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

  Dana sucked in a deep breath to tamp down her own mounting worries. She glanced at Cal, then braved a smile just for him. “What will you do?” she asked. “Are you going to hire someone to work the clinic for you?”

  “No.” Cal shook his head and laughed a little. “Doc says I’ve got to rid myself of any and all stress. I’m going to sell the clinic.”

  Dana could feel her eyes widening as she said, “Sell?”

  “My kids are adamant.” Cal shrugged. “And truth be told, they’re probably right. I should sell the whole thing and just move down to Florida with them.” He said the words like he knew it was the best thing for him, but that didn’t help him agree with the sentiment. He looked up at Dana and added in a carefree, yet less-than-enthusiastic tone, “Spend my days stress-free at the beach instead.”

  A heavy dose of guilt overcame Dana. Why was she even thinking about her problems? Cal was the one with real problems. Not her. Her problems were of her own making. Well, hers and Sam Treverton’s.

  “Why the long face?” Cal asked.

  Dana glanced up at him. “I’m sorry...” She shook her head, trying to keep those guilty feelings at bay. “What are we going to do without you, Cal? The whole town’s going to miss you.”

  Cal laughed. “Only because I’m the only vet in town.”

  “That’s not true.” Okay, well, the part about him being the only vet in town, that was true, but it wasn’t the reason. Dana peered at Cal and offered him a smile as she said, “You know you’re like family to the Sinclairs.”

  “That’s why I’m giving you first dibs on the clinic,” he said. “If you want it.”

  Did she want it?

  Well, she wanted access to the meds, and she wouldn’t mind working at the clinic a couple of days a week, but what about the rest of the time? And who would be the veterinary doctor in charge? It couldn’t be Dana. Oh sure, Cal trusted her knowledge. He’d often said that she knew more than most actual veterinarians he knew, but she’d always thought he was just being nice. Even if he was telling the truth, it still couldn’t be Dana. She didn’t have a veterinary license. She had the training (mostly), just not the license.

  Plus, she liked what she was doing at Rosemond with the horses and other animals. She spent her days taking care of them. She liked it that way, and she couldn’t imagine turning the task over to anyone else. But if Cal sold the clinic to anyone but Dana’s family, she’d probably have to do just that. She doubted the new owner would be willing to sell her the meds the way Cal had been doing—she’d tell him what she needed, and he’d take her word for it. A stranger was not likely to do that.

  “I can’t make any promises,” she said to Cal. “But I’ll talk to my dad about it.”

  Maybe they could hire a licensed veterinarian to run the clinic.

  CHAPTER 4

  San Francisco Bay Area

  SAM TREVERTON TOSSED HIS KEYS into the turquoise-blue bowl on the table in the foyer, kicked off his shoes and headed for the kitchen. A beer. That’s what he needed.

  He pulled a Corona out of the fridge and went straight to the couch in the living room. He needed time to think and relax a little. Sitting down, he blew out a sigh before taking a healthy swig of his beer. He let the flavor of it roll around on his taste buds and then swallowed it. The beer would help him relax, but what about his future? Which direction was he going to take?

  He’d built a name for himself here in the Bay Area. In fact, he had a waiting list for clients. How in the world was he going to fit in another book, much less an entire series? It’d taken him ages to write the first one.

  He’d started the project a couple of months after the breakup with Dana, when he found himself alone and missing her. He’d really screwed up, and he’d known then that it was going to take more than an “I’m sorry” to get back in her good graces.

  That’s why he’d written the damned book in the first place, to prove to her brother Ray that he was worthy of Dana. “Published author” sounded way better than “broke veterinarian.”

  From that point on, he’d poured all of his time into working at the clinic and writing the book. It kept his mind off all that he had lost. About a year and a half later, his hard work paid off. He’d finished the book, signed with an agent, and been offered a partnership at the clinic.

