Wyatt's Most Wanted Wife. Sandra Steffen

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СКАЧАТЬ McCully, but she couldn’t seem to get the expression deep in his eyes and the clear-cut lines in his face out of her head.

      She glanced at her friend and found Jillian watching her closely. She’d been on the receiving end of Jillian’s treasured smiles a thousand times, which was just about how many whispered secrets they’d shared over the years. Their friendship went back a long time, through petty misunder-standings, life-altering heartaches and far-reaching dreams. Lisa knew she could tell Jillian anything. She even knew that Jillian would probably say that whatever had taken place between her and Wyatt last night had been fate. Lisa might have believed in fate, but she certainly didn’t rely on it. Determination was ten times more powerful, and Lisa was determined to put Wyatt McCully out of her mind, once and for all. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Of the sixty-two bachelors in Jasper Gulch, there were still forty-nine she hadn’t dated. As far as she could tell, only one of them wore a white cowboy hat and had a reputation just as pure. That left forty-eight men to choose from and only one to steer clear of.

      “Well?”

      Her friend’s voice drew Lisa from her thoughts. Jillian looked as if she was waiting for an answer, which would have been okay if Lisa could have remembered the question. Ducking her head slightly, she said, “What were we talking about again?”

      Jillian spun around. “I knew it. You are upset about my engagement to Luke.”

      Lisa rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Tell me you don’t really believe I have a thing for your fiancé.”

      “You did go out with him.”

      “Only because you insisted. I already told you we talked about you all evening,” Lisa said, remembering the date she’d gone on with Luke Carson a few weeks ago. The man had been attractive and funny and so deeply in love with Jillian they really hadn’t talked about much else.

      “Then you really don’t have strong feelings for Luke?” Jillian asked slowly.

      “Of course not. Now would you please go start the car so we can both get to work?”

      Jillian looked at her for several seconds. Seemingly satisfied that Lisa was telling the truth, she reached for her purse and hurried into the living room.

      “Jillian?”

      The other woman stopped at the front door and turned around, “What?” written all over her face.

      “Would you give Luke up if I asked you to?”

      Jillian had the grace to pretend to think about it before letting loose a smile bright enough to light up the room. “Not on your life, sister.”

      Lisa laughed and Jillian grinned then slipped through the screen door. Feeling better than she had all morning, Lisa checked the stove, grabbed her purse and raincoat, and followed. She was in the process of pulling the front door shut behind her when Jillian’s voice rang out from several feet away.

      “Where did you park the car last night?”

      Lisa walked forward, down the steps and across the sidewalk. She didn’t stop until she reached the exact spot in the driveway where she’d left her car the previous night. Except for a few shallow puddles, the driveway was empty. “I parked it right here where I always do.”

      “That’s what I thought. It’s gone. Somebody must have taken it.”

      Lisa turned in a circle. “I’ll be danged.”

      “What are you doing to do?” Jillian asked.

      Gauging the clouds hanging low in the sky, Lisa said, “I’m not sure, but if my new clothing store is going to be a success, I need my car to pick up the new fall merchandise in Pierre this afternoon. For now, it looks like we’re walking to work.”

      Spinning around, she went inside for an umbrella.

      

      “Oooo-eee. It’s really coming down out there.”

      Wyatt glanced up in time to see Luke Carson close the door behind him and shake the water from his black Stetson. With a jauntiness one rarely associated with a Carson, he called, “Hey, Wyatt, do you have any more of that coffee?”

      Wyatt scribbled something on a notepad, then shoved the traffic ticket he’d issued last night into a folder, wondering when his office had turned into one of those coffeehouses they had in the city. Oblivious to his friend’s dark mood, Luke whisked a chair away from the wall and straddled it. Crossing his arms along the top, he grinned inanely at nobody in particular.

      Wyatt glanced at the other Carson brother, who was slouched in stony silence in the chair next to the desk. Meeting Wyatt’s gaze, Clayt shook his head and spoke for the first time in fifteen minutes. “He’s been like this ever since Jillian agreed to marry him two days ago.”

      “Been like what?” Luke asked with entirely too much wonder in his voice.

      Clayt didn’t have to speak. The sardonic lift of his eye-brows and the tilt of his head said it all.

      Wyatt pushed his chair away from his desk and strode to the filing cabinet, where he sloshed coffee into three cups, wondering what it would take to get a little privacy around here. People claimed misery loved company, but he would have preferred to sulk alone. That was next to impossible in Jasper Gulch. He should know. He’d tried it last night. He really had had every intention of nursing his sore ego in his own quiet corner in the diner. But when he’d gotten back to his table, his corner hadn’t been quiet anymore. He’d taken one look at the area ranchers and cowboys he’d grown up with and had hightailed it over to the Crazy Horse Saloon. Glancing at the two men taking up space in his small office right now, he realized he wasn’t having much better luck this morning.

      “Ah,” Luke said, after taking his first sip of coffee. “Thick as tar. Just the way I like it.”

      Clayt slunk lower in his chair and shook his head all over again. Wyatt almost grinned for the first time since yesterday.

      Luke and Clayt Carson were a year apart in age and shared a passing family resemblance that included dark hair, gray eyes and tanned skin pulled taut over high cheekbones and angular chins. Their tall, lanky builds had come from the same gene pool, but the good mood Luke was in today didn’t run in the family.

      Wyatt knew both of these men like the backs of his hands. He’d been there when Clayt had gotten married ten years ago. He’d been there when his wife had left him two years later, too. Wyatt was the first person Luke had told about his decision to become a vet instead of a partner on the family ranch. Technically, only Luke and Clayt were blood related, but Wyatt had been in and out of the Carson house so often while he was growing up he might as well have been a third brother, blond hair, brown eyes and all.

      “So,” Luke said cheerfully. “What’s new?”

      Clayt slanted Wyatt a meaningful look. “I liked him a lot better when he was ornery, didn’t you?”

      Luke laughed. “Come on, you two. I’m going to marry the most beautiful woman in Jasper Gulch. You should be happy for me. Who knows, maybe one of you will get lucky one of these days.”

      The outer door opened noisily. Before Wyatt and Clayt had the opportunity to offer to wipe the grin off СКАЧАТЬ