LITMIR.BIZ

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home.” She moved away, touching Mary Kate’s shoulder as she went. “I’ll see you very soon.”

      Jane sighed and picked up her cutlery to eat. Feeling someone’s gaze on her, she glanced across the street. Cole stood in the doorway of Red Hill Real Estate, watching her.

      CHAPTER THREE

      WHAT THE HECK was his mother saying to Jane? Valerie meant well but she had a tendency to interfere. Cole could hardly fault her since her greatest joy was her family. He only hoped she wouldn’t come across too strongly and scare Jane out of town…taking his daughter with her.

      Millie summoned him to take a phone call. When he got back to the doorway, Jane was nowhere in sight; she must have gone into the café to pay. Mary Kate was about to cross the street to where Jane’s Mazda was parked. She had a confident stride and seemed more grown-up than Stephanie, who was still a tomboy in many ways. It wouldn’t be long before both of them were young women.

      The thought tugged at him, making him aware of how much he’d already missed. Jane clearly didn’t want him to have a place in Mary Kate’s life. But that was too bad. He’d spent his whole life accommodating other people. It was time to put his needs and desires first for a change. And Mary Kate was top of his priority list.

      The downside was that getting to know Mary Kate would mean more contact with Jane. When she’d come into his office yesterday he’d felt the old attraction surge to the surface. It hadn’t taken long before annoyance and frustration kicked in. And there was no doubt how she felt about him. Yet somehow they had to work together for Mary Kate’s sake.

      A car rounded the corner just as Mary Kate stepped off the curb, looking in the wrong direction for oncoming traffic.

      Cole ran outside onto the footpath. “Mary Kate!”

      She leaped out of the way and stumbled, falling to her knees on the pavement. The car swerved, narrowly missing her, and drove past, its horn blaring.

      Cole ran across the road. He helped Mary Kate to her feet and checked her over. Her knees were grazed and she was wide-eyed with the sudden fright, but that seemed the extent of her injuries. “Are you all right?”

      “Yeah, I guess so.” Mary Kate shivered and clutched her purse. “I’m not used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road.”

      “Here, the left side is the right side,” Cole reminded her. “You’ve got to watch out.”

      Mary Kate flicked her hair behind her ears. She gave him a tentative smile. “Thanks for warning me.”

      “Can’t let you get mowed down.” Cole glanced back at the café. Jane must still be inside. “What are you and your mum up to this afternoon?”

      “I guess we’ll go home and sort through more of Aunt Esther’s stuff. We’ve already got about fifty boxes of junk to throw out.” Mary Kate made a face. “Not that there’s much I can do since Mom has to look at everything first.”

      Cole stroked his jaw. “Do you like horseback riding?”

      “Are you kidding?” Her eyes sparkled. “I love it. When we were eating lunch we saw some girls ride across the street and into the woods.”

      “We have a couple of horses. You and Stephanie could go riding.” Cole gestured toward Jane who was just coming out of the café down the street. “Go ask.”

      “Mom!” Mary Kate shouted, completely losing her preteen cool. “Can I go horseback riding?”

      Cole waited on the corner, watching Mary Kate and Jane approach. Mary Kate was practically skipping in circles around Jane as she pleaded. Jane looked straight ahead, frowning and shaking her head.

      “Please, can I go riding?” Mary Kate glanced toward Cole. “He said I could.”

      “That’s right,” Cole confirmed as Jane came to a halt in front of him. “My horse doesn’t get enough exercise. Stephanie’s always looking for someone to ride with.”

      “We have so much to do at the house,” Jane objected. “And Mary Kate doesn’t know how to ride.”

      “I went riding at that dude ranch in Wyoming, remember?” Mary Kate said.

      “Only twice,” Jane reminded her. “It’s dangerous.”

      “We have hard hats,” Cole replied. “Stephanie can ride my horse and Mary Kate can take hers. Cherry is a ten-year-old mare. She’s got a smooth gait and she’s very gentle.” When Jane continued to hesitate, he added, “You’re not going to get the house cleared out in a single weekend.”

      “She doesn’t have the proper clothes,” Jane said. “Or boots or anything.”

      “All she needs is a pair of long pants and sturdy running shoes,” Cole countered. “We might even have a pair of Leslie’s old boots that would fit her.”

      “Please, Mom?” Mary Kate begged.

      Jane threw up her hands. “Oh, all right.”

      Mary Kate let out a whoop. “Let’s go home right now so I can get changed.” This time she looked right, then left, then right again before crossing the road.

      “Why are you doing this?” Jane demanded of Cole.

      “Do you have to ask?” He faced her square on. “She’s my daughter. Stephanie’s dying to see her. Besides, Mary Kate’s bored silly at the farm. I want her to be happy.”

      “She’s happy with the way things are,” Jane argued. “I don’t want to complicate her life.”

      “There’s nothing complicated about me and Stephanie. Don’t you think she has a right to spend time with us?”

      “She hasn’t expressed much interest so far.”

      Cole’s molars ground together. Was she deliberately goading him? Well, he wasn’t going to take the bait. Taking out another business card, he scribbled his home address and phone number on the back. “Drop her off at the house. I’ll call Stephanie and let her know to expect her. You can come back for her around six.”

      Jane slipped the card into her purse.

      “Whatever my mother said to you, she means well,” Cole told Jane before she could move away.

      “It wasn’t important.”

      “If it was about Mary Kate then it is important.” Cole took a check from his breast pocket and tucked it into Jane’s purse. “I know you’ve refused help in the past, but this is to let you know that from now on I intend to be very much in the picture when it comes to Mary Kate.”

      Jane pulled out the folded slip of paper, calmly ripped it in two and handed it back to him. “Do you think you can buy your way into her life? You made a choice thirteen years ago. You have to live with it. I didn’t come to hit you up for child support. I don’t want a cent from you.”

      Choice? Did she really think he’d had a choice which girl he would marry? Once he’d asked Leslie he couldn’t very well have changed his mind when Jane had gotten pregnant. Especially with Leslie’s family pressuring them to tie the knot. He had to live with the consequences of his actions; he accepted that. One of those consequences was that Jane distrusted him. He couldn’t blame her, but…

      “Does it not occur to you that it’s Mary Kate you’re hurting by refusing to accept money from me?” Cole said angrily. “If you think that means I don’t have rights, think again. She and I are connected by blood. Nothing can break that.”

      Jane glared at him. “It doesn’t mean you can do whatever you like with her.”

      Cole crumpled the torn pieces of paper in his fist. “For years I’ve been putting money into a trust account for her. When she’s old enough, she won’t need your permission to have it.”

      “For

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