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The Rancher Next Door
Susan Mallery








Growing up, Katie had been Jack’s fantasy.


Despite time and distance and good sense, he found himself wondering how it would be between them. They were different. Not children who had fallen in love, but adults who understood how good it could be.

“You could have asked me to stay,” Katie commented, interrupting his thoughts.

He knew what she meant. That summer, when she’d been leaving for college and had wanted him to go with her. Instead of refusing, he should have asked her to stay here…with him. “No,” he said. “Your world was out in front of you, waiting to be explored. You knew everything there was to know about Lone Star Canyon. You deserved more than this. You wanted more than this.”

“Interesting that despite your plans for my destiny, I ended up right back here,” she said. “I wish you hadn’t been so self-sacrificing. I think we could have made it.”

He dismissed her comment. “It doesn’t matter.” But what he wanted to say was, “Don’t talk about it.” Because revisiting the past would start to hurt. He might not remember his hopes for the future, but the pain was still fresh. The pain of giving her up…


The Rancher Next Door

Susan Mallery






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)




SUSAN MALLERY


is the bestselling author of over thirty books for Silhouette. Always a fan of romance novels, Susan finds herself in the unique position of living out her own personal romantic fantasy with the new man in her life. Susan lives in sunny Southern California with her handsome hero husband and her two adorable-but-not-bright cats.










Contents


Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen




Prologue


The bright red bike beckoned Katie Fitzgerald. It lay abandoned in a heap of other more battered bikes, all left behind the ice cream parlor where Katie’s older brother and his friends had gone for an afternoon snack. The pocket of her jeans jingled with the coins her father had given her to keep her out of trouble, and she knew that fresh peach ice cream, her favorite, had been made that morning.

But even more tempting than the thought of cool, creamy ice cream melting on her tongue and slipping down her throat was the realization that this might be her only chance with the bike. The twins, younger by two years, could both ride two-wheelers already, but she couldn’t. Not because she wasn’t coordinated enough but because her parents had never let her try.

It wasn’t her fault that she had been born small, she thought balling her hands into fists. Her father laughingly called her the runt of the litter, which hurt her feelings, but she never let him see the tears in her eyes. Instead she kept her head high and chin thrust out, because she was a Fitzgerald and ten years old, which was practically grown-up.

Katie glanced at the back of the ice cream shop and knew that her brother David would be in there for hours. Once he and his friends got to talking—bragging was more like it—they could waste a whole afternoon. Her dad wasn’t going to be finished with his business until three, and it was barely past one. All she had to do was make sure no one saw her.

Easier said than done, she thought glumly. Lone Star Canyon wasn’t much of a town, and everyone around knew everyone else by sight if not by name. Besides, she was a Fitzgerald, and her father always told her that Fitzgeralds were looked up to by other folks and had a responsibility to act right.

But it’s not as if she were stealing the bike, she told herself even as she walked over and grabbed the handlebars. It was her brother’s, and she was just borrowing it. David would understand.

Even she didn’t believe that lie, so she ignored the feeling of guilt in favor of the excitement growing in her belly. If she could learn to ride a bike on her own and then show her mom when she got home, they’d have to stop treating her like a baby. Just because she’d been sick a lot as a little girl, both her parents made her avoid sports and bikes and be careful all the time. She had rules that her brothers and sisters didn’t. It was humiliating that the twins had more freedom than she did.

It all came down to learning to ride the bike. Then her parents would have to see it was okay for her to be outside and playing, just like every other kid around. So if she borrowed the bike for a really good reason, that didn’t make taking it such a bad thing, right?

She pressed her lips together and figured she was going to get into trouble anyway, so why not enjoy the process? Then she steadied the bike by putting her hands on the handlebars and straddled the crossbar.

The seat was too high for her to sit on and still touch the ground, even on tiptoe. Katie walked over to the driveway, then down to the street, where she could balance on the curb while perched on the seat. She settled herself, shifted to get her balance, then pushed off the curb.

Thirty minutes later she’d skinned both knees and one elbow, and had yet to ride more than five feet at a stretch. Despite the tears of frustration and the pain burning her knees and elbow, she refused to give up or admit defeat. “I can do this,” she whispered fiercely.

“You’re going about it all wrong,” a voice said from behind her.

Katie spun, then caught her breath as she saw Jack Darby. The boy rode lazily toward her, his battered bike looking as if it had been run over and left for dead more than once. He rode off the curb with the easy grace of a natural athlete, then skidded to a stop three feet in front of her.

Although only a year older, Jack was about five inches taller and twenty pounds heavier. Like all the Darbys he had dark hair and eyes. Katie swallowed her fear. She wasn’t about to let any Darby know she was scared of him.

“You want me to hold the bike steady?” Jack asked, letting his bike drop to the ground. He moved next to her and reached for the seat. “You need to get your balance, Katie. Once you learn that, the rest of it’s easy.”

“I’m fine,” she said stiffly, wishing she could ride to safety, but she was trapped. “I don’t need help from you.”

Something flashed in his eyes—something that she might have thought was hurt, except he was a boy and from what she’d seen with her brothers, boys didn’t have any softer feelings.

He stood beside her, studying her. Katie stared right back. Jack Darby didn’t look like he was gonna hurt her or anything. In fact he looked friendly. But Darbys hated Fitzgeralds from their first breath to their last…didn’t they? Darbys and Fitzgeralds had been feuding for about as long as Texas had been a state—at least that’s what her father always said.

Jack pointed at her bleeding knees. “You keep falling, you’re gonna scrape off all your skin. You’ll end up looking like a plucked chicken, and then what?”

Despite her fear and the pain from her slips off the bike, she smiled at the image of herself as a naked chicken. “Will not.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Then you’ll get all scabby and gross and everyone will run when they see you.” He gave a little shake of the seat. “Come on, Katie. Both my sisters can ride, and they’re younger than you.”

She stiffened at the challenge in his voice. But when she glanced at him, she didn’t see anything mean in his expression. His too-long hair tumbled over his forehead, and his dark eyes were bright with humor. Except for seeing him in school, she’d never been this close to Jack before. Her dad always said mean things about the Darby family, but from what she could tell, Jack was sorta nice.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” she admitted in a small voice, then tugged on the hem of her T-shirt. Summer in Lone Star Canyon was hot, so they were both in shorts, but Jack’s knees were smooth and tanned—not a single scab in sight.

Jack grabbed the handlebar. He kept his other hand firmly at the base of the seat. “Go on and sit down. Put your feet on the pedals. I won’t let you fall. You gotta get a feel for the bike and find your balance. Once you have that, riding is easy.”

She did as he said. He walked her around while she wobbled and tried to pedal. He was close enough for her to realize that he didn’t smell bad, even though her dad said that Darbys were dirt.

Suddenly Jack gave her a little push. She yelped and nearly lost her balance, but then she was moving forward and actually riding a bike!

“I can do it!” she yelled at him.

An hour later they still rode together. Katie wasn’t as fast as Jack, but he rarely went ahead and he always picked easy routes for her to follow. The buildings of town flashed by as they raced to the end of Mason Street, then turned right. The rear wheel started to slip on some loose dirt, but Jack had already taught her how to compensate for that.

“Not bad for a girl,” he called, his voice approving. “You’re so little that if you were a fish, I’d have to throw you back, but you do okay.”

She laughed at both Jack and the world. Being on a bike was a freedom she’d never experienced before. “This summer I’m not staying inside,” she swore to them both. “I’m gonna play and have fun and—”

“Gotcha!”

Four boys materialized from between Carter’s auto parts store and the alley. Three of them grabbed Jack and his bike while the fourth—thirteen-year-old David Fitzgerald—hauled Katie off his bright red bike and set her roughly on the ground.

“You stole my bike,” David accused his sister.

Katie nearly fell to her knees, but she quickly regained her balance. “Did not. I borrowed it. I wanted to learn to ride and I couldn’t do that at the ranch.”

She stared pleadingly at the older brother who had always been so good to her. But as she took in his angry face and balled fists, she remembered that he was only kind in private. In front of his friends, he teased and tormented with no thought for her feelings.

The three remaining boys—all friends of David’s—held Jack’s arms. He tried to squirm away but couldn’t break their hold. Not only was he outnumbered, but the boys were two years older than him and bigger.

Instantly Katie saw what was going to happen. She ran to her brother and grabbed his shirtsleeve. “David, no. You can’t hurt him. He was being nice to me. He taught me how to ride a bike.”

“No Darby messes with my sister,” David said.

