iron grip on his self-control.
Still, having Scarlett watch him without speaking managed to make him feel uncomfortable. He pretended to be entirely focused on his task, refusing to allow her to bother him.
Only once he had the horse taken care of and back in the stall did he turn and face her.
“Hi,” she said, offering a friendly smile. “You seemed so engrossed in brushing your horse that I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m guessing you love working with your hands.”
Suggestive? Whether intentional or not, when he raised one eyebrow at her comment, she blushed. Strangely enough, this actually made him like her a little better.
He decided to ignore what she’d just said. “Is there something I can help you with?” Direct and to the point. Much better than asking her what the hell she was doing in his barn.
“Yes.” She met his gaze dead on. “I came out here to talk to you. Hal said you’re his stepson as well as his foreman. I guess that kind of makes us kin.”
“Kin?” He shuddered. “Not hardly. Hal and I aren’t related at all. Now what did you need to talk to me about?”
When she didn’t immediately respond, he braced himself, figuring whatever it was would probably be a doozy.
“I just thought...” She looked down, twisting her hands as she let her words trail away. He almost felt a pang of sympathy—almost—before reminding himself that he needed to be wary around her.
“I just thought we might be friends.” When she lifted her face to his, the raw vulnerability in her green eyes had him taking a step toward her before he realized.
“Friends?” he repeated, dazed at how close he’d come to letting down his guard. “Why?”
“Why not?” She smiled, the beauty of which made his mouth go dry. “I’m getting to know my father. I didn’t even know about him for most of my life, so he and I have a lot of catching up to do. Hal asked me to stay awhile and I’ve accepted. Clearly, you care about him. And he you.” Still smiling, she shrugged. “I just think it would be easier if we all got along.”
“Delilah mentioned that you’d be staying awhile. Let me ask you something. Did Hal ask for a DNA test?”
She recoiled, almost as if he’d slapped her. “No. But if he does, I’ll be perfectly willing to have one done.”
“Good. I’ll be sure to mention it to him.” He kept his tone friendly. “After all, that’s the only definitive way to know you’re actually his daughter.”
Though she narrowed her eyes, she still didn’t look away. “Why don’t you like me? You don’t even know me.”
“Does it matter?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He shrugged. “Look, I don’t dislike you. As you pointed out, I don’t know you. I just don’t trust you.”
“Again, I have to ask why?”
He decided to be blunt. “I protect Hal. That’s what I do. I might not be able to stop his illness, or even identify it. But I can keep him away from people who want to hurt him or use him. Do you understand?”
“I do.” She didn’t even blink. “And since I have no intention of doing either, you have nothing to fear from me.”
“Fear? Interesting choice of words.”
This made her groan, clearly frustrated. “Oh, please. Give me a break.”
To his surprise, he realized she’d managed to coax a reluctant smile from him. He immediately turned that into a frown. “I’m guessing you feel I should just take you at your word. I promise, I’ll be watching you. So help me, it won’t look good for you if you try to take advantage of a dying man.”
She froze. “Dying? What do you mean, exactly? I know he seems ill, and he has a nurse, but...”
“We don’t know what’s wrong with him. We’ve had every test run and the doctors can’t figure it out.” He decided to be brutally honest. “We’ve had him checked out at MD Anderson also. It’s definitely not cancer. But whatever it is, it’s killing him. We’ve hired a nurse to be here during the day since he’s not yet at the point of needing help 24/7, but he’s already been authorized for hospice care.”
“Hospice care?” She blanched as she said the words. “But that means...”
“Yes, his doctor has certified that he probably has less than six months to live.”
“Damn.” Closing her eyes, she swayed. “I went through this with my mother.” When she opened them again, he was surprised to see the sheen of unshed tears. “It’s horrible,” she said, her mouth working. “And hard. So damn painful.”
“Yes. It is.” At the powerful urge to hold her and comfort her, he clenched his hands into fists, resisting. “Which is why someone—a total stranger—showing up claiming to be his daughter is the last thing he needs.”
“I disagree. He’s my father,” she insisted. “And I might be a stranger right now, but once he gets to know me, things will be different. We’re family.” She lifted her chin. “You know, everyone needs family, especially in times like these.”
He guessed she had no way of knowing that sounded exactly like something Hal might have said.
“I’m not getting through to you,” he began.
Crossing her arms, she stared at him, disappointment and confusion warring in her expression. “No, you’re not. I don’t see your point. If I can bring a little happiness to Hal when he’s so ill, then what’s the harm?”
“What do you get out of it?”
To his surprise, she considered his question seriously. “Me? Well, I missed out on having a father my entire life. I really want to get to know him while I can.”
Still, he couldn’t help but notice the way she said nothing about an inheritance. People just didn’t show up out of the blue at the very end of a formerly rich man’s life without a good reason. And in most, if not all, cases this reason was money.
His only consolation was that Hal was no fool. If anyone could be convinced to see through a shakedown, Travis would convince Hal. He’d done it before. He’d do it again.
“Don’t you have your own home to go to?” Another cruel question, another deliberate attempt to get her to reveal the truth. “I know you said your mother had recently died, but surely at your age, you’d long ago moved out.”
Rather than annoying her, this made her smile. “Like you have?” she asked. “Or is my impression that you still live on the premises entirely wrong?”
“Touché.” He gave a two-finger salute to the brim of his cowboy hat. “But I’m the ranch foreman and I live in the foreman’s quarters. Which is where the foreman always lives. In addition, I support my mother and my sister and her son. They moved in with me.”
She
