A Rancher of Her Own. Barbara Daille White

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ

      “I hear Grandpa!” Robbie announced. He ran from the room.

      “C’mon, Jane.” Rachel took her hand. “We have to go say hi. You, too, Daddy.” She led Jane toward the doorway, leaving him in their dust.

      * * *

      DURING THE “PARTY” to welcome Andi and her kids back to the ranch, Pete continued to fight his uneasiness. Rachel’s sudden attachment to Jane almost rivaled his fascination with the woman.

      For both reasons, he hadn’t planned to stick around, but Jed insisted. The boss urged him to have a cup of coffee, then included him in the conversation about the changes happening to the hotel. Worse, Jed had made suggestions that only increased Jane’s need for help with her photos.

      Somehow, in everyone’s eyes but his own, he’d gone from lowly photographer’s assistant to a necessary member of the hotel revitalization team.

      When Jed had come up with his plans for the renovation, Tina accepted responsibility for hiring the contractors. Andi agreed to hire the folks who would take care of the food, flowers and whatever else the hotel needed for wedding receptions and other events. Jane...well, he knew what Jane was handling, along with her primary job of driving him crazy with wanting her.

      She sat a few seats away from him at the center table in the dining room. The wrought-iron fixture above the table gave her already shiny hair an almost metallic glow. High-tech hairstyle to match her high-tech toys.

       “Pete?”

      He started. The raised voice and the stares from a couple of the others at the table made it apparent Jed had spoken to him more than once. “Sorry, boss. Just making a mental note to check on Starlight when I leave here.” It was the best he could come up with.

      Andi sat in the chair beside his. She smiled at him. “I’ll have to take a walk out to the stables to say hello.”

      On her visits to Garland Ranch, she spent a lot of time around the barn and the corral—certainly more than Jane ever had. While he couldn’t call Andi a friend, at least they had a cordial relationship. And now, unfortunately, they had more in common than an interest in horses. Recently widowed, she was a single parent, too, with a son a couple of years younger than Rachel and a newborn daughter.

      When the conversation shifted, she turned to him and said quietly, “Eric’s getting big. It’s been such a short time since our last visit, but I already see so many differences in him.”

      “They sure grow fast, don’t they?”

      “They sure do. And Rachel,” she murmured, “is getting prettier by the minute.”

      “Don’t let her hear you say that. I’ve already got a diva on my hands.” It took all his effort to force a grin.

      His daughter had taken the chair on one side of Jane. On Jane’s other side, Sharon sat holding his son. Eric wrapped his chubby hand around Jane’s long silver chains and gave them a tug, the way he reined in his toy pony-on-wheels. The way Pete himself had touched that chain just the day before, though with more restraint.

      “Stop, Eric,” Rachel demanded. “You’ll break Jane’s necklace.”

      Instead, his son reached out with his free hand, as if wanting Jane to take him into her arms.

      “I said stop, Eric.”

      Pete looked at his daughter.

      “He’s not—” Jane began.

      “Rachel,” he said quietly.

      After a quick glance at him, she mumbled “Okay, Daddy” and slumped back in her seat. The set of her mouth told him she was gearing up for a pout.

      Evidently, Sharon noticed the warning sign, too. “Much as I hate to break up the party, some of us need to leave.” Gently, she uncurled his son’s fingers from the necklace. “Eric hasn’t had his nap, have you, sweetie? And, Rachel, come along. You’ve got to help me get some vegetables ready, or your daddy won’t have any supper.”

      “I’m good with vegetables.” All smiles now, Rachel looked at Jane. “You can come, too. I’ll let you snap the beans. That’s the most fun part.”

      Jane smiled. “I—”

      “You run along,” he told Rachel. “Go with Sharon, the way she asked you to.”

      “Maybe another time, Rachel,” Jane said. “I need to visit with Andi.”

      As Sharon left the room with the kids, he swallowed a relieved sigh, happy to have her create some space between his family and Jane. He turned to Jed. “I plan to be up in the northeast pastures with the boys most of tomorrow.”

      “Fine,” his boss said.

      “Fine with me, too,” his other boss said. Jane’s mouth curved into a half smile as if she somehow knew the effort it took to keep his expression blank. “I’ll be in Santa Fe anyway.”

      “For our final fittings,” Tina reminded him.

      “Right.” His daughter needed to go along. “I’ll make sure Sharon has Rachel over here on time tomorrow morning.”

      Not quite as happy now, he left the dining room.

      He and the bride-to-be had agreed it was a good thing Andi’s later arrival meant postponing the trip to Santa Fe until the weekend. This eliminated the need to excuse their kids from school. With Rachel’s graduation so close, he and Tina both knew how she would react to the idea of missing out on anything.

      The trouble now was, he didn’t like his daughter spending the day with Jane or the way even Eric seemed to have taken such a shine to her.

      Maybe they’d somehow picked up on his feelings about the woman. Almost against his better judgment, he found himself drawn to her. And with every minute they spent together, his willpower took more of a beating.

      * * *

      THE NEXT AFTERNOON, Jane eyed herself critically in the triple mirror at the bridal shop in Santa Fe.

      “You look great,” Tina told her.

      Tina and Rachel had already completed their fittings, and now the three bridesmaids would be taking their turn. Bright colors weren’t her thing, but even she had to admit the royal blue halter-top gown didn’t look bad with her dark hair.

      She laughed. “I guess I’d never have stood a chance of getting you to agree to a black-and-white wedding.”

      “Not with Ally around,” Tina assured her.

      “You’ve got that right, chica.” The maid of honor looked stunning in a hot-pink, off-the-shoulder gown, but she tossed her long black curls and gave a theatrical moan. “I wanted to wear purple and orange.”

      “And I put my foot down about that.”

      “Stomped it down, you mean,” Ally grumbled.

      They СКАЧАТЬ