All the scrapes and blood hadn’t made her cry, but the sight of her new friend pinned and helpless brought tears to her eyes. “You’re a coward,” she yelled at her brother as he approached Jack. “Four against one? You can’t win a fair fight so you’re gonna be a bully?”

David turned on her. “Shut up or you’re next.”

She thrust out her chin. “I’m not scared of you, David Fitzgerald. Besides, if you’re going to beat up someone who’s held down by your friends, then of course you’re going to beat up a little girl. Dad’ll be real proud.”

Doubt flickered in David’s blue eyes. Then his gaze narrowed. “Let ’em go,” he ordered his friends.

They reluctantly did as he said.

“Run!” Katie screamed to Jack, but no one was listening.

As soon as Jack was free, David attacked. Jack came back swinging, but the other three boys joined in. Katie cried out. It only took her a couple of seconds to realize that Jack was going to get slaughtered. She dove into the pile of fists and elbows, grabbing hair where she could, biting, kicking and generally trying to help her new friend.

A sharp blow landed on the side of her head. Katie saw stars, then nothing at all. The hard ground rushed up to meet her.

The next thing she heard was her father’s voice. Finally, she thought hazily. Jack would be safe. But when she managed to open her eyes, she saw her father shaking Jack like a dog.

“Dad, no,” she yelled. “Jack didn’t start it, David did.”

Her father let go of Jack, then glared at the boy. “I don’t care who started it. The fight is finished now. You go on and get out of here. No Darby is going to mess with my family.”

Katie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Didn’t her father understand? “Daddy, he helped me. I can ride a bike now and everything.”

Jack straightened. Blood poured from his mouth and nose. Swelling nearly shut his left eye, and his hands were battered. His once clean T-shirt was smudged with dirt and torn off one shoulder. Katie was pleased to see the four older boys looked almost as bad. Her body felt sore, and she realized she could barely see out of one eye.

Her father glared at her. “Stealing your brother’s bike, riding around town with the likes of him and fighting. What is your mother going to say?”

Katie didn’t want to answer that. She forced herself to her feet. “I’m sorry, Jack,” she called as the boy limped away.

“Don’t speak to him,” her father ordered. “Darbys are dirt.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “They’re not. Jack’s my friend.”

Right there on the sidewalk, in front of David and his friends, worse, in front of Jack, her father slapped her across the face. It wasn’t a strong blow, but it stung all the same. Humiliation darkened her soul.

“We don’t bother with their kind,” her father growled. “You remember that, missy. You hear me?”

But she didn’t answer. Instead she stared after Jack and vowed that somehow, some way, she would make it up to him. Even if it took forever.




Chapter One


Nineteen years later

Jack Darby rounded the corner in time to see four large boys go after a small skinny kid. The little guy—pale, in glasses and throwing punches like a girl—stood about as much chance against his assailants as a kitten did against a wolf pack.

Some things never change, Jack thought, remembering all the fights he’d gotten in when he’d been a kid. Even so, the little guy was outnumbered and ill-equipped. Jack hurried toward the huddle.

“That’s enough,” he yelled, just as the little guy dropped to one knee.

The four bullies glanced up, saw him, then took off for the main street. Jack reached the kid still crouched on the sidewalk.

“You okay?” he asked the boy. He bent over, half-expecting blood and tears. What he got instead was a big grin.

“Did you see?” the skinny boy asked with obvious pride. “I got two of ’em. I hit one in the face.”

The boy stood and pushed his glasses up on his nose. Blood dripped from a cut on his lip, but the kid didn’t seem to notice.

Jack knew that any blows the boy had landed had been glancing, at best, but decided not to say that. No point in spoiling the moment. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here.”

The boy stared at it. “I’m bleeding?” His voice sounded both delighted and hopeful.

“You cut your lip.”

“Wow. Just like in the movies.” The boy took the cloth and pressed it to his mouth, then gazed at the blood. “Cool.”

“You’re pretty happy for someone who nearly got the snot kicked out of him.”

The boy nodded. “Sometimes it’s important to act like a man, even if that means taking on a losing fight.”

Jack looked at the kid. He was skinny and kind of short. He would have guessed he was maybe seven or eight, but he sounded older. Or maybe he was just an old soul, as his mother liked to say.

“You’ve learned a good lesson early,” Jack said. “But next time, try taking on less than four bigger boys. At least then you’d have a chance.”

The boy handed him back his handkerchief. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.” He grinned, then winced when the movement pulled his lip. “I’m Shane Fitzgerald.”

“Jack Darby,” Jack said automatically. The boy said something else, but Jack didn’t hear it. He didn’t hear anything but the name.

Shane Fitzgerald. Katie’s son. Jack studied his blond hair and blue eyes. All the Fitzgeralds were fair-skinned and light-haired. He should have recognized him at once.

Katie’s child. Eleven years ago—the summer she’d graduated from high school—Katie had promised to love Jack forever. The nine-year-old boy in front of him was living proof that her promise had meant less than nothing.

“I guess I’d better go find my mom,” Shane was saying. “She worries about me.”

“Mothers do that,” Jack said. “Tell you what. I’ll come with you. Just in case she needs more details about the fight.”

Some of Shane’s pride disappeared. He touched his lower lip and sighed. “Moms don’t like fighting,” he confided as he turned toward Second Avenue.

“I know. I had more than my share of lectures when I was your age.”

Shane looked at him worshipfully. “Did you fight a lot?”

“Too much.”

“Did you win?”

Jack thought of the first time he’d met Katie Fitzgerald. They’d known each other on sight from school, but they’d never talked. Not until that summer afternoon when he’d taught her to ride a bike, and her brother and his friends had kicked his butt. “Most of the time.”

Shane led the way to the offices of Dr. Stephen Remington, then pushed his way through the glass door. Jack followed, only to find Katie Fitzgerald in conversation with Lone Star Canyon’s new physician.

Neither of them noticed the new arrivals, and Shane didn’t seem to be in a hurry to announce their presence. Which was fine with Jack. He wanted the chance to study Katie, to see how she’d changed since she left town eleven years ago.

He remembered that night as if it had happened the previous week. She’d been eighteen and ready to head off to college. Even then he’d known that he was going to spend the rest of his life in Lone Star Canyon. She’d wanted him to go away with her—she’d begged him, telling him that she would love him forever, no matter what. Then she’d peeled off her shirt and pleaded with him to take her.

They’d come close a few times, but they’d never gone all the way. And even though it had taken every bit of strength he’d possessed, he’d turned her down. Because it had been the right thing to do. Because he’d known that at least one of them had to get away, and it couldn’t be him.

Now, all these years later, he looked at the woman who had once been that teenage girl. She was still petite, all of five foot three. Sometime in the past few years, she’d cut her long hair. Short curls danced around her face. Her coloring was the same—light blond hair, blue eyes. She still had high cheeks and a smile that could light up a room…and she was still a Fitzgerald. There were dozens of reasons a relationship between them wouldn’t have worked when they were kids, and even more reasons now.

As he looked at her, Jack waited to feel something, a sense of regret or loss, but there wasn’t anything—for which he breathed a brief prayer of thanks. He’d learned his lesson. He wanted nothing to do with women in general and Katie Fitzgerald in particular.



Something tickled at the back of Katie’s neck. She shivered slightly, then felt a knot form in her stomach. Her chest tightened. Despite Stephen Remington’s detailed conversation about a patient, Katie turned and saw two people had entered the reception area. A boy and a man.

Her son—dirty and bleeding—accompanied by Jack Darby.

“Hello, Katie,” the ghost from her past said.

She gasped. She didn’t know which sight shocked her the most. Fortunately Stephen heard Jack’s greeting and glanced toward the door.

“Hey, Jack! What happened here?” he asked, walking toward Shane, then tilting the boy’s face so the overhead light fell on his swollen lip.

“I was in a fight,” Shane said defiantly, with a quick look at his mother. “It wasn’t my fault,” he added quickly. “They started it.”

“But you finished it,” Stephen said, leading the boy toward an examining room. “Very impressive. Now I just want to take a quick look at your lip. Do you hurt anywhere else?”

Katie trailed after her son. She was stunned by learning that her son had been in a fight and by seeing Jack after all this time. She didn’t know what to think or do. All she could do was tell herself to keep breathing.

By the time she entered the examining room, Stephen had lifted Shane onto the table and was looking at his mouth.

“His teeth seem fine,” Stephen said, giving her a quick, reassuring smile. “Don’t look so panicked.”

“I’m not,” she said. Panicked wasn’t the right word at all, although she wasn’t sure what she felt.

“See, Mom, I’m big and strong,” Shane said determinedly. “I’m not wimpy.”

