Yesterday's Promise (Billionaire Games Book 5) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Sandra's Books

  Sandra's Bio

  YESTERDAY’S PROMISE

  (Billionaire Games: Book 5)

  Sandra Edwards

  Text Copyright © 2016 by Sandra Edwards

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Published by SE Press, Carson City, NV

  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

  Names: Edwards, Sandra, 1957, author.

  Title: Yesterday’s promise / Sandra Edwards.

  Description: Carson City, NV : SE Press, 2016.

  Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-934342-62-6 (pbk.) | ISBN 978-1-934342-45-9 (ebook) | LCCN 2016917347 (pbk.)

  Subjects: LCSH: Man-woman relationships–Fiction. | Rich people–Fiction. | Romance–Fiction | Nevada–Fiction. | Veterinarians–Fiction. | Horses–Fiction. | Ranches–Fiction. | Romantic stories. | Love stories. | BISAC: FICTION / Romance / Contemporary. | FICTION / Contemporary Women.

  Classification: LCC PS3605.D893 Y47 2016 (print) | LCC PS3605.D893 (ebook) | DDC 813.6--dc23

  Print ISBN: 978-1-934342-62-6

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-934342-45-9

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917347

  Edited by Marian Kelly

  Cover Design by StevieDeInk

  Yesterday’s Promise is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Sign up for Sandra’s VIP List at http://sandrawrites.com/sign-up.

  CHAPTER 1

  Whisper Falls, Nevada

  MOST PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE many times during the course of a lifetime. Some fall headstrong into it. Others wade cautiously. Then there are those whose one and only chance at love simply slips through their fingers through no fault of their own. Their soul mate comes into their life, and just as quickly, they’re yanked out again by some cruel twist of fate.

  That, Dana Sinclair decided, was the worst fate of all. She envied those lucky enough to actually marry the love of their life. At the age of twenty-nine, Dana had already concluded that she was not one of the lucky ones.

  But her parents were. That’s what she thought when she looked at Ray Sr. and Rose Marie Sinclair as the family gathered around Dana’s brother John and his wife, Deidre, and their daughters, Amy and Emily, as they climbed into the helicopter that would take them to the Reno airport. They were going to California to visit Deidra’s friend, Lecie Matthews.

  After the helicopter took off, Dana’s other brothers, Ray and Justin, headed off in different directions. Their sister Laurie followed Ray, while Dana and her parents headed back to the house.

  Her mother, knowing that Dana was headed into town, asked, “Are you going to drop by the hardware store?”

  Dana rolled her eyes. “Why would I do that?”

  Rose Marie gave Dana the look. The one that said she was done playing and about ready to whip some butt.

  Dana shook her head and blew out a heavy sigh. Bobby Thompson was the reason her mother wanted her to drop by the hardware store. “Mom...” Dana moaned. “Bobby doesn’t like me like that.” Which wasn’t exactly true. He liked her well enough to want to sleep with her. Dana just wasn’t interested.

  Truth be told, Dana hadn’t been interested in dating anyone since her breakup with Sam Treverton three years ago. He’d taught her a valuable lesson. Guard your heart above all else.

  “Dana...” Her mother’s voice followed her down the steps leading to the driveway at the side of the house. “I hate to see you so...lonely,” she said, as if she wasn’t quite sure that lonely was the appropriate word for the meaning she was trying to convey.

  But Dana knew full-well what she meant. And as much as Dana hated to admit it, Rose Marie was spot on. It’s true, Dana was alone, but she preferred it that way. As far as Dana could see, turning your heart over to a man was the worst thing a woman could do. She’d done it once before, and look how that turned out.

  Rose Marie carried on with her matchmaking campaign. “Bobby’s a good man. You could do worse.”

  All true. But would her mother be so quick to champion him if she knew his true motive was only to defile her daughter—not marry her?

  Not that Dana wanted to get married, mind you. She’d let her heart entertain that notion once. Never again.

  Instead of going to her car—a metallic-blue Mercedes AMG GT S—Dana headed for one of the ranch’s trucks. She’d need the room in the bed since she was going to pick up supplies from Cal Faulkner, the local veterinarian.

  “Dana...” her mother called out. She stopped at the driver’s door and glanced back toward the porch. Rose Marie said, “You’re using the truck I borrowed yesterday. My car was in the shop.” She chuckled. “Sorry about the radio stations.”

  “No worries, Mom.” Dana laughed a little as she opened the truck door and climbed inside the cab. She had to admit, she did like some of the old songs that her parents listened to, but she’d never tell her mother that.

  After starting the engine, Dana cranked up the A/C. Just because she could look up and see snowcapped mountaintops along the Sierra Nevada in late June, didn’t mean the temperature in Whisper Falls couldn’t reach triple digits.

  Pulling out onto the main road heading into town, Dana reached for the radio controls. She stopped, holding her hand in mid air as the song “Dream a Little Dream of Me” poured through the speakers.

