Zachary nodded. “And can we get an apple for the horses?”
“I’ll sneak one just for you.” Faith smiled brightly at the little boy. She had a brand-new baby of her own, no doubt napping somewhere in the back. Stacy wondered how she did it.
The answer to her question emerged seconds later from the back of the diner, holding tiny little Kayleigh in his muscular arms. Faith’s fiance, Matt, cooed at the little girl, his face one big smile.
Matt spotted Faith standing at their table and made a beeline for her, looking nearly as besotted at the sight of her as he had been when he’d been talking to Faith’s baby. “She laughed!” he announced without preamble. “I made her laugh.”
Faith’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure it wasn’t gas?”
“It was a laugh! Watch.” Matt made a silly face at the baby and, sure enough, little Kayleigh responded with a gurgling noise that sounded for all the world like a little chuckle.
Stacy felt a squirming sensation in her chest. Zachary had laughed at three months old. His first two years, he’d seemed normal in every way. His problems weren’t obvious until later.
Faith grinned at Stacy and Harlan. “Did you hear that?”
“I did,” Stacy admitted, smiling back at her and sending up a little prayer that Kayleigh would live a gloriously uncomplicated and happy life.
She glanced at Harlan, a little curious to see how he was reacting to the Kayleigh show going on beside their table.
He was looking down at his plate, his expression uncomfortable.
She felt another squirming sensation in her belly, this one hotter and queasier. So, Harlan McClain didn’t like babies.
Or, she thought as she watched Matt bend and kiss Faith as if the rest of the world had disappeared for them, was it just the idea of happily ever after in general that Harlan found so hard to handle?
“Matt, hate to interrupt this nauseating display,” Harlan said with a smile that Stacy didn’t entirely buy, “but aren’t you supposed to be working with Wade on those background checks I need by Friday?”
Matt shot him a black look. “Who died and made you Bart Bellows?”
Harlan’s smile faded. “Someone’s trying to kill the governor. I’d think that would be a top priority for everyone around here, not just Stacy and me.”
Matt dragged his blazing black eyes away from Harlan’s face to settle on Stacy’s. He gave her a look of bleak sympathy. “I’ll get back to it as soon as I finish lunch. Or are you the only one allowed to eat, boss?”
Harlan’s expression softened. She thought she might even see a hint of red rising in his neck, as if he was aware he’d overstepped with Matt Soarez. “I’m sorry. Just having one of those days.”
“Worse than yesterday?” Matt softened, too, turning the baby around to pat her on the back as she started fussing. “I don’t imagine it was fun seeing the ex again-”
Harlan’s gaze angled to meet Stacy’s briefly, then turned back to Matt. He forced another smile. “It was fine. She’s getting married again, so I’m off the alimony hook.”
“Really?” Matt grinned, seeming to take Harlan’s answer at face value. Stacy was beginning to wonder whether all men had a touch of Asperger’s syndrome, as bad as they were at reading subtext in conversations. “When’s the happy day?”
“I don’t know. Sometime soon. She said her lawyer would be in touch.”
Zachary tugged at her sleeve, drawing her attention. “Mommy, we can’t be late for the riding lesson today.”
With a start of surprise, Stacy glanced at her watch. It was nearly one. The lesson started at one-thirty, and Zachary hated to be late for anything, but especially for his riding lessons. To her relief, she saw Faith approaching with their orders. “Faith, can we get that to go? I have to drive Zachary out to the Long K for his riding lessons, and you know how he is about being late-”
“Sure thing,” Faith said with a smile of understanding, heading back toward the kitchen to prepare the orders for takeout. She dropped a kiss on her baby’s downy head on the way, and managed a quick peck for Matt, as well.
“I’m sorry, Harlan-I have to take Zachary to the Long K. But he stays there for the afternoon and plays with the twins after his lessons, so I’ll be able to give you my total attention until five. Okay?” Even as she asked the question, her stomach turned a little flip. After her scare earlier, the thought of leaving Zachary behind for someone else to take care of gave her the shivers.
“I have a better idea,” Harlan said. “I’ll go with y’all to the Long K. One of the ranch staff worked there before he worked at Twin Harts, so I was planning to talk to Lindsay about him anyway. We can work while Zachary is riding. Then we can all head back here when he’s done.”
She gave him a grateful look, certain that he’d been planning to talk to Lindsay by phone rather than drive out to the Long K Ranch. He must have read the hesitation in her expression earlier at the thought of leaving Zachary behind at the ranch. Maybe all men weren’t bad at nonverbal cues after all. “Okay,” she agreed.
She saw Matt Soarez give Harlan a thoughtful look. Matt’s dark-eyed gaze drifted her way, and one eyebrow notched upward.
Stacy looked quickly away, not wanting to encourage Matt’s speculation. Freedom was a tiny place, and it didn’t take long for the grapevine to start rumbling around town. She should have realized that sitting down for lunch with Harlan McClain might start minds turning and tongues wagging.
And newly-in-loves were the worst. They thought everyone should be as happy as they were, come hell or high water.
Only being in love wasn’t Stacy’s idea of happy. Not anymore. She’d loved Anthony once, beyond all reason or sanity, and look how well that had turned out. Apparently Harlan’s own marriage hadn’t exactly been all hearts and flowers, either.
There weren’t two people in Freedom, Texas, who belonged in a romantic relationship less than she and Harlan.
THE LONG K RANCH was smaller and a little shabbier than Twin Harts, which had benefited from the oil boom decades earlier. A month ago, during Wade Coltrane’s investigation into threats against the governor, stories of a longtime rivalry between the Kemps of Long K and the governor’s family had come out. Something about oil being found on land Lila Lockhart’s father had bought from the Kemp family years back when the Kemps had suffered some financial setbacks.
If he had his choice, Harlan would rather be working at the Long K than at Twin Harts, he decided as he left the homey ranch house behind and walked down to the training ring, where Lindsay was giving Zachary his riding lesson. The governor’s ranch was beautiful, but the Long K felt more comfortable. Like a real home.
He slowed his approach, his gaze following the dark-haired little boy as he circled the ring on a small but powerful-looking chestnut quarter horse. A ripple of unease tweaked his gut as he watched the tiny boy work the horse with a surprising show of both nerve and skill.
His gaze shifted until he spotted Stacy’s dark hair dancing in the breeze. She stood at the corral fence, arms folded across the top rail. At first glance, she seemed at ease, but as Harlan stepped closer, he saw the worry lines creasing her forehead and the tense set of her shoulders and back.
He felt a powerful urge to erase those worry lines and relax her muscles. Maybe put a smile back on her pretty but troubled face.
He just didn’t know if he had what it took anymore.
“He’s good,” Harlan said aloud.
She gave a little start, turning to squint at him. He stepped forward until he blocked the sun, and her face relaxed a little. “You have a habit of sneaking up on me.”
He smiled and settled in next to her at the fence. “Sorry. Military training. Sneaking is second nature.”
“What service?”
“U.S. Marine Corps, at your service.”
“Oo-rah,” she murmured softly. At his questioning look, she added, “My uncle was a Marine.”
“Marine uncle, search and rescue father-what was your mother, a lion tamer?”
“English professor.” She smiled, and he was struck again how much the expression transformed her face. The worry lines seemed to melt away, and her ordinarily pretty face became absolutely stunning.
