“I have no use for it now,” Carter said in a sincere tone that, once the words actually registered, burst her hopeful bubble. His next words nearly destroyed her. “I’m never going to propose to a woman ever again. Why don’t you take the ring and sell it? You can open up that drama school you’ve been dreaming about when you go back to Hollywood.”

Everything inside her went limp. Her hopes were instantly dashed, replaced by deep, wrenching disappointment. Pain sliced sharply through her entire body, cutting her like the blade of a dagger. She’d finally given in to her feelings for Carter. She’d finally realized that love was inevitable. And that it yielded great, uncontrollable power.

The Love Curse Diamond had struck again.

Silly her for daring to believe in love again.

She thought her time at the ranch had meant something to Carter. She thought that he might actually fall in love with her. She thought-and this particular notion hurt the most-that Carter hadn’t viewed her as his rebound girl, a temporary solution to his heartache.

Silly, silly her.

He waited for her reply wearing a satisfied expression. He thought he’d found a way to ease her pain. It was his way of protecting her.

The cure will kill you, they say and surely Carter’s solution would slowly, systematically cause her to die at least a thousand deaths. If only she hadn’t fallen in love with him.

Her heart sank yet the pain that blistered her would never see the light of day. She would hide her heartache and lift her head with pride. There wasn’t anything else Carter could do or say to her to make her feel any worse.

“If it’s not enough money to start up a school, I’ll invest in you, Macy. I’ll become your silent partner.”

“You’ll invest in me?” She’d been wrong. She did feel worse. He wanted to go into business with her, not pledge his undying love.

She stared at the ring and bolstered her courage. Concealing her destruction would be the hardest thing Macy would ever have to do. She had no more tears to shed, but keeping her voice steady and her body from collapsing in grief wouldn’t be easy. Summoning up her acting ability, she got into character and pretended to be a woman with more pride than smarts. Macy used every trick in her arsenal to bring him a performance worthy of a standing ovation.

“Carter, thank you. It’s very generous of you.” She smiled wide with gratitude plastered on her face and touched his cheek tenderly. “There’s no need to go into business together.” She took a silent swallow. “The ring will bring me enough money to see my dreams come alive.”

She held her head up and kept the smile on her face. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here at the ranch and for, well…everything.”

“No problem, darlin’.”

“I, uh, I guess this is a good time to tell you. As soon as the work is finished on the inn, I’ll be leaving.”

Carter frowned and his brows knit tightly together. “When?”

“It’s just a matter of putting on the finishing touches now.”

“When?” he asked again.

Macy plunged ahead. The pain would be sharper and the knife twists far more gutting if she prolonged her stay here. “I’ve been in touch with my agent,” she fibbed. “There’s a role that’s perfect for me, and I’ll need something current on my résumé before I take a stab at opening a drama school. Success breeds success, as they say. I need to be in Hollywood before the weekend for an audition.”

“This weekend? That’s in three days.”

She hid her dismay well, yet her mind screamed for mercy. Three days left at Wild River. Three days left to be with Carter McCay. The thought made her stomach knot with tension, but she forced herself to continue with her charade. “Yes, I know. It’s time for me to face my life head on.”

He pierced her with a long, unblinking stare filled with intense regret. She met his regret with bold determination, and he let out a deep sigh of resignation. He wouldn’t try to change her mind. He wouldn’t say a word to stop her. They’d both known this arrangement was temporary. She wondered if he would miss her. She hoped so. She wouldn’t want her time here to have been so easily forgotten.

Carter brushed her hair to the side and kissed her forehead, her cheeks and then brought his lips to her mouth. His intoxicating kiss made her heart bleed.

That night, he made love to her with great passion. He touched every part of her body with his hands and his tongue and his mouth. He stroked her until she cried his name, and he pleasured her as if she was the most desirable woman on the planet.

And with each loving embrace, each sensuous kiss and each powerful release, she fell more and more in love with him.


* * *

Macy stood on her terrace, looking out over her neighborhood as Pacific breezes whipped at her hair. The salty sea air freshened an otherwise smoggy day. Sometimes on a clear day, from one angled view on her terrace, she could actually see the ocean. Today wasn’t one of those days.

