LITMIR.BIZ

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be here all handy and stuff.”

      She tilted her head to look up at him. “Besides, you’re a growing boy,” she said. “You need to eat. I’ll even cook, provided you have something in the fridge.”

      * * *

      Pippa wasn’t going to leave him be, and part of him didn’t want to be alone. “I’m not fit for company, Pippa.”

      “Yeah, and?” She grinned at him, totally unrepentant for intruding on his solitude.

      Kade settled at her words and that surprised him. He didn’t want company of any sort, but if he had to have some, Pippa would do. Seeing her at Cash’s wedding, he’d remembered her from college, from when he’d catch her sitting on the fence mooning over him. He hadn’t wanted a girlfriend then. He didn’t want one now, especially not someone like Pippa. She should be with someone rich, like a Barron—He cut off that thought. Technically, he was a Barron, or could be.

      He started to decline her offer but she was smiling all cute and sunny at him. Her long blond hair was caught up in a ponytail and the sprinkling of freckles across her nose went perfectly with her blue eyes. The quintessential girl next door.

      It was just an early dinner. Between friends. And she was right. He needed to eat.

      “C’mon, then.” His voice was gruff as he ushered her out.

      They exited the barn and Dusty, the ranch mutt, galloped toward them. He leaped up on Pippa and would have taken her to the ground had Kade not braced her with his body, one arm automatically going around her waist. He stiffened, fending off the dog with a terse command, then tensed more as Pippa pressed back against him. She shouldn’t feel this good in his arms.

      After releasing her, he kept his hands jammed in his pockets as they walked up the road to the house he’d called home since the day he’d arrived as the newly hired ranch manager. The place reminded him of the houses found on cattle and sheep stations in Australia. A wide porch wrapped around all four sides and the metal roof gleamed dully beneath the bright afternoon sun.

      Pippa stumbled and he automatically caught her arm to steady her. “Pip? You okay?”

      Her face had paled and she was squinting against the sun. Lips pressed together, she shook her head. “Migraine coming. Been fighting it all day.”

      He scooped her up into his arms without thinking. His mother suffered debilitating migraines and he knew what to do. “Keep your eyes closed until I can get you inside.”

      Lengthening his stride, Kade quickly got her into his dim living room. He set her on the couch and hunkered down on his heels. “What can I do to help?”

      She reached blindly for him so he snagged her hand with his own. “I have meds in my purse. In the Highlander.”

      He pulled his hand away from hers reluctantly. “Keys?”

      “Not locked.”

      “Be right back.” Kade resisted the sudden urge to brush his knuckles over her cheek as he rose and headed outside. He returned moments later, her purse in hand. He didn’t like the wince on her face as light spilled in from the open door.

      “Sorry about not fixing dinner for you.”

      He brushed her apology away. “Not a problem. It’s more important for you to lie down. I’m going to carry you into my bedroom, okay? It’s darker in there.”

      She nodded so he lifted and cradled her. After she was settled, had taken her medication along with a long drink of water, she held his hand as he sat on the edge of the bed with her.

      “I’ll go away so you can rest.”

      “Don’t. Please. I like the sound of your voice.” A little smile teased the corners of her mouth and she patted the bed beside her. “And a girl likes to be fussed over. I’ll be okay in a little while. I caught this migraine early.” She offered him a tentative smile and a scrunched-up nose. “Besides, it feels a little weird being in your bedroom all by myself.”

      Concerned about her, Kade acquiesced. He stretched out beside her and moments later, she’d curled into him, her head on his chest. Was it wrong that lying here with her felt so right? Even so, he didn’t want to talk about his situation, especially not to Pippa. He liked her more than he should, and liked her idea for a horse therapy program. He’d considered asking her out but figured she wouldn’t be interested. Still, she was easy to be around. Too easy.

      “Are you going to talk to me?” She asked the question without opening her eyes.

      The feelings of bewilderment and resentment hadn’t gone away. He didn’t want to talk about his day and the choice that had been forced on him.

      As a kid, he’d lain in bed next to his mom when her headaches put her down for the count. He’d read stories to her, and it always seemed to help. Since there was no reading material nearby, he began to talk.

      Kade started out talking about the ranch, about Imp. He spoke of his grandparents and growing up on their small ranch outside of Davis, Oklahoma. He talked about OSU. About getting hired by Cyrus Barron. About making the Crown B his home. Without a conscious decision, he opened up to Pippa. He voiced his bewilderment at going from the only child of a single mother to having five brothers who’d grown up with their shared father, and expressed his concern over how they viewed him. Eventually, he got around to the feelings of betrayal engendered by his mother’s deceit—a deceit he wasn’t ready to confront her with yet.

      He spoke until he was hoarse, hoping that Pippa had fallen asleep so she didn’t hear the catch in his voice when he said, “Then the lawyer dropped Cyrus’s ultimatum on the table. If I want to stay here, keep my home here, keep the Crown B...” He had to breathe before he could continue. “And it would mean keeping the ranch as CEO of the Barron Land and Cattle Company, it would mean owning Imp.” And having more money than he could wrap his brain around.

      Her hand pressed against his chest. “What do you have to do, Kade?”

      “Turn my back on the only family I’ve ever known.”

      “I don’t understand.” Pippa’s voice was soft as she craned her head to see his expression.

      “To keep my place here on the ranch—to have absolute control over it, I have to change my name. I can’t be a Waite. I have to be a Barron.”

      “Is that so bad?”

      Kade almost shoved her away, remembered the pain she’d been in and forced his muscles to relax. Still, he needed distance so he eased out from under her and stood. What did she know about anything like this? Pippa was the beloved daughter of the Duncan family. They were rich, like the Barrons, while he’d worked for everything he had—all of which could be ripped away at the whim of the man who’d donated his sperm to create Kade.

      He paced away from the bed then whirled to face her. “What would you say to someone who came to you and told you that you weren’t a Duncan, could no longer be a Duncan? That you were someone totally different.”

      “But you wouldn’t be somebody totally different. You’d still be Kaden. The name doesn’t make a person. It’s just a label.”

      He stalked to the edge of the bed and glowered at her. “Being a Waite shaped who I am, Pippa. My grandparents. My...” Anger surged again. He’d always been close to his mother. He’d adored her as a boy, respected her as a teen and admired her as a man. He’d never questioned their love for each other. Until that damn attorney read Cyrus Barron’s will.

      Pippa sat up on the edge of the bed, watching. After a moment, she spoke. “I’m going to repeat myself. The man you are is the man you’ve always been. Your family—the one that raised you—had a profound effect on who you are. You could change your name to John Doe, and you would still be the same man who is standing in this room. Understand?”

      Her stomach picked that moment to grumble. “You need to eat,” he said, relieved at the interruption.

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