The Lonesome Rancher (12 page)

The group laughed and Jade found herself relaxing. “Yes, ladies,” she admitted. “If you want me to join your group, I need to find work so I can stay and help out with the baby quilts.”

Moving to Kerry Springs had a lot to do with Sloan. Could they live together in the same town?

Quickly the topic changed to quilts. This time they were joined by the shop owner, Allison Casali, who had arrived back from Italy that morning. The petite redhead was pretty and friendly.

Allison approached her. “Hello, Jade. I’m Allison Casali. Jenny has told me so much about you.”

They shook hands. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too, Allison. Your shop is incredible.”

“Thank you. Jenny is the one who’s put the work into it. Once she started teaching, I thought I was going to lose her, but she was laid off because of school cutbacks. So she still manages the place for me.” Allison grew serious. “She told me you might be interested in renting the upstairs apartment.”

Jade was interested. “It’ll be a few weeks before my job with Louisa ends. Then a lot depends on me finding a new position.”

“Not a problem. I didn’t plan to rent it to anyone, but Jenny has recommended you highly, so if you decide you need a place, let her know.”

“I will. Thank you.” Now if only a certain cowboy would be as welcoming.

Liz spoke up. “Hey, let’s go and celebrate that we have a new resident in Kerry Springs.”

Before Jade could deny anything, the group headed toward the shop entrance. Of course they ended up at their favorite place, Rory’s Bar and Grill. Sean Rafferty was there to greet them and give the women his special attention as he led them to a large booth. Jade started to follow the others when someone touched her arm.

She turned to see a smiling Matt Rafferty. “Hi, Jade.”

“Matt, hi,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

He glanced over her shoulder. “So your boyfriend finally let you out of his sight.”

“Boyfriend?”

“At the roundup, Sloan let me know you were spoken for.”

How things had changed and so quickly. She shrugged. “That’s news to me.”

Matt ran his hand over his handsome jaw. “So you’re not with Sloan any longer?”

Sadly, she shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Then how about I give you a call?”

She smiled. It was nice to know that another man found her attractive. Too bad she didn’t feel anything at all for this good-looking cowboy. “Matt Rafferty, I hear you have a string of women. Why would I want to be one of them?”

Here came that killer smile of his as he gave her the once-over. “You, Jade Hamilton, could make me give them all up.”

She laughed and it felt good, but it quickly died when Sloan appeared at the end of the bar. She wanted to look away, but her gaze was hungry for the man. In his low-riding jeans and Western shirt, he was comfortable in his skin. He was who he was. A rancher.

He was exactly the man Jade wanted.

Matt glanced in the direction that held her interest, then back at her. “Man, I wish you’d look at me like that.”

Jade found herself trembling.

“Hey, darlin’,” Matt said as he took her hand. “Don’t let him see you hurting.”

She nodded. “It’s not that easy.”

“Let me help.” His arm went around her shoulders and drew her close, then he dipped his head toward hers and whispered in her ear, “You’re too special to put up with someone who doesn’t care.”

She worked up a smile, then stole a glance at Sloan. He was still glaring at her.

“Let’s really make him squirm.” Matt kissed her cheek. “How am I doing?”

She opened her eyes in time to see Sloan walk out. “He’s gone.”

Matt shook his head as he took a look, too. “Merrick is a fool.”

“No, he’s going through some things. We’ll both be fine. I should go, Matt.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and she went to the booth.

“Like I said before, Jade,” Liz began, “Since you’ve come to town, you sure have made life interesting around here.” She clasped her hands together. “Two men, what a hard choice.”

Jade didn’t think so, but she couldn’t have the one she wanted.

“This isn’t a game,” Louisa said, then turned to Jade. “Somehow these things work themselves out. But Sloan will need to come to his senses. Knowing my son, that may take a while.”

Jade wasn’t counting on Sloan at all.

S
LOAN
had tried to stay busy with work, but since roundup was over, things had quieted down considerably. Although his mother had left several messages, he hadn’t felt like talking to his family, not about Jade anyway.

Not since the day he walked into Rory’s and saw her there with Rafferty. It hadn’t taken her long to find someone else. Why the hell did he care? The last thing he needed was to get involved again with a woman who had another agenda.

He needed to stay busy, so he drove his truck over to Otis’s place. The contractor’s crew had set straight to work, and already the roof had been replaced along with a new porch floor. The house was painted white with glossy black shutters hung next to the windows.

The place was looking good. So why did Kennedy need him here? Something about inside colors.

There was only one vehicle parked in front. He climbed out of the truck and walked up onto the hardwood porch floor that had been painted a light gray. The front door was partly open. He heard muffled voices coming from the back of the house. He followed the sound down the hall to the third bedroom. The bed was
pushed to the center and behind it he saw Kennedy and Jade conferring over paint swatches.

