her voice. For Pete’s sake, she hated the way her eyes drank in every single drop of him. His hair was as dark and silky as before. Those vivid blue eyes still made her want to sink into him, as if wading deep into the ocean with no care for how she’d stay afloat since she’d never learned to swim. He’d changed in other ways though. The cute boyish features had developed into rugged, handsome male assets. And in the face of all she had suffered because of him, he still made her body burn with need. With the primal urge to run into his arms.
Seeing him somehow made her momentarily forget those years of misery she’d endured because of something he had refused to give her seven years ago, and he damned sure wasn’t here to give her his heart today.
She kicked the momentary weakness aside and grabbed back her good sense. “What about him?” she demanded. To her immense relief she sounded more like herself now. In charge, independent. Strong, ready to do battle.
“There’s an investigation under way that I’m hoping is groundless.” He flared those big hands that as a wild teenager she would have given anything to feel roving over her body. “I don’t know if I can help him, but he’s in way over his head. The only chance I’ve got of derailing the situation is with your help. I need your help.”
Narrowing her gaze, she searched his face, tried her level best to look beyond the handsome features and see what he was hiding. He was hiding something. Didn’t matter that it had been seven years. She knew Lyle McCaleb. He’d never been able to lie to her, even when she would have preferred his lies to the truth. He couldn’t love her.
Whatever he wanted, he could forget it. Her heart had mended in time. She wasn’t giving him a second shot at that kind of pain. “I hope you didn’t drive all the way here from wherever you came from just for that.”
“Houston.”
If he’d sucker punched her, her physical reaction couldn’t have been more debilitating. He’d been that close all this time? Gus had told her he’d moved to California, had a wife. Someone mature enough and smart enough to hang on to a man like him. A new rush of anger blasted her, obliterating the ache he’d resurrected with that one word. “Whatever. You wasted your time. Go away.”
Before she could turn her back a second time and escape this surreal encounter, he opened his mouth again. “I was wrong not to call.” He shook his head, stared at the ground a moment. “I was wrong about a lot of things.”
Now she was really mad. “Let me tell you something else you’re wrong about, McCaleb.” She propped the barrel of her shotgun on her shoulder. “You’re wrong if you think I give one damn about what kind of trouble my daddy might be in, because I don’t.” She amped up the go-to-hell glare in her eyes. “And you’re dead wrong if you think for one second I care what you need.”
LYLE WATCHED, HIS HEART somewhere in the vicinity of his throat, as she stamped up the steps and across the porch. She stormed into the house, slamming the door, without even a glance over her shoulder. The dogs stared after her, then turned to him in expectation.
That didn’t exactly go the way he’d planned. Not even close. There was no denying that she did have every reason to hate him. He’d foolishly hoped that wasn’t the case.
He blew out a breath and opted for plan B. Sit on the porch and wait. The dogs did the same, keeping their distance and eyeing him curiously but not bothering to bark. She wouldn’t call the sheriff’s office and have him escorted off her property. Not considering what he’d learned about the war going on between her and the rodeo kings around the county. Sheriff Cox was a good man as far as Lyle knew, but he held an elected position, and in this territory the rodeo kings ruled.
Lyle chuckled. Sadie Adele Gilmore had always been a hellion. In that respect she evidently hadn’t changed one bit. She liked bucking the status quo, particularly when it involved the good old boys. She and her father had never really gotten along, not since she was old enough to have a mind of her own anyway. The best he recalled, she’d been damned independent since the age of six. His heart swelled a little more at the idea of what had been hidden from her all these years. He hated like hell to be the one to turn her life upside down like this, but he sure wasn’t allowing anyone else to do the job. He owed her that much. He’d hurt her, but he’d made the only choice he could at the time. Nothing he said or did now would change that tragic fact, but he had to protect her.
He couldn’t not protect her.
Her daddy wasn’t going to like it. The last exchange between Gus and Lyle had been several degrees below amicable. The old man would be livid when he learned Lyle was back. The one thing Lyle could absolutely guarantee was that he wasn’t walking away this time. For Gus or any other reason.
Wrestling aside his emotions, Lyle focused on what he’d come here to do. Whatever happened from this moment on was his responsibility. Whether she liked it or not. That part he’d just have to figure out. This battle between her and Gus had gone too far, if all he’d discovered was accurate. That was a whole different ball of wax and complicated an already dangerous situation. It pained him that she had been fighting a man like her daddy alone all this time. Lyle had left seven years ago when he should have stayed. He dropped his head. Staying hadn’t been possible, no matter how he looked at the past. Things had been far too volatile. He’d had no choice but to leave.
By God, he was here now.
Sadie had a soft spot for animals, all of them. He surveyed the herd of furry critters lounging around his feet. Apparently she’d made it her life’s mission to save every one she could, especially those involved with the rodeo that, for one reason or another, were neglected or otherwise abused. That decision had made a lot of folks unhappy around here, particularly Gus Gilmore. She’d gotten more than one, including her daddy, fined by the rodeo association for crossing the line when it came to the treatment of the animals they owned. Many times the incidents were mistakes or oversights, but others were intentional acts intended to ensure a crowd- pleasing performance. The latter could prove hazardous to the person or persons who got in the way.
Lyle stared at his hat, turning it in his hands as if an answer could be pulled from there, but there was no easy answer. Sadie’s troubles with the ranchers were the least of her problems right now. Making her understand that reality without revealing too much too soon would be the hardest part. Her cooperation was absolutely essential, but he despised keeping anything from her for any reason.
The fact was he couldn’t protect her fully if she didn’t cooperate. The situation presented a precarious balancing act. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her again. Or to let anyone else hurt her. Unfortunately, whatever happened, protecting her from the shocking truth was not possible. She had to know all of it, eventually.
Movement beyond the end of the house caught his eye. He watched her march out to the barn, her shotgun still propped on her shoulder. She’d captured her long, silky blond hair into a haphazard ponytail that hung to the middle of her back. She’d worn it that way for as long as he could remember. The scrap of leather she used to tie it back always ended up barely clasping that gorgeous mane below her shoulders, as if she didn’t possess the patience to bother with securing it adequately at the nape of her neck. Her grandmother had scolded her about never staying still long enough to properly brush her hair, much less prepare a suitable ponytail. The memory of running his fingers through her hair warred with the logic required to stay on track. He banished those snippets of lost moments the same way he’d been doing for the past seven years.
The dogs, one by one, got up and moseyed out to the barn to see what their master was up to. Lyle stood, settled his hat into place, and followed. Her soft voice stopped him at the wide-open barn doors. She’d set
