“Here. Let me take that before you drop it.” After placing the coffee on the floor, out of the way, he squatted on his heels and reached for her hand. “Are you okay? You’re not going to faint, are you?”
Katherine closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It was hard for her to tell what was more unsettling—what he’d just told her about her mother, or the fact that he was holding her hand in a very intimate way.
“I…I’m all right,” she insisted. “I just—this is all too unbelievable. You’re going to have to show me some proof. Good proof.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I simply can’t take your word about this.”
“I understand that,” he said softly. “And I understand this has given you a shock.”
She stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. “A shock! That’s putting it mildly. You’re talking about my mother!”
He patted the back of her hand while thinking none of this could be good for the baby. Dear God, Lonnie prayed desperately, if he didn’t get her calmed down, it might even send her into labor!
“I can see why this whole thing sounds like a wild, made-up story to you. And I don’t blame you for not believing it. But I do have a bit of proof. Seth sent a letter with me. One that your real mother received from Celia. Would you recognize your au—well, Celia’s handwriting?”
His announcement appeared to frighten her, and she drew back in her chair and stared at him with wide, dark eyes. “A letter?”
Lonnie nodded and reached to the back pocket on his jeans. “Yes. I have it right here—”
Grabbing his forearm, she blurted, “No! I don’t want to read a letter now!”
He looked at her with confusion, and she blushed profusely and said, “I mean—maybe I need to hear more about this whole thing from you first. Maybe then the letter will make more sense.” She paused and the corners of her mouth turned downward in a skeptical frown. “But I doubt it,” she added.
“All right.” He squeezed her hand and peered anxiously at her white face. Her features were pinched, and Lonnie was shocked to find himself wanting to smooth his hand across her brow. He liked women. And he could list a long string of females who were his friends. But once he’d had his heart broken he’d come to the firm resolution that a friend was all he would ever be to the opposite sex. So why was he suddenly feeling so possessive of this one? Just because she was soft and pretty and about to have a baby didn’t make her any different. “If you’re sure you’re okay.”
She let out a heavy breath, and then all of a sudden she seemed to realize she was still holding on to his forearm. Slowly she pulled her hand away from him and settled it on her short lap.
“I’m all right,” she said quietly. “Please go ahead.”
Lonnie probably should have put some space between them and gone back to his chair. But she looked so fragile, and being close to her made him feel a little more assured. Which was a sure sign he wasn’t behaving like himself. Normally he went out of his way to make sure he kept a respectable distance from women.
“I think I should start way back at the beginning,” Lonnie said. “I don’t know how else to explain things.”
She nodded and he went on, “You see, Katherine, it’s all about the Ketchum family. They own a huge ranch in northern New Mexico close to Aztec. It spreads over more than a hundred thousand acres and they raise cattle and horses. Mostly to sell for breeding prospects.”
“Do you know these people? Personally?” she asked.
Lonnie nodded. “Seth, he’s the Ranger, he helped me get elected to the sheriff’s position I hold now. And I have visited with his siblings. They’re fine, quality people.”
“It sounds like they’re rich,” she murmured as though that was equivalent to having royal blood.
Lonnie shrugged. “Oh, they’re not what you’d call stinking rich. But they’re well off. They don’t have to scrape around to pay their bills if that’s what you mean.”
“I wouldn’t know any of those sort of people,” she said wryly.
Well, the Ketchums were the only rich people Lonnie rubbed elbows with, but he kept that information to himself.
“The ranch—it’s called the T Bar K—was started by Tucker Ketchum and his brother, Rueben. Tucker was married to a woman named Amelia and her maiden name was McBride. They’ve both been dead for several years now.”
Katherine’s eyes swept back and forth across his face and he could see that her mind was whirling like a Texas tornado.
“You mean—this Amelia—she was the woman my mother wrote to? And her name was McBride, too?”
Lonnie slowly nodded. “That’s right. She was a McBride before she married Tucker. She and Celia were sisters.”
Clearly disturbed now, Katherine began to shake her head in disbelief. “But…but my mother never said anything about a sister or her being kin to some rich people in New Mexico. Why wouldn’t she have said something? Those people would be my relatives!”
Once again he felt the unaccustomed need to touch her and reassure her, and this time he didn’t resist the urge to reach for her hand. He pressed her soft skin between his fingers and watched her expression turn to total bewilderment.
“They’re more than just relatives, Katherine,” he said gently. “Seth, Ross and Victoria—they’re your brothers and sister. Amelia was your real mother. Celia only raised you for her.”
“No! No! That can’t be!”
Jerking her hand from his, she shoved herself to her feet and ran across the room to where a window displayed the dusky skyline of Fort Worth. Lonnie hurried after her, and as he took her by the back of the shoulders, he realized she was crying. Not on the outside where he could see her tears, but on the inside where emotional pain was causing her whole body to shake. The notion of her anguish cut him deeply. Because he understood exactly how she was feeling. In his younger years he’d done a lot of crying on the inside, too. Maybe that was why Seth had thought Lonnie would be perfect for this job. He’d probably figured a man without a family could empathize with a woman who believed she was entirely alone in the world.
“It’s true, Katherine,” he said gently as he stared down at the shiny crown of her dark hair. “Amelia Ketchum was your mother.”
For long moments she didn’t say anything, and then slowly she turned and tilted her face up to his. “If that’s true,” she said accusingly, “then why wasn’t I raised with my brothers and sister? Why was I sent to Texas?”
Lonnie glanced away from her, drew in a bracing breath and tightened his hold on her shoulders. “Because you—” He forced his eyes to return to hers. “Because Amelia had been having an affair and she didn’t want her family to know about her pregnancy.”
Katherine’s hands instinctively pressed against the mound of baby she was carrying, and Lonnie could see from the torn look on her face that she couldn’t imagine any circumstances that would make her separate herself from her child.
“All right,” she said, then swallowed convulsively.