Katie leaned against the door frame and winced. Obviously her son had overheard her conversation with his grandfather that morning. Her father was less than impressed with his grandson’s masculinity. In return, Shane was terrified of his grandfather. It was an impossible situation.

“He did okay,” Jack said quietly, so Shane wouldn’t hear. “And I don’t think Shane started the fight, so don’t be too hard on him, okay?”

Katie turned toward the man who had once been the center of her universe. Time had honed the good-looking features of a nineteen-year-old into the lean, handsome profile of a grown man. Tanned skin spoke of his days outdoors. He was lean and powerful—a rancher who spent his life battling nature and stubborn cattle.

His dark gaze was as direct as she remembered, his mouth as firm. Too-long hair still tumbled across his forehead. There had been a time when she’d known Jack as well as she’d known herself. At least that’s what she told herself. But perhaps she’d been wrong about that. Was it possible to ever know another person?

“Thanks for helping him,” Katie said, hoping that her voice sounded normal and that he wouldn’t be able to hear her rapidly beating heart.

He gave her a quick smile. “I owed you, remember? Many years ago you came to my defense in a fight.”

She didn’t return his smile. “What I remember is it was my fault you got beat up in the first place.”

There was a small scar at the corner of his mouth—a legacy from the day they’d first met. She wanted to touch it, as she had in the past. Actually, in the past she’d kissed it hundreds of times, as if her mouth could heal the wound. Jack had teased her that it was worth that scar and a dozen others just to have her feel so guilty and act so loving because of it. She’d told him she would do anything for him. Her gaze fell on her son. No doubt Jack considered him proof that her love had been nothing but a convenient lie.

“No permanent damage,” Stephen said, helping Shane jump down from the examining table to the floor. “He’s going to be a bit sore and bruised for the next few days, but otherwise, he’s fine.” He glanced at the boy. “Try to avoid fights in the future, young man.”

Shane sighed and shuffled his feet. “Yes, sir.”

Stephen turned his attention to Jack and Katie. “I keep forgetting that you know each other. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up in a small town.” He smiled. “Something I can’t relate to.”

Katie shoved her hands into her pockets and tried not to act nervous. “Stephen is from Boston,” she told Jack.

“I know.”

She glanced between the two men. “You know each other?”

Stephen nodded. “The patient I was telling you about? The woman with the broken pelvis, hip and leg is Hattie Darby, Jack’s mother. I’m her doctor. Of course in a town the size of Lone Star Canyon, I’m nearly everyone’s doctor.”

Jack’s gaze narrowed. “Why were you talking to her about my mother?”

As he spoke, Katie’s heart sank. She hadn’t realized…. This was going to make all kinds of trouble.

Still, she was a professional. She forced herself to smile at Jack. “I’m a physical therapist,” she said. “Just moved back into town a couple of weeks ago and hung out my shingle. Stephen wants me to work with your mother while she’s recovering from her accident. I’ll be heading out to the ranch every day to give her physical therapy.”

Questions darkened Jack’s eyes, but he didn’t ask any of them. His mouth twisted as if he wasn’t pleased at the prospect of having her back in his life, but then she wasn’t all that excited about it, either.

Katie sighed. She never had been very much good at lying, especially to herself. While she would admit to a little dismay at the thought of having to face Jack Darby on a regular basis, she couldn’t deny the fact that the man still made her blood run hot and her heart flutter like a trapped butterfly. Despite the miles and years between them, Jack Darby left her breathless. The fact that she’d sworn off men didn’t seem to matter one bit.

Jack ran his fingers through his hair, then shrugged. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around.” He turned to leave, paused to smile at Shane, then walked out of the office.

Stephen looked from her to the closing door. “I’d heard about the feud between the Fitzgeralds and the Darbys, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in action.”

“It’s a sight to behold,” Katie said glumly.

“Is going to the Darby ranch going to make trouble for you?” he asked.

“Some, but none I can’t handle.”



“Most people’s mothers act their age,” Jack complained as he sat beside his mother’s bed. She was in a private room in Lone Star Canyon’s only convalescent facility, where she’d been for the past six weeks since being released from the hospital. She was finally well enough to come home.

Hattie Darby grinned at her oldest son. “You’re in something of a mood. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

He grimaced at one of his mother’s favorite expressions. “Nothing.”

“You can’t still be mad because I got hurt,” she said. “It was an accident, Jack. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

He glared at her. “You were barrel racing at the Thompsons’ barbecue. You’re fifty years old. It’s time you acted your age.”

“My horse lost his footing. That’s hardly my fault.” Her dark eyes snapped with temper. “And don’t go telling me to act my age. When you’re fifty, we’ll see if you’re ready to act like an old man. I suspect you’ll be as full of life as me. So why don’t you stop pretending I’m who you’re mad at and tell me what’s really wrong?”

Despite the hospital gown and the casts, Hattie Darby was still an attractive, vital woman. Her skin was a little pale, but otherwise she glowed with health. Her long dark hair hung almost to her waist. The first gray had shown up less than a year ago. She was fit and stubborn, and he knew he was too much like her for comfort.

They shared both temperament and features. He’d inherited his charm and success with the ladies from his father, but his temper from his mother.

“You’re coming home tomorrow,” Jack said.

His mother raised her eyebrows. “Have you been keeping women at the house? Is that why you’re upset? Now they have to leave?”

Despite his annoyance with the situation, he smiled. “Yeah, you know me. Why have one when seventeen would be that much better?”

Hattie looked at her oldest child. “It wouldn’t kill you to go out on a date now and again.”

“No, thanks, and don’t try to change the subject.”

“I didn’t know there was a subject to change.”

He folded his arms over his chest and glared at his mother. “I spoke with Dr. Remington. Katie Fitzgerald is going to be coming out to the ranch every day to help you with your physical therapy.”

Hattie blinked at him. “Is that what has you upset? Katie Fitzgerald? I don’t believe it.” Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t try to tell me that this is about that ridiculous feud. I say it’s high time that ended, and I suspect you agree with me.”

He did, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“As for Katie,” she went on, “she’s a lovely young woman and someone you might want to take notice of.”

He knew what his mother meant—that Katie would be a good match for him. Hattie was beginning to get desperate where his love life was concerned. Lately she’d taken to throwing any single woman she could in his path. As if at least one of them would have to appeal to him.

He thought about telling her that it was too late for Katie and him. They’d had their chance and it hadn’t ended well. Of course, they’d both been pretty young.

“I’m not looking to get married again,” he told his mother. “From what I’ve heard Katie’s divorced, as well.”

“Then you’re probably perfect for each other.”

“Then she’s probably as gun-shy,” he corrected. “Rumor has it her marriage lasted all of six months and the guy left her alone and pregnant. I doubt she’d be much interested in trying that again. I know I’m not. I’ve been burned enough times already.”

Hattie didn’t look convinced. “You’d be nothing like her ex-husband. And I’ll bet she’s nothing like your ex-wife.”

“Mom, I’m serious. Don’t go messing with this. Neither of us is interested.”

Hattie Darby looked anything but convinced. Jack suspected she would try to meddle, but he would be on his guard. The last thing he wanted was a trip down memory lane with Katie Fitzgerald. Between Katie and his ex-wife, who had stayed with him all of two years, he’d long since learned that love didn’t last. The second it became inconvenient, it dried up and blew away.




Chapter Two


Katie turned left at the bridge and crossed onto the Darby ranch. Enemy territory, she thought with a smile as she looked out over a vast emptiness made temporarily beautiful by acres of wildflowers. Spring in Texas was her favorite time of year. There were moderate temperatures, the bright colors of new leaves, flowers and grass and the wild thunderstorms that made staying indoors in front of a roaring fire the most perfect way to spend an evening. While she’d been at college she’d heard dozens of students complain that Texas was too hot, too flat and too big, but for Katie, that was the charm of living here.

She drove nearly two miles before she spotted low outbuildings in the distance. She saw horses grazing in oversize corrals and, past them, cattle. Even from nearly a mile away she could see that the buildings looked freshly painted and repaired. Times had changed for the better on the Darby ranch. Between Jack’s forays into oil and horse breeding, cash was no longer a problem. When beef prices dropped, he could afford to wait until the market was better. He could finance expansion and ride out hard times. She’d had an earful of Jack’s good fortune over the past couple of days, all delivered by her father. His angry voice had betrayed his lack of goodwill toward his neighbor, but that wasn’t news. Darbys and Fitzgeralds had hated each other since the beginning of time, or at least since Joshua Fitzgerald and Michael Darby had first settled on adjoining ranches nearly a hundred and forty years before. Time had changed the land and circumstances of the heirs to that land, but it hadn’t changed the feud.

