the mare’s bridle and backed her out of the chute.
Daniel ran into the barn, where Jack had tied off his and Brett’s mounts beside Rider. He was in the process of removing the last saddle.
Megan was nowhere in sight.
Jack shook his head. “She’s in the office.”
Without a word, Daniel entered the office.
Megan was at the desk they shared in the cramped space, transferring the blood from the syringe into a tube. “Is there anything else you need dropped at the lab?” Megan reached for a padded envelope and dropped the tube inside.
“No. Just that.” Daniel rubbed his sweaty palms down the front of his jeans. “Megan, I want to apologize.”
Megan’s cheeks reddened. “Don’t.”
“I’m afraid my actions might have given you the wrong idea.”
Her head jerked up and she stared straight into his eyes. “Are you going to tell me that you kissed me by accident? Or that it was a huge mistake?”
“No. I mean, yes.” He bit down on his tongue to keep from saying something stupid.
“Save your breath, Daniel.” She crossed the room with the package in her hand. Her jaw was set, lips pressed into a thin line. “I agree. The kiss was a big mistake.”
He let go of the breath he’d been holding, but the tightness in his chest didn’t loosen. Though he thought the kiss was a mistake, he hadn’t known how he’d feel to hear her echo his thoughts. Had the kiss meant nothing to her?
“Good, then.” Daniel straightened, determined not to let any of his chaotic thoughts show in his expression. “I just didn’t want things to change between us. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Daniel, I’m the only assistant you’ve ever had. But if you want to pretend nothing happened and everything between is just like it was this morning, I can play that game, too.” She stopped in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. “But it would be a lie. You might wish you could, but you can’t take back that kiss or the way it made you feel. Because I sure can’t. It wasn’t entirely one-sided, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
* * *
Megan left the office and ran out of the barn. She hopped into her Jeep Wrangler and sped down the road leading to the gate to the Lucky C Ranch. Soon she was on the highway into Tulsa, where she had a depressingly small apartment in an inexpensive but not too sketchy neighborhood.
Determined to make it on her own without her parents’ vast wealth, she’d managed to put down a deposit on the apartment and pay rent and her utilities with the money she made working for the Lucky C Ranch.
The drive into Tulsa didn’t take long, and soon she was on the bypass circling the city to get to the veterinary laboratory before it closed. She hadn’t factored in the evening rush-hour congestion. Swerving in and out of traffic, she finally pulled into the parking lot with two minutes to spare.
She ran the blood sample inside, wrote out her request and left the package with the receptionist.
Then she drove to her apartment complex and parked, her hands shaking as she sat behind the steering wheel, letting the events of the afternoon wash over her in a tidal wave of emotions. One thought stood out over all others.
Daniel Colton had kissed her.
The incessant buzzing of her cell phone pierced her hazy cloud of schoolgirl giddiness, and she dug in her purse.
Perhaps it was Daniel calling to tell her that the kiss hadn’t been a mistake and he was deeply, madly, completely in love with her. Megan found the phone, stared at the caller ID and groaned before punching the talk button.
“Hi, Mother. What do you want?” she asked, the irritation in her voice more pronounced than usual.
“Ferrence Small is back home from New York City.”
“That’s nice.”
“I understand he’s a lawyer now, working with a large pipeline company out in Wyoming. If you can tell me the next time you’ll be home, I’m sure I can set up a chance for you two to meet.”
“Mother, I’m not interested.”
“Sweetheart, your father’s health isn’t what it used to be. He’s a very sick man.”
“I know. I was out there last month. We had a lovely visit.”
“Honey, you can’t keep slaving away in the tornado-infested center of the country. I can’t stop worrying. And you can imagine all the stress your father is under.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. But you and Daddy can manage your ranch in California. You don’t really need me there. However, the Lucky C needs me here. I have important work to do, and I don’t need care packages, cards and letters begging me to come home. I’ll be home for visits. That will have to be enough.”
Her mother clucked. “Oh, darling, I didn’t want to have to tell you...”
A sense of dread slipped over her. Her mother only used that I-hate-to-stick-it-to-you-but-I-will-if-I-have-to voice when she was about to drop a bomb on some poor unsuspecting sales clerk who displeased her while shopping. Only this time, the bomb would fall on Megan.
“Your father is on the line, and he has something to say to you.”
Her hand tightening on the cell phone until her knuckles turned white, Megan sucked in a deep breath and said, “Hi, Dad. What is it you wanted to say?”
“I have an auctioneer coming out tomorrow to look at your horses.”
Megan’s heart plummeted to her knees. “Daddy,” she said. “I’ve only just started putting money away for the horses. It will take me years to have what I need to pay you for them.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but if I can’t go out to Oklahoma to talk some sense into my daughter’s head, I can damn sure get her to come to me. The Triple Diamond Ranch is your legacy.”
“Daddy, it’s your legacy. You and Mother never wanted me to help with it. Now I want to make it on my own.” She’d left the rich debutante lifestyle behind after she’d lost her fiancé and nearly lost her life. Megan had no intention of going back.
Her father snorted. “You do not have to work for others when you have servants who can do all that for you.”
“But, Daddy, you don’t understand. I love working with the horses. And I’m good at it.”
“You’re a woman. You shouldn’t be working around animals big enough to crush you.”
“Those horses are big enough to crush the men I work with as well as me. The thing is, Daddy, I know when to get out of the way.”
“Damn it, Megan, you are our only child. I want to know when I die...” He coughed. “I want to know you will be here to take over the reins. You need to
