Shadows Of The Past. Frances Housden

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СКАЧАТЬ her so harshly.

      She reappeared and thrust the cordless phone at him. “Here. Call somebody.” Then she grabbed her purse and went out the front door, closing it firmly behind her.

      Sebastian stared at the phone and finally punched in the one number he knew by heart.

      FIVE YEARS AGO Matty Lang had thought of herself as a young widow. Twenty-seven wasn’t old. Friends and family had assured her she’d find a good man, have kids, continue along life’s path in a normal progression. Matty loved normal progressions, which was why she felt so much satisfaction sitting at her floor loom watching the design grow. Usually.

      But not on a Friday night, when she knew damn well that Charlotte Crabtree from the bank was up at the Rocking D having dinner alone with Sebastian, while Matty, now thirty-two and no longer feeling so frigging young anymore, sat throwing a shuttle back and forth and swearing under her breath.

      Sebastian would never think to invite her to dinner. Oh, no. Not good old Matty, who could ride as well as he could, and rope nearly as well. Matty sometimes wondered if he even remembered she was a woman. She, on the other hand, had never managed to forget he was a man. She’d been trying ever since the day she’d met Sebastian Daniels, the day she and Butch had moved to the Leaning L and had been welcomed by their closest neighbors Barbara and Sebastian, owners of the Rocking D.

      She remembered thinking that a young bride had no business looking at another man the way she found herself looking at Sebastian. And for years she’d forced herself to ignore his considerable sex appeal—mostly. Then Butch had died, and once she’d worked through her grief, ignoring Sebastian became even tougher, especially when she could tell he and Barbara weren’t getting along. After Barbara left, Matty had allowed herself to begin daydreaming, just a little.

      Fat lot of good that had done her. Two years after his divorce, Sebastian still treated her exactly the way he always had, like one of the boys. Matty threw the shuttle impatiently as a picture of Charlotte Crabtree wiggled through her mind. Charlotte would never be mistaken for one of the boys.

      Oh, how Charlotte had loved bragging to anyone within hearing distance about her big date with Sebastian. Matty had been so sick of listening to Charlotte this afternoon that she’d almost left without making her deposit.

      Matty knew Sebastian would serve his own personal specialty—coq au vin. He used to make it for the four of them when Barbara and Butch were still around. He’d probably built a fire in the fireplace and lit some candles. Matty ground her teeth. And wine. Sebastian liked a good wine with dinner. They’d be finished by now, though, and then—what might happen after dinner didn’t bear thinking about. So she wouldn’t.

      But she did think about it. Maybe she’d have to switch banks. It would be worth it to drive all the way into Canon City just so she didn’t have to lay eyes on Charlotte Crabtree and her smug smile. Yes, that was what she’d do. She’d move her account to Canon City on Monday and find a bank that was offering free stuff for opening an account. Maybe she could get herself a new toaster oven or a set of dishes out of the deal. Or one of those bitty color television sets. She’d always wanted—

      The ringing phone made her jump and she knocked over her bench. It landed with a clatter on the hardwood floor, startling Sadie, her Great Dane, out of her snooze near the loom. Nobody called at this hour on a Friday night unless it was an emergency. Heart pounding, Matty hurried into the kitchen. As she picked up the phone, she prayed it was a prank or a wrong number, and not some family disaster.

      “Matty?” Sebastian sounded frantic.

      Matty frowned. Unless she was mistaken, that was a baby crying in the background. She couldn’t put that together with Charlotte Crabtree and the dinner date, but yes, there was definitely a very young baby close to the phone. “What’s going on?”

      “It’s…complicated. Can you come over?”

      Not while Charlotte was still there, she wouldn’t. “Why?”

      “Because I need you to help me.”

      “With what?”

      “I’ll explain when you get here. Please, Matty. Come quick.”

      “Is Charlotte still there?”

      “How did you know about Charlotte?”

      “Sebastian, everybody with an account at Colorado Savings knows Charlotte came up to your place for dinner. Is she still there?”

      “No. Can you come over?”

      So Charlotte had left and a tiny baby was there instead. Matty was burning up with curiosity. Wild horses couldn’t have kept her off the Rocking D tonight. “I’ll be right there,” she said.

      2

      NO UNFAMILIAR VEHICLES sat in the circular drive in front of Sebastian’s place, but Matty noticed two large cardboard boxes next to the front door when she climbed the steps to his porch. And sure enough, a baby was crying inside the house. As near as she could remember, there had never been a baby at the Rocking D, even though folks around here thought the ranch’s brand looked a lot like a cradle.

      She pounded on the front door, figuring she’d better make a lot of racket to be heard above the screaming baby.

      The door opened almost immediately and Sebastian stood there looking frazzled. It was a novel sight. Matty couldn’t remember seeing him frazzled before. The notion that he even could get frazzled pleased her immensely.

      He’d always been in charge of himself, his feet planted firmly on the ground, his broad shoulders ready to take any weight, his gray gaze steady and sure. Over the years, his self-reliance had both thrilled and maddened her. She found that sort of confidence sexy, but it didn’t leave much room for a woman to feel needed.

      But tonight, he definitely needed someone, and she happened to be handy.

      “Thank God you’re here.” He stepped back from the door. “You must have driven like a snail.”

      “Actually, I broke the speed limit.” She imagined even five minutes would be an eternity with that caterwauling going on. She walked into the house, shucking her jacket as she went. “Where’s the kid?”

      “Over there.” He gestured toward the sofa in front of the fire, where an infant seat held a squirming and very loud baby.

      Matty had a thousand and one questions revolving around the sudden arrival of this baby at Sebastian’s house on a Friday night, but she decided there was no point in asking even one of them until they got the noise level down a bit. “What have you done for it?”

      “Nothing. It’s a she. Elizabeth.”

      “Nothing?” Matty crossed to the sofa, where the baby had tangled her blanket around herself as she flailed her little arms and legs. She had on some sort of one-piece pink suit and a pink hat, which was nearly off, plus the blanket. She looked hot.

      “I was afraid I’d do the wrong thing,” he said. “I don’t know anything about babies. So I built up the fire.”

      “I can see that.” The heat danced off Matty’s flannel shirt and jeans. She tried to ignore the pair of wineglasses on the coffee table and the distinct odor of Charlotte’s perfume СКАЧАТЬ