Katie pulled up in front of the two-story sprawling ranch house and put her forest-green Explorer in park. Then she rested her hands on the steering wheel and stared at the well-tended flower garden in front of the wide front porch. A swing hung by a bay window that overlooked the main pasture. There were several rockers on the other side of the porch.

Katie smiled as she remembered being all of fifteen and desperately in love with Jack Darby. She remembered how he’d sworn that one day they would be able to tell the world they loved each other, and they would sit on the swing in front of his house and no one would say a word to either of them. It had been a foolish dream, dreamed by children. She and Jack had both become very different people.

She found herself wondering about the man he was now. Were there any similarities to the boy she’d known? When she’d seen him in town she’d noticed that he was a couple of inches taller and a little broader through the chest. He’d seemed harder, somehow, as if time had added muscle as well as experience. According to her stepmother, who kept her apprised of the local gossip, Jack had been married and divorced while Katie had been gone. Suzanne had been able to give generalities about the beginning and ending of Jack’s marriage, but she hadn’t filled in the particulars. Such as, who had ended the relationship and did Jack still miss his ex-wife?

“Not that it matters to me,” Katie said aloud as she turned off the engine and grabbed her bag of equipment. “This is about business, nothing more.”

She almost believed it, she thought as she made her way to the front of the house. Unfortunately, instead of knocking, she found herself wondering why she’d never been able to put Jack completely out of her mind. Had his ex-wife had the same problem? Jack seemed much more able to get the past behind him. Whenever he and Katie had met in town over the years when she’d been home for holidays and birthdays, he’d offered a polite hello but nothing more. Two days ago, he’d acted as if they’d barely been acquainted with each other. Eleven years ago she’d declared her love and had begged Jack to run away with her. Apparently that had mattered a whole lot more to her than to him.

Forget it, she told herself as she knocked firmly on the front door. From inside, a voice called that the door was open. Katie let herself in and stepped into the front room.

When she’d been little, her family had been the affluent one and the Darbys had been struggling. Looking around at the new furniture and refinished hardwood floor, she saw evidence of Jack’s success. Times had certainly changed.

“Katie, I’m hoping that’s you,” Hattie Darby called. “Head down the hall. I’m in the first room on the right.”

“Yes, it’s me,” Katie said, following the directions.

She crossed the huge front room, filled with three comfortable sofas and two sets of wing chairs, all done in dark blue, then entered the hallway. The first room on the right was a recently converted library. Shelves still ran around three of the four walls. The fourth contained a big window. In the center of the room stood a hospital bed, a table on wheels and two stationary nightstands. Several floor lamps would provide illumination in the evening.

Katie turned her attention to the bed and the woman sitting there. Hattie Darby had to be in her fifties, but with her long, dark hair hanging in a thick braid over one shoulder and laughter dancing in her dark eyes, she barely looked thirty-five. Jack’s mother was a pleasant woman with a well-known generous heart and a lust for adventure. Which was the reason she was living in a hospital bed with a brace and partial cast.

“Katherine Marie Fitzgerald, you’re quite the grown woman, aren’t you?” Hattie asked, holding out both hands.

Without thinking, Katie set her bag on the floor and crossed to the side of the bed. She found herself smiling at Hattie. “Hello, Mrs. Darby.”

The older woman frowned. “Please, don’t call me that. I’m Hattie. After all, you’re going make me sweat and listen to me swear through my exercises. Under those circumstances it would be silly to be formal, don’t you think?” Hattie squeezed her hands and released them. “Besides, I’ve known you since before you were born.”

Katie laughed. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right.” She pulled up the chair by the bed and settled on the seat. “I’ve spoken to Dr. Remington. He says you’re doing very well. How are you feeling?”

Hattie motioned to her lower body and sighed. “Like a fool. Jack keeps telling me I should have known better than to show off at the Thompsons’ barbecue, but I couldn’t help myself. Several broken bones later, I guess I’ve learned my lesson.”

Katie reached for her bag and pulled out a folder. “I have all the information here on your injuries and your recovery. Dr. Remington would like you to have a month of daily physical therapy. Then another month of three times a week. The aggressive schedule is to help you regain as much of your former range of motion and strength as possible.”

Hattie nodded. “I want to be up and barrel racing real soon. The sight of a good-looking woman on a horse always makes the men around here go crazy, and I could use a mild flirtation or two in my life.”

Katie looked at Hattie’s pretty features. There were a few lines around her eyes and mouth, but they only added to her attraction. Her strong features reminded Katie a little of Jack.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting you back on the horse.” She dug a pen out of her bag and wrote the date on her chart. “Are you getting around all right? Any trouble I should know about?”

Hattie snorted. “I can barely take a breath without someone running in to ask me if I’m all right. Jack comes to fuss over me three or four times a day. Nora, my oldest daughter, comes in from town every day to check on me. She offered to move back in for a time, but I told her I was fine. You raise them and finally get them out and the first thing you know, they want to move back.”

Hattie might be complaining, but Katie heard the love in her voice.

“Dr. Remington said he would be willing to recommend a part-time nurse if you think you need one,” Katie reminded her.

“I’m fine.” Shrewd dark eyes, so much like Jack’s, settled on her face. “I just realized this is the first time you’ve been inside my house. Isn’t that so?”

Katie considered the question. “I guess it is.”

Hattie sighed. She settled back on her pillows and folded her hands across her stomach. “The Darbys and Fitzgeralds have been neighbors for over a hundred years and still they fight. The feud has never made sense to me and it never well. I’ll bet you barely know any of my children and they barely know you. What a tragedy. We should have been friends, looking out for each other.”

“I agree,” Katie said softly. She hadn’t realized she was tense about being on the Darby ranch until Hattie’s words made her relax. She closed the file. “If you’re ready, we can get started.”

Hattie looked at her and grinned. “I would prefer you didn’t make me scream. At my age, it’s embarrassing.”



An hour later they completed the exercises. Hattie used a washcloth to wipe the perspiration from her face. “That wasn’t too terrible,” she said.

“Not even one scream,” Katie teased. “I’ll be drummed out of my local physical therapy association.”

Sunlight spilled into the big room. Light reflected off the highly polished wood flooring and fell across the bed. Hattie turned toward the window. “It’s nearly three. About time for Jack to come pay me a visit. He brings me a snack. You could stay and keep us both company.”

As Hattie had spent the past hour talking about Jack—how wonderful he was, how smart, how gifted, how wealthy, how single—Katie wasn’t surprised by the invitation. Hattie might be funny and kind, but she wasn’t subtle.

She packed up her equipment and pulled out the chart. “Hattie, I’m not in the market for a husband,” she said.

“Who said anything about a husband?” Hattie asked innocently. “I’m talking about having a little fun.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. First it’s fun, then you’ll want to know about grandchildren.”

Hattie laughed. “Maybe just one small one.” Her humor faded. “So tell me why you’re so against marriage.” She frowned. “I remember hearing you were married before. Is that why?”

“Right in one guess,” Katie said lightly. Even though it had been ten years, she didn’t like talking about her divorce. Not because she missed her ex-husband, but because remembering that time also made her remember that she’d been a fool. Young and not the least bit aware of what she was doing, but a fool nonetheless.

“Did he break your heart?” Hattie asked.

Her voice had changed from teasing to comforting. Katie knew that Hattie’s husband had abandoned her and her seven children when Jack, the oldest, had been twelve. If anyone understood the meaning of heartbreak, it was Hattie Darby.

“More like he showed me that I could be incredibly stupid,” Katie admitted. “What I’d taken for true love was just a reaction to being on the rebound. I found myself married, pregnant and divorced in about six months. The good news is I grew up fast. Being a single mom before I turned twenty forced my hand on that one.” She paused, then smiled. “But I wouldn’t trade Shane for the world, so there’s a positive side to the story, after all.”

Hattie adjusted her sheet. “I know what you mean. My children are my greatest blessing. So how old is your son?”

“Nearly ten.”

“His father didn’t mind you moving back to Lone Star Canyon?”

“His father hasn’t seen him even once in his life, so it wasn’t a problem.”

Hattie’s dark eyes turned sympathetic. “I don’t understand men who can turn their backs on their children. My husband hasn’t been back to see his, either.”

All this talk of the past made Katie uncomfortable. She wanted to be able to put it behind her. She cleared her throat, then reached for her scheduling book. “We need to pick a time for your physical therapy,” she said by way of changing the subject. “Your body needs to recover from our sessions, and it’s best to have a standing appointment so there’s always twenty-four hours between workouts. Fortunately I’m pretty open at the moment, so what works for you?”

