse were almost identical in height and build. The only major difference between them was Cole’s blond hair and blue eyes. Riley could have passed for Italian, Greek, Jewish, or Guamanian. Cole’s flight suit and the rakish angle of his flight cap immediately identified him as a pilot. Riley’s creased blue jeans, low-heeled boots, open-necked shirt, and battered baseball cap proclaimed him a Texan, a fact he constantly wanted to shout to the world. The slight cast to his eyes that would have revealed his Japanese heritage had been altered surgically a year before, much to the family’s objections, especially Ivy’s.
    â€œWe must look like giants to these people,” Cole said out of the corner of his mouth. “The tallest man I’ve seen so far is around five-eight. I know you’re six-four, and I’m a tad under that. If we lived here, do you suppose it would be an advantage or disadvantage?”
    â€œWell, we’d be able to see far and wide.” Riley laughed as he took his seat in the restaurant. “Like now, I can see into the kitchen. Looks clean to me.” They spoke of each other’s families while eating, then Riley took a deep breath and plunged in. “Now,” he said, “what the fuck is wrong, Cole? What’s with this shit Sawyer is babbling about? I heard her side. If your side isn’t any better, we’re all in trouble.”
    â€œI had a bad day. Business is business. You, more than anyone, should understand that.”
    â€œWe’re talking family here, Cole. Or did you suddenly turn into a loan shark?”
    Cole pushed back his flight cap. He didn’t like the edge in Riley’s voice. He didn’t like the stubborn look on his face either. “Is that why you’re here, to tell me I fucked up with Sawyer?”
    Riley stared across the table at his cousin. “Yeah,” he drawled. He set his coffee cup down carefully. “The whole purpose of our deal was East and West, remember? United. As one. You agreed. I agreed. Now you’re reneging, like you want to gouge the family. That may not really be your intention, but that’s the way it looks from where I’m sitting. From where your sister is sitting too. If you have an explanation, I’d sure as hell like to hear it.” This time Riley slammed the empty cup down on the plastic tabletop. “And, yeah, that’s part of the reason I’m here. The other part is I thought you needed me. I’d like to help if you think you’re in trouble.”
    â€œThat’s big of you, Riley,” Cole snapped. “Is this where you remind me that you gave up your Japanese inheritance so I could take over Rising Sun?”
    â€œThat’s a low blow, Cole, and unworthy of you. I’ve come halfway around the world to listen to what you have to say.”
    Cole felt his neck growing warm, a sign that his anger was about to erupt. “That’s just another way of saying you’re going to interfere.”
    â€œAre you afraid of me, Cole?” Riley asked quietly.
    Was he? he wondered.