was a long time ago.”
“Uh-huh.” He scrubbed at his whiskers with one hand. “More reason for the two of you to get along now. Especially since he’s the new boss around here.” He held up one hand. “Now don’t start in on me. I won’t back down from a debt, and you know it.”
“I don’t understand you, Dad. How can you let a lifetime of hard work and memories go without a fight?”
“I’m not going to fuss with you about this, girl. Now, that’s the end of it.”
Kara clapped her lips together and fumed.
“Stop your stewing and come meet Sally.”
A gentle-faced woman with salt-and-pepper hair rounded the kitchen and stepped into the living area. A slight flush graced her plump cheeks, and the thought that she was obviously anxious about meeting Pete’s daughter caused no little speculation in Kara’s mind.
The two women exchanged greetings, then Kara said, “I do hope that bread is for lunch. My mouth has been watering since I opened the door.”
Sally smiled her appreciation. “As a matter-of-fact, lunch is ready. Come sit.”
As they settled at the table, the older couple looked at each other, their eyes holding for several seconds. Kara watched transfixed at the gentle expression on her father’s face. What was going on here?
Pete chose that moment to clear his throat. “Kara, honey, there’s something me and Sally want you to know.”
Unease tightened Kara’s chest. She watched the pair over the rim of her tea glass.
“The two of us…Sally and me…we’re keeping company.”
Keeping company? Did that mean what she thought it meant?
Before she could ask, Pete rose from his chair, circled the table and placed both hands on Sally’s shoulders. His fingers looked worn and gnarled against the flowered print of Sally’s cotton blouse.
“Sally’s been living here in the trailer and cooking for me over to the ranch. What with Ty taking over and all, well…”
Realization dawned. Sally and Pete were living together.
While she and her son were struggling through life, biding time until they could come home for good, her father had fallen in love. Part of her resented Sally for taking her mother’s place, and part of her was glad to see her father happy. Still, finding out that her father had a paramour was a shock. Worse yet, she couldn’t imagine asking Pete to let her stay in the cramped little trailer with him and his lady friend.
Another half hour passed before lunch was over and Kara found a reasonable excuse to exit the trailer. Thanks to Ty and her father, she had a lot of thinking to do, and the only place left to do it was the horse barn.
A long breezeway separated the two sides of the barn, stalls lining each side. In bad weather the breezeway could be closed off, but today, fresh spring air swept through, stirring the smell of horse and hay. Kara drew in the scent as if it were roses. A familiar equine head poked over the third stall and whinnied in greeting.
“Taffy.” Kara rubbed a hand over the velvety nose. A barrel racer, Taffy had been Kara’s faithful friend throughout her high school years.
Kara lifted the latch and slid inside the stall, automatically reaching for the currycomb hanging on the wall. With slow, steady strokes she groomed the animal, letting the rhythmic motion soothe her jangled nerves just as it always had.
“You’ve got a lot of tangles here,” she said, pulling the comb through the mare’s winter mane. “And so do I.”
Unfortunately, the mare’s tangles were more easily remedied than Kara’s. She couldn’t leave until this ownership fuss was settled, but there was no place for her to stay in the meantime.
The trailer was out, leaving only the house, the barn or the back seat of her car, none of which sounded too appealing. She’d come home fully expecting her old room to be ready and waiting as usual.
To think she might never again lie in her childhood bed and watch for shooting stars in the vast Texas sky or see the early-morning mist rise over the pond filled her with homesickness. Lane deserved to know those pleasures, too.
Thinking of her son put starch in Kara’s spine. Since Lane’s birth she’d faced more than her share of unpleasant situations, and she would not back down from one this important.
She paused, resting her hand along the horse’s warm sturdy neck. “This is my home and Lane’s inheritance. No one is going to take it from us, especially a man who might jump up and run off with the rodeo—or a woman—at the drop of a hat.”
If Ty thought she’d hightail it back to Oklahoma City without a fight, he didn’t know her at all. If she had to beg, steal or lie to secure her baby’s future, that’s what she’d do. Even if it meant bunking in the same house with the enemy.
The very idea of sleeping under the same roof with Ty Murdock sent shivers running through her, shivers she didn’t understand. Was she afraid of what Ty might do if he discovered Lane was his son? That had to be the reason. She didn’t trust him any farther than she could spit a Volkswagen. And she dang sure wasn’t about to let a man have the upper hand in her life. Not ever again.
Sucking in a cleansing breath of hay-scented air, Kara chuckled softly and hugged the old mare’s neck. Ty had better get ready. He was about to have an unexpected houseguest.
“Come on, Taffy, let’s have a look around and make sure Murdock is taking good care of my property.”
Replacing the comb, she gripped Taffy’s halter and pushed the gate open. The crunch of boots on wood chips had her spinning around before she was halfway out of the stall.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The loathsome cowboy stalked toward her.
She tossed her nose into the air. “Going for a ride.”
“No, you’re not.”
Ignoring him, Kara led the mare forward. Ty’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm with such strength that she halted. She dropped her gaze to the fingers digging into her flesh.
“Get your hands off me.”
She yanked. Ty refused to budge. Instead, he closed the gap between them, forcing her backward into the stall along with the mare. Inside the narrow cubicle, Kara found herself trapped between two familiar bodies, one warm and welcoming, the other hard and unyielding.
“Well, aren’t you the tough guy?” Kara hissed sarcastically. The electricity that sparked between them made her even madder. “Stealing from old men and pushing around women half your size. How impressive.”
Ty relaxed his grip the tiniest bit. He should have known better. Perhaps he didn’t remember as much about her temper as he should have. Kara jerked her hands free, doubled up her fists and slammed them into his chest, letting go with six years of pent-up pain and rage.
“You sorry, low-down, rotten, lying, cheating, thieving…” The invectives went on for a full minute. She lambasted him in every way imaginable. By the time she got to his kinfolk, his intellect and his relationship to lower forms of life, it occurred to her that Ty made no attempt to stop the pummeling of his upper body. His body relaxed, he held her captive against the mare, flinching only when she came too close to his face.
“Kara,” he said in a far too calm and sensible voice when she slowed for breath.
She shot a left hook to his shoulder. “And if you think you can waltz in here and keep me from riding my own horse…”
“Kara,” he said again in that same close-to-laughter voice.
This time she stopped whacking him long enough to notice the quirky grin pulling at his devilishly handsome face.
“What?”