Hattie leaned back against the pillows and thought for a moment. “How about four in the afternoon?”

Katie shook her head. “I pick up Shane at three-thirty from school. I wouldn’t be able to do that, get him home and then here in time.”

“Then bring him. This old house needs a child’s laughter.”

Katie started to protest, then thought about the difficult afternoons at her father’s house. Her temporary move home while her new house was being built was supposed to bring grandfather and grandson closer together. So far the plan had been a complete failure. Maybe afternoons away from the ranch would be good for Shane.

“If you’re sure he won’t get in the way.”

Hattie waved toward the window. “It’s a working ranch. What trouble could he be? This world was made for children.”

Katie found herself warming to Jack’s mother. Hattie wasn’t completely conventional, but she had a homeyness about her that welcomed Katie. The furniture might be new but the family values were old-fashioned and comforting.

Katie wrote the standing appointment in her book. “Tomorrow at four, then,” she said. “Do you need anything before I leave?”

“Not one thing. Except…” Hattie hesitated. “Your father isn’t going to like you helping me. If he makes your life too difficult, I’ll understand if you don’t want to come here anymore.”

Katie shook her head. “I’m over eighteen. He can’t tell me what to do.”

“Fathers have a way of interfering even when they shouldn’t.”

“I know. But this is one argument my father isn’t going to win. My work is too important to me. The fact that our families have been feuding for generations doesn’t mean very much to me.”

“Good.” Hattie smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

Katie waved goodbye, then walked out of the house. Her first session with the older woman had gone well. She made a note to talk to Stephen Remington about his patient. The doctor would want to know that Hattie was making an extraordinary recovery. Probably because of her zest for life. She was one of the most—

The rumble of a truck engine broke through her thoughts. Katie looked up, then squinted in the sunlight as a pickup pulled up next to her Explorer. Even before she saw the driver clearly, she knew who was behind the wheel of the truck. On cue, her heart rate jumped into triple digits and her mouth went dry. All this before Jack Darby even said hello. Imagine what her reaction would be if he actually spoke her name.

The thought made her chuckle, and she was still smiling when he stepped out of his truck.

Dark eyes stared at her from under a battered Stetson. “You’re happy about something,” he said by way of a greeting.

Katie motioned to the blue sky and the land that stretched to the horizon. “It’s a beautiful spring day. What’s not to like?”

He stared at her as if she’d been speaking a foreign language. Katie forced herself to stand still and stare back. She took in the broad shoulders and narrow hips. If he ever got tired of ranching, Jack could make a fortune as a male model. She happened to know that as devastating as he looked in jeans, he was twice as lethal in a tuxedo.

Finally, after what seemed like at least seventeen hours, he pushed back his hat and spoke. “How’s Mom?”

“Her first session went really well,” Katie told him. “She’s made a terrific recovery. She’s about done with the brace, and her cast will come off in a couple of weeks. Dr. Remington is recommending a month of daily physical therapy, then reducing it to three times a week. Towards the end of the second month, I’ll taper off the sessions until she’s healed. Then she can do her exercises on her own.”

He didn’t even blink during her speech. She had no idea what he was thinking. There had been a time when she’d known nearly every thought in his head. Back when they’d been close—when she’d thought she would love Jack Darby forever.

She tilted her head. “So do you plan to respond to my comments? Or have you become one of those ranchers who parcels out words as if each cost him a pint of blood?”

One corner of Jack’s mouth twitched, but she wasn’t sure if he was fighting a smile or a frown.

“What are you doing back in Lone Star Canyon?” he asked.

She bristled slightly. “Are you asking why I left Dallas and moved back here or why I’m living at my father’s ranch?”

“Both.”

She took in a deep breath and told herself she’d done nothing wrong. Even though that’s how it felt to her. “I left Dallas because I wanted a different sort of environment for my son. I thought here in a small town with so much family around, he would have more opportunities to experience life in a safe place.”

“All right.”

She had the sense he was judging her and finding her wanting, which made no sense. Maybe it was her paranoia at work. “As for why I’m living at the ranch—not that it’s any of your business—I’ve bought a house. It’s being built. They just broke ground so it’s going to be about two months until it’s ready. My father offered me a place to stay until then and I said yes. End of story.”

This time his mouth turned up in a definite smile. “You don’t have to justify anything to me.”

“I know that. I’m simply pointing out that I’m paying my own way through life. No one’s taking care of me.”

“I never said differently.”

“Yes, but you implied they were. That I was living at my father’s ranch because it was easier than taking responsibility for myself and for Shane. I know how it looks from the outside, but you’re wrong.”

He leaned against his truck. “All that from asking why you’d moved home?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She replayed his question and her overreaction of an answer. “Oh.” She dropped her bag to the ground and planted her hands on her hips. “Okay, so I got a little defensive. What of it?”

He looked her up and down. “You’re still a gallon of trouble in a pint-size container, Katie Fitzgerald. Ready to take on the world as fearlessly as ever.” He shrugged. “You don’t have to go explaining it all to me. I remember what it was like for you back when we were kids.”

She knew he did. Everyone in town had known that Katie was a sickly child, not allowed to play outside as much as other children. As she’d grown, she’d gotten stronger but her parents had resisted letting her be a normal kid. Every inch of freedom had been hard-won. She wondered if he also remembered their long conversations after they’d become friends, when they’d talked about what they wanted for their futures. He was going to ride the rodeo circuit, and she was going to be a doctor. She’d wanted to be in a position of authority so she could tell parents of sick kids that sometimes it was okay for those children to play outside.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Being back in town makes it hard to act like an adult. I keep feeling like I’m sixteen again.”

His gaze sharpened. “I guess you could pass for sixteen in a pinch, if it’s important to you.”

She laughed. “It’s not. I’ve enjoyed being a grown-up.”

“What do you like most about it?”

“Being a mom. Shane is the best part of my life.”

Jack’s posture didn’t change, but Katie could have sworn he’d just taken a step back. “He’s a fine boy. You have a lot to be proud of.”

“Thanks. You couldn’t possibly know that after your short meeting with him, but it happens to be true. He’s a great kid. Smart, funny, caring. You’d like him.”

“I’m sure I would.”

Jack spoke politely, but she could tell he didn’t mean it. And why would he? Shane was living proof of her lies. Even as she told herself it was long over, she could feel her body reacting to Jack’s presence. Heating, readying. As a girl she’d wanted with an innocence that left her wondering what she’d needed. Now, as a woman, she knew. But Jack didn’t seem to be having the same trouble. It was as if she’d never mattered to him.

She wanted to ask what had gone wrong between them, when had it all changed. But she knew the answer. She’d promised to love him forever. Within a year of that promise, she’d been married, pregnant and divorced. Jack wasn’t the kind of man who forgave that kind of betrayal.

“I’m sorry,” she said before she could stop herself.

“About what?”

She shrugged. “All of it. Leaving. Coming home.” She looked at the stranger who had been her first love. “Are you happy, Jack? With your life, I mean.”

“I’m content.”

“They’re not the same thing.”

“Close enough.”

He straightened and headed for the house. When he reached the porch, he turned, tipped his hat to her and was gone.



“We’ll be moving the cattle to the north pasture,” Aaron Fitzgerald said at dinner that night as he spooned a mound of mashed potatoes onto his plate. “Take advantage of the good weather.”

Katie smiled at her silent son sitting across from her at the table. “The north pasture has a ring of trees around it. They draw the lightning away from the cattle.”

Shane didn’t look the least bit impressed by the information. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on his plate. Katie supposed that cows and horses couldn’t compete with the wonder of video games and the Internet in a ten-year-old’s mind. Nevertheless, she tried again.

“Did you know that all the white cattle are put in a different pasture?” she asked. “For some reason, the white ones attract more lightning than other colors.”

Shane looked up, his expression haunted. “So they’re sacrificed?”

“They’re cattle, son,” Aaron bellowed. “They’re heading for slaughter anyway. Of course we prefer to do that on our time rather than Mother Nature’s, but some things can’t be avoided.”

Her son’s pale face blanched and he carefully pushed the slice of meat loaf to the far side of his plate.

Suzanne, her stepmother, gave him a sympathetic look.

Aaron continued to discuss the movement of cattle. Had her father’s voice always been this loud, Katie wondered as Shane winced at a particularly explosive description. She looked around the large oak table that could, at a pinch, hold sixteen. Tonight there were only the four of them. Blair and Brent, her two younger half siblings and the only ones still living at the ranch, were staying with friends for the evening. Normally their presence was a buffer between Aaron and Shane, but this evening there wasn’t anyone else to capture Aaron’s attention.

