Heartsong. Sara Walter Ellwood

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СКАЧАТЬ the parking lot. “You have to be kidding. Dad told me he’d never leave the ranch or the business to me. It’s supposed to go to your sister in the event...” He stopped and met Micki’s searching gaze. “I guess it will depend on what Dad’s will says about such things. My guess is it will be sold and the money will go into a trust fund for Jesse.”

      He didn’t miss the shiver that quaked through Micki’s athletic body or the rounding of her eyes. She and her mother lived on the Lazy M Ranch. If the place were sold, they’d have nowhere to go.

      But before she could comment, Gary broke in. “I’m sorry, but we have to go.” He looked at Micki. “Gabe will give you a call when he gets the chance.”

      With a tip of her hat brim, she exited the bus, crossed the empty parking lot to an old pickup truck, and climbed in. There had been a time he’d loved Michaela Finn, but she hadn’t loved him enough to believe in his dreams.

      The guys passed by him, patting him on his shoulder and offering their condolences as they headed to their own bus for the night. Jessica hugged him and tears brimmed in her eyes. The party was over.

      He stepped down to where the driver and Gary were talking. “I’m not going to Omaha.”

      Gary turned to face him. “What are you going to do?”

      The last thing he’d ever wanted to. He didn’t care what happened to his father or the ranch, but Jesse was his responsibility. “I’m going back to Texas to take care of my little brother.”

      Chapter 2

      Micki stopped on the county road and stared at the wood arch over the entrance of the driveway. Lazy M Cattle Ranch was painted in black. The five-hundred acres in Brown County were the only home she had ever known, and soon she and her mother would have to leave. Her sister and her sister’s husband--her employers--her family--were dead, and seeing Gabe McKenna last night hadn’t helped her poor, battered heart.

      The day was too beautiful for all this angst, but she couldn’t stop the tightening in her chest or the desire to curl up in a ball somewhere.

      Sucking in a hot, dry breath of the air blowing through the open windows, she hit the gas and turned onto the gravel driveway. A few of the colts in the pasture noticed and kept pace with her for a few hundred feet until they came to the rail fence dividing the pasture.

      At the fork, about halfway down, she took a right. To the left was the main house. Without looking at the white clapboard two-story where Sam and Frankie had lived, she sped away, leaving the house in a cloud of dust.

      Micki stopped the pickup in front of the cottage where she and her mother lived. The barn and training arena were set off to the left of the cottage, the bunkhouse and her office to the right. Three of the ranch hands stood on the porch of the bunkhouse. She got out of the truck and shut the door. With a lift of her hand, she returned their waves, but ignored their questioning gazes.

      Birds chirped in the pecan trees surrounding the house, and knobby red apples hung on the snarled trees in the old orchard between the cottage and the main house. In the pasture, horses grazed on the breeze-swept grass. Although she couldn’t see them, two hundred cattle grazed on the grassland beyond the horse pasture.

      All so normal.

      When her gelding, Beau, trotted to the corral rails, she almost gave into the temptation to climb over the fence, hop on the bay’s bare back, and take off for parts unknown.

      The sound of the screen door opening and the soft whirl of an electric motor wrenched a sigh from her. She headed around the Silverado. A sad smile tugged on her lips at Jesse standing beside her mother’s wheelchair.

      “Aunt Micki!”

      She bypassed the wheelchair ramp and took the steps two at a time. “Hey, squirt.” She ruffled the boy’s dark hair and avoided looking in his deep blue eyes.

      “Did you see him?”

      With a nod, she hugged him close. “Yeah, I found him in Kansas City.”

      He swallowed, stepped back, and glanced at his feet. “He ain’t coming home, is he?”

      She fought the urge to correct his bad grammar and tugged him to her again, holding his head to her chest. God, she’d do anything to take away his pain. “He’ll be here, Jesse.”

      “Gabe never liked me.”

      His quiet words stabbed at her heart. They weren’t true, but Gabe’s no-showing until the funeral would hurt Jesse. Gabe never came home much, but from what Frankie had told her, he called and Skyped Jesse often, and he never forgot his birthday or Christmas. Pulling back, she held him and met his gaze. “That’s not true, and you know it. But Gabe also has commitments.”

      “Our dad’s dead. That should mean somethin’.” He stepped out of her embrace and ran down the stairs.

      “Jesse…”

      But he was already past her truck and headed for the orchard where he’d discovered Gabe’s old clubhouse. She took a step to follow him, but her mother’s voice stopped her.

      “Let him go, Micki. He’s in a world of hurt.”

      She met her mother’s puffy, bloodshot eyes. The constant pain Momma was in and the ravages of disease had etched deep lines on a face that had once been beautiful. “You okay, Momma?”

      Loretta Finn folded hands as crooked as the apple trees in the lap of her useless legs. She nodded, her chin-length gray hair brushing the collar of her plaid housedress. “I’m fine. So, what did Gabe have to say?”

      “I’m to call when the arrangements are done.”

      Her mother sighed. “Sam and Frankie hurt him a lot, but I hope he remembers Jesse needs him.”

      Micki shifted into a chair on the porch and changed the subject. “Did Cash take care of the horses?”

      Momma turned her chair around to face Micki and a shadow of a smile twisted her pale lips. “Of course he did. Cash is sweet on you.”

      “He’s also almost ten years younger than me.” Micki looked out past the potted geraniums and the blooming peace roses to the orchard. She didn’t want to talk about the crush twenty-two-year-old Cash Nelson had on her.

      “It’s only eight years. Cash comes from a good family and just got a teaching job. Besides, he’s still working on the ranch. He’d make--”

      “Momma, stop right there. I’m not getting married, and I’m definitely not marrying Cash Nelson. I’m not a cougar.”

      Her mother flattened her mouth into a fine line. “Why would you say such a thing? My mother was ten years older than my father and they were happily married. It’s all because of that woman.”

      That woman being the talent scout-turned-manager, Andrea Rose. The woman for whom Gabe had left Micki.

      “Now that’s just ridiculous. Gabe’s marriage to an older woman has nothing to do with my aversion to following in my grandparents’ footsteps. I won’t chase after a younger man for the same reason I’d never go for a much СКАЧАТЬ