The Cowboy's Secret Family. Judy Duarte

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СКАЧАТЬ barely a scratch. I’ll be ready to ride again—or even have another run-in with Grave Digger—in a few weeks.” Matt glanced at the colorful heart-shaped welcome mat at the door. “Is my room available?”

      His uncle gestured to one of the rockers on the porch. “Your room is always ready for you. I keep thinking you’ll finally come to your senses and move home where you belong.”

      Matt limped to a chair. He didn’t really belong anywhere, a lesson he’d learned early on. He took a seat, rested his cane against the small wicker table and set his rocker in motion. His uncle sat in the chair next to his.

      For a moment, he savored the familiar earthy scent of the only place that came close to being the home he could actually call his own. But now he wasn’t so sure about that. Apparently, a lot had changed in the past year and a half.

      Matt lowered his voice and asked, “So what’s going on?”

      His uncle shrugged a single shoulder, then placed an arthritic index finger to his lips and shushed him. “Hold your questions for a while.”

      Matt nodded as if that made perfect sense, but nothing about this situation did, and his curiosity grew to the point that it was downright troublesome.

      He studied the child. She was a cute little thing. He guessed her to be about six or seven.

      She cocked her head to the side, one brown pigtail dangling over her shoulder, and eyed Matt carefully. “Who are you?”

      He could ask her the same thing, but he supposed he’d have wait until after she and her mother left to have the bulk of his questions answered.

      “I’m Matt,” he said.

      “Oh.” She nodded, her pigtails swishing up and down. “You’re the cowboy who used to live here. That’s what I thought. I’m Emily. Me and my mom are staying here. We’ll probably go home someday, but I hope we don’t. I like having a big yard.”

      So Emily and “Mommy” lived in a town. Or in a city.

      The screen door squeaked open once again and a twenty-something brunette stepped onto the porch. She shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare off the metal chimes with her hand, blocking her face, but recognition slammed into Matt like a bull out of the shoot.

      Miranda Contreras.

      His old teenage crush. The girl who’d strung him along before breaking his heart beyond repair. And here she was again, all grown up, prettier than ever and rocking Matt’s world again, just as she’d done the day she arrived at Wexler High, a pretty sophomore with a bubbly laugh.

      She stepped out of the sunlight’s glare, and when her eyes met his, she flinched. Her lips parted and she placed a hand on her chest as if she hadn’t expected to see him ever again. “Matt?”

      “Miranda.” His body tensed, and he kept his tone cool. But inside his gut coiled into a knot.

      She swept a glossy strand of dark hair behind her ear. A nervous gesture?

      “It’s been a long time,” she said.

      “Yep.” Too long, it seemed. But maybe not long enough.

      Matt’s gaze swept across the yard, from the pony in the corral, to the chickens in the coop, to the lamb in the pen and then to the little brown-haired girl hugging the dog.

      Was Miranda responsible for all of...this?

      She had to be.

      But why in the hell, after all these years, had she come back to the Double G? And how long did she intend to stay?

      Uncle George had made it clear that he ought to hold his questions until after they left, but the curiosity was eating him alive.

      “I see a pony in the corral,” Matt said to the child. “Did you bring it with you when you came to the Double G?”

      “No, she’s brand-new. I mean, she’s not a baby. She’s just a little horse. And she’s already grown up. Uncle George gave her to me because I’m going to be a cowgirl when I grow up.”

      Uncle George? Back in the day, Miranda had claimed his father’s uncle as her own. And now she’d encouraged her daughter do the same thing. It hadn’t bothered Matt a bit when they were younger, because if things had worked out between them, that relationship might have become official. But that’s not the way their teenage romance had played out.

      For that reason, having Miranda here knocked his blood pressure out of whack, especially since he had the feeling she’d moved in permanently. Her daughter might think they were going back home one of these days, wherever that home was. But flowers on the porch, a pony in the corral and a dog guarding the yard suggested otherwise.

      “Guess what?” Emily asked, as she placed her small hands on her denim-clad hips. “I can saddle my pony all by myself.”

      “Good for you.” As angry as Matt might be with her mother, he couldn’t fault the cute little girl with a splash of freckles across her nose. He wondered whether she favored Miranda or maybe her father, whoever he might be. It had been years since he and Miranda had split. When had she had Emily? How old was she?

      Before he could ask the little girl her age, Miranda stepped off the porch, her purse slung over her shoulder. “We’ll have to play catch up later, Matt. If Emily and I don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”

      Good. Uncle George had some explaining to do.

      Miranda turned to the old man and blessed him with a smile. “I have a pot roast in the oven.”

      “Is it big enough to feed a drifter?” George asked.

      She hesitated, then smiled. “Yes, of course.” She turned her gaze to Matt. “There’s plenty.” Then she held her hand out for Emily. “Come on, honey.”

      Matt watched them walk toward her car. Miranda wore a loose-fitting summer dress—a soft yellow with a floral print. She looked as fresh as spring, although she’d obviously grown up—and changed. She had womanly curves now. And, if anything, she was even prettier than before.

      Once she started the car and headed down the drive, Matt turned to his uncle. “Okay. What gives?”

      “Miranda and Emily needed a place to stay for a while, and I had plenty of room. They’ve been good company.”

      The subtext was clear. Matt hadn’t been around much. He shook off a twinge of guilt, promising himself he’d have to do better from now on. Then he leaned back and set his rocker in motion again. “So what’s her story?”

      “She needed time to sort through some things, and we both figured this was the perfect place for her to do it.”

      “What’d she need to think about?”

      “Back in February, she broke her engagement. I ’spect she’s got a few things to sort through.”

      Two months ago? Damn. Each answer George provided only stirred up more questions. “What made her back out?”

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