helpful daughter.”
“That’s me all over.” Her body tingled when he continued to stare. Gripping the steering wheel, she fought back a wave of disgust at herself. If she let a mere look from this man bring that reaction on, she would soon find herself in a world of hurt from him. Again.
She had parked at the wrong angle to allow for a quick exit to the house, and the truck sat too far from the road to reverse all the way down the drive. Maybe she could just back up a bit and then run over his danged toes.
The thought brought on a smile.
“Excuse me.” She shoved open the door and he jumped back.
A double dose of attitude made her stand straight in front of him. He stared back without saying a word. Let him look all he wanted. One touch, though, and she’d deck him.
The silence stretched on, till her nerves began to feel stretched thin, too. Never let ’em see you sweat, an old rodeo clown had once told her. She’d go that one better. Never let Luke see you care. She waved her hand in front of him. “Hel-loo. I’m still here. No sense trying to act like I’ve disappeared in a puff of smoke.”
“Not yet, anyhow. I was just thinking. It’s been a long time.”
“And you’ve come a long way.” If he picked up on the added meaning behind her words, he didn’t show it. Anger at his reminder of their past couldn’t quite overcome the hurt. Still, she managed to keep her voice even. “I hear you’re manager now. Daddy’s right-hand man. You finally made the connection and landed a job on the Roughneck, the way you’d always wanted.”
He got that message, all right. His jaw hardened, and his chest rose with a deep breath, as if he’d had to summon his patience.
What did he expect—that she would have forgotten the way he’d tried to use her to get a job on her dad’s ranch?
“Maybe I had other reasons for showing up that day, besides the job.”
“What reasons? Trying to win me over?” She laughed without humor. “Why bother, when you already had me where you wanted me?”
“You think that’s what it was all about? I wanted to get to your daddy through you?”
“I said that to you then, and you didn’t argue. But it looks like you found a way without me, after all.”
He stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “Funny. By now, I would have thought you’d grown up some.”
The pity in his tone rubbed her nerves raw. “I expected you’d have grown beyond working for my daddy.”
“A man’s gotta have a job,” he said mildly. “And I guess none of us knows what the future has in store.”
“I’m not concerned about the future, only in what’s happening today. And in making sure not to repeat the past.”
“Yeah. Well, what’s happening in my world today includes managing this ranch. I’d better get back to it.”
“That’s what Daddy pays you for,” she said, forcing a lightness that vied with the heaviness in her heart.
He touched the brim of his Stetson. “See you around.”
Not if I can help it.
He turned and walked away with enough of a tight-jeaned swagger to make her breath catch.
She leaned back against the sun-warmed truck, bombarded by memories she’d tried for so long to forget. Memories of that innocent, insecure high-school girl who always blended into the woodwork. Who had felt lost in the crowd of her own family. And who could never push away the vision of herself as a little girl her own mother couldn’t love.
At least, not enough to make her stay.
Not even being the apple of her daddy’s eye could make up for all that.
Just once, she’d wanted someone to single her out, to notice her differences, to see her as an individual, not as simply one of the Baron brood.
She had thought she’d found that someone in Luke Nobel.
She couldn’t have been more wrong. Or been so betrayed.
Pushing herself away from the truck, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him as he made his retreat. Their first meeting in seven years had gone no better than she’d expected, no worse than she’d feared.
Regardless of what he thought, she had grown up since the days they were together. Toughened up, too. And yet she wished this could be the last time she would ever see him.
All the needs and secrets and sorrows she kept from her family had to be kept from Luke, as well.
Especially from Luke.
He was a big part of the reason she had so much to hide.
In the foyer of the main house, Carly paused to take inventory. Her breathing had returned to its usual even rhythm. The flush of anger warming her cheeks could be attributed to the heat outside. Only her hands might give her away. They continued to shake in irritation over the meeting with Luke. Whether or not the tremble would be visible to anyone else’s eye, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t about to get caught out here, checking her reactions in the hall mirror.
After plastering a smile on her face, she crossed to the living room. Brock sat in the wheelchair with his leg extended, a file folder in his hands and papers spread across the cushions of the couch beside him.
Before she could say a word, he grumbled, “This is no way to conduct business. I ought to bring the damned desk from the den in here.”
“The boys told you they’d happily move it for you.” Her brothers would do anything to help cut down on Brock’s crankiness. Deliberately, she had just now done the opposite, giving him a chance to be contrary. Letting off some steam with her might make him ease up on the rest of the family.
Sure enough, he snapped, “Moving furniture still wouldn’t get things done properly.”
“And you probably wouldn’t be happy, anyway, unless you could spread everything across that ginormous conference table you’ve got downtown. But that’s out for now. If you’ve been listening to your doctor, you know that won’t happen for a while yet.” Lord only knew much longer she’d be needed here. How much longer she could force herself to stick around.
She picked up the edge of the afghan trailing on the floor and fluffed the pillow behind his back.
“Stop messing. This isn’t a sick room.”
“Yessir.” Biting her lip to hold back a smile, she studied him. Tall and slim, he had a vigorous head of hair, pure silver now. His eyes, bright blue against his slightly weatherworn skin, didn’t miss much. They never had.
She moved to perch on the arm of the couch. The paperwork