  Now Sam had to wonder if writing more books was something he wanted to get into. The first one had released about a month ago. Sam hadn’t expected much of anything to come from it, least of all hitting the New York Times Bestseller List, but hell, wasn’t that why he’d done it in the first place? To impress Dana...or at the very least her family?

  That ship had long since sailed, though, and it wasn’t coming back to port. Not now. Not ever.

  Not that it mattered. Sam had accepted his fate a long time ago. He’d let Dana slip through his fingers, and now he had to live with the regret and the loneliness that would forever haunt him.

  No one would ever replace Dana.

  Sometimes he couldn’t help but wish that he could make their dream of opening up their very own veterinary office a reality—even if it was just him fulfilling the dream.

  He’d like to find a quiet little town, like the one she was from, and set up shop. A place where life would move so more slowly than it did here in the Bay Area. Maybe that’d allow him to relax a little. And maybe his heart could finally begin to heal. So far, that hadn’t happened, and it’d been three long years.

  Sam laughed out loud. While he looked good on paper, reality was another matter. His partnership in the clinic was worth money—just not cash. The advance from his publishing contract was five figures, which he had immediately stashed away in the bank. So yeah, he had a little bit of money...just not enough to impress people like the Sinclairs.

  But Sam had grown up a lot in the last three years. He was no longer naive. He no longer believed that if he became successful enough, then he’d be good enough for Dana, and he no longer tried fooling himself into thinking that he ever would be.

  So here he was, three years later, still loving a woman that he could never have.

  CHAPTER 5

  DANA FOUND HER FATHER SWAYING in the porch swing at the southwestern side of the house.

  Ray Sr. glanced up and gave her a half-smile. “How’s Cal?” he asked. “The hospital going to let him go soon?”

  “He’s doing okay.” Dana claimed the empty rocking chair kitty-corner from the swing. “The doctors say he’s got to retire, though.”

  “Retire?” He shook his head. “Cal’s not going to like that.”

  “He’s putting on a good pretense.”

  “What are his plans? Is he going to hire someone to work the clinic for him or does he plan to sell?”

  “I believe the doctor is talking full retirement. No worries of any kind.”

  “I suppose he’ll have to sell then.”

  Dana nodded. The thought of Cal selling the clinic left a hard knot in her gut. But what did she think was going to happen? Did she really think that she and Cal could keep up this arrangement forever? How in the world was she ever going to get the new owners to agree to supply the meds she needed for the ranch? “Daddy...” She sat up straight and commanded her confidence to make an appearance. “What if we bought the clinic?”

  Ray Sr.’s brow furrowed as he eyed her. “Sinclair Enterprises isn’t in the veterinary clinic business, Dana.”

  “I know that, Daddy, but...when Cal sells, if we’re not the new owners, we’ll lose our medical supplier for the ranch.” What she really meant was that she’d have to turn over her veterinary duties to the new vet in town, and she wasn’t liking that idea. What would she do then?

  “But you’re not a licensed vet, Dana.”

  “Which is exactly why I want to buy it.”

  “Who’s going to run it?” He tossed her a steady gaze, and they both knew why. “Do you want to?”

  Dana stayed silent for a bit, then shrugged and said, “I don’t
know. I mean, I wouldn’t mind working there a couple of days a week...but I have the horses and the other animals here.” Plus, there was that whole “going back to school thing” because she didn’t actually graduate.

  “So you want me to buy the clinic so you can keep getting the meds you need for the ranch?”

  Okay, when he put it like that, it sounded awful. On the surface. She had to keep reminding herself of her end goal—the animals. And they were hers. She didn’t want to turn them over to anybody else. “Beyond keeping the clinic open and me having direct access to it...I’m not sure what I want.”

  Ray Sr. pushed himself up from the swing. He looked at Dana and said, “You consider finishing school...then we’ll talk about the clinic.”

  * * *

  Ray Sinclair Jr. had a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so he’d opted to work out of the library on the western side of the house that morning, instead of taking the helicopter to his office in town.

  This always worked out well, so long as his father wasn’t bored. That’s when he’d come in and want to chat with Ray about anything and everything, yet nothing in particular.

