Rumour Has It. Maureen Child

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      To Rosemary Rangel Estrada

      We really miss you, neighbor!

      One

      Amanda Altman’s back in town.

      It was all anyone could talk about and Nathan Battle was getting pretty damn sick of it. Nothing he hated more than being at the center of a gossip tornado. He’d already lived through it once, years ago. Of course, he’d escaped the worst of it by moving to Houston and burying himself in the police academy and then his job.

      Wouldn’t work this time. He’d built his place here. He wasn’t going anywhere. Mostly because Nathan Battle didn’t run. So he’d just have to ride this mess out until the town found something new to chew on.

      But that was life in Royal, Texas. A town too small to mind its own business and too big to have to repeat the same gossip over and over again.

      Even here, he thought, in the hallowed halls of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, Nathan couldn’t escape the talk—or the speculation. Not even from his best friend.

      “So, Nathan,” Chance asked with a knowing grin, “you see Amanda yet?”

      Nathan looked at the man sitting opposite him. Chance McDaniel owned McDaniel’s Acres, a working dude ranch and hotel just south of town. The man had built the place from the ground up on property he’d inherited from his family, and he’d done a hell of a job.

      Chance’s blond hair was cropped short, but he still couldn’t get the wave out of it no matter how he tried. His green eyes were amused and Nathan shook his head, knowing that he was the source of his friend’s amusement.

      “No.” One word. Should be concise enough to get his message across. And maybe it would have worked with anyone else. Of course, Nathan told himself wryly, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to get Chance to back off. They’d been friends for too long. And nobody knew how to get to you better than a best friend.

      “You can’t ignore her forever,” Chance mused, taking a sip of his scotch.

      “It’s worked so far,” Nathan told him and lifted his own glass for a drink.

      “Sure it has,” Chance said, muffling a laugh. “That’s why you’ve been such a cool, calm guy the last couple of weeks.”

      Nathan narrowed his eyes on his friend. “Funny.”

      “You have no idea,” Chance agreed, lips twitching. “So, Sheriff, if you’re avoiding the Royal Diner these days, where are you getting your coffee?”

      His fingers tightened on the heavy, old crystal. “The gas station.”

      Now Chance didn’t bother to hide his laughter. “You must be desperate if you’re drinking the swill Charlie brews down there. You know, maybe it’s time you learned how to make decent coffee yourself.”

      “And maybe it’s time you let this go,” Nathan told him. Irritating is what it was, he thought. His whole damn routine had been splintered when Amanda moved back home to Royal. Used to be he started off his day with a large coffee and maybe some eggs at the diner. Amanda’s sister, Pam, always had his coffee ready for him when he walked in. That was a routine a man could count on. But since Amanda blew back into his world, he’d had to make do with Charlie’s disgusting coffee and a packaged sweet roll.

      Even when she wasn’t trying, Amanda found a way to screw with him.

      “Seriously, Nate,” Chance said, lowering his voice a little so the other members of the TCC couldn’t overhear, “from all reports, Amanda’s here to stay. Seems she’s been making some changes to the diner, settling in. Even talking about looking for a house of her own, according to Margie Santos.”

      Nathan had heard all the same talk, of course. Hard not to, when everyone in a ten-mile radius was more than eager to talk to him about Amanda. Margie Rice was the top real estate agent in Royal and one of the biggest gossips as well. If she was spreading the word that Amanda was looking for her own place, then Nathan had to admit that she was here for the long term.

      Which meant he couldn’t ignore her for much longer.

      Too bad, because he’d finally gotten good at not thinking about Amanda. Wasn’t always the case. Several years ago, Amanda was all Nathan thought about. The passion between them had burned hotter than anything he’d ever known. She’d filled his mind, waking and sleeping.

      Of course back then, they’d been engaged.