Katie’s father was a big man—tall, barrel-chested, with the bowlegged walk of a man who has spent his life in the saddle. His blond hair had only recently started going gray at the temples, and his expression contained a permanent squint from days in the sun. He was loud, abrasive and about the most stubborn man ever born. Katie loved him fiercely, but watching him deal with her son nearly broke her heart. Shane hadn’t been born on the ranch. He was more interested in computers than cattle. That made him different, and Aaron didn’t take kindly to anything out of the ordinary.

“’Bout time you learned to ride,” Aaron announced, his gaze drilling Shane. “You’re nearly ten. That’s practically too old to even start, so you’ll have to work hard to catch up.”

“Doesn’t that sound fun?” Katie asked cheerfully. “You’ll enjoy being able to ride around the ranch.”

“Don’t want to,” Shane muttered under his breath. He never looked up from his plate. He wasn’t eating. Katie’s heart went out to her son. She’d had no idea that living with her father was going to make Shane so miserable.

Suzanne leaned toward the boy. “Horses are kind of big,” she murmured conspiratorially. “I was scared of them for a long time, but once I learned to ride, I found I really liked it.”

“Quit coddling the boy,” Aaron instructed from across the table. He slapped his hand on the wood, making them all jump. “We’ll get you started this weekend.”

Katie shook her head. “Dad, let him ride in his own time. If you force him, he’ll just hate it.”

Her father glared at her. “You tellin’ me how to raise the boy? Between us, me and Suzanne have eight children. You have one.”

Katie looked at her father and wondered when the man had changed. Her mother had died eighteen years before, the victim of a wild spring storm and the subsequent flash flood. Aaron had remarried within a year, taking gentle Suzanne, a divorced woman with two daughters, as his wife. Together they’d had two more children.

Had the trouble with her father started with his first wife’s death? Katie didn’t think so. Aaron’s anger, his unyielding temperament, had existed for as long as Katie could remember. She’d never stood up to him before, but now she didn’t have a choice.

She set down her fork. “Shane isn’t yours to raise, Dad. He’s my son, and I’m responsible for him. If he’s not ready to start riding, that’s fine with me.”

Aaron shoved a forkful of food into his mouth. His color had darkened, giving his face a reddish hue, but he didn’t say anything. Suzanne, a petite blonde with gentle green eyes, patted Katie’s hand. “Give Shane space. He’ll get used to our ways.”

But later that night, when she put her son to bed, Katie wasn’t so sure. Maybe moving back to Lone Star Canyon had been a mistake. Shane had been happy in Dallas. Except he hadn’t had a male role model there. She’d thought here he would have his grandfather and uncles. She’d taken him out of school mid-semester and moved him into her father’s house, where the boy had to endure nightly lectures over dinner. Was she a horrible mother for that?

She bent and kissed her son’s cheek. “Grandpa doesn’t mean to make things hard on you.”

Shane wrinkled his nose. “He’s too loud and he never listens. I’m not like him. I’m not like anyone here.”

Katie’s throat tightened. “Your teacher says you’re doing really well in school. I spoke to her today. She’d heard about the fight and wanted me to know that you hadn’t started it. Apparently those older boys are real bullies. Their parents are sending them off to boarding school so they can get straightened out. You won’t have to worry about them again.”

Shane looked at her with big blue eyes. “If I don’t do what Grandpa says, will you send me away?”

“Of course not,” she said quickly, gathering her son close. Tears burned but she blinked them back. “I love you. You’re my favorite person in the whole world. I’d be lost without you. Besides, I happen to think you’re an incredibly great kid. I’m proud of you, Shane. Always.”

“Grandpa doesn’t like me much.”

She lowered him to the bed and grinned. “Some days I don’t think Grandpa likes anyone.”

Shane smiled in return. “’Cept those cows.”

“Right. He adores his cows.”

She kissed her son again, then turned off the light. Right or wrong, they were here. They would have to make the best of it. Maybe she should try talking to her father, she thought as she stepped into the hallway. Or maybe she should just take Shane and move into a hotel until their house was finished. If things didn’t get better, she wasn’t going to have a choice.




Chapter Three


Jack lined up the cans of oil so they would be ready to pour into the truck. Changing the oil in the ranch vehicles generally fell to someone lower on the food chain, but these days, with his mom mostly confined to the house, he preferred to stay close to home. So he’d taken over the chore of getting the vehicles in shape for spring roundup. Which meant every truck and car on the ranch got its oil changed.

The old Dodge four-by-four was battered. There were deep gouges in both doors, and the once red paint had faded some from long days in the sun. But despite the cosmetic problems, the truck had never once failed or left him stranded. His father had always told him to take care of his equipment and it would take care of him.

Jack frowned at the memory. He didn’t usually allow himself to think about his father. Russell Darby had walked out on his family eighteen years ago and had never once looked back. He’d not been in touch with any of his children, not to mention his wife. Hell of a legacy, Jack thought grimly.

A small sound caught his attention. He turned toward the noise, grateful for the interruption. Long ago he’d taught himself to avoid any thoughts of his father, and he didn’t want to break the habit now. He saw a boy standing just inside the open double doors of the oversize garage. Even without the sunlight glinting off wire-rimmed glasses, he would have recognized the child.

Shane Fitzgerald had the look of the Fitzgerald family about him. Blond hair, blue eyes, stubborn chin. Aaron’s chin. Jack could also see Katie in the boy—Katie and someone else. The boy’s father.

“Hello, Shane,” Jack said pleasantly.

Shane took a step closer to him. “Mom says I’m supposed to stay out of the way. She’s up at the house helpin’ Mrs. Darby.”

“I know.”

There was something tentative about the boy. An air of caution that made him seem smaller and younger. Normally Jack didn’t make much time for children—they weren’t a part of his world. But for some reason he found himself wanting to make Shane feel comfortable.

“I’m changing the oil in the truck,” Jack said. “You’re welcome to stay and watch. Or you can help me.”

Shane took another step forward. He wore a long-sleeved shirt tucked into jeans. He was skinny—the belt around his waist was the only thing that kept his pants in place. The boy pushed up his glasses in a nervous gesture.

“I don’t know anything about cars and trucks.” His shoulders hunched as if he expected Jack to yell at him. “I watch the men change the oil in Mom’s car when she takes it in, but they’re underground and it’s hard to see anything.”

“I know what you mean,” Jack said. He studied the child. He wasn’t a strapping boy, and he hadn’t been raised on a ranch. He was obviously interested in his surroundings, but also frightened of them. Was Aaron taking the time to make the child feel at home? Jack had his doubts.

“Come here,” Jack said, motioning to the truck. “I’ll give you a lift up so you can see the engine, then I’ll tell you what all the parts are.”

Shane’s expression turned eager. He moved closer until Jack could loop one arm around the boy’s slender waist and hoist him to the bumper. Shane stood there, leaning against Jack. The kid didn’t weigh much more than the ranch dogs, he thought with some surprise.

“We put the oil in there,” Jack said, pointing. “I’m draining the dirty oil now. Then I’ll replace the oil filter and put in new oil.”

He patiently explained the various parts of the engine and how they helped make the truck go. Next he grabbed a second dolly so Shane could slide under the truck with him.

“Careful of that oil,” he instructed as Shane scooted next to him. “You get it on your clothes, your mom’ll kill me. You get it in your eye and Doc Remington’ll do it to me, instead.”

Shane giggled. He pushed on the bridge of his glasses. “These will keep me safe.”

“Not from your mom.”

Shane watched as Jack loosened the oil filter and pulled it free. He showed the boy the clean replacement, and they compared them.

“Now we put a drop of clean oil around the seal at the top.”

“To make it stick?” Shane asked eagerly.

“That’s right. You catch on fast.”

The simple compliment made the kid glow. Jack found himself wanting to say other nice things to Shane, although he wasn’t sure what.

“How do you like living in Lone Star Canyon?” he asked.

Shane shrugged. He rested his heels against the concrete and rolled himself back and forth a couple of inches. “It’s okay.”

Something in the boy’s voice alerted Jack to the fact that there was more to his answer. He waited patiently. Shane continued to roll on the dolly. Finally he took a deep breath.

“I always liked my grandpa’s ranch, so I was happy when Mom said we were moving there. Except it’s different living there. It’s bigger and kinda scary. And I miss my friends in Dallas, only I can’t tell my mom ’cause I don’t want her to worry more than she does. And Grandpa’s real loud.”

