The difference was right there, shining in front of her like a big, bright flashing neon sign. She could let that guilt go, because she understood, as never before, that her act of submission hadn’t been wrong. She had been manipulated and lied to and had placed her trust in the hands of men who were unworthy of it—her father and her husband.
The full truth followed. Not only was Buck Cosgrove unworthy of her, and her gift of submission, and her love. He was unworthy of the daughter they’d created together.
She also knew that the decision she’d made after he’d abandoned them had been the right one. She’d never said a word against the man to his daughter—their daughter.
Maybe the day would come when he would wake up and realize what he’d done. She did believe in redemption and second chances. She believed people could change and grow. If that day came, it would be up to Libby whether or not she wanted to build a relationship with him. Rachel had done her best to raise her daughter with only love.
By allowing that door to remain open, she’d been kind, not to Buck but to Libby.
Last night, Brandon and Trace had told her that they loved her—and that their love was forever. The words her men had given her brimmed with emotion and truth. They’d spoken not just from their hearts but from their very souls.
And she loved them back. She loved them more than she’d ever imagined she could love a man—a mate.
The last time Rachel felt this happy was the day Libby was born. As she went about her work at Lusty Appetites, doing myriad little chores, taking orders, chatting with regulars, Rachel couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
And yes, she knew some of those sly looks and huge smiles people aimed her way were because they knew she was a woman in love.
A woman who’d been claimed by two reluctant heroes.
Rachel took an order from the Jessops—Warren, Edward, and Carol—delivered their sweet tea, and headed into the kitchen to get the order started. The trio always came in for lunch on the Saturdays they worked.
All three had opted for the tossed salad to go with the Saturday lunch special, chicken enchiladas. Leesa was the cook today while Kelsey enjoyed a well-deserved day off. Rachel shared the serving duties with Michelle Grant and Ginny Kendall. Bernice was off, and Rachel thought she’d heard the older woman say that she, Kate, Chloe, and Angela were going to be planning a baby shower for Laci.
None of those women had to work—hell, most of the people in this town didn’t have to work in order to live. Yet there were no malingerers here and no one who believed in just skirting along on their trust funds.
I really do love everything about this town and the people who live here.
“Hey, Rachel.” Ginny came up to her and put a hand on her back. “My husbands are in the house, and they wanted you to come and sit with them for a moment.”
“Have they heard back from the private detectives?”
“I think so. They won’t say a word to me until well after the fact.” Ginny grinned. “I’ll know the whole of it, of course, before they tell me.”
“Our local communication network is nothing if not efficient.” Leesa looked up and grinned at them both.
“It is at that.” She didn’t think of it as a grapevine, and neither, apparently, did Leesa.
Rachel had been where people gossiped, and to her mind, that one word had nasty and malicious connotations.
Here, folks kept an eye out for each other, shared information, and that was that.
“I’ll just take these salads out to the Jessops. They ordered the chicken enchilada special.”
Ginny grinned. “Go on ahead. I’ll take care of them.”
Rachel delivered the salads. “Ginny will bring your main course in a bit.”
“Thank you, Rachel,” Carol said. “I’ve got a bit of a longer lunch hour today, so no worries.”
Rachel nodded then spotted Ginny’s husbands, Adam and Jake, at a table by the window. Both men stood as she approached.
“Hello, gentlemen.” Rachel nodded her thanks for the good manners. Ginny came by and set three glasses of tea on the table. She winked, and Rachel couldn’t help but smile.
“Rachel, we’ve heard back from Mel, Connor, and April. They’ve figured out why it is Buck Cosgrove is looking for you.” Adam huffed out a breath, and he appeared fit to be tied. She looked from him to Jake, and it was all she could do to simply wait.
“It seems that somehow,” Adam said, “Buck’s got it in his head you’ve come into a lot of money.”
Rachel blinked, and then she shook her head. “Where on earth did he get that idea from?”
“Apparently, a friend of his told him that he’d heard you were doing better than all right,” Jake said. “That you’d had a fancy house in Memphis while Libby was in hospital there, and then came back to Waco for a bit and now have another fancy house in a town somewhere west of Waco.”
Sometimes it was impossible for her to keep her thoughts positive, especially when she thought about her ex-husband. “Conclusion jumping was a convenient practice for him,” Rachel said. “He told me, when I informed him about Libby’s diagnosis that, since there was no cancer in his genes, he couldn’t possibly be Libby’s biological father.” She exhaled heavily. “This is just too much. He can live in his own little fantasy world. But I can’t imagine after all this time, even if I had come into some money, he’d want to look me up. Why would he want to do that?”
“Mel had a long chat with the bartender at one of the places Buck frequents,” Adam said. “I’ve never seen the man look so livid as he was when he told me what he learned. The answer to your question is that he, and I quote, ‘wants what’s owed him.’”
“I don’t owe him