He stopped and drank in his fill of her. She was wearing jeans and a long-sleeve pink T-shirt. The big surprise was seeing buckskin boots on her feet. Her dark hair hung to her shoulders, shielding part of her face. Yet, he’d memorized all her features, her slender nose, full mouth and large green eyes. His breath grew unsteady, but nothing he did stopped his reaction to her.

Then Jade spoke. “I’ve decided on Needlepoint Navy for the focal wall,” she told Ben. “And for the other three walls Summertime Tan.”

“Good choices.” Ben marked the paint swatches. “The painter will be here tomorrow. Give him two days to finish.”

“When do you refinish the floors?” she asked.

“That’ll be the last thing we do. I’ll check with the plumber to see how he’s coming along. You still need new fixtures for the bathroom.”

She smiled. “Oh, Ben, they did a wonderful job of reglazing the tub and sink.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Ben finally noticed Sloan was there. “Mr. Merrick. I didn’t see you come in.”

Jade looked surprised, too, but not in a good way.

“You were engrossed in your work,” Sloan said as he walked into the room. “I see that things are moving along.” He stole a glance at Jade. “You’ve been busy in more ways than one.”

“Only doing what you asked me to do,” she said.

The contractor looked uncomfortable at the chill between them. “Well, I’ll let Jade fill you in,” he said, gathering his samples. “I’ll call in this order so they can start tomorrow.” Ben paused. “Remember, Jade,
you’ll have to be out for a few days while we do the floors.” With her nod, the contractor said goodbye and left them.

Sloan frowned. Jade was living here?

Jade refused to be nervous about Sloan’s arrival. She knew that he’d show up sooner or later. She only hoped she’d have other people around.

“Seems you’ve already moved in, even before the DNA tests are back.”

“I still work for your mother, and you asked me to help with this house. I’m only staying here temporarily.” And she couldn’t sit back and wait for the DNA test to come back. “I’m not going to abandon Louisa because you don’t like me.”

He didn’t look happy.

“I can understand why you’re angry, Sloan.” She walked up to him. “You ever figure that the reason I couldn’t talk to you, or tell the truth was that I knew you’d react this way? You wouldn’t have accepted me, no matter what.” She blinked, refusing to shed another tear over this man. “Oh, what’s the use? You’ve made up your mind to dislike me.”

“That’s the problem, Jade. I wish I could dislike you. I wish I could put you out of my mind. All I keep thinking about is being with you. What we shared that night.”

He stared down at her and she couldn’t stop the tears.

He cursed. “Don’t, Jade. Don’t cry.” He moved in and drew her into his arms.

“I never meant for this to happen,” she whispered.

He brushed a tear from her face. He lowered his head and kissed her, softly, sweetly. He drew back and watched her. “Damn, you’re so addictive.”

Jade wasn’t sure what to do. She was afraid to say anything, or do anything to break the spell. So she just enjoyed being in his arms. She’d never dreamed she could ever feel this way, ever care this much for a man. A man she couldn’t have.

He brushed his lips over hers again. She sucked in a breath but couldn’t manage to release it. She wasn’t thinking about anything but being here with Sloan.

Sloan wasn’t thinking rationally anymore. He knew the best thing was to let Jade go. Instead he pressed her head against his chest only to feel her softness molded against him. The erratic beating of her heart was in rhythm with his. It would be so easy to get lost in her. Again.

Suddenly something caught his eyes and he saw a shadowy figure move at the window.

“What the hell?” He released her and rushed through the house onto the porch. That was when he saw the guy running to the truck.

“Hey, you! Stop!” Sloan took off after him, then grabbed the back of the man’s shirt and pulled him away from the vehicle. Then he turned the man around but didn’t recognize him.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Ross Brown. I work for Kennedy Construction. I was coming to do some work and saw you and decided I should leave. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“It’s past quitting time.” Sloan tightened his grip, then saw the bulge in the guy’s front shirt pocket. Sloan reached in and pulled out a small camera.

“Hey, that’s mine.”

“Not anymore,” Sloan said as he pushed the guy away and began going through the pictures. His anger
grew as he saw the photos of him and Jade. “You better start talking, Brown, or I call the sheriff and have him arrest you for trespassing.”

The guy raised his hands. “Hey, I’ve worked on this project. So I’m not trespassing.”

“So if I call Ben, he’ll tell me he sent you here?” He pulled out his phone. “Last chance.”

“Okay, okay. I was at Rory’s last night and a guy started talking to me. He found out I’d been working on this job and offered to pay me five hundred dollars if I could get some pictures of any of the Merricks.”

Sloan’s gut tightened. They were already invading the ranch. Did they know about Jade?

He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out two one hundred dollar bills and handed them to Ross.

“Here, this is for your camera, and if you show up here again, I guarantee you’ll end up in jail.”