Jack wasn’t sure what to do with all that information. He decided to start with something easy. “Have you started making friends here?”

Another shrug. “I guess. Some. The boys are different. They all ride and stuff. I like computers.”

“You’ll find boys who share your interests. Even if you don’t, you can still be friends. Come on. We’re done under here.”

They slid from under the truck. Jack stood, then held out his hand to help the boy scramble to his feet. Shane shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“What if they don’t like me?” he asked without looking at Jack. “My mom’s boyfriend didn’t like me much. He never said anything, but I could tell.” He glanced up, his eyes bigger than usual, his expression troubled. “I think that’s why we moved away. And now that we’re here, I don’t think Grandpa likes me very much, either.”

Jack’s chest tightened, but he didn’t have any words of wisdom to offer. Instead he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Shane, there you are.”

They both glanced up and saw Katie standing in the entrance to the garage. She looked at them, then at the truck.

“So what have you two been getting into?” she asked with a smile.

“Shane’s been helping me change the oil. He’s really good with engines,” Jack said, earning a quick smile from the boy.

“Is he? I’m not surprised. Shane is bright and generally successful at whatever he tries.”

She stood with the light behind her so it was impossible to read her expression. Probably a good thing. Her body was distraction enough. Jack told himself that he wasn’t interested in women in general and Katie in particular. He told himself that the thrust of her breasts and the roundness of her hips didn’t interest him. He told himself that the fact that he knew she kissed hotter than any other woman he’d ever known was meaningless.

He lied.

As much as he didn’t want to acknowledge the truth, he couldn’t help the fire that seemed to spring up from nowhere and settle in his groin. He’d managed to ignore it the past couple of times he’d seen her, but now it threatened to consume him. It was just desire, he told himself. A lust for sex didn’t much matter. It was only biology. At least she no longer engaged his heart.

Misty, the Lab-shepherd mix ranch dog, trotted into the barn. She went up to Shane, sniffed him once then licked his hand. The boy giggled and, when she ran out of the barn, he chased after her.

“Was he a bother?” Katie asked when they were alone.

“No. I meant what I said. He was a help.”

She smiled. Again he noticed how time had changed her face, age adding beauty by defining her bone structure more clearly. Experience and wisdom darkened her eyes, making him wonder about the years she’d been away. What lessons had she learned and how had they made her different?

Wait a minute, he told himself firmly. He was not interested in Katie in any way and he didn’t want to know about her personal life—changes or no changes.

“I doubt he did more than get in the way,” she said, “but thank you for being kind.”

“I wasn’t. I like him. He’s a good kid. You’ve done a great job.”

“You think so?” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her tailored slacks. Even in her low-heeled pumps she barely came to his shoulder. “My father wouldn’t agree. He thinks Shane isn’t man enough.” She hesitated, then looked at him. “I heard what Shane said. About Aaron not liking him.”

“Is it true?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. Her blond curls fluttered around her face. “Actually I do know. I just don’t want to admit it to myself.”

“Shane isn’t what your father is used to. He’ll come around.”

Katie raised her eyebrows. “I know you don’t believe that for a second. My father invented the word stubborn.” She dropped her hands to her sides, then moved closer to the truck. She rested a hand on the hood and studied the windshield. “Shane likes to read and do things on his computer. I don’t think my father has read a book in years, and he still does his account books by hand. They don’t have much in common. Shane is a child of the future, and Aaron is firmly entrenched in the past.”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t love his grandson.”

“Maybe.” But she didn’t sound convinced. She looked out the open door. “You’ve made a lot of changes around here. Not that I was a frequent visitor, but I can tell you’ve updated a lot. Obviously you don’t share my father’s love of the past.”

“Agreed.”

Jack avoided the past whenever possible. If he didn’t he could get lost there. Even now it taunted him with memories of how it had been between Katie and himself. How she’d looked and tasted when he kissed her. The feel of her skin again his hand. He remembered their first kiss and their last, the first and only time he’d touched her breasts. If he let himself, he could get caught up in the longing to have been the first man to know her intimately.

“I admire what you’ve done here,” she said.

He told himself the compliment didn’t matter even as he enjoyed hearing it. “I had good role models. Old Bill Smith was the foreman for nearly twenty years. He believed in using new technology if it saved time and money.”

“Any regrets about staying?” she asked.

He didn’t like the question. “I told you before. I’m content with my life.”

“I know, but I was hoping for something more.”

“A confession? I don’t have any.”

She tried to smile, but it wobbled at the corners then faded altogether. “Gee, and I have too many.” She took a step toward the door and paused. “Thanks for taking the time with Shane. I know you’re busy.”

“I meant what I said, Katie. I enjoyed his company. He’s a bright boy.”

“Not everyone has figured that out. You were one of the good guys back when I was Shane’s age, and it looks like you still are.”

He watched her walk away. Her hips swayed. Her curls danced. She moved into the sunlight like an angel of God returning home.

Jack blinked. Where the hell had that thought come from? Was he getting soft or something? No way was he interested in Katie. Except for occasional sex, he did not do relationships, and he wasn’t going to risk any entanglements, sexual or otherwise, with someone like her. She’d always been trouble and that hadn’t changed. Besides, he’d learned his lesson. Women didn’t stay with him very long. Why get all wound up about something that was bound to end?

He stared through the open door, saw her call for her son, then step into her Explorer. He ignored the unexpected ache in his gut, ignored the fact that it was mighty similar to the ache he’d felt when she’d left eleven years before. There was no way she still mattered. Not after all this time.

Even so, he would do his best to avoid her. Keeping his distance had always been the safest route. If he hadn’t known that when he’d been a teenager, he’d learned it in spades as a man.



Katie closed Shane’s bedroom door and sighed. Her son was finally asleep. Despite his usual quiet demeanor at dinner, the rest of the evening had been spent with him chattering about his time with Jack. How he’d helped with the oil change. How Jack had explained the different parts of the truck engine to him. How Jack seemed to like him.

It broke her heart that her nine-year-old son worried that adults didn’t like him. Unfortunately she knew exactly where that fear came from. First from Shane’s father, who had walked out of his life before he was born and had never reappeared, then from her father, who couldn’t say a single pleasant word to the boy.

“Katie?”

Speak of the devil, she thought as she turned and saw her father approaching.

“Hi, Dad.”

Her father didn’t respond to her greeting. Judging by his closed, angry expression, he wasn’t going to.

“In my office. Now.”

She thought about protesting. She wasn’t a little girl any more. She didn’t like him ordering her around. Then she glanced at her son’s closed door and knew that if she got into it with her father here in the hall, Shane would hear everything.

“I would be delighted to join you for a few minutes,” she said lightly. “Lead the way.”

Aaron glared at her, as if suspecting sarcasm, then turned on his heel and headed down the hall. Two minutes later they were in his office at the back of the house.

A fire burned briskly in the fireplace and chased away the chill. This twenty-by-twenty room was her father’s domain and always had been. A large desk sat in the middle of the floor. Worn chairs flanked it. There were a couple of bookshelves, trophy animal heads mounted on the paneled walls and a large calendar featuring cattle opposite the desk.

The office was the place she and her siblings had presented themselves when they were in trouble or at report card time. Lectures and punishment came from this room, as did their allowances and chore lists. The kitchen might be the heart of the house, but this place was the heart of her father’s world.

Katie settled into the worn leather wing chair closest to the fireplace. While the night wasn’t especially cold, she found herself shivering. Her father took the seat behind the desk—his usual position in this room.

Katie closed her eyes for a second and breathed in the different scents. Leather, dust, wood smoke, the faint hint of cattle and horses. She leaned her head against the chair and smiled at her father. “I know you’re not going to lecture me about my grades or staying out late. I was actually a pretty good kid.”

Aaron’s hard features softened slightly. “That’s true. You paid attention to the rules. The boys and Josie were a bit of a handful. Of course Suzanne’s girls more than made up for you two, and then some.”

Katie laughed. Aaron spoke the truth. While she had been a practically perfect, probably boring child, her sister Josie and Suzanne’s daughters, Robin and Dallas, had been hellions. Especially Robin, who now flew helicopters for the Navy. The three girls had been headstrong, bright and fearless. Aaron adored them even as he resented Robin’s attempts to get him to modernize.

Her father rested his forearms on the scarred desk and met her gaze. “I want to know what you think you’re doing, going to the Darby ranch like you are.”

Katie hadn’t been sure what he wanted to talk about. The knot in her stomach had expected something about Shane. When she understood she was the one who had displeased him she felt first relief, then amazement that he still kept the ridiculous feud alive.