  He checked his watch. 10:15 AM. He hadn’t seen Dana this morning. Maybe he’d take a break in a few and go look for her. She was pretty upset about Cal Faulkner, and Ray wanted to make sure she was okay.

  He looked back down at the notepad and prepared to scribble out the rest of the point he’d been making prior to his thoughts wandering off. Once he was done, he’d go down to the stables. Dana was probably out there with her horse.

  Ray had to make sure she was okay. Really okay. Not just okay as far as he was concerned, but okay from her standpoint.

  That’s where he’d made his mistake before, thinking that he knew what was best for her better than she did. He’d thought he was doing her a favor by chasing off that guy from the Bay Area—what was his name? Treverton? Yes, that was it. Sam Treverton.

  It wasn’t like Ray had anything against him in particular. He was sure the guy would end up being a great catch for somebody, someday, if he hadn’t already. It had been three years, after all. He just wasn’t the right guy for Ray’s little sister. Dana deserved so much more than being stuck inside some veterinary office in God knows where, working her fingers to the bone for the rest of her life. Dana deserved nothing less than the pampered lifestyle that their father had given their mother.

  But then something extraordinarily disconcerting happened. After the breakup, Ray had watched the light in his little sister’s soul wither up and eventually die out.

  He felt responsible, and he’d do anything to bring that light back into her heart. Someday, he’d find a way to do just that, he told himself as he directed his attention back to the task at hand.

  He’d only written a couple of sentences when the door opened and his father waltzed in. “Hey, Dad...” Ray held his gaze for just a few seconds before going back to the notepad in front of him. “What’s up?”

  “We need to talk,” Dad said, sitting in the chair in front of the desk. “I guess you’ve heard about Cal?”

  Ray nodded. “He’s going to be okay, though...right?”

  “Oh, sure.” Ray Sr. shrugged. “He’ll have to retire, though.”

  And that, Ray knew, presented a problem for Dana, and ultimately the ranch, because Cal had been supplying Dana with the veterinary medicines as she needed them for Rosemond’s animals.

  That was another thing for Ray to feel guilty about. His timing in getting rid of Sam Treverton had been terrible. How was Ray to know Dana would completely fall apart and ditch school midway through her last year?

  Ray tried to redirect his thoughts by asking, “Is there anything we can do to help Cal?”

  “Dana wants to buy the clinic.”

  “She wants to run the clinic?” Ray could hardly believe the words as he spoke them.

  Ray Sr. chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about run it. It’s hard to say.” He glanced up at Ray with a soft smile tipping the corners of his mouth. “You know how quickly Dana can jump from one whim to another.”

  Okay, yes, all that was true. But Ray had seen some real growth in his sister lately. Dana had matured since leaving school. And she had been completely focused on the ranch’s animals ever since. “She’s very dedicated to Rosemond’s animals...especially the horses,” he defended her. It was the right thing to do. Plus, Ray had always been taught that it was his job to stand behind his sisters. “I’ve seen her with them. She has a gift.”

  “So you think we should buy the clinic?”

  Ray shrugged. “Maybe.” Truth be told, he wasn’t any surer than his father when it came to Dana and her ability to follow-through, but one thing was for damn sure—he owed his little sister, and delivering the clinic to her, even on a silver platter, was only a drop in the bucket to make things square between them again.

  Ray often wondered just how much Dana knew about his role in the breakup between her and Sam. He often wondered if she knew that he was directly responsible. If she did, she wasn’t letting on.

  “Go ahead and make a deal with Cal,” Ray Sr. said. “Buy the clinic. Find a licensed veterinarian to partner up with...at least until we can figure out what Dana wants to do. For now, let’s keep the family’s involvement in the clinic between us. Maybe this will be the incentive Dana needs to finish school.” He shook his head and let his gaze settle on Ray. “She doesn’t have to run the clinic, but I’d like to see her follow through on something...for once.”