The guy hesitated only a second before grabbing the money. He walked down the hill toward his truck. After he took off, Sloan called the barn to have one of the ranch hands follow the intruder off their land. Then he dialed Ben Kennedy and told him what happened, and insisted the man not be allowed on the property again. Ben informed him that Ross would no longer be working for him.

Sloan glanced toward the house and saw Jade standing in the doorway. Damn, he hated that this woman could turn him inside out. When the news that she was Clay’s daughter got out, it would be a media circus here.

Since their first meeting, she’d been a disruption in his life. She hadn’t been truthful, and he couldn’t trust her. He hated that even with all the trouble she caused he still cared for her. Far too much.

“I can’t do this again.” He turned and walked away from her. He hoped for good.

The next day, Sloan had planned a relaxing evening at his house. He’d spent all day repairing fence to avoid everyone. After a shower and a cold beer, his next plan was some supper. He came down the staircase, feeling the cool hardwood against his bare feet. The main floor was mostly open, from the great room all the way back into the kitchen.

He loved this house. When he’d built it, he’d hoped one day he’d have a wife and kids filling the bedrooms. He thought for a second about Crystal and quickly realized she would have never fit into what he’d wanted in a wife, a partner in life. Then there was Jade. He’d thought she was different. In the end, she had her own agenda, too.

There was a knock on the back door and his sister poked her head in. “You busy?”

“You were just in the neighborhood and thought you’d stop by?”

She came in, walked up to the bar and sat down on a high stool. “We live in the same neighborhood. No, I purposely came by to talk to you. Don’t look at me like that. If I’d called, you would have made an excuse not to be here.”

He went to the refrigerator and pulled out two longneck bottles of beer, twisted off the tops and handed one to her. “There’s a reason for that, sis. I don’t want to fight with you, Mom or Dad.”

“Then don’t drive a deeper wedge by staying away.” She hesitated giving him a steady look. “Jade isn’t the enemy here.”

He took a drink. “Are you saying this is my fault? I didn’t lie.”

Alisa frowned. “Do you hear yourself? What does Jade have to do with the circumstances of her birth? She didn’t break any rules, our father did. Besides, she hasn’t said a word to anyone,” Alisa argued. “She just didn’t tell you her connection to Dad. And me.” A slow grin spread across her face. “And you love her.”

He glared at his sister. “Go away.”

“That’s not going to change your feelings for her. I’ve seen how you two are when you’re together. You sizzle.” She sighed. “I only wish I’d find someone that made me feel like that.”

“It doesn’t change the facts.”

She snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right, you’re the perfect one. You don’t make mistakes, and you’re making Jade pay for what Crystal did to you. That’s so not fair.”

He didn’t say anything.

“Here’s something to think about, big brother. It’s Mom and Dad. They’re going to need all of us when this story breaks. And it
will
come out.”

Sloan was torn. He knew his mother was strong; she had to be to stay married to a politician. But since her stroke…

“And so will Jade.” Alisa set her bottle on the counter and walked toward the door. “By the way, Dad’s scheduled a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.”

“To officially announce he’s not running for reelection?” Sloan said. “Is he also going to announce that Jade’s his daughter?”

Alisa shrugged. “The DNA tests are due back by then. It’s better to get a jump on the story. That’s the reason we all need to be together as a family. Jade is a
Merrick and Dad wants her to be part of this family.” She arched an eyebrow. “Question is, Sloan, are you going to welcome her, too?”

Wednesday came too soon.

Jade had only seen news conferences on television. Now, she was part of one. And given the last twenty-four hours, she wasn’t sure she could handle it. Although the DNA tests proved she was Clay Merrick’s daughter, she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell the world. What about the citizens of Kerry Springs? Would they accept her?

At least the announcement wasn’t going to be at the ranch. It had been a long-standing rule. No media at the River’s End. So Clay was going to hold it at his headquarters in town.

She’d made the decision not to go with them. She was returning to Dallas. For now. Everyone had a lot to think about. Especially Sloan. Jade could see it hurt them all that their son refused to be a part of this.

Most of all she didn’t want people to think Clay wasn’t running for office again because of her. All the good work he’d done would be overshadowed by one illegitimate daughter.

So the senator’s announcement today would be about his retirement only. And maybe giving Alisa some needed face time.

Jade’s hope was that she could be a small part of the family. She said her goodbyes and sent the Merricks on their way.

She could still feel Clay’s strong arms around her and his whispered voice, “I just don’t want to lose you, Jade.”

Through raw emotions and aching heart, Jade waved
to them as they drove off. Thanks to her relationship with Louisa, she knew she could come back for a visit without people getting suspicious.

And if her story got out later, they’d deal with it. She wiped at a tear as she thought about Sloan. Maybe at least now he wouldn’t despise her.

Bags packed she put them in her car and for one last time she drove away from the special place where she could pretend to be part of this family.