“You make it sound like I’m selling secrets to a Third World country,” she said, hoping to inject some humor into their conversation. “I’m a trained physical therapist, Dad. Right now Hattie Darby is one of my patients. I’m over there helping her recover from her accident.”

“You’re going to have stop treating her. She can find someone else.”

Katie’s mouth opened and closed. She didn’t believe she was hearing this. “Actually I don’t have to stop and she doesn’t have to find anyone else. Except for the hospital staff, I’m the only physical therapist in Lone Star Canyon. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to move back here. I knew that I would have plenty of work and could provide a necessary service. But I can’t settle in town and then hang out a sign saying No Darbys Allowed. I have a responsibility to myself and to the community.”

“That’s a load of horse manure, and you know it.” Her father glared at her. “You don’t need to work at all. You can live on the ranch just like before. I’ve never liked the idea of you being all on your own in Dallas.”

Not in this lifetime, she thought with a shudder. Not even on a bet. “Dad, welcome to the modern age. Lots of women take care of themselves. We live in cities, have jobs, we even drive.”

His gaze narrowed. “Don’t get smart with me, missy.”

Whatever nostalgia he’d felt at their shared past had faded, she realized with a sigh. As she watched, color rose in her father’s face. He was getting angry, and they hadn’t been talking but five minutes. Why did he have to make everything a fight?

She straightened in her chair and leaned toward him. “Dad, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not the kind of person who would be happy living here. I need to make my own way. I love my work. It’s important to me and it makes me happy.”

That made him think for a minute. “I don’t want you working with Darbys.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“We all have choices. You chose to come and live on the ranch while your house is being built. While you’re under my roof, you’ll follow my rules.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “You are the most stubborn, difficult man I’ve ever know. This is exactly why I’d never move home on a permanent basis, Dad. You make me crazy.”

Reluctantly he smiled in return. She watched the wrinkles deepen with his grin. Every time she saw him he looked a little older. He was still powerful and formidable, but she wondered how much longer it would be until he looked old and frail. She dreaded that day. Aaron was as much a part of her world as the sun or the sky.

“I need my work,” she said quietly. “I make a difference in people’s lives, and that makes me feel whole. Part of that work means helping Hattie. I won’t turn my back on her, no matter what you say. Can you live with that or do you need me to move out?”

Aaron glared at her. “You’re my daughter, and there will always be a place for you. But I don’t like what you’re doing.”

“As long as you still like me, Dad.”

He grunted in response, which was as close to a sign of affection as he gave. He shuffled the papers on his desk, then returned his attention to her. “We need to talk about that boy of yours.”

Warning sirens went off in her head. “No, we don’t.”

“The boy’s a sissy. I’ve been telling you to get him up on a horse, but you don’t listen. You cater to him too much. If you don’t get out of his way, he’ll never turn into a man.”

Her spine stiffened. “You mean he won’t turn into you. Guess what, Dad? That’s fine with me. Not because I don’t love you but because Shane is his own person. He has to follow his own path.”

“That’s a crock, and we both know it. You’re ruining the boy. I want to take him in hand so he’ll turn out right.”

She linked her hands together and squeezed until her knuckles turned white. “I admire your ability to know what to do at all times. Most people have questions and wonder if their actions are correct.”

“Most people are fools.”

“Are you ever wrong?”

“Of course not.”

But he wouldn’t met her gaze as he spoke, and they both knew that he was lying. He’d been wrong many times before. How on earth had Suzanne put up with him all these years?

“Dad, I appreciate the advice, but for now I’m going to have to do what I think is best. I know you want Shane to be a part of the ranch, but it has to be in his own time, on his own terms. I need you to respect that.”

“What you need is a man to take you in hand. You and your boy. You’re going to ruin him. Mark my words. You’ll screw him up just like everything else in your life.”

His words hit her like a blow. Until that moment she’d honestly thought her father was proud of her for making her own way in the world. She’d raised a son on her own, paid most of her way through college, been a self-supporting member of society. But none of that mattered to her father. She’d chosen a path other than the one he wanted for her, so she was a failure.

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back. No way she was going to let him win by seeing her cry. Without saying anything more she rose to her feet and headed for the door.

“Get back here,” Aaron demanded. “I’m not finished with you.”

“Good night,” Katie said softly as she closed the door behind her. She stood in the hallway fighting for control. She couldn’t stay here much longer, she thought sadly. If she did, Aaron would destroy both her and Shane. In the morning she would call the contractor and see if there was any way to hurry the construction on her new house.




Chapter Four


“Now I insist you and Shane stay for dinner,” Hattie said a week later as Katie packed up her equipment at the end of their session. “I’ve invited you twice before, and you’ve always made excuses. You’re going to have me thinking you don’t care for my company.”

Katie zipped her bag then straightened and looked at Jack’s mother. Hattie had graduated to using a walker to get around the house. She still had a brace and a cast, but she was much more mobile than she’d been when she’d first returned to the Darby ranch. A cheerful red and white checked shirt hung to mid thigh, while black leggings covered her lower half. The knit material had been cut at the knee to accommodate her cast. A bright red ribbon held her long hair away from her face, and her daughter had been by that morning to paint her toes purple with fluorescent yellow flowers. Hattie sat on the edge of her hospital bed admiring her daughter’s handiwork.

If Katie were to believe her father, she would agree with him that Hattie Darby was no less than a creature of the devil and a danger to all who knew her. But Katie knew her father was wrong.

She’d avoided the invitations to stay in an effort to keep her life calm at her father’s ranch, but the plan wasn’t working. Aaron continued to insist that she not treat anyone with the name of Darby, and Katie continued to refuse to listen to him. They were at an impasse—which made for an unpleasantly strained dinner table. The thought of not having to face that tonight was tempting beyond measure…as was the thought of spending some time with Jack.

“We’d love to,” she said with a smile. “If you don’t mind, I’ll phone Suzanne and let her know not to expect us.”

Hattie grinned. Her dark eyes sparkled. “Actually, I would appreciate it if you’d use the phone in the kitchen. That way you can pull a couple of Nora’s dinners out of the freezer and pop them in the oven. I would suggest the lasagna. It’s wonderful. I’m a halfway decent cook, but Nora is amazing.”

Katie headed out the door, then paused. “Are you going to tell her?”

Hattie considered the question. As the meaning sank in, her eyebrows rose. “If you’re asking if I’ll let my daughter know that horrible, hated Fitzgeralds have eaten food prepared by her delicate hand, I’ll have to confess that I plan to keep that information from her.” Her humor faded. “On my good days I tell myself that if there wasn’t a feud, no one would have anything to talk about. On my bad days I wonder how many lives have been ruined because the two families can’t get along.”

Katie thought about the problems she was having with her father. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

She made her way to the bright kitchen. Here, as everywhere else on the ranch, was proof of the Darbys’ recent good fortune. New appliances gleamed in the late afternoon sun. Dark blue granite countertops sat on top of refinished cupboards. The white walls were freshly painted, and blue and white curtains hung at the bay window over the double sink.

After calling Suzanne, Katie crossed to the professional-size refrigerator and pulled open the freezer section. Inside were over a dozen wrapped meals, all clearly labeled with contents and cooking instructions. Katie found two claiming to be lasagna, took them out, along with some frozen garlic bread, then started the oven. She looked in the refrigerator, collected fixings for salad and went to work.

When she was up to her elbows in wet lettuce, she heard footsteps on the hardwood floor. Hattie still needed the walker to help her get around, and the step was too heavy to belong to Shane. Which left only one person.

Just the thought of him made the hairs at the back of her neck rise. Her stomach clenched, and a bit lower than that she felt a tingly shiver that had nothing to do with hunger for food and everything to do with needing a man.

“I wasn’t aware that physical therapists cooked dinner as part of their duties,” Jack said.

She wiped her hands on a towel and turned to face him. She understood the workings of ranch life and knew that a man who’d spent a day with cattle generally showered before presenting himself at the dinner table. Even so, she was unprepared for the sight of still-damp hair slicked back from a smooth-shaven face. The shiver turned into a full-fledged attack of nerves that had her torn between throwing herself at him and running from the room.

“Your mother invited Shane and me to dinner,” she said, carefully setting the towel on the counter. “I hope that’s all right.”

He looked at her for a long time. His dark eyes gave nothing away. Unfortunately she found herself wishing she could see a spark of something in the bottomless depths. Maybe a hint that he remembered their past with something other than dismissal or contempt. A flicker of interest or even lingering friendship.




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