Quick-Draw Cowboy. Joanna Wayne
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the sea of bluebonnets driving in this morning. Damned impressive.”
“You’d be amazed how many people visit the Texas Hill Country every spring just for the scenery.”
“Scenery in here looks pretty good to me.”
“Thanks. I try to make the pastries too tempting to resist.”
He smiled seductively. “I wasn’t talking about the pastries.”
A flush of heat crept up her face. She turned away quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed the blush. He’d think she was either incredibly naive, or had never had a man casually flirt with her.
Tough to admit, but neither was that far-fetched.
“Did you bake all this?” he asked, motioning to the display cases full of her cookies, cupcakes, scones and other pastries, as well as loaves of bread.
“Yes.”
“And you babysit your niece. When do you have time for a life?”
“This is my life. And I don’t babysit Constance. My sister died this past year. Constance lives with me.”
“So it’s just you and Constance?”
“That’s it.”
“Instant motherhood. That must have thrown your life into a tailspin.”
“It’s been an adjustment, but I’m loving it. We live above the shop so I can be with her as much as possible.”
The door opened again and Sandy O’Malley rushed in, her short skirt swinging around her thighs, her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. “I’m so sorry, Miss Boatman. My alarm didn’t go off this morning. I mean I know I set it, but it didn’t go off and Mom had gone into work early and I guess I got to bed late and...”
“Take a breath, Sandy,” Dani said, stopping the onslaught of excuses. “We’ll talk later. For now, you can start clearing the tables.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get right to it.”
“Guess I’m officially replaced,” Riley said.
“Yes, but you saved me from total chaos this morning. If there’s anything I can do to thank you for jumping into the madness...”
“Let me give it some thought. I’m sure we can think of a way. Will I see you at the wedding tonight?”
“Can’t miss me. I’m the maid of honor.”
“How ’bout that? I’m one of the two best men. Pierce had to give his brothers equal billing. I’ve yet to meet the bride, but according to Pierce, she hung the moon and outshines most of the stars.”
“And she’s just as crazy about him. They’re a perfect couple.”
“More than a couple,” Riley said. “They have Pierce’s five-year-old daughter, Jaci, at least part-time. They’ll be an instant family with all the complications that can bring. Glad it’s him and not me.”
Which was in perfect agreement with how Pierce had described his brother. Riley was a rambler, never stayed in one place long enough to get serious about any woman. The love-’em-and-leave-’em type.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Riley said. “Save me a two-stepper. I hear there’s going to be a country-and-western band.”
“Sure.” As if he’d notice a short, plump pastry chef once he was besieged by every other woman there.
“Thanks again for helping out,” she said. “If you ever need a steady job with long hours, low pay and lots of work, give me a call.”
“I appreciate that generous offer, but unfortunately I start to rust if I spend more than a couple of hours indoors. See you tonight.”
She watched Riley walk away. That was when she saw James Haggard staring at her through the window. She braced herself to deal with him, but he made no move to enter the shop. He just continued to stare, every muscle in his face stretched taut.
There was no doubt that he meant to intimidate her, to make her shudder in fear and realize that he’d meant what he said.
She’d lain awake for hours last night, considering his threats, trying to decide what her next move should be. She’d told the truth about the money being in a trust fund—it had been at Dani’s insistence. That didn’t mean that as Constance’s father, Haggard couldn’t challenge her decision.
If he was her biological father.
All she needed was a sample of his DNA to prove him wrong. Or prove him right.
If she could somehow get a sample of his DNA, she could have the testing done without his cooperation. But then why wouldn’t he cooperate? He didn’t want Constance. He wanted to basically sell her for a million dollars.
If he wasn’t her biological father, Dani would report him and his rotten scam to the sheriff. If he was... She couldn’t bring herself to go there now.
She was closing at three today, an hour earlier that her usual time to make the sundown wedding without too much of a rush. She’d search paternity testing labs in San Antonio before she left for the Double K Ranch, to get the facts about how to go about the testing.
And then she’d insist Haggard provide a DNA sample. If he refused, that was as good as an admission that he was lying.
No matter what the results, she had to keep Constance out of the hands of James Haggard. If it came down to it, she’d protect her niece from scum like him with her life.
Riley propped a booted foot on a bag of feed. It was the first time he’d managed a few minutes alone with Pierce and their younger brother, Tucker. They’d taken a walk out to the barn to get some privacy.
“So you’re serious about staying on here at the Double K?” Riley asked. “As a hired hand?”
“Not exactly. Esther and I have been talking. She’s willing to sell me the ranch as long as she can keep her house, her gardens and her chickens. I’d never dream of taking those from her anyway. As you know, Grace, Jaci and me are living with her now and it’s working out fine.”
“I just never figured she’d sell the Double K.”
“Frankly, she doesn’t have the resources to keep it going, and to be honest, I’ve never been as happy as I’ve been these past few months. I have some money saved and this seems like the perfect investment.”
“Last time we were together, you said you’d never been happier than being a Navy SEAL,” Riley said.
“That was the truth then and exactly what I needed at that time in my life. But this life is the kind of satisfaction that seeps bone-deep. Not just the ranch, though I sure feel I belong here, but it’s Grace and Jaci and, I don’t know, man. It just feels so right.”
“Don’t you just have temporary custody of your daughter until her mother and new stepfather get back to the States?” Tucker asked.
“Yes, but we’re working on more permanent arrangements. It seems Leslie’s new husband will be working on the project in Cuba longer than expected. We’re talking about joint custody, but with Jaci spending summers and most holidays with her mother and the rest of the time with me and Grace.”
“How does Jaci feel about that?”
“She loves the ranch. Well, mostly she loves horses, but she’s handling the divorce like a trouper. We’re family. She even calls Esther ‘Grandmother’ and Grace ‘Mommy.’”
“And Esther seems to love that,” Tucker said.
“So getting married so soon after meeting Grace