  Her head told her to change the damned station already, but her heart wouldn’t let her touch it. The song was one of her parents’ favorites. That and “I’ll Be Seeing You.” In Dana’s family, it was a long-standing tradition that both songs were played at the Sinclair house during the Thanksgiving and Christmas parties every holiday season. Thanksgiving, three years ago, was no exception. Dana and Sam had danced to both songs, right alongside her parents.

  The lyrics to “Dream a Little Dream of Me” always took Dana back to another time and place—before Sam Treverton broke her heart. The song was like a drug. It felt great in the moment (when she was actually listening to it), but afterward, when it was over, that’s when she found herself feeling lonelier than she ever had. She hated the song nowadays, but changing the station would not stop the resentment from doing further damage to her soul.

  But sometimes she had to change the station. Sometimes, she just couldn’t handle it. Sometimes the void inside her felt like it’d already eaten her up.

  Today was one of those days.

  Dana cycled through the radio stations in the preset until she found a song that didn’t remind her of all that she had lost and all that she would never have.

  Not today. Her emotions would not be riding shotgun, where they were free to undermine her ability to take care of the animals at Rosemond (her family’s ranch). If Cal Faulkner thought for one second that Dana didn’t have her head in the game, he’d stop selling her the
meds she needed for the ranch’s animals.

  The animals were all she had left.

  Dana spent the time it took to drive the five miles into town switching the radio stations to keep some sappy song from getting under her skin. How long was this supposed to last, anyway? How many years was it going to take her heart to heal? She was well into her third year now and Dana laughed at the irony of her mother telling her at the time of the break up that a couple of years from now, she wouldn’t even be able to remember what Sam Treverton looked like.

  When was that gonna kick in? breezed through her thoughts as she pulled open the door of the Whisper Falls Veterinary Clinic. She was a little surprised not to see Jennifer, Cal’s receptionist, sitting out front, but it wasn’t unusual. Maybe her kid had a thing or she herself had an appointment. That wasn’t unheard of.

  “Hey, Cal...” Dana called out. She waited for a response, but got none. When she called his name a second time, concern had crept into her tone. “Cal? You here?”

  She chastised herself. Of course he was there. Where else would he be? If he’d left the clinic, he would’ve locked the doors.

  Dana tried the door next to the long counter where they greeted the pet owners. That door was locked.

  She leaned over the counter and tried to peer through the glass door into the back, yet wasn’t able to see anything. But he had to be back there, right?

  Dana hopped up on the counter and swung her legs over so she could jump down behind it. The concern seeded in her gut sprouted into worry as she stepped toward the door leading into the back.

  She checked each door along the hallway and found nothing. It wasn’t until she stepped into the kennel area that she found Cal Faulkner—lying on the floor.

  He was beginning to turn blue.

  CHAPTER 2

  San Francisco Bay Area

  A FLURRY OF EXCITEMENT ROLLED through Sam Treverton as he switched the telephone receiver from one ear to the other. Did he hear his agent correctly? He asked, just to be sure, “Phyllis, did you say I hit the New York Times?”

  “Yep!” her voice cooed over the phone. “Congratulations. You deserve it.”

  Not bad for a man of just thirty-two years old. “Well, I don’t know about deserve it...” Sam laughed. Hell, all he’d done was put his knowledge of canines into a book. Of course, being a partner in one of the Bay Area’s leading veterinary clinics hadn’t hurt.

  “I have great news.” Phyllis Tibbetts’ animated voice poured through the phone. “Your publisher wants a series.”

  “A series?” Sam couldn’t wrap his head around the idea. “What’s next? How to give vaccinations? Operate maybe?”

  “Don’t be silly.” The agent’s laughter wrapped around him. “They want books on cats, horses, reptiles, birds. You name it and they’ll buy it.”

  “Seriously?” This had to be a joke. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Sam could practically hear her head shaking as she said, “I never kid about money.”

  She had a point. “Okay,” he said. “Send me the details in an email?”

  “It’s already on its way. If you agree, you have six weeks to send them a proposal for your next book.”

  Six weeks? Could Sam swing that? He ran through his calendar in his mind. He couldn’t name specifics, but he knew it was jam-packed with appointments and surgeries. When the hell was he supposed to find time to gather up a proposal for a book—much less write one? “All right,” he said. “I’ll look over the offer and get back to you.” That’s the best he could do. He wouldn’t make any promises. He swore to himself three years ago that he’d never break another promise. And the only way to make sure that he kept that vow was to never make another promise. To anyone. Ever.

  And don’t fall in love above your station (that was another one). Just don’t do it. Nothing good could come from it. While Sam was a successful veterinarian and a New York Times Bestselling Author now, that wasn’t the case three years ago. Too bad. Maybe then, he would’ve been good enough for Dana’s family. It wouldn’t have stopped the initial break-up, but it would’ve made it easier to come back after the dust settled.

  But as things had gone, Sam couldn’t go back. Even before he broke Dana’s heart, her brother Ray had made it clear that Sam was not worthy of his sister.

  While it may be too late for Sam and Dana, he couldn’t help but wonder if being a New York Times Bestselling Author would have made a difference.

  CHAPTER 3

  Whisper Falls, Nevada

  DANA STOOD WHEN SHE SAW her parents come through the emergency entrance of the Whisper Falls hospital.

