LITMIR.BIZ

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She’s your niece. Hope, honey, say hello to your uncle Reed.”

      Alcina couldn’t help herself. The devil made her do it. She offered the sticky child to the middle Quarrels brother. Reed hesitated only a second before taking her. He certainly didn’t seem squeamish about having a child in his arms, Alcina realized.

      The two studied each other for a moment. Hope’s expression became as intent as her uncle’s, and Alcina was struck by a resemblance she hadn’t expected to see.

      And for a moment, her stomach fluttered as she imagined Reed holding his own child. Their child.

      Nonsense!

      She was a little old to have kids. At thirty-seven, her biological clock had almost run out of time. Besides, she had her status as the town spinster to uphold…even if the designation wasn’t exactly accurate.

      “So you’re Hope,” Reed said. “I’ve heard about you.”

      The little girl seemed as mesmerized by his smooth-whiskey voice as she was, Alcina thought. She clenched her jaw and told herself to stop salivating.

      Reed Quarrels had never been attracted to her. He’d preferred spunky little tomboys who sat a horse well and knew all about beeves.

      Suddenly shy, Hope turned her face away from Reed’s and shrieked, “M’ma!”

      “Mama’s coming, sweetheart!”

      Alcina noted that Pru and Chance were headed straight for them, other members of the Quarrels family following—Emmett, and Bart and his kids, Lainey and Daniel. A regular family reunion.

      One to which she didn’t belong.

      Knowing when she wasn’t needed, Alcina backed off unnoticed as Reed was surrounded. She headed for the house and a bathroom where she could clean up. Josie Walker, the Curly-Q wrangler and Bart’s woman, was coming outside, carrying a big basket of corn bread.

      Eyes widening, she asked, “What happened to you?”

      “Hope.”

      “Ah-h.” Josie nodded in understanding and looked past her. “So what’s the big commotion? Is that who I think it is?”

      “It’s Reed.”

      “I’m so glad. Bart said he’d show.”

      Alcina didn’t miss the inflection in Josie’s voice at Bart’s name—the woman was love struck. They would already be married if it weren’t for his kids, who were still getting over their mother’s tragic death the year before. Alcina admired the couple’s patience. Josie and Bart were doing the right thing, giving the kids time to get used to the relationship.

      Josie gave her a pointed look. “So, Reed’s back—why are you hightailing it in the opposite direction?”

      Pru had a big mouth, Alcina thought. It was one thing when her best friend teased her about her schoolgirl infatuation. Another when she got other people into the act…though to be fair, Josie was the only one Pru had told. As far as Alcina knew, anyway.

      “I said hello,” Alcina said, voice stiff.

      “Uh-oh. Doesn’t sound like it went well.”

      “With Reed, it never does.”

      “We’ll have to work on that.”

      “Josie, don’t try to play matchmaker,” Alcina pleaded. “And if Pru comes up with any bright ideas about getting Reed and me together, I would appreciate your discouraging her.”

      “Oh, come on—”

      “I’m serious. You have enough on your plate to take care of, anyway,” Alcina said.

      Things were working out so well between Josie and Bart’s kids that Alcina figured it wouldn’t be much longer before the couple made their relationship official.

      “Let me give you some advice,” Josie said. “Real love doesn’t come around that often. And neither does a good man, as I very well know. So if you want Reed and you get a shot at him, take it. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder what might have been.”

      Josie had a point when it came to the good man part. But, as to her getting a shot at Reed…

      The man barely knew she existed.

      REUNITED WITH HIS FAMILY, Reed kept taking in Pa with disbelief. Emmett Quarrels was smaller than Reed remembered—they were about the same height now—and he’d lost weight in the past year. The shock of white hair and faded blue eyes were nothing new, but the sunken cheeks and sagging skin were, and they made him look older than his seventy years.

      “I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Son.” Pa’s declaration was followed by a dry cough that set Reed on edge.

      “Hey, I thought this was my wedding,” Chance complained.

      “Don’t be getting on your high horse here, Boy,” Pa said. “You know what I mean.”

      If Chance was angry, he wasn’t showing it. He and Pru were beaming in their happiness.

      “I meant to be at the church,” Reed told them both apologetically. “I really did. But there was something I had to take care of at the last minute on the Evergreen, so I started off late, and then I ran into a problem on the road.”

      “You’re here now, Reed,” Pru said. “That’s all that counts, right, sweetheart?”

      Chance flashed his teeth in a sincere-looking smile. “You bet, darlin’, that’s good enough for me.”

      The brothers threw their arms around each other in a manly hug. Reed was relieved that Chance accepted his regrets without questioning him about his actual situation.

      “Congratulations, Chance. Do I get to kiss the bride now?”

      “Only if you keep it short and sweet.”

      “Pru, welcome to the family,” Reed said, hugging her and giving her a quick kiss. “Finally.”

      Which was all he would say on the matter. Considering their daughter was nearly two years old, it was about time his brother made an honest woman of Pru.

      “Good to see you, Reed,” Bart said, slapping him on the back. “And it’ll be good working together again.”

      Together? Or would he be working for Bart?

      Another thing that ate at Reed, though he kept that to himself, as well.

      A few minutes of catch-up and his niece Lainey was agitating for photographs of the three brothers together.

      “Better be careful,” Reed’s sixteen-year-old nephew Daniel warned them. “Lainey thinks she’s an artist. She might make you do some weird stuff.”

      “You’re the weirdo,” Lainey told her brother.

      Reed grinned. The siblings reminded him of Chance and Bart when they’d been kids.

      As Lainey painstakingly photographed them in several different poses, Reed’s attention wandered a bit. He kept musing on Alcina’s whereabouts.

      Always the proper lady with every hair in place, she’d shown him a new side of herself today. A side that had intrigued him. He’d remembered her as being prissy—actually, she’d gotten a little prissy earlier when he’d laughed at her. She’d been so natural with Hope, though, not worrying about her own finery. Seeing her like that had roused his curiosity.

      “Uncle Reed, you’re not paying attention!” Lainey complained. “You’ve got to smile.”

      Reed did his best to please her.

      One more photograph and Chance said, “Okay, that’s it for now, Lainey. We’d best get to the grub quick, before all those old bachelor cowboys who are normally deprived of good home-cooking get in line for seconds. Then we’ll starve to death.”

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