  Buy the clinic and find a licensed vet to partner up with... The seeds of an idea began to form in Ray’s head.

  Maybe, just maybe, he could finally do something for his youngest sister. Something that would make her happy. Something that would bring the light back into her soul.

  Ray stood and said, “I’m on it.”

  He hoped he wasn’t too late.

  CHAPTER 6

  AT ROSEMOND’S STABLES, DANA SADDLED up her horse, Gypsy, and headed for Whisper Lake. It was her favorite place to go when she wanted to be alone, and today, she desperately needed it so she could think.

  She ran Gypsy at a full trot and didn’t slow down until the willow tree her parents had planted the day they married—nearly forty years ago—came into view.

  Dana dismounted and tethered Gypsy to a nearby limb on the tree. A gentle breeze drifted past her as she took the blanket roll from behind her saddle, unfolded it, and spread it out beneath the tree.

  She sat down on the blanket and leaned back against the tree trunk. Gazing out at the quiet, still lake, Dana sucked in a breath. Things had been going so well. She was doing what she loved—taking care of the animals at her family’s ranch. So what if she didn’t have the credentials? She had the know-how. And she knew as much as any licensed veterinarian. Cal Faulkner himself had said so.

  But this had been their dream, hers and Sam’s. A little mom-and-pop clinic in a small, laidback town somewhere. If only he hadn’t....

  It’s been over three years, breezed through Dana’s thoughts. Absence really did make the heart grow fonder it seemed. But what Dana really wanted to know was, when was this moving on thing going to kick in? She’d told herself, time and again, that she didn’t love Sam anymore and continuing to do so simply made her look stupid. No matter how many times she reminded herself that he just didn’t love her back, it did nothing to help lessen the blow of that fact.

  How could she have been so wrong? And how could he have lied so blatantly?

  Dana’s thoughts traveled back to that Thanksgiving holiday—the one where she’d brought Sam to meet her family. Dana laughed at her naiveté back then. She had wholeheartedly believed that he was the one.

  She let her gaze settle on the lake as her mind became consumed with the past. More than three years had passed, but Dana’s memories were so clear that it was like it happened yesterday. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it was one of her fondest memories.

  Every year for the last thirty-eigh
t years, Ray Sr. and Rose Marie Sinclair had thrown two parties at Rosemond during the holiday season. One at Thanksgiving to ring in the holidays, and another on New Year’s Eve to close them out.

  The same heady, whimsical feeling that she’d gotten from being in Sam’s arms while dancing at the Thanksgiving party settled over her so strongly that it was like it was happening all over again.

  She sifted through her memories to get to the best part. The part where he had danced her out onto the terrace during the song “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”

  He’d spent three days with her family, and frankly, she was starting to get a little worried. He hadn’t said much. And every time she asked him what he thought about them, he just smiled and said, “They’re fine, dear. I can see that they love you.”

  And she could see that they—especially Ray and Laurie (her brother and sister)—had been turning a cold shoulder to Sam since yesterday. Or was she just imagining it? It could be the stars...or the moonlight. Everybody knew that nights like this could make you think things that weren’t real.

  She shouldn’t go there again, but she had to ask, “So what do you think?” She was a little bit afraid of the answer—calling her family overprotective was an understatement—she held her breath for a second or two before adding, “Of my family?” That last bit was almost guaranteed to turn the conversation south quickly.

  Surprise swelled inside Dana as Sam laughed and rolled his eyes.

  “That bad?” she asked, a little more anxiously than she’d meant.

  Sam stopped dancing. He kept one arm fastened securely around her as he lifted his free hand to her cheek, where he caressed it and then brushed her hair away from her face. Eyes locked, he let a few seconds go by before grinning. This was a look she knew well. She’d only seen him give it to her. And by now, she knew exactly what was on his mind when that smile tipped the corners of his lips.

  He trailed his hand down the length of her arm, and she wished she’d worn a sleeveless dress so she could feel his touch against her bare skin. She said, “You’re avoiding the question.”