  As they embraced her, Rose Marie asked, “Are you all right?”

  “Yes...” Dana said as she nodded and tried to hold back the tears.

  Ray Sr. broke the hug and nudged Dana back down into the chair. Sitting at her side, he asked, “What happened, Dana? Is Cal all right?”

  “No.” Dana shook her head. “No, he’s not. He had a heart attack. They don’t know if he’s going to live or not...” Her words trailed off as she dropped her face into her hands. Her mother sat down in the empty chair beside Dana and draped a loving arm around her, but kept silent.

  “Is there someone we can call?” Her father’s tone kicked up a notch with concern. “Does he have family somewhere?” Everybody in town knew that he had none in Whisper Falls.

  “He has children, but I don’t know their names beyond Ted and Carol.” Dana looked at her father. “Maybe we can find some information back at the clinic.”

  Ray Sr.’s tone remained collected as he asked, “Have the doctors talked to you yet...about Cal’s condition?”

  “No,” Dana said. “They promised to update me as soon as they could.”

  Ray looked at Rose Marie. “You stay here with Dana. I’ll go to the clinic to see if I can find an address or phone number for Cal’s children.” His focus returned to Dana. “Did you lock up before coming here?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “I have the key,” she said, reaching into her blue jeans pocket and coming out with a single key. “I haven’t given it back to Cal yet. I wanted to wait until he’s in stable condition.”

  Her father stood and took the key from her. “Good thinking.”

  Dana watched him head off. Once he disappeared around the corner, she turned to her mother. “Do you think Cal’s going to be okay?” she asked. “What if I didn’t do enough to save him?”

  Rose Marie patted Dana’s hand. “I’m sure you did everything you possibly could to save him. It’s in God’s hands now.”

  Dana said, “I’m a jinx.”

  Her mother’s brow crinkled as her stare drilled straight through Dana. “Why would you say that?”

  “Bad things keep happening all around me.” Dana shrugged. “What else is there to conclude?”

  “Look, I’m sure Cal’s going to be fine. And if he isn’t...well, you didn’t cause his heart attack.”

  Dana tried to look at it from her mother’s point of view, but that worrisome little thought kept sneaking back into her head—what if she’d gotten there five minutes earlier?

  Just when she was ready to dig down into her wallowing, Dana glanced up to see Dr. Norris emerging from behind the double doors that read, Authorized Personnel Only.

  “Dr. Norris...” She stood as he came toward her. “Is Cal okay?”

  “He’ll recover.” The doctor nodded, and Dana felt the weight of the world slide off her shoulders. “We’ll keep him here a few days,” he said. “Just to keep an eye on him.”

  Rose Marie spoke up. “May we see him?”

  “Of course. But just for a few minutes. He’s very weak.”

  “We promise not to tire him out,” Rose Marie said.

  Dr. Norris led them through the infamous double doors, where they followed him along two hallways before arriving at Cal’s room. Pausing at the door, the doctor said, “Now remember...just a few minutes.”

  Dana tossed him a peace sign and sai
d, “Scout’s honor.”

  Dr. Norris laughed, then headed down the hallway.

  Dana looked at her mother briefly, pushed open the door, and stepped into Cal’s room. He was lying there, eyes closed and looking so pale that it actually scared Dana. Again. “Cal...?” she said softly.

  His eyes fluttered open. Cal smiled when his eyes met Dana’s. “I didn’t scare you, did I?” His voice was weak, barely audible.

  “No,” she said softly as she stepped up to his bedside. “How are you feeling? You okay?”

  “You gave us a little scare, Cal,” Rose Marie said from behind Dana.

  Cal sucked in a deep breath. “I’m fine. You can’t keep an old codger like me down.” He tried to laugh, but only ended up wincing.

  “Do you want me to call your family?” Dana asked.

  “I think the hospital has already called them,” he said.

  Rose Marie asked, “Is there anything we can do for you, Cal?”

  He looked at Dana. “Can you lock up the clinic for me?”

  “Already done.” She smiled. “Daddy has the key. He’s on his way. Maybe the hospital can keep it somewhere safe for you.”

  “You hold onto it for me,” Cal said.

  “You sure?” Dana asked, a little bit surprised at the suggestion.

  Cal nodded, then said, barely above a whisper, “Go ahead...take what meds you need from the clinic.” He cracked a touch of a smile. “I’ll send you a bill.”

  The meds! After finding Cal lying on the floor inside the clinic, Dana had completely forgotten about her own needs. But it wasn’t just her needs, it was also the needs of the animals on her family’s ranch.

  What would she have done if Cal had died?

  * * *

  Two days later, Cal was beginning to look like himself again. But there was a problem. His doctor’s prognosis had not been one that Dana wanted to hear. Cal’s heart needed rest, and lots of it. He wasn’t going get that by running the only veterinary office in Whisper Falls.

  Sitting at his bedside in the hospital room, she let that notion sink in. Naturally, she wanted what was best for Cal, but she did have cause for worry. If Cal left the clinic, so did her access to the medical supplies.