The hostility in her voice hurt his heart. They hadn’t exactly brought out the fatted calf for her, but she also hadn’t been honest with them, and without a DNA test, they had no reason to believe her.
But he also couldn’t imagine what it must be like, going through life without the support of a family and community.
“I promise, if the DNA test comes back positive, you’ll understand what family means.” He wanted to say more, to tell her about how families had their ups and downs and how this one wasn’t perfect, either, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. But the suspicion in her eyes told him it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, he wasn’t going to sell her on the family until he knew she was telling the truth.
Even then, how did he get past her deception? Family was family, but none of their relationships were based on lies.
As they continued driving, he pointed out landmarks and told them a little about the ranch, and Katie chattered excitedly, but Rachel was silent. He wished he knew what was going on in her head, but then, he also wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
If she wasn’t Cinco’s daughter—yes, he’d threatened calling the authorities, but he wasn’t sure he could do that to her little girl. For all the reasons he could think of for being a terrible human being to claim to be someone’s long-lost grandchild, he could think of a million more why Katie needed her mother, and Rachel was a good one.
When they arrived at the church, some of his worries disappeared. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said this was his family—this community, these people and Ricky. But as soon as his feet landed on the walk, his mom gave him a big hug.
“Ty! You’re later than usual. I heard Ricky had a gathering last night. I hope none of those cowboys got too crazy and created a fuss for you to clean up.”
He gave her a squeeze, then stepped away. “No, nothing like that. Ricky has a guest he wanted me to take care of, so it took me longer to get them situated than I thought.” He gestured at Rachel and Katie, who hung back. “This is Rachel Henderson, and her daughter, Katie. Rachel and Katie, this is my mom, Ann.”
As he knew she would, his mom stepped forward and gave Rachel a hug. “So nice to meet you.”
Rachel accepted the hug stiffly, but didn’t hug back. He probably should’ve warned her that his mother was a hugger.
“Bob,” his mom said, stepping away and waving at his father. “Come meet Ricky’s guests.”
His father was busy chatting with some of the other men, so his mother turned to them. “You wait right here. I’ll just go get him.”
When his mother was out of earshot, Rachel asked, “Does this happen with all of Ricky’s guests?”
Ty shook his head. “Usually his guests are free to come and go as they please, and some come to church but others don’t. The fact that Ricky had me bring you means there’s something different happening here.”
“Like what? She doesn’t think we’re romantically involved, does she?”
That would be the furthest thing from his mom’s mind. While he did his best to keep his business private, most of the people in town knew that he’d been hurt enough times that he wouldn’t be taking a woman he’d just met to church as a romantic interest. They joked that he was slower than a snail when it came to dating women, but Ty liked to be cautious. It seemed like every woman who showed an interest in him had an ulterior motive.
Was it so wrong to want to wait to get to know a person and what they were really after before getting involved?
“She knows better,” he said.
Apparently, that wasn’t the right answer, because Rachel scowled.
“I just met you. I wouldn’t be bringing a woman I was interested in to meet my mother for the first time at church. Plus, I would have spoken about any woman I’m seeing with her prior to that meeting. So don’t worry about people gossiping or thinking there’s more to this than there is.”
Rachel gave him another strange look, one he couldn’t read. Did she think he was interested in her? Or that Ricky was trying to set them up?
“Seriously. Don’t read anything into it. I’m doing Ricky a favor, that’s all. I’m not interested in liars and cheats.”
The startled expression on her face made him regret his last words. It was the truth, and she’d clearly proven herself to be both. But she didn’t deserve the sting of the pain of his past.
And Janie, who had just walked up to them, clearly agreed. “Oh, we know all about your high sense of ethics. I don’t think the perfect woman out there exists who can live up to your standards of complete and total honesty. Maybe you should give people a break.”
Janie turned to Rachel. “Don’t mind him. He dated this girl in college that he was going to propose to, and then he found out she was stealing his work and trying to pass it off as her own. He only found out because at first, he was the one accused of plagiarizing, and he had to prove she was the one copying off him. But ever since then, he’s like a police dog when it comes to sniffing out people’s lies. If your facts don’t line up exactly, then that’s the end of that for him.”
This was why there were no secrets in small towns. But it was also why Ricky had asked him to act with discretion over the whole Rachel situation. They didn’t want to out
