LITMIR.BIZ

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pain, she assumed, but from frustration as he faltered and slid back down onto the seat. On his next try, he pulled himself up and leaned against a post. His hair was lighter gray than she remembered, his body chunkier, but he was still a handsome man, and there was a spark in his green eyes as he waved to her.

      She waved back, holding her breath. She reminded herself this wasn’t the same drunken man who’d given up on life after her mother died. He was trying to be a good father. He’d honed his skills on a smartphone so he could send her text messages. He called her every week to talk. He never once made her feel guilty for not coming to visit. He never once asked her to give up her adult life to be with him. But she’d felt bad anyway.

      She got out of the car and retrieved her luggage from the trunk. As she approached, wheeling her suitcase behind her, a big smile surfaced on his ruddy face, making him look ten years younger than his sixty-five years.

      “Hi, Daddy,” she said. Wow. Whatever possessed her to call him that? She hadn’t referred to him that way since she was a kid.

      “Hey there, my girl. Welcome home.”

      As far as she was concerned, Thundering Hills, a large parcel of land to the west that was now incorporated into Rising Springs, had been her true home. Before the Boones got their hands on it. “Thank you.”

      She climbed the steps to come face-to-face with her father. He was pale and moving slowly but the light in his eyes was bright with excitement.

      He opened his arms and took a step toward her, a shadow of fear crossing his face for a moment. He didn’t trust that she’d embrace him. There’d been so many times in her young life when she’d needed a hug from him or a kind word, and he hadn’t been there. For right now, she put that behind her. Well, as much as she could hope to. That kind of rejection was hard to forget.

      She stepped into his arms and gave him a brief hug before backing away.

      “It’s good to see you, Drea. You look so pretty, just like your mama. You’ve been well?”

      “Yes, I’ve been well. How about you, Dad?”

      “Ah, I’m doing just fine.”

      She didn’t believe him. He’d taken a fall and had downplayed it to her when she’d questioned him over the phone. He’d blamed it on a bad case of arthritis, but according to Katie he’d refused to go to the doctor for a health screening.

      Back in the day, her father would lose his balance and crumble in a drunken stupor a few times a day. Now he probably feared she wouldn’t believe he was clean and sober if he admitted to falling down the steps.

      God, she hoped he wasn’t backsliding. Not after all this time.

      “We have a lot to catch up on, girl.”

      “Yes, we do. Let’s go inside. I’ll make us some dinner.”

      Her father’s eyes brightened. “It’s already done. I made your favorite, pot roast and red potatoes. I even attempted your mama’s special biscuits.”

      “You did?” Nobody made homemade biscuits like her mother. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe her father was really trying. She could count on her fingers and toes how many meals her father had actually cooked for her as a child.

      “Well, let’s go inside and try them out,” she said. “I’m starving.”

      “Sounds good to me. My stomach’s been growling. But mostly I’m just pleased to have my little girl back home.”

      She was twenty-nine years old, hardly a little girl anymore, but she was here now and she’d have to deal with old memories and the pain those reminders evoked.

      She forged into the house, wheeling her suitcase easily as her father followed behind her.

      * * *

      The next evening, Drea breathed a sigh of relief as she arrived back at the cottage after a very productive Mason-free day at the hospital. All day long she’d held her breath, thinking she’d run into him and have to make nice for appearance’s sake, but he was a no-show and she was glad of the things she’d accomplished without having to deal with him. She’d gone over some important aspects of the fund-raiser with the supervisors of various departments and had called to confirm donors for the art sale. The rest of the event details involved the Boones and she had no other option than to deal with Mason on that.

      She walked into her bedroom, left untouched since she’d lived here, and shed her business suit and high heels for a comfy pair of washed out jeans and an I ♥ New York T-shirt she’d received for running a 5K race. After pulling her hair up in a ponytail, she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Man oh man, she thought, glancing in the mirror. There was no denying she looked like a schoolgirl again. It was amazing how a little makeup and a sleek hairstyle could transform her appearance. But inside, she was still that unsure, guarded little girl.

      At least it wasn’t horrible living here, and her father was making a gold-star effort on her behalf. She was trying like hell to keep an open mind, trying to put the past behind her, but her scars ran deep and it wasn’t easy to forgive and forget all she’d gone through here in Boone Springs. Not a day went by that she didn’t think about the baby she’d lost, about the child she would never know. It wasn’t Mason’s baby, yet she’d blamed him for rejecting her, destroying her confidence and causing her to run into the arms of the first man who’d showed interest in her.

      A knock at her bedroom door shook her out of her thoughts. “Drea, can I speak to you?”

      She opened the door and glanced at her father. Beyond him, down the hall, she saw four men standing in the parlor. What were Mason and Risk Boone doing here? The ranch foreman, Joe Buckley, and Dwayne, one of the crew, were also there. “Sure. What’s going on?”

      Her father shook his head, his expression contrite. “I forgot about the poker game. We, uh, the boys usually come here on Tuesday nights. I’m sorry, Drea. I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in you being home, it slipped my mind. Should I send them away?”

      “No, Dad. Of course not. I don’t want my being here disrupting your routine.” The irony was that as a kid, she’d always felt like a disruption in his life. She got in the way of his drinking.

      “They brought dinner. Pizza from Villa Antonio. Will you come out and eat with us?”

      What could she say? She liked Joe; he’d always been decent to her, and Dwayne was her age. They’d gone to school together. She didn’t like breaking bread with the Boones, but she was hungry and she couldn’t hide out in her room all night. “I suppose I can do that.”

      She walked into the parlor with her father and the men took off their hats. Everyone said hello but Mason. Hat in hand, he gave her a long stare and nodded.

      “You still breaking hearts in New York, Drea?” Risk asked, his wide smile almost infectious. Risk was a charmer and she’d always been a little wary of him. He was too smooth for her liking.

      “I don’t know about that, but I like to think I’m killing it in other ways.”

      “I bet you are.”

      “Good to see you, Drea. You’re looking well,” Joe said. “It’s been a while.”

      “Yeah, it has,” she said. “How’s Mary Lou?”

      “Doing fine.”

      “Please tell her hello for me.”

      “Will do,” he said, smiling.

      “Hey, Drea,” Dwayne said. “Missed you at the ten-year reunion.”

      “I know. I just couldn’t get away, but Katie caught me up to speed on everyone. Congrats, I heard you just had a baby.”

      “We did. Heather and I named him Benjamin, after my father.” He took out his phone and showed her a picture of his son.

      “He’s precious.”

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