Her Last Chance Cowboy. Tina Radcliffe

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СКАЧАТЬ could very well be her family sitting around the table. Except they all sat on one side while she sat on the other.

      She silently prayed for help and grasped for a scripture to cling to. Her grandmother may have been misguided in many ways, but when Hannah was growing up she’d made certain they both were in the pew every Sunday.

       Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

      Yes. That would work.

      Lucy cleared her throat and smiled. “I have to admit we’re all shocked to find out we have a relative. Travis, Emma and I went into foster care after our parents died because we were told we had no family.” She pushed her short dark cap of hair back and folded her hands on the table.

      “Are you related to our mom’s cousin? She’s the one who adopted us,” Emma, the youngest Maxwell, asked.

      “I believe I’m related to your father. Jake Maxwell.”

      Travis grinned and leaned forward in his chair. “You’re related to Dad? Really? How?”

      Hannah hesitated, then met his gaze. “I think Jake Maxwell was my father.”

      Travis’s grin faded away at the same instant that Lucy’s jaw sagged. She turned to Emma, whose eyes were round with shock.

      The silence in the room was even louder than Hannah expected. She let her gaze slide to Tripp. Stormy blue eyes met hers before he looked away.

      Hannah held her hands tightly in her lap and willed her heart to slow down. She tried to relax her clenched jaw. In the last ten minutes, she’d destroyed years of orthodontic alignment.

      “Do you have proof? A birth certificate maybe?” Lucy asked.

      “My birth certificate says my mother is Anne Bryant and the name of my father is noted as declined.”

      The siblings looked at each other. Hannah could practically read their minds. They were doing the math. But she had already done that in Colorado and knew only too well that she was a year younger than Emma.

      “I’m confused,” Lucy said.

      “Believe me, I am, as well,” Hannah said. “I was born twenty-nine years ago last month. My mother died when I was too young to ask who declined was, and my grandmother wouldn’t discuss my father.” Hannah took a deep breath. “Clementine and I were in Denver for my grandmother’s funeral. Until the reading of the will, I thought she was my only living relative.”

      “We’re so sorry for your loss,” Lucy said gently. “We know what it’s like to lose everything. But what led you to think...” She gestured with a hand.

      “I inherited a chest of my mother’s things after she passed.” Hannah paused for a calming breath. Again, she reminded herself that she hadn’t done anything wrong. “There was a Bible with photos of my mother and Jake Maxwell tucked inside.”

      “Surely there’s more than one Jake Maxwell in all the world,” Lucy said.

      “I compared the photos to the Denver Public Library microfiche files with your father’s obituary photo. That’s also what led me to Big Heart Ranch.”

      Lucy grimaced and nodded.

      “Could we see the photos you have?” Travis asked.

      “Yes. Of course. They’re in the trunk of my car.”

      The eldest Maxwell’s gaze moved out the window to the pasture of tall grass in the distance. Then she slowly turned back to face Hannah. “I want to be sensitive to you, but this still doesn’t prove that he’s your father.”

      Hannah stared down at her tightly clasped hands for moments, recalling the letters she’d read over and over again.

       Dearest Anne, you are on my mind constantly...

      She raised her head to face the Maxwells. “There are also dated letters from Jake to Anne that indicate a very close relationship.”

      Lucy’s face paled as she released a soft, anguished sigh and covered her mouth with a hand.

      “I’m sorry,” Hannah murmured.

      “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Travis said. “This has to be as difficult for you as it is for all of us.”

      “We could do a DNA test. Couldn’t we?” Emma asked while looking at Jack Harris for a response.

      The attorney reached out to hold Lucy’s hand. “Sure, but as I recall, without paternal or maternal DNA, the results won’t be absolutely conclusive, though they will show if you’re family.”

      “I think we should talk to a lab and find out how to proceed,” Emma returned.

      “This is a lot to take in, Em,” Lucy said. “That Dad had a relationship outside of his marriage.”

      “Four years before they died,” Travis murmured.

      Emma turned to her siblings. “We can’t begin to presume to interpret the past. I don’t think we should even try. I say we deal with facts. Hannah is here and for her peace of mind and ours we should find out if we are indeed family.” She offered Hannah a sad smile.

      Travis, too, offered a sympathetic nod. “All of our lives are affected if it’s true.”

      Lucy met Hannah’s gaze. “I have to be clear. The ranch is a charity. The land was given to us by our mother’s cousin. The woman who adopted us. Big Heart Ranch is a sanctuary for orphaned, abused and neglected children. This ranch is our life mission, but we have no inheritance. Nothing.”

      Hannah’s gut clenched at the words. Inheritance? If only they knew she’d already walked away from one. What she longed for was to find her place in this world.

      “I’m here for the same answers you want,” Hannah murmured. “Period.”

      Once again, an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

      “Where are you staying?” Lucy asked.

      “I saw a motel on the way in.”

      “The Rooster Motel?” A horrified look crossed Lucy’s face. “Oh, you don’t want to stay there. We have a nice bed-and-breakfast in Timber.”

      “That’s not really in our budget, but thank you,” Hannah said without looking at any of them.

      “Well then, I’d like to invite you to stay at Big Heart Ranch, at the very least until we can figure all of this out,” Lucy said while she looked to her siblings for confirmation.

      Hannah held her head high. “I don’t do charity.”

      “Of course not. We can always use help on the ranch,” Emma said.

      “What about Clementine?” Hannah asked.

      “There is a licensed daycare at the ranch now,” Lucy said. “How СКАЧАТЬ