The Rancher Next Door

lot more money than cattle.”

“True, but I’ll always be a rancher.” He reined in his horse and looked at the horizon. “Still, the money’s been great. It’s paid for all the changes. Modernization doesn’t come cheap. In addition to fixing up the house and the ranch buildings, I’m improving the stock. There are two new bulls and nearly a dozen heifers upgrading the herd.”

Katie stopped beside him, studying him rather than the land. So much had changed, she thought. Fortunes, people, yet the ranches were constant. “Are you glad you stayed?” she asked.

He turned to face her. “I wasn’t at the time. When I was eighteen all I wanted was to leave. But I’ve made peace with the Darby ranch. This is where I belong.”

She turned to the west. The Fitzgerald ranch was too far away to see, but she knew it was there. “My father belongs here, too, but he’s never made peace with anything.” She sighed. “Suzanne called this morning to give me an update on Josie. I could hear Aaron in the background. He was yelling about Josie’s decision to stay in Los Angeles. He wanted to fly her to Dallas so that she would be close enough for everyone to visit.”

“If anyone can stand up to him from her sickbed, it’s your sister.”

Katie nodded. Josie had always been a fighter, especially where Aaron was concerned. She would go toe-to-toe with him and not flinch. “He’s being as stubborn as always. He refuses to see her side of things. L.A. is her home now, and it makes sense she wants to be there.” What she wouldn’t admit to Jack was her suspicion that one of the reasons Josie wanted to be on the west coast was to be away from her father.

“Aaron has his ways,” Jack agreed. “I don’t understand him, but then I don’t have to. We stay out of each other’s way, and that works for us.”

He urged his horse into a walk, and her mount followed. She watched the play of sunlight on Socks’s smooth coat and thought about all the times she and Jack had snuck away to meet for an afternoon. How she’d been afraid of what her father would say if he found out and how Jack had always sworn to protect her. She’d believed him then and she still believed him.

“You’re a good man,” she said impulsively. “Nothing like my father, which isn’t saying all that much, but for which I’m grateful. In some ways, you’re the best man I’ve ever known.”

He shifted uncomfortably on the saddle. “Don’t say that. I’m not who you think.”

“Oh, really? Then tell me who you are.”

She half expected him to refuse to answer, but he surprised her by speaking.

“I’m a man who tries to do the right thing,” he said slowly. “I don’t always succeed. I worry about my family and the future. I try to plan for emergencies. I want-” He hesitated.

“What do you want?” she asked softly. “Tell me, please.”

He looked at her, then turned to face front. “I want to be my own man. Not my father’s son or just another in a long line of Darbys.”

“Aren’t you that now?”

“I don’t know. My mom says I should let the past go, but I have too many questions.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get them answered?”

“No.”

“So what are you going to do?” she asked.

“Hang on tight and hope for the best.”

She knew about the will of iron that kept him in control. She’d seen it in action. “If you hang on too tight, sometimes things get broken. If you don’t let go sometimes, the bad stuff can’t get out and the good stuff can’t get in.”

He shifted his horse so he was facing her. They stopped on the trail. His dark eyes studied her face. “What do you want from me, Katie? What do you from us?”

Blood rushed through her, making her feel lightheaded. “Is there an us?”

“I don’t know. You said we had a relationship.” He lowered his gaze to her belly. “Are you pregnant?”

She winced. “I don’t want anything dependent on whether or not I’m going to have a baby.” She wanted him, but only if he wanted to be with her. She wasn’t interested in duty-only love. “Can’t this be just about us?”

“If you’re pregnant, it’s not about us. It’s about the baby, too.”

Which is exactly what she didn’t want to hear. “I don’t know,” she told him. “My period is a couple of days late, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m often late.”

“You’ll let me know when you’re sure one way or the other?”

She nodded. Tears burned in her eyes, but she held them back. She wasn’t about to let him see her cry again. Damn the man for being so stubborn.

“If you’re pregnant, we’ll work it out,” he said. “I’ll be there for you.”

“And if I’m not?” A foolish question when she already knew the answer.

“Then you won’t need me.”

Katie nodded, even though she knew that he couldn’t be more wrong in his assessment. She would always need him. He was the man in possession of her heart. Her one true love. And if she wasn’t pregnant, she was going to lose him.

Chapter Thirteen

“What are you thinking about?” Hattie asked a few days later as she and Katie sat on the front lawn, enjoying the sunshine and playing with the puppies. “You’re very quiet.”

Katie rubbed the ears of the cuddly female shepherd stretched out across her lap and contentedly gnawing on an old sock. She’d been thinking about Jack, because the man seemed to always occupy her thoughts these days. She was, as she’d told Nora, incredibly confused about just about every part of their strange relationship. She found herself desperately hoping she was pregnant because she wanted to have Jack’s baby. Not only would she like more children, but she felt she needed a way to bind him to her.

At the same time, she prayed she wasn’t pregnant because she didn’t want a man staying with her out of duty. She was afraid if there was a child, she would never know if Jack really cared about her or if he was just doing the right thing. Her mind whirled and tipped and zigzagged from topic to topic until she couldn’t think straight anymore. Unfortunately, she couldn’t share any of this with his mother.

“I was thinking about…” Her voice trailed off.

“My son?” Hattie offered helpfully. “You had a distant look in your eyes, and I wondered if he was the one who had put it there.”

She glanced at Jack’s mother. Hattie sat in a low lawn chair, a pillow tucked at the small of her back. Her long hair had been swept up in a simple twist, to keep it out of puppy reach. Katie sat next to her on an old blanket. The remaining two puppies had flopped down for a quick afternoon nap.

“I was thinking about Jack,” she admitted, not sure how much of the truth she could share. “In some ways I feel as if very little has changed between us, but in other ways, he’s completely different. I guess part of it has to do with the fact that the last time I saw him, he was all of nineteen, and now he’s a grown man. He’s been married, divorced, had life experiences that molded him.”

“That’s true. I’m sure you’re different to him, as well.” Hattie looked at her and raised her dark eyebrows. “I always wondered if there was more between you and Jack than anyone knew. Am I right?”

Despite the fact that she hadn’t done anything wrong and that it had been years since she and Jack had stolen away to spend time together, Katie felt herself blush. She pressed the back of her hand against her cheek and sighed.

“We were close,” she admitted. “We kept it a secret from everyone. We thought it was safer that way. Too many people would have disapproved and made trouble.”

“Especially after what happened with Nora and David,” Hattie agreed. “What an uproar that was. I could never understand why so many people cared if the two of them had fallen in love.” She glanced at Katie. “So you and Jack stopped seeing each other when you went off to college.”

It wasn’t a question, but Katie nodded anyway. “I wanted him to go with me and of course he couldn’t. I see that now, but when I was eighteen, all I could think was that he didn’t love me enough.” She shivered at the