Since she’d left Wild River, she’d pretty much stayed isolated in her three-bedroom condo in Brentwood. Her only contact had been with a grocery store clerk, a gas station attendant and her neighbor Ella, who had come by to drop off her mail. She’d felt so odd, so out of place, that it had taken her several days to finally reacclimate to living in Los Angeles again.

Carter had insisted on driving her to the airport and had given her a goodbye kiss that buckled her knees. He held her in a tight embrace afterward, and she thought maybe he wouldn’t let her go. That maybe he’d realized he couldn’t live without her. That maybe he could take one more chance on a woman, the right woman. But Carter had let her go and forced himself to step away from her, though with great reluctance. That was something she could hold on to when she thought back on her time at Wild River. Carter hadn’t said the words, but at least, his actions told her, he wasn’t ready for her to leave.

“I’m here if you ever need me,” he’d said. “Wild River is only a plane flight away.”

But there was no true conviction in his voice. He was so certain that she’d step into her old way of life, paparazzi and all, without a look back. He had her pegged all wrong, but it wasn’t up to her to inform him. He’d pretty much laid his cards on the table the other night.

I’m never going to propose to a woman ever again.

She asked herself why couldn’t she have stayed and allowed her fiery fling to flame out? Since when had Macy become such a stick-in-the-mud that now, suddenly, she held dear traditional values? Since when had she wanted the clichéd husband and family and white picket fence?

Since she’d met Carter and fallen in love, that’s when. With him, she wouldn’t accept anything less than having his love.

She’d kissed Carter one last time in front of the airport’s security gate, then brought her mouth to his ear and whispered, “I’ll never forget you, Carter. And please reconsider about your father.”

She hadn’t waited for his reaction. She knew he wouldn’t be happy with her last words, but she had to say them. She’d whirled around with her overnight bag in hand and made her way through the security line without ever once looking back.

Memories of Carter consumed her thoughts. She kept going over the irony in her mind. For the time she’d lived at Wild River, she’d thought that Carter’s ownership of her mother’s cursed ring meant there was no hope for the two of them. She’d believed that no good would actually come from Carter falling in love with her, or her him. Their fate was cast. But the staggering truth was sharper and more painful. Carter simply didn’t love her. It had nothing to do with a curse or the diamond rings.

Thoughts of her gorgeous white-clad cowboy, astride his stallion, racing into town to sweep her up and ride into the sunset would be left for the late show in her dreams. It was the only place for them. And as soon as Macy realized that, her heart would stop aching, her stomach would stop clenching and she would get her head back in the game.


* * *

Carter had worked from sunup to sundown for the past eight days. He made appointments he really didn’t need to make, had meetings in his Dallas office with each one of his employees that were unnecessary and worked alongside his capable ranch hands in the barns and on the land. He dove into his work with uncanny vigor. His actions caused attention, garnering raised eyebrows and a few tactful questions from those close to him. None of his attempts helped him shake the feeling that he’d lost something valuable, something that couldn’t be replaced. This afternoon, as he stood by the corral fence watching the new colt lumber around the arena, separated from his mama and trying to find his own way, Carter felt one with him. Just like Midnight, he faced the uncertainty and stumbled around.

Earlier today, Carter had looked up an old girlfriend’s phone number. He’d stared at the screen that, with one tap of his finger, might have hooked him up with a woman, and then he cursed at his own stupidity.

“What the hell.” Instead of making that call, he’d grabbed a cold beer and strode outside.

He took a few gulps quickly, letting the foamy brew slide down his throat, and thought about how often in the past week he’d been tempted to call Macy. He’d thought about her at least twenty times a day. He wondered if she’d fallen right back into step with the Hollywood scene. And the more he thought about her, the more it irked him that she’d left the minute after he’d given her back that ring. Maybe that was all she’d ever been after. Maybe she saw her opportunity to play on his generous nature with well-rehearsed tears. She’d admitted she was broke. Just maybe, she’d played him for a fool. She might, at this very minute, be going after the other diamonds she’d sold at the Waverly auction.