The Rancher She Loved. Ann Roth

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      Chapter Two

      Not knowing what to expect, Sarah followed Clay through the door. She couldn’t help admiring his broad, straight back and wide shoulders, the way his jeans hung lovingly on his narrow hips and the powerful legs that were slightly bowed. Once, just once, she’d run her palms up his back and over his shoulders, while enjoying the kiss of her life. A huge mistake, she’d quickly learned.

      He walked with a slight limp she didn’t remember, probably from a bull-riding injury. She had no idea when that had happened, hadn’t even realized he’d retired. But then, over the past year she’d barely had time to eat and write the articles that paid the bills, let alone keep up with what was new on the rodeo circuit. “You’ve seen the living room,” he said, his deadpan face more expressive than any dirty look. “Kitchen’s this way.”

      With its worn yellow linoleum and blue-and-white tiled counters, the small kitchen looked original. Sarah’s excitement mounted. A built-in table and two benches filled a windowed nook that faced the big backyard.

      She tried to picture Tammy and her parents eating there. Having no idea what they looked like made imagining them difficult.

      “You’re staring at the table like you expect it to talk,” Clay said.

      “It looks like it’s been there a long time, and I was thinking about Tammy—my biological mother—sitting there.”

      His hands on the counter behind him, Clay regarded her solemnly. “What do you know about the Becker family?”

      “Not much, except that at some point after Tammy got pregnant, her parents sold the house to Mr. Phillips. She was sixteen.”

      “My mom was eighteen when she got pregnant with me.”

      Sarah nodded. “Your parents got married the day after they graduated from high school, about five months before you were born. And they’re still married.”

      “You remember that, huh?”

      The corner of his mouth lifted, making him oh, so appealing, and she had to glance away. “You’re lucky they didn’t give you up, and that they didn’t hide their past from you. I only learned the truth six months ago.”

      She wasn’t sure why she told him. Probably because despite his initial hostility, he listened as if what she said mattered. It was one of the qualities that had first attracted her to him. He’d no doubt discovered that women were drawn to a man who paid attention.

      “I guess I was lucky,” he said. “If my folks had given me up and separated, I wouldn’t have a sister and brother-in-law or two nieces.”

      “You have a second niece now?”

      “Fiona. She’s almost two, and a real pistol. And my parents did hide the truth from me. They never told me squat about their shotgun wedding. My aunt is the one who spilled the beans, to get back at my mom for something or other. After that, they didn’t speak for years.”

      She hadn’t known that. Clay rubbed his leg above the knee and winced.

      “Your leg hurts,” she observed.

      “It’s fine.” He straightened and gingerly flexed his knee. “You don’t know where the Beckers went?”

      He seemed genuinely interested, and Sarah wanted to talk about it. She’d told her friends back home everything she knew, mulling over what-ifs and possibilities ad nauseum, and they’d quickly grown tired of the subject. They didn’t even think she should be here, thought she should forget all about Tammy Becker and get on with her life.

      Sarah agreed, and once she learned the answers to her questions, she intended to do just that. She shook her head. “They seem to have vanished.”

      “I hope you find them.”

      “You and me both.”

      His eyes beamed warmth and sympathy, making him all but irresistible. Her stomach flip-flopped just as it had the day she’d first met him in person and seen how his high-wattage grin caused the corners of his eyes to crinkle.

      All right, she was attracted to him, had fallen a little in love with him three years ago. At the time, she’d stupidly thought he felt something, too. Ha. She’d quickly realized that any interest Clay had shown her was short-lived. He didn’t really want to get to know her for who she was—or any other woman, for СКАЧАТЬ