The Prodigal Texan. Lynnette Kent

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СКАЧАТЬ back on our feet after the land deal failed. You weren’t here to watch Angela die. You weren’t the one who walked in to discover that Dad had blown his brains out. You couldn’t even be bothered to come to my wedding.”

      He set his hands on his hips. “You’ve made it pretty damn clear that you want no part of us or this town.”

      “I’m trying to tell you—”

      “Don’t bother. I’m not listening.”

      Ethan spun on his heel and stalked off toward his truck.

      Only when he swerved to avoid a woman in his path did Jud realize they’d drawn a ring of spectators to their argument. Some faces he recognized, some he didn’t, but all of them wore an expression of unabashed curiosity that assured him everyone in town would know about the Ritter brothers’ confrontation before nightfall.

      “Showdown at the Homestead town square,” he muttered, heading for his own vehicle. Thank God, they hadn’t actually been armed.

      Because at this point, he wouldn’t put it past Brother Ethan to shoot him down in cold blood.

      

      AS SOON AS ETHAN STOPPED the truck and turned off the engine, Megan, Brad and Heather tumbled out of the backseat and raced for the house, desperate to change clothes and get back to play. Ethan, however, gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead. His head still pounded with the fury that had overtaken him at church, and his stomach churned.

      “Ethan?” Kayla put a soft hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

      He dragged in a deep breath. “Not really. What right does he have to accost me like that? He doesn’t make a phone call in ten years, and all at once we have to talk?” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Jud always did have an ego, I’ll say that for him.”

      The house door slammed. Heather and Megan ran down the steps and across the lawn to the rope swings Ethan had hung in a couple of ancient pecan trees. Brad came out a minute later, leaving the door wide-open, and headed for the tree house Ethan had built on the opposite side of the house from the swings.

      “He could have had a change of heart,” Kayla suggested. “It’s been known to happen.”

      “Too little, too late.” Ethan dropped his hands to his thighs and let his head fall back against the headrest. “I don’t see how anything useful can come of rehashing the past.”

      “What do you think he wants?”

      “To say he’s sorry?” He shook his head. “No. Jud wouldn’t feel responsible for anything that’s happened. He wasn’t here, he can’t be blamed— even though everything fell apart almost the minute he disappeared.”

      “Why did he leave?”

      “Because he finally went too far. He got a girl pregnant and then refused to marry her.”

      “Somebody in town?”

      “Della Bowie. She’s not here anymore. Once Jud left, Della and her family moved away. Nobody’s heard a word from or about them since.” Looking back, Ethan pulled in a deep breath. “Mom and Dad were completely torn up over the whole thing—they felt they’d lost a grandchild. Then Angela and I started getting sick, and everything went to hell.” He pounded a fist on the steering wheel. “Nothing I did made a difference. I tried—”

      Kayla closed her fingers gently over his, stopping the motion. “You know you’re not to blame for what happened. Not for Angela’s illness, or your parents’ despair. We’ve worked on this, Ethan. You were only fourteen—you did the best you possibly could.”

      “Right. My dad was losing his shirt over a ranch deal, Angela and I were getting lead poisoning from Mexican candy, and meanwhile Brother Jud’s out conquering the rodeo circuit. How’s that for fair?”

      Kayla tightened her grip on his fist.

      They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Ethan could finally let go of the anger. For the time being, anyway.

      He lifted his hand to press a kiss on his wife’s knuckles. “I should’ve warned you about the emotional minefield you were walking into when you said you’d marry me. Second thoughts?”

      “Nary a one.” She gave him her sweet smile. “I know a good thing when I see it. You’re stuck, Ethan Ritter. For better or worse.”

      “Thank God,” he said, taking the kiss she offered, and a couple more, besides.

      But he couldn’t help thinking, as he and Kayla walked arm in arm toward the house that, with Jud in town, worse might be a lot closer than they realized.

      

      MIRANDA AND NAN SPENT most of Sunday in the barn, watching Flora and Kahlúa bond. Cruz walked over for a while when the vet came back to examine the foal, but Miranda deliberately avoided so much as a mention of Jud Ritter’s name. She’d be even happier to avoid thinking about him altogether. If wishes were horses…

      Monday morning, she pulled her truck into the parking space marked Mayor of Homestead, Texas at 9:00 a.m., and climbed the courthouse steps with her usual enthusiasm. Dusty followed right on her heels.

      “’Morning, Mayor.” Reba Howell, the town secretary and assistant to the mayor, set down her coffee mug as Miranda stepped into the Homestead Town Office. “I hear y’all have a new arrival at your place.”

      “Yeah, we do.” Miranda grinned as she took the morning’s mail out of her box. “Kahlúa is just the most perfect little colt I’ve seen. I could hardly tear myself away from the barn to come to work.”

      Reba followed her into the mayor’s private office. “Oh, you mean you have a new baby horse? That’s right, I noticed you and your mama weren’t in church yesterday.”

      Miranda looked up from the mail. “What arrival are you talking about?”

      “Jud Ritter, of course. I heard he’s staying out at your place. Too bad you missed it—he and Ethan got into a fight, right there on the church lawn after the service.”

      With great effort, Miranda kept her tone casual. “A fistfight?”

      “Well, no. But they were yelling at each other, and at one point it looked like Ethan shoved Jud, or vice versa—it was hard to tell.”

      “Jud always was something of a troublemaker.” An understatement if she’d ever made one.

      “I don’t know…I thought Ethan was the one who started the argument this time. I suppose he bears a grudge for Jud being gone all these years.” Reba sighed and shook her head. “But I tell you, I’ve never seen a handsomer pair of men. They looked real good, facing each other down outside the church yesterday morning.”

      “And you’ll get to see at least one of them again today. Wade and Jud are supposed to show up at ten o’clock for a meeting.” Miranda sat down at her desk, pulled a folder full of papers out of the file stand in front of her and opened it. “Until then, I’ll be going over these Home Free applications.”

      “Right.” СКАЧАТЬ